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You should all send mental appreciation to my beta The Awes0me 0ne who improved my story, and if I hadn't sent it to him, I would have lost the revision I made. So, yay!
Anyway enjoy!
Chapter 8: Surprise
Jermaine and Finn climbed on a now large Jake's back, and the magical dog took off towards the Candy Kingdom with Marceline flying alongside him. At this speed, they would reach the kingdom fairly quickly.
Jermaine was stunned by this sudden development. Finn had mentioned the princess of the Candy Kingdom many times, and they obviously knew each other, but for royalty such as her to call on Finn and Jake in a crisis was baffling. Didn't the princess have guards, and if it came down to it, a whole army trained for this kind of thing? The way Jake and Finn left the Treefort without a moment of hesitation, except for the brief second Jake had gone upstairs to grab a packpack, lead Jermaine to believe this might be a common occurrence.
It had to be around four-thirty by the time they made it to the castle. Jermaine noticed the streets were unsettlingly empty, and apparently Finn noticed this as well.
"Where is everybody?" Finn asked.
Jake shrank back to normal size when they reached the castle's main entrance. He adjusted his backpack over his shoulders and Jermaine wondered why he brought a bag if Finn was already wearing one. How much stuff did they need? After closer inspection, the group found the main castle door to be left unlocked, and they hurriedly piled into the entrance way.
"Let's go see if we can find PB, dude." Jake suggested. "I'm sure she will be able to tell us what's going on."
Finn raced down the great hall, his friend and brothers at his side. He grabbed the handles and threw open the door to the large throne room.
Dark. The entire throne room was incased with darkness.
"Hello?" Finn called as he stepped into the room.
The light flicked on, temporarily blinding Jermaine.
"Surprise!" numerous people shouted. Jermaine blinked rapidly, trying to process the scene before him. "Happy birthday, Finn!" The whole kingdom seemed to be gathered in the large throne room, each person with wide grins on their faces. Confetti rained down from the ceiling, and the walls were decorated with streamers and balloons.
"Whaa?" Finn asked his eyes wide in disbelief.
An older girl with a golden crown approached them, giggling at Finn's stunned expression.
"Looks like we got you, Finn," the princess said with a wide smile. She placed her palms outwards, indicating the party around them. "Happy birthday!"
"You guys put this together—for me?" Finn gaped.
"I just want you to know Finn," a purple, floating princess interrupted, "that I helped put up the decorations. So, like, you're welcome and stuff."
Finn looked like he couldn't physically stop grinning. "Thanks LSP! Thanks guys … Peebles!"
"Well, you should really thank Jake," the princess explained. "He really wanted you to have the best birthday possible."
Finn turned to his best friend, his grin still permanently plastered on his face. "Thanks man, wow, everyone is here! This is the best birthday present ever!" He hugged the dog tightly; Finn's face buried in his brother's fur.
"Well, actually," Jake corrected as Finn pulled away. "This isn't really the present I go-" But Jake didn't get to finish his sentence.
Marceline slung an arm around Finn's neck with a laugh. "It's a good thing your way too naïve to suspect anything." She grinned.
"You knew about this too, Marceline?"
"Che, yeah, you can't have a party with me, weenie." She gave his shoulders a little squeeze before letting go and grabbing her axe-bass from behind her back. "Time to teach Bonnibel's sugary subjects how to throw a party!"
Bubblegum glared after the vampire, a skeptical look on her face. "She's going to wreck the place," the princess decided unhappily as she watched Marceline fly off.
"Oh, Princess, I want you to meet my oldest brother, Jermaine! He came for my birthday!"
The princess broke her concerned gaze with the vampire, and smiled warmly down at Jermaine.
"It's lovely to meet you, Jermaine," she greeted. "Family of Finn and Jake's are always welcome in my kingdom." Jermaine immediately liked this princess. The way she spoke sounded like true royalty; clear, charismatic and warm. She was the complete opposite of the vampire queen.
"Thank you, Princess. I'm honored to be in your kingdom." Jermaine said awkwardly, unsure about how to talk to a princess. "It's so nice of you to throw a party for my bro." Nice? Nice didn't cover it. Jermaine couldn't believe that the princess of a kingdom organized an entire surprise party for Finn. He knew Finn and the princess were friends, but this was something a best friend, or even family, would do.
The princess waved off his appreciation. "Of course, I hope you guys enjoy the party." She held out her arms, and it wasn't until Finn did the same, did Jermaine realize she was asking Finn for a hug.
"Thanks again, PB," Finn said, letting go of the princess.
Bubblegum smiled and retreated into the party, occasionally ordering the castle staff to do something such as bringing out more refreshments or clearing the empty plates.
Marceline was talking with the band the princess hired to play. The candy people allowed a respectful distance between themselves and Marceline, but they didn't seem overly concerned that there was a vampire among them. The band that Marceline was talking to seemed put out, but not scared. No one in the castle seemed scared of Marceline. It was strange; Jermaine thought they would be terrified or at least a little bit nervous about having such a strong and powerful undead creature around. Most people would be. Instead, it was like the residence of the Candy Kingdom were used to having the vampire in their midst.
