Chapter Six: The Ice King

My name was…is Simon Petrikov. Before the Mushroom War I was an antiquarian, which meant I collected and studied artifacts. My personal life revolved around the kindest, most beautiful woman I'd ever met. At one time I had a picture of her but lost it somehow. I know she had glasses, pink hair, sometimes wore a white coat and that her name was Betty.

There wasn't a fiber in my being that didn't love her.

One day I bought a crown off a dock worker. I didn't think twice about how happy he was to be rid of it. The crown, it was beautiful and encrusted with jewels. It never occurred to me that it could have been evil. There were no signs of such things until one day while jesting with my beloved I had placed the crown atop my head.

That was the biggest mistake of my life.

Betty left me shortly after that because of something the crown, The Ice King, said and did. To this day I haven't a clue what I had said to drive her away. Sometimes I see her face, filled with confusion and disgust just staring at me frozen in time with her hand lashed out to throw the wedding band at me. When the world outside burned I had felt only the cold, the loneliness of losing her. Every bit of the world I knew had shattered when I watched all of humanity burn and vanish into the toxic fire.

I was alone with myself, faced with the monstrous man I was slowly becoming.

At first it was just the skin and the hair. But that wasn't enough for the crown so it kept changing me, making me better it said. My teeth began falling out on a Tuesday, I remember because I had found an apple tree. Horrible pointed teeth came in one by one, but I had been grateful to know that my blood was still red and lukewarm. By the time I had gotten a hold of myself I resembled a goblin and the few people I met out in the world were frightened of me.

The only one who saw past my appearance was a little girl, Marceline.

I gave her a bear from a pile of broken toys and she loved me. She loved me despite my appearance, despite everything I put her through. And I loved her, I really did. Marceline was everything to me.

But Ice King didn't need anyone, especially little girls.

Eventually he drove her away too. There had been a short period of time afterwards that I hoped and I prayed things would get better. And they got longer and more frequent until it seemed nothing could be done about it so I figured why fight it anymore. I told myself this until the blackouts ceased to be blackouts and were simply the way things were. I think the last time I closed my eyes I had been in some kind of cave.

I didn't open them again for a thousand years.

xxx

Simon woke up at his window, starring out into the night sky. He blinked a few times and pinched his nose as the projections playing on the moon faded away. How had he gotten over here? Sleeping, he thought, wasn't I sleeping? Looking over his shoulder Simon saw his sheets in shambles, thrown on the floor. Half stepping to the side Simon worriedly scanned the room in an attempt to clarify if he was experiencing the real world or another of his hallucinations.

Tenderly he set his hands on the glassless window and peered over the ledge, wondering whether he'd live if he jumped or not. A soft cough brought his attention to the door and Simon's feet lowered to the floor in a more secure fashion. Marceline was there, combing her fingers through her hair with a bit of sleep in her eye. She brought her hand up and clumsily attempted to rub it out, looking so much like the little girl Simon had known all those years ago. Simon smiled and gestured for her to come to join him.

"You're up already?" she mumbled as she floated in place beside him. "You seemed pretty worn out a couple hours ago"

"It isn't that I'm not tired…I can't sleep", he admitted in earnest as he lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. "My brain is trying to process all this information…"

"Your memories are coming back to you?" Marceline was hesitant to ask, but desperately needed to know.

Simon gave the girl a sideways glance and then turned his attention to the moon. It was beautiful. He remembered that when he was human he would watch it sometimes. Humans liked things like that. What Simon liked now, he wasn't completely sure. He knew that he enjoyed company, which Marceline provided but he also longed for something that he couldn't name.

"I remember bits and pieces of things", he chewed idly on his bottom lip as he spoke with careful articulation. "I remember…wanting Betty to come back to me. I wanted her back so badly"

Simon paused for a moment as his mind wandered to the look on Betty's face when he had presented her with the golden band that she had accepted with a smile. He had never been a rich man, but he was wealthy in one aspect, which was his warm heart. Betty had loved him for his aspirations, for his kindness…but left him for his madness. Marceline had loved him despite his outbursts, despite the pain he put her through. Yes, Betty was his everything, but Marceline, his little Marci was something too.

