A thin finger drew silty shapes in the cold earth. The outline was barely visible in the moonless night. Flakes of snow dusted the ground, a light afterthought from the jagged ice kingdom that stood in the distance. The figure mumbled to himself as he finished the drawing. He pushed himself off the forest floor and dusted off the front of his robe as he stared down at the drawing.
"Where is it…" He mumbled to himself before pulling a carton of semi-putrid milky substance out of a deep pocket and gave it a tentative shake before tossing it onto the drawing and backing away and speaking a phrase in Latin that sounded clumsy and foreign to him.
"Maloso vobiscum et cum spiritum."
The night went still. The birds stopped rustling in their trees and the insects stopped humming their nocturnal drone. The ground split open, tearing the face in half. Horrific shrieks filled the air and a black sludge clamored its way through the opening, clawing and scraping its way onto the earth before spilling over into a mass of bones and viscera that snapped together to form a body. The portal closed leaving a smoldering crack beneath the feet of a finely dressed man with pointed ears, black hair and a pair of fangs. His skin was an unnatural shade of dusty blue that appeared grey in the pale light. He squinted yellowish green eyes at the man who'd summoned him and made a disgusted noise.
"Yuck Simon, you've let yourself go."
"Shut up, Abadeer." The demon laughed at his remark.
"You remembered my name, what did you do- write it on your hand?" Thick frost began forming on the surrounding trees causing the branches to immediately stiffen and crack under the weight.
"Don't get your tunic in a bunch. I assume you didn't call me to the middle of the forest for nothing, but you're standing there staring at me so I don't know…" The Ice King relaxed enough to walk across the frosted ground until he was just a few feet away from him.
"You don't scare me, you brute. I know who you are." Hunson rolled his eyes. "Little Marceline, you're her father." Hunson's gaze steadied.
"What's your point?" The Ice King sneered at him.
"Hit a soft spot didn't I? I know I'm crazy but I'm not stupid, she's always been your proverbial Achilles' heel."
"Stay away from her, Simon. You had your time with her, that's the past. I don't give second chances. You go near her, I'll rain a shit storm down on your head the likes of which you've never seen. You get me? You've wasted too much of my time already."
"You need to go to her." Hunson stopped, the heel of his boot crunched through the frost.
"If she needed me she'd find me. It's always been that way."
"Not if she doesn't know she needs you." Hunson loomed over Simon. "I know she needs you."
"What did she say to you?"
"Nothing. I haven't seen Marceline in months. There's noises rattling around in my head. I've heard them before…" Hunson snarled.
"Get to the point before I choke the life out of you." Simon's milky eyes stared up at him in an abnormally peaceful way.
"That would be a blessing, Abadeer, but you need to know what I'm going to tell you before you make any rash decisions. Marceline is in danger. The Lich has returned. Truthfully it never left, just went into hiding. I hear whispers, like splinters in my brain. It's always there, that cold hush, that darkness that has no beginning and never ends. I've been careful to keep myself hidden."
"Why haven't I heard anything? If the Lich came back I'd know-"
"That's the thing, you can't know. It doesn't want you to know." Simon poked a bony finger into Hunson's chest, somehow immediately locating the diamond shaped amulet that rested under his shirt. "You did a fine job banishing it during the mushroom war, almost too good. The Nightosphere remained largely in tact while our world crumbled. That jewel of yours has eaten straight into your heart, if you ever had one. The human woman certainly saw something in you." A black tendril shot out and grabbed his neck before pulling him in until he was inches away from Hunson's face. The heat and pressure of his grasp felt like a hundred stinging nettles against his icy skin.
"If I didn't owe you for my daughter's life I'd have buried you under that mountain years ago. You leave her mother out of this."
Tears streamed down Simon's face as he attempted to free himself from Hunson's crushing grasp. "Wait-" He choked as his ice magic fizzled on the fiery appendage.
