Chapter 1: A Strange Awakening.
"Marceline, wake up baby" A masculine, yet soft voice hurriedly whispers to me. I felt my shoulder being shaken gently by a strong hand. "Baby we gotta go. Right now" I groggily opened my eyes, not enjoying being awoken. The man had scooped me up in his arms, and I instantly knew it was my Dad. I nuzzled my face into his chest and tried to go back to sleep, but to no avail, as I felt anxiety creep into me. Why was he waking me up at such a late hour?
He walked swiftly through the hallways of our mansion; while I watched the pictures on the wall go by. As we went down into the basement, he shifted me into the crook of his left arm, and lit a torch on the wall. Then he kicked over the large grey rug on the ground, revealing a heavy looking door. He then set me down on my feet, and a shiver went up my spine as my body reacted to the temperature of the cold cement.
My father had lifted the door up, motioned for me to enter inside of it, and I obeyed. He climbed down after replacing the rug and closing the door, making the area we were in completely pitch black. As I was about to complain about the lack of light, he scooped me off my feet and continued walking.
"Daddy, how can you see? Where are we going?" I asked him, now feeling anxiety fully awaken me, as we went farther into the tunnel than I had ever ventured when I used to play in it. "Honey, I'm taking you somewhere safe. Everything is going to be alright, Daddy's got you." I didn't question him again about how he could see in this darkness; I knew he had his reasons for avoiding the question. I soon fell back asleep, feeling safe in his arms and reassured by his words.
"But Mr. Abadeer, she is your daughter, wouldn't she be safer back in the Night-O-Sphere, with you?" An unfamiliar voice had said with much hesitation. I had woken up to the sound of thunder and rain; along with wind buffeting the walls of the room I was in.
"No one outside my immediate circle knows about her existence. For all anyone in the Candy Kingdom knows, my child had died along with my wife in child birth. Please, I am not commanding you as the ruler of the realm of chaos, but as a desperate father seeking his child's safety. Besides, I never wanted to raise my daughter in a chaotic world, as I was." Even though I was now pretending to be asleep, I could almost hear the tears in his voice.
"As you wish, old friend" said the unfamiliar man. I had opened my eyes slowly and lifted my head. I was in a stagecoach, on its bench, with a blanket wrapped around me, and Hambo was my pillow. A man had sat on the bench across from me, and my father was at the door of the coach, wiping away at something on his face.
Noticing that I was now awake, he climbed in the coach, kissed me on the forehead and said, "Baby I love you, and I'm so sorry I can't be there for you when you'll need me the most. But I need to keep you safe, as I have a war to fight. I can only hope that you'll forgive me, because I'm not sure if we'll ever be able to see each other again. I'll miss you." And with that, he climbed back out, closed the door, and knocked on the side of the stagecoach, signaling the driver to leave.
A cackle of thunder had struck somewhere close by, and I sat up looking out the window. We were on a road in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, in a storm. My father was standing in the middle of the road holding his hat on his head, looking at us as the stagecoach took us farther and farther away. I had looked out that window until I could no longer see my father anymore, due to distance, curves in the road, and small hills that we went over.
I then turned to face the man sitting across from me. He had an almost full head of white hair on his head. His circular glasses were tinted blue, and somewhat too low on his long nose. He stroked his beard and looked at me with a concerned look on his face. I was about to ask him where we were going when he said, "I know you may be confused, but I think it's for the best if you just don't ask too many questions. My name is Simon. I am a friend of your father's, and he has asked me to take you to a safe place, where you will be living."
I looked at him with a smirk on my face. Even though I was only six years old, I had understood what my father wanted for me. The first years of my life were in the Night-O-Sphere. You learn very quickly in a place that's all about chaos. "I get it. But where are we going, and who will I be staying with?" I had asked. Even though the answers would become clear once we had reached our destination, my curiosity could not be tamed.
"We are going to an abandoned house where you will be staying. Even though it is abandoned, it is well kept and in unclaimed and neutral territory. You will not be living with anyone, you will be by yourself." He explained calmly.
I'm going to be living alone? Before I could ask about the absence of adult supervision, he said, "I'm not sure why you're going to be living alone. Hunson would not disclose that information. As for food, there are magical cupboards and a magic refrigerator. I'm sure you know how those work. However, it stops working once you come of age." I suddenly felt somewhat overwhelmed by all that was happening. Emotions began to stir in my heart, but I told myself I would wait until I was completely alone to cry it all out.
I sat cross legged on the bench, holding Hambo close to me. I thought about my life so far; I was so young and I knew it. My time in the Night-O-Sphere was over, and it had made my mind very adaptable. I thought about my father, and my home. All the crazy times I had pulling pranks on people and teasing the kids in the closest neighborhood, as well as the maids and servants in our mansion. Some of the pranks were acts that only a bully would commit.
I must have been lost in thought for a very long time, because I felt the stagecoach come to a stop. I looked out the window, and what I saw was simply amazing. It was like a tree house, but more of a fort than a house; a tree fort.
"Is this going to be my house?" I had asked, trying with all my heart to hide the excitement in my voice.
"Yes. No one has lived here for a very long time, so cleaning it will be up to you." Simon answered. He opened the door of the stagecoach, then climbed up and unstrapped the luggage that was on top of the coach, as well as the family's heirloom axe. I wrapped the blanket around myself, grabbed Hambo, and slipped outside of the coach.
The tree fort was extremely large. I walked the stone path to the front door, opened it, and stepped inside. Simon was behind me with a couple of duffel bags and the axe, which he set on the floor once he walked farther in the house.
"Well, here it is. These bags are some things that were packed up for you. This is where I leave you. Good-bye Marceline." Simon turned around, and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. I went to the window and looked out, watching Simon get back in the stagecoach, and leave.
The house was mine. I explored every nook and cranny of the tree fort. I unpacked the things that were in the bags, and stored them in a closet. Eventually, I climbed to the bedroom, fell on the bed, and went into a deep and haunting slumber.