"…I remember missing you", Simon closed his eyes as bits of images played like a projection on the surface of the moon. "…and I know that boy, Finn and his dog", his shoulders rose as he turned to Marceline and nodded affirmatively. "They are a good couple of kids"

"Yeah", Marceline shrugged. "They're cool guys I guess", she paused to see if he would say anything else but he didn't. "Simon?"

"Hm?" he mumbled groggily. "Yes…I was just going to bed I think?"

Marceline noticed Simon's head lowering, his eyes fluttering closed. Not wanting him to fall asleep right then and there, she led him gently back to his bed and picked the blankets off the floor to loosely tuck him in. Simon rolled onto his side and drifted off instantly. The Vampire Queen sympathetically watched him curl into a ball as if her were cold before gathering herself to leave, assuming that for one reason or another he had been sleepwalking.

Marceline only half turned before she heard him whimper something in his sleep and reached down to lightly brush the long white strands of hair from his face. A content smile contagiously spread from his face to hers. It was lost however the moment Marceline turned and saw the crown on the floor. He still hadn't picked it up. Still, the good sign fell on deaf ears as she let her feet touch the ground besides it.

Once when she was little Marceline had tried to pick it up. Simon, or the Ice King hadn't liked that one little bit and had all but thrown her to the ground. He explained that the crown could only be touched by him, held by him and worn by him. It had for one reason or another grown a liking to Simon. Maybe it was because Simon had truly needed it back then and the crown fed off his need. Perhaps it enjoyed the control.

But it never truly had full control. Marceline saw Simon in the Ice King. His truest desires had bled through the madness and affected his motives in the end. That was why she had worked so hard to save him, because he was still salvageable. But maybe having his memories, having her wasn't enough? Even if he was here in a sense, he'd likely never be the man he was before the war. The man in those tapes had been so curious and timid, whereas the years have shaped Simon to be a more hesitant and fearful man.

A small yawn escaped Marceline as she side stepped the crown and floated back into the living room. Next to the armchair she'd laid a stack of stapled papers face down to save her spot. It was some kind of weird story Ice King had written revolving around a place called Aaa. She picked it up and read a few pages before she drifted off to sleep again. Light snoring came under her breath as she turned on her side her hands clasped together and huddled under her cheek like a pillow.

"Simon?" the hushed but chipper voice whispered. "Simon…are you awake?"

A small grumble came from Simon as he rolled onto his back. His leg now hung off the edge of the cot as he slumbered. He scratched his itchy beard but otherwise did not stir. The figure giggled, thinking oh what fun as he gestured his hand towards the crown. It lifted into the air and floated to his green-blue hands. When he touched the crown nothing happened except he set it in Simon's open palm.

"Wazoo!" the intruder shouted as he vanished in a puff of multi colored smoke.

Simon shot up in surprise. His all white eyes scanned the room as he scrambled up onto his knees. As he shifted his weight he heard something heavy slide off the edge of the bed. When it hit the ground the sound it made was solid, if a sound could be described in weight. A strange sensation washed over him as he sat in stillness, unsure of why he was so afraid to move.

Nervously he leaned and looked over the edge and his face paled when saw that it was his crown on the floor. Hesitantly Simon reached a shaky hand down. His fingertips slowly and along a pointed edge, lifted the brim, hooked is fingers under it and lifted the crown. He held it with both hands, starring at it as if it had come to life. It felt nice in his hands when they turned it back and forth, holding it with care.

A small noise came from the living room, startling Simon. In his surprise he dropped the crown suspecting Marceline could walk in on him at any moment. He sat still on his bed, eyes wide, his hands held shakily open. Simon shook his head as a little voice wove its way into his ear. Marceline was asleep. Simon slowly moved his attention from his bedroom entrance to the crown now practically in his lap. He licked his dry lips as his fingers twitched on their own and inched towards it.

