Chapter 1: Lost and Found

"Say, Fionna," The Vampire King drawled, eyeing his two companions mock boredom. "Why am I with you again?"

The hot summer night's air whispered against their ears as they raced towards the Mystery Temple. Though the night is young, the adventuress and her adoptive sister, Cake, decided to set off to this quest to find a specific crystal that Prince Gumball needed for his experiment. Apparently, this particular crystal appears to the aforementioned place once the alignment of the planets is achieved—which only happens once in a century.

Unsurprisingly, Fionna gladly accepted this quest to fetch this crystal despite the ungodly hour that is needed to fetch this magic item. Though the blonde heroine refused to acknowledge Cake's (and pretty much everybody else that who knows of her infatuation to the said prince) taunts that she still have this little (okay, maybe not little) crush on the Candy Kingdom's prince, she insisted going on early so they will camp out of their destination until the that crystal appeared in its rightful stead.

Turns out Fionna's decision is right to make: the fact that they have been going around in circles for four hours wasted a lot of time and energy—much to the two heroines' annoyance. They were lucky enough to be found by a wandering (and floating) Marshall Lee, whom he called their attention. It wasn't that long till they manage to drag the male into their (sorta) late night adventure.

"Look, we really need you navigational skills here." A sigh escaped the female's lips, looking up to meet the eyes of the vampire. Golden curls that fell out from her bunny hat bounced lightly as Cake trudged through the rocky path, who haven't spoken a word when Marshall came in. "You lived for—what? A thousand years? You've been to many places in Aaa, I'm sure you did not spend all of those years sulking in your cave."

"Technically, I'm dead." The floating male reminded her, shrugging. Lazily did he eyed the female, "Also, you have no proof that I have a lot of adventures through centuries. The last time I checked, you weren't even alive that time."

The moment it has slipped out of his mouth, he regretted it—is his words too harsh for the human to hear? His worry, however, melted away as he heard the tinkling laugh of the blonde.

"Yeah, right." The female chuckled, unimpressed. "Yet you told us when you kicked us out of the house that you hula-hooped in the Fire Kingdom."

"And ridden giant goldfishes." Her feline friend supplied, throwing the vampire a catty (literally) grin—much to Marshall's confusion.

Remembering that rainy night when he first saw the duo, a faint 'Oh' escaped his lips. The fact that he just made up those "adventures" he had mentioned just to build up his act of being tired completely slipped out of his mind. Though he was caught off guard when it was brought up by Fionna, his facial expression remained impassive: "So? It doesn't mean I already went there."

A scowl adorned her face, azure hues narrowing as Marshall spoke. "If you're so reluctant in helping us in this mission, why bother following us? You could have left us alone earlier if you don't want to give us a helping hand."

A smirk touched the vampire's pale lips, pleased to see the chagrin of the human as he messed up with her more. "Stop it." The blonde grumbled, dawning to her that it's one of his harmless pranks again. "Are you going to lead us to the Mystery Temple or what?"

Marshall Lee smiled, wide enough to see his glistening set of razor sharp teeth, "Actually, Fionna, I was about to get to that part."

"Nuh-uh!" Their feline companion hissed, its fluffy coat of fur rose up. "Sorry, sugarcakes, there's no way in the name of glob I'm going to transform into an inflatable boat or anything if we're gonna cross that body of water."

"C'mon now, kitty cat," The floating male taunted, smirking at the sight of Fionna's sister terrified at the sight of water. Who knew this stretchable and sassy feline can be such a...cat? "It'll be a onetime thing: it'll be over as soon as you have just begun."

Another hiss was heard from Cake, this time; it was directed towards the Vampire King. "Easy for you to say, you old bat. You can fly! And you don't know how hard it is to be doused by water as a cat!"

"Knock it off, you two." A feminine voice said; Fionna emerged from the bush where she disappeared earlier. She volunteered to scout the whole lake to see if there is a nearby boat by the bank, but all in vain. "Sorry guys, I can't find a boat for us."

"Don't worry, you." Marshall smirked at her and jabbed his thumb towards Cake. "She's our ride to that Mystery Temple."

"Hey!" Tensing up as if to pounce on him, she glowered at the vampire. "I never said anything like that!" The aforementioned vampire flashed his fangs at the cat, effectively making the said feline retreat and shrink into a size of a can of beans. A faint meow was heard from her as it ran towards Fionna's open palms, muttering: "As if we can actually fly up there."

A light bulb went on in Fionna's blonde head. Snapping her fingers, she excitedly told them her idea. "That's it! Marshall, you can fly us to that island!"

The Vampire King's face slackened in disbelief, "Are you lumpin' serious? Or somebody just hit you in the head real hard?"

Upon realizing that the female wasn't joking, Marshall Lee shook his head. "That's crazy, Fionna. And if I can, you weight like a baby polar bear—you may end up being doused by the water nevertheless." Seeing the scowl on his companion's face, he held his two pale hands up as an apology. "What? It's true! Plus, I'm not sure if I can carry the two of you..."

Still holding her adoptive sister in her palm, Fionna let Cake climb unto her shoulders before sliding in her green backpack. Throwing a satisfied grin towards the vampire, she stepped closer and spoke: "Shall we fly now to the Mystery Temple now, Marshall Lee?"

"Only if you are ready." A small yelp of surprise came from the blonde girl as she was picked up—bridal style—by the vampire without any warning. Chuckling darkly at the female's reactions, Marshall Lee shot off across the body of water; heading towards their destination.

A/N:

Hello, my lovelies! Thank you for clicking and reading the first chapter of Bleeding Into Reality. Although I am not new to FFN, it is my first time to actually publish a story so I'm quite eager and nervous at the same time. Please don't forget to Read and Review guys! It would be a huge help on what I need to improve on and everything.

Again, thank you and have a good day!

—A