"Peppermint?" The butler looked up, watching as the prince came closer to him. The prince sent a sharp look towards Jake before motioning Peppermint away from their newest camp. Peppermint followed the prince, anxiety rising in him. When they stopped the man couldn't help the question that slipped past his lips.

"Have you come to a decision?" Gumball smiled softly before frowning. His feelings were still a complicated tangle but he needed to figure something out soon. They were nearing the castle.

"I love him, Peppermint. I haven't stopped but I don't love him. I love Fionna. I want her back but I only have Finn and as wonderful as he is I can't have him. I would never be able to marry him, you know that." He wanted to love Finn. Truly he did, but he had to be honest. Finn deserved that much.

"What will you do?" Peppermint knew what the answer was just from the look in the prince's eyes. It was such a shame. Finn deserved so much more.

"You know what the law says. I can't let him live." Gumball turned away from the man, trying to ignore the guilt that welled in him. He had never wanted this. He didn't want to hurt Finn but the boy had lied. He had committed a crime by merely existing. And it was Gumball's duty to uphold the law, no matter how cruel.

"I understand. I hope you reconsider. Finn did love you." Gumball nodded, no longer listening to his butler. He had to think. Think about what he would have to do when he finally saw Finn again.

Jake growled, slamming his fist into the nearest tree. He should have never trusted the Prince or his butler. They would kill him, kill his baby brother and throw Jake in jail. The punishment for being cursed as Finn was was death and to harbor someone like Finn meant imprisonment, death if the Prince were kind.

Why had he ever trusted them? He knew what the law said. He knew who wrote the laws of this land. Gumball would follow his father's law and Peppermint would follow his prince. Neither cared for Finn.

He needed to leave. Needed to get to the castle before them and rescue Finn. Then they would flee. Somewhere where Finn wouldn't have to hide and wouldn't be put to death. There was no way to keep the prince from reaching the castle but at least he could get there first.

"I'm sorry." He'd led the executioner right to his brother.

Neptr bit his lip, trying to hold back the pained whimpers that built in his throat. His father had punished him. Made him bleed and scream and cry until nothing could come out of him anymore and then just barely put him back together. But none of that mattered because Finn was still safe. He was unconscious and Neptr shoved away the worry clawing at his heart that Finn would never wake up. All that mattered was that Finn was breathing and would be alright.

Neptr brushed back a few locks of sweaty hair, running a cool rag over Finn's forehead. He'd been caring for him for the last few days while he slept. Not even his father was sure what was wrong with the blonde. Privately Neptr thought it was all the tests that his father had conducted on him. But it was not his place to say so and if he wanted to stay well enough to look after Finn he would keep his mouth shut.

"Please wake up, Finn. I miss you." For a second Neptr was sure Finn's eyes fluttered. It must have just been his imagination.

Finn found himself back on the cliff. The sun was still as blazing as he didn't remember and he was once more covered in white runes, the lone blue rune on his stomach aching.

"Hello, Liar." The sharp voice was back to his left and Finn gasped. She was still freezing.

"Ade." The eyeless face sneered and Finn couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine. Ade floated before him again, just off of the cliff. She was angrier now, empty eye sockets slanted in anger.

"Have you returned to lie to me again?" Finn shook his head, though it was sluggish. He had control of his body again but only just barely.

"You were going to hurt me." Ade sneered, floating around Finn in a circle.

"I was going to help you! Don't you want to be normal?" Finn tried to turn and follow the woman's movements as she drifted around him. She was touching him, turning white runes black for a few moments before they changed back. Finn ignored the sharp touches, instead staring back out over the cliff. There was something he was supposed to see.

"I am normal." Ade laughed. A shrieking sound that should have terrified Finn. Instead he only smiled. She reached out towards the blue rune, taking care not to touch the symbol.

"That would say otherwise." Finn smiled down at the woman.

"It's a part of me. Even if it's a curse it's still a part of me." Ade looked at him in confusion. He accepted the curse? Never had she met a human who would accept a magic thrown on them. Even her creator, a man of magic and power, had abandoned her once she was found to be too powerful.

"You would embrace a curse?" Finn shook his head.

"I don't think it's a curse. Not anymore. I've seen what cursed magic can do. How it can harm." Blindly he gripped his arm, still feeling the remnants of the Ice King's magic burning and freezing him. "This is not a curse. It's a gift."

For a moment both were silent and still until suddenly a light flashed below both of them. Ade moved towards Finn, wrapping pointed arms around the teen as they watched a woman rise out of the red sea. She was beautiful, skin a soft green and beautiful brown hair topped by a burning golden crown. There were snakes where her legs would be, striking out at the air from time to time. Both watched as she floated above them. Finn wrapped his arms around Ade, pulling the stunned woman away from the cliff.

"Obey and fear me. I am the Enchantress." Ade was shaking in his arms, fingers dug tightly into him. She was afraid. Afraid of the woman who had risen from the depths of the sea. Something about her was familiar.

"What are you?" Her black eyes turned towards him as she sneered.

"I am the guardian of all." Something in him clicked as Finn watched the woman float.

"Margles." Her face twisted into sudden rage as she swarmed close to him.

