The Last Meeting of Simon and Marcy
I paced back and forth in my living room, anxiously waiting. The clock ticked annoyingly on the wall. 8:17 pm. I looked out the window, down at the floor, then back at the clock. 8:18. I took a deep breath, letting out the air slowly, attempting to resist the urge to smash that stupid thing into a million pieces. Finn promised that he would send me a message as soon as they got it working, but that was almost two days ago.
It's weird for me to be in the Candy Kingdom for too long, seeing as a lot of the Candy people are still pretty terrified of vampires and PB asks me to stay inside the castle whenever I'm there during the day so I don't freak anyone out by accident. Even weirder is that I actually do what she tells me to. But she's really trying hard to make it work out. I have to be nice. And patient. So, I just decided to wait back at my house until it was finished, since I couldn't really help with all of the science stuff anyway. I had tried passing the time playing my bass, but I couldn't sit still.
After so many years of endlessly waiting, hoping for the day that I could finally see him again… I honestly didn't know what to expect, or how to feel about it.
But it would be him again. The real him.
After several months of developing functional blueprints, PB had finally finished building her neurological manipulator. Now, all that was left was to find a way to sustain the power source. I still wonder how she was ever able to decipher the endless data we had collected from him, but she somehow figured out the specific connections between his unnatural brain wave pattern (also know as his general craziness/creepiness as the Ice King) and its origin.
Suddenly, a crystal-gram phased through the front window, landing next to the coffee table. I flew over to it, hearing the message in my head as soon as I picked it up.
"Marceline! It's Finn. Come over to the candy kingdom as soon as you get this, PB's almost stabilized the power," it said.
I found a piece of paper in a drawer and quickly wrote, "On my way." I scanned the paper with the crystal. It absorbed the words, glowing fluorescent colors. Then it floated up and phased through the window again, flying through the cave and over the hills outside.
It was late enough that I could go around without having to cover my skin from the sunlight, which made travelling a lot faster. A few minutes later, I was in the Candy Kingdom. I flew through the streets until I reached the castle, and then floated up to the laboratory window. Finn opened it up for me.
"You better come in quick," he said, breathing heavily. "We're having some, uh… problems. With him."
I sighed. "Oh no, again?"
"Yeah."
I came into the room, and there he was.
You know I'm actually glad to see you. Maybe I'm the one who's… nuts
The Ice King had found a way out of his restraints and was trying to get to Princess Bubblegum, who was keeping him away with a wooden chair. Jake was holding him back by the waist with his front legs wrapped around him several times. Even so, he was struggling to keep a good grip on him.
We had removed his magic crown and locked it away when we brought him here a few months ago, and the only time we allowed him to wear it was to collect brain wave data. But, even without it on, he was still a gigantic pain to deal with.
"Alright, I'm confused!" the Ice King yelled. "If you didn't want to be my princess wife, why were you the one that captured ME this time? Would you just… COME. HERE. YOU! AAH!" He reached out towards her frantically, his white eyes wide and desperate. The princess looked at him with disgust.
"Ice King, we've been through this already! I didn't capture you to marry you!" she screamed. "We just want to help you! But we can't do that if you're just trying get with me all the time."
"I don't need your help," he laughed. "I just need you to come with me back to the Ice Kingdom so we can make this thing legal!" The princess shrank back from him, shaking her head angrily.
The Ice King kept trying to free himself, squirming like a wild animal. "Finn," Jake called out. "A little… help here!"
"I got you, bro!" He ran across the room and tackled the Ice King to the ground. Finn punched him in the gut, making him cough and gasp. I looked away, cringing. It was hard for me to see him treated so roughly, but there was no other way to control him. After a few moments of struggling, they managed to force him back onto the stretcher and get his bindings back on.
You're so annoying, you pitiful old man. I'd like to help you but I don't know if I can. I thought you were nuts… but you're really, really, REALLY nuts.
"Ok, now I can finally get this thing going," said the princess. "Thanks guys."
"It's cool, princess," replied Jake.
"That's why we're here." added Finn.
I walked over to her. "So, what's the plan here? What do we need to do?" I asked anxiously.
"Well," she said, "Nothing else really. I've triple checked all of my calculations, so everything should be in working order." She looked over at the Ice King, mumbling to himself, and sighed. "Although, I'm still not sure how long my generator is going to maintain the power supply. It all depends on how much power we need to hold back the magic's affect on his brain."
"But you're sure that it will work?"
