Chapter Six

Michael

With grim satisfaction, Axel walked through the front door of Flame Castle where the king sat upon his throne, eagerly awaiting his report. To his left side, stood his son, Flint, and to his right stood a lava golem; a massive creature of fire and stone, and one of the deadliest monsters in all of the Fire Kingdom by far.

"You're back?" Flame King spoke as though it were a surprise, "you certainly took you're time."

Axel noticed that the Flame King's demeanor was far more relaxed than usual even though he was in the presence of his own advisors. Wisely, he modified his words and demeanor accordingly.

"I had to be thorough," Axel replied, forcing a smile and feigning a sense of disappointment.

"You didn't find her, did you?" he asked.

"No, I didn't," he lied, shaking his head, "she must've run off before the rain began to pour. Any trace she might have left behind must've been washed away in the storm. I found nothing."

The dismayed Flame King put his elbow on his armrest and pinched between his eyes.

"That is regrettable," he bought it, although Axel was already starting to have seconds thoughts about his approach, "I expected better of you Axel, with the abilities you possess…"

"Magic is powerful, but it has its limits," he said quickly before biting his tongue.

Flame King fumed.

"I did not mean to interrupt you, my king," the wizard bowed his head low, "forgive me."

"No, no," Flame King said shrugging it off, somewhat sarcastically, "please, do speak. Whatever you say must be of far greater importance to you than your own king, so do go on."

"I never intended to-," Axel reminded him.

"But you did," Flame King interrupted, glaring at the wizard.

Axel only spoke as soon as he was certain the Flame King was done speaking

"My king, I told you about the limitations of magic as I left," he contested calmly, "I had hoped my words might resonate with you while I was gone."

Flame King put his arm down, and tapped his fingers on the armrest.

"Have you anything to give me, wizard?" the king asked, "or has this just been a waste of time."

Axel smiled.

"Actually, yes," he said, "I got wind of something in the dark of night; a creature of flesh and bone has been unleashed upon the world and has already begun to ravage the surface. In fact, I do believe I saw it approaching the Candy Kingdom this morning."

"A creature, you say? Of Flesh and Bone?" Flame King pondered, "and why should any such creature be of interest to me?"

"Because I believe this creature is the Lich, my king," he answered.

Flame King's eyes grew wide with dread. The nobles and advisors who sat off to the sides gasped audibly, even the stationary guards looked to one another, seemingly bothered by the news.

"You must be mistaken," the Flame King dismissed, "the Lich was imprisoned years ago in amber."

Axel was genuinely stunned by the king's complete ignorance of passed events.

"But my king, surely you must have been informed that the Lich was freed years ago," Axel put in.

The confused expression on the kings face further exacerbated Axel's shock.

"You cannot be serious," Axel cried out in revelation, "not a single one of your advisors bothered to tell you?"

Every one of the nobles in their seats glanced at one another, looking to pass the blame to another. They bickered amongst themselves loudly until Flame King got off his throne, slammed his fist against the molten pillars to his right and shook the very room into silence.

"Silence!" Flame King demanded.

As the king sat back down in his throne, he eyed Axel with suspicious.

"You only arrived here years ago. How do you know about the Lich?" Flame King asked him.

"All wizards know the Lich. I've seen him in my dreams," he replied honestly.

"But you knew he was freed," he continued, "How?"

"I read through the palace's historical archives," he lied, "if you require proof of the Lich..."

Axel threw a piece of rotted flesh onto the floor. As it landed, the ground oozed around it, digging its way deep into the earth. As a newly established wizard himself, Flame King heard voice emerge from the flesh ravaging his mind.

Bewildered by the voices, Flame King clutched his head in agony. He stood off his throne, but the pain brought him to his knees. Suddenly, the voices stopped.

Flint, who was standing at his side, quickly moved to help his father.

"Dad, are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine!" He screamed, shooing him away with his massive arm.

Flint moved back to their original stations and nobody, not even Axel, dared say anything to the king, who took a moment to reorient himself.

"How could this be?" The Flame King asked himself, scratching his fiery head, "no, you're wrong. It can't be true."

"You know I'm right," Axel declared, "you heard the voices, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," the Flame King conceded, "but why now? If the Lich was freed years ago, why would he reveal himself now? Surely he would have begun his crusade against the world the minute he was freed."

"A fair observation, my king," Axel replied honestly, "perhaps his freedom was made brief and he had been shackled by another prison of sorts. Perhaps he bid his time before he was ready to move against the world. If war is indeed on the horizon, such an event would be a perfect starting place for a thing of death to begin his crusade."

"Regardless, if the Lich is truly free, we must act before he destroys us all," Flame King decided.

Axel put a hand to his chin as though in deep thought.

"Perhaps we should not be too hasty," the wizard put in.

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps we should wait and allow the Lich to wreak havoc upon the surface so that the kingdoms' armies falter," Axel suggested, "it'll give us a significant advantage in the war to come. In the mean time, we could spend that time searching for magic that might be able to contain the Lich once and for all."

"Now that is an idea," Flame King agreed, scratching his chin, "but does such magic exist? Can the Lich truly be shackled forever?"

"A good question, my king," Axel acted as though he too was uncertain, "I do not possess such magic myself, but if there are other wizards in Ooo, perhaps we could pay them a visit and find out for ourselves."

"There is a society of wizards that exists to the Northeast," Flame King told him, "if such magic does exist, you'll find it there."

Axel beamed at that.

"A society of wizards you say," he stroked his chin again, "that was a quicker answer than I had expected."

"Is that a problem?" Flame King asked.

"No, it's just..." Axel thought a moment, "I just got back."

"And?" Flame King raised an eyebrow to him.

Axel thought a moment. He was weary, and in his heart, he wanted to rest a day before beginning another arduous journey into the grasslands.

"Nothing," Axel finally answered, "I will take my leave immediately."

Axel turned and walked halfway towards the exit before Flame King spoke to him again.

"Keep in mind, Axel," Flame King said with a booming voice. Axel turned, "you've failed me twice already. I will not tolerate another failure, Axel. Find this magic and bring it to me, at any cost."

Axel nodded slowly and grimly departed for the exit, leaving the Flame King alone with his son, his guards, and the gigantic golem.

"What did you hear?" Flint asked him, "did you hear the Lich?"

"It doesn't matter what I heard," he dismissed, shaking his head, "we have more important things to discuss."

Flame King turned to the lava golem.

"Have you spoken with your leader?" He asked it

The lava golem grumbled in a very low, bubbly, voiceless dialect that was all but unidentifiable to anyone outside the borders of the Fire Kingdom. In its native language it said, we have decided we will fight for you. My people's army is at your disposal, my king.

"Good," Flame King turned to his son, "and what of our army?"

"Our army is comprised of twelve legions strong, father," he replied smiling, "they are as eager to fight as ever."

Flame King returned his attention to the golem.

"Have your men join the legions and be ready to move out in the next few days," he told it.

The golem slammed its gigantic hand against its chest and magma bubbled from its geyser; it was a sign of great respect and loyalty, and after bowing its head to Flame King, it turned and slowly departed through a massive back entrance. Every step it took shook the entire castle. Flame King looked to his son once more.

"Join the army at the border, general," he told him, "I suspect war is about to begin."

"As you command," Flint bowed and left the room. When he was alone, Flame King fell into his own malicious thoughts.

"And when it does, I will be unstoppable," he held his fingertips together in front of him, glaring maniacally ahead.

Once the Lich was driven out of the Candy Kingdom and the candy people were freed from his spell, all of the survivors flooded into the throne room of Candy Castle.

Even Rattleballs, the unknown guardian of the candy kingdom arrived in secret, crouched high above the atrium from the frame of an open window faced away from the direction of the sun. In the shadows, he waited and listened.

Nobody, not even Princess Bubblegum was aware of his presence.

The crowd of people, gathered around the heroes, erupted into a cheer, bewildering the helplessly confused banana guards scattered across the room. Meanwhile, Princess Bubblegum and the rest of the heroes ignored the noise and attempted to process everything that had happened.

How could the Lich be free? This question was the first thing to pop into Bubblegum's mind.

She looked around the room as though she were unaware of those in her presence. When she identified Finn, she walked up to him before anyone else. He was still holding Huntress Wizard in his arms.

"Finn, I need you to tell me everything that happened before now," she commanded, "how did the Lich get loose?"

"What makes you think I know?" Finn said defensively, "I just got here."

"Who does then?" She asked.

Before he could respond, Flame Princess confronted her.

"Finn doesn't know anything," Flame Princess told her, "that thing... that was what I was telling you about earlier."

"Why didn't you tell me it was the Lich?" Bubblegum asked, "If I had known, I wouldn't have hesitated to help you."

"I didn't know it was the Lich," she said defensively, "I've never seen it before. I didn't even know what it was. And why does it take that to get you to help people in need?"

A terrible thought came to Bubblegum's mind.

"But if the Lich came here, then your friends could be-" Bonnie began with misplaced empathy.

"Actually," Simon spoke up and approached them, "those friends she told you about, that was us."

"By us, he means me as well," Huntress Wizard stepped up to clarify, "and we're okay."

"You fought the Lich and lived?" Finn asked her, impressed.