"No", his voice harshly ordered. "Stop…pull it together"

'Pick it up again', he heard the Ice king say. 'Pick up my crown'

"…No" Simon shook his head, slammed his balled fists at his sides. "I won't fall for your tricks again, I won't leave Marceline"

'I can take care of your precious Marceline', the Ice King's voice snickered. 'Much better than you, you weak old fool'

Simon felt a bitter cold pain shoot through his spine. He lurched forwards, feeling freezer burn shoot through his insides. The voice kept making demands, demanding Simon to pick up the crown. Laying flat on his back Simon did his very best to steady his breathing and meditate. He'd win this time around, he just had to. But as it got later and later Simon again grew tired and eventually his heavy eyes fell closed.

The dead weight of his hand slipped off his chest and landed it besides the crown, resting against its jarring cold surface. Simon did not awaken, not even when his breath left him as frost.

xxx

Sunrise surprised Marceline, who scrambled groggily to get away from the uncovered window. She heard noises coming from the kitchen, and the sound of someone talking. There was a blanket on the floor that had been covering her. Marceline picked it up and found the fabric chilled. She huddled her body in on itself as she noticed her breath forming a light cloud in front of her face. It had gotten colder overnight. Not good.

She pulled the blanket over her head and wrapped herself in it as she flew past Simon's bedroom. As she floated by Marceline felt compelled to look through the open doorway and peering inside Marceline noticed two things immediately; one was that Simon wasn't there and the second was neither was the crown. A lump formed in her throat as her feet hit the ground.

Losing traction as she slid half-hazardly into the kitchen Marceline focused in on Simon who was standing at the stove cooking what looked liked breakfast. He wasn't wearing the crown. She sighed, rather loudly as it alerted him of her presence. Simon turned around with a smile and ushered her to come into the kitchen. It wasn't with the same countenance that Marceline entered the frostbitten kitchen. Simon left what he was doing, wiping his hands on his apron before innocently extending his arms for a hug.

As he wrapped his arms around her she felt something sharp hit her thigh. Marceline curiously looked down and saw that he had tied the crown to a belt loop with a piece of rope. Immediately Marceline pulled back, and the distance between them left Simon confused. He looked down and inspected himself, tugging at his jacket and smelling his hair. There was nothing amiss.

His expression shifted, a little irritation breaching the surface. Marceline looked away, sat back down. Her fingers fiddled over one another as she closed herself off. When he inched towards her she gave him a sideways glare. Nervously he looked off to the side and rubbed the back of his neck, wincing.

"Did…I do something?" he asked rather pathetically. "You seem, upset with me"

"No" Marceline answered plainly, rubbing her arm as she looked down at the crown, drawing his attention to it as well. "It's just…" she clutched the blanket tighter and looked up into his white eyes, only breaking contact when she spoke. "…it's really cold in here"

"Oh"

Simon's face went blank and he went back to cooking, which Marceline chalked off as odd. Still she held her tongue, pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to ignore the cold. Glancing over at him she bit her bottom lip wondering if it was possible that he was already slipping. Would she lose her friend again, so soon? It made her heart feel restricted. It beat in her chest, pressing against the walls that closed in on it.

Simon continued on with breakfast, stirring the eggs and turning the bacon as he saw fit to keep himself occupied. Considering her options Marceline decided to prod the bull a bit. She spoke carefully as she was almost certain Simon wasn't the one preparing breakfast. It gave her jarring chills to think his Ice King persona was in the driver's seat at the moment.

"So…how'd you sleep?"

"Sleep?" his voice grumbled as he began transferring the food from the pans to the plates. "I…um, not sure", he set a plate in front and next to her before sitting down. "How did you sleep?"

Marceline looked at him, his face was slightly pouty and rings were under his eyes. Well, more than usual. Simon looked as if he had been up all night. When he tilted his head, curiosity finding him as to why she was starring so hard at his face Marceline adverted her stare, focusing instead on her food; a simple plate of bacon and eggs with toast and jam. As fresh as it was everything was quickly getting cold.

