Flanella

Act XIII: The Hanged Man Part II

"The Hanged Man presents certain truths, but they are hidden in their opposites. It is a card about suspension, rather than life or death. A belief or perspective, a wish, dream or hope must be sacrificed to bring change."

–Tarot, Major Arcana

His vision faded, the light of day flickering as his opponent drew its fist back from his stomach. Would he open his eyes to greet life once more after collapsing unconscious? Finn ignored it. His body fell flat on the ground, defenseless, at the mercy of an unsparing stone warrior and its ice spear. More soldiers of the same nature arrived and surrounded the fallen human, dragging more knocked out victims with them. As if with a silent agreement, the foe that had beaten Finn down grasped his mechanical arm, hauling the seemingly dead body along the rugged earth, in the same way as its allies.

Giving himself up to the enemy, what a treacherous tactic. If Sir Rattleballs somehow found out about this, he would unleash a fury of spoiled eggs upon him. But desperate times called for desperate measures, if he remembered well. Cinnamon Bun said it; better beg for forgiveness than asking for permission.

In a way I was forced to become the villain of the story, outlaw number one of the Candy Kingdom. The one who steals from its princess, betraying the trust she once deposited on him, and busts down the door of its greatest hero —only to punch his face.

For I couldn't just go back to Princess Bubblegum and ask her to lend me a hand with this, just in the same way I didn't wait for Flame Princess' consent to do what I was about carry out. It would have only delayed that which needed to be done with haste. Our time was growing short.

For once the legacy that Princess Bubblegum laid down on me when I was nothing but an assistant would come in handy. Though, it's still unknown to me why did she allow me to accompany her in her devious experiments. If I recall correctly, Princess Bubblegum had no hopes whatsoever on my brains and skills. Perhaps, the gold fish-like attention span that I possessed back then, guaranteed that I would not denounce the dark side of her experimentation.

Believe me when I tell you, Finn, what you've seen of Bubblegum's laboratory —although twisted and demented— it's only the surface. She let you and the rest of the kingdom meet the Earl of Lemongrab, addressing him as the first of her experiments to go wrong; when behind him there were others. Failed attempts, disfigured beings that dwell within the depths of her underground Royal Dungeon.

She keeps many things hidden, even from her own subjects and friends. All that surrounds her are secrets. You've seen it before; she lied about her age, her parents… It's her way of protecting herself from others. No wonder every Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty I've escorted Flame Princess to, ended up in disaster whenever she and Bubblegum engaged in an argument. The level of honesty in the Land of Ooo concerned my king gravely. Princess Bubblegum shared that same concern but in an opposite way. After all, Bubblegum (if she can't destroy them) keeps her mysteries, her failures and mistakes concealed under the veil of secrecy that has always coated the continent.

And I must admit, she had a point in defending the right of privacy in Ooo. Flame Princess' policy of absolute truth, however good intentioned, was unsustainable. Convincing her of this cost me much, and eventually she learned to respect the right of privacy the hard way. Mainly through the civil war threat that continued to spread itself throughout the Fire Kingdom.

Flanella… I knew the answer to Flame Princess' struggle lied in Bubblegum's laboratory. I was there during the creation of Lemongrab, Goliad and others. I knew of her candy life recipe and of her other researches on the conception of life. Princess Bubblegum's obsession with eternal existence compelled her to study the very origins of life: mechanic animation, resurrection, and reproductive behaviors.

Of one thing I was sure, and it was that I couldn't bring the future heir of the Fire Kingdom to life in the same way Princess Bubblegum created the original inhabitants of the Candy Kingdom. The candy life recipe alone was useless. To make this sham believable, I needed to get Flame Princess to undergo the most normal process of gestation possible. Somehow I had to made her conceive a candy/fire elemental hybrid, for the child was supposed to be mine. Though, the very thought of it still bothers me greatly.

