Chapter 2: The Thawing Part One

Hey everyone sorry for the wait and for those of you if any, are fans of my other fic it's going to be a while. I barely had time to work on this one for these past two weeks and I'm exhausted and completely overwhelmed at the moment. Hopefully I can get a schedule with this where I can do one at a time per week or two.

Well either way, hope you enjoy and also I put little [brackets and text] to give off the fact that it is a memory since I thought the whole - line scene change would be confusing if I didn't place where or when it happened in this 4 year gap of story I'm going for. Thank you for the inspiring comments and enjoy.

A mutant is running within a forest towards the sound of his brethren. When he cuts through the tall bushes he locks onto his target that is mowing down the mutants that come at her. A single huntress is taking on this battle as she uses the forest to her advantage. Using the trees and bushes to dash behind, breaking their line of sight so she can get behind her attackers.

Huntress Wizard is very skilled from within the forest, since it is her domain of expertise. She was able to prolong the fight and find the best way to deal with her enemies. The mutants were very strong but hard to deal with on her own, even a group would have trouble if a number of equal amount came at them. The only thing she could do was try and wear them out so she could get the thick boulder of ice holding Finn and Simon away from the fight.

Finn and Simon took top priority the moment they were found. The Hero of Ooo and the former Ice King could have some knowledge to spare. She wanted to save Finn most of all because he is the Hero that Ooo needed most in such a dire situation.

When Finn disappeared the others waited to see if by chance he survived. They could not get anywhere close to Golb after the Shockwave of Corruption that made his minions grow in number. They flocked to him for a time but started wondering off into all reaches of Ooo. It seemed that the Shockwave didn't reach the Fire Kingdom since Flame Princess had returned and started working on securing a bunker that connected her Kingdom to Candy Kingdom.

[Events after the Shockwave of Corruption]

After a while the mutants began working their way outward, roaming all across Ooo. They were aimless for such a time but for some reason became more thorough in the way they attacked. One of the first attacks was at Fire Kingdom, yet they were dealt with almost immediately. On the fifth attempt there were more of them that were able to push to the secret tunnel that was being constructed to connect the Fire and Candy Kingdoms. This surprised both Flame Princess and Princess Bubblegum since it seemed to be their real objective.

Princess Bubblegum began to understand one thing. "The mutants are being choreographed by someone. I have a feeling that Golb could be the one commanding them." Princess bubblegum announced within the conference room that held some of the major leaders in Ooo. They were attending a meeting after the attack from the mutant forces.

"Golb wouldn't influence them to attack. In Mars' studies we recorded that Golb was the Cataclysm for Mars, which is why I believe he has no care or gain for destroying this land." Normal remembered the day he lost his beloved Margles in this moment. "Everything in the universe was made to begin and end over and over, continuously rebirthing for a New Age. Earth's Cataclysm was the Catalyst Comet that was stopped by your Hero's Finn and Jake, Princess Bubblegum." Normal Man spoke up to give the Princess some knowledge on Golb that was made by Abraham Lincoln's recording over his long period of immortality.

"If that is true then why are they attacking us? The mutants are making organized attacks against us that show they're trying to get into the Candy Kingdom." Princess Bubblegum said as everyone was in debate with what Normal Man had said.

"PB, I get that you're worried but I agree with Normal Man. Simon once told me…" Marceline began to tell everyone what Simon had said to her when she was but a little girl.

[Memory]

Walking through ruined streets a young pale blue Simon is searching for supplies. His hair and beard are short and colored pure white as snow. He wears his usual attire, a suit and bow tie. A shiny golden crown is seen hanging on his belt with beautiful ruby colored gems placed within it.

As he is searching for supplies he hears a rustling sound coming from an alleyway. He hears a loud metallic bang and then a young girls crying voice follows. He picks up a bat from the ground and notices it's a foam bat. He quickly tosses it away and grabs a brick laying on the ground right before he turns the corner.

He turns the corner and sees a little girl on the ground holding her leg, as if she scrapped her knee. The girl was very small with a torn and dirty dress. She had pale grey skin, and her ears were pointed. Simon was still thinking if he should go and help or stick back since she didn't seem to be human. Simon noticed she was near a dumpster and had some trash stuck in her hair. 'I guess she was rummaging around in the dumpster and fell when she tried getting out of it.'

He put down the brick and started going through his backpack to pull out an MRE (Military Meal Ready-to-Eat) to see if she was looking for food. She heard him going through his bag and yelped as she quickly moved her body to run, but was stopped by the pain that shot through her leg. She scrapped her knee but had also twisted her ankle from a miss landing.

Simon quickly tried to console her in an attempt to calm her down. "Hey wait, I don't mean any harm. I just don't want to see a little girl have to eat out of the trash." Simon said as the little girl used her good leg to push herself behind the dumpster. She peaked around the corner of it in curiosity, watching Simon pull out a small bag. "If you're hungry I have some food hear. It may not be gourmet but its way better then eating out of the trash."

