Slight AU where Marceline meets Bonnibel for the first time.

The Meeting

One second, I am sound asleep. Happy, actually. Minding my own business, doing my own vampire thing. The next, I hear the sounds of incoming villagers that were planning to end my life.

Great.

And I need my beauty sleep.

Usually I'm not too worried about the crazy Candy Kingdom villagers. They usually can't even tell what's left from right, and they usually have their head stuck up their butt. Especially those Banana Guards. Ugh. They're so annoying.

But they aren't annoying because they are constantly trying to kill me, because they're too incompetent to even figure out HOW to kill me. It's that they follow these harsh rumors that all vampires, including me, are evil.

Don't get me wrong…I'm not nice. I'm not sweet. I'll probably rip your throat out if you disturb my sleep. But I wouldn't harm someone if they didn't do anything wrong. I'd probably just prank the random innocent bystander and laugh at their confusion and fear. And suck out the red in their clothing, if they had any.

Oh yes. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Marceline. The super-duper-rad Vampire Queen. And I'm sick of these morons trying to kill me. Now, you'd think as queen, I'd have a kingdom to rule. But you're dumb and obviously don't know how it is with us vampires.

Back when there actually was humans, there was a ton of vampires. And yes, we killed people. And yes…we were evil. But now we aren't! Why? Because all the humans died out in their pathetic Mushroom War. So because the humans started dying out, we started dying out. Our thousands in number dwindled to a hundred. That hundred dwindled to a handful. And throughout all this death, I am still the queen.

And that's probably why they want to kill me in the first place.

Okay sorry. Back to the story.

My eyes snap open and immediately lock on to the villagers. The villager wielded a torch and a stake. If my heart had been beating, I'm sure it would have skipped a beat seeing that villager. I shudder at the thought of my heart being impaled. Ew. SO not happening today. I'm not in the mood.

Behind the villager stood at least a dozen more. Each wielded a weapon more fierce than the last. I totally would have admired those swords, but they were meant to kill me. I stood up as quickly as I could without making a sound. I strapped my Axe Bass to my back and I began to run.

The forest I ran into I hadn't ran in for like…400 years. Maybe? I don't know. Boy, those trees had grown a lot. Who would have thought trees grow. I didn't think they did, or at least this much in this short amount of time. To me, four hundred short years seemed like a blink of an eye.

"I see her!" A villager shouts

"Glip blob it" I hiss under my breath and continued to run.

I can hear their footsteps behind me, and somehow they are catching up to me. How is this possible? Am I this out of shape? I need to work out more. I take a mental note and keep running.

I hadn't run this much in years. Who has time to run anyways? Not me. That's who. Who wanted to run when you could play some tunes?

Okay, Marceline. Focus on running. One foot in front of- oh glob. I trip over a tree root and land on my face. I hiss at the stupid root and wish I could kill pounding footsteps draw closer. I scramble upwards and continued running. I swear under my breath at what I saw next.

A big cliff. A big fat cliff was in front of me. HOW ON OOO AM I SUPPOSED TO CLIMB IT?

Oh right.

Vampire Queen over here.

I smile and start to float upwards and begin to laugh at the stupid villagers. But as always, I laugh too soon. Something hits the back of my head and I hiss and turn around.

A piece of garlic hits the ground. I growl with annoyance. It hadn't hit my skin, so I was safe.

Damn, I spoke too soon again.

A piece of garlic lands on my hand.

I fall like a rock. I land with a thud and I am cornered. The villagers advance. My stomach twists with fear. I could actually be in trouble this time.

I draw my Bass Axe from my back and I swing it threateningly.

"I don't want to hurt you" I plead to the villagers.

A wave of discontent rolls through the crowd. They don't believe me. They want to kill me. If it hadn't been for that stupid garlic, I could have turned into a giant and stomp their stupid guts out. But the garlic temporarily takes my powers away. Everything. Including my shape shifting, even my healing.

I growl. "I'm a master fighter" I tell them. That's a lie. "I'll kill all of you" I tell them. That's another lie.

The leader of the villagers rushes forward with a pitchfork in hand. He lunges and I parry the attack, and his blow lands at the ground, rather than my beautiful face.

I smile. "Is that the best you can do?" I ask.

What else could I do? The intimidation tactic was really the only thing I had left. The leader lets out a frustrated growl.

"Death to the monster" He howls and attacks again.

And I did something I hadn't done in two hundred years. I let my Axe Bass drop at the villagers feet, and his feet fall off.

The other villagers stare in horror. The horror is soon replaced with anger. And the anger is replaced with fury. The mass surges forward and I know I am going to have to fight my way out. Somehow.

I swung my arms wildly, and I can feel stakes going in every place EXCEPT my heart. It hurts. But I know I'd heal.

Oh wait. The garlic would wear off in like three hours. Too long to stay and fight. I'm gonna have to run this time. I hate running. It made me seem like a wiener. Kinda like my ex-boyfriend, Ash.

Miraculously, I make it out of the crowd, with only a dozen stabs in my ribs. Hooray. Now I'll only bleed a little bit instead of dying. Yay. I somehow make myself run, even though my legs are screaming at me to stop. But if I stop, I'd die.

It's a life or death situation.

Yikes.

I run out of the forest and onto the field. I consider going to my house on top of the hill, but they would find me there easy. I scan the plains in front of me and see a castle. A pink castle?

Had I run this far to reach the Candy Kingdom? Boy. What a workout.

A brilliant idea hits me. I could hide in the forest surrounding the Candy Kingdom. They'd never look there. Because what stupid vampire would hide RIGHT by the people that want to kill her most? They won't expect it one bit.

I sprint as fast as I can and reach the forest. I scramble up a tree and I lay on the branch.. I am covered with blood.

