I did rush this chapter out a tad bit faster than most others (although it may not seem that way from your perspective) so if I made any errors or mistakes then would you kindly point them out so I can fix them. Thank you.
(R/R and enjoy)
Chapter Two: ...Or Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become The Villain...
"I... I have to... Nugh, have to tell her... warn her." Finn stumbled through the Candy forest sickly, holding his stomach. Appearing to be talking to himself, he needed to stay focused and keep reminding himself of the task at hand. He was heading in the direction of the Candy kingdom, on the singular road; it was dark out, had been for a while since he left the tree fort to warn the Princess of his danger.
"Gotta get to her... Sh-she'll know what to do." Finn left Jake in bed at home, he didn't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it had to be, besides he felt much better as he was leaving the fort; though he didn't quite grasp the gravity of his situation and as the journey down the road dragged on, he felt control slipping away. Having small delusions slip in and out of his head, some causing him to draw a sword just from the sound of brushing leafs in the wind. He kept talking, it was the only way to focus.
"Hehehe" A crooked laughter echoed through his thoughts. Finn stomach sank, and breathing amplified from the haunting chuckles. He picked up the pace from speed-walking to almost sprinting, he knew what was coming, the voice he has battled and tried to suppress in the deepest depths of his mind for the past couple of weeks. He heard about things like this, when you loose someone you love people don't take it well and things start happening to them, he thought this was one of those things; at the start at least. Then he soon discovered that wasn't it, this was the voice of an old adversary that was trying to break him and take control.
"Yes. Keep going, take me to your beloved princess. I'd love to meet her again..." The Lich knew what Finn intended, even if he didn't keep saying it out loud, the Lich read his thoughts the moment they formed and pulsed through his head; the Lich knew everything Finn did before Finn even knew himself. Finn tightened his eyes shut, trying to block out the Lich's words. "Are you not enjoying my company, boy; am I not entertaining you enough? Well there will certainly be quite a show when we arrive at the kingdom." The undead voice waved from a casual inquiry, to dark grim threats. The Lich was enjoying this, he toyed the young man with every word he spoke.
"Argh, what d-does that mean? I won't let y-ou... hurt them - I won't let you use me..." The determined hero tried to keep his willpower strong and mind on track. The pestering voice made it no easy task. He could get on his nerves, quite literally, causing him waves of pain through his body he had never experienced before.
"Finn... you don't have a choice..." The voice spoke down on the panicking hero. Finn's heart raced from the sprinting and seeing the castle tower in the distance, perched over the fluffy pink trees against the night sky. It was far away, but Finn could point out the Princesses quarters, it was one of the few rooms in the tower that still had light coming from inside, out the window.
"Ah, sweet Bubblegum..."
"Wha-uh, Argh. How did you..." He was puzzled, raising his pitch as he felt his defences been breached.
"I would have thought you caught on by now, I live inside you feeble brain. I know everything you say before you say it, everything you think, before your mind can even process it. Right now, you are glad - relieved even, that she is still awake at this hour; not wanting to bother her precious sleep. It's a good thing for us both, now she can witness the full terror as you bash her door open and you plunge a sword, slowly and delicately through her stomach, missing all her vital organs so she can stay with us long enough, and she stares at you in disbelief, wanting to ask 'why?' but can't from the excruciating..."
"STOP! Get out and fight me you coward! I won't do what you want!" Finn had enough of the Lich's mind games, trying to break the young man's spirit, he stopped in the middle of the road, pulling out his sword, gripping it tightly in his sweaty palms, preparing for his foe to make an appearance in front of him.
"Haha. Oh but Finn, your doing everything to plan so far, why stop now?" The Lich continued grating croaked words within the safety of Finn's head.
"No-no-no-no! I won't do it, you can't make me! I just-t have to... Arrrgh! I can fight you back! You can't have me any more! Argh-je-uaah!" Finn burrowed his short nails, deep into his forehead to help him focus.
Quickly becoming bored of the messing, watching the young man fail at trying to find a way to get him out, the Lich still had a job to do, and planned to do it tonight. "You're wasting time, boy... and exerting energy, energy that I can use. Its pointless to fight me. One way or another, I'm taking control, you can either be a good puppet and submit, or I'll tangle your most sensitive nerves and cease you're heartbeat until you let me take it..." The Lich echoed in his thoughts, in an attempt to drop Finns moral and mental state so he can fully wield Finn as his weapon.
