The door to the tree house flew open as Finn and Jake quickly stepped through. Their arms were hanging. Finn had a small scratch across his right cheek. They were both covered in dirt. Slowly, they made their way to the couch. As they did, Flame Princess noticed a slight limp in Finn's walk. Looking more closely, she saw that the cause of the limp was a black bruise on his left leg.

"Hi, Finn. Hi, Jake," BMO beeped as he entered the room.

Finn responded, "Hey, BMO, can you get me some bandages?"

"Sure." The little robot quickly ran off.

As they sat down, they let out a sigh. "Remember the good old days when we would be back from adventuring in time for dinner?" Jake said.

"Yeah, but it looks like our adventures are getting more epic." A brief silence followed his statement.

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time, I choose the adventure," Jake said.

"No way, don't you remember what happened last time?" Finn said as he pulled off his shoes, revealing his white socks with rust coloured stains before sitting back down on the couch.

"Nope," Jake said after a moment of contemplation.

"You don't remember being gone for three days to fight a Minotaur? We walked all that way, thinking we were going to fight something awesome and instead we found a tar minnow," Finn said while taking off his socks and revealing his raw, blistered and bloody feet. He then sat back in his spot, closed his eyes and relaxed.

Jake laughed, "Oh yeah. You have to admit, it was kinda cute."

Finn laughed as well. "Yeah." They both sat still, leaning back into the couch with closed eyes and rested.

#

She saw Finn bring a large pile of books over to his table. After doing so, he took a seat and began to quickly flip through the top book of the stack. He found a page and lay the book to rest as he felt his way around the table. His hands found a pen. Finally tearing himself away from the book, he scanned the table but failed to find what he was looking for.

He opened the drawer and felt his way around. Finding something, he pulled it out. He found himself face to face with a candle and his expression changed into a frown. She heard him force a laugh and watched as he tossed the candle back before pulling out a piece of paper from the drawer. He sat back down and began to write. His thoughts lingered on a thousand different subjects though none involved the candle.

#

Finn sat on the couch with his eyes covered with his hands.

"You alright, Finn?" Jake said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just frustrated is all." He didn't remove his hands.

"Why? I thought you were learning how to be an awesome sword fighter."

Finn signed in response. "He's a good teacher, he really is, but he isn't a human. I tried to learn as much as I could but he is so used to his own abilities...I don't think he can teach me anymore." Finally he removed his hands, revealing his tired eyes.

"What are you going to do then?"

"I don't know."

#

Finn, no longer wearing his hat and revealing his short blonde hair, searched through the room. He found a sword, lifted it and returned it to its place. Finally, after repeating this process three or four times, he found one he was happy with. It was by far the biggest and heaviest.

He placed the swords flat on his shoulder and only stopping to grab a book from the nearby table, left through the door. He gave himself some distance from the house before placing the book and sword down on the ground.

He opened the book to a page and stood with his sword. Flame Princess could see a crude drawing of a human holding the sword over his head. To her eye, Finn was now a perfect reflection of it. She watched as he started to practice. His thoughts were relaxed.

With a quick movement, he brought the sword down and into another stance. Something felt wrong. She watched as he tried the same attack again. That's better.

He started with the same stance a third time. His sword struck down with incredible speed. He was in another stance. His sword struck up quickly. He stabbed forward with the end of his sword.

He struck down quickly. He struck up quickly. He stabbed forward.

Struck down. Struck up. Stabbed forward. His attacks got faster and faster.

Why am I enjoying this? What is wrong with me? Flame Princess was surprised to hear Finn thinking such a thing. The strikes and attacks became faster and more varied. His thoughts continued to critique the form and precision of his attacks. Footing is too loose. I held the sword too low. Right heel needs to be lifted.

His movement still seemed to be slower and less precise than the real Finn to Flame Princess's inexperienced eye. Still, it was an impressive sight. His thoughts seemed to drift farther and farther away, giving Flame Princess the impression he wasn't thinking at all. She thought that by now, she would have gotten used to seeing such memories. She could only stare.

Strike. Strike. Stab. He was faster yet. His breathe became laboured. Still, he wouldn't stop. More strikes rained.

Strike. Strike. Stab. His face was covered in sweat. His clothes clung to him. He didn't notice.

Strike. Strike. Stab. Only now exhaustion reached him. It was not enough to stop him. He struck again and again.

Finally, he reached his limit. His sword dropped to the ground. He collapsed, his limbs feeling heavy. His thoughts flooded back as he tried to catch his breathe.

#

Darkness was everywhere. The only source of light seemed to be a distant ember. By instinct or some strange force, Flame Princess floated towards it.

