Finn looks around at his squad as Huntress helps Butterscotch off her back, planting the butler onto the ground as she brushes some dust off her. The hero keeps an eye on the demon, who glares at him and tapped its foot impatiently, as if waiting for something, 'I'll find out in a second no doubt.' He thinks, before shifting his gaze to Fionna and Cake, the sisters laughing at how awesome that experience was as the feline jumps off the heroine's shoulder, growing back to normal size. He nods with a genuine smile, then spins to look at Butterscotch, "You good? You didn't get too jostled on my back, did you?" The butler shakes her head,
"I am fine master Finn, you need not worry about me. In fact, if it wasn't for you…" She looks back over her shoulder, glancing at the demons crushed under a mountain of rocks, "... I'll probably be in a much worse state." Finn nods, then stares at a sweaty Huntress, who wobbles a little despite the stern face she was wearing, making the hero worry. She notices the look of concern on his face, and smiles tiredly at him in hopes of calming him, not wishing any discomfort on him,
"I'm alright, just a little worn out from the bad sleep and all that running just then, that's all. I'm not about to drop over dead yet, all I need is a moment's break." Finn walks straight to her, plants his hands on her shoulders to hold her steady, then pulls her along with him, the nymph too tired to resist as she brainlessly follows him. He takes them to a wall, then brings them both down against it, the hero slowly sliding down it as he brings her with him. He sits on the floor as she kneels in front of him, staring at him with a mix of confusion and curiosity, until he pulled her towards him. She flops atop him, and he spun her around, laying her horizontally to him as her head rests on his lap, then he holds her down the moment she tries to get up, flashing Huntress a small grin,
"Don't resist, you're tired right now and you need to take a break, laying down is the best way to do that. And I won't let you rest on some hard floor, that'll do more harm than good. Hard meat, remember? The more sluggish you are, the more likely you'll make a mistake, what makes you weaker." She still tries to get up a little, but her resolve was breaking, especially on the warm, soft surface of Finn's lap. "I don't want to see you hurt because you were too tired. For me, please?"
She sighs, and stops trying to push herself up, shifting a little to get comfortable on his legs as she glances at the others, the demon and Butterscotch not caring while Fionna gives her a thumbs up. 'I'll do it, for him'. Huntress closes her eyes and relaxes, 'I usually don't like being babied… but this is Finn… I'll let it slide.' The hero beams as he nods at her compliance, but then he shifts his gaze to analyse the demon, "Surprised you haven't made a run for it yet. Any reason why?"
It huffs in annoyance, flicking him a glare, "Waiting on your harem to do their fucking promise." Huntress's eyes snap back open as she stares at it,
"Oh right… Fionna, you do it, I'm too tired and need to recover for every possible second." 'I'm actually just too comfy to get up, I want to remain in Finn's embrace...' She thinks with a light blush, closing her eyes with a small grin as she snuggles back into a warm comfy spot. The heroine nods and walks towards the angry demon, causing Finn to stare at her with confusion, then his eyes widen as she pulls her blade from her back, making the hero panic,
"Wait! What are you doing!?" The girl freezes up, 'Oh shoot, I'm meant to be more peaceful, aren't I?' She puts her blade on her back, slightly disappointed in herself as she forgot her own vow, and embarrassingly turns to face the hero,
"Erm… well… we made a deal with it, that if it showed us the way to the surface then we would kill it." She quickly explains, hoping to direct the conversation to discussing the deal instead of her not being a pacifist, hoping to escape trouble instead of being responsible. The hero immediately shakes his head, hand casually resting on Huntress's waist as they both end up relaxing together,
"Don't, I can just use my sword to order it away, there is no need for unnecessary bloodshed." The demon's eyes ignite with fury, lifting its only arm to slash at him,
"What!? No! I'm not something you can just order around to your whims, I'm not someone you can just betray a deal with!" Finn immediately pulls his sword off his back, holding it to block the demon's claws as Huntress jumps up, about to put an arrow through its head until Finn's shouts,
"HALT!" Everyone freezes up, Huntress's green arrow floating an inch from the hell spawn's face, an inch from fulfilling the demon's wish, "Stop all aggression, and wait in that corner calmly for further orders."
It twitches, then removes its arm before stiffly walking towards the corner Finn was pointing at, a permanent look of rage plastered on its face. Finn sighs, and places his blade down next to him, keeping it within reaching distance encase things go south again. He watches the still demon carefully for a few seconds, then shifts his gaze back to Huntress Wizard, smiling a little as he continues to sit with flat legs. She gets the hint he was secretly giving, and looks around with embarrassment, 'Do I want to look soft by willingly going rest on him again?'
She sighs, and quickly gets back down onto her knees, then resting back down on Finn's leg, using it as a pillow as she grins a little, 'It's comfy, so yes.' While Finn ignores the possibility of losing blood supply to his legs, Fionna speaks up with slight worry, "So, err… now what? Ice Queen was meant to freeze Marshall!" She exclaims as Cake jumps into her arms and laying down in the heroine's arms, letting the girl cuddle her a little to help remove some fear.
Finn hums with thought, "... It will be the same as the last one, just without Ice Queen… I'll be the one to distract Marshall Lee." Huntress opens her eyes and stares worriedly at Finn,
"You want to take on Marshall's full anger by yourself? I'm not sure that's a good idea." Finn nods, giving her a small smile,
"I know, that's why I'm doing it. I will only need to do it for a few seconds at most, as Cake can tie his arms up before he can do anything too deadly! What means his only real strength after that is his mouth soul sucking ability… can you still deal with that by tying it up?" He inquires with genuine concern while pointing at her, or more accurately, her current situation. She looks down at her tired body, in a state so bad that she was currently having to lay down! She winces, 'It's so bad that it's gotten to the point of me looking soft in front of the others and not caring… my mind really does just want to shut down right now…'
She sighs, 'But can I go that last bit?' She shifts her gaze back up to Finn, "Give me five more minutes of cuddl- resting! And I'll be good to go." She explains with a slight blush, her tired mind making mistakes. Finn ignores it with a small smile, nodding in understanding as he looks at the others, finding Butterscotch looking at the nymph with curiosity and confusion, while Fionna blushes with a grin, giving another thumbs up. He ignores their reaction for Huntress's sake, and looks at the demon,
"Well, while we wait for Huntress Wizard to regain some strength, you know anything on that mysterious figure guy? The one that opened the door?" It remains silent, making Finn sigh and pick up his sword, "Tell us what you know about on that mysterious figure." It huffs, and shrugs with a slight grin,
"I have no idea, I've never seen or heard of it before today. The only time I heard it was from candy there, she knows more." Finn raises an eyebrow, 'Then who is it? Why is it helping us?'
