When we woke in the morning, the blizzard had calmed down immensely from the night before. The tent was half-buried in the snow, but with the portable stove in the center of it, heating the whole thing up, the snow melted soon enough. Our clothes were all dry and ready to go, so we got dressed and unzipped the door. I stayed in the tent for a few minutes after Marshall and Gumball had gone through, hesitating, remembering my dream. What if I stepped outside and the world was healthy and pretty? What if my whole dream came true? What if—
"Hey, Fi, come on, we need to set the tent back to capsule form or something. You need to come out," Marshall called, bending down to poke his head through the door.
"I—I know… it's just…" I stuttered, looking down in shame and fear.
"Everything's fine, Fionna. It's still as snowy and creepy out here as it was yesterday. It was just a dream," I heard Gumballs voice say through the tent walls.
I gulped, took a deep breath, and stepped outside of the tent. They were right. Nothing had changed. For a moment I felt a huge wave of relief, but then reality set back in, and I was reminded that my kingdom was suffering because of this blackness.
"We can turn back, Fi. You don't have to do this." Marshall stood with his arms crossed in front of me, eyeing me carefully.
I sighed and kicked the snow at my feet. "I can't. I need to do this. After that dream last night, I know now more than ever that I need to see her. She has the answers I need. She knew this would happen, Marshall. She didn't tell me to come back in two years just for the heck of it. She's expecting me."
Marshall ducked his head and looked at the snow for a moment, thinking. "Fine. But we're going, too. The whole way. You're not dipping out on us like you did Cake and Lord."
I let out a loud mix of a groan and a sigh, frustrated, but grateful for the help. "Thanks, Marshall. But please, keep your mouth shut when we see her. You say stupid things sometimes." I smiled at him, letting him know that even though I was serious, I was joking a little too. Gumball burst into a loud laughter from behind the tent just before it folded in on itself and molded back into capsule form.
"Marshy, she's right," Gumball giggled, catching his breath. "You do say some pretty stupid things."
Marshall growled and kicked the snow, turning around and trudging through it, his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. "Whatever, you guys are just too stupid to see my genius. Let's get going."
Gumball came up to me and I hooked my arm in his, the two of us giggling behind the begrudged Marshall as he stormed up the mountain.
The walk through the snow made it one hundred times harder to get there, and it took us longer, too. Marshall normally would have flown us up, but when he was flying himself and Gumball after me last night, he noticed that the air was too thick up high. He said it felt like he was breathing in gunk. It could have been the huge, dark snow clouds that covered the sky, but even so, I wasn't going to risk it.
As we got farther up the mountain, the trees that were supposed to be thinning and sparse were as big and black and plentiful as they were at the base of the mountain. The higher we climbed, the more uneasy I felt. I ran over every little detail I could think of from the last 3 years in my mind. Billy, the Lich, my mother, revenge, the sickness, the well, The Seeress, the trees, the animals, how quickly it all spread. Something in me told me that there was more to this than I could see. More than anything, I wanted revenge for the death of my father. I thought that he, as well as I, deserved that much. But to think that The Seeress, the girl who sees and knows everything, had me come back during this time, while all this was happening, so she could help me… there was no way it could be coincidence. There was something missing there, I could feel it.
An anxiety grew in my heart with every step. I felt something coming, something major on its way. Cake was usually the one who could sense those things, but she's been in Ooo with the royal children, so not even she could tell me what the feeling was. I tried to swallow down my heavy heart as we neared the crater in the mountain. I had no time to feel off, no time to worry about what hasn't happened yet. I needed to focus on the now.
We finally reached the top of the crater, the smoke and flames of her fire emitting a strange, blue-ish glow this time, her mirrors reflecting the light of the embers intensely. She stood there in front of one of the mirrors completely still, a hooded cloak covering her back and head, making it impossible for me to see if she had her bandages on.
"She knows we're here. How are you feeling?" I whispered behind me, glancing back to see their thumbs up. I nodded in approval to them, then slid my way down the wall of the crater, more graceful this time than last. Marshall floated down, carrying the clumsier Gumball.
"Be not afraid of my darkened trade. I will not harm her lovers brigade. Come closer, please, and feel at ease in my home of fire and mirrors and trees." Her small voice echoed slightly off the walls of the crater, sending a wave of fear through Marshall and Gumball.
I walked towards her with ease, like she asked, stopping just behind her. "Seeress, I'm sorry I'm early, but—"
"Answers she needs, so she's come to plead, and did so earlier than we agreed." I hung my head, almost feeling bad for this decision, but knowing I did the right thing. "Her lands are dying, though she is trying to keep them alive and well and thriving. No answers, no sum, can explain what's been done, for they are a prelude of what is to come." Her voice was heavy as she spoke, like she had been dreading this for a while.
"W—what's coming?" Gumball asked, frightened. He cowered behind me, Marshall standing there with him, their eyes locked on her small, childish frame.