"Why… I've gotten all the information out of you that I need. I don't care if you're telling the truth about this threat or not, you're stalling me at this point."
"I don't- I don't know- what you're talking about." Simon wheezed. Hunson dropped him and he began taking desperate breaths.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I didn't do anything with your daughter… She just lives in that pink house. She told me about you, that's how I know who you are. She's nice to me... She's the vampire girl right?" He looked up at Hunson as he covered his throat with one hand. The tendril turned to heavy black mist and floated away into the night as he relaxed his stance slightly.
"Marceline said the same thing about me taking care of her. You told her to say that didn't you."
"How do you know about her mother?" Hunson asked evenly. The Ice king dug in a pocket and produced a photo of an olive skinned woman that had been folded so many times it had to be taped back together.
"We were looking at pictures and she told me about this one. I stole it. I needed it for this." Hunson stared at the picture without touching it. He watched Simon's gaze become distant as he stared at some unknown point in the woods.
"Give it back to her." Simon nodded and returned the photo to its hiding place.
"What does the Lich want with my daughter? She has nothing of importance to that monster."
"Nothing and everything, she has you. You are what it wants, not her." He pushed himself to his feet. "I wouldn't have summoned you here if it wasn't serious. These visions, they come every night. I've tried to banish them, but an old wizard like myself only has so much power against something like this. You've seen what horrors it brings. You've faced down its hoards. A feud like this doesn't die, it lives forever. The Lich knows if it can't kill you, it will destroy you in other ways."
"Enough." Hunson took in a deep breath of the chilled air. He started walking into a clearing. Simon scuffled after him, but had trouble keeping up with his longer gait. "Where are you going?"
"To find Marceline. Where is she?"
"In a cave off the plains in the grass lands." Without breaking his stride Hunson dematerialized into an opaque black fog that swirled quickly before disappearing into the night. The Ice King stared into the empty place where he'd been standing just moments before taking flight.
Chapter 2
In his feverish attempt to catch Hunson, he spotted two figures moving through the tall grass below. He swooped down and was met with the alarmed cries of Finn and Jake who seemed to be aimlessly wandering in a large circular pattern.
"You guys seen a black mist come through here?"
"No. Should we?" Jake answered bluntly. "We're just looking for Shelby. We dropped him somewhere around here." The Ice King made an annoyed noise.
"Never mind!" He yelled as he flew off. The cave wasn't far away but he knew that Hunson had beaten him there. He felt winded and impatient by the time he landed at the mouth of the cave. His feet made a soft padding noise on the moist earth and he saw the outline of the demon lord standing with his back to the entrance. The house was dark and dripping water echoed through the mossy space.
"I didn't even know she had a house. She used to live in that tree where that human boy and his pet are now." The Ice King stood next to him looking at the dark windows.
"She hasn't been there for years." Hunson sighed at his response.
"She always had strange taste in living situations. I suppose she gets that from her mother." Hunson kicked a mossy rock and sent it skittering into the lake. "This place is dank, she should have just told me she was moving. My imps could have built her something three times this big somewhere with no sludge and whatever that smell is."
"You're not leaving are you?" The Ice King's milky eyes glowed in the cave.
"After everything you told me- no. This presents a real danger." Hunson walked to edge of the lake, his red boots sinking slightly into the mud. "She has to be back eventually…" He produced a black cigarette from inside his jacket and took a drag off of it, lighting it immediately. The smoke curled around his pointed ears as he glanced at the Ice King who was squinting at him.
"What?"
"You shouldn't do that. It's bad for you." Hunson took another drag and looked away.
"Lots of things are bad for you, Simon."
"Marceline thinks smoking is gross. She told me so one time." Hunson sighed and flicked the butt into the lake.
"Well Marceline isn't here right now."
"Are you a jerk all the time, or is this just a bad day for you?"
"You know what, go home. I'm not going to stand here and listen to you harangue me until she comes back." The Ice King's fingertips began to freeze over as he glared at Hunson, who scoffed at his anger.
