Hello all! First things first. Thank you. Thank you for the reviews, the favorites and the follows. You guys seriously make me think I could be a writer someday. That being said, here is the next installment of Heat and Hearts! Funny story really, I was staring at the magical blinking cursor in word when a thought crossed my mind. It said, write. Sooooo, I looked at my hands and they looked at me and I told them to write. And so they did! They wrote for an our, then two, then three! After the fourth came around I was getting famished, tired and a little bored. But when I tried to pull away, they wouldn't let me. When I told them that enough was enough I got backhanded by my own right and the left just kind of pointed and wagged its index finger. So I gave into their commands and ended up writing for 5 and a half hrs today. My oh my did it feel good. Now on this piece I tried to use that emotion thing, my friends tell me I'm a sociopath that doesn't have emotion but I went all kingdom hearts on their asses and said I could still pretend! So once again I need you to tell me what I'm doing right and wrong, if I can put in emotion or if I should stick to description. Also, there are a ton of cameos in here, at least that's what I think they're called. And its time for the disclaimer I have been neglecting. I dont own adventure time. Danm, I wish I did though. The episodes would break your emotion box. So, Bon apetit!

It was nearly noon before our heroes managed to shake the sands of sleep from their eyes. Studying on such a deep level had left them mentally and physically drained. Jake was the first to wake, blinking as the late morning sun washed over his face. With a stretch and a yawn he headed toward the bathroom, images of a hot shower filling his mind. A few pleasantly warm, and wet, minutes later he emerged feeling refreshed and awake. He looked over on the bed to see his brother still slumbering away.

"Finn. Hey Finn." He poked the side of his sleeping bag in hope of rousing his brother from his deep sleep.

"Cmon buddy, time to get up. We overslept." A few more nudges only caused the boy to turn on his side, shunning the dog from any further prodding. Jake looked around the room for anything that could help him out. A glass of water on the bedside caught his eye and he gave a small smile. With a practiced ease he stretched over and grabbed the glass while positioning himself on the other side of the bed. He then hurled its liquid contents directly into Finn's face.

"OH MY GLOB FINN! IT'S THE OCEAN!" The combined shock of the word "Ocean" and the surprise moisture was enough to trigger his natural reflexes. In an instant, Finn jumped out of his sleeping bag and straight up. The young human boy easily cleared eight feet of height before latching on to one of the many protruding branches near the ceiling. This feat of physical excellence lost some of its prestige however, due to the high pitched, girly scream that accompanied it.

"Whoa." Said Jake as he watched the spectacle from the sidelines. Finn was searching the ground for any trace of the hated body of water. It's as if he expected it to have some kind of sneak attack in store. Before long he calmed down enough to see the golden dog with the empty glass in hand. Then it clicked into place.

"JAAAAKE!" he said with a scowl. "You scared the bajeebus out of me man!" Jake just shrugged.

"You wouldn't get up, so I had to improvise. Besides, look how high you can jump!" Finn looked around, suddenly realizing how he got up to his ceiling perch. "Huh, guess you're right." Putting the negative emotion behind him, Finn eased himself down so he was hanging from his hands and dropped himself the rest of the way onto his bed.

"Now that that's all taken care of I'm going to go make breakfast, you clean up and hurry down and we'll get our next plan together." Finn nodded and made his way to the bathroom. With a flourish, Jake stretched himself superman style down the ladder, his lower half following him a few seconds later.

Breakfast came and went without any major excitement. Jake had made his Everything Breakfast Burritos which really did include everything. This wouldn't have been a problem if "everything" was contained to edible ingredients. A pile of pots, pans and assorted cooking utensils lay in the middle of the table. A few sporting fresh bite marks.

"So." Said Jake as he picked his teeth with a spatula. "Science failed us, what's next?" Finn leaned back against his chair, thinking of a possible answer. Beemo however had raised his hand and was waving it desperately.

