Dark clouds shrouded the faded autumn sky, casting a shadow on the Candy Kingdom. This was not new, however. Grey had been the normal color of the sky for the last two years.
Two figures sat on the tallest balcony, overlooking the buildings and forest below. "These tulips are coming along nicely," Braco said, digging his spade into the planter's moist soil, "Let's just hope it clears up a little more." He glanced up at the dreary landscape above him, taking off his floppy gardening hat.
"It hasn't cleared up for months," his partner mumbled, sitting on the edge of the railing and gazing out at his kingdom below. His midnight-black armor and cape provided stark contrast to his vividly white hair, red streaks running through it like blood in snow.
Braco frowned with one corner of his mouth and called out, "You really shouldn't sit on the edge of that."
Peppermint tilted his head in the other's direction and answered, "What do you mean?"
"You could fall," the brunette said with a shrug, carefully lowering a tulip bud into the hole he had just dug.
The prince mumbled, "Pssh," under his breath and stood on the fuchsia-colored bar, rocking back and forth on his heels. He then leaned backwards into a nearly perfect backbend, resting his gloved hands on the violet pavement and flipping backwards. He landed in a crouch and climbed to his feet, walking over to the smaller man.
He sat behind him, wrapping his legs around Braco's waist and his arms around the other's chest. "What…," Braco muttered with mock annoyance, a goofy grin creeping onto his features.
Peppermint buried his face into the crook of the younger's neck, kissing the soft skin. "Nothing," he answered, "Here." He reached a hand out to the freshly planted tulips, and in an instant, they bloomed into their fullest glory, petals reaching towards the heavens.
Braco smiled, turning his head and kissing the pale white skin of the other's cheek. "You didn't have to do that."
"Watch this," the prince added, resting his fingers on the petals of the flower in the very center of the rest. White threads snaked out from his fingers, encircling the tulip like a cocoon. When the fibers dissipated, the petals had changed colors into a dazzling array of red, white, yellow, and brown – the two's signature colors.
"Aww," the brunette said, "It's an 'us' tulip."
Peppermint grinned with sparkling white teeth, his pale blue eye glinting mischievously. The other was hidden by a black, curved eyepatch, fastened around his head by a thin leather strap.
The door to the balcony opened with an audible creak. The prince's expression turned cold as he muttered, "What."
"My liege," a cotton-candy colored gumdrop squeaked, sinking into a deep curtsy, "The Ice Prince has returned and requests you both."
The albino growled through his teeth, and Braco stole a worried glance at his partner's face. "Tell him to step off," Peppermint grumbled, tightening his grip on the smaller man and burying his face into his shoulder in a rather childish way.
"He refuses to leave until he's seen you two," the girl sputtered, wringing her hands in distress, "He's already frozen half the staff."
The prince threw his head back and groaned before unwinding himself from Braco, standing. "What a jerkwad," he muttered.
Braco stood, brushing some flecks of dirt from his clothing. "Why do I have to go?" he asked.
"You are my partner," Peppermint said, kissing one of the many sugar crystals buried in Braco's chestnut hair, "We are both responsible for royal matters."
Two marshmallows clothed in the attire of the royal staff rushed up to Braco's side, carrying a violet tunic and black cape. He nodded in thanks and donned the garments.
The two walked down the twisting halls of the palace, the corners cloaked in cobwebs and dust. The remnants of bloody pentagrams and magical symbols still rested on the dark purple wallpaper. Braco shivered. He had always gotten a bit freaked out by the palace's dark past and the traces of it that still remained. Meanwhile, Peppermint did not seem fazed one bit.
He pushed open the door to the throne room and main hall, finding the room in shambles. His attendants were frozen in enormous blocks of ice, and frost crept across the faded carpet. A lone figure sat in a wooden chair facing the two thrones.
Peppermint and Braco strode, side by side, to their respective thrones and sat. "Ice Prince," Peppermint said coldly as his remaining servants closed the door, "You have requested our company."