I've always wanted to protect Flame Princess, not to possess her. This fallacy that we had chosen to build was wrong in many levels. What we were trying to fake verged on the immoral, the disrespect for life itself. Not that Princess Bubblegum cared about any of those things when she was in her mad scientist mode, but to me, it never felt right.

This meant toying with Flame Princess' body, as if her organism wasn't already unstable enough. Whenever I sneaked into Bubblegum's lab to lose myself for hours, stealing information, diving in her stash of private tests and questions in the middle of being answered, I pondered on the consequences that might follow. What if this child ends up being an abomination like those Bubblegum kept imprisoned in her secret royal dungeon? What if I endangered Flame Princess' life by doing this?

Would it have been better to just push her into marrying any other suitor willing to court her? Let her lose her virginity at the hands of a vulture, waiting to seize the throne for himself. How much trouble would that had saved me? She would have lost her crown either way! But Flame Princess had showed me her care and compassion —the beautiful heart that beats within her. I couldn't just abandon her. I had to defend her happiness. It was my duty above all things.

Like a rat digging on garbage, that's how I often felt. And digging like a rat among piles of withered achieves was when I came across some documents about human biology. You see, I encountered many problems when I experimented on my own candy tissue and some of Flambo's elemental DNA. And as Princess Bubblegum had hypothesized, based on some of her antique research: candy people and fire elementals aren't compatible.

Hopefully no one in the Fire Kingdom knew about this, and hopefully no one in all of Ooo except for Bubblegum and me. It was upon this discovery that I thought of my king's star-crossed romance with you, Finn, and how it could turn out to be a possible solution. Human biology became an interesting subject of study then. If I could disguise human cells with my DNA to pass Flanella as my daughter, then I would still have a chance to succeed.

Though, with her fire elemental nature rejecting the candy genes in her DNA, I had to search for a way to keep the disguise active on her, even if it were just temporal. My attention was then drawn towards Bubblegum's Spoon of Prosperity…

x~x~x~x~x

She decided to focus on her breathing. It would keep her alive in the same way it would keep her flames burning. Flame Princess had, not long ago, noticed a change in temperature. The place was getting cold. Perhaps that meant the sun in the surface had begun its journey to the other side of the world. If that were the case, with the night looming upon her, soon the environment would grow even colder. She supposed that underground, thanks to the streams of cold water that ran through the veins of the earth, the temperature would be even lower.

If Furnius had planned out this new form of torture or not, when he stabbed her onto the wall, it was unknown to her. What mattered now was to conserve her internal heat, for the cold temperatures would soon weaken her body and possibly kill her if she fell asleep, letting her flames die out.

Breathe. Flame Princess repeated to herself. She may not be able to escape, but she had to focus on surviving through the freezing night ahead and hope for the best. She couldn't let her own exhaustion consume her. Entering in a meditative trance, Flame Princess' long deep breaths, increased their speed and intensity. The Breath of Fire would maintain her alive. She soon closed her mouth, breathing only through the nose as she continuously pumped her abdomen in and out.

Her blood was quickly oxygenated, generating heat and increasing her natural energy flows. Her flames grew in size and glow as she raised the voltage of her nervous system, charging her aura. She felt her muscles strengthening throughout her body, a sign that her physical endurance was being successfully enhanced by her intense breathing technique.

As her system synchronized in one rhythm, inhalation and exhalation in equal duration, Flame Princess' fear and despair were slowly put under her conscious control. A state of internal harmony took over her. She went back to long deep breathing some minutes afterwards, losing herself in meditation.

The thought of Flanella wouldn't abandon her mind. At times it was as if she could hear her crying, and she wasn't there to comfort her. Why did it feel as if her daughter needed her? Was her stressed mind still playing dirty tricks on her? Flanella was with Finn, therefore, she must be safe. She wanted to believe her baby was safe, away from danger, in the arms of Ooo's greatest hero —a place where she couldn't go back.

It had been hard, but she had grown to love that child as a real mother would. In the beginning though, it had been a different story. Remembering the repudiating attitude that she had once held towards Flanella still ashamed her greatly.

