I do not own Adventure Time, but I do plan on buying a complete DVD set, watch repeatedly until I get old and fat.
~~o~~
Chapter 7 - Limitless and Borderless
"Finn! Jake! Are you in there?" Marceline was steadily getting annoyed. She had been calling out for the two nutcases for over 5 minutes now. Even an immortal vampire has limited patience, contrary to popular and stupid belief.
The sun was almost down as she gazed into the horizon, finally closing her umbrella and tucking it away. Marceline planned to spend the rest of the night with the two and have fun with them, thinking it as a proper 'thank you' for caring for her in the past months. She could hardly imagine the troubles she had caused the two during the time when she was turned into a baby. Sometimes Bonnibel has the wackiest ideas...why did I ever said yes to participate in her mad scientist urges?
"Graaah...where are those dweebs?"
Finally losing her cool, Marceline let herself inside and put her umbrella on the stand. She looked around and marveled at the vast riches and treasures the two adventurers had managed to collect from their travels.
"Wow. Whoever Finn marries will be filthy stinking rich all of a sudden."
Marceline hovered up to the second floor, not bothering to use the wooden ladders, and found herself in the middle of the ever homely kitchen and living room. Her frequent visits to the Tree Fort always brought about bittersweet memories between her and Ash. My worst mistake in my undead life.
"BMO? Are you there?" Her queries was only met by deafening silence. More often than not, Finn and Jake never left their house without someone looking over it. But today, even BMO was gone.
Marceline thought for a second, picking apart details she noticed. Door was unlocked, windows are open, and food was left on the table. What could have happened that forced them to leave in a hurry?
"This sounds like trouble. Maybe I should call Bonnie..." Gliding towards the phone, her eyes caught sight of a book placed on top of the dining table that really looked familiar. Quickly moving closer, she gasped in realization.
"The Enchiridion? How did they got this?"
The Enchiridion lay dusty and faded, but it was indeed a magnificent book. Although it is in bad condition - with pages, bookmarks, and tabs sticking out of it - the design really made it stand out. There is a bird, a skull, some grapes, and a sword in the center of the cover. Around the center is a ring of six gems. There are also two shields at the bottom and the word "Enchiridion" on the top front. She shivered at its presence.
Marceline picked up the tome-like book and opened a random page, feeling in her hands the smooth surface of the paper. Simon Petrikov risked his life for this book around 1000 years ago. From what she remembered about his stories, this book holds wonders within its secret confinements. She cringed at the lost opportunities for Simon to tell her more before he succumbed at the Crown's influence.
"At least he told me the key to opening this thing starts with shining a concentrated light at one of the shields." Thinking that her vampiric powers would be enough, Marceline zapped one of the said shields.
Suddenly, the shield shook and opened to reveal a piece of gem that projects a frog-like creature that immediately launched into incomprehensible babble of words. The hologram appears to be sentient enough. Without warning, a cluster of odd shapes hovered above the book.
"Hey, hey girl? Are you even listening? This is super important. The mutiverse is in danger again and only dared to consult me, Booko and *blah*blah*"
"STOP! Please. Wait a sec, man!" Marceline tried covering the hologram but failed to. He did stopped talking though. "I just need to know where is Finn and Jake."
"Finn and Jake of 2nd Branch of Alpha Universe can be found in the 14th Branch of Beta Universe. They are currently residing in that universe's Candy Castle."
Suddenly, a live view of the said location became visible in the hologram. Marceline is almost at complete lost. She knew that there are other universes scattered around the multiverse, but she never thought that there would be this many. What is those two doing in there?
"Hey Booko, what is happening?"
"I can only tell so much. You need to speak to Prismo personally!"
"Okay, what do I have to do?"
"Twist that sword and see what happens."
Marceline did as what she was told and was amazed as how the Enchiridion can contain so much secret compartments. It now shows numerous crevices of various shapes placed around a circular crevice in the center. These shapes seems familiar.
"Find all the keys and insert them into the back, only then you can speak to Prismo."
"This looks complicated...but I can manage!"
After all, she already have an idea what these keys are. Marceline hovered close to the telephone and dialed Bonnie's number. The candy monarch answered on the third ring. Marceline felt a squirm inside her as she heard Bonnie's cute voice.
"Hello, Princess Bubblegum speaking. Who's this?"
"Bonnie, you've got to help me. Assemble every princess you know tonight here in the Tree Fort. Finn and Jake looks like to be in trouble!"
"What? What happened? I was indeed starting to get worried about them."
Marceline smacked her forehead. "Look, I don't have much time, I think. Just do as I said, please."
"Alright, Marceline."
She ended the call and looked at the Enchiridion. Booko is no longer active, much to her dismay. Out of desperation for something to do while waiting, Marceline decided to go to her house and retrieve her bass axe. Night has completely taken over the day. The moon shone brightly down Ooo, oblivious to the turmoil that will probably arise. Marceline had reached her home in few minutes, picked up her bass axe lying on her bed, and went outside again. On her way back to the Tree Fort, she caught sight of almost every princess in Ooo.
"Finding the right keys will probably take longer than I expected..."
~~o~~
"Why should I go to the Kingdom again, Flanna?"
Ice Prince sat on a boulder outside a forest that leads to the Candy Kingdom. The hot afternoon sun did not bothered him that much. He blatantly refused to fly any further if Flanna does not explain some things to him.