Suddenly the demon moves, but Finn's reaction is much faster, "Halt!"
It freezes again, an inch from Fionna, who quickly backs away from it, making Finn sigh, 'Told it to wait until further orders… what I just did.' "Go back to your corner, and only move when I order you to." It stiffly walks back to its spot, making Huntress look at Finn with a tad annoyance,
"Finn, why are you still keeping it around? Why not send it away already?" He looks at her, and just can't help but get a smile every time he sees her,
"I refuse to spill blood unnecessary now, and I plan to stand by that no matter who it is. Besides, we don't know the way through Hana's tower. I was thinking that it might be able to show us the way to reach Marshall, I mean, it had to have talked with them to tell them about spotting the igloo right? Or when they ordered them to chase us into the tunnels? So it probably knows the way through their home."
She nods unsurely, but does return back to resting, causing Butterscotch to walk up to Finn, "As that demon said I know a bit more on that mysterious figure." He nods, prompting her to continue, "I don't know its identity or anything, but I do know he is something like a cosmic being. He isn't like Death or Hana or some other super strong being, he isn't some immortal all powerful being with insane powers, but rather someone who was… elevated in a sense. He was a mortal, but something with more power and links to cosmic beings brought him to a different mode of existence. He has likely seen the beginning and the end of multiple timelines, and is likely affecting and spinning our one into something he wants it to be." Finn nods, just barely keeping up as he worries a little, something the butler notices, "Is something the matter?" He snaps out of his thoughts, beaming at the candy helper,
"Yeah I'm good, it's just… what you said reminded me of someone I used to know." Fionna perks up that,
"Whoa, a mysterious person we don't know has secret old connections to our leader!" Cake joins in, standing on the girls arm as she grins at Finn,
"Who is it?" The hero looks away nervously, then flicks his gaze back to the hyped sisters,
"Someone you don't need to worry about… we had left on… neutral terms." Fionna frowns,
"Ah man… are you sure you can't tell us!? Come on, just let it slip!"
"No."
The young girl sighs as she leans back against the wall, returning to cuddling a soft squishy Cake, 'Finn doesn't want to talk about it… that's bad. And he said neutral terms… he has always left on good terms so far, so this person is really complicated and stubborn…' She debates in head as Butterscotch raises an eyebrow at Finn's stubbornness, "Are you certain you do not wish to discuss it master Finn? It may be of grave importance to the team's wellbeing if the person you speak of really is the same as the one who is watching us."
Finn groans, "No, not right now at least. If it really is the same person then I'll explain things to you then… maybe." Of course, Huntress had listened to his stories when he told them, having gained great interest in his life, and immediately knew who he was talking about, 'His father. His scamming, tricking, selfish father who ripped his own son's arm off might be watching over us. Great. And he probably doesn't want to tell the others while Fionna is around, or she might just rush off to find her mother.'
Butterscotch continues with her questioning, "You must tell us Finn." Sensing his discomfort, she swoops in to the rescue by sitting up and stretching her arms, groaning a little as her tired body screams at her to go back to sleep in the lap of a comfy, caring Finn.
"I'm good to go, the longer we wait, the more likely trouble will find us in a tiny room that has no escape route what so ever." Finn nods eagerly, getting up as well with a huge grin,
"Great! Are the rest of us good to go?" The sisters nod eagerly, Fionna pulling her swords free as she grins, 'Heh, I guess it's back to saving a royal from the clutches of an evil woman! Just like old times, just like the stories!' Butterscotch glares a little, finding the lack of answer to her question both disturbing and worrying, 'What is he trying to hide from us?' Still, she sighs as she holds herself back from continuing to ask questions, knowing the hero will continue to dodge them, and simply nods at him.
Finn beams, and looks at the extremely pissed off demon glaring at him from the corner, "Wait at the stairs to go up further, and do not move until further orders." It stiffly walks to its spot, finally making Finn grimace as he looks at his blade, 'Now that I actually think about it… I don't like this. Sure I didn't much earlier as it saved us and kept the bloodshed down, but this is totally like slavery!' Confused emotions and feelings swirled inside him on what he thinks of his own weapon's powers, before simply deciding to use as little as possible, 'I'll order the demon for directions to Marshall Lee, then tell it to leave. It's not right for me to order anyone around.'
He glances at Huntress to check up on the nymph, worried deeply about her state as she stands a little wobbly still. He quickly looks at the others, finding them facing away from them as they walked towards the demon, all ready to go at a moment's command. When Fionna looks at him, he swiftly brings a finger to his lips, signalling her to remain silent as he nods his head towards the fatigue stricken nymph, then orders, "Keep an eye out for anything coming while I'm preparing." The heroine nods in understanding, getting at what Finn is trying to do, 'Keep the others off him and Huntress as they talk.' She steps onto the stairs, and acts on guard, trying to listen for approaching footsteps as the others join her.
Finn meanwhile was swiftly at her side, angering her at first until she saw who it was, and immediately softens, letting him hold her, 'Only you can do this Finn…' As he pulls her close, he quickly speaks to her in a hushed tone, "Thanks for the save, but are you actually good to go?" She stares at him with a determined expression, about to sprout off her usual line of being fine, hiding any problems to keep her reputation of being strong, but the words get stuck in her throat at his caring stare. She sighs, "No… not really. But we don't have a choice, I was telling the truth about the longer we stay the more likely trouble will arrive. I'm hard meat Finn, if I can bring down any rampaging beast, then I can move while tired." He nods, but still wraps an arm around her waist, making her eyes widen in curiosity and confusion, causing Finn to smirk,
"You are hard meat, no doubt. But that doesn't mean you can't have help." He pulled her towards him, not aggressively or romantically, but supportively, letting her use his body to help stabilise herself. With the end of her adrenaline rush of escaping a cave in coming back to bite her as all her pain and tiredness returns, she can't help but accept the offer. Plus… it felt nice for her to cuddle with him. She wraps an arm around his neck, and stands tall with his support, before they both quickly make their way over to the others. They stare at the duo as they hang at the back, Butterscotch speaking up, "What are you two doing?"