"Yes," she replied, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Marceline, I'm sorry that it took this long, but these kinds of things take careful consideration. We don't want to cause any unnecessary damage."
Princess Bubblegum looked at him again, and then turned to Finn and Jake. "You two need to stay alert. As I said, we don't know when he'll revert back to being crazy again. It could happen in a few seconds or a few minutes, I can't be sure."
"Sure thing, princess. Alert is my middle name," Finn assured her.
"Ok. I'll be in next room controlling the machinery. Put him into the chamber and activate it when I give the signal."
We rolled the stretcher into the huge glass walled container. Finn and I went out and locked the chamber door, while Jake was undoing the restraints as quickly as he could. When the Ice King was free, he shrunk down and squeezed himself out through the crack underneath the door.
They can't do this to me! Putting me in this stupid contraption, I just don't understand! What are they going to do to me…? What have I ever done to them? Well, I mean- besides kidnapping Princess Bubblegum and holding her captive in my castle and trying to kill Finn and Jake several times over- but that's beside the point. Even Marceline! I don't remember doing anything bad to her...well besides pushing her over that one time, but I thought vampires aren't supposed to hold grudges for something as insignificant as that. What are they playing at…? They already stole my crown; maybe they're going to interrogate me to tell them its secrets... Yes, that's what they're doing...I won't let them... I can't... the crown is mine, and mine alone...no, that's not it... the crown tells me that I am his, that it alone can save me with its power... Without it, I am nothing… I must retrieve it somehow... I need to get out...
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Ice King screamed and banged on the glass walls. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" he screeched, throwing himself against the door repeatedly.
"Just a little more," said the princess through the intercom. "Hold on."
I put my hands on the glass and tried to calm him down. "Simon, I'm so sorry, but we had to put you in here to keep the control waves contained," I explained. "Try to relax."
"What the hay? What are you going on about, Marceline! Just let me go home already, I haven't even done anything this time!"
"NOW!" the princess yelled. The power generated whirred, and then loud whooshing noise started coming from within the chamber. I pressed the activator button, and little beams of light were shot at the Ice King from above.
"What the-?" He looked up at the light source and cringed, expecting pain. But none came to him. "What is this? What's happening?"
"It's ok, Simon. I'm here." I reassured him.
"That doesn't hurt." He held his hands up to the light, amazed as the beams passing straight through them. "What are you…?"
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The crown...I must find the crown... It calls out to me... Even when it is locked away, it still holds its power over me... The visions will never go away, as long as I am held under its grasp... But to control the power of the ice and snow, such things can be tolerated... They must be tolerated... How could I have even survived these thousand years without it? Without it, I am nothing...
This magic keeps me alive, but it's making me crazy... I need to save you, but who's going to save me? Please forgive me for whatever I do when I don't remember you...
Huh...? How did that song get into my head? Marceline told me I wrote it long ago, but I don't know what it means... Why can't I remember what it means? Marceline...Marceline... Something with Marceline...
MARCY!
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He turned and looked at me, his eyes changing; their icy glow began to fade and the unnaturally white color started receding from the middle, almost as if it was melting away. First the pupils appeared, and then the earthy brown irises. He stared at his hands; the blue tone of his skin was replacing itself with a cream color, his snowy white hair and beard slowly receding to a shorter length and turning brown from the roots down to the tips. His long, pointed nose shrank back to a far more normal size. And then he slowly stood up a little straighter, his usual hunch back disappearing. I'd never actually seen him before the war, but he now resembled his former self very closely from what I had seen from the pictures he'd shown me when I was a girl.
But the magic didn't go away completely. That same eerie glow still hung around the edges of his eyes, a reminder that it still had some control over him. It was as if it was trying to claw its way back into his mind, but the control waves were too strong for it. For now, at least.
He came over to me, astonished. He turned his head a little sideways, confused. He looked me up and down a few times, trying to remember. And then it finally hit him; he gasped.
"Oh my goodness. Marcy… Is… is that you, darling?" He placed one hand tentatively on the glass, and I placed mine over his.
I couldn't believe it. The change was so dramatic, it didn't seem like it could be real.
"The visions… the whispers… they're gone… After all this time, they're finally gone!" He breathed heavily and blinked several times, then rubbed his eyes and looked around. "I can think so clearly now. How can this be possible?"
"It's so good to see you again, Simon." I smiled, struggling to keep my voice steady.