"Save it. I have no interest in fighting you in here. She already hates me enough, if I accidentally destroyed her house she'd never forgive me."
The Ice King levitated and a cold wind swept through the cave, howling around the stalactites. "I'll be watching you, Abadeer." Hunson rolled his eyes and directed his attention towards the house. "Whatever." He replied flatly. A final gust of frigid air blasted through the cave and he was gone leaving Hunson alone with the dripping water and slimy banks. The heels of his boots clicked on the wooden deck and he inspected the house. He tried the back door but it was locked. He watched a small grouping of bats fly out of the cave and into the night sky before dematerializing into a black mist and seeping under the door and into the kitchen where he quickly reconstructed himself. He took one step forward and bumped into a chair, which scraped against the worn floor. The sound was much louder than he expected and he quickly put the chair back and glanced around. The house was sparse but neat and smelled faintly of lavender. He wandered into the living room and leaned in to see the array of pictures she had framed on the wall. There was a collection of macro shots of flowers, a couple landscapes, and a few of her with Finn and Jake. She looked genuinely happy, and the more Hunson studied her expression the more he realized that he'd never really seen her look like that in person, not since she was a young girl at least. For the past thousand years their relationship had been slowly atrophying into the state of disrepair that it found itself in now. He let his shoulders fall as he listened to the crickets chirping softly in the floorboards and felt the same pang of guilt and sadness he'd felt countless times before.
Bats began chattering outside and swooping around the house as something landed on the deck. Hunson froze and stared at the back door.
"Hey guys, go fly outside. Stop pooping on my deck." Marceline's muffled voice came from the other side of the door. He darted behind a partition and stared wide eyed into the darkness. There was no way he was getting out without her noticing. He cursed softly knowing that she would be furious when he finally showed himself. She unlocked the door and stepped inside. He heard bags being placed on the counter and then the soft flick of a match as she lit candles in the kitchen. She was humming to herself as she went about putting whatever she'd gotten away. Hunson peeked around the corner and saw her bent over putting things in the refrigerator. He took a breath and edged his way out. She'd turned the sink on and was washing something in a basket.
"Marceline." She shrieked and jumped back from the sink, dropping the basket. Red apples rolled across the floor, as she stood frozen with her hand over her mouth. She stared at him for a moment.
"Dad! What the hell are you doing?! Why are you in my house?"
"Marceline-"
"This is freakin' weird!"
"Please, Marceline-"
"How long have you been here?"
"Marcy-"
"Don't call me that. Leave. Get out." Hunson stared at her.
"Leave right now." She repeated.
"No."
"What? You're kidding me."
"I'm not leaving."
"This is my house. You have to leave if I say so!"
"You are my daughter and you will listen to me!" Marceline's face flushed as she clenched her fists at her sides. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands until she felt the tips bite into her skin before quickly grabbing a vase laden with dead lilies and hurled it at him. Hunson stepped to the side and waved a hand, slowing the vase inches before it hit the wall. It lowered to the ground with a soft clink and he sighed.
"Get out!" She screamed.
"No Marceline." She screamed again and objects began flying off the shelves. Books, candles and other miscellaneous objects launched themselves at Hunson before coming to an abrupt halt just as the vase had. The dining room table and chairs flipped and crashed against the counter. Every time another object stopped short of her father she became angrier. He didn't even seem to be trying overly much to stave off her attacks and it infuriated her. The knife block spun on the counter, simultaneously releasing all its knives into the air in a glinting onslaught of sharpened metal. Hunson saw the attack and dissolved himself into a thick opaque fog that scattered throughout the room, snuffing out all the lights as it did. The knives stuck in the wall with hard thunking noises and Marceline stared at the place he'd been standing. The room had gone quiet and she breathed heavily, her fists still clenched at her sides. She searched the room with an unblinking gaze before the fog reappeared and Hunson emerged seemingly out of thin air inches in front of her. Marceline felt her anger crack as she looked up at her father. She instantly knew she'd crossed a line.
