Family
Chapter 60 Slowing Down and Letting Go
By: Major144
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, expect the OC. This is just a story for fun.
At Castle Lemongrab, Phoebe was asking around trying to find any information on Crimson's whereabouts. The fire girl had heard about Castle Lemongrab from Marceline and Lucinda, they told her it was a place of thieves and criminals. If there was any information about Crimson's location, surely someone in Castle Lemongrab must know.
From the shadows of the crowd Marceline and Lucinda watched Phoebe as she asked random people about Crimson. The two cousins where there to make sure Phoebe didn't get into any kind of trouble and to make sure she was safe.
From the main castle building King and Toronto watched Phoebe from a security monitor. King had given strict orders that no one was to bother the fire elemental. The last thing Castle Lemongrab needed was a war to breakout between them and the forces of the Fire Kingdom. The ruler of Castle Lemongrab watched Phoebe question some Slider Guys. King was nervous about the young princess's nosing around. What if by chance, she stumbled upon King's past dealings with Crimson? That could ruin him! King began to sweat and Toronto noticed.
"What's wrong boss?"
"Oh...nothing just a little thirty." Said King as he pulled out a soda and began to drink it.
King needed to put a stop to Phoebe's questioning. He finished his soda and went down to the main level of the castle to speak with Phoebe. The princess had just finished talking to the Slider Guys and was fixing to question some Candy thugs, when King appeared.
"My. My. Is that Phoebe the Flame Princess? What a delightful sight! Welcome princess to my castle." Said King as he walked up to Phoebe.
"Oh...hello. You must be King." Said Phoebe.
"Indeed I am. What brings a fine young lady like yourself here?" Said King.
"I'm looking for a guy named Crimson." Said Phoebe.
"I see. Well I can honestly say, his not here. I know the people of my kingdom seem rough around the edges, but they are all honest hardworking individuals. I would never give sanctuary to someone like Crimson and his evil." Said King.
"Well...if his not here can you tell me where he might be?" Said Phoebe.
"I'm afraid not. The guy is like a ghost, he appears suddenly and then he vanishes. It's a mystery. If I knew where he was I would tell you and all the heroes of Ooo, where he was, so you could bring him to justice." Said King.
"Well thanks anyway." Said Phoebe as she turned to leave.
"Your welcome princess, if there's anything else you need just ask." Said King with a big smile as he watched Phoebe leave.
Marceline turned into a bat and Lucinda turned into a dove to stealthy follow Phoebe outside Castle Lemongrab.
"So where do you think she's going to next?" Asked Lucinda.
"Don't know, but Phoebe's very determined to find Crimson, she's gotten very little sleep the past few days. I'm surprised she's still going." Said Marceline.
Phoebe took off into the sky and headed to some woods nearby in the direction of the Wildberry Kingdom. Marceline and Lucinda followed Phoebe at a safe distance.
Elsewhere in the woods the evil Tree Witch was up to no good. Things were looking up for the small time villain as she and her two henchmen Swamp Giant and Stag had gathered a large group of foxes, Why-wolves, and a random red squirrel. Tree Witch stood before her assembled forces to give a speech.
"My evil minions today is the day that we make our mark on Ooo! We shall start out small, but soon we will be feared throughout the land!"
The crowd cheered and one fox raised his hand.
"Yes, you have a question?" Asked Tree Witch.
"Um...so what's are starting plan?" Asked the fox.
"Well...the plan is to hide in these woods and wait for travelers to come. Once we see them we attack and mug them...and maybe kill one or two of them, I don't know I'm still working on that last detail. Right now we have the squirrel on lookout to alert us of any intruders." Said Tree Witch as she pointed to a tree above where the squirrel was looking through some binoculars.
The squirrel was looking North, when he saw the fiery form of Phoebe making her way into the woods.
"Boss I spotted something important!" Shouted squirrel.
Tree Witch used her magic to levitate herself up to the squirrel and took the binoculars from him. The evil witch spotted the fiery princess landing in the woods for a rest a few hundred yards away. Tree Witch grinned evilly as she landed on the ground and faced her minions.
"My minions fate has smiled upon us! The princess of the Fire Kingdom is in our woods! We can capture her and hold her for ransom!" Declared Tree Witch.
"But isn't the Flame Princess supposed to be powerful?" Asked a Why-wolf.
"Yes, but her flames aren't as bright as they should be. The princess must be exhausted or something, so she won't be to powerful. Don't worry I have a plan to capture her." Said Tree Witch.
The minions listened in on Tree Witch's plan.
A few hundred yards away Phoebe was resting on a log in a clearing, when all of a sudden something brown flew out of the bushes and struck her face! Phoebe let out a startled shout as her face began to burn and her flames became a little extinguish. She got to her feet and wiped the mud from her face. The stuff that hit her was wet mud. Before Phoebe could wonder what was going on more mud came flying out of all the bushes around the clearing hitting her! Phoebe wildly fired a fireball at the bushes, but it was weak and barely burnt the leaves. Finally Phoebe groaned and fell unconscious to the ground covered in mud.