She was still afraid to reveal herself, she was very wary of people in general. "Okay then, guess I'll have to eat this all by myself then." Simon tore the tab on the small bag pulling out an organized meal from it. The meal was inside another brown bag, utensils and other snacks were inside a clearer bag. "Oh lucky me I even got one that has jelly, cracker, and pop tarts. Mmmm" The little girl's eyes widened around the corner of the dumpster as she gazed at a snack she has never seen before. Simon places the brown bag into another that was within the MRE and pours water into it.

The water sets off the chemical reaction inside the controlled and sealed bag. The meal is heating itself up as the little girl watches in awe. When it finishes warming up Simon pulls it out and cuts it open which releases the smell of warm cooked food. The smell reaches the little girl's nose as she is tempted to come out, yet she holds herself back. Simon places everything down carefully making sure it doesn't touch the ground and then moves away from it. "Here, I will stay right over here as you eat."

Her eyes keep going back and forth between Simon and the food. "Promise?" The little girl's voice reaches Simon as he smiles at the sound of it.

"I Promise." He replies.

She inched her way slowly to it since her ankle was still hurting. Simon wanted to help her but also didn't want to break his promise. She finally started eating and wolfed everything down in an instant, but she savored the pop tarts since she has had nothing like this and if she did she wouldn't have any memory of it.

Simon heard something coming from behind him down the alley and could see a mutant lumping itself over to him. He panics and runs over to the little girl grabbing her as she begins to scream. She is fidgeting from within his arms, but stops when she notices the mutant behind them. She quiets herself immediately because she knows if she is loud she will attract more, and they might get overwhelmed.

After running for a couple minutes Simon hides around a corner and is breathing heavily. He is exhausted from running for so long but it paid off since he lost the mutants that were chasing him. The little girl looks up at him and was reminded on how her mother used to hold her close whenever she was scared. Simon looked down at her and noticed she stopped fidgeting and realized she could have been mad at him about breaking his promise.

"Oh…" Simon placed her down in front of him and scooted back to the wall. "I broke my promise, sorry…" Simon said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"No thank you… I'm sorry for screaming before, I could have made the situation worse." The little girl said.

"As long as we're okay… Can I ask where your parents are?" Simon asked as he saw her face fall. "Sorry I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"No, it's fine. I'm just more concerned about why did you would want to help someone like me?" She said as she looked away because she figured he might have done it for his own gain.

"Well that's obvious isn't it. I couldn't leave a cutie like you in danger." Simon said as he patted her head. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if the thought even crossed my mind." He said as her head jerked back towards him with a smile. "Well since I'm assuming your parents aren't around any longer, would you want to stick with me? Oh and you can call me Simon by the way." He asked.

"You wouldn't want a Demon as your companion." She said as she looked away once more.

"Why would you say that about yourself?" Simon asked.

"Because I am a Demon, I'm Marceline Abadeer…" She was interrupted by Simon once he heard a familiar name.

"Abadeer… I've read that name somewhere. Oh right, Abadeer is the Nightosphere's royal family." Simon reminds himself that he read the name from a document within the Enchiridion. Abadeer's are the ones who govern The Nightosphere.

"Yes… My father is Hunson Abadeer, the current ruler of the Nightosphere." Marceline said as she looked at him with worried eyes. "My father wanted an heir, so he got with a human woman so I can move between both worlds freely. He left me and her behind but told me he would come back for me someday, when I was ready." Marceline said as she grabbed herself, curling herself into a ball.

Simon placed his hand on her shoulder as she looked up at him. "I wouldn't mind having you with me Marceline. I would love your company and being together helps both of us." Simon looked into her eyes that seemed to show some tears. "Even if you're half Demon, you're still a little girl. I couldn't leave you behind now that I want to keep you safe. Also Demon's aren't the worst thing out there." Marceline looks up at him in disbelief to what he said.

"My dad is the worst thing out there. He would suck your soul out if he ever gets to you." She said as Simon just smiled through what she said.

"Nope… The worst thing out there is a being named Golb. I humungous monster that feeds off of pure chaos, also there is something else that can make those things we just saw but I think Golb is worse. A huge monster that cares for nothing other than chaos, he does nothing but release his power because he knows whatever it touches will carry out his will of chaotic destruction." Marceline was looking worried of the things he said. "Oh… Sorry Marceline I kind of got a little too carried away there."

She nods really hard but was still curious. "Can you tell me other things?" She asked as Simon answered by continuing his story.

[Back to the Conference]

"Simon told me a lot about the monster's he read about in the Enchiridion when it was in his possession, and Golb was something he was very interested in. Golb only affects the area with his power of corruption and lets chaos reign. He wouldn't directly intervene unless he was threatened and I'm sure we are no threat to him Bonny." Marceline says as she informs the group of leaders around the table.

"Well if that's true then we might be in a worse situation." Huntress Wizard said with her straight face.

"Huntress Wizard is right, if Golb isn't behind the attacks then they have become self reliant or someone is ordering them." Flame Princess suggested which gained a nod from Huntress Wizard.

"Well then our main priority now is to find out how are they being organized, and if they are being controlled whom is it." Princess Bubblegum announced to them all. After the meeting was finished everyone went on to their assigned duties. Some weren't assigned to work like Huntress Wizard, Flame Princess, and Normal Man etc. They had their own responsibilities to do, Flame Princess had to help coordinate her people to construct the tunnel and be a commander whenever Flame Kingdom was attacked.

