Chapter OST: Requiem for a Dream
Phoebe quickly broke out of her trance as the grass sword made its way towards her. Her upper body was twisted backwards to the left, and the blade swooshed all the way down until Finn held it back up to its starting position. His face remained emotionless despite Phoebe staring at him imploringly, and soon enough he began to twirl both of his swords briefly before going out on the offensive.
The elemental drew out two blades for herself when she realized Finn had no intention of stopping. Her right hand conjured a blue flame sword, while her other held the obsidian blade recovered from the meadows. Her mind was spiraling with a torrent of emotions upon seeing the man she had yearned for over the years, but her eyes frowned in concentration. She knew she didn't want to fight him, but her life was once again placed in the delicate balance between life and death. With that in mind, the elemental mustered all the strength her heart and mind could handle and advanced. Their blades clashed audibly as they struck against each other. One by one, both duelists mirrored each other's movements as they swung forward and sideways with basic strikes.
During the fight, Phoebe noticed Finn kept the same stoic expression. His eyes were still obscured from a shadowy veil that didn't fade away from Phoebe's natural light, and his body showed no signs of sweat or exertion. Whenever the human dished out a strong swing with one of his weapons, he would still remain calm and collected as though he were idle. It drove the elemental crazy, thinking she was fighting a battle that could have already been decided from the very beginning. But as she peered at his face, it remained unreadable like a mask. Somehow she didn't feel any malice being directed at her, nor was there any trace of amusement. For all she knew, Finn was just acting mindlessly as though he were a machine devoid of thought and emotion. His sole purpose: to end the elemental's life.
Just as Phoebe blocked and absorbed his continuous strikes however, the elemental blinked in sudden realization. Finn's combat prowess seemed a bit.. off. As far as she remembered, Finn would have already used his powers to cast either a spiraling arc wind projectile or a even a plasma shot to overwhelm her defense. His current fighting style was definitely conservative unlike his previous one where he sought to hasten the battle with speed, power, and agility. Unless the human was trying to gauge the elemental like a new opponent, Phoebe was proving herself to be more than able to hold out on her own.
"His moves are recognizable," she thought during the fight. "Everything about him seems undeniable, but-" Her eyes slightly watered as she reflected momentarily. "It can't be him," she admitted in sorrow.
Finn noticed the elemental slightly falter in between and landed a straight right kick at her sternum. Phoebe grunted in pain from the impact as she found herself knocked backwards off her feet, but then she used her flames to somersault in the same direction to quickly recover. Once she landed on her feet in a battle stance, her expression switched one to frowning.
"This isn't him," she argued mentally as her memories recalled all the details prior to her previous encounter. "I saw his last moments, I saw the look of anguish in his eyes.. and I saw his burial." From that moment, Phoebe felt like she had a mountain of grief to carry on her shoulders. However, the feeling was short-lived as her recollection began transitioning to the times she attempted to move on.
"I mourned for Finn everyday since he left," her mind stated as she readied her weapons. "But I also took strength from my friends to persevere even when it seemed pointless. There is without a doubt I would have tried making amends earlier if given the chance to go back, but I know better than to dwell on the what-ifs." Her teeth clenched in determination as she continued, "I've confined myself into this tunnel of depression long enough! Finn may be gone, but that doesn't mean he will ever be forgotten. I will love him as long as I live and breathe, and I will always cherish the memories we've shared together. He wouldn't want me to live in the past constantly blaming myself no matter how reasonable it seems, he would just want me to move forward."
The elemental fought at the same level of intensity moments later. Her blades clashed audibly with Finn's as they matched each other's strengths, neither of their resolve faltering. Finn slammed forward with his right hand diagonally and then he quickly followed up with a harder strike with his alternate hand. Phoebe grunted in pain as she absorbed the attacks with her blades but she continued to maintain focus.
With the elemental besting him at every turn, Finn began to change tactics. He continued to use his physical strength and speed to slip past Phoebe's defense at different angles, but her reflexes were still sharp in doing so. Fortunately for him, he was relying on this fact as he attempted to lure Phoebe into a false sense of security. He studied her eyes and facial expressions when he deliberately made himself repeat the same attack pattern. Once the elemental saw the chance to counter upon taking the bait, she swung downward diagonally with her left hand. Finn adjusted his footing as he readied himself and moments later he jumped forward sideways, spinning counterclockwise. While he evaded the elemental at first, Finn also held his blades to counterattack like a spinning top. Phoebe had only milliseconds to recover and dodge after she missed. Although she managed to survive, the elemental winced in pain from a superficial cut made across her torso. Her eyes widened in shock as she noticed a small stream of magma blood trickling on her skin before readjusting her defensive stance.
"It may not be the real him," she thought. "But he's still dangerous. I'll need to bring him down quickly before he starts using any more tricks."