"Fine, I guess", she commented while prodding her eggs with a frosted fork. "Um…"

"Yes?" he smiled as he turned his full attention to her, food falling out of his opened mouth. "Oh, is it the food? You don't like it…"

"No, it's fine…" she took a small bite to appease him before hesitantly asking her question. "I…um, was like just wondering about…about, um…the crown?"

Simon's hand went to it, latched onto it. His mouth tightened into a hard, fine line as he thought about how it had gotten there only to regretfully discover that he hadn't a clue. The first thing he remembered was deciding to cook breakfast, but before that…nothing.

"The…crown", he hesitantly responded, leaning so that it was further from her. "Oh, um…you see", as Marceline's expression hardened at his expected lie Simon's did too, till he scowled. "Stop that"

"What?" Marceline questioned. "Stop what?"

"Looking at me like that!" he shouted slamming his fist on the table, startling Marceline. Her fork hit the tabletop with a light clink. "Contempt! Y-You hate me too now, don't you. Yes you do I can see it. With that face!"

"Simon…" Marceline's voice was quiet as she tried to calm him down. "I…don't hate you and…I'm not making any face"

"Yes you are! Don't lie to me!" he shouted, trembling, his eyes squinting. "I have eyes you know, I can see you…and after I got up and made it snow, stole that girl and made you breakfast!"

Unable to help herself Marceline did a double take, and thought to herself that one of those things he just said shouldn't belong in a morning checklist. What did he say…did she hear him correctly? Anger momentarily swelled inside her. Here she was catering to him and he wasn't even trying to get better. Instead he was parading around as the Ice King doing whatever it was he was doing, aside from apparently kidnapping someone, while she was asleep. She flew out of her seat and right into Simon's face. He leaned back in his chair, grumpily accepting the invasion of his personal space as she kept an inch distance between them.

"What. Did. You. Do?" she demanded sternly.

"What…" he shrugged, still bothered by her lack of appreciation. "I made it snow, girls like snow right? And I cooked breakfast…" he paused muttering from the corner of his mouth. "The girl was supposed to be a surprise snack after breakfast"

"Girl?" Marceline gasped as she floated backwards, her hands clutching her hair. "Oh. My. Grod", she groaned. "You kidnapped someone for me to eat?"

"That's what vampire's do right", he shrugged. "I was just trying to make you happy"

"Do I look happy to you?"

"Well, er…no actually", he chuckled nervously. "Not nearly as happy as I thought you'd be for some reason…"

"Where did you put her Simon?"

"Well!" he sighed as he grabbed Marceline's shoulders and backed her out of his space. "At least I did one thing right…you didn't find her"

Ice King pushed his plate away, crossed his arms and stomped off into the other room. Marceline floated over his shoulder with her head hung low so her hair fell over her face. She followed him into the living room and watched in confusion as her friend stomped over to the closet and stopped. He pouted with his arms crossed in utter silence. Tilting her head to the side Marceline hovered beside him looking at the closet door.

"You…" she said plainly. "You put her in the closet?"

"Well yeah!" he exclaimed, waving his arms above his head. "Duh! Where else was I going to put her?"

"Well…you've got that cage over there", she gestured to it with her thumb. "Why not put her in there?"

"I dunno", he grumbled in a familiar raspy voice. "Cause you would have seen her and junk, plus she kept making all this noise while she was crying and I didn't want her to wake you up", he lifted his shoulders in a hard singular shrug. "You were never much of a morning person"

"Whatever you weirdo", Marceline corrected as she leaned past him to open the closet door. "Let's just let her go I guess", Marceline felt an unsual amount of pressure as she twisted the knob "What the junk!?"

A large collection of things tumbled out of Ice King's closet; drumsticks, old shoes, a plunger, a broom, several penguins and a giant block of ice. A few chunks snapped off as the giant misshapen cube hit the floor and slid across to the opposite wall. It bounced off the wall and flew right into Ice King's drum set, knocking everything every which way.