As the light grew, a form became visible. She recognized the sword wielding figure immediately. It was Finn. He stood on the end of a floating stone. Behind him lay nothing. The path ahead was obscured by darkness. Not even the light he radiated could pierce it. To either side of him lay nothing but a fall. Due to the size, there was no way for more than one person to stand on the visible portion of the path. Below him she could see a crowd beyond count. From Flame People to Candy People, it seemed all manner of people were below him. She thought, just for a moment, she saw herself in the crowd.

He walked forward as tendrils of darkness lashed at him. He responded with his sword, splitting them with two handed swings as he stepped forward. The path behind him crumbled and fell, leaving him the exact same amount of space as before. Despite his best efforts, one of the tendrils grazed his face. She could clearly see the long and seemingly deep scratch on his forehead but before she got the chance to see it bleed, Finn ran his left hand over it. It disappeared.

He glowed brighter. No other tendrils managed to make contact as he went forward and struck a relatively quick pace forward. His thoughts seemed to come into focus. A voice, unnaturally deep yet originating from Finn's mind, caught Flame Princess's attention. You could burn it all away with your light if you wanted.

Finn's voice answered though his lips didn't move. I could.

He stopped using both hands on the sword and instead used only one. His skill and glow however did not diminish. One detail haunted her. No one below seemed to notice what Finn was doing or that he was even there.

"Stop," a familiar voice shouted. She turned to see Finn floating beside her. Everything crumbled.

#

She found herself standing in the tree house again, surrounded by the familiar objects she remembered happily. She saw the form of a large bird in front of Finn. She could tell that Finn was concentrating extremely hard to make this place a reality. The bird looked relaxed.

"How did you do that?" the bird asked.

"These are my dreams." He took a moment just to stare at the creature. "Don't ever visit my dreams again." He did not sound happy.

"You were supposed to see more than that."

Finn spoke directly and clearly, "I don't care. I don't want your dreams. They haven't helped me."

"I'm only trying to help. Please, just watch," the bird pleaded.

"No. If you have something you want to tell me, tell me. Otherwise, just leave my dreams."

A small pause seemed to accent his statement. "Be careful," the bird said sadly before fading away.

Finn stood in the room for a moment in silence. He held out his hand and a sword materialized in his hands. Quickly, he started to practice again. The sword whistled through the air. One thought screamed from Finn's mind. I must be perfect.

#

She recognized Ice King's home instantly. There was Finn, knocking on the door.

"Oh, hey, Finn. This is great! I just got new drum sticks. Or maybe we can play a board game or something," Ice King's voice creaked.

"Sounds good, but don't you remember my phone call? I was hoping to look through some of your books."

"Yeah, anything for a friend. I was just hoping you forgot about that boring stuff. And after maybe...," Ice King said as he let Finn inside and started leading him through the icy caverns of his icy home. Just looking at the place made Flame Princess feel colder.

"Yeah, sounds like fun. You'll need to provide the instruments though. I didn't bring anything."

"I'm sure I'll be able to find something. Ah, here we are." Ice King led Finn through the door and into a room full of book cases.

Ice King went and sat down in one of the chairs as Finn began looking through the stacks. That won't have anything about the sword, or that. As Finn did so, Ice King started to tap on the table and scan the room.

"I'll just go find some board games and an instrument for you," Ice King said as he got up and left the room, leaving Finn alone with the books. Time ceased to exist as she watched him go through each section, looking for anything that sounded like it contain what he was after. Having found only one collection of folklore, he sat quickly skimmed the titles of the stories contain within. Even here, there isn't one mention of it? Why? The only other place left is the Flame Kingdom. Probably not worth it though. Finn just stared at the wall and thought of what to do next, where to search next or whether to simply go looking for the sword. In the middle of forming a list of things he'd need for his trips, the door opened, dragging him back into reality.

"Are you done yet? I've found a bunch of movies, board games, and other stuff."

"Yeah, let's go." She saw he wore a weak smile.

#

Finn, finished packing his large backpack, put it on. Clearly visible on the outside was a thick coat and a sleeping bag. He began to search the room.

"Hey, dude, going after the sword? You know that phoenix might have just been crazy," Jake said, holding a sword in his hands. It seemed to be simple in its design, with a hand guard that slightly curved up towards the blade and a handle just big enough for two hands. The sheath the sword was in prevented her from getting a good look at the blade itself.

"Yeah, but I could do so much with that sword. I could help so many people. Besides, why would he lie to me after I saved him?" His voice seemed sad to Flame Princess.

