Epilogue:
The cave was just as it had always been when Marshall Lee floated down into the darkness there. Home. He had been anxious to escape it when he was sixteen. He'd been a typical know-it-all teenager, angry and full of himself. He'd had no idea how good he had it with a mom who loved him and people who genuinely cared around him all the time. He knew now. He'd found out what he didn't know and come to an unpleasant appreciation for just how tough life could be.
Settling onto the wooden surface of the deck–a place where he'd spent hours as a kid–the tall man ran his hands along the wall of his former bedroom. Finn and Simon had built that. He'd had no idea growing up. He'd treated both men like losers for the crime of loving him like a son only to find out that he really was Finn's son. He'd never have the chance to thank Simon for all the old man did for him and his mother.
As he stood there reminiscing, the door opened, and his mother came out in the same nasty old housecoat she'd owned for the last ten years. He vaguely remembered she'd only belatedly started wearing one. In the early days, she never covered up in front of him. It was only after he started grabbing girls' butts in school that she began to care. Marshall hardly noticed the change. She was just mom. That was how a kid looked at the world. Now he saw the things he'd missed as he saw his mother with a grown man's eyes.
Tonight, he saw the worry. Tonight, when he looked on her ageless face, he saw profound sadness. "Mom," he breathed. Rushing forward, he hugged her just as she'd always hugged him–like all the demons of hell couldn't tear them apart. That was when he discovered the secret she was hiding under her ratty housecoat. Stepping back, he found her blushing. "I guess stuff's really complicated," Marshall rumbled. "Yeah," she admitted. "How long," he asked? "Couple months," was the reply. The Goth kid said, "you're a little big for two months..." "Twins," she replied.
His jaw hung. Then, teasing, he said, "I guess you caught up to Bonnie..." Blushing furiously, she slugged him in the shoulder. She was still his mom. Marshall laughed and laughed. Interrupting, she asked, "what brings you?" He hefted the ugly lunch-pail she'd taken as a souvenir from Death's rock-quarry. "An installment," Marshall said as she opened the pail. The evil entities inside quavered before her. Inhaling sharply, the Princess of Darkness inhaled those lost souls, emptying the pail of its contents before handing it back.
She couldn't miss the look on his face. "I'm ok, Marshy," she murmured. The tall man grabbed her and hugged her. Softly he murmured, "momma, I'm sorry. I never understood what you had to go through... I treated you like shit. Now I know, and I'm so sorry..." That actually made her cry. "I never wanted this for you," the unhappy mother sobbed. Wiping at her tears, Marshall Lee Abadeer declared, "I made this bed for myself, mom. I did ugly things to make you angry and upset. I earned this karma. Now I'll live with it all my days. When the time comes, I'll be there for you when you want to lay down this burden and rest..." Kissing his mom on either cheek, he took the lunch-pail and turned to go. As he made the cave entry, he said, "I'll give your love to dad... some point when he's not railing Betty." Between gales of laughter, a scandalized Marceline cussed him as he flew into the night.
Elsewhere, Hunson Abadeer stood studying a long putt and cursing his usual bad luck. As Peppermint Butler stood to one side holding the flag for the fifth hole, it appeared the Prince of Darkness was destined to have rather a poor day on the links. He was already four strokes in the hole and having trouble concentrating–and Theo's endless carping wasn't helping. Carefully the ancient being tapped the ball with his putter, sending it rolling up the green to the hole. Usually this was where it all went south. Either he put too much english on the ball, causing it to veer off or he misjudged the strength of his putt causing the ball to come up short or do an in-and-out on the hole. Today it looked like he was right on the money–until the ball circled the rim twice and skipped out.