Huntress Wizard smirked. Before she could respond, Bubblegum walked right up to her with a ravenous desire for knowledge. Her charisma garnered everyone's attention.

"Did you see who it was that freed the Lich?" She needed to know.

Huntress Wizard shook her head.

"Did the Lich say anything to you during the fight?" Bubblegum asked, exhausting her options, "did he mention something that may have sounded important? Maybe something that was bothersome or disturbing? Anything?"

Huntress Wizard hid her anxiety well. She chose to shake her head again; a lie, but she felt that the disturbing words the Lich shared with her in their battle were unimportant. She was also uncomfortable sharing them with anyone.

Princess Bubblegum desperately turned to Michael who remained unmoving. Everyone's eyes fell upon the Wizard, and silence enveloped the castle. She looked to his hand where the last specks of white light were fading from view. She narrowed her eyes on the specks of light and her eyes grew wide.

"That spell," Princess Bubblegum spoke as soon as she realized it, "Billy used that to defeat the Lich centuries ago."

"Hey, you're right!" Finn cried, "that's the same power from the Gauntlet of the Hero."

Finn, as well as Jake, stared at Michael blankly with open mouths. Bubblegum was hoping that Michael would react as well, but he didn't seem to do anything.

"Does that mean you knew Billy?" Finn had to ask.

"Any wizard can master the same spell," Michael responded vaguely, "that doesn't mean we all know each other, much less the heroes of the world."

"Look, I'm all about poetry, but that isn't exactly an answer, bro," Jake put in, "actually, that didn't even make sense to me at all."

Michael turned to him.

"No," he answered with more simplicity, his voice dripping with aggravation, "I don't know him."

"Didn't," Finn corrected. Solemnly, he lowered his head, "Billy's dead. He was killed by the Lich years ago."

Collectively, the candy people bowed their heads respectfully and held a moment of silence to commemorate the fallen hero.

Simon stood out from the crowd and put himself in the center of the room; to him, it was a rather uncomfortable place to be.

"This bickering of spells, wizards, and dead heroes is pointless," he announced, "the Lich has returned. While he may be gone now, he will be back, and he will bring with him an army of the undead. We have to stop him before that happens."

"And what will you do?" Michael asked. Simon appeared perplexed, "do you have the means to kill him?"

Everybody looked at him with incredulity.

"Well, no but..." Simon stuttered

"We can't do nothing," Finn interrupted, "trying anything is better than nothing. That's what heroes do."

"Then you would heroically rush to your doom," Michael insisted, "what kind of sacrifice would that be if all you fought to accomplish is drowned out by your final seconds of agony? Your words of stoicism would ring hollow as your rotting corpse is paraded around by the Lich with all else that makes up his army of the damned. Tell me, boy, what kind of victory would that be? To die and be used as a puppet for the Lich's armada?"

"We won't lose," Finn told him with conviction.

"You will," Michael replied with equal conviction, "you will die and become his slave, boy."

"You don't know that," Finn countered.

"I know many things," replied Michael with hidden confidence, "and I also know that this threat is far greater than you realize."

"I've fought the Lich before," Finn argued, "I know exactly what kind of threat he is."

"I wasn't referring to the Lich," Michael told him, to Finn's confusion.

"Do you have a better suggestion then?" Bubblegum interjected.

"Well, since you asked, I would suggest that you take a step back and analyze your decision before making it," he told her vaguely.

"That's the same thing as doing nothing," Finn argued.

"For a time," Michael countered, "but would you prefer to leave now and perish or leave later with a plan and survive."

"My life is unimportant," Finn told him, "the Lich threatens everyone and, as a hero, it's my duty to lay down my life so that others may live."

Michael grimaced.

"Okay, so let's say we go with your suggestion and we wait," Princess Bubblegum began, "while we sit back and think about what to do, the Lich will only grow in power. And by the time we finally act, he'll be impossible to fight, if he's not already."

"I hate to agree with Bubblegum, but she's right," Flame Princess defended, "we can't sit around and do nothing. We have to fight or else the Lich will come back and kill everyone."

"As do I," Huntress Wizard concurred, "we should go out and hunt him down while he's still hurt. We may not get another chance like this."

"Is that how you view the Lich, with all his power, like a wounded animal panicking in a corner?" Michael asked her/

"He fled," she countered, "that suggests he was afraid."

"Afraid? The Lich? No, you are mistaken," he spoke with growing intensity, "even as I peered through the smoke that poured out from the city, I felt the presence of a greater cause. Someone else is trying to draw you out. Think about it: why would the Lich, of all beings, just leave? I may have hurt him, yes, but he was far from defeated and fully capable of fighting with his reinvigorated power. He came, he made an impression, he reestablished himself as the threat, and he left just as quickly. There is no logic in that, unless he was meant to set something into motion."

"You talk of this greater threat or cause or darkness or whatever you call it, but you haven't even told us what it is," Bubblegum inquired, "how can we ignore something we don't even know exists, if it even does exist?"

"Why would I lie?" Michael asked her.

"Well, if you know something we don't, tell us," she said, "give us a good reason why any of us should listen to you."

Michael closed his eyes tightly and thought very, very deeply about his next words. When he opened his eyes, he turned to address the entire room.

"Citizens of the Candy Kingdom, as you know, my name is Michael," he introduced himself formally, "I came to Ooo from beyond the sea following someone who came to these lands some time ago. I knew him as a friend, but he departed as an enemy, and like me, he is a very powerful wizard. I am convinced that he is the man that freed the Lich, and I fear, if this is true, that he has come to spread war. What you witnessed here today is but a taste of what he seeks to accomplish."

"That doesn't make sense," Bubblegum rejected, "the Lich's purpose is to destroy all life. Once the Lich was freed, he would have killed your friend immediately and used him as a conduit to grow his own power."

Michael turned halfway towards her.

"Not if the one who frees the Lich is able to shackle him to an oath," he told her, "the Lich is already a slave, bred to serve a singular purpose; to destroy all life. He cannot act on his own behalf, for his own sake, and for his own free will, and that makes him predictable, and to a greater extent, exploitable."

Bubblegum remained skeptical, but offered no follow up question or reply.

"What else can we do then?" asked Simon, wanting to move passed the heat of debate.

"You cannot act rashly," the wizard advised, "as I said, you must wait, and only strike once you are certain of the consequences. If you follow the Lich now, you will be walking right into a trap. You will unleash a greater darkness upon the earth. So think now. Narrow the possibilities until one seems far more likely than the rest, and act on that."

"Do you always speak so cryptically?" Bubblegum asked him, "why can't you just give us a straight answer?"

"Does it even matter?" he asked, "You have no reason to believe me. I am a stranger. But I suspect perhaps you will have a reason to believe her."

Michael turned and slowly lifted a finger towards Flame Princess, who jutted her head back in abject confusion. When Michael spoke, he did not speak with his lips, but with his mind.

You know of whom I speak, he told her mind, he has left his mark on you. His presence haunts you still.

For a moment, the fiery girl remained confused, but after a little thought, the answer became clear to her. Slowly, she raised her head.

"Axel," she uttered the words in shocked disgust and terror, as though the mere mention of his name held some power over her.

She stared at the wizard for a long time, even as the candy people erupted into a loud and arduous uproar. The other heroes looked upon the fiery girl and felt the extraordinary weight that name seemed to have.

"Axel?" Finn repeated the name, "you know him?"

She was silent, never taking her eyes of the wizard and he never took her eyes off her. It was as though they were on a completely different plane of existence.

"Hey, Phoebe," Finn waved his hand over her eyes, she didn't even blink, "earth to Phoebe."

"Wait, hold on a second," Jake suddenly spoke up, "why did you drone on and on about this whole darkness biz when you could have just told us his name at the beginning? Wouldn't that have been a lot quicker?"

"I was not yet certain I wanted to reveal that to you," he answered simply. Phoebe blinked rapidly and finally seemed to come out of her trance.

"So you would have kept that information for yourself and left us in the dark?" Princess Bubblegum scoffed, "what do you have to be uncertain of? We all want to stop the Lich. If anything, sharing that knowledge benefits us all."

"Even small revelations can bring about dire consequences for the future," he replied, "knowledge is dangerous in the wrong hands."

"How could sharing vital information possibly hurt anyone?" she attacked.

Flame Princess found herself agreeing with Bubblegum more and more, to her surprise, but neither she nor Bubblegum nor anyone else that was present could deny the impression the wizard was making upon them.

Sensing the growing tension between the two, Jake put himself between Michael and Bubblegum before the debate reached the point of no return.

"Hey, back off you two," he told them, "this isn't helping."

Simon, agreeing with Jake, attempted to diffuse the situation as well.

"We cannot afford to argue while the Lich is on the loose," Simon said, "let's just-"

Princess Bubblegum shoved them both to the side.

"How do you even know about the Lich?" Bubblegum questioned.

"He just saved us from the Lich," Jake protested in an attempt to calm her down, "why does it matter?"

She ignored the dog.

"I want to know," she said sharply, never taking her eyes of the wizard, whose hood concealed his own eyes, "for all we know, you could have freed the Lich. Why shouldn't we suspect you?"