"You need to relax. You help people enough as it is. Have some fun." Jake was answered only with a shrug. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. It might just be a waste of time anyway."

"Anyway, here, I hope you like it. Try not to break this one too," Jake said handing the sword over to Finn.

Finn quickly put on the belt and drew the word. He held it out away from himself for a moment, the point facing forward, before trying a quick slash. "Thanks, Jake. It's a good sword. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Don't forget to take food and stuff," Jake said.

"I've already got everything." Finn walked towards the door, past a small pile of broken and ruined swords, only stopping to grab his thick coat. She quickly counted that there must have been nine and eleven broken swords in the pile. He walked through the door and was gone.

#

Flame Princess found herself standing in the middle of a lab. She quickly noticed Finn by the door as it closed behind him and noticed a figure she assumed to be Princess Bubblegum, wearing a lab coat, turn around and face him. Finally being able to see her face, she was able to confirm it.

"Hey, Peebles."

"Hey, Finn. You're really going?"

"Yeah. I don't think I'll be gone too long. Maybe a month or so." I hope so. The longer I think about it the more it looks like a bad idea. That Phoenix better have told the truth.

"I've made more for you, since you seem to be going through this stuff like it's water. I guess it is mostly water but still, be careful and come back soon," Princess Bubblegum said as she handed him another tiny bottle.

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

"I did the best I could on such short notice. If you can wait a little longer, I can make you more for your trip."

"No this is fine. Thanks again PB."

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No, I'm all good to go. Try not to get into too much trouble without me. I'm sure you can handle it but I'd feel bad missing out on the fun."

"I will. See you soon."

"Bye, Finn." Flame Princess thought she could see a bit of worry on Princess Bubblegum's face as Finn turned his back and started walking.

#

She found herself in a place she didn't recognize. The darkness of the cave made it harder to see, but even so, she could see Finn knocking on the door of the house that lay inside the cavern.

"Oh, hey, Finn," said the floating vampire that answered the door.

"Hey, Marcy, up for a jam? I probably won't get another chance for a while."

"So you are going through with it?"

"Yeah. You don't sound very surprised."

"You look like you could use a vacation. Come on in," she said as she left the door open.

She heard one last thought from Finn. Is that what I'm doing? Going on vacation?

Flame Princess's eyes flew open as she sat up. Realizing where she was and what had happened, she immediately checked her hand and was happy to see she hadn't accidentally dropped or flung the orb. Despite the temptation of more sleep, she quickly pulled herself out of bed and got dressed.

As she walked through the halls, she tried to remember every detail of her dreams. How Finn looked like. What he was doing. Anything she may have missed that could be important in helping him. Before she knew it, she had reached her destination. Standing for a moment, unsure of what to do, she finally settled on a course of action.

She tried the doorknob to Finn's room, hoping he was awake and had left the door unlocked. Feeling it turn, she opened the door. Inside the room looked pristine. Though it was possible that he simply cleaned up after himself, she thought for sure something, like the blankets and pillows on the bed, would have been visibly moved. Nothing was disturbed and Finn was nowhere to be seen. Did he leave already?

She closed the door again and walked through the halls, keeping an eye out for him. She found no one but servants and CB, who she sent to find a jeweller. She had one last guess left. She felt uneasy.

Finally arriving, she pushed open the door to the library. There, standing behind the table with two large stacks of books to either side of him and sword easily in reach from its position on the table, she saw him. He looked awake and aware. Recognizing her, Finn sat back down.

"Good morning, FP."

"Good morning, Finn."

Finn had already returned to reading his book. He didn't seem tired in the least. "How did you sleep?" she asked him as she tried her best to make small talk.

His voice was plain and clear, "I didn't." It was also obvious that some of his attention was directed to the book.

"What?"

He shrugged. "I told you I don't sleep much. Besides, there is too much to do."

She stood in silence, not knowing what else to do or what else to say. She just stood there until the door creaked open behind her.

Turning around, she saw the frame of CB. "The jeweller is waiting in the throne room."

"Finn, did you..." Turning back to the human, she saw that he was already on his feet with a stack of books in hand.

"I heard." He walked quickly to the bookcase and put every book back into its place without hesitation before returning for the next stack. He remembered where every one of them belonged. Having quickly finished, he grabbed his sword belt and in what seemed to be one smooth motion, put it on. Just as quickly he put on his backpack. His last course of action was picking up the chair he had previously sat in and returning it to its original position, back towards the door and front towards the window. When he was done, there was no sign left that he was ever in the room. "Let's go."

Flame Princess and Finn walked out of the library as Cinnamon Bun held the door open and closed the door behind them. "You can go if you want, CB. I'll be fine."