"I can-n get you-u out!" He strained on his words. "I-I can be-eat you... every... thing can be beaten! You won't make me do it!"
"ENOUGH! You snivelling speck of bacteria! Your mine! Your body is mine! Your brain is mine! Your memories, your skills, all mine! Learn that you are my puppet, your actions are my will! Now march into that freak city and demolish everything with my blessing!" Finn still stood, unmoved by the Lich's rant. The Lich growled in his defiance, as a result he dug his skeletal claws deep into
Finn's head, tugging at his soft grey matter (metaphorically speaking), taking control of the young man's body against his will once more. Finn grunted and howled in attempts to fight off his invader, but the agony was too much to endure. He had never been able to overcome the Lich's grasp in the past, but he would never simply give in.
"Now, as punishment... you will watch all you hold dear... burn to ashes. Every last citizen will cry in fear before they are perished by your hands; and I will saver your 'adored princess' till the end. She too can watch everything she swore to uphold and protect crumble to the ground, and will see you were responsible for it. She will regret ever trusting you. Every moment you both spent will be a sickness in her memory, you will be the biggest mistake of her life. She will look upon you once more, unable to speak from such a betrayal... and she will beg for death, not wanting it by your hand, but what choice will she have, hmm? And that sight will be her last sight on this plagued world... Maybe I won't give her the mercy of the sword, I'll feed her my fires instead, I wonder how she would melt?..." Finn was paralysed to resist as the Lich gutted him with the blood-curdling details. He got comfortable wearing Finn's body as a piece of armor again, stretching and contracting the limbs and muscles of the much younger and able body he wielded. Wringing his hands getting used to the movement and the fact they still have skin, he slanted his shoulders forward and marched.
"Ah, and I almost forgot the demon wench. As a kindness for her 'help' in my grand scheme, I will leave her to rot in the dungeons, but before that, she will smile from the sounds and screams of the ones who imprisoned her." Now the Lich was in control of the body, he could feel Finn hammering for a way out inside. "Ereh! be still and watch, we are almost there. I told you it was pointless to resist me, boy. You have only made your friends fates far more treacherous." With the the city gates in sight the Lich grinned, pulling up his hood to shadow his mystic, looming green eyes, and sheathing his arms underneath the cloak looking down at his feet.
Approaching the two banana guard on the city-gate watch, one of the guards observed and asked, "Hey Finn, is that you? We havn't seen you in awhile, what's with the new outfit?" before the guard got an answer, Finn shoved past them, entering the city. The two guards shrugged at each other, and returned to their gate keeping.
"Hmm, not many people up at this hour. What-do-you say we pay the princess a visit, she could use some company to distract her studies. Then she can wake up her kingdom, with little persuasion, and watch the show." Finn was exhausting himself trying to fight the Lich, even though he wasn't (and couldn't) moving a muscle, and he had no choice to watch the coming events, having no command over his eyes, everything the Lich wanted him to see, Finn saw.
He walked up the stairs to the castle; turning the attention of various banana guard on patrol. Before they could question his appearance, like the ones at the gate. The Lich shoved open the castle door, not bothering with subtleties now he infiltrated inside, every step he took had weight to it, he wanted them to know he was there. He was stopped close to the end of the throne room by a few guard. "Uh, Finn, the princess is busy in her room and, uh, she told us she didn't want anyone bothering her unless its urgent. Anyway, uh, why don't you visit the kingdom no more, people have been worried, and Jake tells us nothing, he only talks to the princess."
The Lich peeked his eyes from underneath the hood, and over his shoulder. "This is far more urgent than you could comprehend."
Now uneasy, the guard asked, "W-what is it," he noticed the green flare from his eyes in the shadow, "um... are you okay?... Actually I'll go get the princess, I'm sure her studies can wait..."
"No stay... You'll be needed soon..."
"Um-uh... needed... needed for what?" The guard stuttered, he didn't like the sound of 'Finn's' tone.