"Told you my plan would work." Said Tree Witch as she and her forces came out of the bushes.
The force surrounded the down princess. Tree Witch laughed with triumph, however the victory was soon to short lived. Marceline and Lucinda, who had been watching from a nearby tree transformed into their human forms, flew down to the clearing and both delivered a kick to Swamp Giant's face sending him flying and crashing into several Why-wolves and foxes confusing the minions. The two cousins stood next to the unconscious form of Phoebe.
"Who are you?" Demanded Tree Witch.
"We're the princess family." Said Marceline.
"But you two aren't fire elementals." Said a Why-wolf.
"True, but a family is more then simply being blood related." Said Lucinda.
"When you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." Said Marceline.
"Ha! You think we're scared of a couple of teenage girls spouting some nonsense about family. Look around you, your surrounded and we outnumber you." Said Tree Witch with smirk.
"You bozos really have no clue, who your dealing with. You know what I'm feeling real generous today, so I'm not going to join in on the smack down that's fixing to be given. I'll let my cousin here deal with you." Said Marceline.
Lucinda cracked her knuckles and faced all the enemies, then she began to transform into her full werewolf form and glared at the enemy. The group of villains starred at the transformed Lucinda in shock. With a savage howl Lucinda threw herself amongst the group of enemies and started to deal out blows. Why-wolves and foxes were sent flying around the clearing. The freaked out creatures quickly got up and ran for their lives.
"Son of a BLEEP-BLOP! RUN!" Screamed the squirrel as it took off running with Stag and Swamp Giant right behind.
Tree Witch watched her forces retreat in dismay. Marceline walked over to the witch and easily hoisted her up by her shirt glaring at her.
"Now listen, you. You intended to do my little sister harm and that makes me very angry, but since your obviously a clueless dork, I'll let you off with a warning. But if you or any of your cronies attempt to try and hurt her, next time we meet will be very unpleasant. You understand?" Said Marceline her eyes burring red.
"YES! I understand!" Cried Tree Witch in fear.
Marceline dropped Tree Witch to the ground and she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Lucinda transformed back into her human form and the two cousins went over to Phoebe.
"I'll clean her up, you start a fire." Said Marceline.
Lucinda nodded and went to go get firewood as Marceline began to clean the mud off of Phoebe. Twenty minutes later they had a small fire going and Phoebe was clean. The fire elemental woke up and looked around confused, she then saw Marceline and Lucinda sitting across from her.
"What happened?" Asked Phoebe.
"You were attacked and captured by a bunch of dorks." Explained Marceline.
"We rescued you." Finished Lucinda.
"Um...thanks." Said Phoebe as she looked down at the fire.
Marceline and Lucinda exchanged a look then turned back to Phoebe.
"Sis...were concerned about. This whole searching for Crimson several days straight isn't healthy." Said Marceline.
Phoebe glared at Marceline.
"Oh yeah! Crimson killed my mom, he had me locked up in a lantern, and now his trying to kill me and the people I care about! He took my mom away from me! I never got to know her and the person who murdered her is still running around, causing others to suffer! I won't rest until I KILL HIM!" Shouted Phoebe as she stood up.
Marceline was taken aback by Phoebe's anger. Lucinda put a hand on Marceline's shoulder and gave her a looking telling her to she was going to handle this. The werewolf stood up and faced Phoebe.
"Phoebe your hardly in any condition to fight anyone." Said Lucinda.
"I'm in the best shape of my life!" Shouted Phoebe.
"Phoebe a witch and her band of low class goons managed to easily capture you. Your running yourself ragged and even if you do find Crimson, he would easily be able to beat you because, you've tired yourself out." Said Lucinda.
"You don't know anything!" Snapped Phoebe as she threw a punch at Lucinda.
The punch was weak and Lucinda easily swatted it aside and pushed Phoebe to the ground.
"Let me tell you something cuz. I know exactly how you feel. I was in the exact same spot as you are nearly a thousand years ago. It happened after I became a werewolf. The people I had grown up with were all violently murdered by a pack of werewolves and I was determined to hunt them all down and make them pay. I was utterly consumed by rage and I tracked down a couple of the pack and killed them. It was easy and I became overconfident and even more determined to hunt them down. It was then that I learned an important lesson that almost cost me my life. Three of the werewolves I was tracking set a trap for me. The days before that I spent tracking them, without even bothering to eat or sleep. My body was tired, but I didn't care, so long as I made the werewolves pay nothing else mattered. I made my way into a clearing where the werewolves opened up a large truck full of these zombie like slime creatures that attacked me! I managed to fight them off, but my body was growing incredibly tired. The werewolves attacked and nearly killed me! It was by luck that my angle powers kicked in and I managed to escape. That experience taught me that I needed to slow down and not to rush into things." Said Lucinda.