"It's good to see you too, Marceline." He smiled back at me; that old, familiar smile that I used to know. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. It was like I'd been sucked back in time a thousand years; it was overwhelming. I tried to wipe them away quickly so he wouldn't see.
"No, no, Marcy, please don't cry. It's alright," he said comfortingly. "I'm here."
I smiled, collecting myself again. "Sorry. It's just that… I've been waiting so long to see the real you."
"Yes, it has been a long time. You've grown so much since last I saw you."
His mind was having trouble connecting his old memories with his new ones. I laughed. "Actually, Simon, I haven't grown in 985 years." I pulled back my hair and showed him the bite marks on my neck.
He gasped. "Oh my… Wait Marcy, are you…?"
"Yes, but don't freak out. It's ok. Really. I'm doing fine. Don't worry about me."
Simon took a deep breath, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "Well, um, that explains why you don't look as old as me. Even after all this time," he said, turning to stare at his reflection in the glass. He touched his weathered face in disbelief.
"So, where are we? What's going on here, Marceline?"
"We're in the princess's castle in the Candy Kingdom."
"Oh, I see."
"So, how… how are you feeling?" I asked.
"Well, I'm a little light-headed, but other than that I feel just fine. No, I feel more than fine! I'm finally free…"
"Yes, Simon, you are. Princess Bubblegum helped bring you back to normal. She figured out how to hold off the crown's magic," I explained.
"The princess?" He had to struggle to remember; he was still trying to get his bearings on reality. Then Simon started hyperventilating as the realization hit him, holding himself nervously. "I… I can't even think about her… all of the terrible things I've done to that poor girl…and to you… everyone… I've hurt everyone… no, no, no…" The tears began to fall from his ancient eyes.
Simon struggled to stay upright, but the pain of his tortured past was too much for him, moaning in anguish. He collapsed to his knees and bowed his head against the glass, as if the weight of all his horrible memories were crushing him.
"Simon! Stay with me, Simon!" I cried. I was afraid this would happen. His depression had finally caught up with him.
"Please… please forgive me." He was sobbing, his whole body shaking. "I never meant to do anything to harm anyone, it was all the crown's doing! That damn, cursed crown,"
His face grew twisted with anger. "Why did it have to save ME from the war?! Why couldn't I have died with the rest of the humans?" he screamed. "That way, at least I could be with Betty, my princess…" He buried his face in his hands. "Oh God, why?"
I knelt down and pressed my palms on the glass, trying to comfort him. "Simon, there was nothing you could do! Don't let the crown cause you any more pain than it already has!"
He stared at the floor, teardrops falling onto his hands.
"Simon, listen to me. In the 1,003 years that I've been around, I've learned so much, even more than I could have ever imagined. But the most important things I've ever known I learned from you. Do you remember all of the good things you've done? You mean everything to me, Simon; you were a father, and a friend, when everything else that was good in the world was turned to dust. Without you, I… I would have died. But… every time you used the crown to protect us, more and more of your mind slipped away. You sacrificed your sanity to save me. And for that, I will always love you. Remember that, Simon."
He looked up. "Marceline…"
"And even when you're gone again, I will never stop fighting to bring you back. I would do anything to repay you for all that you've done for me."
"Marcy, I…I-" He jolted back, holding his head in his hands and wincing. The crown was calling its master back; there wasn't much time left now.
Simon looked up at me again, trying to masque his pain. It was difficult for him to breath. "I will always keep you in my heart. Even..." he gasped, "When I'm crazy again... and when my mind doesn't remember you... you'll still be in here," he placed his hands over his heart. "Always."
The icy glow grew brighter around his eyes, and began to permeate through them again. He looked away from me and whispered "Goodbye." Simon's strength was gone, and he fell to the floor.
"Simon, NO! Please stay with me!" I pleaded. I broke open the door to the chamber and rushed beside him, holding his limp body in my arms. "Try to fight it! Simon, don't leave me…"
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I can't stay. It's time. The crown... it calls to me."
"No, please..." I hugged him tight, burying my face into his shoulder. I tried to hold on to anything that was left of him. He weakly wrapped his arms around me in return.
"I love you, Marcy." And then his arms fell away. I placed him gently on the ground, my tears falling on his beard, now white again.
I watched, helplessly, as the magic consumed him once more. Icy white light enveloped his eyes, and his skin turned blue as his body grew colder and colder. Before my mind was able to process what was happening, the Ice King lay before me once again, breathing slowly and steadily.
And Simon Petrikov was gone.
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't it be nice to get away?
Where everybody knows your name…