The chain of lies that had prompted her and Cinnamon Bun to fake their romantic relationship had to reach its breaking point one day. And when it did, even the servants of the palace, gossiped between each other, spreading the rumors of the still unachieved consummation.

It was a scandal and she cursed her own laws after it all was inevitably revealed. Something that only Furnius, Torcho, and other members of the royal family were supposed to know couldn't be kept as a secret for long. When the entire Fire Kingdom heard about the king's engagement with her champion, a sort of a wedding night ceremony was to be expected. Nothing too fancy, a party was thrown to homage the sneaky newlyweds and then of course, they were supposed to finally "make things official" by the end of the night.

Why was it such a big deal? Well, because any marriage, more specifically a royal marriage, could be easily nullified if it wasn't fulfilled —which put Flame Princess' reign in grave danger and was the main reason she had embroiled herself in that embarrassing predicament.

She remembered herself, nibbling her nails as she sat on her bed; right after the most awkward soiree of her life had ended. Cinnamon Bun was peeking through their door's keyhole, to make sure no one was around to listen to their conversation. Sadly for them, and both the king and her champion were well aware of it, the walls had ears —and they were expecting to hear more than just a conversation.

"It's no use, the royal guards are on duty! They'll keep wandering about the halls the whole night!" Cinnamon Bun warned.

That confusticating right of privacy, how much she wanted it to be an established policy in her kingdom once more.

Flame Princess stood up, angered. "This is exactly why I'm against lying! Lies just keep getting bigger and bigger until you lose control of the situation!" she approached the conflicted pastry, grasping the strap hung across his chest in a rude manner. "How are we gonna get out of this one now?"

"Calm down, please." He whispered, pointing at the door behind him. "The whole castle will hear you…"

"And that's exactly why I can't calm myself down!" she rebuked. "What are we gonna do, fake it? Do you even know how to fake sex? Because I don't have the slightest idea of how that's supposed to sound!"

She was quite altered. Her stress and agitation were showing through her flames, which burst wildly every now and then, like those of a young fire wolf pulp. If she wasn't careful, she'd blow the room in pieces, any second now.

"Flame Princess, please!" Cinnamon Bun begged, whispering in a more gentle tone. "I need you to get a hold of yourself. I'm here with you, and I'm not going to leave you or fail you, understood?"

She backed away, releasing him. Her face lost some of its natural glow as her features grew disheartened. "I'm sorry." She breathed, sitting back on the bed.

Cinnamon Bun noticed the sudden change she had suffered. He took a seat next to her, sighing. "How sad…"

"What's sad?" she turned to stare at him, a stealthy tear being wiped out of her eye.

"To see your pretty face being tarnished by the hardships of life like this. That's sad. I mean, look at me! I'm an old piece of pastry, probably the ugliest face in all of Ooo. It doesn't matter whether I'm sad or angry, my face can't grow any uglier. But you…" he put his hand beneath her chin and brought it up, "You are still so young. It's not fair. They took away your childhood and now your youth. You were forced to grow up way too fast."

"I had to mature for my people." She replied dryly, "You can't be a little kid forever."

"Yeah, I know. But were you ever free to be a kid to begin with?"

"Hardly…" Flame Princess admitted weakly, understanding his point.

Cinnamon Bun patted his kneecaps then, reminiscing in silence. A smile brightened his baked features as he turned to look at his king one more time.

"Have I ever told you about the day I set the Candy Kingdom on fire?"

There it was, that spark of child-like curiosity that bestowed a sense of innocence upon Flame Princess' eyes. It was like staring back at the cheerful fifteen-year-old girl that he first met, long ago. It inspired the old knight to begin his tale of how the bossy Princess Bubblegum forced him to sleep in the dark. Back then, even if he was in his thirties, Bubblegum insisted on repressing his childish attitude, as if that were her problem. Why did it bother her so much, he was sleeping in his house, using only a small night-light, how could that bum everyone out?

