Chapter 4: Blazing Sun

"Okay. Time to get some real answers."

At least that's what Finn hoped would happen as he closed the door to his treehouse, starting his journey back to the home of the wizard, Weimar. The sun was not completely over the horizon yet, giving a great sense of comfort as it shined down on the land without causing any discomfort with its heat. The perfect weather when going on any journey, Finn would always call it. And Jake would agree when he was not too lazy to actually go out so early.

Finn's morning routine had gone by faster than normal. He only ate a simple bowl of cereal rather than preparing an actual meal, but he packed plenty of extra snacks in his newly fixed backpack just in case he got hungry later on. Showering only lasted two minutes as Finn applied the basic essentials, while also making sure not to do too much harm to all the healing cuts around his skin. But no matter how hard he tried to scrub away the mysterious crow marking on the palm of his hand, it was there to stay.

It was only natural, but the marking made the human a bit uneasy whenever he looked at it. Rather than having an actual eye drawn on the side of the crow's head, there was only an empty space that was filled with his pale skin instead. The way that the eyelids were drawn made it seem as if the animal was staring at Finn with hint of anger. But the human only needed to look at its open beak and he could hear the bird's 'squawk' with clarity. Its round frame made it seem as if someone took a badge and placed the burning metal on his skin. In fact, judging by the pain he felt initially, maybe that is what came to pass somehow.

A shiver went down his spine. Luckily, having to stare at the new tattoo would prove no problem when he placed a white bandage around his right hand before departing. People would not question it as well since they would just assume it to be another battle wound that Finn had acquired in his travels.

Of course, Finn could not have begun his journey before calling his dear brother first. As expected, the yellow god was hesitant when he was told that they would be traveling back to the home of Weimar, but he came around quickly when Finn told him it was an emergency. He said Lady would not be happy, but Jake always came around for his little human brother. It always brought a smile to Finn's face.

The two would be meeting on the way, which gave Finn plenty of time to get lost in his own thoughts. 'I only wish I had the Finn Sword with me. I can't believe I actually dropped it. Again. I guess this one will have to make due for now.'

Finn brought with him an old rusted sword he found among all of the junk in his treasury. The blade itself was flimsy and was cracked in several places, but it still remained sturdy enough for a few good hits. Besides, Finn was not actually expecting to do any fighting during the trip. But if it came to it, it was good to have something rather than nothing.

After walking some distance away from his home and standing in the middle of the grassy plains, he could see Jake coming at him from a distance in his giant form. A trip that would have taken anyone else a few minutes and good amount of steps, the magic dog made it in only a few seconds with less than twenty steps. He shrunk when he stood right in front of the human and the two brothers shared a quick fist bump.

"I'm glad you could make it," Finn said.

"Well, it wasn't easy convincing Lady to let me leave before helping out with chores," Jake replied grumpily. "Luckily, TV would cover for me. Even if I had to pay him twenty bucks for it…"

"Sorry for your loss. But it'll be worth the trouble."

Jake stretched out to horse form and Finn sat on top of him as he began to ride. "Why are we even going to see this wizard dude again anyway?" Jake asked. "All of your problems in life can be solved if you don't let in to peer pressure."

"It's more than that, Jake. My nightmare had more meaning than I once thought. I'm sure of it. But I can't make any sense of it unless-"

Finn was interrupted when Jake came to a sudden halt and he was knocked off his back. It took a few seconds for Finn to recover from the fall, but when he did, he was greeted by a normal sized Jake with an angry look on his face.

"Are you kidding me?!" Jake shouted as he raised his arms in the air. "You said that this was an emergency. Now you're telling me that we're going on this trip based on that stupid nightmare you had? What the flop?!"

"But Jake-"

"No 'buts'! I'm sick and tired of 'buts'! It was a dream, Finn. Nothing more."

Finn stood up, not bothering to wipe away the dust he gathered from the fall. "No, Jake. This means a lot more than you could understand. I can't put it into words but I have to go through with this. I have to."

"But why? What was this dream even about anyway?"

