It's Been Marceline All Along Part 6

“So, you were still blubbering over Bonnibel while Jake was trying to get you on the rebound, right?” Marceline asked, trying to make sense of the story Finn had told her, “And after he screws up in the most horrible way possible-along with her burning your house to the ground- you suddenly have found your one true love. Oh no! But you’re not officially a couple until she almost puts a goblin village to ashes, and like a real man, you cried on the spot. Now, how exactly does that work out for you, hero?”
“Yeah,” Finn scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture, “It was pretty complicated at the time, I’ll admit. But Flame Princess is one of the good guys, I promise you.”
“You said after she hugged you, she said her goodbyes and just left,” Marceline reminded him, and then asked, “What changed her mind about coming back to you and changing the status?”
“Lots and lots of persistence.”
Marceline snorted, “You groveled at her feet until she agreed to be your girlfriend, didn’t you?” She then had a look of interest, “Did it work? Did ya add in a few tears? Did ya make sure to really sell it?”
“I swear to god, there was no crying or groveling,” Finn assured her kindly.
Marceline raised an eyebrow at him.
“Okay, maybe a little bit of groveling,” Finn admitted, “But I swear, no crying.”
Marceline was a little satisfied after that. It was funny to imagine the almighty hero on his knees wailing at Flame Princess until she agreed to start their relationship. It was relieving to know there were people more desperate then her in finding love; the fact of it being Finn even more so.
“While we’re on the subject…” Marceline said, “What was it about Flame Princess that made you fall in love?”
“Why do you ask?” Finn looked at her, his face unchanging by the subject.
“It just seems a little….far fetched that you just have a crush on her after she smacks you, especially after you were crying over Bubblegum for so long.” Marceline gritted her teeth Now I just sound like a jealous idiot! I was hoping his expression would, I don’t know, give away some reason to his little switch from Bonnie to Flame Princess, but when he just looks at me like that…
Marceline noticed that Finn was squeezing one of his pillows. Hard.
“I guess it’s just….” Finn stuttered, “She just…came at my house…she didn’t even know me, not really. Yet, she thought I didn’t like her. Don’t ask me why that should make sense, you’d have to be there, I guess.”
Marceline wanted to say she understood. She wanted to say she knew how it felt to fall for someone you didn’t even know, even though you had a general idea of how much destructive power they had.
But she couldn’t. Not now, maybe not ever.
The best thing she could do right now was be there for her friend. So she rested back on the bed. “Women, huh?” She said.
Finn laughed, “I know, right?”
Marceline snorted, and decided she’d change the subject. “Remember when we met? And when you became my henchman?”
Finn put a hand on his forehead, “Oh, how could I forget? You kicked me out of my house, not once but twice, and you didn’t give the tree house back until you had a newfound respect for me after we had a beat down. And when I became your henchman, you screwed with me the entire day ‘till I finally caught on to your tricks, and after the failed assassination of Jake, I think that’s when we finally became friends.”
Marceline smiled, “So you remember. Hey, since you told me all that stuff about Flame Princess, I want to say something to you.” Finn’s mouth opened, but she wanted to finish first this time, so she took his hat and dramatically put it over her chest, “Remember how quickly I agreed when you offered to be my man slave in the first place? Well, after you had the guts to stand up to me in the first place, even though I tossed you around like a beach ball, I was interested in you. You certainly adapted to this world quickly, even though the rest of the humans were extinct, and you weren’t afraid to stand your ground.
“After we had met, I certainly had fun tossing you around, messing with you. It was the most fun I had in a long time. Do you get it? I agreed to let you be my henchman because you were fun Finn.”
She looked at Finn. He had been staring at her, she could tell. Why is he not saying anything? Marceline thought, God, just break the silence already, will ya?!
“Gimme my hat back, Marceline,” Finn told her.
Marceline chewed on her lower lip. When she finally put Finn’s hat back on his head, she said, “Damn, you really are clueless aren’t you?” She continued without waiting for Finn to ask her what she meant by that, “I say stuff like that to you, but all you say is ‘Gimme my hat back, Marceline.’” She sighed and smacked herself internally for her own stupidity. “Finn, we’re friends aren’t we?”
Finn spoke without any hesitation this time, “Of course we are, Marcy! You don’t have to ask at this point.”
“What do you mean?” Marceline already knew that they had a good friendship, buy she really wanted to hear Finn’s side of the story.
“Isn’t it obvious? I catered your every whim once, we played songs together, we fought your dad, we went to the movies, I entered your memories, we kicked your ex’s ass, we tossed him in the dumpster, we played basketball…if all that doesn’t qualify as ‘friendship’, then I don’t know what does.”
“True, true,” Marceline then gave Finn another brilliant smile, “We did kick his ass pretty good, huh?”
“We totally did!” Finn exclaimed, “I swear, the next time we see him, we should—”
“Feast on his flesh? ” Marceline gave him a creepy smile and was suddenly holding a fork and butter knife.
Finn burst out laughing, and even harder then when she heard him down in the living room with Flame Princess. “Oh god, oh god, nohohohhua-ha ha,” he rolled over on his side. Marceline guessed he didn’t quite get over his case of the giggles, he was laughing for a while.
When he finally stopped, he sat up, “I was just going to say we should toss him in my dad’s dungeon, I have a feeling he wouldn’t make it past the fruit witches. I wouldn’t want to eat his flesh; you have no idea where it’s been.”
“You’re right, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about,” Marceline frowned, “Since we’re friends, we could talk about anything, right?”
