Onto my second chapter, still no Lemonsisters but I promise they will be in the next chapter :)
WARNING: May contain feels.
Finn was still riding on top of Jake the lemon camel and had just started walking across the high path that led to Castle Lemongrab, but they were in no rush. Jake was walking much slower than on previous visits, and didn't extent his legs to get to Castle Lemongrab any faster. Castle Lemongrab towered over the adventurers and cast a deathly shadow over Finn and Jake. Sweat started to drip from their foreheads.
The castle was the same as it was before Lemonjon stood up and walked, and the path to the castle was also the same. It was in the same location, above thick cloud. Both of them were surprised at this, as they both knew that not too long ago, the castle was still located on grass near the Candy Kingdom just after Lemonjon passed away to save the Earldom of Lemongrab. But why hadn't Princess Bubblegum noticed? Just as they came up to a bridge, Jake paused. Finn leant to the left and attempted to look around at Jake's face.
"Hey buddy, what's up?" Finn asked. His face was full of anxiety both for him and his best friend. Jake did not reply or even move. His face was deep in worried thought, and he felt extremely nervous about entering Castle Lemongrab again, especially after encountering the variety of creepy Lemon Children. "Jake?" Finn tried again, showing a tone of concern. "Jake snap out of it!" Finn yelled at his best friend, causing him to wake up from his daydream as if he had actually woken up from his sleep. Jake shook his head frantically before calming down and turning to Finn. "Oh, errrrrr, nothing. Let's keep going." He said. Finn sat up again and held on to Jake as he stretched across the bridge. Jake carried on walking at a steady pace. He still wasn't in a rush to see the Lemongrabs and the Lemon Children even though Princess Bubblegum had ordered them to investigate and as always wanted it to be done as quickly as possible.
It didn't take long for Finn and Jake to reach the entrance to Castle Lemongrab. Jake morphed back into his dog form, and Finn opened the door. Jake followed behind Finn, expecting the potentially starving Lemon Children to walk towards them like zombies. But they didn't.
"Oh. My. Glob." Finn said.
The normally 'lively' Lemon Children were all deceased. Lemon corpses were now spread out across the large main entrance. Some had become mushy and brown, while some even had mould growing on them. The entire room stank of rotten lemons. Finn and Jake ran across the room, avoiding the dead lemons, and reached the door to the throne room. Finn threw the door open, and they both ran inside, shutting the door behind them to escape the horrific smell of dead lemons. The throne room was similar to the last time they visited, although in the place of Lemonjon's head was a soft-looking dull brown wall. "What do you think happened to those poor guys?" Jake asked. He normally hated the Lemon Children and so did Finn, but they were both now concerned as to why the Lemongrabs would neglect the creatures they had made.
"I don't know," Finn replied, "But it looks like they were all starved."
"Hey how come you know? You're not a doctor. You're not smart enough." Jake asked Finn.
"Hey I'm smart! And if they weren't just neglected don't you think the Lemongrabs would have noticed?"
"Hm. I guess. Speaking of Lemongrabs, where are they?" Jake noticed that since Lemonjon wasn't there, they had no way of knowing where exactly the Lemongrabs were.
"Maybe they're in the dungeon again." Finn guessed, and he pointed to the crack on their left that Lemonjon had made the last time they visited. They squeezed through it and climbed over the rocks on the other side. The dungeon was exactly as it was before, very dark and lit only by a few torches on the walls, however there were no signs of life. Nothing moved except the flickering torches. Finn walked in front with Jake following very close behind. They didn't bother to open any of the doors, as they knew almost exactly where the Lemongrabs would be. They jumped off a ledge and continued walking in search of life. They didn't need to open any doors at it was quiet enough in the dungeon to hear breathing and they knew roughly where the Lemongrabs would be hiding. As they approached an air vent, Jake tugged at Finn's sleeve.
"Hey maybe we should go the way we did before, maybe they're there again!" Jake pointed out the air vent that they had rushed into before.
"Great idea!" Finn cheered. With some struggle, he removed the cover and climbed inside. They removed the first cover they found (which was very close to where they came in) and fell into the same dungeon room as last time. The door which had been broken by Jake previously was fully fixed. Plop-Top and Seed-Wad lay next to the door, both looking like they had been starved for over a week. They were also much smaller than previously. Finn and Jake ignored both of them and ran to the door. Jake didn't hesitate to enlarge his fist and break the door again. Once the door had been broken, the two Lemongrabs were revealed, sitting on the same table opposite each other. On the table was a rack with a variety of chemicals, a few assorted jars of candy and a single piece of paper. Lemongrab stood up.