The next few minutes were spent with Finn detailing his dreams to Jake. Both of them. How he saw Flame Princess' phantom, how he got his mark on his hand, and everything he was told. Jake was still a bit peeved by the end, but he was calmer than he was before. Finn could tell the dog was having difficulty taking all of the information in. But then again, who would be able to process all of clearly when the human himself could not?

Jake rubbed one of his jowls. "So 'Flame Princess' said she was in some sort of danger and that you needed to find her. But the place described to you was nowhere near close to Fire Kingdom and the only lead you have to her whereabouts is a weird cult in Wizard City, where none wizards are banned, mind you."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it."

"Dude, this story makes as much sense as a mosquito sucking on a melon. Wait… do they?"

"I know how this all sounds, Jake. I really do. But I can't just sit back while I know that someone is in danger and is calling to me for help. Helping peeps is what I do for a living."

"We don't even know if we're dealing with actual 'peeps'."

"You can go back home to Lady if you want, Jake. I won't force you into this if you don't want to do it. But I'm gonna keep going."

As Finn began to walk off on his own, he felt Jake's hand on top of his shoulder, and a sigh coming from the yellow canine. "You know I'm not gonna leave you by yourself. You'd get killed otherwise. Deny it or not, you've always been reckless."

Finn did not deny it, but instead smiled. "So you'll help me then?"

"Of course. I'll have to pay TV extra when I get back, but I'm not gonna leave my bro on his own. I never have and I won't start now."

Finn placed his own hand on top of Jake's. "Thanks, man."

Jake smiled and morphed back into his horse form. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go find this wizard."

Finn nodded and got on top of Jake once more. The dog mimicked a horse's neigh and lifted his front legs into the air before he began galloping across the Grasslands.

They reached the woods before long. Jake made sure that he did not accidentally smash into any trees as he navigated back to where Weimar's house was. The sound of bongos was gone, so the dog had to rely on memory to try and find the place; which unfortunately was not one of his strong suits. Finn, however, remembered the way well enough and pointed Jake in the right direction. But when they actually arrived to their destination, what they found was far from what they had hoped.

Weimar's shack was gone. The place was the same, but the home of the old wizard was nowhere to be found, as if it was never there to begin with. The two adventurers were left confused. They had only been here the day before.

"What? Where is it?" Jake asked as he returned to his normal size.

"It disappeared?" Finn wondered. "Weimar! WEIMAR!"

No matter how loud Finn called, the wizard was nowhere to be seen. He was truly gone.

Jake let out a puff from his mouth as he dropped sitting to the ground. "Well, this was all for nothing."

"But it doesn't make sense. He was here yesterday."

"He was a wizard, Finn. You can never trust a wizard with their cheap tricks."

Finn looked around for any sort of trace. "There has to be something here that could help us. Anything at all."

"I don't see or smell anything. And trust me, I could smell something shady from a mile away."

"Oh, really?'

Jake yelped and stood up quickly when the strange voice came from behind him. Finn pulled out his rusty sword, but the person now standing before them was not faced by the near useless weapon that the human held.

"Huntress Wizard?" Finn asked.

It was indeed her. She stood underneath the shade of the trees, staring at the two adventurers with both of her arms crossed. "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, what are you doing here?" Jake asked.

"I'm Huntress Wizard. Take a wild guess."

"What are you doing sneaking up on us like that?" Finn asked.

"I wasn't sneaking. You two are just terrible at knowing when someone is inches from your face. But really I'm here because I saw you leave your house earlier and wanted to give you this."

Huntress unwrapped her hands and reached behind the tree she was standing next to, revealing the Finn Sword when she brought her hand back. Finn's expression gleamed at the sight and he lowered the rusted sword.

"You found it!" he said.

Huntress tossed him the sword from afar, and he dropped the rusted one to grab it in his hands. It seemed undamaged, except for the noticeable crack in its blue gem in the center of the hilt. "Thanks," he said.

"Don't mention it. Now, back to my own question, why are you two here?"

Finn sheathed the Finn Sword. "We're looking for a wizard who lives around here."

Huntress raised an eyebrow. "I've been hunting in these woods for a while. There are no wizards here."

"But we saw one just yesterday," Jake said. "He had the shack where he lived placed here and everything."