A loud cry came from Ice King as he reached out, clumsily scrambling across the floor. Running was made difficult with the shoes he was wearing and he only got a few feet from Marceline before he toppled over and slid face first into the wall. She hissed at the thundering sound of Simon colliding with the wall.

"Ow…ow…ow…" he whimpered as he collected himself from the heap he was on the floor, hesitantly cradling his now crumpled nose. "My nose. Ow…hey, how'd I get- Marceline?"

Looking to his right Simon saw his drum set in shambles, the pieces in tact but strewn through ought the living room. Besides him was a symbol, which he gently picked up and rested against his upturned knees. His reflection looked back at him with confusion. The confusion only grew when he noticed the giant rock of ice sitting where his drum set had been. Simon reached over and wiped the frost from its surface. He quickly retracted his hand, dropping the symbol in the process.

As it spun to a stop on the floor the ice melted and the captured creature was released. It was Wildberry princess, eyes closed and barely breathing. Jam was something Marceline had enjoyed back when the world had been remade. It lasted for a long time and was sweet. Wildberry Princess made the best jam, even if it was mostly made of meat. Marceline slapped herself in the face.

"I'd better get her home before anyone notices or comes looking for her", Marceline sighed as if she were doing childhood chores. "Simon, just go finish your breakfast or something. I'll be back in a bit"

"Y-You're leaving?" Simon all but shrieked. "Marceline, I kidnapped someone…a-and and I entrapped them in ICE!" he stammered in horror. "T-That's psychotic! I'm insane!"

He quickly unfastend the crown from his side and threw it across the floor. It made Marceline sad to see him in such a low spot, but business had to be taken care of before she could properly get the situation under hand. She did her best to ease his guilt, Simon had always been a goody goody. It bothered him to his core when the crown made him do bad things whether they were big or small.

"Oh so what?" Marceline snickered dryly. "You do it all the time. It's not that a big a deal really", she trailed off as she collected the princess in her arms. "Just don't be surprised if Finn and Jake show up to, I dunno teach you a lesson"

"Teach me a lesson?" Simon spoke under his breath as he lowered and scratched his head in thought. "Oh my. Those boys are going to beat me up!"

"Nah, just tell I'm handlin it", Marceline assured her friend coolly. "So I'm going to take Wildberry home. You, uh just keep yourself occupied till I get back"

"Okay", he tiredly, worriedly agreed as he collected himself from the floor.

xxx

"I can't believe…" the princesses voice screeched through the dinning hall, flustered and shaken. "How dare a royal breakfast guest of mine simply be plucked from the kitchen like some piece of fruit!?"

"Your highness", a high unnatural voice calmly soothed. "I will summon Finn and Jake and they will take care of the matter I'm sure"

"Yes! Summon them to the castle! This is a matter of the highest priority!" she howled, kicking the dining hall doors wide open. "Ice King will pay for ruining my Royal breakfast party! He! Will! Pay!"

"Yes princess", Peppermint butler assured as he followed her out into the hall. "And Wildberry Princess will be recovered safe and sound assuredly!"

"Wildberry Princess…oh, yeah of course", Bubblegum added, brushing off her selfish agenda for the sake of her fellow princess.

"I'm on it!"

The two foot mint man disappeared down the hall. Bubblegum ground her fists together, feeling some reprieve in the fact that Finn and Jake would give Ice King his just desserts, but also wishing she could be there to give him one good one herself. She had always held a special hatred in her heart for the blue goblin wizard. He attempted time and time again to swoon her, but he was pathetic and disgusting and cruel.

If she never saw his face again she wouldn't regret it.

((Author's Note))

Whew...long chapter, though i'm not sure a whole lot got accomplished. Sorry about that, the next chapter will be more exciting as you've probably guessed that PB will be added to the equation along with the return of Finn and the addition of Jake. I actually had written three pages with both Finn and Jake for an early chapter but edited it out. Anyways enough blibbity blabber, hope y'all had a merry Christmas and enjoyed the latest chapter. Chapter seven should be up much sooner as if written most of it down in my notebook.

R&R...seriously I love reviews, even simple ones