She stood silent for a moment, staring off into another realm. Then, she turned to us, her white eyes wide open, seeing all that we couldn't, her round, childish face pale with the cold, and small, thin trails of tears rolling down her cheeks. I gasped at her tears, because never in my life would I expect to see her feel emotion. I tried to swallow down my surprise and wait for her reply.
"There once was a man, so simple and bland, who lived long ago in a similar land. A war struck his home and took all he owned, all that he treasured, all that he'd sewn. With one final blast, the man thought 'At last! I can rest in a grave, and my death will come fast!'"
A war? A similar land? A blast? Was she talking about the Mushroom Wars?
"A poor man was he as the blast hit his street, and though death was expected, power was to greet. Every adult and child for thousands of miles had all but perished in a war so vile. Yet there he stood, the only one who could, in the midst of the destruction of both evil and good. Such power he had, this shell of a man, but it was useless in a world gone empty and mad."
It was the Mushroom Wars she was talking about! And this man… who was he? His story sounded so… familiar. Marshall, Gumball and I listened intently to the little girl tell the story, not knowing what else to do.
"Life slowly grew from the world he once knew as the man lost himself in the power that consumed. Hunger and greed became his new creed as he left his misery and hatred to breed. With death and with blood, the evil could bud and blossom into such a dangerous drug. Yet still he was weak, for his heart would not wreak the pure destruction that the man did seek. 'I'll get rid of it' he said as he evil thoughts spread, wanting to feel as cold as the dead. He conjured a dagger made of dark matter, but before he could plunge it he had to stagger. A vision he saw which left him in awe. One day he'd be trapped in a world that's not Aaa. Two options there were for him to deter the fate that awaited him in his future. To keep his heart, straight from the start, or make a way to bend worlds apart. He found a well where magic swelled, and called forth power from where it dwelled. He would not be undone by anything or anyone, and so created a thing to hold his heart and his vision. Creation was strange, so out of his range, yet what he brought forth would help him change."
She lowered her eyes, no longer searching other dimensions, but instead, focusing on ours. Her voice went lower again. It was hard for her to say this. "A girl sprung forth in a childish form, with eyes that saw all and who kept his heart warm. Though she exists to watch with her gifts, she only survives to protect the Lich."
My jaw dropped and my eyes went wide. I wasn't sure what to do or say, or even think. She was created… by the Lich?
"S—so why have you been helping me all this time?" I stuttered, unable to wrap my head around everything she just said.
She looked up and pulled the hood off her hair, exposing the black mist that was slowly consuming it, consuming her. "A prophecy foretold of a day dark and cold when the king would return to consume the dying world. Though there are two ways this story can play; I can destroy her, or help her this day."
"Wait, he's coming? Today?!" My thoughts raced in my head, making me dizzy and anxious and nearly insane.
The Seeress nodded her head. "He weakens the earth, consumes all its worth, to prepare the land for its darkened rebirth. This is a taste of all to be faced when he comes to this land to take his rightful place."
I stood there, stunned. That was it. That was the missing piece I couldn't see. Everything was connected; the darkness, the timing, my revenge… and she knew this. She knew it the whole time. She sat up here in her mountain and watched through the years as the prophecy played out; Billy having a daughter, that daughter growing up not knowing her parents, the battle of Billy and the Lich… Billy's death… the Lich being trapped in another dimension, him slowly poisoning Aaa to make his return, and this. She saw it all. It was what she was meant for, what she was created for. She was the link between worlds… his only hope of coming here.
She was his creation. His tool. His living, breathing, weeping, lonely tool. She had a heart, even though it was his. She felt things, I was sure of it. Her voice when she spoke of her creation… she didn't use a tone of coldness or indifference. She felt sad when she talked about it.
I knew I should have felt angry, or volatile, or fear… but I didn't. I felt sorrow. For her. She was just a kid who was convinced that, since she was created for a purpose, she had to exist in seclusion and watch as everything passed her by. Until today.
"You were lonely. That's why you kept my spirit with you when I was trapped in the ice. You wanted company." I looked at her round, childish face, taking a step towards her as I spoke. She simply stared in my direction, neither acknowledging nor denying my statement. "You wanted a friend…" I took another step towards her, and then another, until finally, I was standing right in front of her. Still, she didn't speak or move. She just listened and waited. I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her, embracing her in a hug, pulling her small body close to mine. "I will always be your friend."
Her body was stiff, but warm, despite the blackness that was slowly consuming it. I felt her heart racing against my chest. Did I… surprise her? Slowly, hesitantly, she raised her arms and wrapped them around me. I felt my face grow wet as her tears streamed down, and she began to sob against me, gripping me hard, holding me close. I fell to my knees, getting down to her height, holding her, letting her cry into my shoulder and fill her fists with my jacket.
I don't know how long we stood there, how long she held onto me for. I didn't care. There were so many things I could be doing in that moment, but nothing mattered more to me at that point than that little girl being comforted. She was The Seeress, the viewer of worlds and holder of gateways. She was more powerful than almost any being I've ever met. But still, despite all of the power she held, she was still a child… a child who needed a friend.