"I think we're wasting our time, Jake," Finn said. "He's clearly gone and it'll be forever if we try to find him again."

Finn remembered Weimar had said he traveled all across Ooo and beyond. He could have been anywhere by this point. But it did not matter so much. At least Finn had a lead in Wizard City. At least he hoped to find one.

"Bummer," Huntress said. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some more hunting to do."

"Huntress, wait!" Finn shouted before she ran off.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you know the flame shield spell?"

She narrowed her eyes in thought. "I do, though I barely ever use it. Why?"

The gates leading to the Fire Kingdom creaked as they opened for the two adventurers. Even with flame shield, Finn always felt the warm breeze against his skin whenever he stepped inside the scorching lands. But it was a good kind of warmth that made him smile every time he was here. Especially knowing Flame Princess was near.

As rough as the flame people could be, they were always at a lively mood when inside their own kingdom. Everyone smiled as they conversed with one another, workers went about their businesses as usual, and all of the flame guards kept the place safe from any and all threats to the general public. Finn found it a nice place, except for the fact that he would die instantly without his shield.

"Okay, let's go meet our lovely lady," Jake said.

"Quiet, Jake," Finn said. "We're here on business, remember?"

"Business? All we're doing is paying a visit. If we were really in business we would be on our way to Wizard City by now."

"We're here to make sure Flame Princess isn't in any kind of trouble. Once we manage that, then we can go to Wizard City."

Jake smirked. "Is somebody nervous?"

Finn opened his mouth to reply, but only a grunt came out when he accidentally ran into a fire person for not looking forward. Both men staggered but quickly regained their balance, avoiding too much awkwardness.

"Sorry, sir," Finn said.

The elemental just shrugged it off. "It's all right. I wasn't really looking at where I was going."

Finn noticed that the elemental was one of the more 'normal' looking ones he had seen. Sort of like Flame Princess. Orange long hair tied in a ponytail; slightly orange skin; normal looking clothing; and bright yellow eyes. He was slightly taller than Finn, but that might have just been because of his slim build.

"I was also in kind of a hurry," the elemental said.

"Why?" Jake asked.

"Just some personal matters. But I have someone waiting for me and I don't wanna keep them like that for too long." He closely studied the dog and the human for a brief moment. "Hey… aren't you Finn and Jake? The adventurers?"

Finn was taken back. "You know of us?"

"Only several stories. I've been told a bit about you two."

"By who?" Jake asked.

Before the elemental could respond, he quickly checked his watch and widened his eyes. "Oh man. Listen, I really need to go. It was nice meeting you, and sorry for smashing into you."

He was already gone before Finn and Jake could ask any more questions.

"Seemed like a nice guy," Jake said.

"I guess," Finn replied. "Come on. We can't afford more delays."

Jake nodded and followed the human as they made their way towards the palace. The guards at the gate were not much of a pain and let the two inside once they stated their intentions. Nothing much changed about the pace during Finn's visits, except for the fact that Flame King was no longer locked in his lamp. But he thought the change was for the better, even if he was still a bit indifferent to letting the previous ruler roam free without any kind of supervision. Except for Bun Bun, but could she really be able to keep him at bay?

The throne that was the standing stone for the entire palace was empty, and its fiery ruler was nowhere to be seen. "She will be back momentarily to greet you both," said a flame guard that was sent to tell her of their arrival. "But no funny stuff. Got it?"

They both nodded in understanding. Finn and Flame Princess had hung out several times after Flame King was set free, and yet it was never any less awkward for him. he enjoyed being around her, of course, but every fiber of his being kept repeating over and over that he would somehow mess everything up between them again. Jake knew about this, not because Finn had told him but because he knew the human way too well, and placed a hand on his shoulder as they waited.

It felt like an eternity, but eventually Flame Princess' shoes echoed as she entered the room. Finn was grateful that he always had flame shield whenever they encountered each other, because otherwise his blush would always be noticed from a mile away.

He could swear she grew more beautiful every time they met, but that might have just been him. Her crimson dress perfectly matched her eyes and really made her stand out among the charcoal walls of the palace. Her candle-like hair was as bright as ever, and one of its strands hung over her perfect smile, but she brushed it away behind her ear. There was something so great about seeing her in person and with an actual face after recent events.