"It's because he's a wizard," Simon cut in, hoping to dismantle the rising hostilities, "all wizards know about the Lich."

"I'm a wizard and I've didn't know the Lich before," Huntress Wizard countered.

"Then you are a young, little wizard," Michael said, "but you will, in due time."

That idea terrified her.

Princess Bubblegum clenched her fists tightly, but, feeling the eyes of everyone upon her, finally decided to give up.

"Fine," Princess Bubblegum gave in.

She turned and started up the stairs towards her throne.

"If what you say is true, I must prepare my kingdom for the worst," she said ominously as she climbed the steps.

"What do you mean?" Finn asked her curiously.

"I'm going to prepare my kingdom for war," she told him, sitting down upon her throne.

Michael's tone completely shifted when he heard her.

"Do you even understand the consequences such a drastic choice would entail?" he asked her, a little on edge, "if you chose to fight, if you chose war, you will be playing right into Axel's hands. He wants nothing more than to see you and everyone else go to war. You would give him wants he wants? Don't."

"Do you think I want this?" she asked him, "war is the last thing I want, especially after everything that happened during the- well, forget it! I don't have to explain myself to you. And if Axel really wants a fight, he is sorely underestimating me."

"Maybe so," he accepted, "and maybe you are right, but even if you are right and even if you win and even if you stop the Lich and save the world, what will become of you when the battle is fought and won? War is a pathway few turn from once the first steps are taken and the choice carries with it a terrible, terrible price. Do you honestly believe peace will be achieved in the end? What will it all mean if you sacrifice everything for victory? If you cannot answer these simple questions, you know nothing of war."

"I will deal rightfully in self-defense," she proclaimed, "I have a duty to defend my people."

"Duty? Ha, what a crude concept," he scoffed arrogantly, "You speak of duty as if you were chained to an inescapable destiny. Your words echo of a fool. War is a choice, and if you fight, it will be the choice of war, not self-defense. There is a difference. Keep to this fantasy of yours, but make no mistake, you will suffer. And know that this will not be a war fought in any field of battle you are familiar with. The war you wage may not even be one that can be won."

Everybody that heard him could barely keep up with the complexity of the argument, but Bubblegum could. She felt a measure of truth in his words. She didn't want to believe them, but she could help it. Still, she refused to back down.

"I don't have a choice," she rejected, "I cannot sit back and do nothing while the Lich is free to destroy lives. And if Axel is as grave a threat as you say, I must prepare for the worst. At the very least, I must bolster my kingdom's defenses and prepare an army in reserve."

"I only ask that you think carefully on my words," Michael concluded softly, "lest you destroy yourself, your kingdom, and the very people you claim to serve."

"Peebee," Finn passed Michael by and came to Bubblegum's side, "maybe we should listen to Michael."

The candy princess looked at him with incredulity.

"Are you really that quick to trust him?" She asked him.

"I don't have a reason not to," he shrugged.

"That's not how it works," she scoffed.

"Then how does it work?" He asked.

Bubblegum rolled her eyes as though the answer were an easy one, but as she thought about how to respond, she quickly realized that she herself barely had a concept for her ideal.

"I- don't have time to explain it to you," she dodged, "it's too complex for someone like... I mean..."

Realizing what she had said, she quickly backed away.

"I'm not stupid, you know," Finn told her, hurt.

"I never said-"

"You didn't have to," Finn interrupted, "I know what you meant."

"Finn, of all people I know, you are the only person I would expect to understand the position I am in," she told him, "what would you do in my shoes? If I don't act while this threat exists, I will be condemning my people to a fate worse than death. What kind of princess would I be if I allowed that to happen?"

"But to go to war-"

"You're a hero, Finn!" she said loudly, and harsher than she intended, "does a hero sit back while innocent lives are lost all around him when he knows he has the power to act? What do you think Billy would have done?"

"Three years ago, you were about to go to war with your uncle," Finn replied, "I told you that he could be reasoned with, and I was right! You didn't listen to me then, but you can listen to me now. Maybe there's a better way to resolve this. Let's just focus on the Lich for now and we'll focus on this war later."

"We aren't dealing with Uncle Gumbald, Finn," she said,"we're dealing with the Lich, a monster, not a person. He can't be reasoned with. And someone brought him back! For all we know, Axel could be even stronger than the Lich. We don't even know what else he's capable of."

"You're right," Finn admitted, "we don't know what we are dealing with, so before we do anything, let's figure out what we're dealing with. Let's be reasonable about this."

Bonnie looked around the room. All eyes were on her. She carefully calculated her every next word.

"Fine," she gave in, to Finn's relief, "but if I find out a battle breaks out anywhere, I will have no choice but to begin training my troops."

"I completely understand," Finn told her, bowing politely.

Michael snickered loud enough for them to hear. Turning back, he headed through the crowd of candy people and exited the throne room without another word.

Finn chased after him.

"Wait, Michael!" Finn called out to him as he descended down the steps of the throne and exited the palace.

"Uh, Finn?" Jake followed his brother loyally, "wait for me."

Huntress Wizard and Simon looked to each other.

"I suppose that's that," Huntress Wizard shrugged.

"I'm disappointed by how it all turned out," Simon replied glumly, shaking his head.

Simon readjusted the straps of his backpack and together, they exited the premise of Candy Castle as well, leaving Princess Bubblegum and Flame Princess alone in the crowd of people.

The two princesses watched as the last members of their party walked away.

"I don't trust him," Princess Bubblegum told the fiery girl.

"Speak for yourself," Flame Princess spat. Her vitriol stunned Bubblegum, "and don't think for a second that just because you and I agree on some things somehow makes us friends."

Flame Princess left it at that and exited the castle as well, leaving a trail of smoke and bits of fire in her wake.

Bubblegum sat still for a long moment as the candy people stared at her in silence. Flame Princess had actually been on her side, only to repay her with biting words in the end. Only when Flame Princess departed and the door was slammed shut, did Bubblegum realized how exposed she was in front of her own people.

"Alright, there's nothing to see here," she told them, hoping they would get the message and leave, but, expectedly, they didn't, "everybody go home. I have to get back to my research."

As the people began to depart, Bubblegum stormed off upstairs to her lab, leaving her people without any words or justification of any sort. Rattleballs leaped out his window and scaled the outer wall of the castle. When Bubblegum returned to her lab, there he was, her brave champion, bowing before her from the frame of her balcony window.

"My princess," he spoke with humility and submission.

"Sir Rattleballs," she titled her head towards him, "I didn't summon you. Why are you here?"

"You didn't need to summon me, my princess," he answered, "I saw the smoke in the distance. Fearing your life was in danger, I came all the same, but when I got here, the smoke was already gone and everyone seemed to be okay."

"You missed a lot," she told him, "the Lich is back."

"I know," he replied, "I heard everything from the atrium window."

"Good," she gave him a nod of approval, surprised that he had managed to hide his presence so well, "then you know why I have to do this."

He nodded, still bowing low. Bubblegum walked up to the balcony and rested her hands on the railing, deep in thought.

"I wish Finn was as understanding as you," she said, almost out of nowhere.

As she continued to think, a thought suddenly came to her.

"Sir Rattleballs," she began, "I have a mission for you."

"Of course, princess" he replied, "anything for you."

"I need you to follow Michael and find out everything he knows," she told him, "you will be acting as my spy from here on out."

"I will do as you command," he said, raising his head, "should I stick to the shadows or confront him in the open?"

"For now, stick to the shadows and just listen to everything he says," she said, handing him a holographic projector, "you don't have to do anything more. As soon as you discover something, use this device to contact me as soon as possible. If anything about your mission changes, I'll contact you."

"As you say, my princess," he bowed again, clasping the device in the palm of his metallic hand.

"Oh, and one more thing," Bubblegum reached into a cupboard and grabbed a small disc, "take this too. It's something I invented a little while ago. It's a spider recorder. Just press this button, right here in the center, and the recorder will do the rest."

Rattleballs hooked the projector to his belt and took the disc from her. He eyed it with delight.

"You are too kind, princess," he concluded in his robotic voice, "I will depart at once."

With that, Rattleballs stoically retreated out the way he came. Bubblegum rested for a few moments more and continued to ponder over Michael's words from the balcony.

War is a pathway few turn from once the first steps are taken, his words echoed in her mind, and it carries with it a terrible, terrible price.

"What did he mean?" She asked herself, trying hard to resolve this mystery. After moments of pondering without answers, she decided it would be best to pus the question aside and focused, instead, on the problem of the Lich.

She returned to the comfort of her lab and got to work.

"Hey, wait up!" Finn cried out to the wizard again, but Michael seemed to ignore him.

Finn finally reached the wizard and ran up in front of him to get his attention.

"Hey man, look," he said, "I don't want to fight. All I wanted to do was say thank you."

Jake followed closely behind.

"Yeah, dude," the yellow canine joined in, "Princess Bubblegum was out of line. You're a real hero."

"I am no hero," he spurned rather dismissively, "though I appreciate your gratitude nonetheless."

"I dunno. You stopped the Lich and saved the candy kingdom," Jake inquired, putting both hands at his hips, "that sounds a lot like a hero to me."