"Peps!" the immortal teenager said with an eerie grin. His gold crown, encrusted with dazzling rubies, glinted in the torchlight. His white-blond hair hung in wisps, most of it tucked up into his frost-covered hat. In his lap was a block of ice that held a dog, its eyes a mucus-colored green and toxic waste dripping from holes in its grey skin. "So nice of you to take our request," Finn chuckled, his pale blue eyes sunken and rimmed with dark circles.
"What do you want, Finn?" the prince asked firmly, narrowing the one eye that wasn't hidden by his bangs and eyepatch.
"What do we want?" the wizard repeated and giggled, "Oh, Prince Peppermint. You've always been so naïve."
Braco swallowed the lump in his throat as his partner growled, "You're avoiding the question."
"Oh, well, what we want is for you to keep your promise," Finn answered, drumming his fingers on the ice between his knees, "Remember that promise? Back when you drilled holes in my beautiful mountains for some stupid mineral?"
Peppermint glared, his fingers tightening on the obsidian armrests of his throne. "What was that mineral?" the Ice Prince asked, tapping his head in mock thought, "Oh, right. Darkus midnite, only the most powerful of the dark elements." He grinned and whispered, "You said you had changed."
"I was claiming the stone so that it would not fall into the wrong hands," the candy prince retorted.
"As if!" Finn retaliated, "You built this kingdom out of a hub for dark wizards. You are one yourself, in fact, the most powerful of all of them. To create your perfect Candy Kingdom, you slaughtered every single one of your comrades, but you promised everyone that you would only do good from that moment on. I can see through your lies, Prince Peppermint."
His gaze swept over to Braco. "What about your little boy toy over there?" he questioned, "The one who can do no wrong, the one everyone considers to be so innocent and pure, pruning his flowers and baking cookies, blushing all the while. What would everyone think if they knew his story?"
"This matter does not concern him," Peppermint said, hatred blazing in his cold, icy eyes.
"Little Braco," Finn whimpered, ignoring the prince, "Poor little Braco, cursed since birth, limping into your arms and begging to be saved from the darkness inside of him. Braco, who was cleansed of darkness by darkness itself." He tapped his chin and mumbled, "Now, how does that work?"
Braco's blue eyes widened, his heart beating faster in his chest. Peppermint stood and roared, "You will leave my kingdom at once!"
"Not until you keep your promise," the other whispered, smirking.
The candy prince scowled and sat again. "All we want is one baby boy," the wizard said, climbing to his feet and hoisting up his dog, "You will keep your promise." With that final remark, he leaped off the ground, an icy wind carrying him out the window and into the horizon.
Peppermint sighed, glancing over at his partner, who was looking extremely tense. "Don't listen to him," he whispered, reaching his hand over to the brunette's, "Every word he says is a lie."
Braco intertwined his fingers into his prince's gloved ones. He sucked in a lungful of air and mumbled, "Do you think I could still be cursed?" His grip on Peppermint's hand tightened.
"Impossible," the albino replied, "I haven't seen any black veins on you since I performed the exorcism."
"Yeah, but, do you think there could still be a little bit inside me still?" Braco asked, "Like, that's being hidden away."
Peppermint furrowed his thin eyebrows and answered, "I don't know." He leaned over and kissed the tanner boy's smooth cheek. "If you're ever hurting, just tell me and I'll finish what I started."
Braco nodded, his face still fraught with worry. The prince climbed to his feet and waved his hand. The ice creeping along the floor instantly dissipated into mist. His attendants, once frozen, rubbed their heads and mumbled incoherently. "It's fine, everybody!" Peppermint announced to his distressed citizens, "I had a little squabble with the Ice Prince, nothing to fear." He snapped his fingers, and everyone soon found a warm blanket in their arms. The attendants and citizens mumbled thanks and hurried from the chamber.
The prince sank into his throne, carved of ruby and obsidian, and buried his head in his hands. "I'm so sick of this," he groaned, sinking downwards so that his head hung beneath his knees.