Finn was so lost that he failed to notice she had already walked right in front of him and Jake.

"Hey guys," she greeted. "What brings you here today?"

Jake nudged Finn in the arm with his elbow. "Finn here wanted to come by and see how you were fairing. Isn't that correct, Finn?"

Everything about Jake's smile and his use of words he had never used before made him even more uneasy. "Uh, I um… yeah, just wondering if… everything was going well around here." 'She seems okay at least. But I gotta make sure there's no threat here.'

"Well of course I am," she replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It never hurts to be safe, you know?" Finn said.

She lightly chuckled. "You don't have to make excuses to come and visit, Finn."

"They're not excuses! This is legit a matter of security."

"Well, I'm happy to tell you that everything has been going just fine around here. Why do you ask?"

"Finn saw you in his- OOF!"

Finn elbowed Jake in his gut before he could finish the sentence. Flame Princess was confused by his actions. "Why'd you do that?" she asked.

"Oh, the elbow thing? Just a game Jake and I play from time to time. No biggie."

"Huh. Okay then. Well, since you're here and I'm not very busy today, you wanna take a walk with me?"

"Sure, sounds great. I'm not that busy today either."

As Jake continued to rub the area where Finn had elbowed him, the three of them walked further into the palace. The human tried to keep himself busy by looking at the numerous paintings hanging from the wall to avoid any sort of direct contact with Flame Princess. At least, until she was the one to speak first.

"What have you been doing, Finn?" she asked as they walked.

"Oh, you know… this and that. Clearing a cave of monsters here, dealing with a dispute there, all manner of stuff keeping me busy every so often."

"Sounds exciting. For me it's only dealing with the constant paperwork and aristocrats that pile up in my office every day."

"Do you enjoy it?"

"It helps keep this kingdom in order. That's the only motivation I need to keep doing it."

Finn simply nodded his head as they walked. There was a short moment of silence between the two, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. Luckily, Jake was there to push Finn along as he nudged his arm from behind.

"So princess," Finn began, "I have something I wanted to talk to you about."

She turned to face him. "I actually have something to talk to you about too, Finn. But you can go first."

"This might sound weird but… have you ever heard of the phrase, a place where skin burns but there is no fire?"

The question was indeed weird. Flame Princess took some time to think on it, and by the time she responded, they were outside in the palace's open backyard, where multiple citizens walked around admiring the numerous lava flows on the rocks and bundles of fireproof flowers grown specifically in the Fire Kingdom.

"I can't say that I ever have," Flame Princess said. "And the phrase itself doesn't really make much sense to begin with."

"Like I said, it would sound weird. But if you don't know anything, that's fine as well."

"Why are you asking me this?"

Finn rubbed the back of his head. "It's nothing really. Probably just random rambling. But wasn't there something you wanted to tell me too?"

She exhaled a bit as she crossed her fingers. Finn could only wait and dread whatever she had in her mind.

"Finn, I-"

"Oh, there you are."

Finn, Jake, and Flame Princess all turned around to find the source the voice. To the two adventurer's surprise, it was the same fire elemental that had bumped into Finn when they arrived in the Fire Kingdom. And at the sight of him, Flame Princess' expression lightened up.

"You're back," she said.

She walked towards the elemental and pulled him into a hug, making Finn and Jake even more curious as to who this man was. When he noticed the two, he separated from the hug, but his hands remained on the princess' shoulder.

"You?" he asked.

"You?" Finn asked back.

"Yo, FP. You know this guy?" Jake asked.

Flame Princess turned her attention back to Finn, any happiness that was present in her face now gone and replaced with nervousness.

"Finn, Jake… this is Blayze," she said. "He's my suitor."

Note: Wipe that look off your face. You knew I would be doing this eventually.

-Forgotsurname: It is a shame. But at least there are still those who can enjoy it.

-Fiery Crusader: It's good to see you've prepared theories for this story as well. This'll be fun.

-DRAGONNINJAMAN: Thanks. That means a lot.

Next Chapter: Truth Among Lies