"You certainly aren't evil," Finn added, trying to figure out his meaning, "and you're not a villain. So does that make you... neutral?"

"He ain't neutral, bro," Jake dismissed, "he's against the Lich. He's gotta be a hero."

"Does it really matter what I am?" Michael queried, but upon saying those words, he rebukes himself quickly afterwards, "of course it does. Such appellations allow people to break the world into halves, good and evil, hero and villain, good guy and bad guy."

"Well, what are you then if you're not a hero or a villain?" Finn asked, "you can't be both."

"Perhaps I am neither," he suggested, tilting his head in a shrug.

Finn quirked his eyebrow; the wizard's answer intrigued him.

"So, neutral then," Finn concluded.

"Not exactly," Michael rebuffed.

Now Finn and Jake were really interested in him. They wanted to pin him down, but as the two thought together to try and figure him out, Simon came in from behind with Huntress Wizard right beside him.

"Is this where we're continuing the argument?" Simon asked with a little salt in his voice, "in the middle of the street?"

"Nah man," Finn said, "we were just giving our thanks."

"I suppose that's in order," Simon agreed. Simon held a gentlemanly hand out to the wizard, "I apologize for that whole debacle. I hope you don't take anything that was said personally. Tensions kind of run high when the world is at stake."

Michael looked down at his hand, but he didn't take it.

"Oh, I know the feeling, believe me," he told him, looking down at his hand, but not offering his in return, "it's probably best if you don't touch me."

Simon put down his empty hand, feeling a little awkward.

"I don't mean to be rude, "Michael explained to Simon, "but there is no need for a thanks or an apology. Really. I acted on my own behalf, nothing more."

Michael looked to Huntress Wizard as though expecting something to come from her mouth as well. When she said nothing, Michael chose to initiate a conversation.

"I take it that you're a wizard as well," Michael commented, tilting his head slightly to the side.

The shadow of his hood continued to cover his eyes and while it intimidated the others, she was completely unfazed by his complexion and seemed to pierce through the veil of reality.

"Huntress Wizard," she introduced herself, "pleased to meet you."

Finally, Flame Princess descended down the staircase and joined the group on the streets below. Fire filled her amber eyes.

"How do you know Axel?" She pestered Michael immediately, almost in accusation. She didn't even appear to draw breath.

"I already told you, he was my friend," he repeated the same line from before, but offered nothing else.

"You know what I mean," she insinuated, "don't pretend you don't know."

"Know what?" Jake asked, interested.

"You're hiding something," she accused, lifting a finger towards him, "I know you are."

"Flame Princess?" Finn stepped in, "calm down."

"Yeah, what's will all the accusations, FP?" Jake asked.

"He said it himself," she told him, before quickly turning back to the wizard, "you said you would keep information to yourself if you didn't have a good reason to give it away, so what are you hiding?"

"Nothing important," he evaded the question.

"Enough with the games!" She erupted.

"Hey, what is up with you?" Finn scolded the fiery girl, "are you even listening to yourself? This isn't like you."

"Nothing is up with me," Flame Princess said defiantly, then pointed to Michael once more who stood in silence, "in Candy Castle, he spoke to my mind. He told me that Axel left his mark on me and that he knew I met Axel. He got that information from somewhere! Axel must have told him! How else could he have gotten that information?"

"Phoebe," Finn tried to grab her shoulders, but it scorched his hands, "Ow!"

Phoebe felt her temperature rising. She took a deep breath, and finally allowed herself to calm down.

"Sorry," she told him.

"Quit apologizing. Look, slow down. Take a deep breath. What is it about Axel that upsets you so much?" Finn asked her, she lowered her head in silence.

"You wouldn't understand," she scoffed

"Try me," he replied softly, "if Michael won't tell us, you should. What do you know of Axel?"

"It's… complicated," she replied, still not wishing to share the details with anyone. Finn felt her veneer start to crack.

Slowly, Finn placed his hands upon her shoulders once more. The steam protruded from underneath his hands, even underneath his prosthetic hand, but he ignored the pain, kept his hands there, and focused his attention solely on her. He made sure that she looked him in the eyes as he spoke.

"We're your friends," Finn said sweetly, feeling the uneasiness begin to slowly lift, "don't keep secrets from your friends."

She pulled away, not wanting to hurt him anymore than she already did. Finn patted his hands down on his clothes. He examined the burns he endured, but they weren't as bad as he thought. A worried Jake came up to analyze the burns as well.

The others crowded around the fiery girl. Simon was particularly interested to finally hear what she had to say. Michael, on the other hand, didn't seem to react at all. Flame Princess looked to each one of them, and for the first time since she fled the fire kingdom, she didn't feel alone.

"Alright," she nodded solemnly.

At this point, the candy people were exiting the palace and flooding the streets, and while they all went about their business, Flame Princess felt uncomfortable sharing the story in front of such a large potential audience.

"But not here," she omitted, "we have to do this somewhere private, okay?"

"Of course," Finn agreed.

"We could go to the Candy Tavern," Jake suggested enthusiastically, "maybe get some root beers floats. Could be nice."

"That's sounds perfect," Flame Princess smiled.

The group departed the streets together, leaving Michael to himself. None of them bothered to send him an invite, and while he wanted nothing more than to leave this city, he felt something tugging him to go along. The wizard followed the party of friends, keeping his distance as he had with Finn and Jake earlier that day.

"You know he's following us," Huntress Wizard put in. Simon looked behind them.

"I don't think he's even trying to hide the fact that he's following us," Simon observed curiously.

"Do you want me to send him off?" Finn asked.

"As long as he stays out of the bar, I don't care," Flame Princess asserted, loud enough for him to hear.

Rattleballs landed where the group had been standing in the streets prior to leaving. He narrowed his eyes in the direction they left and followed suit. He noticed Michael first and kept an even greater distance between himself and the wizard.

When they made it to the tavern, it was devoid of customers.

"This is good," she commented, "let's sit over there."

Together, they sat down at the largest table; the one farthest from the counter. Everybody, except for Jake, crowded around a round table with a couch cushion that enveloped the right-half side. The yellow canine walked up to the bar and ordered drinks. After transforming his hand into a serving tray, he brought them back for everybody to enjoy.

He served Huntress Wizard first who sat at the far right end of the table next to Simon. Simon sat next to Flame Princess far enough away from her so that his clothes wouldn't catch fire. And Finn sat next to her, at a distance as well. When Jake sat down at the left-most seat next to Finn, he immediately devoured the delicious beverage.

Michael waited from outside the bar, leaning against the structure and folding his arms around his chest, and waiting for the story to begin.

Rattleballs climbed a building twenty blocks away from the tavern and hopped his way from building to building until he was right on top of the tavern. He knelt on the edge of the roof and observed the wizard below.

After a moment of silence, the robotic knight very quietly pulled the small disc from his belt, laid it near the edge, and pushed the button in the center.

The disc transformed into a spider-like creature. Within seconds, it scaled the wall and entered the tavern through the front door, which was open except for a pair of swinging doors at the center.

Michael heard the spider moving its way inside, and turned slightly to find it crawl inside. Michael looked above, but saw no one there.

He smirked knowingly, and finally, Flame Princess' story began.

She told her friends her entire story from the day Axel showed up at the gate to the moment she woke up and met Simon and Huntress Wizard in the plains near Lake Szelezon. She told them about Cinnamon Bun's death, about Don Jon's sacrificial death, about Argus and the family that helped her flee the Fire Kingdom, and the knight, Alcaeus that was killed protecting her from the wizard, Axel. She left out some of the unimportant details, and allowed them to fill the gaps for themselves.

After she was finished, everybody was stricken speechless. None of them knew what to say and an awkwardly long silence ensued many seconds afterwards. Simon took off his glasses and broke the silence with watery eyes.

"I am so sorry," even he was shaken by the tragedy she endured.

"If Cinnamon Bun is dead, we should inform Princess Bubblegum," suggested Finn.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Flame Princess half-heartedly rejected, "Cinnamon Bun never liked Bubblegum. I don't think she liked him either. She may not even care that's he's dead."

"I still think she'd like to know," Finn insisted, "don't forget CB was one of her people."

"I know," she said, but shrugged it off regardless, "I'm not really interested in sharing everything that happened with her, but if you want to tell her about Cinnamon Bun, that's fine."

The spider-drone was recording everything from directly above. The lens zoomed in on Flame Princess as she spoke.

"There's one thing I still don't get," Simon said after a moment of thought, "how did Axel convince half of your guard to turn on you and slaughter the rest?"

"Before Alcaeus died, Axel tried to sway him by referring to the knight's oath," Flame Princess explained, "it's the oath of undying loyalty that every knight swears to the king before he is officially allowed into the knighthood. The oath requires them to be faithful to the king until the king's death or until an heir rightfully takes the throne. Knights cannot forsake the oath, no matter what."

"How does that oath make someone betray their king?" Simon asked, almost chuckling, "that's so backwards."

"That's because most of my knights never swore the oath to me. They swore it to my father," she answered, beating herself up over it, "Ugh! I'm so stupid! I never thought to change the guard. Maybe I thought was strong enough to keep them in line or smart enough to keep my father from stealing his throne back. I don't know anymore."

