She gathered the princess up in her arms and swooped off of the balcony, forcing Bonnibel to grip Marceline tightly out of surprise. "You should be a little more serious about this," Bonnibel scolded, body relaxing some the longer that they were in the air. Her eyes explored Marceline's face, biting her lip in excitement, knowing that Marceline's smile was her doing. When Marceline did smile, it was far more of a smug smirk but this was seemed genuinely happy and content. One of her fangs poked free and there was the small sigh of dimples on her cheeks that made Bonnibel want to pinch them. Of course she didn't, knowing very well that would result in her falling from the sky.

"I am plenty serious about it, can't you tell?" Marceline asked, beginning to descend from the sky as they passed of their tree and her cave came into view. Bonnibel raised a brow, looking at her graceful features for some form of a serious twitch…but the smile remained firm.

"I am not sure if you are trying to mess with me," Bonnibel muttered as the vampire touched down outside the gloomy hole.

"When am I not, Bon-Bon?" Marceline purred, playfully ruffling Bonnibel's choppy hair and making the candy princess pout and grumble. But suddenly the mischievous grin on Marceline's cheeks faded into a far smaller smile. "You are really beautiful, Princess Bubblegum," she breathed, leaning down to press a gentle kiss on Bonnibel's lips.

The princess stood there, startled and swept away in the moment as Marceline departed to get on with their mission. It was frustrating how easy the vampire could fluster her. Marceline was simply so much more confident about affairs of the heart, or at least far more trained in the matter to keep her legs from giving out from under her (being able to fly helped that as well). Either way, a small call from the vampire brought Bonnibel back to reality and she quickly trotted into the cave and towards Marceline's home.

But as they approached, both women noticed a somewhat familiar figure sitting on the banister just outside. Bonnibel couldn't say she knew the woman personally, but from Marceline's description this was Betty, the Ice King's supposed "princess." She had dark brown hair, thick and contained in a ponytail her smile welcoming and almost familiar as Bonnibel and Marceline paused several feet from the door.

"Betty, what are you doing here?" Ooo knew of the sacrifice Betty had made – or at least knew some stranger had made a sacrifice for the wizards of Ooo. They believed she was dead but Betty had simply gone into hiding, spending her time looking for a cure for Simon's disease. She had exposed herself to Marceline because Marceline was the only other being that knew Simon before he was fully lost to the crown. But Marceline couldn't figure out why the woman was here right now.

"I heard you were having some trouble in the Nightosphere," she jumped from the banister in a familiar manner to someone Bonnibel knew. If only she could remember.

"How did you hear?" Bonnibel exclaimed, considering the fact that it had only just happened and no one except demons really cared to keep up with the events of the Nightosphere…it simply didn't make sense.

"I just do," she shrugged, "and I know you're here to pick up your father's necklace." Marceline blinked, staring at the woman as Betty gave a hard puff, preparing to explain herself. "There's more to this than you understand, Marcy-bear." The nickname startled Marceline, making her step back and reach protectively for Bonnibel. Something wasn't right and immediately Betty held up her hands to try and stop them. "Please, just hear me out. What your father is trying to do is alter the events that are in motion."

"What events?" Bonnibel questioned, pulling Betty's attention, unable to ignore her growing curiosity of this situation.

"I'm sure Marceline has explained to you the importance of balance in Ooo?" Betty asked as PB gave a hesitant nod, signaling the woman to continue. "Well, over a millennium ago…let's say 1003 years specifically," she gestured towards Marceline's exact age – which no one really knew. "A child was born in the Nightosphere. A human child."

"But that's not possible," Marceline breathed, looking down at Bonnibel's confused features. "The Nightophere itself is stingy about demon babies. But there is literally no chance that any of them would be human unless…"

"Unless the natural order was failing," Betty finished, stepping towards them. "The solution to the problem would have been simple, to return the child to the surface. But your father could not make that sacrifice, Marceline. Neither of us could."

"What do you mean 'neither of us'?" Marceline demanded, meeting Betty's soft expression, fitted with a comforting smile…almost motherly.

"You were that child, Marceline. Born into royalty as a human. But a sacrifice needed to be made for the sake of the world. A human needed to return to the surface. I was that sacrifice." She stated and Marceline gripped Bonnibel tightly, feeling like her legs had turned into jelly. "I had never imagined finding you again, Marcy-bear. You've grown up so much."

"No…stop it," Marceline breathed, stepping back like Betty was going to bite her. "You're supposed to be dead, that was what dad said. He said you died giving birth to me. That I killed you!" Marceline stammered as Betty's smile faded, genuine concern on her face.

"Killed me? Of course not, Marceline. I left the Nightosphere to protect you. I…I never imagined your father would change you," she whispered, gesturing to the marks on Marceline's neck as the vampire frantically shook her head.

"No, you can't be…" tears trickled down the vampire's cheeks as Bonnibel felt out of place. She didn't know what to do, how to comfort, whether to quiet Betty or support her.

"But I am, Marceline. I'm your mother."

COMMENTS: Another chunk of the story for all of you lovely people. I have to admit, my brain sort of went off on this huge plot twist the more I wrote it. Every flashback with Bonnibel always made a remark towards Marceline at some point so I figured it only made sense that their "friendship" started all of those years ago. As for Betty, well, I had the motherly idea since the beginning but started to think about how Simon was sort of like a father to Marcy and if he had found Betty, she would have been like a mother. So why not go ahead and make her one? I'm hoping all of the "balance of Ooo" stuff makes sense to people, again, just an idea that popped in my head and I've been rolling with it. I only plan to have one more batch of chapters for this story, not sure how long, but long enough to wrap this all up. Hope you enjoy!