The band started playing again, but instead of the lively, almost folk-like music they were playing before, the beat was much faster and closely resembled rock music. Marceline also seemed to have joined the band.
"Marceline!" The princess yelled over the loud music.
The vampire stopped playing. "Oh, hey Bonnibel, like how I fixed your party?"
"No! I instructed the band to play certain songs at precise times all according to my calculations and the mood of the party-goers! I had it perfect, and you're messing up my research!"
Marceline sighed, a sound Jermaine could barely hear over the music. "You've forgotten the purpose of music, Bonnie, especially at a party. Music doesn't just fit a person's mood, it creates the mood! And right now I'm creating a rockin' party!" Marceline stuck out her tongue as she slammed down a few cords on her bass. "Besides, I'm sure Finn likes this music better, and it's his party!"
Bubblegum crossed her arms in a huff, but didn't object further. The princess listened to the band play a little longer before turning to talk to a peppermint guy in a suit.
It seemed like Princess Bubblegum was just as familiar with the vampire as Finn and Jake were. An idea occurred to Jermaine; if he wanted to learn more about Marceline and what her intentions were, he should talk to someone else who knew her. Princess Bubblegum was royalty, and probably well-educated with a hopefully objective view of the situation. If he were to get anyone's opinion on the matter, the princess was the obvious best choice.
Jermaine excused himself and followed after the princess. Finn didn't seem to notice, because at that moment an older gentleman with green, scaly skin, three eyes, and a sharp smile chose to talk to him.
"Hello," a man in his forties stepped out from the crowd to addressed Finn. He had a nice suit made from fine cloth, and a smile that made Finn feel uncomfortable. His three eyes blinked back at him, each at a different time, and he had green skin that resembled the scales of a lizard. "I'm Earl Gekkota of the Tropic Kingdom, and you must be Finn the birthday boy?"
"Umm." Finn glanced over at Jake who shrugged his shoulders at him. "Yep, that's me," Finn said uncomfortably.
"Congratulations, young man. I was only in the Candy Kingdom on the behalf of my King to discuss our relations with Princess Bubblegum, but I'm so glad I was able to meet you."
Finn tilted his head in confusion. "You wanted to meet me?"
"But of course!" The Earl slapped Finn on the back. "You're very rare, young man. You have to be the last human alive… unless you've seen others?"
Finn hesitated. Marceline's warning about protecting Susan ran through his mind, and there was something off about this man… something Finn didn't like.
"Yeah," Finn laughed nervously. "I was raised by my dog family. I really don't know much about humans."
"That's a shame," the Earl hummed. "Well, I'll let you get back to your party. I wouldn't want to keep you. It was nice meeting you."
Finn echoed the same parting.
"You okay, dude? You look kinda pale," Jake observed.
"I do? Nah dude, I'm fine."
"Excuse me, Princess," Jermaine interrupted as politely as he could when he finally caught up to the candy princess.
"Oh Jermaine, what can I do for you?" The princess asked kindly, her full attention on him as she shooed away one of her subjects.
Jermaine felt a little uneasy about talking to a princess, but Finn and Jake seemed to be casual with her, so as long as he was polite he didn't think he would run into many problems.
"Umm, first I wanted to thank you again for throwing this party for Finn. It was really nice of you."
The princess waved him off. "Of course, Finn is a close friend and a friend to all my subjects. He deserves this," she said affectionately.
"I hope I'm not intruding too much, princess, but I wanted to as you a question."
"What kind of question?" she asked lightly.
"It's about Marceline…"
The princess's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"You seemed to know her, and I was wondering… umm, how well do you know her?"
Jermaine's heart clenched with the princess scowled. "Why do you want to know about that?" Bubblegum countered, clearly disgruntled, and the dog flinched at her tone. The princess seemed to collect herself. "I'm sorry; I'm just not used to people asking…well, asking about her." She took a breath. "I've known her since I was seven. Why do you ask?" She seemed to resume her polite demeanor.
Jermaine hesitated for a second before explaining, "I just met her this morning and I- I just want to know more about her. She's hanging around with my brothers and she seems pretty nice but—"
Bubblegum pursed her lips. "I think I get it."
"Huh?"
"You're worried about Finn and Jake." Jermaine gaped at how accurate she was. Princess Bubblegum was obviously very intelligent.
"Yeah…"
"The problem is, I can assure you a hundred times over of the confidence I have in Marceline, but if you don't see it for yourself, then it won't mean anything."
Jermaine thought he understood, and she had a point. No matter how many people tell him Marceline isn't going to hurt them, even if it is Marceline herself, he isn't going to truly believe it until he can find his own understanding of the situation.
"You have to know for yourself," Bubblegum continued. "You have to think about this logically. Obviously, you are concerned because of what vampires are known for feeding on. You must consider her intentions as well as your experience with her."
That… made a lot of sense. However, Jermaine's experiences with the vampire had only been when Marceline was being friendly.
Was that what the princess was trying to get at?