Braco rubbed his back and said, "Here, how about we head to bed. It's getting late, anyway."
"Can't. I've got a meeting with the council."
The brunette furrowed his brow and answered, "Don't stay up too late, okay?"
"I won't," Peppermint replied, planting a kiss on Braco's soft lips before exiting the room.
He hurriedly stepped down the winding hallways of the Candy Castle, formally the headquarters of the Dark Society for Warlocks and Magicians. Coming across a small door, he glanced around behind him before entering the alcove.
"You're late," a voice, loud and deep, echoed.
"I know, I know," Peppermint growled, picking up a heavy black cloak from the back of a high, curved chair and fastening it around his neck.
Four men, shrouded in robes, sat in a circle, a fireplace roaring behind them. Above the hearth was a tapestry bearing a dragon with a pentagram for an eye. The prince took the empty seat, not bothering to put his hood up like the rest of them.
"The meeting of the first company of the Dark Society for Warlocks and Magicians is now in session. First order of business," a man with gnarled hands and a wheezing voice rasped, "What to do with the Darkus midnite?"
"It obviously must be used for dark practice," a figure with a thick British accent piped up, "We could use it for practically anything we wish. The demons of the farthest reaches of the Nightosphere could be summoned, the darkest of curses inflicted."
"We must do something about the thousands of men who wish to reclaim the Candy Kingdom," a man with white gloves added, "Our enemies must be vanquished."
"I say we let our leader decide," one with red lace around his hood said, gesturing a thin hand towards Peppermint's direction.
The youngest of them shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "I dunno. Demons sound cool."
A silence fell over the group. "It's just as we feared," Gnarled Hands wheezed.
"What?" the prince asked, frowning in suspicion.
"That Braco has turned you soft!" the Brit said, slamming his fist into his armrest, "All of this business of you fawning over him has caused you to stray from your dark path."
"We watch you kiss and hug and nuzzle him," Red Lace muttered, "All of those are actions a dark prince must not engage in."
"In addition, do you remember where you met him?" White Gloves added, raising a hand, "It was the annual sacrificial ball. He had come to commit suicide and become a sacrifice, succumbing to the curse of Ogdoad that had been placed within his veins. The lad could hardly walk. And you, Prince Peppermint, chose to save him, while the rest of us would have spat at his feet. You took on his curse instead. We ask you why."
"He had hope," the albino hissed.
"Hope is not a word dark wizards must use," Red Lace retorted.
The dark prince beat his fist on the round coffee table in front of them, causing a large crack to run through the intricate insignia on the wood. The four surrounding him fell silent, freezing.
Black and red veins creeped from under the eyepatch Peppermint wore, encircling his face. His once steel-blue eye flashed a brilliant crimson. "Never question my judgement," he spat, "I chose what I chose. You can't change what I did. I can handle a petty curse from a low-life like Ogdoad." Even as he said this, however, a thin stream of blood trickled from his pale lips.
"Master!" Red Lace exclaimed, sitting the prince back down, "You must not overexert yourself."
Peppermint inhaled slowly, and the veins slowly withdrew themselves from his pale features. "I'm fine," he mumbled, wiping the red from his lip.
Gnarled Hands coughed and mumbled, "How about we change the topic?"
The others murmured in agreement, and the Brit said, "I agree with my comrade when I say that we should use the stone to vanquish our enemies."
"I will also agree with that," Peppermint muttered, leaning back in his throne and crossing his arms, "Unfortunately, you all are forgetting the issues here."
The four looked at him quizzically, and the prince clarified, "The Candy Kingdom is not at the center of Ooo. If we were to wipe out every single enemy of ours, we would have to find a spot in the exact center of the land so that the spell can broadcast evenly. In addition, we would need an incredibly specialized spell to target only those with ill intentions against us. Finally, it would seem awfully suspicious if all of a sudden every criminal or overlord dropped dead at the exact same time. The blame would naturally be pinned on me." He leaned forward once again and said, "I say we should build an impenetrable sphere around my land. One that keeps all enemies out."