"Watch yourself." He said evenly. "Do not let your anger get the better of you. You're lucky I'm so patient." He snapped his fingers before he turned and walked away from her. The over turned and out of place items in the kitchen began to right themselves and the candles flickered back to life. Marceline felt tears of shame and frustration prick her eyes as she watched him leave the room.
"And take those knives out of the wall." He added before disappearing into the living room.
She wiggled the last of the blades out of the wall and watched as plaster and shredded wallpaper fluttered to the floor. The dried petals of the scattered flowers crunched under her feet as she ran water over the shiny metal. The faint smell of spiced tobacco floated in from the living room and she knew that Hunson was smoking. Usually she would have tromped in and snatched the cigarette away as she scolded him for smoking in her house, but tonight was different. She sniffed as she felt a tear run down her cheek and wiped it away quickly. She felt stupid. This wasn't just embarrassment, it was shame. Shame for letting herself get carried away, shame for being reprimanded by her father, shame for leaving eight ugly holes in her wall.
She threw away the last of the spilled apples and felt her stomach ache from hunger. Another tear rolled down her cheek but she didn't pay any attention. She just stared at the trash wishing that she could have come back and enjoyed a boring dinner by herself instead of being thrust into another tumultuous visit with her father. Marceline shuffled into the living room and watched Hunson blow smoke out his nose as he fiddled with a porcelain figure of a swan. He always looked so disarmingly calm despite how dangerous he was. Marceline knew if anyone else tried the stunt she had, they'd have been shredded from the inside out by some horrible spell. It was sometimes odd to think that she was a part of him. Nonetheless, when she saw herself she always saw him looking back.
"You finished pouting?" He said calmly. Marceline felt her temper flare again but quickly shoved the feeling away.
"I had to clean." Smoke swirled around Hunson's head as he studied her, his eyes glowing softly in the dim light.
"What?" She said pointedly. He shrugged at the question.
"I can't look at my own daughter?" Marceline rolled her eyes and flopped down in a chair across from him. "Even if she did just try to run me through with kitchen ware."
"You're a jerk." She answered tiredly.
"I've been called worse things." He went to light another cigarette and stopped. Marceline was picking at a lose thread on the arm of the chair and hadn't noticed.
"I'm sorry, I know you don't like it when I do this in here." He said as he tucked it away. She looked up and waved a hand in the air to show that she didn't care. Hunson rested his hands on his legs and sighed. The two sat in silence for a while as the house creaked on its stilts. Marceline watched as he flicked a bit of ash off his lapel and laughed softly. She could tell that he was trying to be good. He blinked at her.
"The whole good posture, not smoking and not continuing to piss me off thing doesn't suit you." She commented as she pushed hair out of her face. Then something occurred to her.
"How did you get here anyway? I swear if Finn summoned you again…"
"That's actually what I came here to see you about."
"You came to talk about Finn?"
"No not Finn. Someone else summoned me. It was your uh- friend Simon, or the crazy ice wizard, whatever he is."
"He's not crazy." She said sharply. Hunson lowered his head and looked up as if to say "you know I'm right."
"He's not crazy." She repeated. "He's just… old and eccentric. He's still good, or at least to me he is. But wait- why did he summon you? I didn't even know you guys knew each other."
"We've had words over the years, regarding your shared past. That's beside the point though. Marceline, things have gotten dangerous."
"Things are always dangerous here."
"Just listen to me, please." Marceline tucked her legs under herself and looked at him.
"You remember the mushroom war, right?"
"Not really, dad. I was a kid."
"Well yes, but you remember enough to know what happened, that's what I'm asking."
"Yeah the world- at least this world, split in half and the humans died except for Finn and Simon, but I'm not sure Simon counts anymore."