"But they still broke their oath. You were the rightful heir to the throne after all," Finn pondered, "didn't the oath transfer to you or something?"

"I am the rightful heir, but I did not claim the throne rightfully," she clarified, "I overthrew my father and stole his throne in a coup. As long as he is alive, their oath binds them to his service, not mine."

"I suppose that makes sense," Simon agreed, "but how did Axel figure it out?"

"I don't know," she admitted, leaving it at that.

"What a sicko!" Jake spat, "how can anyone be so cold and heartless? Cinnamon Bun was always so kind and gentle. I don't think even Flame King could kill him."

"Well, there's more to it than that," she admitted, "and I don't think Axel was working alone. Someone must have been informing him from the inside. It's the only way he could have known about the oath."

As soon as she said those words, Michael came through the front door, overcome by sorrow.

"Has Axel really fallen that far?" He asked, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Were you spying on us?" Flame Princess asked in outrage.

"I heard the whole conservation outside," he confessed, "and I was not the only one spying on you."

Michael pointed to the spider drone clinging to the ceiling directly above them. Recognizing that it had been spotted, the drone crawled along the roof in a hurry and fled the tavern through the open doorway.

Rattleballs recorded everything he needed for now. When the drone came back and transformed back into its disc form, he sent the data to Princess Bubblegum and put the drone away, but he wasn't ready to leave quite yet.

"Bubblegum," Flame Princess slammed her fists on the table. Her flames grew brighter, and the heat began to melt the sugary furniture around her.

"Careful!" Jake cried, "I really don't want to set this place on fire! This is my happy place."

He smiled and blushed. Flame Princess closed her eyes, released the tension from her shoulders and fists, and allowed her flames to die down.

"Michael, is there anything you want to tell us about Axel now?" Finn asked him.

Huntress Wizard tugged on Finn's shoulder.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" She whispered in his ear, "he was just spying on us."

"I think so," he replied, "he saved us from the Lich, didn't he?"

But even Finn wasn't entirely convinced. He turned to Michael.

"Can we trust you?" Finn asked him awkwardly.

"I have been completely honest about everything I've said," Michael replied, "whether or not you chose to believe me is entirely up to you. As I said before, though, I do not reveal everything, even to my allies. Does that mean you shouldn't trust me after all? Probably."

"At least you're honest," Jake remarked, "I think I trust you."

Finn stood up from his seat and pushed his way passed Jake.

"I trust you too," Finn told him decidedly, "but it's not me you have to convince."

Finn waved his hand towards the table of friends. Everybody was nervous and skeptical, except for Jake who smiled and waved.

"Might I join you?" Michael asked them.

Everybody looked to each other and nodded in agreement; everybody, except for Flame Princess who folded her arms stubbornly and refused to even look him in the eye.

"The choice to let him join is yours, Phoebe" Simon told her softly, "but if you want to get some information out of this guy, you have to agree to let him stay."

"Fine," Flame Princess agreed reluctantly, "but I want the truth, got it?"

"Then I will tell you the truth," he told her, "but I cannot promise I will tell you all of it."

"Why not?" Flame Princess asked him, agitated.

"Do you speak of all your struggles, fire elementress?" He asked, "or are there some you wish to forget?"

Flame Princess could deny the truth in his words, especially now. She accepted the logic and finally gave him the nod to join the table. While Finn returned to his seat, Michael used a spell to drag a chair from the other side of the room, putting it between Finn and Huntress Wizard. He took his seat

"I will tell you what I will of Axel," He pondered to himself, "Where do I begin? Years ago, I found Axel as a child crying all alone in the wastes of a once great city laid to waste by the devastation of the Mushroom War."

Simon immediately fell into his own thoughts as the story began, entranced by the startling similarities of his own past.

"And he was covered in blood. At the time, I did not understand the fullest extent of the tragedy he had endured," Michael continued, "but later I discovered that he had been born to a tribe of humans who lived on the outskirts of the ruin. Axel's tribe was slaughtered by a band of orcs and goblins, and he alone escaped with his life. Axel never told me explicitly, but I suspect he watched his parents die. I don't know what is was that convinced me to take the boy under my wing, but I did so with unflinching resolve. I took him into my home, soothed him with my magic, healed what wounds he had, I cared for him, and raised him as though he was one of my own. At the time, I lived on a farm that existed beyond the city far in the distant plains, isolated from the rest of the world. I had a barn, a cabin, and a windmill. The windmill hadn't been used in years when I found it, but over time I made repairs and eventually fixed it so that it might provide me with electricity. Later, I ended up using it as a personal study. It served as my very own wizard tower of sorts."

When Jake thought of what this homestead looked like, all he could think about was Lady Rainicorn's barn. Finn thought the same way.

"When I would disappear to my study, I would do so for hours at a time," he continued, "understandably, Axel would become bored and would pass the time wondering what was inside my tower. He seemed to have been under the illusion that he was not allowed inside the windmill, but when I first realized he was interested to see what was inside, I brought him with me the very next day. I showed him my alchemy lab, library, training chamber, and the various facets of my magical workroom. He was immediately fascinated by the beauty of magic, so I sought to teach him. To say Axel was gifted is an understatement. He was a prodigy! He learned so quickly and effortlessly, it was as if it were done on natural instinct rather than effort. I didn't realize the great potential he had within him, but once I did, I used everything at my disposal to turn him into the greatest wizard possible. I taught him everything I could. Eventually, he started to brewing his own spells. He was only twelve years old when he started. He didn't just love to do magic, he clung to it like a lifeline. The sorrow and grief he once felt seemed to vanish entirely. He was so happy, always smiling, and was always open and eager to learn. I was always willing to teach him anything, and on those occasions where he wanted to learn on his own, I would step back and provide simple guidance when necessary. He never failed to impress. Truly, Axel was a genius."

Flame Princess could not believe that this boy in the story used to be Axel. She tried to imagine what he must have been like as a kid, innocent, cheerful, happy, laughing and smiling, but the image was so foreign to her that she could not bring herself to properly picture it. Whenever she thought of Axel smiling, she could only picture the vile smirk he wore on his face.

"I loved him so dearly that it became a blindness," Michael continued, his voice was trembling now, "I don't remember how or when I first noticed it, but I remember how it... sounded. It was feint at first, almost like a whisper. Planted in his heart, I watched a seed of darkness begin to sprout. I was worried when I first noticed it, as any sane man would be, but for the longest time nothing seemed to come of it, and naturally, I ignored it, but then the seed started to grow, and eventually, it seemed to consume him. This darkness gave rise to anger, anger gave rise to arrogance, and arrogance gave rise to a destructive, psychotic rage. I would share the details if not for the intense grief that strikes my heart. I hope you do not mind. Regardless of what I observed, I continued to be blind. I told myself, 'oh, it's nothing. Just a passing phase," but I couldn't fully convince myself. I had to prove to myself that I was worrying about nothing, so I tested him. I came to Axel one night and I made a promise to him that I almost immediately regretted."

Michael grew sullen.

"What?" Jake asked, hanging on his every word, "what was the promise?"

"On the eve of his eighteenth birthday, I swore to him that, if he wanted it, all the magic I possessed would one day be his," he told them, "and that one day the world and everyone and everything in it would belong to him. I was foolishly convinced that the goodness of his innocent, child-like heart would take hold and he would reject it. Instead, I unearthed a deep, insatiable desire for control and he accepted it without hesitation. Within him, I witnessed the wheels of a machine begin to turn."

At this point, everyone was completely absorbed into the tale.

"I gazed into the web and I foresaw death," he continued, "I knew I had to do something to stop it, anything, except I could not bring myself to kill him. I tried to save him, but it was no use. Axel was already too far gone. I came to him in the night where I retracted my oath. I told him that the magic I possess was my own and that the world did not belong to him. He felt betrayed and abandoned me in the night. I thought he was gone forever, but he returned the very next day."

"Where did he go?" Finn asked.

"I do not know," he replied honestly, wondering the same question himself, "but when he came home, he did not come alone. Traveling with him was a fire elementress. She took the form of a beautiful, young woman, and together, they fought me, beat me, and broke me. The torture lasted for days and weeks, maybe even months, but to me it felt likes years, decades even. It seemed like it would never end. Axel chained me inside my own barn and beat me mercilessly, day and night. He cracked my ribs, dislocated my fingers, popped my knees and shoulders from their sockets, and chipped off my toenails with splintered wood. He didn't hold back and he relished it. You might think that the physical pain was the worst of it, but no, you would be remarkably incorrect."

Michael gnashed his teeth, as though the pain was freshly lingering with him to this day.

"Axel has a unique talent for magical charms and manipulating the minds of others by force," he told them, "one particular spell he developed enables him to convince people to do anything he desires. He used it on me many times, hoping that in my broken state I might relinquish my powers to him. I fought hard to resist, knowing the devastation he would bring upon the earth, but the pain… you can't imagine the excruciating pain, the complete agony! When I resisted his spell, it was like my body was drowned in a sea of fire as millions of insects gnawed through my flesh from the inside out with vicious talons and venomous stingers. Oh, how I so desired death! Axel knew it well. He told me he would only grant me my wish once I relinquished all my powers to him, but still I refused, and eventually, the pain was so great that I succumbed under the weight of my own suffering. I succeeded; I prevented catastrophe with my life."