"The door has been broken!" He screeched. Lemongrab 2 stood up and yelled "Fix the door!"
"Wait, what? Fix the do…" Jake complained before Finn covered his mouth. Finn didn't want everyone to repeat themselves.
"What is it now, Lemongrabs?" Finn shouted, "Why are all your boys starving?" He rushed to the table and grabbed the piece of paper "And WHAT is the secret to candy life doing HERE?!" Finn yelled at the top of his voice as he gazed at the paper. Both Lemongrabs started to pace around the room, with their hands behind their backs.
"You see, Finn…" Lemongrab started.
"When Lemonjon died, the Castle felt so empty inside…" Lemongrab 2 continued.
"And we knew that all of our boys were made somehow…"
"And Lemonjon was made of lemon candy…"
"Mmmm," Lemongrab nodded, "So I went to consult mother about it. She was asleep but I found this!" He snatched the paper off of Finn and waved it in the air triumphantly.
"We reconstructed Lemonjon from the candy he left behind. We had to leave some parts out as not all candy was left." Lemongrab 2 smiled. "And now he is with us again, but no hair."
"Noooo Haaaiir!" Both Lemograbs screeched in unison.
"But that doesn't explain how the castle got here." Jake said, looking confused.
"Lemonjon walked here." Lemongrab 2 said.
"We didn't want mother to know of his return." Lemongrab sighed.
"And now…" Lemongrab 2 started to cry.
"Our boys have suffered." They were both sobbing now.
"We locked ourselves here in shame. Only 7 of our boys are alive now." Lemongrab 2 sniffled.
The Lemongrabs finished pacing at the table, hugged each other and cried into each other's shoulders. Finn and Jake stared at them sadly. Jake sniffed and wiped a tear emerging from his eye.
"Come on man, we can't just leave them like this. We got to do something." Jake suggested.
"Like what?" Finn asked Jake.
"Well, like telling Princess Bubblegum?" Jake suggested to Finn. Finn shrugged.
"Okay, let's go," He turned to the Lemongrabs "Hey, you guys wanna come too?" Lemongrab sniffled and turned to Finn, still hugging Lemongrab 2.
"No, no. Leave us here." He said quickly before crying into Lemongrab 2's shoulder again. The other Lemongrab was doing the same. Finn smiled reassuringly.
"We'll be back soon, and we'll bring food don't worry!" Finn said to the Lemongrabs. Jake extended himself and Finn jumped onto his back. Jake stretched himself so his body was the same length as Lady Rainicorn's, and ran towards the Candy Kingdom.
"So you're telling me," Princess Bubblegum started to look worried, "That the Lemongrabs have the formula to making Candy Life again, and now most of their boys are… dead? This is bad news." She shook her head. Finn and Jake were back in Princess Bubblegum's messy laboratory, which was still scattered with papers and spilled liquids. "Luckily," she continued, smiling "I have been working on a way to create an unlimited supply of candy for the Candy Kingdom. It took a while, but I'm almost finished with my research. As for the Lemongrabs, I would like you to bring them here, along with the formula. I need to erase certain memories related to creating candy life again. If they feel lonely, I can create life for them. Hopefully, I can help the Earldom of Lemongrab to become a beautiful and more varied place like the Candy Kingdom." Princess Bubblegum turned to her desk and got four seeds off of it. One was yellow with orange stripes and some orange fruit details, one was green with darker green waves and lime-shaped details, one was pink with red waves and the last one was rainbow coloured in the style of a beach ball. She put them in a case which held all of them snugly. "These are rare candy seeds 2.0," she explained, "They're only a prototype, but they are much better than the original ones I gave them. The Lemongrabs cannot mould these into candy life, and the candy the grown plants produce cannot be given life either. But just in case, I want you to plant these seeds in any outdoor location in castle Lemongrab before seeing them again." She closed the case, secured it, and handed it to Jake who put it on his back.
"Will do, PB" Jake said. Finn hopped onto Jake's back, in front of the box containing candy seeds. Jake morphed himself into a dog with plane wings, and glided away from the castle. Although she knew they couldn't see her or wave back, she waved at them from the laboratory window before sitting at her desk again and focusing on the chemicals that were laid out in front of her.