Then, a giggle that escaped swiftly from Flame Princess' curved lips gave way to a more enthusiastic narration of how Cinnamon Bun broke his lamp and started a small fire, which quickly spread itself all over the sugary city. A snort of laughter denounced Flame Princess' amused reaction at how Princess Bubblegum herself (still on her pajamas) had to snatch her firemen's hose in order to put an end to the chaos that her stubbornness had provoked.

"And she never ever took my night-light away again!" Cinnamon Bun finished. "See? It's good to act maturely when it's necessary, but if you don't have a little fun from time to time, you might grow as old and sour as Princess Bubblegum!"

"How old is she?" Flame Princess asked in bewilderment.

"Eight hundred something, but she covers it up using new biomass to look as young as if she were in her twenties!" he was amused by his king's surprised gasp, and taking her hands on his, Cinnamon Bun shared a gentle glance with her. "But you can't restore your beauty like she does, that's why I don't want to see you so sad. I want to enjoy that pretty smile of yours for as long as I live."

"It's just that… I find it hard to smile at a time like this…"

"C'mon, then!" CB said, lifting his feet over the bed. He stood up and pulled Flame Princess' arms, urging her to do the same. "Let's forget about this jam! Let's be kids again, I bet your father never let you jump on the bed!"

"N-no, he didn't. But I don't think this is the right moment to –…"

"Nah! I don't understand adult gibberish anymore!" Cinnamon Bun claimed as he leapt up. "I bet I can jump higher than you! C'mon, try it and I'll teach you a funny song!"

He didn't give Flame Princess the chance to reply. He grabbed her hands once again and towed her into the air with him. At first she felt ridiculous, but as the mattress launched them upwards faster, and the pillows began to fly out of their place with them, her concerned stutters were replaced with excited chuckles and laughter. With the king getting in the hang of things, Cinnamon Bun invited her to dance in circles with him, their feet bouncing joyfully on the squeaky bed as they both began to sing.

Bubblegum thinks she's truly rad,

But she's really a bitter wad.

Bossy bean, drama queen,

Everyone's mom, old and mean.

Not, I've been

In her lab

I'm better off with her science

Rat!

That silly song unleashed Flame Princess' laughter and playful nature. Using a pillow as a club, she attacked her knight. He didn't see the hit coming and fell on his back. Flame Princess laughed even more, to the point of losing her breath. It would be war then. Cinnamon Bun reached a pillow of his own and pushed himself back on his feet, ready to exchange more blows with her. Feathers began to rain upon them. The pillow fight was on.

Outside of their bedroom, the muffled sounds of frantic laughter, agitated grunts and the wild creaking of the bed, leaked into the lonely hallway. The two flame guards following their patrol routes, met in front of the door. Inside, Flame Princess had just received a pillow slap on the face, which caused her to exclaim a loud squeal, as she lost her balance and fell onto the floor. Back in the hall, the two patrols flinched, swapping embarrassed glances.

One of them, in the hopes of breaking the tension, coughed to clear his throat. "S-seems like they finally are at it, huh?"

"Y-yeah, and it seems they are enjoying it."

They stood in vigilant silence for a few more seconds, the awkwardness of the sounds coming from behind the door growing louder and louder.

"Say, do you wanna go check the royal courtyard?"

"Why didn't you say so earlier, man? Let's get outta here before –!"

"Dang it, CB! You can do better than that!"

"Let's just go, dude."

In the bedroom, Flame Princess had recovered from her previous defeat. She dragged her pillow-weapon and aimed her calculating gaze at the triumphant knight that celebrated his premature victory on top of the now unsteady bed. She launched her body up, slamming the over-sized bun down with a powerful swing of her cushion. Both Flame Princess' violent landing in combination with Cinnamon Bun's fall caused the bed to suddenly break in half, the mattress sinking down with them onto the ground.

