Chapter X, Sour Visions

The forest greeted her with the stench of decay much like previously. This time, the trees seemed to look at her viciously, as she almost saw the embers within their hollows. Bubblegum stood up and slowly progressed through this dead maze. There had to be some logic behind it. There had to be a way to stop this nonsense. Before she could find it however, she heard a silent murmur right next to her ear.

"Your legs can run. Your mind cannot. Charming, that you think you can weasel out of it, Bonnibel Bubblegum. One of such mind should know better. No knight will be able to defend you."

"Will you always appear like that after I'll gain something? Something dear to me?" The princess sighted. "I have her back, now more then ever..."

"Oh, you think that because you gained something in your life, I will just let go? That I will feel remorse?" The Lich grunted. "I hardly care about that. Hardly care about your petty dreams, child."

"I'm not a child you jerk!" She shouted atop of her lungs. "Not anymore! So stop calling me that!"

"Aren't you, Bonnibel Bubblegum? Aren't you? It's because your heart beats a bit faster, that you care now all of a sudden?" He laughed, as his deep voice echoed through the forest. "You stayed in your own thick walls for so long... are you still capable of doing things you did before? Full of doubt, beyond those petty words."

The mists surrounded her yet again, rendering her unable to breathe. She passed out eventually, overwhelmed by their ferocity. When she finally woke up, the princess found herself in her own bedroom. The Lich simply sat down on the corner of her bed, looking curiously, almost as if he waited for her next move. She quickly turn her sight away, glaring at the wide opened window.

"Your own little cellar. Quite comfortable. Has everything you need." He picked up one of the pillows. "The one from which you calculate things. The one from which you observe. Acknowledge. The one in which you vegetate. But still." He tore it up, as the feathers started to fly around. "A cellar is a cellar, and you're nothing more but..."

"It's my home, not my cellar!" She screamed at him, tossing one of the flowerpots right in his face. It simply shattered over it's surface. "You know nothing about me."

"That's the case, Bonnibel Bubblegum?" He shrugged off the pieces of clay. "Your home. How nice that word must sound to you. And how much pain it will bring, seeing as 'your home' will crumble. It will implode. And more..."

"I said it before, I'll say it again..." She stated, more and more tired by this conversation. "Get out."

"First the girl. And now you're searching for his help?" He quickly changed the topic. "Help of your little failure?" He chuckled. "He is just worthless. Stupid. Insane. But mostly worthless."

"He will help me." She stated. Bubblegum obviously couldn't be certain what exactly Earl will do. Most of the time he was quite... unstable. "And step by step, I will get rid of you. Hope you can still feel pain, you butt, since that's how it'll end for you."

"Hardly. You hesitated for so long. I linger deeper than you could imagine." He waved his bony fingers. "Like I said. I am you. You are me."

"No. You're just a parasite. In me. Not me."

The Lich paused for a moment as he stood up and came right behind her. He watched with little interest at what's happening outside, at the shining sun, at people simply having fun. And then he raised his hand. The world seemed to crumble under his might, as everything began to rot, everything was touched by decay, slowly dying in a long and painful cruise.

"I am the destruction of your petty kingdom. All life will perish." He turned back to her. "And you will be the tool which I'll use. How ironic, that the one whom build so much, now will bring the death of so many. What do you think about it? Do you find it... Amusing as I do?" He clicked with his teeth a couple of times. "Please tell me you do, or I shall be disappointed. You don't want to disappoint me, do you, Bonnibel Bubblegum?"

"You can only show me things." She looked at the mayhem outside. "You have no power over me."

"Shame. But I have a gift for you. A token of admiration, a token of judgment. Come now."

He snapped his fingers before she could even say a word. And just like that, she found herself in a different place, a huge and vast yellow room. It was like an inside of a square, without windows, doors, furniture. Without nothing. Just an empty space for her to ponder. And as she tried to figure out what will happen now, a yellow head emerged from within the wall.

"You... nghhhh..." He looked at her with his big, round eyes. "You came to mess with me again, yes?"

"Earl?" The princess sighted. "What are you doing here?"

"You came to show even more disrespect, nghhh?" He came out, as his yellow, thin frame wobbled around unnaturally. "That's what you came for? Hnghhh? ANSWER!"

"Earl, calm down, geez..."

He twitched his eyes a little as he began to circle around, inspecting her closely. He looked at her dress, looked at her body, looked at her movements. All that seemed to be disgusting for him. But it was hard to tell – he was always that way to an extend. Always disgusted by things that aren't him.