"Essentially yes. There was a war. It ended about a thousand years ago but it had been going on long before that. Or rather, it was building itself into what ended it. The humans were the catalyst. If it hadn't been for their meddling and petty squabbling it wouldn't have ended as it did. I've never seen a race so desperate for salvation and yet so bent on destroying itself over menial resources and crude political constructs. There was some stupid saying they had, something about going out with a bang. That's certainly what they did. The explosion that ended the war was unlike anything that had come before it. It was horrific even by my standards."
Marceline was chewing on her lower lip. "You saw it?"
"From a distance. I was more concerned with what became of the immediate aftermath. What the bomb brought with it was a plague-like death, completely impartial as to who or what it destroyed. The Lich was at the heart of it. It became the embodiment of the demise of man and lingered long afterwards, preying on the humans that somehow lived."
"I do remember that, kind of… I remember planes. Those big, winged metal machines that used to fly over. I saw them with Simon once. They'd fly together and make everything shake. I saw them with mom a few times but she ran away. Now that I think about it, Simon probably just didn't care." Marceline laughed slightly. "He used to run outside and yell at them, like they could hear him. He'd pick up rocks and junk and throw it into the sky." Marceline laughed again until she saw the look on her father's face and stopped. "I don't know… It was just funny."
Hunson always became visibly uncomfortable at the mention of Marceline's relationship with Simon.
"Sorry, I won't bring him up." Marceline said quietly.
"It's alright." Hunson answered almost coldly. "That issue isn't yours to deal with. I own that one. Nevertheless, you mentioning him probably just made my job easier." Marceline narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Yeah you never told me why he summoned you."
"As a preface, I think I'll retract the 'crazy ice wizard' comment. He still cares a great deal for you, Marceline, even if he doesn't understand why. In this case he understands perfectly well and he needed my help since you and I are in this together. Bonded I guess you could say…" Marceline put her feet on the floor and leaned forward.
"He came to me with a warning about the Lich. It's come back and has apparently turned its attention to you."
"The Lich was banished."
"That doesn't necessarily mean anything. It might have left Ooo but it's not dead. It's just been existing between worlds. I've caught glimpses of it, but it wasn't anything strong enough to cause any concern; more like blips in the cosmos. Weak transmissions from wherever it's been. Simon and I, we exist on different planes. He hears and sees things that I don't, and vice versa. If the Lich wants to get to you, I know that it's smart enough to work its way around me knowing anything."
They sat in silence while Marceline studied her father's expression. He looked tired. It wasn't often that she saw him look this way; he was usually extremely good at hiding any negative emotions under a mask of caustic levity that danced its way around things until you were convinced that he truly wasn't bothered.
"Besides, its fight is with me, not you. I won't lose you to that monster too." Marceline felt something twist inside her. It left her feeling like someone had poured hot lead in her stomach.
"Dad…" She said quietly. He looked up at her and blinked. "What do you mean lose me to? Who else did the Lich take?" All the expression had left his face. The corner of his mouth twitched in the same way it always did when he didn't want to tell her something.
"Dad, who was it?"
"Your mother." Marceline crumpled. The few memories she had of her mother immediately surfaced in her mind. She felt tears prick her eyes as she searched for some last memory, a last impression of any kind but none came. She simply disappeared, like some sort of loving apparition. Tears started to fall down her cheeks as she looked back at Hunson.
"The Lich killed her?" She asked shakily.
"Marceline, you need to-"
"NO!" She interrupted as she stood up. "You told me that she was killed during the bombing!"
"She was!"
"No you just said she wasn't!"
"I didn't lie Marceline!"
"Yes you did!"
"No I didn't."
"Get out! I really mean it this time. I don't care what Simon told you, I can take care of myself!"
Hunson stood up and walked towards her. "Marceline, you need to listen to me." Tears dripped off her chin as she tried to make herself stop crying. He took her by the shoulders and she tensed. She wiped a hand over her face and her rage and sadness boiled over as she landed a solid punch on the left side of his chest. He let go of her and backed up.