"Yes, but imagine if somebody's mother-in-law is suddenly unable to visit her children," Gloves pointed out.
"Or, perhaps just spells that will cause any who wish to cause harm to us to develop a horrible stomachache or disease upon entering," Peppermint offered, "We could create a safe haven for do-gooders everywhere, while keeping out bad and keeping us safe."
"Would this spell of yours prevent our magic from escaping?" Red Lace asked.
"Of course not," the prince muttered.
The foursome glanced at each other and nodded. "We agree with that plan," Gnarled Hands said, intertwining his knobby fingers, "on one condition."
"What is that?"
"You must inform Braco about your dark ways," the Brit said, pointing a finger in his direction.
"What?!" he hissed, "Why?!"
"He cannot be in the dark any longer about all of this," he answered in his smooth accent, "How long do you expect to hide this from him? Tell him about everything you have done since you cleansed him. See if he truly loves you."
Peppermint scowled, glancing down at his feet. "Do we have a deal?" Red Lace asked.
The prince swallowed his pride and mumbled, "Yeah, yeah." In response to his words, the fireplace roared, the flames doubling in size before sinking back down again.
His comrades nodded, and Gnarled Hands rasped, "I declare this meeting officially over. Dismissed, gentleman." He and two others disappeared into puffs of smoke.
Only the prince and the man with the ivory gloves remained. "Remember your promise," the hooded gentleman said coolly, "You have two weeks." With that eerie remark, he vanished in a curling column of flame.
Peppermint sighed, rubbing his temple with his crimson-gloved hand. They had a point. He couldn't hide his past from his partner any longer. He couldn't feed him lies that he had only been at the Sacrificial Ball on a friend's request, and that he had always been a white wizard. After all, he was bearing Braco's curse upon him. He shouldn't have the weight of guilt added to his troubles.
He stood, removing his cloak and throwing it onto a chair. As he departed, he felt the chill of the fire's embers fading.
When he entered into his bedroom, Braco was awake, reading. The pale yellow-skinned gentleman closed his novel and said, "Hi."
"What are you doing awake?" Peppermint asked, unfastening the straps that bound his cape to his breastplate.
"Couldn't sleep," Braco mumbled, setting the book on his nightstand and climbing out of bed. He was clothed in pale lilac pajamas, a simple shirt and short combo.
The prince went through the painstaking process of undoing his complicated pieces of armor. "You could always get the staff to do that," the brunette said, helping him remove his knee-high leather boots.
"Nah. They're too lazy to come up here."
The other smiled and said, "They sure are."
Finally, Peppermint was stripped down only to his loose black pants, soft and velvety. He yawned, stretching his long, thin arms, and flopped down on the bed. "Aren't you going to change into pajamas?" Braco questioned, sitting on the plush comforter.
"Nope," the albino said, crossing his arms behind his head.
Braco smiled, rolling his eyes, and sat next to him. His sea-blue eyes flickered over Peppermint's perfectly toned figure, accented by rippling muscle. The prince opened his eye and smirked. "Like what you see?" he asked, wiggling his thin eyebrows.
The candy person blushed, a dusting of pink appearing on his cheeks. Peppermint reached over, grabbing the front of Braco's shirt and tugging him down next to him. The prince chuckled, wrapping an arm around the back of the brunette and pulling him close. "Why do you wear this?" Braco asked, reaching a finger up to the leather eyepatch covering Peppermint's right eye, "You've only worn it after you got rid of my curse. Is it because of me?"
The magician shrank back away from Braco's touch and smiled, saying, "Of course not. I've been losing my sight in that eye for years." It was only a half-lie. He had been going blind in that specific orb since he was only a couple hundred years old, and because of it, he had chosen to take the dark energy from Ogdoad's curse and store it in the socket.
