"Is she… is she gone?" Gumball whispered from behind me, his hand on my shoulder. I just hung my head above her lifeless body, laying her down gently on the cold ground. "Let me try something," Gumball said, sliding out from behind me and dropping on one knee next to her. I watched him in curious surprise, still too heart-broken to actually speak. He ruffled through his coat pocket and brought out a glowing ball with six rings twisting and turning inside of it. "Sam, Bubblegum and I have been working on this for quite some time. We decided that if you were ever to risk going to see The Seeress again, you would need a back-up plan." He laid the ball gently on her open chest where the wound was. Slowly, it sank in, the flesh and bone absorbing it. I watched in wonder and amazement, part of me wanting to just let her rest in peace, but part of me hoping that whatever this was would bring her back, or turn back time, or do something to make this different. "They say she would crush the hearts of those impure, so for over a year we've been working on this device that could serve as a replacement heart. At least for the time being. We never had the chance to test it, though, and I'm not sure if it'll work if the patient has passed on already. But… we can hope…"

As he finished speaking the whole orb was absorbed into her body. We waited, staring at her, hoping that she would breathe again, or move, or even blink. Nothing happened. I hung my head again, knowing we had failed her. If I had just never come to her, she would have never ended up this way. I felt like it was my fault.

Just then, the earth shook around us. We all shot straight up off the ground and looked around, seeing the crows fly away squawking, the trees shivering, the dirt vibrating, and… the darkness. It was consuming everything. It crept up the mountainside and started eating the rocks and the dirt. I picked up the bloody dagger and ran to the edge of the crater and looked down at the base. There was a layer of black mist pooling there, growing denser by the second.

I turned to them and started shouting orders. "Marshall! Fly her to the Candy Palace! Keep her somewhere safe, where she can be watched over. Gumball, you and I are going to make a run for it down the mountain. You need to get the Banana Guards moving, tell them to evacuate everyone they can, and whoever can't be evacuated need to get somewhere safe."

Without hesitation, Marshall scooped the small body up into his arms and sprinted into the air. "I'll send Lord to get you guys!" he called, and darted down the mountain.

Gumball ran up to me, and I helped him over the edge of the crater, him pulling me up. Together we ran as fast as we could down the shaking mountain. The black mist swirled around our feet, consuming the snow and cold dirt. The trees were whispering again, but this time I could hear them. They were telling me that I failed her, that I killed her… I killed a little girl. I listened and realized that that's what they were whispering to me the whole time. They were trying to break me down, and feed off of my negative emotions. They were trying to wear me thin.

I shut them out and continued running, jumping over bushes and dodging trees. Gumball had a hard time keeping up, so I grabbed his hand and pulled him along, sprinting down the mountain. We were about halfway down when Lord appeared above us. He landed about 10 feet from where we were, so we just ran and jumped into his back, and in no time at all we were in the air and heading back to the Candy Palace.

"Fionna, what do you plan to do? You said I needed to evacuate everyone, but you didn't say what you were going to do," Gumball said into my ear as the cold wind whipped past us.

I looked down at the dagger in my hands, the blood gradually being absorbed into it. "I'm going to Ooo. We're going to need help."

He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and leaned his chin on my shoulder. "Are you going to be alright, Fionna?"

I trailed my fingers down the exotic blade of the dagger, thinking. "I just hope your invention works. She didn't deserve to be a sacrifice."

We stayed quiet the rest of the way, finally getting to the Candy Palace about 10 minutes later. I thanked Lord and asked him if he could drop me by the Fire Kingdom entrance after I ran into the lab really quick. He tapped his hoof on the floor in agreement, so I darted into the lab to get a few of the hairs. Gumball immediately set out to scramble the guards and make announcements over the intercom for everyone to leave or to get inside. Marshall and Doctor Prince were in the infirmary, getting The Seeress set up on an IV.

I rushed back out of the palace, hopped onto Lord, and together we flew like lightening to the portal area. Quickly I hopped off Lord and buried the hair, waiting for the portal to open. The rock burst into an array of color before expanding into a circle and showing me Ooo, just as black and cold as Aaa. "Lord, go back and help King Gumball and Marshall get everyone to safety. I'm going to get Cake and the others." He whinnied and flew off, acknowledging my plan. I held my breath, hopped through the portal, and travelled to Ooo.

To my surprise, Cake was already waiting there, halfway done burying some hair to come back. I ran up and hugged her close, falling to my knees, burying my face in her warm, sweet fur. She wrapped her limbs around and around me, tying me to her. "I've missed you so much, Cake! So much has happened!" I cried into her fur. Then I pulled back and looked at her in the eye. "But we don't have time. All that black stuff, all the weirdness going on, that was all the Lich. We have just over five hours before he's coming to Aaa. We need to be there, and we need help."