Normal Man had to go back to Mars and find a way to help the people of Ooo. He uses a massive telescope that was used by Abraham Lincoln whenever he wanted the nostalgic feeling. The Telescope is now used to feed information to Princess Bubblegum and other Kingdoms to help them with battle plans.

Huntress Wizard protects the forest and reports back to the Kingdoms with information of movements around and inside the forest. Sometimes Normal Man can't see covered areas like the forest or anything beneath the surface. Huntress' years of devotion paid off when she was able to find Finn and Simon in the present.

[Present Day]

Huntress wizard is being pushed back into the Ice Kingdom, and is running out of options. She finds cover behind thick hard pillars of ice and snow. Her magic has been honed and became greater over the years of her fighting and hunting mutants, but she still has limits. Her magic is running thinner with every arrow she conjures, every enchanted step she takes to dodge attacks.

It didn't take long for her to get overwhelmed by them. As the cover she hid behind began to melt away from the acidic vomit the mutants spewed out. Huntress Wizard had no other option but to run and leave the boulder of ice that held Simon and Finn, but she couldn't bring herself to leave him. She became content with the situation and accepted what she has accepted over her many hunts and close calls. To give in to nature and her fear of 'Soft meat gets eat.' The one thing she has always tried to avoid but understood sometimes coming to terms helps in the end.

As Huntress Wizard prepared for her fate, such called fate had other plans. A beam of light is seen coming from the in front of her. She sees a cloaked man hiding himself within a robe. The mutants lock onto him when 2 of their brethren were caught in the beams path and disintegrated. Their acidic vomit bounced off of his robe as if water hitting an umbrella.

"FIRE NOW!" He said as Huntress Wizard turned to see penguins rising up from the snow with bows and arrows. The bows were enchanted with fire attributes and set the mutants on fire with every arrow that sunk into them. A mutant that looked like he mutated from a bear charged the robed man dishing out orders and tackled him.

Unveiled by the unexpected attack the man was but a penguin using magical items to give him ghost like limbs that wielded rings and bracelets of all kind. He was able to jump back and in one fell swoop a blade was conjured up using one of his items. The bear charged him again but he was able to dodge and swung his sword upward as he moved. Huntress Wizard noticed him walking towards her and saw the mutated bear split in half spewing out all its acidic guts.

"What bring you to my Kingdom, Shrub?" He said as she speaks up.

"Gunter, I'm sure helping me will give you some favor from the Princesses." Huntress noticed he wasn't paying attention to her but to the boulder of diamond like ice. Gunter began walking over to it and his eyes widened.

"Where did you find this?" Gunter asked as his eyes showed assertion.

"In the forest I patrol, the mutants were digging them up for some reason. I don't know why but what I do know is we need to get this back to Princess Bubblegum and maybe Flame…." Huntress wizard was saying before getting interrupted.

"No, not even the elementals flame can melt this without killing them in the process. They need to be unfrozen almost instantly. They have been frozen for so long and this kind of ice will take way too long to melt, even if we toss it into lava." Gunter was in thought and only one thing came to mind. "We can ask for help but the person I'm suggesting is well… difficult. Guy's bring the boulder, Shrub follow."

Huntress Wizard was always annoyed when she had to speak to Gunter, or in her case of understanding by Princess Bubblegum, Orgalorg. Princess Bubblegum seems to not trust him fully but as long as he is a penguin he can't push his true power out. The only way he can do so is through enchanted equipment.

[Memory]

"He isn't to be trusted but he is a good source of information and is some kind of sword for hire, so we can at least use his love for 'magical equipment' to our advantage. As long as we pay him then we should expect he will be true to our fight." Princess bubblegum announced to the others within the conference room.

"But giving him magical equipment, don't you think that going too far with someone who has tried taking over the candy kingdom before." Peppermint Butler said with worry.

"I have already made preparations for that scenario Pep. I fitted every device with a small detonator to destroy the item if ever used against the Candy Kingdom and other allies." Princess Bubblegum said with confidence in her voice.

Gunter was trusted with helping with guarding and raiding parties when it was needed before safe underground transportation was made. After that Gunter started getting less work but never resented us for it and instead decided to stay within the Ice Kingdom.

[Present]

"Who are we going to meet Gunter?" Huntress asked as they both were reaching the bottom of some ice stairs. The walls looked like someone tunneled down through it at some point.

Gunter stayed quiet as they all walked through the doorway and saw a woman with white hair and round glasses. A dress of snow and ice draped her body and made her seem tall like a giant. She sat atop an icy throne with her legs crossed underneath her dress as her hands lied on her knees.

"Gunter… It seems you have brought a visitor. I haven't had any visitors beside Gunter for a very long time, before this chaos began to reign that is." The woman said as she peered down at Huntress Wizard.

Gunter stepped aside as Huntress walked forward. "You must be the Ice Elemental… Patience St. Pim." She looked over to Gunter and nodded in thanks as he did the same. "I have a favor to ask of you..."