Giving vent to a few hair-curling oaths that caused demon-spirits to dribble from his lips, the evil being turned to Death and said, "look, Theo, what the fuck you want me to do?! Give him back?! You know I can't!" Theo retorted, "your kid ruined everything! I'm tempted to file a formal grievance!" Hunson rolled his eyes in irritated disgust. They'd already been over this. Eight fucking times they'd gone over this. "At no point did Marcy do anything to break the rules," retorted the Prince of Darkness. "Can you say the same, Theo?" Death frowned in worry. Appearing to people as their loved ones to push them into killing for him was in a gray area. He could demand arbitration on the matter, but he stood a fifty-fifty shot of losing. Would Hunson turn him in? He'd been doing that a lot lately. That could get him in deep doodoo with the other Powers. Moving to his ball, the Lord of Hell said, "drop it, ok? You got outsmarted. Happens sometimes, man." Grudgingly Theo agreed to let it lie, but it was an uneasy sleep, born more from his terror at having the Lord of Hell reveal his duplicity than any real desire for peace.
Meanwhile, a shocked Simone Mertens found herself dealing with the fallout of being the Lich's sock-puppet for a year. The most immediate of those consequences was her pregnant daughter. "How could you do that, Fionna," Simone howled?! "I taught you better than that! I put you on the pill!" "Aw, mom," groaned the the pretty teen. "You did it!" Simone retorted, "I was also crazy, Fionna! Are you telling me you've lost your mind?!" Fionna sputtered and spluttered as she tried to counter that accusation. Drew Princess almost howled laughter. She would have if she weren't looking at something worrisome. Walking out on the hospital room's small balcony behind Emeraude, the beautiful doctor said, "penny for your thoughts..." The wood-nymph glared at her, but Drew held her ground.
Voice cold, Emeraude said, "maybe I'm thinking of beating your ass for fucking my husband." Drew chuckled, "if you'd been thinking of that, I'd have been dead before this." "It doesn't matter," the wizard murmured. "Yeah," said Drew, "it does..." Taking a deep breath, the doctor told her patient and friend, "I was going to take Simone to see a counselor tomorrow. I'm thinking maybe you should come too..." "Great," grunted the wood-nymph. "The cunt that's been fucking my husband wants to help me..." "Emeraude," Drew called as she put her left hand to the nymph's left shoulder. The little woman jerked away, but Drew had been prepared for that. With her other hand, she grabbed Emeraude's right arm and spun her around.
Emeraude burst into tears as the doctored hugged her. "I killed Simone's dad," wailed the wood-nymph. Drew knew some of what had happened. She'd heard bits and pieces of the story from Finn and the other women in his life. When she heard that the pair had, against all odds, been rescued, she'd more or less been expecting them both to be wrecks. They were all of that. Different ways, maybe, but both women were profoundly disturbed.
Drew knew what ailed Simone. The Ice Queen felt that she had somehow created this situation by trying to help her father. She was feeling the strain of having left home and figuratively dropped her family, which was feeding into a lot of really ugly guilt right now. Drew had fixes for that. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do with this, though. She didn't know how to help Emeraude when she hadn't idea the first how that even felt. We're in this together, though, she thought. They'd all made themselves a part of this–some literally forcing their way in.
Drew had been ambivalent about this from the start, even with all the history she shared with Finn. She'd over-thought it and honestly come very close to missing the chance fate held out to her until he'd made her rethink things. Finn had given her the ultimate gift, and in the process, he'd shown her that the honest love of long time friends could become so much more if she let it. And that was her opening. He wasn't able to give her much right now. He couldn't give any of them much at all besides the love and loyalty that had driven him to walk out into the wilderness on a mad errand. According to Marceline he was out 'handling the Lich's leftovers' with Betty. But we have each other, thought the doctor as she held onto one of her oldest friends as the little woman cried and cried and cried.
As she worked her way down through the last of that chain of thoughts, the taller woman had a mad little epiphany. They had each other. That was her answer. Before all of this, Simone and Emeraude had had each other's backs, but now they had more love and support than they'd ever had before. "No," she whispered. "You didn't murder poor Simon, Emeraude. You tried to save a beloved friend and ended being abused. I know you're hurting. Nobody should have to see that much less feel it so intimately the way you did, but we're going to make this better..." She glanced up to find a very concerned Simone standing there in the doorway looking worried. "We're going to get through this together," Drew murmured. "We're more than friends. We're family now."
Like to thank everybody who stuck it out this far. I hope the ending was worth the wait. I've got one more of these in store, and I do hope you will join me in a few weeks for Crown of Ooo, the final story of the cycle. I promise to work on my pacing. Scout's honor.