"Be careful," Cinnamon Bun said as he heeded her word. The implicit command was not lost on him. Though she felt bad, based on everything that had happened, even her being there may have been one person too many for Finn. He hadn't even said why he needed a jeweller, but her best guess was that it involved the necklace and based on his behaviour, it had to be important.

Without another word spoken between the two of them, they arrived in the throne room and moved towards the flame person that stood in front of the throne. Despite the profession of jeweller, he seemed to be plainly dressed in simple brown clothing. As soon as he saw who approached, he went into a low bow.

"Your Majesty, how can I be of service?"

"My friend here needed your help," she answered while pointing with her hand.

"Would you be able to fix this? The pin in here is bent and I need it straightened," Finn said as he handed a small but simple piece of silvery material. She could see the ring at the top, probably intended for a chain to go through.

The jeweller took and examined the object Finn had held out to him. It clicked as it opened up, revealing the pin. He examined it with a slight frown on his face. "I think so, but what material is this? It almost feels like silver epitropile."

"It is."

The jewellers face lit up. "This much of it? Never mind, that doesn't matter. I can have it done for you in about five days."

"I probably won't be able to pick it up for about a week so don't worry about it." Having said that, Finn thought for a moment before continuing. "Where would I pick it up?"

"He can bring it here so we can keep it safe for you. I can pay him too, to save the trouble," Flame Princess said after hearing Finn's words. She was barely aware she had said it.

"That sounds great to me if it is fine with my client." The metal object was still visible in his hand.

"That's fine. How much is it going to cost anyway?"

"Well, it is special work but it won't require any extra material. A small chunk of gold or silver should be enough."

"Awesome." With that word from Finn, the jeweller put the metallic object into his pocket.

"Is there anything else?" In response, Flame Princess just looked to Finn.

"Nah. Thanks, dude."

With a bow he started to leave, though with a noticeable spring in his step.

Finn watched him leave until he was out of sight. Finally, he turned to Flame Princess. "Probably about time I got moving too. Thanks for everything."

She finally remembered that he said he would be gone for a week. "You have to go now? It's still early."

"Yeah, there is a bunch of stuff I have to take care of. You're probably busy anyway. Oh, here," he said as he reached into his backpack and handed Flame Princess a tiny dark vial. It felt cold in her hands and didn't seem to get any warmer. "It should be able to help you get all of your powers back. The only problem is it will hurt a lot since it's water based and drinking it would probably be best. According to your books, it should work...I think."

"You think?" She held the bottle and stared at it. If I had my full powers...

"I'm just giving you an option. If you try to use it, you should do it outside the Fire Kingdom. That way it won't just turn to steam. It will be fine in the bottle though." He paused for a second. "Can you promise me not to give it to anyone else for any reason? Not even to hold?"

"Of course, you gave it to me." She worked up the courage to ask a question of her own. "Finn, did you spend all that time in the library working on this?"

"Well, part of it." The silence lasted for a few long moments. "I guess see you in a week then."

"Don't forget to come back." Flame Princess couldn't help but see the similarities to the goodbyes she had seen that night.

"I won't. Bye, FP."

"Bye, Finn." He started walking away but turned his body back and waved.

She waved back and saw him turn back around and start walking away. Looking at him as he walked away, she finally noticed that the clothes he wore looked exactly the same as she remembered them, including their proportions when compared to Finn's body. However, she was sure that he was taller than before.

Soon, he disappeared into the distance. With Finn gone, she stood there alone with her thoughts and the bottle still held in her hands. She didn't know how long it took, but eventually she remembered that she had work she had to do. The colour of the sky reminded her that it was still early in the morning. She couldn't help but feel that it was going to be a long day.

This has been a long time coming and unfortunately it is a setup chapter. Sorry once again for the long wait. I still hope you guys enjoy it and Merry Christmas.

Gold Testament: I think it would be fair to say that it's complicated.

Fiery Crusader: That is for sure going to be a major point in chapters going forward.

Oobserver: I greatly appreciate the praise, especially since it was one of elements I had hoped to be able to create to make my story special.

Writingsterner: I hope you feel the same with this chapter and thanks again.

Fundindar: This chapter is fight light but as time goes on there will be some. I'll also be trying to make it in my own experimental style.

Broken In7: Hope this one gives you some answers but also some intrigue.

rbvictor: Thank you so much!

Luciana Light: Those are some good questions, but I'm afraid I planned to use those as part of the story. The reason for more characters not playing major roles comes down to the isolated way the Fire Kingdom has been portrayed. Thanks again for the kind words.