"Oooh, me! Pick me!" he squeaked in his electronic voice. Jake leaned back on his chair while kicking up his feet.

"Alright Beemo, lay it on me."

"If the explainable won't let you do what you want then it's time to try the unexplainable!" Finn and Jake just tilted their head at the diminutive robot before giving a unified "Whaaat?"

The little computer face palmed, or face screened in his case. "Magic! There's magic everywhere, try using it!" A duo of "Ooohhhhs." Came from the two adventurers as they finally caught on. Finn looked over at his brother.

"Sooooo.. Do you know any magic that could work?"

"Dude! I've been helping you the whole time! If I knew anything I would have said so!"

"Oh right. My bad." Jake looked up towards the ceiling.

"Who all do we know that deals with this kind of thing?"

"Well, there's Choose Goose, he normally knows all kinds of stuff about magic." Jake nodded a confirmation. "Hey, what about Magic Man?" Finn's face fell flat. "No dude. Just, no." Sensing his brothers dislike, Jake dropped the subject. "Yeah, he's a Jerk anyway."

Somewhere in Ooo a sandwich appeared in front of Magic Man. "Oh goody! Some chump's talking about me!" He grabbed the sandwich while laughing and continued on his way.

Jake tapped his chin for a few moments. "Oh! How about Marceline? She's a thousand years old! She has to know something." Finn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's good. We'll ask her tonight. Anyone else?" This time it was Beemo who spoke up.

"There is a wizards festival going on today and tomorrow!" Finn gave Beemo a shocked look. "Where did you hear this at?" The android smiled at Finn.

"The guys on my soccer team were talking about going! They said there's going to be all kinds of magic users there and they always sell cool magic things!"

Jake stood up, his eyes wide with excitement. "Dude we have to go! Maybe one of these guys could help you out! Or even better, we could find some kind of magical potion or something!" Finn thought about it. This could be a good chance to find something…

"Alright bro, I'm in."

"Sweet! We'll leave right after lunch."

"What? But we just ate breakfast!"

"Yeah, well all this scheming got me hungry again. Humph!" With that Jake turned back to the kitchen and started working on something to eat. Meanwhile, unknown to the planning trio, a shadow in the corner of the ceiling shifted slightly. Two yellow eyes opened and blinked once before closing again and melding into the dark corner. It slid through the cracks, it's body like a patch of liquid darkness. Slipping through the gaps of the tree house, the living darkness sped across the grasslands towards the candy kingdom. Its master had ordered it to return if the two heroes were planning anything. This surely counted for something. In moments it was at the edge of the grasslands, making its way through the forest. It melded with the shade and disappeared into the dark without a trace.

The trip to the festival was largely uninteresting. Finn chose to walk side by side with his brother since it wasn't too far away. The two argued the point of using a shield over another sword for defense with Jake being the one in favor of a shield.

"Dude, you can't tell me that another sword is better than a full kite shield." He stretched his arm into a shield for reference. "You can hide behind and stay safe from everything! Fire, ice, arrows. All those things just bounce of it, not to mention you can shield bash the enemy."

Finn just shook his head. "Nah man, you can just slice those things in half and keep on running at them. They won't have any idea what's happening when their attacks just get thrown aside! Then you go in for the double sword decapitation, which is like the coolest move ever!" he motioned with two invisible swords bringing his arms perpendicular to his body.

"Pshhhh, whatever man. We'll talk about this later."

"What? Why?"

Jake gestured to the small encampment below them, stretching his arms wide. "Cause we're here buddy!"

There was no doubt in anyone's mind that this was the Wizards Festival. Tents of varying sizes and colors were set up side by side. Banners and flags waved freely in the air, some on poles others just being held in the air by magic. Sparks and smoke flew through the air and off into the distance. The layout was fairly obvious from the duo's hillside view. It was set to be four squares inside one big square. Aside from the main roadways to get through the square, each individually sectioned square had its own maze of paths working through it. A circular stage sat in the direct center of the gathering, presumably for awards and other announcements. Even though it was only noon the place was packed with people pouring in and out in a steady stream.