With the guards carefully moving in closer for a better look at his face, the Lich replied, "Needed for the battle of course. The kingdom is under attack..." He quickly turned, punching one guard in surprise, knocking him back into his comrades, then cooking them all, bursting out a gusts of green flames over the unexpecting guards. As they rolled in anguish, in a attempt to extinguish their third and fourth degree burns; the Lich took a step back with his hands out in front of him and the burning guardsmen weeping in the background, admiring the capable abilities of his new agile form, thinking, 'I've still got it.'
Finn watched in disgust behind the curtains of his forced open eyes, seeing the Lich use his body to perform his biding; the hero was still fuelled by determination to find a way back to the pilot seat, seeing what he did to the guards made his attempt ever more dire, as he knew where the Lich was heading next.
More defenders of the kingdom poured through the main doors into the throne hall, after hearing the strange noises inside, finding the would-be 'Finn' standing over the corpses of their banana brethren. It took them a while to make any move; they couldn't comprehend the acclaimed hero doing such a irrational crime. After they knew their eyes were not deceiving them, the plentiful numbers of guardsmen drew their honed spears and swords, proceeding inwards, forming a circle best they can around the cornered (thought-to-be) 'Finn'.
The Lich muttered so only Finn could hear, "Hmm, the princess can wait awhile longer, it seems these freaks want to play first... and I could use more practice..." As horrible as it sounded, it was a good thing that the Lich was focusing his time on the banana guards; it gave Finn more time to find a way back before he reached her.
Before a guard could even announce his arrest, he jumped on an unlucky individual, riding him to the ground, rolling over his flat face, back to his feet, now out of their parameter the guards made. "Very flexible; hehe, this will be fun..."
One guard took the charge with a spear in hand, taking a jab at the possessed body; with a fast reacting dodge backwards, he grabbed the spear pulling the guard forward into a clothes-line.
Another built the courage to attack, he swung a sword for 'Finn's' face; he ducked beneath, leaped towards the guard, and snapped his neck still in mid-swing. Finn's body could move at flash speeds, he was practically a superhuman, with the combination of his own agility, the Lich's powers and vampiric strength and speed, he was almost an unstoppable force.
The by-standing guards stood frozen in awe and dismay; they had never seen such speed and agility, taking someone else down so swiftly, not breaking a sweat, it was a game to him. The Lich knew he had gained an audience, it only made him want to 'impress' them further.
The guard finally started to smartly attack him in waves, but still remained unmatched. Launching lime napalm fireballs into an approaching guard until he fell, spinning around, performing a whirlwind kick on a rear-side attacker, then plunging his burning fist into two others, filling their torsos with deep smoking holes.
Unaware of one sneaking up behind him, he narrowly maneuvered out of harms way, managing to cut his cloak slightly. In the spur of the moment the Lich switched with Finn; the hero was dazed and confused, suddenly in control again, with a sword running his way, he stalled "Gasps. Ahhhhhh! Wait-waitwait, its me-e... argh!" With Finn's small distraction the Lich switched again, taking advantage of the guards confusion to Finn's sudden pleas.
The small interior battle lasted little more then three minuets, with the Lich fighting off the final few who didn't run, on top of the dozens of fallen banana guard. They were encircled by flames, so the last of them couldn't run if they chose to, he picked them off easily one-by-one. Barley tired after the last man fell, the Lich telepathically doused his conjured flames.
"That was the kingdoms finest?" He scoffed, with also a little disappointment from lack of a more challenging fight. "How does this place even stand?... Anyhow, enough stalling, I'm sure the princess has been informed of our arrival, lets go pay a visit shall we..." He exited the throne room to the side, before reinforcements shown up, he had his fun but now it was time for business. The Lich used what he could of Finn memories walking through the castle, to navigate a way to his goal easier.
After climbing several staircases and traversing through plenty long corridors and large rooms, all sharing the pink theme, he arrived at the hall to the princesses quarters. Waiting for him was a platoon of royal guards that protected this hallway being accessed by any intruders. Much less numbers than the ones he fought in the throne room, but these were better trained and disciplined, kitted out with high grade gear. Alas they were still not a match to the combination of the Lich's dark powers and Finn's strong, yet agile vessel.