The nymph blushes and thinks about retreating, refusing to look soft before another person, but Finn speaks up for them, "She is still a tad wobbly, and as a hero I have to help her. Heck, even if I wasn't my hero self I would still help her with anything she needs." They both blush a little at his words but don't say anything about it, keeping it private with their thoughts.
The butler simply nods, knowing all too well the 'hero nature' thanks to Fionna, and focuses ahead. Or would of, if Cake didn't bring up a good point, "So why is your arm wrapped around her waist?" She teases, enjoying messing with the young lovers as they blush a little, but before the candy person could make any assumptions Huntress swoops to the rescue,
"Because it is to keep the mobility of my arm unhindered, Cake." She sternly explains as she glares a little at Cake, causing the cat to shiver in fear. "And it also supports my core, helping in stopping me from doubling over or falling. Now… let's get moving." The others look away from them, allowing them to walk calmly forward, Huntress deliberately stomping on Cake's foot as the cat tries to stop herself from screaming in pain. While the feline grasped her foot in silent suffering, Finn raises his sword and looks at the still mad demon,
"Show us the way to Marshall Lee." It storms forward, speeding up the stairs as it pushes everyone out of the way as they yelp in pain and shock, glaring at the demon forced against its will. The group mumble in complaint as they nurse their sores, walking behind the demon as it leads the way to their friend.
Until it turns a corner and gets obliterated by a massive green orb.
The others jump back as it explodes, Finn throwing himself in front of the others to protect them as fragmentations and demon parts slam into him. Most of it bounces off, and the tiny parts of bone and sharp rock that did pierce his skin he casually brushes it off, allowing him to quickly snap his gaze to the others.
They were all alright as they get up from the floor, making him sigh in relief. But then he looks at where the demon had just got murdered, "I saw Hana do the exact same spell. And there is only one other her right now..."
Fionna eyes widen and she leaps around the corner before Finn could do anything to stop her. Her eyes immediately lock onto the form at the end of the corridor. Turns out there was a huge window, just like the one Finn had used to climb through to get into Hunson's house when he was younger. And standing outside it with hands raised was Marshall Lee in his monstrous form, amulet swinging on his neck as it waves from the wind backlash of firing of the death sphere.
Their eyes meet, and neither can look away as their vision becomes glued on the other, even as Marshall shifts his hand and aims another spell. Finn reacts immediately, leaping at her and grabbing her by the shoulders, then attempting to yank her back around the corner, but unfortunately they weren't quick enough. The spell was ready, and Marshall keeps his aim on Fionna, his Fi… he suddenly snaps his arm away, aiming it far to the right.
The spell is released as Marshall's huge form grimaces, a war between determined minds being waged inside. As the spell shoots off and explodes in some random distance, Fionna holds her ground against the larger Finn as she stares at the lord, remembering her king. The massive demon turns to look at her, pain making it scrunch up its face as he gives her eyes full of care, pain, and genuine worry, before it suddenly shoots up, heading for the top floor of the building.
Fionna gasps as she watches him leave, her heart thumping in her chest. Then Finn yanks her back angrily, making her release a noise of startlement as she struggles to stop herself from falling over onto her butt. She looks up at Finn, but anything she was going to say is immediately lost as she stares at his enraged expression. "What do you think you were doing!?" He shouts, "You could have gotten yourself killed! Marshall isn't himself right now!"
The girl glares back, "Yeah! Well him throwing off his aim proves that he is in control! At least a little bit…" Finn sighs, noticing no one was hurt right now, something that greatly helps him in calming down,
"Don't put yourself in danger like that Fionna, you would have literally gained nothing by doing that!" The heroine raises an eyebrow while still glaring a little,
"Didn't you just put yourself in front of all of us to protect us from anything from that orb that Marshall shot?"
Finn remains silent for a second, "... That's besides the point! And different! I was protecting everyone, so it wasn't for nothing! Still, don't test Marshall like that, he might of been able to control himself this time, but maybe not the next." The girl goes silent, then looks up at him, keeping her mouth shut as the slight anger on his face was reminding her of her fear of him. With that now plaguing her mind, she just silently gets up and starts walking, making Finn sigh and causing Huntress to lean onto him, giving him emotional support while he gives her physical, and thus the group sets off again.
Meanwhile, seemingly in the middle of nowhere in the flatland of the night-o-sphere, a bit away from the tower the group were now starting to climb, an explosion erupts from the ground. A huge amount of dust, pebbles, and rocks is flung sky-high as a massive ice cube sat in the middle of it all, before it all falls back down, crashing into the ground in another massive cloud of dust.
The massive ice beam halts it attack, and only a couple of seconds later a smug Ice Queen floats up from the hole, flapping her eyebrows as she glares at the frozen Hana. She lands before it, then walks up to the face of the demon frozen deep within, watching as the Lady of the night-o-sphere suddenly glows. The royal calmly lifts her arm and creates a huge ice shield, just in time for the demon to explode out of her prison with a cry of pure anger. The blue woman doesn't even flinch behind her shield, eyes glowing frightening as she shifts her protection into a huge ice spear.
She pulls her arm back and stabs into Hana, yet the buffed up demon only gets shoved back, the weapon not being able to break her skin as she grins cockily at her foe. Ice Queen still doesn't react, instead ice rockets from her feet, massive icicles that slam into the demon and pierce her gut, making her cough blood as she is held in the air. Then the royal sends out another, and another, and another, all of them launching themselves into the hell spawn as she starts to look like modern art.