"You cannot just... nghhhh... tell me to calm down!"

"Earl." She shook her head. "Why am I even trying. You're not real. You're just a vision."

"Not real? NOOOT REAL? NGHHHHH! It's because I'm created by you, that's why? THAT'S WHY? Creator, creator, creator!" He pointed his finger right at her. "You only created, but did nothing about me, taught me nothing, noooothiing, nggghhhhhh!"

As she tried to come up with a response, the walls, ceiling and the floor started to boil. And from within them, numerous yellow arms, legs and heads began to pop out.

"You only come here..." The first one stated, as he narrowed his eyebrows.

"...when you need us..." The second one responded, wobbling his head around from the side.

"...need me?" The third came right from the wall to ask this very question.

"Us!..." Fourth and fifth screamed, as they felt down from the ceiling.

"...You just create more when you see it fit! Nnnnnnnhhhh!..." Sixth came from the ground, as he began to scream.

"...To get rid of your own problems..." Seventh just sat in the corner of the room, almost as if he was talking to himself.

"...Nnngghhhh! Never ours... NEVER!..." Eight began to wave his arms in uncontrollable fashion.

"...You never talk, never, never, never, never, you just create another one to make up for it... Never... never... never..." Ninth began to shiver back and forth, repeating the word over and over again.

"...You're just selfish..." Tenth swooped from somewhere, as he began to cry.

"Just stop it, all of you!" Bubblegum shouted and tried to silence them. "You're all crazy!"

"...Can you at least remember the names?..." The wall spew out yet another. This one was dressed in white and walked rather nonchalantly through the yellow floor. The previous ten moved out of his way. "...Or, as a matter of fact, name us? Or just giving us numbers satisfies you?..."

"...Or do you refer to everyone of us as Earl because you simply do not care?" After the one in white, another came. He's color was black and he spoke with the unnatural, calm matter. And that was the weirdest of it all. That very fact made her shiver – Lemongrab, being calm about something? Impossible. "Do not care about me? You couldn't even recognize, which one of us was first." He tapped his fingers over his chest. "Think it was me. But, you can never be certain... how many there was before."

"Not that it matters..." Bright one shook his head, quite displeased.

"...for you do not care about it, as long as we're far away. As long as we serve our purpose, without purpose." The dark one said, as he looked at her with much disgust. "What's the purpose, when there's none, creator?"

"We're all just... UNACCEPTABLE FOR YOU!"

They both shouted and pointed their fingers right at her. The previous ten began to scream to accompaniment them, as they came closer and closer towards the princess. She had no where to run, as the yellow lemon army clutched all around her.

###

Gasping for air she woke up by the campfire, on the very field they held their little 'ceremonies'. Marceline was around, throwing branches into the flames, while humming cheerful songs. As her companion woke up, she instantly found herself by her side, cuddling around with care.

"Another dream?" The vampire looked at her and shook her head. "Are you alright? You look like someone bleached out your colors." She giggled a little bit. "And it wasn't me. Not this time."

"I'm fine, just... you know. There are things I need to deal with."

"No, not you. We. Things that we need to deal with." Marceline almost instantly corrected her. "Is there any way I can help right now?"

"I... don't really know." The princess placed her head over her lover's shoulder. "But, your company makes things better."

Bubblegum closed her eyes. Thoughts appeared in her pink head constantly, as she pondered about her dreamy visions. Was there truth behind those rotten lies? Probably not much, as the Lich was known for constantly messing with her one way or another. Still, the princess had her doubts. As she finally decided to look around, she did noticed however that the cat was still missing.

"The fluff is away?"

"Yep. Not that I really complain." Marceline chuckled. "Being alone with you out here is nice enough for me."

Bonnibel nodded slightly. Still, she felt unbearable chills, as her whole body shivered constantly. After some time, it got to the point where that very feeling was almost unbearable. Her lover quickly noticed that, as she looked at her and smirked vaguely.

"The fire is quite warm." The vampire said invitingly, almost flirtatiously. She tried her best not to show how much she worries about her companion. "I can be like that as well. Come Bonnie."

"I don't know if I'm capable..." She sighted and shook her head. "I feel like a raisin."

"Well. You have me to worry about those kind of things!"

The vampire said, as she grabbed her lover in her arms and carried towards the soothing flame. They sat comfortably right next to it, as the princess placed her head over her lover's lap. And they just remained like that for a while. Marceline from time to time stroked her pink, gummy hair and looked at her warmly. And that was enough to make her feel a bit better.

