Prologue: An Introduction to Misery
Ten years. Seven months. Eighteen days. Three hours. Twenty two minutes. Marceline has lost track of the seconds.
That's how long it's been since the Princess was kidnapped.
And that's how long it's been since Marceline felt happy.
They were having a sleepover at the castle. It was the night Marceline promised herself that she would tell Bonnibel how she felt. But before Marceline could muster the confidence to tell her precious Bonnibel about her true feelings, she had to go to the bathroom.
She had to go to the bathroom, not to relieve herself, but to look herself in the mirror. Marceline needed to look perfect before she told Bonnie anything.
"You can do this, Marcy," she told herself in the mirror. "You've felt this way about her as long as you can remember," ruffling her long black hair. She nodded, pleased at her appearance.
When she stepped out of the washroom, Bonnie was nowhere to be seen.
"Yo Bonnie, where are you?" Marceline asked.
"...Bonnie?" She asked again.
Silence was her answer.
The window to the room was wide open. Marceline scowled with suspicion. She ran to the window, only to see a figure covering Bonnie's mouth flying away. Bonnie was struggling against the shadow holding her.
"Bonnie!" Marceline screamed.
Marceline looked down at the ground. It was at least a ten foot drop from the window. At this point, Marceline did not care. She did care about one thing, however, and that was about Bonnie's safety.
Marceline lept from the window and onto a maple tree. She dropped from the tree and sprinted, following the mysterious creature holding Bonnie hostage. Tears streamed down Marceline's pale face, tears of anger and something else Marceline hasn't felt since she was young.
Fear. It was a thick cloud in her mind, a sticky darkness in her stomach. It made her heart sink.
She couldn't let that thing take her Bonnie.
After running through the forest, Marceline reached the junkyard. Marceline leaped, jumped on top of broken cars, buses and refrigerators. The shadow creature reached the peak of the trash heap, Marceline trailing behind it. The figure leapt into the air, and Marceline surged after it. Marceline was far into the air, farther than she had ever jumped before. She extended her arm and hand to Bonnibel.
For a moment, their hands connected, and Marceline flew in the air.
"Bonnie…Bonnie I love y-" The figure threw Marceline off before she could finish.
Marceline tumbled down the mound of garbage and lands with a heavy thud. Something was broken, but she isn't sure what it was. Everything ached with excruciating pain. Marceline was not faint hearted, and refused to let the pain of the fall stop her from standing up.
Marceline looked up to the sky. She and Bonnibel made eye contact. Bonnie's eyes were wide and pleading.
Marceline collapsed to the ground, succumbing to the pain of her broken bones. Bonnie's eyes closed with defeat and sorrow.
Marceline cried into her hands. "I'm sorry Bonnie...I'm so….Sorry"
"I failed. I failed as her friend. I failed as her squire. How am I going to make this right?" She thought.
The figure disappeared into the night sky.
Marceline howled at the stars "I will find you Bonnibel, no matter what it takes"
"Marceline has failed you" The shadow creature whispered into Bonnie's ear.
Bonnibel refused to believe that for many years.
Unfortunately, all beliefs break over time.