Tales of the Alternate Universe

Chapter Twenty-five: Fire and Ice

Astonishment seized Turtle Princess' face when the Ice Prince walked to her desk and asked politely for a fire elemental fashion book. That was the third time of day in which he had returned asking for the same thing. On his first try, the icy prince stormed inside and snatched the first book of the subject that he could find. He returned a while later, asking if he could change it. Turns out it was the biography of some "Tinderflam" guy, a famous tailor of the Fire Kingdom. On his second shot, the Ice Prince tried to be more specific and actually read the back of the book that he was taking home, however, that didn't seem to work either because he was back in the library, asking for the same thing in a matter of minutes.

It appears that the book he had borrowed earlier didn't have any pictures, and whoever was requesting that kind of literature needed desperately a reference of the garments of which that book was talking about. Confused and somewhat amused, the turtle librarian handed him a volume carefully chosen by herself with (in her opinion) the most wonderful and bright designs that a fire elemental could wear.

The Ice Prince left the building with a grateful display of happiness that Turtle Princess had never seen on him before. It made her wonder if she would ever see him back in the library again. Much to her surprise, the impetuous wizard did return the next day, this time asking for a spelling book and some fairy tales. Amazingly, the prince kept coming back almost everyday for three weeks. Each time he appeared to borrow a book of any random subject, his mood seemed to become less aggressive and more passive. Whatever had happened to him in the last few weeks must have been surprisingly good to cause that change in him. Turtle Princess couldn't be happier with her new favorite customer, whoever she or he might be.

Flame Princess had turned out be a quite curious girl. Since she learned how to speak fluently the only words that came out of her mouth where questions and more questions, and each "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why can't Jake fly if he has wings?" meant a new trip to the library for the winter wizard, who had also learned more things about the world around him in three weeks than in a thousand years of living.

Those were joyful days for the Ice Prince and his playful princess. For the first time in centuries, he had finally tasted what it truly meant to be alive; laughing, playing, learning and actually enjoying some else's company led him to conclude that, when he revived Flame Princess he had also revived a part of himself. Nothing could annoy him now, not even being forced to change his crystal palace in the Ice Kingdom for a stack of burning wood and a small cave in the middle of the Grasslands, or having to fly all the way towards the library everyday. If those actions could draw a smile on his princess' face, then everything was worth it.

The Ice Prince never thought he would feel the bitter side of life ever again until he ran into the so-called hero of Ooo one sunny morning. It had happened when he had just stepped out of the library. Joshua the Dog was waiting for him outside, with his arms crossed and an altered look on his face. The silver-haired wizard let out an irritated sigh and tried to walk past him, however, the bulldog managed to get a hold of his navy cloak and forced him to stop.

"Ice Prince, we need to have a serious talk. Here and now." Joshua said firmly.

"Sorry, but I'm late for a very important meeting at Wizard City. Now step aside 'cause these 'Very Important Wizard Matters' books are getting heavy!"

The grey-hatted dog snatched a pair of books from the Ice Prince's stack and arched an eyebrow in an skeptical manner. "'Princess Potluck and the Seven Knights?' 'Baby Eating Fox and the Babies?' Oh I see, really important wizard matters indeed!" Joshua replied sarcastically. "C'mon dude, my wife just bought this book for our babies! Get serious and face the facts, man!"

"What facts?!" the Ice Prince hissed with contained fury. All he wanted was to go home and read with Flame Princess, what was so bad about that?

The yellow dog sighed in concern. "Look, the last thing we want to do is to bother you. We…we've seen that you are actually a nice guy these days and well… is just that…" he scratched the back of his head. "Princess Bubblegum sent me to talk with you about some strange readings that appeared on her lab's monitors three weeks ago."

"I don't know what are you talking about! Now get out of my way or I'll leave you frozen on this spot for an entire month!"

"Please dude, hold on!" Joshua commanded. "This is serious! Princess Bubblegum detected a large amount of highly unstable radioactive energy three weeks ago at your Ice Castle's same location. I just came to warn you; whatever you're doing is wrong! You must get rid of the source of that energy, that thing is a threat for the whole land! Maybe even for the planet, please Ice Prince… Think about it!"

"Humph! You know what I'm thinking? I think that you and your bubblegum princess are just looking for a way to annoy me again! Well, let me tell ya one thing: That's not going to happen!"

The Ice Prince conjured his stormy winds and blew the yellow dog out of his way just by exhaling his powerful cold breath. Leaving the two books that Joshua had snatched from him behind, the prince leaped into the air and vanished within the clouds.

Joshua crawled out of the snow that had covered his body and shook his head in disappointment. "Very well… If that's how you want it, I'll have to find out what's the source of that unstable energy and control the situation myself…"

x+x+x+x+x

That encounter with Joshua had certainly left a nasty flavor on the Ice Prince that morning, but he wasn't going to let that ruin the rest of his day. He reached his new home and placed the books inside his cave. The fiery girl didn't seem to be inside there, nor did his loyal penguin companion. With an impatient growl, the wizard went outside and called Flame Princess' name, hoping to see her swirl out of the burning wood before him. However, she didn't.