Phoebe still had difficulty defeating him despite overcoming her personal struggles. Even though she managed to land a few hits on Finn's torso, the human continued to fight without reacting to pain or fatigue. He moved with indifference, disregarding emotions like anger and hate. The only thing that seemed to change however was the fact he fought more skillfully as he sustained more damage overall. Phoebe had to exercise vigilance as her rival started to twirl one blade as a diversion before using the other to actually attack. When the adventurer realized his tactic wasn't working, he switched over to a fighting style mixed with sheer power and acrobatics. Phoebe would stagger from each blow that she blocked with her swords and lean her upper body in a direction whenever the human attempted to exploit an opening. Needless to say Finn's swordsmanship proved to make him worthy of possessing the title as Ooo's champion. Not many were known to defeat him, let alone survive.
But then, it occurred to the elemental. This was nothing more than an illusion, a battle that was being intentionally drawn out when it should have ended decisively. She was still holding back, only relying on her basic level of strength when she should have been using her flames to turn the tide. She could try to win by fighting Finn with her current strategy, but the problem was that she felt herself tiring whereas Finn did not. The answer to defeating him became clear to the elemental, but with it came an all too familiar cost.
Phoebe felt the raw emotional pain course through her heart as she recalled her last duel with Finn. It started with her fallen on both knees, shocked and devastated upon discovering the identity of Princess Bubblegum's bodyguard. She cared for the human tremendously despite their time apart, and the fact she was forced to raise her blade against him was all too unbearable. Only when she watched her friends fall one by one did Phoebe decide to engage in mortal combat. The fate of her people rested solely on her shoulders that day, and the elemental knew she had no choice but to put aside her personal interests. But as the pain lingered for a seemingly long time however, memories of attempting to move on gradually brought her solace. Suddenly the advice she had been given from Marcy and Betty on a daily basis began to comfort Phoebe's heart. The pain subsided away like a parting storm and in its place came newfound strength.
As Finn attacked relentlessly with a series of flurry strikes, Phoebe studied his movements. With extreme patience and determination, the elemental angled her blades defensively waiting for an opening. After a few moments, Finn somersaulted in place to deliver a powerful smash with both swords. Phoebe took a deep breath to dodge to safety and then narrowed her vision.
"One," Phoebe counted mentally as Finn started to attack with a right horizontal slash and blocked accordingly.
"Two," her eyes glowed completely red orange as though she displayed her authoritative gaze and channeled her flames. By then, Finn followed up with a left quick diagonal slash by twirling once in place, only to miss as Phoebe leaned back sideways.
"Three," she exhaled as her body glowed brightly and criss-crossed her swords against the human's. For a split second, Finn tried bringing his blades downward in a power struggle. Just when it seemed he would tower over the elemental, Phoebe shifted her swords to redirect the weight, pushed upwards to expose his guard, and then slashed diagonally to the right with her flame sword.
The human hunched forward momentarily as the final blow was struck. His form started to falter as his arms draped to his sides, and it seemed like he would collapse facedown in suit. However that never came as Finn suddenly stood upright with his blades in a combat stance, almost as though he was instantly healed back to full health without warning. Phoebe felt like she would have had a hard attack upon this discovery, but was quickly relieved when she noticed Finn's form was fading away like a ghost. His body disappeared from bottom to top along with the wounds sustained. His swords hovered in midair despite his limbs vanishing, and moments later they also faded away into nothingness.
Phoebe discarded her weapons and covered her face with both palms as she dropped to her knees with a rush of sadness overwhelming her. She already had a general idea of the temple offering a test on everyone's personal struggles, but it still felt unexpected. Had the overall atmosphere been less eerie without the constant darkness and the fake apparitions of herself and Marcy, Phoebe would have recklessly rushed towards Finn to embrace him, apologizing profusely for every single thing she could think of. And then all of a sudden, her mind told her to recompose herself as her eyes settled on the red gem piece that spontaneously materialized and hovered in the center of the chamber. It still looked exactly the same as Phoebe had left it, except that it seemed to glow with a white hue as though the entity within had been cleansed from corruption. Phoebe sniffled and dried her tears shortly after and then proceeded to retrieve the object.
"Finn..." The elemental murmured to herself.
Before anything else happened, the exit doors opened on cue where it lead back to the main room. Phoebe studied the gem once again thinking her test was complete, but frowned when a single thought crossed her mind. It was obvious she took on the entity of sadness, but why on Earth was there a vision of Marcy and herself beside the human? What purpose did it serve if all they did was disappear just before the fight? The elemental kept pondering for answers, but one thing remained certain. She needed to meet back with her friends and hope they would also pass their own trials in the meantime.
"I may not know what that was all about," Phoebe spoke in her thoughts as she studied the gem in her hand. "But somehow I have a feeling I will see him again. Until then, I will keep you in the depths of my heart."
Her hand clutched into a fist moments later and she exited the chamber, a hardened expression in her eyes.