"How dare you call me by that mortal name! I am a goddess! Far better than any mortal!" She was still ranting when Finn turned, Ade in his arms. The crown stumbled, latching on tighter to Finn as the blonde wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Careful, Ade." The Enchantress cleared her throat and Finn and Ade turned towards her.

"Where are you going?" Finn kept Ade pressed close to him, still worried about the woman's trembles. What was making her so afraid?

"If you are going to shout nonsense I don't need to stay here. I need to get to Neptr." Before he could turn to take another step the Enchantress was in his face, hissing snakes dancing around them.

"How do you know of my son?" Finn sighed, meeting the woman's gaze. He would not be intimidated by her. He had survived worse.

"I was captured by his father. I spend my time with Neptr when Magic Man has no use of me." Her eyes seemed to widen and she moved herself closer.

"My husband is alive?" Finn nodded, watching the emotions flash across the woman's face. She was surprised, that much was obvious, but there were deeper hints of sadness and regret. "Why has he not come for me?"

Finn shrugged. He didn't know what was on Magic Man's mind. He must have a plan to bring back his wife in full form. But for now he only seemed to have one goal.

"He's been experimenting on me. Trying to turn me into you." The Enchantress sneered once again and Finn frowned.

"And why are you so special?" Honestly, he wasn't sure. But Neptr had told him why Magic Man was so keen on using him as a test subject.

"We have the same magical core." Once more Enchantress was in his face and Finn wondered if the woman should just stay there and save herself the trouble of moving back and forth.

"You lie!" Ade stepped forward, swallowing her fear and looking up at the floating woman.

"Can't you sense it, Enchantress? He is like you." The Enchantress growled, turning her nose up at the smaller woman.

"Do not address me, you worm. You have no right to speak to me, magicless as you are." Finn frowned, pulling the now dejected Ade towards him.

"Leave her alone!" The Enchantress smirked at him, watching as Ade tried to hide herself behind Finn.

"Oh? You would stand up for a curse? A human?" Ade whimpered behind him and Finn felt a swell of rage fill him.

"She's not a curse!" Enchantress was laughing now, face twisting into a disgusting shape as her snakes pulsed around her.

"Oh but she is. Did she tell you what she did to the Ice King? How she corrupted him?" Finn turned wide eyes towards Ade.

"Ade?" The woman shuffled slightly, trying to turn away from Finn's eyes. She felt guilty, though she was unsure why. Why did she care what this mortal thought?

"I need magic to survive. He was so powerful. I thought I could live off of him forever." Enchantress scoffed, looking down at Finn once more as the blonde stared ahead in shock. He had wondered who's memories he'd been seeing. Who Ade had ripped apart and put back together. Who screamed and cried for help as they sat on a throne. And now he knew who.

"And in the process the Ice King would fall into insanity until he no longer would want to remove the crown. That's how you work, isn't it? A simple curse really." Finn was still in shock when the Enchantress locked her eyes on him. "But now she has you to feed from."

Ade was quiet, ready to be cast away as her master had done all those years ago. She was a curse and no human could ever love a curse. Finn watched as Ade fell in on herself, backing away and waiting for him to send her away. Instead he opened his arms.

"It's alright Ade. Do what you must, just… Just leave enough for this." He gestured down to the rune on his stomach, watching as tears filled Ade's eyes. Enchantress was hissing, her head snapping between the two as she watched them.

"She will destroy you. You think a curse will uphold its word?" Finn smiled at Ade, not taking his eyes off the crying woman. He would not let Enchantress hurt him, not as she had the Ice King.

"I have faith in Ade. I trust her." Ade let out a soft sob. No one had trusted her for a long time.

"Then you are a fool." Enchantress watched as the two embraced, white and gold light bathing them. Finn could feel Ade in his arms, sobbing and clinging to him and he held on to her as tight as he could. She would be safe with him.

The light grew brighter and brighter and Enchantress was forced to shield her eyes from the shining light. Finn felt warmth engulfing him, a comforting feeling that seemed to belong. It felt like his magic had when he first became aware of it, a gentle sun resting in his chest. Enchantress watched as the light around Finn seemed to die down and Finn collapsed on the ground. There was something different about the boy now, something powerful that gave her pause. What was so special about this boy?

Finn gasped as breath returned to him. He could remember everything. The cliff, Margles, Ade. Ade. Where had she gone? He couldn't feel her in his mind anymore and panic swelled in him. Something pulsed inside him and Finn paused. His stomach felt different. He looked down at his stomach, surprised to see a small swell. He could feel something fluttering under his fingertips, responding to him.

"Ade?" The fluttering returned, followed by a warm feeling and Finn gasped. Ade was alive! She was inside him! As his child? Before he could continue questioning his stomach he was tackled by a small body.

"Finn!" Neptr clung tightly to the blonde, so very glad to see him awake. It'd been nearly two weeks that Finn had been unconscious. He'd been feverish and pained, screaming and crying in his sleep and it had terrified Neptr. But now Finn was back and everything would be okay. "I love you."

Finn hugged to boy tighter, pulling Neptr into his lap as the boy held on to him. He had missed the boy, hoping beyond hope that he was okay without him.

"I love you too." Neptr smiled into the blonde's chest, glad to finally have a mother.

Hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter! Next update is next week!