He felt like freaking out in that very instant. Anything could have happened to her during his absence. She was still too reckless and oblivious to the perils of the outside world, Grod she was only three-weeks-old! The bluish lad dashed towards a random direction; hopefully he would find a trail of burnt grass or flames blazing somewhere that would lead him to her. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary. His pointy ears had managed to perceive the girl's amused giggles in the opposite direction.

The prince found his red-haired princess messing around with some goblins that were probably just passing by at the moment. The green creatures screamed and ran crazily in circles as Flame Princess fired small sparks at them, following Jake's instructions and then laughing along with the penguin when the goblins bumped into each other clumsily.

"For the love of—! Jake, what's the meaning of this?!" Ice Prince demanded angrily.

"Uh-oh…" the fire princess whispered, quitting her game right away.

Seeing this as a golden opportunity to escape, the three goblins ran away from the princess, leaving a trail of smoke behind them from their still burning butts. The girl noticed the prince's glare and left her seat on the charred grass while she dusted off her new sleeveless dress, which she had learned to create by morphing her own flames into fire fabric.

She walked towards the Ice Prince, holding her hands together nervously. The young princess understood perfectly what she was and was not allowed to do while the Ice Prince wasn't home, and wandering away from her bonfire was surely something that she shouldn't have been doing during his absence.

"I uh…" the girl attempted to apologize, but the Ice Prince just ignored her faint words and raged against his penguin servant.

The wizard ranted over why he had made Jake responsible of Flame Princess' safety, explaining him how dangerous it was for a fire elemental to show her face out of the Fire Kingdom. They were feared by everyone in the land due to their fierce nature and aggressive ways. The last thing the prince wanted was that Joshua or Princess Bubblegum herself find about his princess. They would obviously meddle in and take her away from him, especially after the lecture that the golden dog had just given him that morning.

"Now tell me Jake…" the Ice Prince snorted. "Why on earth did you let her wander around on her own?!"

The penguin shrugged, giving him what could be considered as a nervous grin and replied with a "Wenk…"

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard! Go back to the castle and help the other penguins to rebuild it, I do not wish to see your face near me anymore!"

Flame Princess bit her lips, knowing that her turn to be scowled had arrived and stepped in front of the prince, expecting a similar treatment. The Ice Prince eyed her in silence, shook his head, and asked her to follow him with a gesture of his only hand. The girl tilted her head in confusion, but did as said, not wanting to cause her prince more trouble.

"Are you mad at me too?" she asked once she had caught up with him.

"For some reason I'm unable to do that…" the prince replied, "I'm a little disappointed, though. You know I do this for your own good…"

"Why do you care so much about me, Ice Prince?" Flame Princess inquired, running a little to stop before him and face his worried stare.

The wizard felt that ridiculous sensation of heat crawling over his face and turned his head upwards while he crossed his arms. "I'm glad I don't have to go back to the library to answer that question, my princess… Though it's kinda hard to tell you the answer when you're staring at me like that, hehe."

"Why?" the flaring girl asked in curiosity.

"Well, b-because that's something that's never easy to… well… sometimes the right words just won't…ugh…" he glanced back at her and snapped his fingers in excitement. "Hey! Don't you wanna finish the story that we started yesterday?"

Forgetting her previous question, the princess grinned and nodded enthusiastically. The two of them raced towards the Ice Prince's cave, where he grabbed the book and suggested her to read it on the grassy hills. The hours flew away as the elemental couple went over every page of the novel, which they both seemed to be enjoying with delight. The prince would always hold the book for her and read it aloud while the princess tried to read along with him, mixing his voice with hers. It didn't appear to be an exciting activity at all, but it was pretty much the only thing that they could do together without hurting each other, or getting in trouble with the other inhabitants of the land. Besides, it was a great excuse for the two to sit close to each other and enjoy the other's company.

"In the end, they had to part ways, for their differences were many… He was the complete opposite of her, just as she was the complete opposite of him…"

"The end." The Ice Prince finished, closing the book and placing it aside.

He was quite pleased about having read something with a more mature ending. To tell the truth, he was somewhat tired of happy endings and childish stuff. It was great that Flame Princess had improved so much in just a few weeks. That would let them enjoy more exciting readings like the one of the 'Baby Eating Fox', if only Joshua hadn't gotten nosy that morning they could have read it before going to sleep.

The wizard sighed, struggling to forget about that dog's warning and grinned at Flame Princess, hoping to get a warm smile from her as well. She did curve her lips for him a little, but that sweet expression vanished from her face as fast as it came.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the prince inquired, tilting his head.