Ice Queen calmly walks forward, strolling up her icicles as black blood oozes down them, keeping her eyes locked on Hana's as the demon gives her one of complete annoyance. The royal lifts her head up by the chin, grinning at her as the temperature drops, "I'm taking my Marshall from your incompetent hands, but first, I need to give you a serious ass kicking for even thinking about getting in my way."
Suddenly some light shines into her eye, making her fly back as she expects an attack of some kind, but nothing happens. Suddenly it shines in her eyes again, and Ice Queen snaps her head around to find the source, and discovers it coming from the tower containing Marshall. She grins, expecting it to be her new/recently adopted son cheering her on in some way, but discovers something just as good, hell even better than that.
It was the others, reflecting some light of Finn's sword as they wave at her, causing her to beam, 'They made it! Finn and Huntress are still with me!' Then she hears ice shattering behind her, causing her to grit her teeth in anger, 'Just when I thought I could get a quick kiss from my Finn… time to keep this bitch away from them! I'll protect you my knight, witness my power and return to my arms for a tender kiss so I may claim my reward!' She thinks, magic madness claiming her as she glares at Hana, eyes glowing brightly as she flaps her eyebrows, floating into the sky.
Behind her a massive amount of wind arrives, slamming into Hana as the temperature suddenly drops below freezing, ice and frost forming on the once burning ground. Then something white appears on the horizon, and it was quickly coming their way. A massive wave of ice rapidly approaches as the ground shakes violently, threatening to collapse the tunnels below them as Hana struggles to hold her stability on the crumbling ground.
Then the wave gets even bigger, rising high into the sky as it quickly becomes two hundred feet tall, Ice Queen's eyes glowing like insane as the wave rapidly approaches her from behind. Hana braces for impact as the wave roars past Ice Queen, spreading a hole to allow her to remain untouched as she grins sickly. The wave comes crashing down, slamming directly onto Hana as she is lost below a sea of huge ice.
Finn and the others watch in awe and horror as the huge wave slams onto the Lady of the Night-o-sphere, crushing her beneath its immense weight. The impact shakes the entire night-o-sphere, crumbling the tunnels both Hana was standing on and below all the ice as it caves in like a sinkhole, affecting the tower everyone was on. They grip onto anything they could, the majority of which grab Finn as he holds onto a sharp spike while still keeping the tired Huntress held close to him.
They grimace as the building tilts, sinking into the ground a little as the structure crumbles, but it quickly ends as the caves were swiftly filled with rocks. They all remain still for a second, making sure it was over before opening their eyes and peeking back outside, checking for more incoming danger.
Finn meanwhile stares at Huntress Wizard standing tall next to him, quickly analysing her for injuries before checking the others. They were all luckily unscathed, making him sigh in relief as he brings his gaze back to his queen, watching her do nothing but hover in the air… menacingly! Her armour passively regenerate all its chinks and damages it has sustained down in the tunnels, making her this untouched god of ice floating in the sky, searching for the victim of her wrath.
Her eyes lock onto Finn's as he stares at her in worry, making her pop out her assets as she grins at him, 'After flooring this bitch and getting my Marshall, I'm coming for my man!' The ice shifts below her, making her grin even larger, 'About time! I was about to steal my Finn and take him back to my castle!' Before Hana could even pop her head free, Ice Queen simply orders her magic to swarm forward, and thus the sea of huge boulders pushed deeper into the hellscape, carrying the demon away from the others… out of splash range of the royal's spells.
The other stare as Hana is simply swept away, carried in the flood of ice behind mountains so far in the distance that couldn't really identify any details on them. The flying royal shoots after her magic as her hands glow with energy, before dive bombing to the ground somewhere behind the mountains. A few seconds later a massive pillar of ice so big that it rivalled the size of Ice Queen's home mountain shot up from the ground, shaking the night-o-sphere once more.
On the sharp tip was a pierced Hana, who looks around with confusion and a tad fear, both not worried about her situation due to her buff, and worried about when her supercharge will end… and what'll come as a result. Then the humongous ice pillar retreated, yanking itself back into the ground with its passenger still attached, and the moment she is slammed into the ground the spell explodes in a massive explosion of ice.
Finn winces a little, 'She's gone crazy with power… please don't get cocky and make a mistake…' Fionna meanwhile gawks with a massive grin, pumping her fist in the air, "WHOOO! Go Ice Queen!" She yells with excitement, watching more explosions of ice in the distance, making her chuckle as she imagines evil getting its buns kicked, "Poor Hana."
Butterscotch and Huntress squint in worry however, watching the royal dart through the air and unleashing massive spells, the butler finally speaking up, "She may be getting super buffed by the tiara at the moment for a reason I don't know why... but that has got to be affecting her. Still, she's likely going mad with her magic." She fearfully turns her gaze to Finn as he gives her a worried stare, "Magic madness."
Finn bites his lip, "Damn it Ice Queen, I told you to remain safe, and that includes from yourself… what will we have to deal with?"
Huntress leans back onto him as she looks at the path ahead, "I know what happens personally." He snaps his gaze to her, his eyes filled with concern, making her blush at his caring attitude, "It's alright, I hardly do that anymore, it was mainly in the past when I was first learning magic, and to become stronger I kept pushing myself past my limit. But that doesn't matter, what magic madness does is it: A. Makes you lash out at anything, B. Hunt for more power, C. Make you seek your inner wishes and greed, and D. Make you act without logic. And, if you really push yourself over the edge, will result in an overload of magic. It will claim you, sending you into the realm of magic… I give you a hint, you pretty much die in the real world and live a torturous life in the next."
Finn nods in worry, staring at Ice Queen as she unleashes more massive spells, then back at her, "How do we save someone from it?"
