Chapter 8:

"Quite the week," Simone opined. Finn chuckled. Four kids in one week. Drew was stressing, and he'd twice made her sit down and put work aside. Finn hardly seemed affected at all. He was delighted. His last–almost–trip to the baby-shop was going to end with a bang. He'd sort of been seeding the ground, hinting that maybe this would be his last hurrah. After all, none of them was getting younger. Drew was happy with the idea, though Nadia had been conspicuously noncommital, and Strudel had gone into a sulk at the suggestion. Finn thought he might have to do something there, but he had a hope of shutting things down with the others. Phoebes had a boy and girl. Nadia did too. Cherry and Lollipop both had the daughters they'd dreamed of. So maybe one more and done.

Simone was first up to bat this week. Jewel had announced her intent to drop in while the Ice Queen was haranguing the Wizard Cops about turning people into sticks without any sort of trial or judgement. That suggested to Drew that the rest would be showing up real soon, and she'd begun making preparations for a veritable fiesta of childbirth. Standing by Simone's side, the big man held her hand like he'd done twenty years back with Billy. Simone merely smiled. Some things never changed.

As the minutes turned into hours, Drew came and went, checking up on preparations and looking in on the patient. Bonnie and Lollipop came with papers to sign and decisions for Finn to make. Betty arrived as the show mostly moved to the waiting room. Scrubbing up just like Finn, she joined the procession to the delivery room. On the way, a ringing phone announced that Abeiuwa had reached the end of her journey with her first child. A distracted Drew found herself delegating the job to somebody else, even when it was clear she wanted to rush to the other room. Complications. They'd lived in dread of them for months now. Finn found himself thinking of Maja. She was close. She would be giving birth soon too, and he'd have to deal with the fallout of that, however it came to him.

Across from him, Betty did her best to project calm both to her daughter and their husband. This wasn't the time for worry. Billy was a man now. He would have to step up and deal with things just the way his father had before him. Finn gathered himself, the same way he always did, focusing with razor-edged clarity on the moment before him. His daughter was coming into the world. He had a child that needed him right now.

In the surgery, the staff got Simone on the table, strapped her legs into the stirrups, and Drew got into position to make the delivery. And Finn and Betty? They just held on as the Ice Queen struggled to eject her tenant. It was tough going, but mother and husband coached and coaxed the pale woman through the process. And when they brought little Jewel to her, Simone's face showed nothing but triumphal delight. Then it was time to wrap things up, get mother and daughter to recovery and postnatal respectively, then go look in on Billy and Abeiuwa. Betty admonished her husband to get going, while she went with Simone to the recovery room.

Abeiuwa, much like all the princesses, was getting older, and while she still looked as fit as the day Finn had first met her what seemed like a lifetime ago, she definitely had miles on the chassis. She struggled with delivering little Adaeze. Standing at the window, looking into the surgery, Finn could see the terror on his son's face, and he prayed for Bill to hold on. He had to hold on because right now Abeiuwa was struggling to keep going. Terrifying thoughts filtered through the big man's mind. He feared that the little girl would be born bent and twisted by what Wildberry had done. He feared that maybe his curse somehow had jumped to Abeiuwa's child. Honestly, there were moments he was a little terrified. Still, Billy stuck it out, holding onto his unexpected wife's hand with all his strength until finally his second child had made her debut.

Unlike with Simone, there was no triumphal celebration in the surgery. Drained as she was, Abeiuwa was barely able to mouth the syllables of her daughter's name before she was unconscious. Billy brought his first daughter out of the surgery, cradling her like she was a delicate glass vase. "What do you think, dad," he murmured? He sounded as if he was in awe. Finn knew the feeling well, because he'd felt it when all three of his first children were born. He didn't begrudge Billy the moment, but Finn was just delighted to know that his granddaughter was breathing and had all her fingers and toes. He told his boy, "get her to the intensive care unit, Bill. You can stare at her later." Shaking off his stupor, Billy flushed to his hair. As he rushed back into to the surgery to hand off his daughter, Finn offered him a heartfelt congratulations.

