It had been almost a month since the incident, and both brothers had thought it best to let things cool down for a bit. The whole thing had thrown Jake into a bit of a tizzy. He was more alert, a lot easier to startle and get on edge. It seemed to Finn that everywhere he went he heard whispers of his friend. Then again, he was never one for listening to groundless rumors. Still, if Marceline was capable of causing such a scene at his home, what stopped her from doing it elsewhere? As the days of absence turned into weeks, the rumors began to resemble truth.
"Have you heard? The Vampire Queen has been out trashing Ne'er do well Bars . Again!"
"I hear she's been giving the Party God a run for his money. I could never drink that much candy liquor."
"Well rumor has it last time she visited Wildberry Kingdom, half the silverware went MISSING!"
"Oh lord! Well, all I know is.. "
The insinuations, notions, passing comments, and snippets of conversation were driving Finn insane! No matter what Marceline was going through, surely these couldn't be her recent pass times. At the end of the day, Finn shrugged it all off. Loose lips and shifty eyes never make for a good pair, not when collecting information.
A cold sweat, a heavy heart, and a nightmare. A familiar voice echoed through Finn's mind. A harrowing laugh and her, Marceline, burning in a pit. The laughter spewed from a large mouth. A man's, with a shameless, yet ignorant heart. Then a woman, who was she? A friend, a friend of Marcy's. Why? She was laughing too. No, no not laughing. She was crying. Face twisted into a horrid sneer, tears streaming down her cheeks. Screams, louder than the hero had ever heard. A tortured, anguished scream. No fear, no pain; a lonely, dying animal. Snapped awake.
The young hero had had the same dream for three nights in a row. This wasn't paranoia over a missing friend, this was an omen. He slid out of his furs and made his way over to Jake's bed. "Hey Jake, wake up," he was hoping not to startle the dog too much. "Hmm?! Who is it," no such luck, his best friend was frightened. Still, he was aware of who had roused him and made no move to go on the defensive. "Hey man, I know you're still sorta worked up about the other night but-," he was interrupted. "It's okay man. The dream again huh?" Finn nodded. "Yea, I didn't wanna say nuttin', but I've been getting the spooks about her too lately," Jake paused and seemed to really be considering his next few words. He shuddered slightly at a though and continued. "We should go looking for her."
They scoured every edge of the Candy Kingdom. For once a slew of behind the back whispering seemed to hold some truth. With every failure at finding her, there turned up some clue as to her having been there. The Ne'er Do Well bars had her banned, criminals jumped in fear at her name, the Party God winced in turn, the Wildberry Kingdom wouldn't even open their doors! The Vampire Queen was most certainly having her bit of fun. Even after having followed her trail for days ( and following some of the most ridiculous rumors at that), they didn't seem any closer to finding her. The two were drained, weary at the thought that they weren't any closer to completing their mission. "Dude, she's not here at all. What...what if she's.."- "She's not dead Jake!" Finn was beet red, there was no way, no matter how erratic her behavior, that Marceline could be dead. "Look brother, even after what happened she's still my friend too. I don't wanna admit that people can croak either, but we haven't found her and it's been DAYS." The younger of the siblings hung his head and silently let a few tears escape. "We've been everywhere Jake, even the Nightosphere. Why can't we track her down? Where the heck else could she be? There's no where else, no whe-" A thought had struck and silent realization had struck the pair at once. They hadn't checked everywhere. In different circumstances the two might have laughed at the irony. The last place you check is often the most obvious, an answer so simple that you dismiss it as too easy. However, this wasn't the time for laughing, this was the time for searching the one place to have stupidly passed through both of their minds, Marcy's home.
It all happened at a slower pace of time. In later years Finn would remember that night as if it were a dream. Almost poetic in its drama, the struggle was quick and all that Finn could hear was the thumping of his own heart. The shower of wooden splinters as the burst through her door, the murky shadows and the air, thick with body odor. An emaciated figure emerging from seemingly nowhere. Jake grabbed at her, she dodged him, fin rushed towards her and she tripped, all of this resembling a dance in the hero's eyes. She made it to the door, looking back at the two with swollen eyes, dirty hair in her face. Had she been running with no thought of the brother she would have seen the young woman standingon the edge of her porch. They collided and at once time seemed to be catching up. Everything seemed to zoom before his eyes making Finn dizzy and as the sound returned, Marceline's sob where sharp almost deafening to Finn's ears.
"Ana! Ana, you're alive! It wasn't dreams...it *hic* was..YOU"RE HERE!" As the images in his head began to flow into normal time, Finn was faced with the image of Marceline gripping the intruder. A young woman about her ages, short dark hair, slightly tanned and not in the least suprised by the vampire's behavior, hugged her back. The young hero stepped forward, but was held back by Jake. The yellow dog nodded in the negative and although he made no move to leave, slowly backed away towards the the doorway. "For days now, DAYS, I've been smelling her." The words rung in his mind, a whisper of a previous conversation. Had this girl been the source of the queen's misery, the reason for her tears?