"You died?" Finn asked him, "but how are you still here?"

"I suspect it was an act of God that brought me back to life," he told them, not fully knowing himself, "I cannot explain it to this day, and it was no wizard's magic that brought me back, of that I am certain. A voice spoke to me in the void and showed me a terrifying vision of the future. I awoke in the middle of a winter night, alone, abandoned, and utterly broken. I had been in the cold for a while because, as I looked upon my broken flesh, my fingers were black and blue, and I did not feel the chill of the cold air. Rather, I felt warm, fuzzy almost. To my joy, when I awoke, I found that my connection to the web and to magic itself was severed. I had thought it a complete separation, but days later, my powers very slowly returned to me. I was very much still alive and very much still a wizard. I don't know exactly how many days had passed since my death, but it did not matter to me then and it does not matter to me now. All that matters to me is stopping Axel from condemning the world to a fate worse than death. For years, I wandered the earth in search of him and for years it was in vein, until now."

"This fire elementress," Flame Princess wondered, "what was her name?"

"She called herself Callista, if I remember correctly," he replied, "though my memory of that time has faded significantly. I remember bits and pieces of those days, but I have repressed most of it. I've pieced together what I remember as best I could, but even then, it is as though my memories are wound together by a thread. Certain events seem… lost to me."

"Glob," Finn gasped, "that's horrible! I can't imagine what it must have been like for you."

"It is no matter," he replied, "it happened long ago."

Michael then turned to Flame Princess, whose entire demeanor towards him seemed to change completely from that of aggression and skepticism to that of pity and sympathy.

"You said you believed he wasn't working alone," he began, "I suspect you are correct. If Axel has usurped your throne, Callista is likely working with him. Axel might be powerful, but Callista... she is something else entirely; a master of death and destruction who feeds on suffering. Axel, I fear, will be the catalyst for everything she desires."

"And what does she desire?" Huntress Wizard asked.

"To engulf the world in a sea of fire," he answered, "she is a pure manifestation of fire itself, and will do anything and everything just to see the world and everything and anything in it burn and suffer."

Everybody glanced at him with horrified expressions. All, except for Huntress Wizard who eyed him curiously.

"But if Callista wants to destroy everything, doesn't that mean she want to destroy Axel, too?" Huntress Wizard pondered.

"Perhaps," he accepted the possibility, "though you must understand, they aren't just partners plotting together and working towards a common goal. They are lovers; there's is a vicious love, born of passion, desire, and mutual hatred. Because of that, they rely on each other, depend on each other, more than even they probably know. I do not believe one can survive without the other, and if one dies, the other will wither and perish as well."

"What makes you say this?" Simon asked her.

"It is the inherent nature of who Callista is and what Axel has become," he answered, "Axel is a tyrant who wants to take over the world and Callista is a destroyer who wants to tear the world apart. As a tyrant, Axel needs chaos and destruction to maintain absolute control over those he dominates. Constant fear and death are the motivating factors to keep people in line, and he knows this well. That's how tyrants function, and Callista has no doubt offered that avenue to him. When Axel takes over, Callista will unleash a genocidal campaign the likes of which the world has never seen. And when the genocide ends, the survivors will come crawling back to him. He will demand their undying loyalty to him, and afterwards, he will beat and torture and abuse them for his own amusement, and they will accept it graciously and gladly because no matter how many times Axel tears at their flesh, no matter how many bones he breaks, no matter how many limbs he chops off, it can never be as terrible as anything Callista will unleash upon them! As time passes, Axel's grip on the people will slowly start to fade, as will be expected, and the children of his slaves will rise up to meet their fathers' oppressors. When that happens, he will set Callista loose once more so that she might unleashed fire upon the world as she did so before, and as the world dies and grows again, the survivors of that conflict will come crawling back to Axel, and so the cycle continues. Men, women, children, it matters not who dies to them, so long as they attain and retain their deepest desires. Axel will use chaos and death as a ladder to obtain absolute power and Callista will be free to scorch the earth and everything in it."

This apocalyptic vision of the future horrified every one of them. It was beyond their worst nightmares. None of them could even conceptualize anything worse. Suddenly, a thought suddenly occurred to Finn.

"That explains why he freed the Lich!" Finn cried out.

Everyone looked to him eith confusion confused.

"Think about it," Finn told them, "if Axel wants to rule the world and chaos and death is his ladder, the Lich is the perfect tool for him to do that."

"Exactly," Michael said, "the Lich is but a crude manifestation of death. Death leads to chaos, and so the catastrophe begins."

"How do you know all of this?" Flame Princess asked him.

"That would take a lot of time to explain," he replied, "let's say for now that I have th unique capacity to understand and analyze the machinations that run across the world. I can see the effect certain decisions have on certain outcomes, and I can see where certain decisions may lead."

"What do you mean?" She asked him curiously.

"I don't know how I can," he replied honestly, "it's would be like explaining to a blind man what its like to see."

"A sixth sense then?" Simon quirked.

Michael nodded.

"In that case, do you know where Callista might be?" Flame Princess asked, wanting to move passed the depression topic of death, genocide, and the end of the world.

"No," he chuckled, "I'm not omniscient. I wish I was, as do we all. As to where Callista is, she is in biding her time and growing her power, hidden away somewhere none of her enemies will find her."

"And what makes you say that?" Simon asked him impressed.

"I thought about it, deeply," Michael gritted his teeth on the word "deeply", as though just thinking about it brought him physical pain, "I thought about it for years on end, pondering the same unanswered questions everyday, every night, and even in my dreams. I also prayed and meditated until many of the answers became clear. There are some questions I still seek answers to."

"It sounds like we need to stop the war from happening in order to stop Axel and Callista," Huntress Wizard chimed, "but how do we stop this war, exactly?"

"Either you must stop Princess Bubblegum from going to war," he answered partly.

"Well, that's not happening," Flame Princess judged rather quickly.

"Or you must find Axel and defeat him before the war breaks out," Michael concluded.

"Well, we know where Axel is," Jake said, pounding his fist into the palm of an open hand, "I say we go down to the Fire Kingdom and bring 'em to justice."

"That's not going to be so easy," Flame Princess told him, depressed.

"No, in fact, it will be quite impossible to accomplish," Michael backed her up, "you cannot rush into battle or you will be slaughtered. Axel will expect such a move and he will plan out the next several moves ahead of you. He excels at plotting the downfall of others and making sure they suffer unimaginably as a result. In order to engage Axel properly, you must conceptualize your plans with serious thought and extraordinary complexity. Only then will you be ready to face him."

"Then that's it, we're doomed," Simon concluded pessimistically, "Bubblegum's too stubborn to stand down and Axel can't be beaten!"

"True. A war may be inevitable," Michael agreed, "but we can slow its progression and manipulate the events to come beforehand so it favors us over them."

"How do we do that?" Simon asked

"First, you must stop the Lich," he said.

"I thought you told us to wait," Flame Princess muttered, a little agitated.

"I told you to wait and analyze every possible decision before making your move," he corrected, "I have just finished analyzing your every move, and I know what you can do to stop him. That's more than I can say for any of you."

"Well say no more," Jake butted in, "just tell us how we can stop the Lich and we'll take him down."

"In order to stop the Lich, you need to acquire an alchemical reagent, " he said, "but it is exceptional rare and hard to find."

"Wouldn't it be simpler to just hunt him down and kill him?" Huntress Wizard asked.

Everyone looked to her as though she was crazy.

"What?" She held up her hands, "I'm a huntress. Hunting beasts and monsters is what I know best."

"You can't… kill the Lich," Finn tried to explain to her at best he could, "he's beyond death. He's deathless."

The idea of a deathless being was so foreign to her she had a hard time processing it as a simple concept.

"And even if we could kill the Lich, you couldn't beat him when his power was weakened," Simon added, "what makes you think you can beat him now that he has his powers back?"

"Fair point," she acknowledged disappointedly, turning to Michael, "so what is it we need, exactly?"

"The reagent is called anti-magic," he answered, "ancient scholars called it by another name, but that label was lost long ago."

Both Simon and Flame Princess looked up at each other and exchanged knowing glances. Everyone at the table noticed.

"Do you know where we can find some?" Michael asked them, surprised and excited, "if so, speak quickly."

"I do," Simon spoke up. He threw off his backpack, took out the picture he had showed Phoebe the night before and handed it to the wizard.

When Michael reached out for the picture, he revealed his right hand. The skin was deathly pale and wrapped loosely in a browning linen cloth. Scar tissue marred the surface with black streaks and cracks running all over the ridges of his hand and in between each finger. Simon, Flame Princess, and Huntress Wizard all noticed it and almost gagged in disgust. The rest were too invested in the contents of the paper to notice.

Michael placed the picture down on the table for everyone to see, showing them the image of the vial of black fluid and the glyphs on the paper.

"I haven't been able to decipher the text," Simon told him, "but maybe you'll have better luck than I have."

"I know this text," he replied almost immediately, to Simon's joy.

"R- really? You do? That's wonderful!" He said surprised and overjoyed, "I've been dying to know what they say! Can you tell us what they mean, please?"

