Tales of the Alternate Universe

II: The Ice Prince

Chapter Twelve: A New Life

He pulled his head out of the cold water, multiple drops dripping down from his blonde hair and nose. Finn shook his head to get rid of them, regretting the action instantly. A jolt of pain struck his body, forcing him to lean on the improvised sink before him. It had been five days since he first awoke after the disaster and Flanna left the town. His wounds hadn't healed completely yet, nor had he gotten used to the metal prosthesis on his right shoulder.

"A month…" the boy whispered, staring at his reflection in the mirror. "The doctor said it'll stop hurting in a month…"

Finn hated the look of the still reddened stitches on his pale skin. It somehow disgusted him to stare at the mechanical limb shoved inside his shoulder. His flesh had blackened due to his body fighting to reject it, while the bloody red of his peeled stump coagulated slowly to scar the wound over. As he had muttered earlier, it was a disgusting sight. However, Flanna didn't seem disgusted by his look four nights ago when she accepted him in her arms before leaving Junktown.

Finn glanced back at the mirror, still thinking of her. "Maybe…it isn't as bad as it seems…" the farm boy smiled at the faint blush that had suddenly reddened his cheeks and left the mirror behind.

His feet climbed the stairs back into his bedroom, where he got his shirt and backpack on, and then descended them quickly to meet his mother at the table for breakfast. A warm "Good morning" from the gentle woman welcomed him as he sat down to ingest something solid for the first time in three weeks.

"No, no. What'd you think you're doing, son?" Mrs. Mertens inquired, pulling the bacon out of his reach. "It won't make you any good to eat that yet. The doctor said oatmeal, and oatmeal is what you'll have for breakfast today."

"But…Mom…!" Finn complained in discontent. How come he was ready to go to school, but not to eat bacon?! "Just let me have a tiny piece, pleaaase…!"

"No way son." His mother took a sip from her coffee cup and then stared at him firmly. "Now eat your breakfast, you're gonna be late for school."

Finn sighed in disapproval as he glared at the oatmeal bowl before him. He stretched his arms and tried to hold it in front of his face. Unfortunately, the metal claw that had replaced his hand slipped constantly against the bowl's surface, making the task of feeding himself an impossible one.

The farm boy dropped his bowl of food angrily on the table, causing it to roll down and cover his pants with its hot and thick content. "Agh! Dang it!" he growled, slamming the table with his only fist.

"Oh son, that's bad luck but you'll soon learn how to deal with it." Mrs. Mertens said in a comforting tone. "Trust me. Now go upstairs and get yourself changed for school."

"School…" Finn muttered, crossing his arms. A new jolt of pain struck his body. "Ow…! Yeah sure…"

x+x+x+x+x

The first thing that Finn did once he stepped outside was to run towards the mailbox with an enthusiastic Jake hopping behind him. He checked inside it expectantly, but there weren't any letters waiting for him to open them. The boy sighed in disappointment as he sat on one of the tree's giant roots, holding his face with his flesh hand.

"Bouw?" the bulldog moaned, staring at him with worry.

"No Jake, nothing from her yet…" Finn replied in sadness. "I hope Flanna hasn't forgotten about me... I mean, there's probably a lot of fancy stuff much more interesting to do and see at the city, than writing to a broken farm boy like me…"

"Bark!" Jake yapped angrily, placing his paws on Finn's chest.

"All right, all right! I didn't mean it!" the boy grunted in response. "Guess… I have to leave now… See ya later Jake!"

Finn rushed towards the school, waving good-bye at Bartram and Cecile, who were staring at him through the barn's window —just chewing some hay. He sprinted across the fields, enjoying gladly the soft breeze in his hair and the warmth of the sun for the first time in weeks. The bear capped boy was happy about being back, but as his feet took him closer and closer to the small building where he was heading to, his smile began to fade. His blue eyes couldn't help to notice a weird look on his classmates' faces, which made him feel rather uncomfortable.

Miss Bonnibel appeared on the door and rang the bell to call everyone inside, the usual kindness that irradiated from her managed to brighten up his mood a little. "Finn! Is that you?!" the young woman exclaimed joyfully as she ran to meet him at the entrance. "How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?"

Finn pulled away from her gentle embrace and grinned. "Just a little, but don't worry, I can take it!"

"You're such a brave boy," the teacher smiled. "C'mon, let's go inside."

The energetic commotion of kids talking to each other, tossing paper airplanes to each other, and copying some else's homework died right at the same instant in which Finn Mertens walked inside. His sweat rolled down his cheeks as he strode towards his seat, feeling the heavy weight of everyone's eyes on him. When the walk of shame ended, an awkward silence filled the classroom. Finn shut his eyes nervously and struggled to remove his backpack, being his mechanic arm a nuisance to do so. The old rusty metal that his father had used to build it squealed and creaked, causing some uncovered giggles to break the silence and increase his embarrassment.

Miss Bonnibel didn't fail to notice this and she immediately released her pen to glare at her students. "What's going on here? Your classmate has just returned from recovering and you were supposed to give him a warm welcome, c'mon kids!"

"Welcome back…!" a giggling voice at the end of the classroom shouted before bursting in laughter. "One-arm!"

The rest of the class joined the laughter, coming up with more puns and taunts about Finn's missing limb and its replacement. Bonnibel acted in the farm boy's defense immediately, which just ended up in her worsening the situation, for the other kids had now labeled Finn as "The teacher's favorite", title that earned him more shameful names and taunts.