The Lich showed no hesitation towards the masses of defenders; he kept his focus on the door to Bubblegums grand quarters in the middle of the hall. Slowly approaching, with his goal in sight, he did not rush; the calmness of his assault intimidated the trained guardsmen as he didn't stutter a step walking towards the formatted wall they made with their shields.
The closer he got he began to clasp his hands shut, charging an emitting force, pulsing from his palms. The guards gulped from the silence, unable to anticipate what he planned to do. He reached their wall of men, inches away from their shields, and at the tip of their spears. He chuckled to himself, watching the sweat drip from their brow, before he threw his arm up, palm-punching the shield releasing the pulsing energy, causing a cascading force through their line of defence, shattering most of their equiptment, clearing a path for the Lich, knocking them down to the ground, dropping their weapons, causing some to go unconscious. "Simpletons..." He mocked.
Now with nothing left between him and the princess, but a measly, presumable locked door that he could shatter, he prepared his powers, until, "FINN! What in Glob's funking name are you doing!?"Jake shouted from down the hall, breaking his voice a little in his words. An unwanted distraction, the Lich turned the attention of his powers towards Jake, firing a charge of force and burst of fire his way. Jake stretched his body, spiralling around the incoming projectiles 'Whoa, where'd he get that magic!?'
"Finn, its me, your buddy, your brother Jake! Snap outta it!" Jake sounded over the Lich's barrage of flinging more fireballs his way, a couple hitting him, he continued tanking on to stop 'Finn's' madness, until he reached a knotted himself around the young man, restraining his arms tightly to his sides. "Buddy, look at me I'm not going to hurt you, just stop acting crazy, do you even realise what you have done!?"
The Lich growled in fury. "Get... off..me-MUTT!..." The Lich scorched fire in his tied up hands, against Jakes skin, causing the dog to yelp and loosen his grip. Arms free the Lich grabbed Jake reeling in his tangled body, then threw him through the door, into Bubblegums quarters, smashing a long vertical hole down its centre.
"Heha! At last. I hope you are paying attention boy." This was it, Finn felt like he was going to pass out, he wanted to in fact. But he couldn't without his body, everything felt like it was slowing around him, his brain was regretfully taking in every detail, he was powerless to stop any of this, he felt so destroyed.
"Hello Swee-Arghar!" Poking his head through the broken door, he was greeted with a blinding, disorientating flash of light. Bubblegum tossed some sort of make shift flash-bang in her last resort, impairing the Lich's vision, stumbling forward inside the room with arms out in front of him, Bubblegum punched him in the face, knocking the hood back, revealing Finn's gruelling possessed appearance.
He stumbled around the room, dazed, trying to spot Bubblegum through his visually impaired eyes. "Heha, but princess its me... I'm here to save you... Why don't you come closer so I can see you..."
She stood shaken and watched as he blindly tried to find her, she could see it in his eyes, it wasn't Finn. He took a second to listen, he could hear her panicked breathing she tried to muffle, and made his way over to the sound of her breath. She stood still as possible, hoping he would just walk past, she didn't realise the noise she was making, now standing right beside her, she took a slow step back, but he knew exactly where she was now. Grabbing by the shoulders he pulled her closely against him, trying to hold her still as she squirmed and struggled, he pushed his weight down on her, forcing her down on the knees. "Why are you so eager to run princess? It's me, Finn, your hero." He laughed sourly. Smelling the fringe of her hair, exhaling a sigh of delight, knowing Finn was watching everything he wanted him to see, he chuckled before he continued.
"Hehehmm. Its a shame it has to end like this for you sweet Bubblegum, but its all for a greater good. Now lets go watch the kingdom burn. And don't think I forgot about you sweetheart, you have your own personal show awaiting you after the screams have stopped, you just have to sit back, be patient, and enjoy the current one I'm about to put on." He started pulling her by the arm, heart pounding trying to think of what to do and adrenaline pumping, with fight or flight kicking in, she still didn't hesitate yanking her arm free from his grip. Before he could turn she kicked him with all her might in his side, causing him to tumble over slightly, loosing his balance, stumbling to the window ledge, he fell over the side, plummeting down to the streets below.