"Of course, you have only known her for a day, and a day of observation is not nearly long enough for a proper experiment."
"I just don't know if she had ulterior intentions… or… or if I'm just being over protective."
The princess smiled. "Give it some time. Marceline takes a while to get used to, and you haven't gathered enough data. But after you have all your evidence, can I give you one piece of advice?" the princess questioned.
"Of course, Princess, what is it?"
"Forget all of it and just go with what you feel is right, because people aren't experiments and you'll only be able to forgive yourself if you did what you thought was right." The princess bit her lip. "I've learned that the hard way."
Jake snuck away from the dance floor in order to find Princess Bubblegum. He, Jermaine, and Finn had been at the party for a few hours and as fun as it was, Jake wanted to give his present to Finn before it became too late. However, he had been working on his presents for many months now, and it wasn't a simple task of just giving it to Finn. The present was more complicated than that, and he wanted to check with Bubblegum before he led Finn away from the party. The cake had already been cut, and they had danced until it became dark outside, but Jake still felt guilty about taking the guest of honor away from his party for who knows how long.
As Jake approached the room where he was told he could find Bubblegum, he could hear loud yelling coming from within. At first, he thought the princess was being abducted by the Ice King again, but when he began to rush in and save her, the shouts became clearer and before he opened the door he picked up a different voice.
"No! Absolutely not!" Jake heard a very angry Bubblegum shout.
"Princess, think about what you're giving up." Jake was pretty sure he was hearing the voice of that lizard-like Earl that was talking to Finn earlier. "I can smooth everything over with my king. I can make him give the Candy Kingdom all the resources you need at a very low price. My good word is worth a lot, Princess, and I'm even willing to pay out of my own pocket-"
"How many times do I have to say it? NO!" Bubblegum sounded furious; there was actual hate in her voice. Jake had never heard her speak to someone this way, not even the Duke of Nuts. Jake hesitated on opening the door. He didn't want to interrupt something this important.
"You said yourself you would do anything to make sure this deal went through," the Earl continued smoothly. "What is one sacrifice if it means you can help your whole kingdom? Don't be selfish, Princess."
"Selfish?" The princess gasped. "How dare you! You come into my kingdom and ask… and ask… I can't even believe you still do this! It's barbaric!"
"No, Princess, this is a part of my kingdom's culture. Keep an open mind; it's normal where I come from."
"Well, maybe I don't want to have relations with your kingdom then, if this is how you do things!" Bubblegum countered.
"Don't be so short-sighted princess. Can't you see that we can help each other? You don't know how much I would be willing to pay— so rare. We could make a fortune—" There was a deafening slap.
Jake pulled the door open immediately and saw a shaking Princess Bubblegum and a huge red mark on the Earl's cheek. "Get out of my kingdom, now, or I'll have my guards throw you out," Bubblegum snarled.
"Very well, Princess, but you will regret this." The Earl did a sweeping bow before about-facing and heading towards the exit. He passed Jake on the way out.
"Whoa," Jake breathed. "What was that about?"
Bubblegum froze and gave Jake a wide-eyed expression that he couldn't quite understand.
"Jake… how… how much of that did you hear?" her voice was barely above a whisper.
The dog shrugged. "Just that he was trying to buy something. What was it anyway?
Bubblegum swallowed and shook her head. "Nothing—I mean, never mind. It's taken care of." The Princess hesitated. "Wh-where's Finn?"
"He's with Jermaine. Seriously, princess, what is going on? I've never heard you that mad."
"I just…" the princess hesitated, "I'm just now realizing that not all kingdoms are like the ones we have around here."
"I don't get it, what was he asking to buy?"
"I-I think I should go see, Finn," Bubblegum requested suddenly, and she headed towards the exit. Jake grabbed her arm gently.
"Princess? What is it?" Jake pleaded. "Talk to me; you look a little scared…"
Bubblegum bit her lip, but then forced out a smile. "Nothing, it's fine."
"What did he want? I can help you."
Bubblegum shook her head. "It's fine; I just need to go see Finn. He's in the throne room, right?"
Jake's forehead creased in confusion. "Why the sudden need to see Finn? And why won't you tell me—" Jake froze, a cold sense of dread clogging up his chest. "Princess," Jake tried to keep his voice calm. It all started to make sense. "What did he want?" No… it wasn't a 'what'. Jake tried again, "Who," he choked on the word, "did he want?"
Bubblegum roughly pulled her arm away. "I have to go."
The candy princess raced down the corridors with Jake at her heals.
They reached Jermaine, but he was all by himself.
"Jermaine," Jake pleaded. "Where is Finn?"
"Oh, that Earl dude said he had something he wanted to talk to Finn about," his older brother answered. "They went outside, why?"
Bubblegum and Jake exchanged glances before they rushed to the main exit without another word to Jermaine.
There was nothing outside except for a small breeze in the night air. Jake sniffed the ground and caught the scent of something that made his hackles rise: a small about of Finn's blood had spilt not two feet from where they were, and the human was nowhere in sight.
Finn was gone.
What is this? Plot development? Finally!