The two made their way down the hill and to the front of the camp, a small booth with the word "Info" sat in front of them. Jake made his way over and talked to the goblin before coming back with two pamphlets. He handed one to Finn.

"Alright , I got us two maps. We'll get to the middle and split up kay?"

"Sure, we can cover more ground that way."

Finn and Jake began trekking through the main alley of the festival, marveling at all the merchandise and booths. One wizard, a tall elf with green hair, was selling amulets guaranteed to lead you home if you get lost. One time use only of course. Another was offering potions to disguise the body, he demonstrated by drinking one and turning from a balding old man into a rather curvy brunette woman. Jake made a mental note to visit that one before they left. Further down the road they found a stall selling exotic and magical creatures. Miniature versions of hydras and chimeras were restrained in magical cages, while an impossibly large man with a black beard stared longingly at a variety of dragon eggs. Finally they made it to the middle stage. Jake took notice of several robed men taking up and preparing instruments, obviously there was going to be a magical, music show soon. Excitement lit up in his eyes as he imagined what kind of beautiful sound would accompany the show. A nearby stall worker noticed his excitement and spoke up.

"Don't get to wound up buddy." She said in a tinged accent. Jake looked at her with a questioning glance. "Why not?" She smiled at his puzzled look.

"They don't actually play together; it just ends up being every musician playing what they want and trying to show off the others." She grimaced remembering last year. "Sounds bloody terrible." The yellow dog was crushed. Music wasn't supposed be about who's better, it's about making you feel. He shook his head making in impossibly rash decision.

"Do you have to be magic to play?" he asked.

The vendor scratched around her horns. "I don't think so; you just need a magic instrument. But I don't think adding another noise is really going to make it any better." Jake shook his head again. "I don't want to play with them, I want to organize them. They're lost and they need a path. I will be the lantern lighting their way…" He brought up a fist in emphasis to the depth of his words. The vendor looked at him for a moment before giving a sincere smile.

"You have my attention young one. Here, I've got just the thing." She disappeared into the tent behind her before coming back with a gilded box. A single music note was engraved on the lid. Jakes eyes grew wide and cartoony. "What… What is it?" She laid the box before him before opening it. Light spilled out from the seam, blinding the canine for several seconds after the unveiling. In a nest of red silk laid a cowbell of solid crystal alongside an onyx wand. Jakes features went flat. "It's a cowbell.." The vendor abruptly slapped him across the face. "It is THE cowbell! Used centuries ago to quell the anger of the gods. With it you can control and shape music like clay!" Jakes face filled with excitement once more as he gingerly picked up the shining instrument. His visage became deadly serious. "I'll do it. Oh, but I don't think I have enough to buy this…" The vendor waved it off. "I'll make you a deal. If you can get the crowd to cheer you can have it free of charge, BUT, if you get booed off stage I get to take your musical talent. What do you say?" Jake thought hard about the proposition before him. This was obviously a very powerful item, but to risk his ability to play music? A stray note from the stage reached his ears; it was horribly out of tune. "Fine, but I'm not doing it for the bell. I'm doing it for the people." She nodded and watched as he walked away, golden box in hand. "Of course. That's why it chose you."

Jake rejoined his brother at the edge of the stage. "Hey man, I'm not going to be able to help you for a while." Finn looked at him with a hurt expression. "But dude! You said we were going to do this together!" Jake stretched an arm around the young human's shoulders. "I know bro, but there's something I have to do here." He showed Finn the magic instrument and explained his deal with the vendor. Finn let out a heavy sigh. "Fine, go ahead. Just do me a favor and win, okay? I like listening to you play." He hugged his adopted brother and wished him good luck as he headed for the stage. Now alone he looked down at the map of the festival. The way the layout was set up was sectioning the major types of magic. The four squares were offensive spells, defensive spells, magical items, and dark magic. Finn decided it would be best to leave the dark magic for a last resort. He headed to the entrance to the nearest square, defensive magic, and made his way into the maze of stalls and people.