"The Lich? He's coming? Girl, I knew something bad was going to happen today, but I did not expect that! My tail's been frizzin' out all day!" She unwrapped me and grew into a massive, long-legged cat, swinging her tail at me to scoop me up and set me on her back. "Let's go get some help, then!"

She ran as fast as her long legs could take us to the palace. We reached it in no time at all, keeping the fast pace as we burst through the doors. "I'll get QB and Marcy in the nursery, you go get Finn and Jake in the garden," she said, sprinting off in the opposite direction. I turned and ran to the gardens, almost flying through the doors as I sprinted out, calling their names.

"Whoah, hey Fi! What's up?" Finn asked as I almost ran head first into him.

"The—the…" I had to take deep, gulping breaths between my panting before I could speak right. "The Lich! He's coming to Aaa! We need to get back there to fight him!"

"The Lich? Man we banished that guy years ago!" Jake said casually, walking up next to us.

"I know, but The Seeress opened the portal for him to return. That's what all this black junk around our worlds is! It's his influence! It was a warning of his arrival!"

"Wait, The Seeress did this?" Finn asked angrily, clenching his fists.

"It's not what you think! She was forced to! She was his creation from the beginning! There's—there's a lot more to it than you think. But we don't have time! Less than 5 hours before he shows up!"

"Oh my glob! 5 hours?! Let's get going, then!" Finn exclaimed, sprinting past me towards the palace. Jake and I followed and were met by Marcy, Bubblegum and Cake in the entrance hall. "Guys! The Lich—"

"We know! Hurry, we need to get our stuff," Marcy interrupted, grabbing both Finn and Bubblegum and flying up the stairs towards the lab and the Royal Couple's Room.

"How much did you tell them?" I asked Cake.

"Not much, before they rushed me and headed towards you guys. I didn't even have to convince them both to go. Now that they know the threat isn't in Ooo, they're okay with leaving the royal babies guarded with the entire candy army and every nanny in the Candy Kingdom," she explained, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, they're really protective of their kiddies. No one is getting to those little monsters," Jake said, smiling warmly at the thought.

I just nodded and started pacing, completely impatient and wanting so badly to get moving. The wait seemed like forever, but within minutes they returned all supped up. Finn had two swords crossing his back, another sword on his belt, and a satchel across his shoulder. He even had some pieces of armor, one going down his sword arm and a couple of shoulder pieces. I admit I was a little jealous. He looked really freaking cool. Marcy had her axe strapped to her back. I guess in times of trial, it was okay to use an instrument of badassitude, as she called it, for battle. And Bubblegum showed up with an array of scientific weapons and bottled formulas. Seeing the three of them prepared and ready to go relieved my anxiety immensely. They all looked like they were preparing for war.

I guess, in a way, they were.

"You guys look AWESOME!" I exclaimed, feeling more pumped by the minute.

Bubblegum blushed a little, but righted herself to face me as a queen. "Is there anything else we should bring with us? Anything that could help?" she asked.

I thought about it for a moment. "No. The one thing that'll take the Lich down is this." I pulled out the dagger and showed it to them, letting Finn glide his excited gaze over the blade. "The Seeress said that this dagger was the one he created to pierce his own heart. This blade, combined with the blood and power from his heart, will be the thing to take him down."

"How do we get blood and power from his heart?" Marcy asked, looking confused and worried.

I dropped my head, holding the dagger to my chest and trying to hold it together. "The, uh… The Seeress… she was his heart. He created her from himself so that, on this exact day, she could open a portal for him to return. He gave her his heart, so he didn't have to feel sympathy anymore. She… gave her life. For this."

Finn came up and pulled me into a tight hug, his armor hard and cool against my arms. "She made the right decision, Fionna. The Lich needs to go down."

I nodded into his chest, afraid that if I said anything outright, I'd burst into tears. I took a step back from him, took a deep breath, and stood tall. "We should go. The portal might still be up, but bring some hairs anyway. Cake and I will get a head start. You guys should say goodbye to your babies."

They all nodded in agreement, Jake joining them, and the four of them headed to the nursery. In a liquid, calculated motion, Cake and I sprinted out the door, me jumping onto her back as she grew to that massive cat again so we could get to the portal as soon as possible.

A little more than four hours remained. We didn't have an army, but we had a ragtag team of extraordinary people, the will to win, and the need for revenge. And, in my hands, I had the instrument that would end it all.

We were ready for him.