Hey guys. Back with some chapters. I've got some... interesting ideas I'm working out how to implement in upcoming chapters, we'll see how that goes. Sprained my knee the other day which, take my advice, is just fan-fucking-tastik. Oh shit, auto correct wants me to spell that as fan-fucking-tastily, I kid you not. Anyway, that gave me a lot of time to write while I'm sitting in bed resting my leg. But enough of my miseries, on with the story.
Exactly 158 hours later, Marceline stood by the front door waiting on Finn to get ready. She had a luxurious purple cloak draped around her, a suitable replacement for the red one she had sacrificed for Finn's sake two years ago. Her impatience had begun to get the better of her. Tapping her foot she called towards the ceiling, "Hey Finn, hurry it up! I want to get there early enough to get a decent seat!"
As though he had actually heeded her call (though far more likely due to sheer coincidence) Finn came down the stairs at that moment. "S…sorry Mistress. I'm ready to leave now." As always, Finn wore his black cloak, easily concealing the entirety of his small body. One addition had been made to his ensemble. A red scarf had been sewn into the hood of the cloak, able to be worn at neck height or pulled up to conceal the lower portion of his face. This scarf was actually crafted from the remnants of Marceline's old cloak, which was obviously Finn's idea. Above all, it provided an added layer of protection to his identity, and therefore a boon to the sense of security felt by both mistress and slave.
With her ward in tow, Marceline opened the door to lead them out into the cavern. Their destination today was the Candy Kingdom, where an old friend of Marceline's was scheduled to play in a concert with her band. When Marceline learned of her friend's performance from local advertisement, she planned to attend the concert and surprise her friend afterward.
The venue for the concert was a grand plaza located close to the heart of the city, a heavily populated area. A stark contrast to the Candy Tavern, Marceline felt much better bringing Finn with her to attend the concert, the area was very safe and well policed.
Finn himself was quite excited to attend the concert. Marceline had occasionally displayed her musical talents, sometimes singing for Finn or playing her bass guitar, which he really enjoyed. It was not something she did often, really more of a hobby, and Finn anticipated her friend's performance.
His anxiety had also diminished since his first, eventful visit to the kingdom. For a time after the 'incident', Finn had been far too terrified to so much as leave the cave, and completely unwilling to even go near the city that had caused his so much trouble.
But eventually Marceline was able to 'coerce' him into visiting the city once more. Marceline made sure to keep to well-populated areas and NEVER let him out of her site. Over the course of many trips, Finn eventually began to see the kingdom for the magnificent center of civilization it was (on the surface), and had grown quite endeared to the city.
Coming to the entrance of the cave, each put up their hoods in preparation to deter the solar rays, while Finn, additionally, pulled up his face mask, coming to rest on the bridge of his nose. Before exposing themselves fully to the daylight, Marceline pulled out the vial of red liquid that, according to Finn, had been gifted to her by Pepper for Finn's anniversary. She uncapped the vial and downed the fluid in one gulp.
Immediately after, the two emerged into the canyon, heading in the general direction of the Candy Kingdom. They had a least a couple hours of walking ahead of them and though both were totally comfortable traveling in silence, Finn had decided now would be the perfect time to finally ask about the mystery drink that seemed so important to his mistress.
"Mistress?" he started, speaking rather meekly. Marceline had grown to recognize certain tones in Finn's speech, and this one indicated he was about to ask something he believed may upset her. She chuckled internally, for he was never right in this assumption. "Yes Finn?"
"I've been wondering, for a while actually… well… what exactly is that red stuff?" This actually caught Marceline off guard. She had planned to explain to him her 'situation' much sooner, but he showed no signs of curiosity and it eventually just slipped her mind. Finn only knew she wasn't human, and that was enough to sate his curiosity.
'Well I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain.' She thought, not exactly loving the idea of having to explain her physiology to her servant. Marceline began, "That question… may require some background information." She looked over to see Finn watching her, face a perfect picture of patient anxiety.
"Finn, by now you know I'm not a human like you, right?" Marceline asked. Finn nodded his confirmation. "Well, I used to be…sort of, partway. I was only ever half human, and about the time I turned 19 I gave up the human half." She checked back to see how Finn was taking this. His face betrayed shock.
"That day I gave up my humanity, I became a vampire." Marceline looked again to Finn, but his expression had changed to that of confusion. "You're a… vampire?" Finn asked in disbelief. "Yea, that's right." Finn's voice grew more incredulous, "But you USED to be human?" "Uh-huh." Marceline replied. "But I thought you said…" Marceline interrupted, "Finn I'm just going to stop you there. I'm sorry, but I was telling the truth when I said I didn't know anything about recent humans. This happened…. Centuries ago. Almost a thousand years."
Marceline could tell Finn was slightly saddened to find that, though she was once human, she had no knowledge of the current predicament of humanity. More surprising to her was the fact that Finn seemed relatively unconcerned with her current status as a vampire. "Finn… are you scared of me now that you know I'm a vampire?"
Curiously, Finn replied in his usually meek yet slightly upbeat manner, "I guess not. I… heard some stories back at the slave camp about vampires, but everyone always said they were horrible monsters who fed on people. You're not like what they told me." Marceline was pleasantly surprised by Finn's lax attitude on the subject.
"Um, Mistress? You still haven't explained about the red juice." Marceline had all but forgotten how this conversation actually started. "I'm sure parts of the myths you heard had some amount of truth to them. As a vampire, I… require certain dietary supplements." Finn craned his neck, clearly lost.
Marceline huffed out a breath, "I have to drink blood Finn. When a vampire goes too long without taking any blood they start to go insane, murderously so. That red stuff that Pepper always gives me is demon's blood. It's more… potent than almost any other species, and can keep me calm for a couple months, usually."
The two walked in somewhat uncomfortable silence for a while longer. Marceline was extremely worried her revelations had alienated her from her slave. "Finn, I'd really appreciate some feedback on what I've just told you. I understand if you see me as a monster now."
Marceline's vocalization made Finn stop in his tracks, which caused Marceline to stop as well and face him. "Marceline… I could never be afraid of you, or hate you, or see you as anything other than what you are. You are my Mistress. Nothing has changed about you since you explained this." Finn offered his most genuine smile, "And I promise to stick by you, no matter what the rest of the world thinks about you."
Marceline could tell how serious he was. Finn never used her name unless they were discussing an incredibly serious matter. Whenever he did it made him seem… closer to her than just a slave.
Marceline was having some measure of difficulty sorting through the emotions welling up inside of her. But for Finn's sake she suppressed whatever feelings of self-doubt she had at the moment, and finally reciprocated his smile. She spoke in as straight a voice as she could muster, "Thank you Finn. Now come on, we've still got about an hour ahead of us.