"So...your telling me to slow down?" Asked Phoebe.
"Yes. You can still search for Crimson, but you need to slow down, otherwise you'll hurt yourself." Said Lucinda.
Phoebe starred at the ground for a few seconds, then she looked up at Lucinda and Marceline. The fire elemental stood up and then hugged Lucinda and Marceline.
"I'm sorry for acting like a ding dong." Said Phoebe.
"That's ok sis. What Crimson did you was wrong and you have every right to be mad at him. I promise you will make him pay for what he did. Now let's head home and rest ok." Said Marceline.
"Ok." Said Phoebe.
The three of them took flight and headed towards the Ice Kingdom. Simon greeted the girls. A few hours later it was nighttime. Phoebe headed to her room and Simon gave her a glass of milk. As soon as Simon left Phoebe's room, he faced Marceline and Lucinda.
"I put a little sleeping potion in Phoebe's milk. I also put a potion in there that will allow the Flame Queen to finally visit Phoebe's dreams." Said Simon.
Marceline and lucinda were overjoyed by this news and soon the news reached the spirit of Flame Queen. The spirit made her way to her daughter's room and looked down at her sleeping daughter. Flame Queen then went deep inside her daughter's mind.
In the dream Phoebe was walking through a field of flowers, when she saw her mom standing a few feet away from her. Phoebe starred at her mom opened mouth not believing what she was seeing. At first she thought this was going to be the beginning of a nightmare about Crimson, but then Flame Queen spoke.
"Hello my little Phoebe, you've grown to be a beautiful and amazing girl." Said Flame Queen.
"Mom!" Cried Phoebe as she ran over and embraced her mom.
"My dear sweet child, how I've longed for this moment to hold you in my arms." Said Flame Queen as she hugged her daughter and kissed the top of her head.
"Mom...I've wanted to meet you so much." Said Phoebe as tears leaked from her eyes.
"I know Phoebe, I've been watching over and I want you to know I'm proud of you." Said Flame Queen.
The two of them stopped hugging and sat down. Phoebe began to tell, her mother all about her adventures. The Flame Queen was impressed with her daughter's ventures. Then Phoebe began to talk about killing Crimson and avenger her mother. The flame Queen grew concerned.
"Phoebe desiring to kill someone is wrong." Said Flame Queen.
"But Crimson killed you mom!" Protested Phoebe.
"He did, but killing him won't bring me back or change what happened. Crimson will face justice one of these days." Said Flame Queen.
"I guess so." Said Phoebe.
Flame Queen put a hand on, her daughter's shoulder.
"Phoebe there are two things I want from you. I want you to live and be happy. Perusing a path of vengeance, will not give you a happy life. It will only consume you." Said Phoebe.
"So...how do I start having a happy life?" Asked Phoebe.
"I think, you and that nice Finn fellow, should get back together. I see the passion in your eyes. You truly love him and I can tell he loves you back." Said Flame Queen with a smile.
"But...Finn and me argued and I said some hurtful things to him." Said Phoebe.
"Phoebe it doesn't matter, what you said back then, I've seen the love between the two have for each other and I believe it can overcome this little argument you had and blossom into a deeper relationship. You two just need to apologize and tell each other how you really feel." Said Flame Queen.
"Alright mom I'll do it. I'll get back with Finn and start living my life." Said Phoebe with a smile.
"Thank you daughter." Said Flame Queen with a smile.
The two of them just spent time together talking and enjoying each other's company for the rest of the night.
Miles away near the coast, Crimson stood before the ocean holding the bottle with the Fear Fester in one hand and a strange looking long tooth that was several inches long. Crimson held the tooth up over his head and began to chant a spell.
"From the times of the ancients, I summon the ancient sea dragon leviathan! Come forth from your sleep of death and be reborn!"
Crimson tossed the tooth into the ocean. The tooth hit the water and the sea began to bubble. A massive monstrous creature began to rise out of the ocean. The sea dragon was a horrible sight. It resembled a massive blue serpent, with a underbelly that seemed to be made out of water, it had four webbed clawed feet, with a massive tail. It's head was huge with black eyes, with two antlers made out of coral, and a long thin horn at the center of the head.
"Time for the finishing touch." Said Crimson as he opened the bottle with the Fear Fester in it.
The Fear Fester flew up to the dragon and phased into it's head. The dragon's eyes glowed bright red.
"I have become Finn's fear!" Declared the dragon in Fear Fester's voice.
The dragon opened it's mouth and fired a concentrated blast of ocean water at a nearby rock completely destroying it. Crimson laughed with approval.
"On to the Fire Kingdom. Let's see how the big hero of Ooo handles this." Said Crimson as he levitated himself into the air next to the dragon.
The Fear Fester in, his new body began to march his way in the direction of the Fire Kingdom. A new danger was in Ooo and it was out to destroy Finn and his girlfriend's kingdom!
To be continued.