After passing yet another vendor offering him a spell that would summon a shield in combat, Finn finally decided to stop and ask for some directions. He saw a short dwarf smoking a pipe and reading from one of the scrolls piled around him.

"Excuse me, could you help me out?" asked Finn a little hesitantly. The old dwarf smiled at the human boy and jumped to his feet.

"Yesh, yesh. What can I do for you young man? A barrier shpell? Perhapsh shomething to shummon a shecond shword for defenshe?" Finn was caught off guard. Apparently he made the right choice with this vendor. "Uh, no, thank you. I was wondering if you know about anything that could turn someone into an elemental?" The dwarfs eyes twinkled and he gave a thoughtful "Hmmmm." He turned and looked at his book case, selecting several scrolls and tomes as he talked. "Awww, what you want is transhformation magic. A very rare and powerful branch of the magical world." He dropped the pile of literature on the counter, pulling off the book from the top and opening it to a page in the middle. An illustration of a person turning into a water element and spears passing through him took up the page. "It'sh quite an effective defenshe option when dealing with physhical attacksh."

Finn looked over the page, excitement slowly making its way through his limbs. This is it. This is the answer. "How long does this last?" he asked while barely keeping his voice from wavering. The vendor shrugged. "Anywhere from a couple shecondsh to a couple minutesh, it'sh quite draining." He looked up in time to catch the vigor from Finn's face. "You're not looking for fighting magic lad, come, resht and talk." He gestured to a stool that definitely was not there a moment ago. Finn sat, relieved to have a rest form walking all morning.

"Well, I kinda have a problem…" The dwarf nodded, urging him to continue. Finn took a deep breath and looked the vendor in the eye.

"I sorta fell in love with an elemental.. The only problem is she's a fire elemental." The aged wizard gave him a knowing smile as he puffed on his pipe. "I shee." He said, each word punctuated with a puff of smoke. "You want to be together, but cant thanksh to a little thing called pain." He took a deep breath before letting loose a cloud of smoke that took the form of a sailboat and started making its way over the tents. "Sho, why not get something shimple like a permanent flame shield or a power dampener for the little lady?" Finn looked at him with a small smile. "I thought about it, but you see, she's been told that she was evil her whole life. That only an insane person with a death wish could handle her. I wanted to show her that there's someone out there willing to throw everything away for her. And that she doesn't have to change for someone to love her." The merchant stared at him in silence for a moment, his green eyes looking him over. "I shee. You're the one who tried courting the princshesh of the Fire Kingdom." Finn gasped. How had he known? He stood up and took a guarded stance. The dwarf just laughed at him. "Now, now lad! Jusht relaxsh. I've got no quarrel with you, in fact I'm quite relieved that shuch a noble young man freed the princesh from her prishon!" He took a deep breath from his pipe and exhaled. This time the smoke turned into a small bird and flitted around the stand. "I believe I know of shomething that can help. It'sh called the Orb of Osyrous." Oddly, there was no trace of his accent when he said the name. He got up and searched through the bookcase once more. Then came back to the front with a massive tome in tow and slammed it onto the wooden table. A cloud of dust exploded fourth sending the two into a coughing fit.

Finn moved closer as he watched the old dwarf look through the index before giving a grunt and opening it to the page he wanted. A highly detailed picture of the orb took up two pages of the book. It was small enough to hold with two hands and the exterior was polished perfectly smooth. What stuck out were the three gems that seemed to float inside the orb as if they were held in place in a perfect sequence as it was created.