Finn nodded.
“I’m gonna say this, and I’m going to be completely frank,” She took in a deep breath and continued, “I’m not Bubblegum, or Flame Princess for that matter. I’m not noble blooded, and I’m not a hero.”
When Finn gave her a confused look, she said, “Look, have you heard of the story of ‘The Frog and the Scorpion’?”
“Yeah, Jake told it to me, the scorpion wants a ride over the river, the frog says, ‘How do I know you won’t sting me?’”
“The scorpion reassures the frog that it wouldn’t do that, otherwise they’d both drown. So halfway across the river, the scorpion stings him anyway, and what does the scorpion say to explain his violence?”
Finn paused before saying, “It said, ‘It’s my nature.’”
“Exactly. And all that stuff I said, to you, about when we met and you being fun…did it mean anything to you?”
“Marceline…” Finn began, but never finished. He had a rather startled look on his face.
Marceline shifted her position on the bed so that she was closer to him. “Haven’t you connected the dots yet? If I had fallen in love with you then, I probably would have turned you into a vampire to keep things interesting. And if you’re wondering why I would to do such a thing, I’m saying the same thing to you as the scorpion said to the frog…It’s my nature.”
Blood red orbs stared at electric blue ones. The blonde licked his lips once but words had yet to come out of them. The moment he could speak again, Marceline had a feeling he was going to tell her to get out.
That would be a problem, she had no umbrella whatsoever and the sun was still peeking out over the horizon that was barely morning. But if Finn really was going to be angry at her, then maybe she could take her chances in daylight. Maybe if she even ran really fast, she wouldn’t even notice the burning sensation that will be of her skin.
But I really did sound like a jealous idiot, didn’t I? She thought, Dammit.
“No it’s not.”
Marceline flinched, “What?” She wanted to make sure she heard correctly.
“I said no, it’s not,” Finn repeated, “Because I don’t believe that for a second. Look, I know vampires can be violent. But I also know you. You’re one of my best friends, and I don’t care what people say about you. You’re not selfish, and you’re not the type of girl who would do that to me…especially when she knows full well I’d outlive the people I care about.”
Marceline took in his words, and replayed them in her head twice. She didn’t know what to say, let alone thing. She was completely dumbfounded, Finn had taken her by surprise and they both knew it.
“You want to know how I know?” Finn was continuing.
Marceline was too flabbergasted for words, but she did manage to get out, “…’Kay…How?”
“Because I trust you.”
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Marceline stared at Finn intently. The words, “Because I trust you.” echoed in her head. But why…Why the hell would you trust me that much…?! I mean,…I’m glad you do…
But why am I so…? So…? DAMMIT!
She turned over on her side so that she had a better look at the human boy next to her. He wasn’t laughing at her. In fact, his face was unchanging, and he clearly wasn’t joking.
Then she realized something. Marceline was hearing something….inside the pillows. She sat up and looked under them.
“Marceline?” Finn sounded worried.
Nothing. She put the pillows back in their original position and laid her head back down.
Ba-bump.
There it is again! I’m not freaking hallucinating at all! There is definitely something under the pillows! She was about to tear through the pillows once more until she recognized the mysterious sound.
Ba-bump….Ba-bump…
The sound was merely no more than a human heartbeat. One she was almost certain didn’t belong to her. Her own heart either no longer had a pulse or was beating so slowly and quietly that eve she herself could no longer hear it. The only thing that could mean was….
Ba-bump….Ba-bump…
Marceline smiled. I sure know how to freak myself out.
It was Finn’s heart.
“Marceline? What’s wrong?” He asked.
She couldn’t explain it, but hearing his heartbeat was…rather relieving. Calming. It was ironic, given his lifestyle.
For the first time all night, Marceline finally felt like she could relax. “I swear, hero, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She stretched her arms and pulled up the covers with one arm, while she casually put the other around Finn. She yawned, “I’m exhausted. Nighttime!”
“Wait, what?!” Finn exclaimed, “You’re seriously planning on sleeping here?!”
“Why not? Can’t go outside, remember?”
“But what if Jake comes in?!”
“Oh, he’ll live. Not like he’s never seen me hide here before.”
“You hide in my bed?!”
“Oh, just go to sleep, hero.” Marceline closed her eyes, but never knew when Finn closed his.
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When Finn woke up, he was alone.
“Marceline?” He called out. No answer. He got up out of bed and looked around.
When he heard not a sound from the bedroom, he went down to the living room. “Marceline?” He called out a little louder this time.
“Oh, hey buddy,” a voice called back from the kitchen.
“Jake!” Finn dashed to the kitchen and tackled the dog who was making….breakfast? Lunch? Both? Oh well, Finn didn’t know what time it was anyway.
“Whoa, hey!” Jake said, always happy to see his friend, but not as so being tackled to the hard, wooden floor.
“Jake, have you seen Marceline?” Finn asked worriedly.
“Oh yeah!” Jake exclaimed, “She told me to give his to you when you woke up.” He handed Finn a folded up white paper, but Finn’s mind was running on something else.
“But where is she?!”
“Whoa! Whoa! Relax, okay? I gave her one of my umbrellas and she headed home.”
“How long ago did she leave?”
“An hour and a half ago. It’s 4:30 now.”
“4:30?! I was asleep for that long?!” Finn looked up at the clock for confirmation. The clock said 4:30 all right, “That clock’s correct, right?”
Jake nodded. Finn took a seat at the kitchen table and smacked his head down on top of it. “I’m getting old.”
“Noooooo,” Jake responded, “You’re too young to be worrying about that. So you slept in all day. Big deal. It was only one day. You’ll always have tomorrow.”
“Okaaaaay,” Finn sat back up and unfolded the piece of paper. He read it silently to himself.