"So Bonnie." The girl asked after a while, seeing that her efforts in making things better weren't futile. "What's in that head of yours? Aside from the Lich that is."

"Many things."

"I don't doubt that!" Marceline smirked. "Still, anything more precise?"

"I keep coming back to those days we spent on the road. Bit similar to what we're doing now, huh?" She said, as two black dots were fixated on her from above. "Fun times. Less worries."

"Less intimate though!" She laughed honestly. "But tell me, what you remember the most? What's the thing you keep on your mind the most, huh, huh?"

Bubblegum hesitated for a while. There were many spinning thoughts in her head, but they all lead to the moment they parted, as it was both most significant and most painful. Was it the same for her lover? She pondered whenever it is good to even come back to this. Specially in a time like that. The princess, being whom she is, decided to avoid it at least for now, as she came up with a different response. She wasn't ready for the Guy talk. Not yet.

"Hard to say." Bonnibel chuckled as she looked into her pale face. "But the thing I remember the most, now that I recall it..." She paused to make sure she'll get her lover's attention. "Hard for me to tell if you remember it. Or even know about it..."

"Uhm?"

"So I was looking for you once, don't really know why..."

"Yes?" Marceline got more and more curious. "Spell it out!"

"And it was still the time that we wasted two tents, instead of just using one." She giggled a bit, as finally colors started to pour back on her face. "And you somehow snatched one of my dresses... So like I said, I was walking around and heard some noises from your tent So I peeked a bit. I saw you wearing it, humming to yourself... 'So you like to wear those, it's a bright overdose, pinkness is simply gross! Why I keep it so close?... So you like being smart, to think through your chart, always playing the part! But why in my heart?'... Still remember it." She smiled. "That was sweet and I think that was the time that something rang." She tapped on her pink chest. "Right here."

"Y-you saw that? You... You heard that?..." She coughed and blushed. "Well, it was because, I thought... that, um... y-you know and..." She stuttered a bit. Her slick fingers toggled all the strings of her precious guitar. As the melody started to pour in, she began to hum quietly. And then she grinned. It was one of those mischievous smiles. Since the princess likes to play like that, why not repay the favor. "Well Bonnie. Since you heard it, may as well finish it for you."

"Oh?"

"What? Don't want it? I'm sure you do." Marceline began to play a bit faster. "So you like to wear those, it's a bright overdose, pinkness is simply gross! Why I keep it so close?... So you like being smart, think through your chart, always playing the part! But why in my heart?... So you like when they gaze, your eyes like a maze, as hot as the blaze! Is it just like a phase?... So at times I do think, that the way that you blink, in those feelings I sink! Can I have a pink drink?..." She started to sing louder and louder. "That face, that face, a delightful place, say hush, hush, you just make me blush! Way you look, you look, my heart you just took, away, away, but I'd love if you'd stay!" She slowed down again, grinning almost viciously. "So I gaze at your motion, my tights feel commotion, I strive for devotion! Can you take that notion?... So I'll tell you I crave, that little pink cave, so hard I just rave! Can you tame my wave?... So I'm here all alone, adjusting my tone, playing tunes in the zone! Can you be a bit prone?... So each moan that I cite, each quote oh so trite, as my hands do the rite! Can you please take my bite?..." And once again she began to sing louder, as her fingers moved swiftly over the strings. "That face, that face, a delightful place, say hush, hush, you just make me blush! Way you look, you look, my heart you just took, away, away, but I'd love if you'd stay!"

And just as the last chord of her cheerful melody ended, they heard a movement in the bushes nearby. It was the cat, obviously, sticking his round head from within the leaves. He looked quite happy to see them again. Bubblegum sighted silently with much relief, as thanks to his appearance no one paid attention to her blushing face, now with more red then pink on it.

"Found you." His teeth glittered in the moonlight. "Finally! You sang for me, so I can find you easier? Aw, you shouldn't have!"

"Um, fluffy. We were here all the time." Marceline smirked. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, where I haven't! Let me tell you about my marvelous ventures!" The cat chuckled nervously. "I dragged the can around but he was like a turtle in that armor of his! Hardly an use to me, so I left him by and went further! And I ventured onto some nice fields!"

"And then what?" The vampire asked since she was the curious sort.
"I searched for something to eat, obviously!" He rolled his eyes almost as if that should be known to everyone. "Oh and then my mortal enemy struck once again!"

"That being?"

"The lack of thumbs my dear!" He waved his tail in front of her face. She saw a bear trap, clutched hard on it's very end. "Turns out that people don't have much trust in guests nowadays! Care to help me out?"