"Nothing, it's just that… I didn't like that book, it was sad…" Flame Princess replied, "What does opposite mean anyway?"

The Ice Prince swayed back, pondering on what his princess had just said. "Umm…opposites are… things that are the contrary of the other!" he was happy with the answer that he had managed to come up with, but a very confused glance from the fire girl put an end to his brief moment of pride. "Umm… For example; light and dark or good and bad or—…"

"Fire and ice…" the princess whispered in sadness.

The silver-haired lad gave her a shocked look and leaned forward, trying to get as close to her as possible without causing her harm. "Y-yeah…in a way but… that doesn't have to apply to us, does it? You can't just—!"

Flame Princess reached out for his hand, causing an extremely painful reaction on the two of them. Both, the Ice Prince and the fiery girl, reeled away from each other's touch, a puff of steam emerging from their hurt skin.

"It does apply to us…" the princess stated with grief. "I had always wondered why we never touched or hugged like the princes and princesses from the books… We were never made for each other, were we?"

The Ice Prince turned his sight away from the girl, not being able to bear the look in her eyes. Of all things, why did she have to be reborn as a fire elemental? Was it because of the Fire Count's gem or the phoenix's ashes? Perhaps he made a mistake when he chanted the incantation, or perhaps it was just meant to be. After all she possessed a fiery nature, being her essence pure passion.

Staring at his hands in resignation, the prince realized that there was still something that he could do to repair the damage. His mechanic arm shouldn't hurt Flame Princess or let him feel the pain of her fire. Ironically, in a distant past he would've never used that arm with her, but now it was the only part of his body that could enter in contact with the red-haired girl directly.

"Hey… I understand now!" the Ice Prince exclaimed, turning back to face her. "You just made a mistake, you grabbed the wrong hand, silly girl!" He stretched his metallic arm and held her hand gently. Some steam came out from their contact, but this time neither of them felt pain. "You see? We were made for each other after all! Why would I have an arm made of steel if it wasn't to touch you, huh?"

"B-but you… You can't feel me with that, can you?" Flame Princess replied in disappointment.

"Of course I can!" the prince tapped the left side of his chest with his real hand and smiled. "Here… in my heart. You know why I care so much about you? It's because I… Because I love you…"

An astonished look filled Flame Princess' eyes, but it was soon replaced with a grateful smile. Her flames grew larger, displaying a powerful glow as she tightened her grip on the Ice Prince's metal hand and used her forearm to wipe away her fiery tears. The young wizard locked his eyes on hers, wondering how could bringing a beautiful girl like her back into his life be something wrong, like the golden bulldog had said that morning.

"He's got a poo-brain, that's all" the prince thought as he took his princess home, walking arm in arm with her. "Now you go to sleep, okay?" he said once they were standing in front of the girl's house.

"Ice Prince…" Flame Princess called before he walked away. "I love you too."

x+x+x+x+x

Someone was waiting inside his cave when the icy prince stepped inside. He recognized the round figure of the hero dog and furrowed his brow in anger. The Ice Prince conjured his frosting powers and loomed over Joshua in a menacing way.

"What are you doing here?! How did you find us?!" he demanded.

"It wasn't hard to find you using this little device that Princess Bubblegum gave me. It measures radioactive activity and I just received a lecture of a high amount of energy in the area. I was scared, it looked like if it were about to explode!" Joshua shoved the device in his pocket and walked towards the Ice Prince.

"Listen I know what's going on here, that girl is the source of the unstable energy… Her reactions seem to affect the intensity of the radioactive energy that comes from her body!"

"So what?!" the wizard growled bitterly. "She's not a threat! I'm taking care of her! Go tell your princess to leave us alone!"

"I-I can't do that!" Joshua shouted. "She… Imagine what would happen if that fire girl gets too excited! She would endanger the whole planet! Princess Bubblegum has already talked about this with the Flame King; he will accept her as one of them, maybe even as his own daughter for being a royal. It's a great opportunity for her; she'll finally be with her kin… Flame Princess doesn't belong here, my friend."

"Get out of my territory Joshua, or I swear to Glob that I'll impale you on an icicle!" the Ice Prince declared, fury burning within his cold blue eyes.

The dog shook his head and walked outside. Just when he was about to leave, Joshua turned around and faced the prince one last time. "You know you're putting her life in danger as well, do you? If you truly love her, you should let her go… Just think about it…"

Author's Notes:

Well, the final chapter of this story will be hopefully posted this Friday and the epilogue on Monday. I know some of you don't want this to end but, well... maybe we can talk about a sequel after I post the epilogue. I still have to finish my other fics too, so it may take sometime. In any case, thank you for staying with me and supporting this story! Especially the reviewers for giving me their opinion and encouraging me to write, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all! :)

See you on Friday, and don't forget about this story's very special epilogue on Monday!

Update: Grammar checked and corrected.