"The same way you recover it: sleep. Usually when someone has gone mad, people have to knock them out because they themselves definitely won't put themselves in bed…" She looks at Finn, "We might have to fight her." A huge explosion of ice the size of a mountain shakes the ground far in the distance, making everyone wince, Fionna raising her hand,
"And what if I don't want to fight her?" Huntress shrugs,
"She'll make out with Finn in her home… then maybe go a few steps further..." Cake was about to speak up when a blizzard appears in the distance, and after a second of staring she closes her mouth, and looks at Finn with pride,
"Thank you, for taking one for the team." They all nod, a small amount of fear etched onto their faces, Finn blushing heavily as he shuffles,
"Yeah no…" Butterscotch glances in the royal's direction again, then looks back at him with raised an eyebrow,
"Why not? You're not dating anyone, and as her knight you have your duty to serve any of her needs?" She says matter of factly, trying to leave him no choice but to accept the queen's advances, definitely not wanting to face her in battle right now, "And it's better be you instead of my prince, or I'll make you pay… by probably setting her on you anyway." Finn puts up his hand with a slight glare,
"Yeah guys not happening, and I've got a girlfriend… she is just back in OOO, that's all." Despite the sisters knowing about the OOO duo's secret relationship, neither say a word or try to change the topic, even they themselves not wishing to face their old foe in this state. Butterscotch raises an eyebrow,
"You mean the dimension you'll likely never return to?" Finn opens his mouth, then closes it as he bites his tongue,
"I will find a way…" He mutters out annoyed, but quickly shakes his head, "Look guys, I'm not doing it… I'm loyal to my girlfriend."
He says sternly, avoiding that incident in the tunnels with his queen. The world shakes violently again, and Huntress looks at him worriedly, "How about you think about it?" She suggests, watching a huge ice storm shred a mountain with ease behind him. The hero looks at her shocked, and she can't help but feel a bit of pain in her chest, 'What the glob!? Why am I looking afraid!? Why am I looking soft why now!? Why am I making Finn do something he doesn't want to do for my own selfish sake!?' She snapped her head to the others, "Let's go, it is wrong to pressure him like this… I'm sorry for even suggesting that Finn." She says, using her leverage of leaning on him to pull him away from the conversation, making the others huff and nervously glance at the ongoing battle before rushing after them.
They quickly overtake the duo as they slowly walk along, hindered by Huntress's fatigue, yet they don't mind being at the back, giving them some privacy. He stares at the backs of the others, checking them for twitches or slight glances back at him that could hint at them paying attention to him. When no one was showing signs, he leans towards Huntress and begins to whisper, "I was waiting until after we leave to ask you… you know, the thing I asked you remind me about?" She glances at him with worry,
"I remember… why? What is it?" She replies in a hushed tone as well, glancing at the others to make sure they weren't listening in,
"Well… it's kinda links to you saying how I should think about letting Ice Queen go at me in a crazy, violent state." She flinched a little, something Finn regrets a little,
"I'm sorry about that, I was honestly being selfish there, and I totally shouldn't of-" He puts a finger to her lips, silencing her apology,
"Don't worry, I've already forgiven you… but the thing I want to talk about is Ice Queen… and what she said about her advances."
Huntress keeps her stoic expression, "... What did she say?"
"Well… that the reason why she is doing it is because you gave her permission to… is that true? Did you really tell her she can flirt and hit on me?" Huntress sighs, looking away for a second, then shifting her gaze back to him,
"I did… why did she tell you?" He grimaces, he himself looking away,
"In the tunnels, she was alone with me." Huntress immediately nods in understanding, already picturing what happened, "And she decided to use that to her advantage, touching and flirting with me… even going as far to admitting straight to my face her feelings. And then she started getting physical…" He pulls his hat aside a little, making her stare at all the love bites on his neck as she blinks in slight shock, "... And I tried to resist at the start, but then she told me that you were allowing it… using the times of you letting her hit on me and letting her sleep with me as proof. She told me she would tell me more after my birthday, and I warned her that if she was lying then I would leave her as her knight."
Huntress blinks in slight shock, "And then?" Finn sighs,
"... I stopped resisting, her advances getting to me…" He answers shamefully, looking at the floor and not at her bright green eyes.
She simply cups his head in her hands and gives him a small kiss on his cheek, making him blush and turn his head to her as they attempt to remain silent to the other, "I'm not mad Finn, in a way it makes things fair for when I ignored what you wanted just then and told you to make out with Ice Queen for our safety, despite you making your opinion very clear. It is true, I did say she can flirt with you, so you don't need to stop being her knight. We also decided to tell you the rest of the details the day after your birthday, got it?" He nods, only slightly annoyed at her not telling him more, 'But I semi cheated on her, so I can't really call her out on it.'
He glances at Ice Queen watching her send two massive icebergs smashing together, colliding with Hana in-between them, and he can't help but wince, finally deciding to ask aloud, "So what is Ice Queen going to do to us because of her magic madness?" Huntress sighed, holding Finn tightly as she dredges up her own memories and tries to put the royal in the same mind-set,
"Well… she is likely going to go on a blind rage, a symptom of the volatile nature of magic. She'll likely attack anyone or anything she doesn't want or like, and the only thing that'll survive is the things she wants to... and even then she'll likely just take them with her. So pretty much anyone but me and Finn are going to get hit by some spells, even then we might be in danger if she simply doesn't care anymore." The other three look at each other nervously, yet Huntress continues, "Another thing we could expect is her blind objective seeking."
That raises Finn's eyebrow, "What does that even mean?"
"We've already seen it, back when we first came here, remember? She thought Marshall, her objective, was in that prison, so she immediately set off for it in the quickest route possible, ignoring all safety and charging into danger. So she'll likely make a beeline for Marshall again, and anyone trying to stop her will probably get attacked… and if her deep feelings of love for Finn remain, she'll likely go for him as well." He sighs, making her grin a little, "You know Finn, most guys would be happy to have a woman all over them, especially one with as much experience as Ice Queen." She jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood.
It works a little as Finn smirks, "Well maybe I'm not a normal guy? I mean, I fight massive monsters everyday, talk to royals like it is nothing, I use to date fire, and do stupid, insane stuff like, I don't know… leading a group through the night-o-sphere just to get one guy?"
She shakes her head, "You do live an interesting life, I'll give you that." She gazes ahead as they hear a roar of rage above them as something gets smashed. "Marshall's pissed about something, and it might be better to get to him before a mad Ice Queen obliterates us, we better hurry!" They all nod, and Finn picks her, putting her over his shoulder as they all sprint as fast as they can.