They had two down. Cherry, Lollipop, Nadia, and Ingrid were still to come with Breakfast waiting in the wings for her turn, and Maja looking like the most risky birth of all. It was his crazy life, and he still had to get back to the palace and go back to work. There were problems waiting on solutions. Sarah had her kelp-to-food process up and running, but it had taken longer than they had wanted. The tide of starving people was starting to break against the Tesla Barrier, and Peanut Kingdom was in danger of being overrun. While he'd put the peanuts in a bad position intentionally to defuse their anger and turn their resources away from making war on the other kingdoms, he didn't want them getting plowed under either.

And he still had to figure out what to do about Hurletta.

His old and dear friend still wanted her sister's scalp, and Finn was fighting down the growing calls from among his own inner circle to hand Blargetha over. They could use 'Letta's troops to reinforce the border. There were gaps and holes in coverage that were worrying Ingrid. If the starving masses in the east moved around Wildberry Kingdom and came at them from the south and east, they could be in Noemi's kingdom or hers in short order. She wanted the Slime Guard patrolling their remaining borders as soon as she could get them. Strudel and Breakfast both wanted to punish Blargetha as a surrogate for Wildberry. Wildberry was a sitting Royal, and somewhat immune to punishment. Blargetha had committed crimes against her own people, and hers was the blood they could enjoy right now.

All the way down the stairs to the first floor, the big man pondered the imponderable. How could he possibly get 'Letta to relent on having her sister murdered without creating an irrecoverable breach in the peace? There weren't a lot of good options, and he wasn't anxious to go for a wallow in the muck right after fighting down the Lich and his undead army both. Unfortunately, no wonderful plan popped into his head as he exited the stairwell, and Finn found himself standing outside the Candy Clinic alone and with no strategy at hand. Climbing into the back of his car, Finn told the driver to take the long way home. He needed time to think.

Hundreds of miles north and east, Gemma walked into a small suite in the ugly pleasure-district west of the forest. The madams had been celebrating since news came of their dubious victory. The decision had been a humiliation for the Matriarch's advisor. Gemma's influence had failed spectacularly. The fails kept right on coming as the Matriarch had departed shortly thereafter for 'home' to see her 'friend', leaving Apolline of all people in charge. The older woman felt a great and abiding sense of unease and worry as she walked into the seedy little hotel. That feeling grew worse as she took in the sight of her master's nasty henchman sitting there in that little room.

Móguĭ was a creature of indeterminate origin. He might have been one of Ooo's mutants. He might have been a demon out of the Night-O-Sphere. What was certain was that he was an ugly, ugly creature who's many crimes made Gemma's own crimes seem like acts of charity. The nymph did her best to hide her terror as she confronted her potential murderer. "Why isn't Chelsea here," she demanded? The misshapen brute answered that question with one of his own, asking, "why is the Grey Forest located on this side of the barrier?" Gemma flushed. She was supposed to induce the King of Ooo to sanction these hedonistic fools. They were leverage on a man who held ultimate power right now. With them protected behind the barricade, they were out of reach of the army.

"She's his woman," Gemma retorted! "How did you think that was going to go?!" It wasn't as if Gemma could compete with a wish-spell. The assassin's hand flexed minutely, causing the nymph to think of those fingers around her neck. Forcing calm into her voice, she said, "I'm still in her confidence. I can maybe influence him through her." The assassin seemed to consider that. Doing her best to sell that idea, the nymph said, "he tells her things. Half his cabinet are his bitches..." The evil man pondered that for several moments. Gemma, poised between life and death, held her breath. "Perhaps you get to live, Gemma," rumbled Móguĭ.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Finn returned home to find a surprise waiting on him. Emeraude. In his office. And looking lovely. Shutting the door in Beeps' face, Finn strode forward and carefully embraced her. She could smell the mediciny smell that told her where he'd been. "Simone," she murmured? "Just went to recovery," Finn replied. "Jewel's fine. Curse is gone..." When she would have apologized for missing the birth, he shushed her. "We'll go see her tomorrow," he said. He bade her sit. They had lots to talk about.