"Thish ish a very powerful artifact. It balances the power between 2 beingsh no matter the differenche in shcale." He looked up at Finn. "You shee where Im going with thish don't you? With it you can balanshe out the deshtructive power of the princesh while giving you the ability to be with her." Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only could he be with Flame Princess, he could help her with her destructive burden!

"Where can I find this?" he said in a whisper. The old man sighed as he sat back in his seat.

"Shadly, that is a queshtion you'll have to answer yourself." He relit his pipe. "But I can send you in the right direction. There'sh a man in the dark magic section of the feshtival that goes by the name of Giacamo. He hash hish fingersh in every underworld deal from here to the Nightoshpere. Tell him about the orb and that Connoray is calling in his favor. He'll know what you mean." Finn stood up, his legs shaky with excitement. Finally, a solid lead!

"Thank you! You have no idea how much you helped me Mr.!" The vendor just nodded with a smile. "It'sh my pleasure son, I was young once and I understand. Sometimesh you can't let them go." Finn quickly pulled out a sack of gold and put it on the counter. "Here, it's the least I can do." The vendor pushed it back. "No no, you need this far more than I do." Finn shook his head.

"No, seriously I don't. I've got an entire room filled with it. Besides, I want to these books, they could help out in the long run.

With a final farewell and thank you to the helpful dwarf, Finn started to head back to the stage to check up on his brother. According to the pamphlet it was nearly time for the music show to start. The honey colored canine immediately stuck out on stage. Mostly because he had stretched himself to roughly ten foot tall as he made sure everyone was following his directions. By the look on his face it was pretty apparent that things weren't going his way. Finn confirmed his suspicions as he got closer to the stage.

"NO, NO, NO!" Yelled the dog in frustration. "Sander! You're supposed to play in sync with Cohen! And Ulamog, you're supposed to sit next to Kozi and provide wind support! GAAHHHHH!" He massaged his temples in frustration. Finn jumped on the stage and came up behind him. "Dude, whats going on?"

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiinn! Its terrible! These guys can't get along at all! They'll never be ready for the show!" He shrunk back down to his regular size and sat on the floor. "And now I'm going to lose my talent cause I couldn't keep my mouth shut.."

"But what about the bell?" Jake pulled a box over to him from the side and gently pulled the bell from it. "I don't know man, I'm kind of scared of it." His brother gave him a questioning look. "No seriously Finn! When I hold it I can hear the music in the air, and it calls to me." His eyes grew distant as he stared off. Finn snapped his fingers a few times, and broke his brother's trance. "Wha? Oh, sorry."

"Listen Jake, this may not be the time, but I found a way to fix my problem." Jake gasped and put his hands to his cheeks. "Really!? But you don't look like you're made of fire, what did you do?" Finn shook his head.

"Not now man, I'll tell you after the show. You got to do this thing man, kick these nerds into gear with that bell and make sweet music. I know you can do it brother, I'll be in the crowd watching." With a thumbs up the human boy flipped of the stage and took a seat out in the audience. The crowd was already gathering, all were new to the festival though so didn't know what to expect. Jake gathered his wits and took his place in front of the group. The crowd went silent as the clock chimed three, and announced the start of the show. Throwing away all caution Jake took the bell and raised it overhead while bringing the onyx wand to meet it. The instant the two entities met a pulse of force emanated from Jake and traveled through the encampment. It silenced all talk and noise, potions stopped gurgling, animals stopped shrieking, and all fell silent with their heads turning to the stage. Then the music began.

The wind instruments were the first to sound. A duo of bagpipes cut through the air, their long mournful tunes spinning a tale of sorrow. The wood flutes came in next, flitting in and out of the sorrow with their high pitched sounds. Setting the tone of the piece as a sad story with dashes of happiness sprinkled in. Jake could only stand wide eyed and slack jawed as he listened to the noise around him. This was his piece. At the beginning of the training session this was what he envisioned. He didn't even have time to organize them in proper seating let alone teach them the song. So how did they know? He looked down at the glistening bell in his paws and realized the truth. This artifact had made it happen. If he was right the drums should enter the fray right… about…now. He no longer thought it than it happened. Heavy drums joined forces with the wind, setting a low and powerful beat. They resounded with such a deep bass that nearly everyone in camp could feel the rythym in their chest.