Meanwhile, the ice royal swoops through the air as she chases the Lady of the night-o-sphere through her own domain with a sick, mad laughter. Two normal demons stare at them as they clash, laughing like crazy, "Look at this cat fight! Two old bitches are really going at i-" Hana and Ice Queen's battle descends upon their heads, obliterating them instantly under fire and ice as the leaders glare at each other. Hana slams her hands onto the ground, and black oil flooded out of her, becoming a tidal wave of black sticky goo that rapidly fills the mountains.
Ice Queen just raises her hands high above her head, and shoots off two massive ice beams, letting the collide together way over head. A massive meteorite of ice forms in the sky as it continues to grow endlessly, Ice Queen grinning as she feeds more magic into it. When it was at a humongous size, she simply halts her beam, and the meteorite starts to fall, quickly gaining speed and momentum, yet Hana simply grins.
She flicks her finger at the sea of oil she was on, and immediately it bursts into flames, roaring at an insane intensity as the massive amount of frozen water rapidly approaches. Ice Queen glares, and simply flies up as she readies another huge spell, letting the ice comet roar past her, its form melting into water from the atmosphere and flames. The massive amount of water slaps into the flaming oil, and does its famous reaction, exploding into an absolutely huge explosion way bigger than the mountains, nearly rivalling that of a nuclear bomb.
However, Ice Queen unleashes her second spell she was preparing, and a massive blizzard of well below negative two hundred slams into it. The sudden clashing of the two insane temperatures create another explosion, this one being a steam one as it roars out, levelling the mountains as the entire area gets boiled.
Ice Queen was quickly able to erect an ice cocoon around her before the spells could meet, knowing what the reaction would be. The massive shockwave slams into the protection, sending it flying as it launches it and its untouched passenger far up, while Hana is crushed into the ground, her toughness through magic saving her from obliteration.
The royal continues to arc through the air, before the cocoon suddenly shatters as Ice Queen screams in rage, eyes glowing as she locks onto her annoying prey. She shoots towards Hana as the demon gets up, her tentacles on her black flailing in equal fury towards the royal, hopping onto her feet and slamming them into the ground.
Then suddenly in front of her four humongous tentacles grew from the ground, bigger than the mountains that use to sit here, and they all immediately convert onto the rapidly Ice Queen. The blue woman raises both hands and shoots them slightly sideways, both beams striking the land next to the hell spawn as she glances at them. Huge walls of ice form next to her, then rapidly grow in on her, rushing towards the still demon, who merely mutters and focuses her tendrils on the royal.
The flying woman watches them approach, all four of them covered in sharp bones of dead people and things that could easily pierce her. She takes a deep breath, then releases a continuous cloud of ice, letting the massive stream blow over the approaching limbs. They snap freeze on contact, the white cloud rolling over them as they become frozen to the core, yet their momentum doesn't stop, making the frozen tips rocket in on each other, until smashing together, shattering.
Thousands of pieces fill the air, but Ice Queen ignores it all, rocketing forward through the storm of ice with a glare, only halting her magic beams for a second to protect her face. She shoots through the cloud, eyes locked onto Hana as she still attempts to use the injured tentacles to swat the royal. Ice Queen fires her ace beams once more, letting them slam into the icebergs that rapidly shift and grow, moving towards the hell spawn. The Lady of the night-o-sphere simply sighed in annoyance as the walls slammed into her, the impacts creating a huge shockwave, causing the world to shake as Ice Queen glares from above it all.
The huge black tendrils with bones sticking out of them falls to the ground dead, yet the royal knows that it doesn't mean the same for Hana as she stares at the ice, waiting with hands raised for a spell. Suddenly an explosion roars out of the ice, Hana bursting free as she growls at the flying woman.
She quickly leaps with her boosted strength, her hands glowing a sickly toxic green once more as she bares her claws to rip the flesh of Ice Queen's bones. The royal acts fast and creates a huge ice bolt in the shape of lightning, and launches it forward towards her target. The hell spawn slashes it apart in a single swoop of her enchanted claws, letting it harmlessly fly past her.
She lunges for the blue woman, who waits with hands raised as she squinted at her target, waiting for her to close the distance. Just before Hana could reach her, a massive block of ice suddenly grows, ramming into the demon's stomach at the last second. With no time to react or prepare, is stunned with a winded gasp as she is sent flying backwards, tumbling back down onto the icebergs. She impacts them hard, but she doesn't even flinch as she stands up with a glare, but her gaze locks onto an approaching ice beam.
She goes to leap away, but it doesn't strike her, landing some distance before her, making her eyes widen, 'She's manipulating ice again! Meaning!-' She tries to jump high up to avoid whatever the royal had planned, but was not quick enough as a person shaped tomb is formed around her. An iron maiden made of ice. The doors slam close on her as all the spikes pierce her flesh, making her glare in annoyance, then widen in fear, 'My devour form is about to run out! I can't lose this power with this bitch on me! I need to kill her now!'
With a cry or rage she shoves every limb out, shattering her blue tomb into a rain of sharp shards as she scowls at Ice Queen, who returns one in kind, "Just give up and stop getting in my way! Marshall is mine!"
The demon's response was to simply aim her hands straight above her and shoot of a red laser, letting it disappear into the atmosphere. A second later, a deep rumble shakes the earth, and dark, black clouds form behind her, "Never!"
Lighting strikes the ground from the storm, repeatedly pounding the hellfire earth as the dark clouds cloak the world underneath it in dark shadows. Then small drops of lava drip onto the ground, slowly at first, but rapidly build up in speed and size, creating an endless rain of molten rock that scorches the ground. Ice Queen scowls as the clouds storm towards her, roaring winds carrying embers that whip into her, leaving tiny burn marks on her armour with a hiss.
She drops from the sky, falling to the ground with a thump as the impact flicks up a cloud of snow, a calm contrast to the massive amount of lava and fire swarming her way. With a deep grunt of effort she shatters every inch of the massive icebergs, then makes the fragments shoot up, whipping by her as she flapped her eyebrows to fly as her floor disappears below her. She holds her arms up like a prophet as the huge swarm of tiny ice fragments swirls around her, quickly becoming a snow storm as the temperature drops.
