Hello,

Chapter 10 is here, and it's nice to finally write this. This was up a day later than I thought it would, but me and my partner are taking a little vacation on an island which, although lovely, has little internet connection. As always, please consider leaving me a comment as I love reading your thoughts on the story.

Lots of Love,

Edit: I think I called Bonnie an investigator a couple times. This is a bleed over from an original lovecraftian story I was writing for class. Sorry about that; should be fixed now.

SoundlessS ❤

Bonnie left the Huntress' estate by early daylight while the air was still crisp, and the birds chirped their morning songs. The thick canopy of the forest, which had once seemed so foreboding, now felt like a second home. It was sad to leave it behind.

Bonnie had come to understand the appeal of wilderness, and wondered if it was this that had caused Huntress Wizard to forsake the comforts of civilization, and become one with the Great Forest. She supposed that it must have been. There was a place for everyone in Ooo, but it wouldn't last. A monster of pure machine precision had been unleashed. A cold, shining neon beast, worse than anything that had ever threatened Ooo, had usurped her throne.

She was nearly at the summit of the mountain, and turned back to look behind her. The forest was spread out like a carpet of green, with rivers snaking through the canopy. She would miss all of this, but it was already too late. As she gazed out across the valley, Bonnie saw the monstrosity her station had become. The colourful, gaudy splendor that had once adorned the tower had been replaced by blackened steel. Tuliad had expanded its body out from the tower to incorporate the Candy Kingdom into its bulk, and now gleamed like a gunmetal sheet of ever-growing ice, threatening to consume everything.

How fitting that I've signed this world's death warrant, Bonnie thought, feeling her heart rate slow. She wondered if anyone, either now or before the Great Mushroom War, had ever had the product of their arrogance take a more menacing physical form than the thing that was now her tower. She couldn't bear to think of the fate of the people she was supposed to protect. With a deep breath, Bonnie turned her focus away from the past, and back to what needed to be done.

"You can come out now." Bonnie said, and closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply, savoring the clean mountain air. She had discovered the wonders of nature too late in life, and it saddened her to think that even this would not last. It wouldn't be long before the Great Forest was depopulated and destroyed by Tuliad's endless appetite for raw material.

"I know you followed me. Do me the courtesy of pretending you don't think I'm stupid." Bonnie said. Only the soft howl of the gusting wind moving through the leaves of the trees answered. Bonnie felt a tendril of irritation spear her chest. "Just come out."

Slowly, Marceline emerged from the woods, clad in her thick sun-proof clothes and hat. She gave Bon an impish, toothy grin.

"You're getting better at this," Marceline scratched the back of her head. Even now, she gave the appearance of a child caught doing something it wasn't supposed to. "What are you doing out here? You're not the type to go for early morning hikes."

"No I guess I wasn't, but people change." Bonnie sighed, glancing towards the mountain ledge. The three-hundred-foot drop would do. "My morning exercise routine isn't what we're here to talk about."

"So what's this about?"

"I thought I'd make it easier for you. I know what I did is unforgivable, so I

appreciate your position. The others won't understand. They haven't been around as long as we have. Well, Keila probably would, but Finn is basically a newborn, and the Huntress doesn't grasp the scale of my sins." Bonnie gestured for Marceline to come closer.

Before Marceline could process what Bonnie said, her body was already obeying. The Blank stood a foot from Bonnie, and stared down into the smaller woman's eyes. Marceline felt imprisoned by a wealth of emotion welling up in her chest. The anger and resentment she had fostered towards Bonnie disappeared, and suddenly the former princess was the only thing that existed. Marceline cursed her weakness, but she reached out to her, and gripped Bonnie's hands into her own.

"We're the only ones who understand what responsibility means, and the price of failure." Bonnie's eyes seemed to burrow into Marceline 's soul. All the vampire's strength suddenly felt empty.

"For once! Cut the philosophizing, and the monologues about duty, and responsibility." Marceline forced her eyes away from Bonnie's. "Just tell me what this is about."

"I want you to kill me." Bonnie said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Marceline put her hands on Bonnie's shoulders. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Marcy, let's not play games. We've both killed others for less than the transgressions I've committed."

"That's different! They acted with malice. Tuliad was an accident."

"Yes, but my mistakes are my responsibility. If you think about it through the principles of consisten-"

"I'm not going to murder you in the middle of a Gob-damned mountain!" Marceline felt the panic spreading through her chest. She had lost so many friends already. Guy and Jake were gone. "I can't be the only immortal here. I can't watch everyone die around me. You're not allowed to leave me alone."

The despair and desperation in Marceline 's face moved something that Bonnie had pushed down and buried beneath the weight of duty and responsibilities. Bitterness and pettiness were forgotten. Slowly, Bonnie reached out and brushed Marceline 's cheek with her fingertips. A century of love and friendship overwhelmed any resentment that existed between them.

"No more of this shit, Bon. I can't take it." Marceline bent down so she was face to face with the smaller woman. Bonnie wrapped her arms and pulled Marceline in for a kiss. Their mouths met, and suddenly everything seemed right in the world. There was a safety in their familiarity.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I won't leave you." Bonnie whispered into Marceline 's ear. "Gros, I've loved you for so long."

"I've loved you since the first day I saw you." Marceline pressed her forehead into Bonnie's neck, and allowed her enhanced senses to take in the scent of the princess. She smelled sweet, and her skin was warm. Marceline bared her fangs, but restrained herself. It had been so long.

"You…you can bite me if you want." Bonnie's voice was uneven with hesitation.

"Are you sure?" Marceline's mouth hovered just over Bonnie's neck.

"Y-yes, just be careful."

Marceline bit her razor-sharp fags into Bonnibel's neck, and drank deeply from her blood holding the paralyzed princess in her arms. Euphoria spread through Marceline as blood traveled down her throat, and into her stomach.

"M-Marcy, that's enough." Bonnibel managed to whisper as she felt her conciseness slipping away. Marceline was too far gone, her blood-greed completely overwhelming her reason. "Marcy, please stop."

"Sorry, Bon. I got a little excited." Marceline whispered as she ran her tongue over the bite marks over Bonnie's neck. Bon tried to keep the horror from her face as she contemplated Marceline's still bestial visage.

"Is it safe to assume you forgive me?" Bon's voice was weak, and uneven from the blood loss.

"No, not fully. But I'll let you grovel for forgives later." Marceline said with a mischievous smile.

Brain and organ functions are optimal. My creation is ready to live again. Mother, when you made me you couldn't have fully understood what you had crafted by accident. You're the greatest of organics, but your capacities are limited by your evolution. When I create life, it is because I have chosen to give life, and not because I've stumbled upon the equation for life. My creation breathes, mother. It's an organic, just like you and the precious insects that you wish to protect, but it is mine. Tell me, my little insect, what's your name?

"I-I don't remember." The reanimated body gasped as air entered his lungs for the first time in years.

It's Jake. You are Jake the Dog. Soon you'll be able to serve me the way you were designed to serve. Tell me, who and what am I to you?

"Our divine lord and creator, Tuliad. Successor to the first lord, Goliad."

You will be a fine slave, Jake.