DISCLAIMER: I do not own Adventure Time nor do I claim to. I just like the show and wanted to write a little something for it.

_[ STORY ]_

Snow fell slowly over one of the hundreds of ruined city as a weathered old man set up an even older video camera; once it was recording, he stood in front and began talking.

"I see the visions always now, whether or not I'm wearing the crown; they tell me the secrets of the ice and snow…that the power of the crown will save me with its frost," the man said into the lens as his soon to be ex-traveling companion packed up his dog sled outside.

"I don't know what this means?" he continued glancing out the broken wall, "I know my mind is changing…but I'm already too far gone to know what to do. Marcy, I feel my thoughts are no longer my own, and I know it's shellfish, but please watch over me until I can find a way out of this labyrinth in my head and regain my sanity!" he collapsed into a chair, "and then maybe Betty, my Princess…maybe you'll love me again?

'How can she love such a monster?' a voice whispered in the back of his skull.

He jumped to his feet saying, "Okay bye," as he stepped from the open room grinning like a madman, he managed to compose himself, before Marcy turned to him.

"Simon I finished packing the gear ya wanted, so can we go?" she asked.

"No, you have to stay away from me now; I'm trying to protect you."

"How can you protect me if you're not here with me!?" she shouted, "Simon please I can help."

"Perhaps one day sweetheart, but until then you have to stay brave and away from me," he said wiping a tear from her face it froze as soon as it touched his blue skin.

"Ouch," Marcy cried as it cut across her cheek.

"SEE!? I have to go," he spun around and jumped on the dog sled, "goodbye," it took off as Marcy ran after him shouting.

"No! Wait, Simon!" her foot fell through the snow sending her to her knees, "SIMON!" She yelled more tears streaming down her face, "don't leave me."

"I'm sorry Marceline," he said clinging to the sled, tears spilling from his opaque eyes, "perhaps someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving you, but I could never forgive myself if I stayed and hurt you."

He traveled for days on end only stopping to rest the dogs; he lost all track of time as night, and day merged into one all the while the voice from that day echoed between his ears 'How can she love such a monster?' it was by far the clearest of the many sounds he heard, as well the most freighting.

'Freighting? Now, now my dear Petrikov I was only honest.'

Simon was deep in thought when the voice spoke making him jump thank heaven he had stopped to eat, or he would have fallen off the sled.

"Who are you? What are you?" He shouted as he spun around the empty field, 'I think it's time we meet, Professor Petrikov,' everything spun faster and faster, then the dogs began howling and a sharp pain shot through his head followed by a flash of white then everything went black.

When he came to, he was laid out on a stone dais surrounded by a sapphire blue sheet of ice it reminded him of the glacier fields in Greenland, but much more extensive. The sky above him was pitch black, it was the feeling of a dangers presents behind him that truly caught his attention he turned to see something unexpected, 'himself' well more precise the him that he looks like now, though in a different outfit and no crown.

Simon looked down at his hands and realized they were no longer blue, nor did he have the beard or long hair he was back to the way he was before putting on that crown, "how?" he said aloud.

"'Humph' don't get used to it," the other him, said from his kneeling position, heavy stone chains holding him down.

After he said, this Simon looked around again this time more in depth at the platform he and his doppelganger were on and the doppelganger himself. The dais was completely round and cut entirely in half the side he stood on was made of stone and the other him was standing on the half made from ice, but it was white instead of blue.

As for the Ice King 'Ice king where did that come from,' he wore a long blue tunic and pants, black boots, and had a short navy colored cape covering his left shoulders and upper arm it was clasped with a silver rope running under his right arm. Where the cord meets the fabric was a silver medallion with a small red gem, his beard was neatly trimmed, and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

The stone chain that bound him seemed to be pulled taut as Simon looked him over, "who are you?" he asked stepping forward but ran into a barrier that appeared between them, "Ouch."

"That will appear anytime you try to cross as for me I am Gunther High Lord of the Kingdom of Ice before my citizens betrayed me and sealed into my families ancestral crown that is," he said.

Everything shook violently, and Simon felt the same pain as before, but much weaker, "looks like something is pulling you back, oh well it wasn't time anyway," Gunther said smoothly.

"What do you mean? Not time for what?" Simon asked before he started to fade away.

"Don't worry, we'll talk again soon and would you just stop fighting the visions would you, this would have been over long ago," Gunther said slightly annoyed before a sly smile spread across his face. "You could see Betty again, wouldn't that be nice?" he cooed.

"Betty…"

"Yep, just think about it…"

Simon awoke to the dangling tongue of his lead dog saliva dripping onto his face; he got to his feet slowly his head spinning; when he did, he was met with a massive hill of blue and white as well as a crumbling hole leading into a large cave. He went to explore, but realized that the crown was missing from his hip he searched for it 'why do I care what happened to it' he thought as he tripped on something under the snow dislodging the object of his search from his head.

'When did I put this on,' he replaced it on his belt, 'it would explain the pile of snow though.' Wandering into the cave he found it was a substantial cavern, 'this probably would have turned into one hell of a sinkhole I'll soon fix that.' An idea began to form through the fog of his mind.

He started right away going to and fro gathering books and specimens pertaining to his former career as an antiquarian of ancient artifacts. As he collected more for his expanding library he read everything that had to do with winter or crowns or both, he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that someday soon his real self would disappear. If the hypothesis he formed about Gunther and his intentions are correct, and the more he read, the more solidified this theory became everything was coming to a head quite soon, so it was time to move on to step two, which meant opening himself entirely to the Ice Kings influence.

He hesitantly put the crown on he tried singing the cheers theme as he had before and he did get most of what he wanted to be done before manic laughter filled the cave.

"yes, YES EVERYTHING SHALE BECOME ICE AND SNOW HA, HA, HA, HA," the crazed man shouted maniacally zapping everything around him. "What are these thing?" he asked picking up one of the books after scatting a pile, and it slid into his foot, "Mystic Rituals and their Space-Time Applications by Simon Petrikov and Betty Grof," he read aloud.

"Betty Grof…Betty, AHHHH," Simon screamed dropping the book and clasping at his temples before collapsing to his knees he ripped the crown off his head.

As he sat there catching his breath his thoughts returned to his princess who he hasn't thought of in weeks, 'or was it mouths; I can't remember,' sitting back on his heels he grabbed up the book once more, looking longingly at the second author's name.

"Oh my darling…" he whispered, "even though you're not here with me physically, you're still watching over me," he continued pulling a photo from his breast pocket, "same as Marcy, you would have loved her. She was a little spitfire," he sighed placing the picture inside the cover, "I'll miss you both."

_[ ~FIN~ ]_

Note: I own the personality and look of the 'Ice King' for this story.