"Well, it appears you are right. If the contents do not lie, this does appear to be a vial of anti-magic in its purest form," the wizard pointed to a pair glyphs right above the picture of the vial, "that's what these glyphs right here indicate. This glyph on the left stands for Anti, and the glyph on the right is the symbol for Magic. Anti, Magicka, so to speak."

Michael analyzed a collection of eight symbols on the side.

"The well of magic resides in… wha-?" he shook his head in confusion.

"What?" Simon asked, "what does it say?"

"Forget it. It's nothing," Michael told him indignantly, but Simon nudged him on anyways, "it is of no importance to our task at hand. We can discuss it later."

"Fair enough," Simon agreed reluctantly.

"Wizard City?" he continued to read aloud, "do any of you know where that is?"

Everybody nodded.

"The supplier resides in Wizard City," Simon confirmed.

"Where did you find this?" Michael asked him with a sudden profound interest.

"I don't know," he replied honestly, "I found it in a pile of papers a few days ago while I was working on a project. I've collected many magical texts over the years, but I've collected so many I guess I don't remember. I've barely had time to read through them all."

Michael handed the picture back to him.

"You should take a look at the rest of your papers when you can," he told Simon, "you might be holding some extraordinary secrets unknown to others."

"We have more pressing issues," Simon remarked.

"So we do," the wizard agreed.

"What do we do now?" Flame Princess asked.

"We go to wizard city, of course," Finn answered for them, "we find this supplier, we get this anti-magic thing, and we use it to stop the Lich."

"Once I have it, I can use it to create a special toxin," Michael told them, "it will have the capacity to completely drain the Lich's power. He will live, but he will lose all of his magic and be rendered completely harmless. Hopefully, it will be for good."

"I wish I knew about that back when I was the Ice King," Simon muttered to himself.

"What?" Michael asked him.

"Oh, nothing," Simon replied, "I'm just rambling."

Michael stared at him for a moment longer, before Finn interrupted.

"Before we agree to this," Finn cut in, looking to Michael, "I need you to know that the Lich has our friend captive. His name is Sweet P and he was keeping the Lich locked away inside his body for years. I know he's still alive, trapped inside the Lich. If we do this, I need you to guarantee that he'll survive whatever we do to him."

"The effects will not kill your friend nor the Lich," the wizard answered with further clarity, "but if what you say is true, and the magic of the Lich secedes, then your friend will likely be freed and the Lich will be imprisoned once more."

Finn beamed at that.

"In that case, I'd be glad if you came along with us, Michael," Finn invited warmly.

"I suppose... if that's okay with everybody else," Michael looked around.

Nobody had any problem with him joining, including Flame Princess who had been skeptical of him originally.

"We should leave as soon as possible," Finn said, "if anybody needs to go home and pack some junk for the journey, do it now. And bring a weapon, too, just in case."

"I'll get some money from Lady Rainicorn's for the purchase," Jake put in, "I still got a ton of gold stash away from our adventures."

Finn smiled.

"Hey, some of that gold's still mine," Finn chuckled.

"Well, we'll split it," he offered.

"Do you even know what's yours and what's mine?" Finn asked him jovially, "or is it all in one big pile on the floor somewhere?"

"Maybe," Jake shrugged and narrowed his eyes.

"When we arrive in Wizard City, you'll have to point out who this dude is," Huntress Wizard told Simon.

"I know him by his name, but not by his face," Simon admitted.

"And you're telling us this now?" Jake asked slightly panicked.

Michael held a hand out to Simon.

"Give me that paper again," the wizard didn't bother to ask, but Simon relinquished it to him willingly.

Michael looked at the paper for a few seconds more before turning it around for everyone else to see. He pointed to a black-and-white symbol on the top right corner of the page; it was a symbol of a serpent wrapping itself around what appeared to be three pillars. The central pillar was larger than the other two. It was small, very small, and very easy to miss.

"This symbol- it isn't a glyph," he told them, "it's an emblem. Whoever has your anti-magic reagent will be in possession of this symbol in some way."

"How do you know?" Simon asked skeptically, "that symbol could mean anything?"

"I know because that's how wizard's communicate, in secret," he replied, "I've been a wizard for a long time and I know all their little tricks. What may not be so obvious to you is very obvious to me. And since this reagent is so rare, it's no surprise this supplier would want to keep it hidden away as much as possible."

"That actually makes sense," Huntress Wizard beamed, "I've seen wizards use this tactic before. I forgot what it's called, but I remember sometimes they'd use hand signs or secret handshakes, or they'd do something with symbols. They mark an object, usually a crate or a slip of paper, in a dialect that nobody but specific wizards can understand. They make sure the symbol has no correlation to the text so that it's noticeable to those who know where to find it. That serpent must be a secret symbol!"

She made his point. Michael handed the paper back to Simon and he put it away.

"Well, it looks like we're off to Wizard City," Simon chuckled to himself, "I guess I was planning on going there anyways."

With that the group departed from the tavern. Rattleballs watched from above as they exited the city, some headed in opposite directions of one another.

He grabbed a holographic projector from his belt and used it to contact Princess Bubblegum. A green projection lit up above the device, showing her face.

"I finished going through the recording," she told him, "you should return to me at once now that your cover's blown."

"My cover is not blown," he replied, "Flame Princess assumed the drone was yours and not mine. They didn't even expect that the device had come from above so nobody bothered to check the roof."

"Really? Great! In that case, continue with your mission," she told him gleefully, "but you have to be more careful. I don't want you getting hurt, okay? Did you discover anything else?"

"I listened to the conversation afterwards, he told her, "they're headed for Wizard City."

"Wizard City?" She mused, confused, but interested, "what for?"

"They mentioned something called anti-magic," he told her, "whatever it is, they seem to think they can use it to defeat the Lich."

"Excellent!" She replied, "that works perfectly with my plan! While they're out hunting the Lich, I can focus my attention on building an army."

"What happens if they fail, princess?" Rattleballs had to ask.

"I can't entertain that thought right now," she dismissed, "go with them and see what else you can dig up."

"As you command, princess," Rattleballs deactivated the device and hooked it back on his belt.

He hopped down the building, traversed the streets, and exited the city.

In the meantime, Bubblegum sat beside her Laboratory sink, tapping a finger on the table. The faucet, though turned off, was dripping water from the end of its pipe. Eventually, she was tapping her finger in near synchronization to the rhythm of the dripping water.

"I'm sorry Cinnamon Bun. I failed you," tears filled the rims of her eyes. She brushed them away and cleared her throat.

Quickly, she rose from her stool and grabbed her phone. She dialed a number and tapped her foot on the ground rather vigorously.

"Come on, come on. Pick up!" She said aloud, "hey, yeah it's me… I'm sorry, I know it's late, but you should really hear this… Guess who I found? Yeah, him… No, he just left… Yeah, he's headed for Wizard City. Finn and Jake and a few others are traveling with him… Don't be like that, you can't blame him after- No, I'm not defending him… Look, all I'm saying is that I think you should pay him a visit. If you want to see himor say anything to him at all, go to Wizard City, he'll be there…"

Princess Bubblegum held the phone to her shoulder, and took up a thin, tiny glass rod. She used it to poke a wad of chewed-up gum placed inside an open petri dish. She looked across the room towards her work station. On the desk on the opposite side of the room, beakers filled with chemical compounds bubbled under the lite flames of Bunsen Burners.

"Hey, can I put you on hold for just a moment," she told the person on the other line, "don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."

She put down the phone and returned to the laboratory station. She turned off the Bunsen Burner and began mixing chemical compounds and isotopes into a larger beaker. While she did this, the wad of gum in the petri dish very slowly began to move. Eventually, it started to moan as well.

She finished mixing the chemicals into a solution and returned to the phone and the conversation continued.

"I'm back… Yeah… I can't. I'm busy right now," she said, "I don't have the time… I think you should do it, yes... You got this... Yes, of course... Absolutely… You too. See ya."

She put the phone away. When she returned her attention to the wad of gum, it was starting to climb out of the dish.

Bubblegum returned to her chemicals, took a dropper, and dipped it inside the large beaker and drew the solution. She lifted the dropper over the wad and squeezed the end so a single drop squirted out and fell atop the wretched thing. It shrieked, shriveled, and eventually, whatever it was, killed over and died, putting it out of its misery.

Bubblegum took the creatures death very casually, as per usual.

Another failure, she thought to herself in disappointment, back to the drawing board, I guess.

A/N: This was a shorter chapter than most, I know, but I hope it was satisfying enough. If not, I am truly sorry. I've been really busy over the holidays. My brothers in town from college and I'm taking more hours at work as well, so I've had to balance spending a lot of my time between work and my family.

I also want to apologize for the accidental update for anyone that was excited to read the new chapter and found nothing there. That update was an accident, and I hope you can forgive me for that.

Some of you might have noticed that I'm beginning to implement some deeper themes and ideas into the story. Feel free to respond accordingly. I would appreciate hearing what each one of you thinks so far.

Now, this chapter was fairly easy to write, but tricky to put together and structure. There are multiple characters interacting with each other all at once, and I had to be certain that the characters, whenever they spoke, were true to themselves and acted and reacted as they would in the show, as grown up versions of themselves. If I did any of this wrong, let me know.