Braco looked suspicious. "Don't worry," Peppermint whispered, "I got rid of every last bit of that energy. There's none of it left." He captured Braco's lips in a soft, passionate kiss and pulled the blanket over the both of them. "Get some shut-eye. We have that banquet tomorrow at noon."
"We always have a banquet tomorrow at noon," Braco whined, sticking out his lip in a childish pout.
Peppermint sighed and said, "Tell you what. This Saturday, we'll spend an entire day together. No meetings, no galas, no nothing. How about that?"
"Are you sure you can afford the time off?" Braco asked, snuggling into the prince's pure white chest.
"Of course, I don't have anything planned that day. Now, Mr. Braco, you need to get some sleep." He snapped his pale, slender fingers, and the glowing orbs of light around the room extinguished themselves. The brunette smiled, sighing in content, and closed his eyes, his breathing soft.
Peppermint did not dare sleep until Braco was fully under. He trailed a finger over the other's forehead, mumbling an incantation under his breath. A white line glowed where his finger had once been, and to his shock, a black wisp of smoke escaped the opening.
"Impossible," he breathed, "I should've gotten rid of you."
He seized the creature in between his index finger and thumb, pulling it from his love's head. The writhing piece of dark energy was much bigger than he thought it was, about the size of his hand. "You were inside his head all along," he whispered, narrowing his eye, whose color resembled white in the glow.
He moved a hand up to his eyepatch and pulled it up to his forehead. A swirling mass of black and red resided where his eye once was, and the wisp in his fingers was tugged into it. The area pulsed painfully, and the prince swallowed a groan of pain. He quickly tugged down the patch and stumbled up out of his bed.
He had only just made it to the bathroom when a large spurt of blood oozed from his lips. He coughed, and the color of his fluid turned a deep black. The liquid dripped into the ivory sink, staining the stone.
He withdrew a shaky breath, his legs trembling. This monster was not strong enough to overpower him. He wiped off the red and black trickling from his mouth and swallowed the remaining bile. His eye scorched like fire, but it was nothing compared to what he had felt during his life in the Nightosphere.
The pain made him consider why he had saved the frail man. The answer seemed simple to him: he had been at the ball, enjoying a glass of wine. Out of the corner of his eye, he had spotted the boy stumbling into the room, pulsing black veins covering his face and arms. He had limped up to Peppermint, wincing as if every step hurt, and stammered, "Is this…is this wh-where the sacrifices go?"
"Who are you?" the albino had asked.
"My n-name is Braco," he had answered, coughing into his hand.
"Are you an official sacrifice?"
The man shook his head, clutching his cranium in horrible pain. Peppermint's eyes had widened, and in the very depths of his black heart, knowing nothing but the joy of suffering and misery, he felt a twinge of warmth.
He had rested a hand on Braco's thin shoulder and whispered, "Meet me outside."
Peppermint's heart, of course, remained dark, but the light of Braco's love had consumed half of the blackness. He rested his hand on the marble and glanced up at his reflection. He looked like death (well, actually, he didn't. Death was one of his good friends, and the prince certainly did not have a skull for a head). The omnipresent dark rings under his eyes seemed even darker than usual.
He composed himself, taking a few even breaths before daring to return to bed. He crawled under the covers, pulling the smaller man to his chest and burying his face into Braco's chestnut, close-cropped hair. He smelled like bananas and strawberries. "I love you, Braco," he mumbled, "Please never forget that." His eye closed, and he drifted into a restless, nightmare-plagued slumber.
Let's clarify now, shall we?
This AU is based off the episodes "Finn the Human" and "Jake the Dog", where Finn becomes possessed by the Ice Crown and Jake by the Lich. I had this crazy idea about Peppermint Butler being the ruler of the Candy Kingdom, and what Ooo might've become if Jake hadn't wished to change the Lich's wish. I also ship Rock Candy (Peps x Braco) like nobody's business, so...
Thanks for sticking through with me and this crazy fanfiction! Expect much more drama.