I want to show you something. Something that will forever change your disposition for that Princess Bubblegum.
"Couldn't you just tell me instead? C'mon, I really don't want to see those people."
Too bad you don't get to decide on this, my love.
"And why is that, huh?" He stood on the rock, slightly annoyed.
Because...if you don't heed my requests, I'll leave you alone again. For the third time.
Ice Prince froze in panic. He doesn't want to be alone all over again.
That's right. So, are you ready to go now?
Without another word, he shot up across the sky and flew towards the Kingdom. The wind parted away easily for him, offering little resistance against him. Ice Prince almost never heard the incessant calls for him below. He is well outside the forest grounds now, and who would even want to talk to him?
That guy, I guess.
Joshua the Dog waved at him, motioning him to go down. Begrudgingly, he complied and swooped down near the golden dog. He warily eyed the red sword in Joshua's left hand. He wondered what is wrong now.
"What do you want, Joshua?"
"Where are you going? You look like you are in a hurry, my boy."
"Pssh, I'm older than you, okay?"
"Just answer my question, son."
Ice Prince blasted a nearby tree, freezing it all over. "It's none of your business, Joshua!"
"Look, I won't bother you anymore if you just tell me where you are headed to!"
"Okay! I'm headed for the Candy Castle! There, happy now?"
Suddenly, the dog raised his sword and pointed it at him. Ice Prince frowned. Is Joshua, the noble hero, breaking his promise? This was clearly unprecedented. He backed away, an alarmed look in his face.
"I thought if I said where I am going, you'll leave me alone?"
"Well, there are always exceptions. The Princess forbid you to go anywhere near the Candy Kingdom. Look, if you know what's best for you, my boy, you'll turn around and go away." The dog assumed an offensive stance. Ice Prince had heard of what this bipedal can do, and if the stories where true, he doesn't really stand a chance of winning in direct melee combat. "Or else..."
Ice Prince stood his ground. Fight him, my prince. End that fool's existence! "Or else what?"
"You'll have to answer to my blade, boy."
With surprising agility, Joshua disappeared with a blur and delivered a quick swipe of his red sword. He just got away in time to avoid that slice, but not the punch that followed. It rattled his teeth, and it really hurt.
"You stupid fleabag! I'll freeze you!" He shot a barrage of ice in Joshua, who deflected the shards lazily with his sword.
"Is that all you can do? I thought living for so long could fill your head with knowledge?"
"Shut up!" Ice Prince summoned an ice sword, cursing himself for forgetting to equip the blade attachment to his arm. You can no longer use that, your mechanical arm is now fused with the crown, remember? USE MY POWER, PRINCE, or we will both die here!
"Keep quiet, Flanna! I can defeat this illusionary mutt!"
"Son, who are you talking to?"
He did not replied but instead thrusted his sword in Joshua's face. The dog expertly flicked away his attack, sending him and his ice sword to the ground. Joshua promptly smashed the cold blade with his own. Ice Prince retaliated by summoning two ice daggers and tried to drive both to the dog's hindquarters. Joshua evaded in the nick of time, earning a long but shallow gash in the process.
"Stop moving so much you butt sniffer!"
The experienced hero punched him again, this time in his stomach. Air was forced out of his lungs, winding him. He grabbed Joshua's arm and froze it so hard that it became iced all over in seconds. The dog kicked him away, sending him sprawling on the grassy soil. His ice daggers lay shattered a few feet from him.
"Not bad, lad."
At the least, he can no longer use both of his arm to swing the red blade. Now is your chance! Accept my power, c'mon! This will be over before you know it!
"No! I've got this!" The dog looked at him incredulously.
Focusing all his ice magic on his outstretched left hand, dark clouds gathered above them. The wind started to howl ferociously, carrying the biting cold temperature. Ice Prince can see the look of confusion slowly creeping up Joshua's face. In a split-second, a large ball of ice magic erupted from his left hand and beamed down on Joshua. The dog tried deflecting the ice with his sword, but he only lasted for a few seconds before he was encased completely in ice.
The Ice Prince ceased his barrage of magic and looked curiously at the sword. Walking closer to the dropped weapon, he was mildly shocked to find it not affecfed at all by his ice magic. It wasn't even cold to touch. That's the Demon Blood Sword. It contains blood from Keeoth, the Parallel Demon. You should take it, my prince.
"Demon Blood Sword, huh? Thanks for the present, Joshua!" He knows the ice won't hold the hero for too long, so he summoned an ice scabbard on his back that fitted the sword perfectly and shot upwards again.
He stared past the grasslands and towards the Candy Kingdom. I assure you, you will definitely be interested on what you'll see, my prince.
"Then let us be on our way."
~~o~~
So, yeah. Farmworld Finn has just acquired the Demon Blood Sword. Finn is with the Imatari Blade. Could you guess what would be Sawyer's? Hehe. Next chapter would deal with him, then Finn and Flame Princess.
Ooobserver: Haha. Yeah, that undercover thing was pretty fun to write. I just found it difficult to recreate Choose Goose's way of talking. And yeah, that moment where Ice Prince handed over his princess to PB kinda left a mark on me. Only, in this story, PB is not the same benevolent ruler on the main universe. Hint: Mistress.
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