Finally it was time for the strings to enter play. No longer the high pitched wailing that everyone heard before, but a melody that seemed to be going through the cycles of life and death itself. The crowd gasped as if they were watching some type of imagined play in their mind, many had their eyes closed doing just that. Finally the many instruments had combined into one well tuned machine, playing a melody that could only have been created by an aged genius or a young madman. But there was something missing. Jake could feel the rythym, he could feel the harmony. But it was lacking. It needed a voice. Once again the music complied too his will as a young, beautiful voice joined the fray. He looked frantically for its source but gasped when he saw the owner. It was none other than the very shopkeeper who sold him the bell. Her voice was melodic and deep, relaxed and sincere and most of all confident and unwavering.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII beliiiiieeeeved in a world of gold

One that held my dreeeeeeaaaams and fought the coOOOooollld

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII beliiiiiiiieeeeeeved in a world so booooooooold

Where it never rained and we never grew oooooOOoooold

'You used to say it's such a silly thing

'Forgotten memories and a tarnished ring

But I knooooow

The truth that you won't let go

The pain you heeeeeld

And the scars in tooooow

'Some come with me my dear leave your worries and your fear

'Together we'll remain

'In our would of dreams and rain

'I hope to see the day that you take my hand say

Come with me noooooow

'You used to say it's such a silly thing

'Forgotten memories and a tarnished ring

'But even now I hear your pleas

'Across the desert and the stormy seas

Although we're so far away I can't help but remembeeerrrr

Yoooouuuuurrrrrrr loooooooooooove!"

She finished on a low note, pushing every bit of emotion she could into her voice. Jake couldn't help but wipe his eyes. He looked out into the crown to see many of them wiping their faces on sleeves or leaning against their loved ones. He also spotted Finn in the front row. The young boy had buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking in a tear filled rhythm. He finally felt that the song had reached its end, the rest of the instruments died down leaving only the bagpipes to finish with their sorrow filled tune. Finally they silenced themselves as well. In the moment of emptiness Jake once again struck the crystal cowbell and sent another wave through the gathering. For a few moments there was only silence. Then the crowed went ballistic. Shouts and whoops filled the air as nearly everyone in the festivals walls clapped in approval. Many of the instrument wizards looked confused, this was the first time anyone had actually liked their work. Jake gestured them forward into a line and they bowed to the crowd, getting another massive round of applause. The singing vendor made her way through the crowd back to her tent, smiling all the way. "Sometimes, all you need is a little more cowbell."

Jake stretched over the crowd to where Finn was sitting, receiving several pats on the back as he went.

"Finn! Are you okay buddy?" he looked over his white headed brother in concern. Finn looked up at him, eyes still red and shiny. "Yeah man, that was amazing." Jake pulled out the golden box. "This thing is strong Finn, really strong. I'm only going to play it on special occasions." He gingerly put the box into a backpack stretched from his own back. "So what did you find out man?" Finn wiped his eyes one last time before standing up next to Jake. "I found something that fixes a lot of problems." He quickly filled him in about the nice dwarf that helped out, and told him about the orb. Once again Jake went wide eyed. "Dude, that's math! Where do we find it?"

"We have to go into the dark magic section. That's where we get our first lead." The two nodded and made their way through the throng of musical fans toward the eerie, dark colored tents ahead.

The cowbell thing was a Zanegar's idea. It may have been a joke but I took it deadly serious. If you have any little quirks that you want in the story then put them in with a review. Dont just say I want my character in there, I'll be all like Girl please. You must give an in depth review. I will then contact you and see what you want, then probably twist your words maliciously. So yeah.