Flame Princess' dragged her body out of the remains of the bed, meeting the startled eyes of her knight in the process. They stared at the broken bed in silence. Cinnamon Bun analyzed the mess that their bedroom was, eying his king gravely some moments later.

"Looks like we're sleeping on the floor today." she pointed out in return.

"It seems so. Do you think this will be enough to convince them?"

Cinnamon Bun gestured at the destroyed bed, earning a chuckle from the young woman before him. She connected the dots and realized what her knight meant. She blurted out in laughter.

"If that doesn't, I don't know what will!" her voice faded into a sigh as she lay down on the scattered sheets that covered the floor. "That was the most stupid thing I've done since…forever. Thank you, Finn…"

It was then that Flame Princess became aware of what she had just said, sitting up to apologize immediately. "I-I'm sorry! W-what I meant was–!"

"It's alright, milady. I guess the few times you were allowed to act as a child of your age, were those you shared with Finn." Cinnamon Bun began to play with his fingers, lost in thought. "You must be missing him, along with that part of yourself that went away with him…"

She remained silent as she brought her knees against her chest.

"We now have a deadline, you know?" she uttered.

The old knight frowned, placing his eyes on hers to notice that the childish spark within them had vanished.

"I do." he declared. "I found a possible alternative, though." Flame Princess shifted softly, paying close attention. "But before we proceed, I would like to know how far are you willing to go with this. I'm afraid what I've come up with might make you rather uncomfortable. Your body will be on the line."

More silence came.

"CB?"

"Yes, my king?"

Flame Princess displayed an expression of incertitude. The look of innocence returned to her features, this time conveying the worry of a doubtful girl.

"You will… always stay by my side, right? And you'll make sure I'm okay, won't you? If something goes wrong, you wouldn't abandon me… You will take care of me, won't you?" she rubbed her hands along her forearms, nervously. "It's not that I don't know how to take care of myself. It's just that… No one has ever watched over me before, I had no mom, no real dad. I could relay on my strength, though. But I don't think my powers can help me now… I'm scared, CB."

Her champion smiled, giving her one simple reply.

"I'm here for you, Flame Princess. Always."

And he never failed to accomplish his promise. Cinnamon Bun was there when they finally carried out the clandestine procedure that would let her conceive a child. He was gentle and courteous when he advised her to lie still while he inserted something into her body. He did his best to keep her comfortable at all times, although she never showed signs of being bothered or ashamed as she rested vulnerably, a fraction of herself unclad, before him.

"It'll hurt just a little." she remembered him whisper, as he introduced whatever magic he had developed during his nights of absence. She never showed resistance nor did she wince because of the minimal pain she felt. Cinnamon Bun stayed by her side after that, procuring her system would get along with the new cells entering it.

Time passed and she seemed normal, no counter reactions or signs of her elemental matrix causing trouble. The faces of the fire citizens however, did experiment a certain change. A grin would be drawn on their lips every time they met with their ruler, and as the months went away, those grins would grow into wide smiles. Flame Princess' pregnancy was starting to show.

Who would've thought something like that would work? Cinnamon Bun was proud of his job. He had done what, at the beginning, he had believed impossible. However, as the date of the widely expected delivery approached, something in his king changed. Flame Princess found herself feeling depressed, if not miserable for her acts of dishonesty against her own people. Sometimes she would even scare her subjects away with her displays of senseless anger. But not Cinnamon Bun. He had promised that he would be there for her, no matter what could happen.

He stood by her side, coping with her emotional breakdowns for all the months to come. He was of course, present when the little princess was born —a normal baby girl, healthy and tender, a miracle come true. Although in her mother's eyes, she was nothing but a lie, the greatest lie she had ever told to herself. And even when Flame Princess dared to reject her own daughter, Cinnamon Bun stood there firmly, ready to aid her and support her.

He faced Flame Princess' weary state of mind through many heated arguments, trying his best to make the young woman respond to reason. Newborn Flanella, as he had named her, was growing weak and sick. If her mother continued to refuse to feed her, she would have eventually died. Thus, what use would all of their struggle have in the end? None.

