The Ice King was ecstatic. He rose from the ground in a matter of seconds, his face wet with cold tears, but drying quickly. Before the princess knew what was happened, his warms were wrapped around hers, engulfing her in his grasp.
She gasped, lifting her head away, but he began to thank her over and over again. Did he forget the he kidnapped her?
She waited for the sound of breaking glass—the sound of splintering wood cracking under the pressure of Finn's shoulder, or Jake's fist. It never came. She didn't want to be in this situation. This change of heart was all too fast for her, and she didn't like it one bit. The Ice King had kidnapped her because he needed help, not a wife. It sounded as if he had given up what he had done that made everyone hate him for so long.
When he pulled away, his dark eyes stared into her baby blue ones, a look of gratitude on his smitten face. He smiled generously, his face shining victoriously. Princess Bubblegum felt uncomfortable under his happy stare so much that she looked away, rolling in her lips.
"Thank you so much, Princess. Here, I want you to meet him right now!"
He began to drag her, hand in hand, deeper and deeper into the Ice Palace, much farther than she had ever been. It turned out that it was much bigger than she expected, mostly because she had only seen a small portion of it. The deeper they got, the colder the air became.
They descended some icy stairs and entered a large hallway. An icicle chandelier hung above and the Ice King hurriedly rushed her down the hallway. Her feet were no longer on cold ice, but on a blue carpet, thankfully.
They came to a door at the end of this hallway, big and gallant and vast, built like an intricate ice sculpture. No matter how much she didn't want to believe it, there had always been something she liked about the ice castle. It was the beautiful way it was made. The sculptures, the architecture… It was all brilliant.
The Ice King released her hand to grasp the door knobs. He opened the door, and a wave a cold air blew strands of her bubblegum hair. She shivered. The stair case was hardly seen behind the darkness.
"Oh, he always forgets to light the torches," the Ice King said disappointingly. "Someone's going to slip and fall, one day." He actually sounded like a father. Not a sadistic-princess-kidnapping villain. Princess Bubblegum couldn't help but notice it.
But at the sight of the darkened staircase, she almost stepped back. It looked frightening, like they were stepping down to be eaten by a dungeon dwelling monster. But the Ice King looked quite pleased as he began to lead the way down the darkened staircase.
He lit a torch, with what the princess wasn't sure of. He used the lit torch to light each one on the wall as they descended. Princess Bubblegum nervously followed. Who lives at the bottom of a dark staircase?
But down at the bottom was a doorway arch. Light flooded out. The princess took a deep breath, holding it without realizing it. She shouldn't have agreed to it. She knew she shouldn't have.
The Ice King walked through the doorway, the princess in tow. As she walked through, she looked around. The ice room was tinted in light pinks (not too many to make it look girly) and many dark blues. The large bed, draped in a large blue blanket, had a round end, and at the top was a chandelier, bigger and more beautiful than the one in the hallway, with light flooding from the center.
The princess spotted a figure hunched over the desk. She spotted a snow white cape, and hair as white to match. He was scribbling on paper—or that was what it sounded like. She could hear the pen scraping against the parchment.
"Son, I have someone here to see you."
The reply was immediate. And cold. "I'm busy."
"Son—"
He suddenly turned, slowly, and his face was revealed to the princess. His skin was pale blue, just like his father's. His eyes menacing and cold, but a beautiful dark blue. His hair was shaggy, snow-white, and slightly swept to the side. He was beautiful.
But the coldness of his gaze had Princess Bubblegum recoiling. She hadn't meant to, it just happened. The Ice King was right. The air around him got colder the closer you got.
She watched as he nodded toward her, speaking to the Ice King. "She looks scared," he said, slightly bemused, "I thought you didn't steal princesses anymore?"
"I don't," the Ice King hurriedly replied. "I'm simply trying to crack you out of your shell."
"I don't have a shell, father."
"Oh, but you do."
The Ice Prince rolled his eyes, turning back to his desk before standing and walking through another door to another room—probably a bathroom. The Ice King sighed and walked over to the other side of the room. He put out his hand in mid-air and Princess Bubblegum had to look away as a bright light sprouted from his palm. When the light cleared, she saw that he had made a bed of ice, but with a soft, cushiony mattress, soft white pillow, and a big pink blanket on it. It was nearly half the size of the Ice Prince's bed, but that was all anyone would need to sleep on.
Her face contorted into one of confusion. "Wait…"
"Yes?" he replied.
"I thought this would be a…quick thing."
"Now, Princess, did you really think it would take a few hours? Did you think you could use science to fix this?"
She didn't reply, looking downward with a shamed glance even though he was correct in both statements.
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy. You already said you would help me, right?"
She nodded.
"Then you'll move in."
Her stomach squirmed. He had tricked her. She didn't think she'd have to move in to help him.
She opened her mouth to object, to tell him that she was going to go home, but something stopped her. She was bound by her word. She said she would help, and as a princess, she cannot back down.
"But…but what about the Candy Kingdom?"
"You can rule it from here," he replied, a grin on his pale blue face. "I'll even help you protect it. My penguins are excellent guards."
The Ice King had just offered to help protect her kingdom, even though she knew she should be doing it on her own. That was how she always did it.
Now, she was a little confused of what to think.
X~X~X~X
Finn jerked the controller upward, but the virtual Finn on BMO fell off the cliff to its doom. That had been its last life.
"No!" Finn cried dramatically, dropping the controller.
"Man, sorry dude," Jake replied with a laugh, putting a soda can on the table for Finn. He slurped his own can loudly.
"So…close…"
"Man, dude, calm down, no one can get past level seven."
"But we're awesome," Finn complained. "We should be able to beat—"
A ring erupted from BMO, startling both the dog and the human. They both looked at their friend. BMO smiled. "You have a video request!"
"A video request?" Finn didn't even know BMO could get those.
BMO bobbed her head once. "Would you like me to answer?"
Jack cheered, "Heck yeah!"
BMO pressed a button on her body, and her screen flashed. Sitting in a chair was Princess Bubblegum. She looked strange. Unsettled. Her eyes avoided the camera.
They could faintly hear someone behind the camera whisper to her, and she asked, "Oh, it's on?"
She hurriedly looked toward the camera, smiling. She began in her normal, tired voice. "Oh… Hey, Finn. Jake."
They didn't get a chance to reply.
"Listen, I need you to watch the Candy Kingdom for me for a while, okay? I'm helping a…another kingdom in need. Do you think you could handle it for a while?"
Finn and Jake glanced at each other. The both seemed to notice the princess's strange background. "Princess? Where are you?"
She glanced around her. "I'm…in the tundra. Very cold." She shivered. "I have to go, now, so please take care of everything while I'm gone." She smiled, but something about it was strange—forced.
"Bye, Finn! Bye, Jake!"
The screen went blank.
And the two looked utterly confused.
