Betty and I spent a few hours playing around with a small clone cell formation I had made using the original cells; we only needed enough tissue to figure out how to change the cell's composition. Betty was very smart and very powerful, but she was also very green with her abilities. The more we played with the live matter, the more it became evident that it was going to be more difficult than anticipated. We would have to start small, perhaps give the potion to some rats in an alley, and see if we can return them to normal.
Betty came closer to the makeshift lab I had made in the examination room and closely examined the tissue in front of us; they had many of the materials we needed. But this was a delicate matter. Finn had spent some time apologizing and gathering information, and it looked like all the affected townspeople had used the same doctor to get their skin cured; the most significant difference between all of them was how their bodies reacted to the cure. It sounded like it affected them all the same; the issue relayed in turning back to their usual selves; it didn't look like it was genetic; people who had babies after the potion was consumed didn't get rocky babies. However, I would love to get a sample from their newborns and see if perhaps it is not as noticeable as the cobbler.
"Princess, I would like to try," said Betty in a nervous tone. "Perhaps I can isolate the cells and surround them like the father's."
"Here, use the sample tissue we made," I said as I reached for the Petri dish. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to see how the subject would react.
Betty's hands approached the dish, she closed her eyes; I would like to think that perhaps she was imagining the rocky tissue without the mineral around it. She had made small changes like bringing a rock to life or making an object bigger. The only difference now is that these people all had different areas of affliction; the mineral covered some of them, even their whole bodies. Making it a riskier move. She has never changed bits and pieces before; she has always been an all-out kinda girl.
The petri dish started changing before my eyes, and soon, the skin that was covered in rock formation slowly changed colors to a more natural green, like the skin of the cobbler. However, it didn't stop there. It continued changing until it was a single blade of grass; I reached in and grabbed a hold of it.
She had changed the tissue all right. All the way back to its original form. In the same way, I came from a mutated gum. The cobbler had come from mutated Parenchyma Cells; this was a different kind of disaster, and we needed her to do her thing. But turning them back to their original forms before the mushroom war was a little too much.
Betty finally opened her eyes. "How did I do?" she asked shily
"A little too good," I said as I continued to admire her work.
"Is that grass?" she asked.
"Yes." I stopped staring at the blade and met her gaze. "Let's just say that we need to concentrate on getting you into a middle point – medium rare cook, if you may."
Betty's face began to turn cherry red, her cheeks matching her hair.
"Oh" was all that came out of her
We decided to call it a night, for tonight, the day was already exhausting enough, and it was rapidly approaching midnight. We had been traveling all day, and worse yet, we encountered a blast from the past as soon as we approached the town where it was meant to rest.
We checked into a nearby inn. I was close to falling asleep when I heard a knock on my door. Finn was standing on the other side. His blonde hair was messy, probably from a late-night training session. His blue ocean eyes reflected a feeling I had become familiar with in the past few months after making my deal with Mr. Lord of hell himself: regret.
"Do you want to come in?" I asked.
"I was thinking perhaps you would like to go out. It's a beautiful night out there." He pointed at the window in my room. He wasn't lying; it was a beautiful night. The stars were as bright as ever, and the sky was clear, with not a single cloud to be seen.
"I could use some fresh air" I nodded. "Let me freshen up a bit; I will be out in a minute." I grabbed a cardigan to cover up. And had a quick look in the mirror. I looked exhausted. There's not much I could do to fix myself tonight.
We walked through town, it was no Candy Kingdom, but it was good enough for tonight.
"Hey, PB," Finn asked, interrupting the silence of our walk.
"Yes, Finn?"
"What are we going to do when we reach Billy's thumb? I have been thinking about this a lot. What if there aren't any clues about what happened to the enchiridion? What if we can't find it?"
"I have a plan," I said with determination. "I have been exploring some options; I can bring him back. He could potentially be alive again."
Finn stopped dead in his tracks. "You can bring people back?"
"We have done it before… Remember?"
"The Candy people!?" He exclaimed in anger, "You mean the almost zombie apocalypse?"
"Lower your voice; the people are sleeping," I said, signaling to the homes nearby. Yes, like the candy people, I haven't perfected the formula yet. I have only been able to bring people back for short periods of time."
"How long have you been working on this? Why haven't you mentioned it to any of us?" He seemed frustrated, and I couldn't blame him.
"Since… Since Jake passed."
Finn underwent a remarkable transformation. In an instant, the tension dissipated, and he ceased to be my adversary. His once defensive posture softened; no longer did his arms remain crossed, nor did his stance bear the rigidness of a military man. Instead, he appeared vulnerable, his facade of strength crumbling before my eyes.
A solitary tear trickled down his cheek, a poignant expression of his inner turmoil. His shoulders slumped under the weight of sorrow, a palpable manifestation of the melancholy that consumed him.
With a gentle reach, his arms extended, enveloping mine in a tender embrace. His touch, though tentative, spoke volumes, sending shivers down my spine as his calloused fingers traced delicate patterns across my skin.
Drawing nearer, he leaned in, pressing a careful kiss to my forehead. It was a gesture suffused with warmth and gratitude, an unspoken acknowledgment of our bond. The brush of his lips carried with it a tender and profound symphony of emotions.
Stepping back, he uttered softly, "Thank you," his voice a whisper in the air, heavy with sincerity and emotion.
I didn't know what to say; he had taken me by surprise. I was ready to tell him that even when I wasn't there, I wanted to help and that he wasn't forgotten in my mind. But it seemed like, for the first time in a long time, words were not necessary. At this moment, deep in his eyes, I could see that he understood.
Finn walked me back to my room in silence. He didn't seem like he wanted to say anything else after my revelation. He nodded goodbye and walked back to his room. I decided that I had had enough action for one day, so I turned in.
I began dreaming; at this moment, I wished Finn would have stayed the night because the visitor who came after didn't have good intentions.
It began as it always did, with me in the middle of it all, the day before the attack. It started as a regular day. It always was. Until the putrid, sulfurous smell began coming from all the corridors, all I could always see was The fire arrow streaking across the night sky like a comet, leaving a trail of blazing embers in its wake. Tightly bound to its shaft was a parchment, its edges singed by the flames, yet its message unmistakable. As the arrow descended, it embedded itself in the ground with a resounding thud, the heat radiating from its fiery tip casting an eerie glow upon the surroundings.
Amidst the crackling flames, the letter attached to the arrow bore a chilling warning: "We are coming. Surrender the fugitive or face the consequences." The words were stark, their meaning clear. There was no room for negotiation, only a demand for compliance or the threat of imminent retribution, one that came too soon. I didn't have enough time to prepare as the anxiety within the guards grew. The smoke Exuding from the arrow turned larger and larger until it was no longer smoke but a man.
"Your Majesty," the man bowed to me with a smirk resembling a shark.
Anger fueled my body, and I tried to force myself to wake up. But I couldn't. My exhausted body needed the rest, even if it wasn't the refreshing kind.
"Let's change the scene. This is too sweet for me." he waved his hand around like a conductor with an orchestra. Every wave changed the way my city looked. Before us, there was a mere echo of what it was, now filled with death and destruction. "Much better." We were somehow back to my tower, overseen by the city.
"Why are you revisiting me? – You just took from me a few nights ago. You aren't supposed to come back this soon."
"Ah, but am I not a free spirit? I came with a riddle or perhaps a warning?" His smile was laced with enigma. "I had a dream of my own, one with the cosmic owl. This that you see before you will come true if the one that you seek returns. Consider yourself warned."
With that ominous proclamation, he sent me hurtling out of the window, and I plummeted into darkness, the echoes of his words lingering in the air until consciousness reclaimed me.