Then she thrusts her hands forwards with a cry of anger, and the storm followed suit, rushing past her as her hair flaps in the wind, before all visual image of her disappears except her glaring, glowing eyes. The snow storms slams into Hana's, the boiling rock and sub zero ice colliding in a mess of steam, making the huge hell spawn growl in anger. She stands her ground, knowing her foe all to well, 'She is mad right now, she'll rush at me when I don't come to her. Let's see how you handle the heat, ice cube!'
Sure enough, out from within the snow clouds comes an enraged queen, screaming a war cry as she dives under the black clouds, burning hot larva falling straight towards her. She quickly creates a huge bird made of ice, what immediately flies upwards, hovering above her as it uses its body as a living shield, letting the lava burn it instead of its mistress. The Lady of the night-o-sphere immediately lifts her hands as the rain slowly builds up in the environment, turning the levelled mountain range into a sea of larva.
She aims at the bird and fire a huge death sphere at it, but it gets destroyed by a burst of icicles from Ice Queen, who slams into the ground in front of the demon. The lava continues to rise around them, limiting Ice Queen to a small island, spurring her to dart forward, ice forming on her entire right arm as she swings it back behind her. Hana growls and makes her claws glow again as she lunges for the royal, slashing at her with the deadly enchanted tips.
Just before they could gut Ice Queen however, the blue woman spins around the approaching arm, evading it as it glances by her. Directly below her foes head, she swings her frozen arm up, the rock solid limb ramming into the chin of the hell spawn, sending her reeling back. She stumbles as Ice Queen leaps onto her, throwing off her balance as tumbles onto her back, the royal on her chest as her spare hand grips her for leverage.
She swings her ice fist back, and rockets it forward into Hana's face so hard it makes her head snap to the side. Hana quickly moves it back as she glares at Ice Queen, about to do a counter attack head-butt. However, her plan is quickly halted as Ice Queen punches her square in the face again, slamming her into the ground. She pulls her arm back and does it again. And again. And again. Wailing on the down woman as the lava levels slowly rise around them, sizzling the rock they were on she pounds her into the ground.
Her face quickly becomes bloody, yet her wounds heal, leaving her more annoyed than injured. The royal continues however, grinning madly as the first sane thought in a while slips in, 'She can't do anything like this! If I can keep this up then her power up will eventually run out and I can finish this bitch!'
She however nervously glances at the rising lava levels, then up at her bird, finding it severely melted. She rears her fist back again and slams it into Hana one final time, before leaping backwards, something the hell spawn immediately exploits by leaping to her feet. Ice Queen quickly shoot a small beam up above her, letting it strike and heal her injured cover yet leaving her completely exposed.
The Lady of the night-o-sphere pounces at the royal, who shoots a massive ice spike up from her feet, stopping the demon in its track as she pierces her chest on it. However, she grins and opens her mouth wide, and begins to suck out the royal's soul, with no one around to help save or protect her.
Yet nothing happens, confusing the heck out of Hana as she closes her jaw and glares, making Ice Queen laugh, "Oh please, I don't have a soul, not anymore…" She raises her hand and taps her tiara, "... It was claimed by my tiara long ago!" With that she explodes the icicle out, making it grow rapidly as it sends the demon far away from her, before then shattering it.
The hell spawn falls into the lava, plunging her into the deep end as Ice Queen wastes no time, 'No way that would even harm or kill her!' She spins and aims her hands at her snow storm behind her, and blasts a huge beam into the heart of it, causing white lightning to arc through it. She hears movement of lava behind her, and immediately knows Han was coming, causing her to grunt as she forces more magic into her old spell to speed everything up.
It becomes violent, increasing in intensity as it surges forward, piercing into the red hell storm that Hana had created. The insanely cold temperatures within the core of the royal's spell instantly cools the lava, turning it into solid rock. It surges over her, creating a safe space for her as the larva no longer approaches nor rain from the sky, causing her to grin as she spins to face her old foe. And finds her leaping at her with claws bared, hands and eyes glowing green as desperation kicks in, her buff time nearly out.
Ice Queen goes to attack, but it was too late as Hana grabs her by the shoulders with her massive claws, yet instead of tearing her apart, they lock glowing eyes, glaring at each other before the world goes white. Ice Queen opens her eyes, blinking in confusion at what happened as she finds herself in a world of darkness, howling wind whipping by her ears. She snaps her head around, trying to spot Hana within the darkness, "Where am I!?" She yells, and laughter was her response,
"In your mind." Hana answers cryptically, "The place where your fears and dreads lie… your own, personal night-o-sphere!" More laughter followed as Ice Queen feels a presence behind her, making her snap around and aim her arms up to obliterate whatever it was. But freezes up. Before her was Huntress Wizard, wearing an expression of rage as she stares at Ice Queen, lifting a finger to point at her accusingly.
"You betrayed me!" She screams, startling the mad wizard who stumbles backwards,
"W-what!?" She questions in genuine confusion, "What are you talking about!? How did you even get here?"
The nymph continues, walking towards her with a shaking arm as tears really start to spill from her face, "I trusted you Ice Queen! I asked you to stop flirting with Finn! I asked you to protect him!" She freezes up, and looks at the ground with a look that could only be described as broken, spurring the royal to speak up, reaching out to comfort her,
"What do you mean!? How have I hurt you!? I want to help you! I thought you said we could both try dating him!?" She yells genuinely confused, sprinting towards the nymph, yet never making any progress, as if she was running on the spot. Huntress Wizard simply lowers her arm, grabbing it with the other before turning around and walking away.
Ice Queen watches her leave with a tear in her eye, still reaching out for her friend as she slowly starts to disappear into the darkness. Then all around her whispers fills her ears, screams filled with hate and shocked tones of pain as spirits haunt her, flashing their ghostly bodies of tearful faces.
They damn her, wishing her to spend eternity in the night-o-sphere, an eternity away from them, as she crumbles, collapsing onto the floor as they start leaving her. Loneliness. Crushing loneliness.