But whose blood? Mine, or the villagers? My hands went to my ribs, where there were multiple stab wounds. I took my hands off and they were covered with blood. Well this was going to ruin my day. My eyes start to get droopy and I can feel myself slipping into unconsciousness.

No! Don't fall asleep you'll never wake up! My conscious screams.

Yeah, whatever, I'm tired. I say to my consciousness and closed my eyes.

I don't know how much time had passed since I fell asleep. But I didn't really want to wake up unless I had to. I want to sleep off my injuries.

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing in my trees?" A voice asked.

I let out a scream (which is totally not normal for me) and fall out of the branch.

I stare at the girl in front of me.

"I…uh…" I stutter.

"You're that vampire that my people were trying to kill! Aren't you!?"

"Me? No! No! Of course not. I'm an apple picker. I'm here to pick the best apples to make the best apple pie!" I lie.

"These aren't apple trees" the girl rolls her eyes .

"Yes they are!" I tell her.

The girl looks at me like I'm stupid. Which, I probably am.

"What's up with your hair?" I ask her, desperately trying to avoid the apple tree subject.

"I'm made out of bubblegum…?" she replies like I'm a moron

"Why would you be made out of bubblegum? That's so dumb!" I demand. Oh darn.

"Excuse me" The girl's voice is dangerously low. "I am the Princess of the Candy Kingdom"

Oh great.

"I meant no disrespect your highness" I bow. And for once, I mean to be sincere.

The girl continues to glare but her gaze softens.

"You're hurt" she says.

What?! Still?! I quickly glance down at my shirt. I tap my side and I flinch with pain. Blood. Still more blood. How was I bleeding this much?!

"No of course not" I scowl. "As the Vampire Queen I cannot be hurt" …Did I really just say that. I face palm. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID. I was not on my game today.

The girl smirks and crosses her arms. "I knew it" She says triumphantly.

"Uh. You're not going to do anything about it?" I ask timidly. The pain in my torso was growing by the second, and I was struggling to stay upright.

"Of course not! The rumors about the vampires aren't true. And they haven't been for the past eight hundred years. You're probably just misunderstood"

Misunderstood. The word stuck in my mind.

"Definitely" I nod and grimace with pain.

"Oh glob, you need help. I'll be right back!" The girl says and runs back into the keep of the castle.

I groan and collapse against the trunk of the tree, and slowly sink into the ground. I hope the girl will get here soon. I hear her footsteps before I see her, and she is carrying medical supplies.

"Thank glob" I whisper.

The girl drops to her knees and begins to go to work. I'm still bleeding, but at least I'm bleeding less.

"Thanks" I tell the girl.

The girl stares into my eyes. Oh great why is she doing that. No stop. Stop. I could feel my walls crumbling down.

"It's not a problem. I'm Bonnibel, by the way" She tucks my bangs behind my ear.

"M-marceline" I stutter.

This girl is going to be the end of me.

I know it.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I guess I did. That isn't really surprising. What is surprising is that I woke up in a room I didn't recognize. At first I have no clue where I am. I take a closer look at the room and it looks like the color pink had barfed all over it. I jump to the conclusion that I am in Bonnibel's room.

My stomach flutters, This girl has taken me in, and I'm supposed to be the sworn enemy of her people. I look down at my stomach. My torso is bare, and only covered with bandages. I haven't realized how horrible my wounds are.

But she noticed. My stomach lurches. How long has it been since somebody cared about me? It has been fifty-two years. Three weeks. Ten days.

It has been a long time since Ash. I know deep down I never really loved him. I know I was missing something. But the question is...what is missing?

A girl. My consciousness screamed.

A girl?! Out of all things a girl!?

There could be no way.

I sat up in the bed and threw off the blanket covering me. I turn my body to face the edge of the bed. I put one foot down on the floor, and slowly the other. I try to take a step towards the door, but my knees give out from beneath me. I fall down.

"Damn it!" I yell.

I hear running footsteps and the door swings open. In the doorway stands the girl with pink hair. She immediately rushes to my side and helps me up.

"Why are you moving you silly?" She asks.

"I wanted to leave," I reply.

The girl opens her mouth to say something. She pauses. "Why?" she asks.

"I...I actually don't know. I'm not used to this" I motion to my bandages and to the room.

"What do you mean 'this'?" The girl is using that glare again. I flinch.

"I guess I'm not used to people taking care of me" I say.

A sadness creeps into the girls eyes. "I'm sorry"

"No it's fine. I want to stay, but at first all this weirded me out" I shrug.

The girl motions to the bed "The reason why you're still hurt is because the villagers had garlic tipped weapons"

"Those bastards" I hiss and lay back down on the bed.

The girl shakes her head and laughs "You're silly"

I smile "Maybe I am. Thanks for saving me"

"You're welcome. But this welcome comes on one condition" The girl murmurs

"And what condition is that?" I ask.

"If you decide to stay...you mustn't harm my people again" She says.

I clench my jaw with irritation. "Your people did this to me"

"I know, but I'm asking that you don't take revenge" She says and forces me to make eye contact with her.

"Revenge isn't my thing, Bonnibel" I smile, allowing my fangs to slide out.

"Then you can stay" she pats my shoulder.

"Is this your room?" I ask.

"It is indeed" She answers.

"I can leave if you want" I murmur.

The princess leans in and whispers in my ear "I won't be wanting you to leave for a while"

"Are you really that desperate to seek out a vampire?" I burst out laughing.

"No, I'm just highly selective" The princess answers.

"And you've selected me?" I ask.

"Well, yes. But that doesn't mean you'll succeed" The princess smiles.

"Consider me properly motivated, Princess" I respond.

Who knows. Maybe I'll win the girl's heart. Because it seems like she's already won mine.