"Stop it! I lost her too Marceline!" Hunson had never yelled at her before, and it sounded foreign and awful in the small room. For that matter she had never seen her father cry either, until now.
"You are the only thing I have left. Everything I've done, I have done for a reason. You need to understand this and know that I promised her that nothing would ever harm you. Your mother saw good in me that I have failed to show you, and for that I will always be sorry."
Marceline felt a fresh crop of tears well in her eyes.
"You weren't there." She said pitifully. "When I had to step over corpses and watch buildings burn until there was nothing left, you weren't there."
"That's why Simon was… Marceline please come sit with me." She shook her head and Hunson held out a hand. "Please baby, I need to explain things."
"I can't take any more of this. Like what are you going to tell me? That you knew Simon this whole time and sent him to take care of me?"
Hunson cast his gaze downward and Marceline sunk to the floor as she stared past him in disbelief.
"I can't believe this…" Hunson sat on the floor too and waited for her to look at him. When she finally looked up at him he scooted closer
"Marceline, let me explain this okay? I knew in light of everything that's happening you'd have to find out sooner rather than later, but just bear with me." She was staring at a stain in the rug and held out her hand, which he took gently between both of his.
"At the end of the war you and your mother were living in the desert, do you remember that?" Marceline nodded.
"We agreed that both of you would be safer there. We knew it wasn't a permanent fix but it bought some time. The Nightosphere was under attack at that point and it was everything I could do to keep it from crumbling like earth was, but I was never far off. I deployed armies around where you and your mother were staying, but she never let you see them. I didn't want you to see them either. Things stayed like this for a while… I would visit frequently but it was always under the cover of darkness. We became too comfortable in this routine and that's why… things ended. The Lich had become enraged at not succeeding in taking the Nightosphere and learned of what I was doing. So it came with its hoards. It came directly fro you and your mother, but I arrived first." Hunson squeezed Marceline's hand.
"Everything we did, we did for you Marceline. That was always our pact from day one. Your mother knew she couldn't stand against its power, so I took you and used what was left of my magic to get you as far away as I could."
"Why don't I remember any of this?" Marceline asked flatly.
"I didn't want you to remember it. I left you in the safest place I could find and placed a sleeping spell on you. The only thing is you woke up before I'd planned. I found Simon wandering the wreckage. He was my only option so I made a pact with him to watch over you. I told him where to find you but you'd left by then and luckily he found you wandering nearby."
"You knew Simon…" Marceline looked at her father for the first time during the whole conversation.
"Barely. I knew he was human but I knew he was different. I saw enough of him to see that he was exceptional. Where most humans feared death, he feared life and what the future held. I knew Simon just as the curse was taking root in him. I knew he wouldn't remember me."
Marceline's eyelids drooped and a long tendril of inky hair fell into her face.
"Were you with mom when she died?"
"No." Hunson answered simply.
"Did she make you leave?"
"Yes."
Marceline looked him in the eye, searching for any sign of lying but he just looked back.
"Do you promise she made you leave?" Hunson looked up at the ceiling and sighed wearily.
"Yes Marceline, I promise." He said as he closed his eyes against a wave of emotion. She scooted closer to him and rested her weight on her knees before wrapping her arms around him. He did the same and hugged her tightly. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like this, but she eventually lowered herself onto the floor and rested her head on his knee. She felt as if she weighed a thousand pounds as the exhaustion from the night took over. The flames of the candles blurred and became distant floating beacons in the room as the hardness form the floor dug into her shoulder but she didn't pay it any mind. She was half aware of her weight shifting and the discomfort leaving her body as she felt weightless. The dull clicks of her father's boots on the wooden floor brought her out of her languor but only for a moment before the softness and familiar smell of her bed pushed her into a deep, dreamless sleep.