Two days after Luna told Marshall of her past and a bit about her master, it was time for the shifter and the Vampire King to set off for Kyle's castle. Prince Gumball could not come with them because it would not be possible for him to leave the Candy Kingdom for that long unless it was for diplomatic reasons.
But he still saw them off. The three stood at the gate to the palace, Luna wondered on a ways ahead to let the lovers say good bye. Marshall embraced his pink haired lover tightly, breathing in his sweet pink lemonade and bubblegum scent, nuzzling his neck and pressing a soft kiss to it.
" I hate that I can't go with you my love, but I'll be waiting for you and praying for your swift return." Gumball's eyes misted as he stared at Marshall. "Don't cry babe, I'll be back before you know it." Marshall lifted his hands and wiped the few tears that had fallen from his princes eyes and kissed him sweetly, Gumball kissed back just as sweetly and before long they had to end it and pull back from each other.
They hugged each other tightly and it was Gumballs turn to nuzzle into the Vampires neck, he breathed in deeply loving how Marshall smelled of a wet mossy forest after an autumn rain storm. They pulled apart once more and Marshall walked backwards away from his prince so he could look at him till the other was out of sight, he heard Gumball yell after him to be safe and come home soon, Marshall yelled back that he would be careful.
" I love you Marshall! Come home safe and sound!" " I love you too Gumball! I'll be careful!" Marshall only turned around once he could no longer see Gumball and began the long trek across the land of Aaaa.
The first few weeks were uneventful though every town they passed through Marshall caused some trouble, it was just in his nature though he never hurt anyone, only scared them. They had left in the late evening when the sun had already gone to sleep and moon shone brightly. During the day Luna became an umbrella for Marshall to hold so as to stay out of the sun. They would spend the nights out among the stars and the black inky sky telling stories of days past with their friends, though Luna's tales often related to her day to day activities around the Castle and it's grounds.
The first week of their journey Marshall's sleep was plagued with nightmares that had him waking up screaming and sweating, Luna was there to comfort him and ease his fears.
The second and third weeks past by slowly and as Marshall grew more board and listless he became slightly more irritable and grumpy. The middle of the third week they encountered multicolored clouds that with out warning shot multicolored hail at the pair. Marshall and Luna dodged as best they could, Luna got hit in the head with a blue hail stone and her hair was dyed blue where the slush touched her hair, she laughed and ran around trying to dye her hair every color of the rainbow. Marshall on the other hand hand taken refuge in the bushes after he got hit in the face with a lime green slush ball.
The clouds dissipated when their mischief was done. Marshall looked out from his hiding place and laughed when he saw that Luna's hair was dye a myriad of colors, from blue to green to orange and purple, her clothes were also dyed several different colors. Marshall left the bush didn't leave the shade of the tree since the sun was still up, Luna changed in to an umbrella again and hopped over to him, he picked her up and continued on with the journey. Luna giggled when she saw that Marshall's face was a bright lime green color.
They encountered a stream and Marshall bulked, Luna was confused as there wasn't a stream there when she came that direction. Miles away in the Victorian castle, Kyle stood before an ornately hand carved Victorian mirror decorated with crosses, lilies, roses, and a vampire bat at the top of the mirror with it's mouth open. He waved a hand over the glass using his magic, the glass shimmered and he was able to see the two travelers as plain as day. "So, child, you managed to out last the hail storm and now let's see what you do with this river illusion I've created."
He smiled and touched the glass the image shimmered and returned to normal. He left this study, and wondered down a long corridor for several minutes in deep thought.'So, Marshall is a true vampire much like myself, unable to go out in daylight without protection. He feeds on the color red as apposed to blood like me. What an interesting boy. I wish the little shifter child had just asked to borrow my journal instead of just taking it.'
he chuckled a bit when a memory flashed before him of seeing Luna sneaking into his study and taking the journal, he hadn't gotten angry just curious as to what she was up to. 'That little shifter is very cute when she wants to be. I'll have to make sure she gets a treat for finding this Vampire child with a wild side. I hope no ill befalls them on the last leg of their journey.' As he was thinking, his walk had taken him to an underground laboratory, where beakers and test tubes contained bright colored liquids, two bookshelves were stood against opposite walls facing each other filled with old tomes and spell books.
The room was a lite with the soft glow from three large chandeliers each holding three hundred candles. In front of the work table stood a mahogany podium on which an ancient book of magic lay open, the spell on the page was for creating a monster made from the four elements, Earth, Water, Fire and Air. Kyle walked over to the podium and looked over the spell, he gave a nod and went over to the table and picked up several ingredients and put them in a mortar, picking up a pestle, he ground and crushed up the ingredients into a fine powder then he added in some soft loam from the earth, a few drops of water and some still hot ash that had once been plain paper till he set it a lite.
He mixed them up till the mixture bubbled. Using some dark arts he stepped into the shadows and disappeared from the lab and walked out of the side of the castle, there he waited for the wind to blow so he could create the Elemental monster and send it after pair. The point was not harm the Vampire and his companion only to test their strength in battle. He had left out the crucial ingredient to make the monster unstoppable, it would be easy to defeat if the Vampire had the ability change his form. "This will be an interesting battle indeed. How will you fare? Little Vampire." Kyle smirks softly as the wind blows.