She hated it, she never wants to be a lone again after her hundreds of years of it. She feared it, she feared everyone running away from her. She looks up at Huntress Wizard, her only and best friend in her long life of suffering isolation. She reaches out for the nymph, "STOP!" She commands, and she actually does so, looking over her shoulder at the tearful royal as she desperately gets up, and begins walking towards her.
Somehow, she makes progress this time, strong emotions giving her the magic strength to push through whatever was holding her back before. She latches onto Huntress Wizard, staring pleadingly into her glowing green feline eyes, "I'm sorry, just don't go, don't leave me alone!" The nymph tugs herself out of the royal's grip, shoving her backwards as the blue woman tumbles to the floor, head snapping up to gaze at Huntress.
She simply turns around, and continues to walk away into the darkness, leaving her broken hearted friend on the floor to cry softly. The feeling returns. The soul destroying loneliness, weighing her down while hundreds of years of abandonment fills her mind as she lived in her cold, lifeless home. She can't find the strength to get up, tears dripping from her face as she remembers their angry faces, people screaming and yelling at her as they sometimes attacked her.
In the end, she had given up on one of the guys she had kidnapped after he had punched her in the face, and she took what she wanted by force. She was desperate for them to like her, and she went by any means to try and persuade them with her... best assets. She doesn't want to feel that desperate ever again.
She looks around at the pitch black world around her, finding the weight of it too much to bare and scrunches her whole body up, bringing her limbs to her chest as she hugs her own legs. She watches the years go by in her mind, and rocks herself as she feels more alone than ever. She remembers Marshall Lee yelling at her, calling her a living curse, screaming at her to return Simone as he slams her into the floor. 'Not even he wanted me… no one wanted me…' She scrunches her face up, 'No one has ever wanted me! Name one person who-' Finn flashes in her mind, and her eyes snapped open, still spilling tears as she focuses on him.
He liked her, he was the first in hundreds of years to like her, and he pretty much liked her straight away. She watches the pitch blackness around her get a smudge lighter, but she doesn't care, too wrapt up in her emotions to notice. 'I'm not alone… not when Finn is around… he stuck by me, despite the things I did for him.' She gets up, the mental image of him calming her down a little, 'He inspired me to change the Ice Kingdom, making the mansion and bosses and life! He kept me company, he didn't try to break free when I had kidnapped him, he instantly saw my loneliness… and wished to take it away.'
With more strength in her heart, she looks around with a clearer head, 'Hana created this place… as my personal night-o-sphere?... My fears. It's using my fears against me. And in this case, my fear of loneliness, gained after so many years of experiencing it.' She glares as she looks around, 'Then I must defeat this somehow!' She grins, and continues her old thoughts.
"I'm not alone! I have Finn!" She yells defiantly, "You may have made her walk away, bit I know Huntress Wizard wouldn't just abandon me! She is my best friend!" She screams into the unending darkness, "We may have use to fight each other, but I know Fionna and Cake! They're heroes! They would jump to save me at a moment's notice!" She remembers them. All of them, all their actions.
Finn and Huntress as they help make her kingdom into something that people may actually wish to come to, how they stood by her side when the other royal's had a misunderstanding. How they helped her through her mental problems, how Huntress was willing to share her boyfriend… just to make her happy. How that very same boy offered to be her knight when she had no right to have him by her side. Then there were the sisters, who despite their history with her, still stuck by her side through this dangerous trip.
They still defended her, they gave her a chance of redemption. Ice Queen screams into the dark void with a confident grin, "I have all these guys looking out for me! I'm not alone anymore! Fuck you! I no longer have a reason to be afraid of loneliness, because it will never even be able to touch me again!" With that defiant cry, the world shakes a little, and gets lighter, a light shining on her in the darkness like a spotlight. But nothing else happens, making her look around annoyed yet analytically, then more whispers, 'Great. I forgot we all have more than one fear.'
She remembers who is waiting for her: her knight. She couldn't fail her promise to him of returning safe. She looks up to the world as the next fear manifests, "Bring it bitch!"
Sorry for not actually getting anything done this chapter... Hana was meant to be defeated here, but I ended up having too much fun/many ideas for the fight.
So Huntress just revealed she is allowing Ice Queen to go at him, that way, when IQ hits on him and swoons him over, he is more likely to say yes to the three way relationship.
Review response:
Claz's response (to The Book of Eli):
Greetings, Heck i'm getting surprised no one is complaining about this fight and that is actually good but this proves the definition of subjectiveness. Heheh liked the comparison between this arc and the old Damsel in distress trope, just add to it that everything wants to kill you, including the damsel. Wish you the best.
The Book of Eli, on FF, chapter 33:
I'm glad you liked the chapter it, I was worried you wouldn't. Indeed, how will our heroes bring Marshall Lee back from the curse of the amulet? He definitely won't be willing in his current state. And don't worry, I have an idea for how it goes (And one of your guesses are correct~). Yep, I like you pointing that cliche out so much that I put it in this chapter.
Claz's response (to Eternal Violets):
Well i'm both glad and surprised you liked last chapter's fight, i'm sure nuclear will jump is jumping in happiness at hearing that. Thanks to you and everyone for being understanding, the boss has his schedule overloaded and he needs a bit of time but anyways we're grateful for it, and as for the cutaways to OOO more often is actually a good idea so with all said, I too wish you the best.
Eternal Violets, on FF, chapter 33:
Thank you, I was really worried that people would find the fight uninteresting, but you saying that has put that worry to rest. Yeah, I'll continue to try to keep the chapters weekly for the patient people like you because you deserve it, I just have no idea if my possibly new work loads will bite into writing time.
You flatter me XD Thank you for the compliment! I'm glad you're seriously enjoying this so far. I haven't given OOO any cut aways for a while now for a good reason ;)
Take care, I hope you have a great day.
Anonanon-E-Mouse, on FF, chapter 28:
Thanks for pointing that out! If you notice anything else like that, let me know, as the biggest problem I have is when I do use a word a lot than I should off and no one points it out. I can't fix a problem if I don't know it's there. I will try to change my vocab for next chapters :)
Thank you, I will do my best to keep this story going as long as possible at the highest quality I can!
lumely, on FF, chapter 33:
Thanks for pointing that spelling error out! That was definitely not something I wanted to remain in the story.