"What do you mean she's not your daughter?" the knight cried, "Look at her! You carried her within you for nine months, she's got your blood running through her veins, and she depends on you to survive! How can she not be your daughter?"

"I don't know what could you have possibly done to me, but I know everything was meant to be fake… I don't feel this is the right thing to do anymore, CB… I don't feel right… I don't want her… Please, take her away!"

Flame Princess remained bedridden since the day she gave birth to Flanella. Her flames had dimmed to a concerning brownish hue, her features exhausted and filled with gloom. Cinnamon Bun couldn't stand to see her like that, feeling entirely responsible for her condition. Nevertheless, there was no turning back now. He gave a glance to the fragile and tiny girl in his arms and then gazed at her mother with determination.

"I can't let you do this! C'mon! You have to snap out of it, Flame Princess!" he begged, "This child needs you. She doesn't have anyone else in the world to care for her, pretty much like someone I know. Someone who was abandoned and rejected by her own father, someone who wouldn't let the same injustice be repeated!"

Cinnamon Bun laid the baby next to her mother with great care.

"I know things didn't happen the way you dreamed of, and I understand you are feeling overwhelmed by all of this. It was so sudden, especially for you, who were forced to mature in a rush. The weight of an entire kingdom is already a heavy burden for you to bear with, and this child might double that weight. But I'm still here, Flame Princess. I will help you carry that weight."

Flame Princess was left alone with her baby shortly afterwards. Cinnamon Bun could only hope some private time with her child might help his king reconsider her faulty thinking. Suddenly Flanella squirmed weakly, attracting her mother's attention. That was the first time Flame Princess actually saw her daughter. She felt an immediate concern for the child's debilitated condition, her motherly instincts awakening. Soon Flanella began to cry, hunger being her greatest discomfort.

Flame Princess' picked her up gently and cradled her in her arms. Tears streamed down her face. "How could I have done this to you?" She never wanted her to suffer the way she did as an infant. At least she had been gifted with extraordinary powers and strength. Flanella, on the other side, was fragile and helpless as a human cub —because of her candy heritage— she supposed.

She stared at her baby, enveloping her in tenderness. There was so much of her past that she wanted to correct in her child's life. "She is my daughter", she quietly repeated to herself as she brought the tiny girl up to her breast and began to feed her.

"My Flanella, my Flanella… I'm so sorry, my little Flanella…"

x~x~x~x~x

A strong sensation of cold drew her out of her meditative trance. Flame Princess left her memories behind and woke up to reality, alone. Flanella, Cinnamon Bun, they were both gone. Her flames had lost some of their intensity; prompting her to push aside the resentment brought back by her memories, and return her focus to the breath of fire technique.

She had to survive.

"I'm everything Flanella has left in this world."

Cinnamon Bun couldn't fulfill his promise. He wouldn't be by her side anymore. After surprising Furnius with the news of her newborn child, war stirred in the land. Flame Princess fought in vain to repress those memories, of how she couldn't defend her soldiers with her giant form when an acid rain began to pour upon the battlefield… How Cinnamon Bun got in the way between her and the razor sharp ice sword of the enemy… How his body was cut in half, and how no matter how much she tried to heal it with her heat, the rain impeded her from doing so.

How he had died in her arms moments later, asking her for one single favor in return for all of his years of unconditional service.

"Can you please just… smile for me, one last time?"

Author's Notes:

My, this got really emotional all of a sudden. Can't help it, I just love emotional stuff! Speaking of being emotional, I would like to thank you, dear readers for supporting this story. At first I wanted it to be only three chapters long (the heck was I thinking?), then three short arcs long and now, because of all the interest you've showed, the story grew to be this big! Just to let you guys see the power of influence that you have over us, the writers. So thank you very much for boosting my inspiration levels up! Hope to hear more from you as the story is now getting closer to its definitive ending!