The rest of Miss Bonnibel's class just became more awkward for Finn with each minute that passed until the time for recess finally arrived. His classmates left the room in a hurry, carrying their lunchboxes and toys to enjoy the sunny day that was waiting for them outside. Meanwhile, Finn remained silent inside the classroom.

He had never felt so ashamed and angry in his life, not even when Flanna used to prank him. "Flanna…" the boy heard himself whisper as he fixed his sight on her empty seat. When the red-haired girl was around it was as if the whole classroom was reduced to only two students; him and her.

Miss Bonnibel's punishments and anger were always centered on the two of them, as well as the other kids' attention. Finn never noticed them whispering or laughing about him because he was too focused on bothering Flanna to care about them. Now that she was gone, he had turned into everyone's mocking target. Somehow it seemed that the school had turned into a bigger place without that foolish girl, and for the first time in his life Finn Mertens felt… lonely.

"Oh Finn…!" Miss Bonnibel's voice echoed behind him. "I'm so sorry about this, I promise to have a severe talk with them and their parents after school! How'd you like that?"

The boy lowered his gaze and sighed. "No Miss…don't do that please… I…"

The teacher crouched beside his seat and tilted her head. "What is it, Finn?"

"I'm… I'm just gonna quit coming to school…"

His response made her flinch in astonishment. "What?! Finn no! W-we can work on this! You don't have to give up your education! It's the most important—!"

"I'm not even good at this, teacher…!" Finn replied in exhaustion, "I have a poo brain. I can't even spell my own name right and you know it!"

"But Finn… What about your parents?"

"It's okay, we were born as farmers and that's what I want to be, I've never really longed for anything else…"

"Finn… if you were so sure about that, then why did you keep coming to classes, silly boy?" Miss Bonnibel asked gently. "You'd be wasting five years of your life if you quit now…"

"I kept coming because…" the teacher noticed his blue eyes drifting stealthy towards Flanna's empty seat. "I-I…I'm not sure… I'm feeling weird all of a sudden! …And confused…"

A tender smile graced Bonnibel's features. "You're quitting because she's not coming back? Was Flanna Hacksworth your only motivation to assist school?"

Finn's face flushed intensely. "What?! I-I never said such thing!"

"Nope!" the teacher chuckled. "But those are the kind of feelings that tend to show themselves with time…" Miss Bonnibel stroke his hair softly as she got back on her feet. "It's okay Finn. If this place causes you so much bitterness, then you should stay away from it." she smiled once again. "Go home, Finn, and work hard."

"Thanks Miss…!" the boy said, hugging her waist in excitement and then rushed outside, leaving his teacher alone.

"I should have known from the beginning... But I was too smart to see that," Bonnibel whispered, "It was love all along..."

x+x+x+x+x

Mrs. Mertens was outside helping her husband water the crops, although he didn't want her to do it because of her baby. Jake was lying under a tree's comfortable shade when the sound of coming footsteps made his ears perk up. The puppy sprung, barking and wagging his tail in excitement, causing the Mertens to stop their labors and glimpse at their son coming earlier than expected.

"Finn what are you—…?" his mother tried to ask, but the boy passed her by in such a rush that it was impossible for her to finish the phrase.

"I'm sorry, school sucks, it seems that my arm too. Has the mailman passed around here? Never mind, I just noticed he did!" the boy exclaimed with such speed that it was impossible to understand a word of what he just said.

Finn opened the mailbox and grasped one of the letters with his hand. It came from the city, he could tell because of the postal stamp on its envelope. The boy shouted something enthusiastically and made his way upstairs, dashing inside the house like a tornado while his parents stared at each other in astonishment.

"Hurry up Jake!" the farm boy said before he closed his bedroom's door and opened the letter. "This is it! It's from her, Jake!"

"Woof! Woof!" the puppy barked, jumping on his bed.

"Dear Finn…" he began reading the paper aloud.

Dear Finn,

How's your new arm doing? I hope it's doing better than my wound. It has done nothing but to give me trouble! My father is forcing me to go into this school for rich people where you have to behave all nicely and junk, they talk about etiquette all the time and I have to wear a stupid dress that doesn't let me breathe or run the whole day!

Anyway, I had to take a "swimming class" —As if I need that, I've swum ragging rivers for the love of— Oh! I'm getting side-tracked. Whatever, you should have seen the look on everyone's face when they saw my awesome scar…! The guys stared at me weird and the girls were totally annoying, saying that I would never get married because of it! Geez, like if I had wanted the Destiny Gang to beat me up!

Then at home, is just the same situation. My cousins Francis and Thomas are a pair of butts! They really try their best to annoy me as much as they can and get me in trouble with dad…ugh… I'm not allowed to say the word "butt" in here, but I would if I could, 'cause that's what they are! Butts!

How are Jake, Bartram, and Cecile doing? I really miss those guys, you know? Oh! Have you seen any sign of the Destiny Gang around there? I'm pretty sure they will come back one day, so stay alert, okay?

You know Finn, I wish you were here… things wouldn't be so hard if I had a friend by my side. We are still friends, right? I promise I'll keep writing, okay? And don't worry, one day I'll find my way out of this dungeon, mansion or whatever they call it, and I'll runaway to Junktown!

I just need to see you again, Mertens…

Please tell me you feel the same…

"Flanna…" Finn whispered. "Did you hear that, Jake? She misses me! She hasn't forgotten about me and…!"

The boy furrowed his brow and ran downstairs like a flash. He pulled a drawer open and reached for a pen. Flanna had made him a request and he was determined to clarify all her doubts.

"Dear Flanna…" his left hand scribbled with difficulty, "Of course I feel the same. I lov-…" he crossed that word out. "I miss you…"

Update: Grammar checked and corrected.