Gasping, appalled of her actions, still holding care for Finn's safety, she may have just killed him. Bubblegum ran up to the ledge looking down onto the streets. A thin puddle of blood-dragged in the direction of the city gates with maniacal, disembodied, strained laughter off in the distance. Still frantic from the heat of the moment, Bubblegum skidded over the Jakes groaning on the floor and yelled for answers, "Jake! What the bjork was that! What on Ooo is going on. Why is Fi..."
"Princess... I'm... just as confused as you are... Now could you help me out?" Bubblegum took in a deep breath, and out again, soothing out the built up energy in that spur of the moment encounter she had no clue what was going on; and she hated not knowing what was happening before her. But she had to think about all this later, right now Jake was in need of aid. He slithered up into his normal form so Bubblegum could help him. She lifted him into her arms and over onto her enormous bed, supporting his head up on a pillow.
"How is the rest of the kingdom? Was Fi.. he coming just for me?" She asked, unable to shake the feeling that this was her fault somehow
"I don't know Peebles, but allot of the banana dudes are pretty beat up badly." Jake replied in discomfort, he was just as lost in all this as she was.
"Oh glob! Jake do you mind if I..."
"No, sure, go ahead, I'll be fine, I just need to relax."
Looking back before she left the room, "I'll bring some stuff for you wounds when I get back, okay?"
Jake nodded, turning on his side, curling up on the bed like he does in his draw at the tree fort, hold and rubbing some of his bruises and aches.
PB went on to scourer the castle to help get the wounded guards escorted to the hospital.
Sprinting with a limp back through the great candy forests, Finn (back in control) struggled in his retreat from the kingdoms pursuing banana guard. He had a deep graze on the side of his forehead, and other bloodied cuts and bruises caused by the fall, his leg took a big hit, possible fracturing a bone, and certainly sprained his ankle. Finn howled in every step it brought him to hop on his left leg when he had to. His last footing heard a crack and twinged; he fell loosely, holding below his knee, pressuring the pain.
"Ahh-Arrghmn! I-I can't..." He cried, "I can't do it. My leg... it hurts!" He moaned through his teeth rolling in the dirt, tightly gripping his broken area. The Lich sighed at Finn's whining. "Hold your hand still boy..." Finns palm erupted with a warm tingly, numbing feeling; kinda like pins and needles. After it built up, it released into his leg, moaning from the weird sensation of magic flowing out of his hand into his leg. The flow stopped, the sensation was over; Finn extended out his leg, testing its ability.
"How did you?... I thought you killed things, not healed them." For him being his nemesis and all, these actions were strange, enemies are meant to fight each other, not be aiding. He didn't like it; it put a hole in his heroic codes he has abided by for years, the Lich was no traditional foe, he turn many of Finns rules upside-down. One of them being the fact that he is helping the enemy himself and another, putting innocent lives in danger. All these conflicts in his head didn't help keep his mind straight.
"Please, how do you think I have lasted this long? You think my body just held itself together all those years. Don't get used to it though, I not going to keep repairing you forever..." Reminding the hero it was not an act of kindness.
Torch light could be hardly seen through the many trees and branches, ordering shouts off in the distance sounded closer, the guard was hot on their tail like an angry mob driving a monster out of town.
"Come on boy, get moving, they're after us. They will throw you into the same cesspit they keep that mental, broken, vampiric demon of yours."
Finn was exhausted and wanted to argue back to the Lich insulting her, but he was too beat up and had to run from the guards, they likely won't give him mercy, even if he explained. So he obeyed the Lich's orders: to run south, to the Badlands, were they couldn't find him. At least there he would be a danger to no one...
A Lich's Laws of Possession:
The only other know ways to kill a Lich is to kill the host it has took hostel within, or for a host to use sheer unseen willpower to suppress or even abolish it while it is at its weakest.
I'll try and get chapter 3 out next week like I did with this one, but don't count on it. I'm still writing the story as these go out and I don't want the chapters catching up so close to were I'm at, I like a little breathing room, 2-3 chapters of breathing room specifically.
P.S The chapter title was a bitch to squeeze in, but me gusta.