I'm going to try and make it a goal in future chapters to give the readers more benefit of the doubt, as one of the struggles I have when writing is trying to figure out if someone will understand what it is that I'm writing. Deathclaw2010 kind of mentioned to me that I reveal a bit much through exposition and shatter some of the mystery elements of the story. I want to take that criticism and apply it to my writing because I don't want the story to be plain and clear. I want Michael to be a mysterious and complex character and I want people to think.

I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. As always, I appreciate all the comments, critiques, and questions you guys are asking.

Now, it's time to respond to your reviews.

Virxas: "Thanks. I'm hoping to keep that momentum going all throughout the story. It'll be tricky, but I think I might be able to do it."

Guest: "Thanks a ton dude! Lol. When I was pitching chapter 5 to myself, I was actually thinking of doing a fight between the Lich and Flame Princess initially (and almost immediately tossed the idea aside), but then I remembered the promise she made to herself not to not use her powers, I realized I couldn't do that. Then, I thought, what about Huntress Wizard? I personally like Huntress Wizard from the show, and I know that some of you don't, understandably so. But I thought that seeing her fight the Lich was a really interesting idea because a goal I had for this story is to make her a more compelling and interesting character, but in such a way that I felt was true to her nature and to the character portrayed in the show. Now, this goal is hard to accomplish because she doesn't have much of a character in the show to go off of and she barely talks. All we know is that she is a wizard, she speaks only when it is important, she has an affinity for the wilderness, and she has an attraction to Finn that she believes she cannot serve (the theme of altruism appears again here). Now, the Lich is OBJECTIVELY stronger than her in almost every way, but Huntress Wizard has two advantages: first, she is extremely agile and has huntress vision which allows her to see beyond that which a normal person can see, and two, the Lich has been defanged so to speak. He's lost most of his initial power. This made it an interesting encounter and an excellent fight because, at the end of the day, Huntress Wizard is most likely going to lose (It's the lich! She has to), but she still has the capacity to put up a damn good fight using her mind and other unorthodox tactics. I'm really proud and happy with how the fight turned out, and I hope to create more encounters like that one."

Guest: "Awesome. I've received a few private messages from people who also said they got chills from various moments in the chapter. I'm glad some parts had that effect on you!"

Dragonstorm0: "Thanks a ton man. I appreciate the critiques and compliments a lot, and I'll absolutely be sure to ask if I ever need help or advice on certain parts."

GarrusVakkarian: "My biggest fear, when releasing the last chapter, was the length. I'm really glad the story seemed to be enough that it could suck you in and have you not notice. Appreciate it, man! :)"

Guest: "I felt it was my weakest because I was heavily detached from certain aspects of the chapter. Writer's block is tricky to get passed and I force myself to get passed it all the time, but it becomes hard to reignite the spark of passion within you to write. Music is an incredible tool I use to keep the spark alive, and even still, it was tricky. And readers notice it, too! It's a weird, almost psychic connection that seems to exist. As I was writing it, I felt that I might have missed some mistakes and I was afraid they'd be really noticeable. The ending was a cliffhanger, Flame Princess played a minor role, and most of the chapter follows Huntress Wizard, a character some people seem to dislike. So, yeah, I was a little worried. I'm so glad I was wrong though!"

OMAC001: "Axel is EVIL, in capital letters. This chapter will explain a little bit of why he does what he does, regardless of the consequences."

AlecDoUrden: "This man… yeah, that's quite true about the show. The villains in the original series seemed to have their limits. And while the Lich didn't have limits (since he is quite literally a physical manifestation of evil), he's only an automaton. He has no free will; no choice other than to be exactly who he is. And we know this because we've seen it before, in the episode where the Lich is stuck in Prismo's Time Room (the one before the Citadel, where Finn's finds his dad). Even though tons of people are there with him, the Lich doesn't kill anyone. He just sits back and does nothing. He's… harmless. It's kind of interesting, really. I also recommend you go back to the episode to see it for yourself and think about what that means."

xGBL13x: "This chapter is essentially just that. I hope you like it! :)"

Guest: "Well, she is a Wizard. Lol. No, but seriously, I put a lot of thought and effort into finding out what Huntress Wizard's character is and what I can do to make her tick. That battle with the Lich was a huge step towards that goal, and I am SO glad you all enjoyed it! I put a lot of work into writing that part! As for Finn and his Mom, that was the hardest part to write for me because I made the mistake of never really thinking deeply about who Minerva's character is and what their relationship is meant to be. In the show, Finn is written with certain ideas in mind that clashed with a traditional mother-son relationship, so I was very limited in what I could write. The talk Finn and Minerva had changed a lot during writing. I actually got help from Dragonstorm0 who told me flat out that the original idea I had for their interaction at the beginning just didn't work, felt forced, and was unearned (he didn't say these words exactly, but you get my point). So I changed it up completely, and I'm REALLY glad I did because the interaction feels a lot more natural than it did before. That comparison at the end is really interesting. I never thought of it like that, but that's cool because Last of Us is one of my favorite games of all time. I hardly think the moments are comparable though as that barn scene between Ellie and Joel was beyond exceptional. I don't think my writing qualifies to that level of greatness. I appreciate the compliment nonetheless. :)"

Guest: "You can. I'm not some super talented, gifted writer, dude. You have the capacity to be an exceptional writer, we all do. It all comes down to choice. You just have to have the passion, the work ethic, the thought, and a properly developed style of writing. I also don't find my writing style to be that particularly good, though some of you think otherwise. Here's some of my advice for writers: listen to music while you write (music that leaves a deep emotional impact on you, but that also pertains to the moment of which you are writing. I recommend cinematic orchestral music, but that's just me), READ GOOD BOOKS! (This is a big one, especially to aid you in developing a genuinely good writing style. I highly recommend the Hobbit, any of the Lord of the Rings Books, the first four trilogies of the Legend of Drizzt, any Stephen King book, any of the halo novels that came before the Forerunner trilogy, Star Wars: Heir to the Empire, Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, The first Dune book, Elminster in Hell, the Wheel of Time series, the Witcher series, the Chronicles of Narnia series but skip the Last Battle, the A Song of Ice and Fire series, and almost any of the Dragonlance books among others), think about the themes and ideas of the story you want to create. What binds it together? What gives it inherent meaning? (answer: it's the themes and ideas that offer the structure to the story itself and provide meaning to everything in it), and lastly, never, EVER reject or attack any criticism you are given, even if its mean-spirited and, in your opinion, dumb. Instead, attempt to see the criticism from the readers perspective so that you might understand it. Think about it deeply and if it seems sound, fix whatever went wrong, if it did, and if it didn't, think about it some more. This is what a lot of people seem to get wrong, but it's super important to understand a reader's perspective because you are writing something FOR the reader. If any criticism is not sound, be generous and kind in your response regardless, or don't respond at all, if you can."

Deathclaw2010: "You ask the absolute best questions! I love that! So, for everyone else who reads this, I responded privately to Deathclaw2010's via PM for fear that I wouldn't be able to get this chapter out in time. I am not going to give my original answer to the first question because it spoils certain aspects of Michael's character (more specifically, his abilities and beliefs) and I don't want to do that. To answer this question WITHOUT spoiling anything for anyone else, the answer is that Michael waits before he acts and interacts with anybody and/or anything, to an almost obsessive extent. This chapter reveals some of that, but only on the surface level. His reasoning goes far, far deeper than mere virtue of patience and fortitude. As for Flame Princess, I understand the frustration and I think I may have messed up a little when writing her bit. I will say this, though: she made a promise never to hurt others with her powers, and she's bound herself to that oath. You're right; she could have fought, and probably should have fought. It might even have been in her character to fight the Lich and defend her allies, but she chose not to fight because she was afraid. She was afraid of hurting her friends by mistake and she was, and is still afraid of breaking her promise now. So, I get the frustration. I could have made certain things clearer, and I didn't. As always, I greatly appreciate the feedback."

Guest: "I'm really glad! I want Huntress Wizard to be a character people like and that's why I wrote that bit for her in this chapter."

Anonymous: "Oh, don't worry. I am well aware of that. I'm aware of many other things as well. I've poured over the show to make sure this story is as faithful to the original show's events as possible. If I do, however, miss anything, please let me know and when I have time, I'll try to go back and fix it. Also, if you have any concerns that I'll miss something, be sure to let me know in a review just to be safe."

* Chapter 7 Update: Hey everyone. It's been quite a while since doing an update. I apologize for that, but I wanted to let everyone known that I am on an indefinite hiatus with this story, and I don't know if I'll ever come back. I'm glad that so many people liked it and I'm surprised it did as well as it did, but there have been a number of things that came up in my life and work that have contributed to me just not being able to continue. That, the fact that I was writing and editing all on my own (couldn't find a beta reader sadly), and I've quite honestly lost motivation to continue. I still know where I want to go with this story, and if I ever get back into Adventure Time, I promise that I'll continue the story. I know that this isn't what many of you wanted to hear (and I've gotten quite a handful of PMs telling me to come back or at least do another update to let everyone know what's going on), but I thought it only fair to let you all know.