Hey, doofus,

Thanks for the adventure last night. I won’t tell anyone about our little rendezvous last night if you won’t.

                                                                                                         -M

Finn snorted, but then took a moment to consider what was said the previous night.

I’m not Bubblegum or Flame Princess for that matter. I’m not noble blooded, and I’m not a hero.

Just what did she mean by that? Did she mean what he thought she meant…?
No. What happened last night was two friends seeking and defeating evil, and talking. That was it. There was nothing more to it. It was not a date.
Then…why did it feel so much like one?
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The skies of the Nightosphere shone as bright as fresh blood. The sun never rose and the moon is transparent.
With every disfigured demon and monster, one could clearly tell the difference if a mortal being were to wander through. However, screaming in a world like the Nightosphere was relatively normal and occurred rather often. If someone dies here, their body could go days unnoticed, maybe months. Not that anyone would care if they did find one in the Nightosphere. The demon world was like a giant chessboard, except in this game, killing off your own pawn is normal.
Especially deep in an alley, where a pawn was meeting its king.
“I don’t know what more you want from me!” cried the pawn to its king, who conveniently hid in the shadows, “You gave me the amulet Abadeer crafted himself with Mary inside it, a spirit. You gave me a name and a photo of a girl, and told me to make sure she came to the shop so you could make sure she was still in Ooo. I did my part! Now it’s your turn. Bring. Mary. Back."
It was faint, but the pawn could almost clearly hear the king laugh, “Au contraire, mon ami. You see even if I wanted to bring your beloved back to life, you have failed to bring back the amulet containing her spirit, the only thing that would have been required in resurrection. I told you not to be so careless with that jewel, but now I’m afraid our deal done. Just be glad she made it to the 50th Dead World.” The king stood up, “Now sadly, I’m afraid can no longer pursue business with you. We’re done here.”
The king started to walk away, but the pawn wasn’t about to let that happen. “I have no idea what you want with that girl, but I’m not leaving here until you fulfill your end of our bargain.”
“Oh, but I’m afraid you are,” said the king, still smiling, “And if you get in between me and my way of leaving, well…let’s just say you won’t be seeing your chère épouse in the afterlife…” He added the last part nastily.
The pawn wasn’t listening. It drew out its rapier sword to the king, “I already told you, it either Mary’s life or—”
Snap!
The king had taken out his own pawn, “Terribly sorry, but I can’t have you following me, can I?”
The king reached into the pawn’s waistcoat pocket and pulled out the photo that had originally belonged to him. The pawn was wrong, the person in the photo was not a girl. No, not this raven haired, pale skinned, blood eyed……maiden he decided. No longer a girl, not yet a woman. Simply a maiden and nothing more.
From the information he gathered from the pawn, the maiden had apparently traveled with a human. A race as far as he was concerned was extinct.
He needed to know more about this human the beauty was….acquainting herself with…
He smirked….And that’s why you let the pawns go first….