As the former Huntress Wizard listened in fascination, the big man caught her up on doings. She had missed a pile of events. Everything from Jewel's birth to the birth of Billy's little girl. News that Star was having twins floored her. Thor was in for interesting times. As Finn could attest, raising one wood-nymph hellion was a tough proposition. Two at once? The idea left him shivering. On her side, Emeraude had news of her own. She'd reached a compromise with her council. He would have quarters in the Matriarch's compound when next he visited.

Finn greeted that news with his usual humility, promising to follow the rules when he was there. He was more concerned about the other problems he'd witnessed. He wanted to work out something for the building materials problem ASAP. He was also concerned about Marphisa's well-being. Emeraude had pried out of Fionna just what had happened at her aunt's place. She was mortified that somebody would hit her aunt. "She needs help, babe," Finn said. "I... don't like seeing her do that whole sleepless thing night after night..." Before Emeraude could reply, the door opened and Hurletta barged in, looking furious. Beeps' red face told that she'd tried to stop the angry slime person.

"Ok, 'Letta," said Finn. "Let's talk. E? Beeps? Take a walk please." Emeraude clamped her mouth shut on what she'd been about to say. Rising, she straightened her skirt in dignified fashion, somewhat daring Slime Princess to complain. The angry princess fumed, but that was about all she could do. Finn wasn't Bonnie. He seemed to realize he was holding the cards, and he showed no reluctance to use them.

When his wives had gone, the big man turned to his long-time friend and said, "well?" It wasn't a hopeful beginning. He was anything but conciliatory. "You've been avoiding me," she snarled. "Nope," Finn replied. "Been busy putting our world back together. I didn't have time for your anger, 'Letta." That came as something like a slap in the face, and she got in his face and started screaming threats. Finn let her scream until her voice cracked. His expression never wavered.

The King of Ooo declared, "I can bring her out of that dungeon and hand her over tonight, 'Letta, but I want you to answer me one question. What will change?" The slime-person stared at him in confusion. She clearly had no idea how to answer that. "I want her t'die," growled the Slime Princess. It sounded petulant even to her. "'Letta," said Finn. "This isn't going to change anything..." "What would you know about it," growled the princess? What indeed?

"I had to go through this with Bonnie," Finn murmured. "I had to go through it with Emeraude. I had to go through it again with Breakfast and Toast." "That's all well and good," retorted the angry princess, "but you know nothing about what this feels like!" "Don't I," he retorted. "You forget, 'Letta. I lived this. I had a... a thing in my skull, whispering to me for days. I had those thoughts in my head for weeks afterwards. All the ugly things it was going to do to the people I loved... with my hands." Hurletta's face whipped around, and she had the sense to be a little embarrassed. She had forgotten that. It had been the talk of the Council for a while. What had that done to their hero? What was Finn now? Did he still have all that ugliness inside him? They'd all talked about it, but nobody had thought about how he felt.

"It wanted to torture Simone," Finn whispered. "It wanted to cut my baby from her body while she was still alive. It wanted to hurt E in every way that she feared. When I fought it for control of my body... the more I fought it, the more it showed me those things. It was like living those moments. I know exactly how you feel because I've felt it so many times I've wanted never to feel again."

Venting her pain and anger, Hurletta slapped him several times. Stoically, Finn let her. Dr. P had taught him that this was part of recovery too. You had to get angry to get well. He just had to steer her past her rage. Softly, he told her, "when I caught up with my dad and his dudes, and I'd faced them all down, I cut my dad's arm off at the elbow. I beat him with it, and I would have kept on beating him and beating him and beating him because I just knew what he'd been doing to Peebles. E had to stop me. After, I was ashamed to be a dude, and I was afraid to even touch Bonnie–even to hug her–when I wanted so much to comfort her. I was so sick after that creature stole my body, I couldn't even sleep in the same bed with Simone. It made my skin crawl. Not because of her, but because of what he'd made me feel."

Those words shocked the princess, and she stood there staring at him. Nodding, he told her, "after I learned about Toast and Beeps... about what Wildberry did to them, I sent someone out to find the men who hurt them because I was gonna' hurt every last one of them... bad. I was going to hurt them and hurt them and hurt them while Toast watched. But Beeps talked me out of it. She talked sense into me."

Resting his hands on her shoulders, the big man studied her. "You can't go back, 'Letta," he said. "You can't make it go away no matter how many times you hurt somebody else. You'll be right back where you started. Angry and bitter and wishing it would go away. Only you'll know that you murdered your sister. Just like I did in my dad." It was as plain as the nose on her face that she hadn't thought that far ahead and really had no idea what it actually meant to have what she'd so fervently wanted.

The princess was reduced to tears in just a couple of breaths. He let her cry on him. He let her cry until she was all cried out. "I missed you," he sighed. "I was terrified she'd hurt you and worried that I'd never see you again. I'm glad you're ok. I'm here for you. I helped Peebles get through what my dad did to her, and Dr. P helped me get through what that thing did to me. Now you and me, we're going to work on this together. Ok?" Nodding, she kissed his cheek.

Stepping back, Finn said, "I'd like you to return to the Inner Council. I could use good advice... when you're ready of course..." Her breath caught. Finn said, "you're good with money. I need that kind of help." "O-ok," she burbled. Smiling, Finn sat her down and talked her through all that he had going on. It wanted to make her head spin. He hadn't been lieing about that. He was a busy little bastard. In the end, she left not with her evil sister's broken corpse but homework. Finn had a pile of work for his new treasurer to do.

In the no-man's land that lay between Emerald and Laurel Kingdoms, prince Qasim Qassam stood at the dice table in an illicit gambling hall looking at long odds. He'd really screwed up this time. Staring at the loss of an emerald worth many thousands of gold coins, he could only think of his aunt's unpleasant reaction. Princess Aysun was going to kill him! The moralists preached it. The gambling house always won. Anybody fool enough to enter such a place was doomed. Qasim, of all his people, was particularly proscribed. He was heir to the throne! They couldn't have a gambling addict be heir!

Unfortunately, Qasim was thirty-thousand coins in the hole. He'd put the emerald up as collateral because he had no money left, but if he quit now, they couldn't give him half an emerald in change. He would be going home without the treasure. Eventually his aunt would find out. Shortly after, he might be looking for his head. "You playing," demanded the croupier? Now it appeared he was out of time to even ponder what to do. With a sigh, Qasim raised his hand, closed his eyes, and hurled the dice, praying as never before. "Snakeyes," called the attendant! "Table wins!" Qasim's heart sank. Unfortunately, things were about to get much worse.

As the stunned prince stared, two hulking brutes locked onto his arms. No-one said a word as the thugs hauled the hapless royal away. "Wait," he howled! "I-I... W-why're you doing this?!" The implacable bruisers kept right on trucking. Of course since he'd ditched his bodyguards for this little jaunt into sin, he had nobody to call for help or to rescue him. They might not even know where to look.

The young prince was hauled through the Forbidden Door. He'd seen men and women get caught out betting too high, losing too much, or worse, cheating. They got snatched up, dragged through the forbidden door, and most were never seen again. Qasim had wondered how he would handle that. The vain or studly swore they'd go like men. Qasim had sworn the same, even though, deep-down he knew he was a chicken. Now, instead of going stoically, he screamed like a girl.

The space behind that door was dark, dank, and frightening, contrasting starkly with the casino. As those ugly men dragged him down the long, dim corridors, he got an impression of a deep, dark, cavernous bunker. The casino was but a small part of the space, and he was finally seeing its true face. That knowledge terrified him. Not that he was given a lot of time to dwell on that. His captors dragged him into a darkened room that felt like a tomb. They drug him up in front of a strange woman with chalky-white skin and horns curving up from her temples.

Fingering his lost emerald, the stranger opined, "you appear to have something of an addiction, Prince Qasim..." Leaning forward, she said, "I imagine you'd like to have this back..." The prince flushed. He was desperate to have the stone back. Smiling a sinister smile, the evil creature said, "the deal is this. You pledge obedience. I give you the stone." "If I don't," he rumbled? With a shrug, she said, "you never walk out of here again..."

Hmm... Who's Gemma working for?