Sorry for posting this so late. I've had a stressful couple of days. Personal stuff. Nothing to worry about. Anyway, Adventure Time is the property of Cartoon Network and Hazbin Hotel is the creation of Vivienne M. Medrano aka Vivziepop. With that said, Enjoy.

Chapter 18: The Guilt of Hades

It was a beautiful day in the Land of Ooo.

The sun was shining.

The sky was clear.

And there was a hint of clover on the wind which seemed to induce a mild euphoria.

All was right with the world.

On a hilltop overlooking a field of wildflowers, Marceline sat in the shade of a large oak tree with Charlie sitting close beside her. Their wedding had ended several hours ago, so they were now officially on their honeymoon, but they had yet to change out of their ceremonial garb. Somehow, neither of them felt like it was the right time to take them off.

So there they were, Marceline still in her white silk wedding dress, Charlie still in her jet black tuxedo, sitting together and holding hands as a married couple, watching a pair of rainicorns dancing in the sky.

Life just couldn't get much better.

"I never thought I'd live to see this." Charlie said in a soft and dreamy voice.

"See what?" Marceline asked amusedly.

"All of this. Real sunshine, a field of flowers, flying rainbow unicorns. You're world really is beautiful."

"It's your world too now."

"I know, and it's all thanks to you."

Suddenly, and without any prompting from Marceline, the Demon Princess closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss the Vampire Queen on the lips, which the latter gratefully accepted.

As they kissed, Marceline surrendered herself to the ecstasy of the moment and closed her eyes as well. But after several minutes of pure bliss, Charlie finally broke off the kiss and whispered softly into her lover's ear.

"Shall I pleasure you now, my Empress?"

Naturally, this question, as well as the soulless tone in which it was asked, raised a bunch of red flags in the Vampire Queen's brain. So, on a reflex, she pushed Charlie away and, upon opening her eyes, she saw that the scene had changed dramatically.

No longer were they sitting under a shady tree overlooking a field of flowers, but on a large heart shaped bed in a dark, candlelit chamber. The subtle hint of clover had been replaced by an intoxicating miasma of exotic perfume, and her own white wedding dress had been replaced by one of black silk. But by far the most shocking difference was that of Charlie; for instead of her black tuxedo she now wore a skimpy, hot pink harem girl outfit and a collar that was attached to the bed by a long golden chain. But even more horrifying than her clothes was the look on her face; glazed eyes wide and unblinking, and a creepy smile that made it look like her mouth had been stitched.

She almost looked like a doll.

"Is something that matter, my Empress?" Charlie asked in a soft, robotlike voice. "Does my body not please you?"

"Charlie… wha… what's going on? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong, my Empress. Everything is as it should be. I am your obedient little love doll. I exist only for your enjoyment. Please, fuck my soft and tender pussy until it bleeds. Or my asshole. Whichever you prefer."

Needless to say, Marceline found this all very unsettling; for a long list of reasons. So rather than stick around to see where this madness was going, she bolted as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Is something the matter, my Empress?"

"Stop calling me that!" she yelled as she continued to run away from the Charlie-Zombie, but the only place she could go was into an infinite black void that seemed to expand in all directions.

Farther and farther she ran into the darkness, never once daring to look back. Until finally, after what felt like hours, she collided with something solid. At first the impact left her discombobulated, but after taking a moment to regain her composure, Marceline realized that what she'd run into was a mirror.

Or at least it seemed to be a mirror. Only the reflection wasn't her own. That strange black dress. Those puffy lips. That golden asp necklace. And that single ruby eye in the middle of her forehead.

This was not her reflection. This was the form of that horrible Vampire known as the Empress; a heartless witch who enslaved so-called 'lesser beings' with her hypnotic gaze. Poor Simon had fallen victim to her cruelty several centuries ago, until the future Vampire Queen staked her black heart and absorbed her soul to gain her power. But why was this mirror showing her reflection instead of her own?

Marceline looked down and almost immediately felt her heart stop. The black dress she was wearing was not her dress. And her hands were not her hands. She reached up to touch her face, and her face was not her face. It wasn't the mirror, it was her. Somehow, she had become the Empress.

"No…" she said meekly as the cruel, nightmarish reality of her situation finally sink in. "NO!"

Acting on fear induced adrenaline, Marceline lunged at the mirror and struck her fists against it with all her might; causing both it and the void around her to shatter into a billion pieces. And when the dust settled, she found herself in a whole new nightmare.

Suddenly, the Vampire Queen was back in Hell, only it was somehow much worse than she remembered it. The air was filled with screaming, all of the buildings were either in ruins or on fire, and the ground beneath her feet was just a great mass of bones.

In the distance, she caught sight of a familiar face. It was Crymini, running at top speed in a mad panic. Marceline attempted to call out to her, but the words died in her throat once she saw what she was running from. The young Hellhound was being pursued by a horrifying monstrosity with long skeletal limbs, gigantic black vulture wings and a face hidden behind a grotesque Hannya mask.

Before the Vampire Queen could even process what was happening, the winged horror pulled out a large, crooked scythe and swung it at the fleeing youth; causing her to crumble into a pile of dust.

"Crymini!" she cried out in terror, only to have her voice drowned out by a dozen other horrified shrieks.

All around her, familiar faces were being mowed down by the terrible scythe wielding monsters. First Angel Dust. Then Baxter. Followed by Blitz, Husk, Niffty and even Vaggie. All of them turned to dust.

It was all just so horrifying. Marceline wanted to scream but for some reason her voice wasn't working. So instead she tried to run, but as soon as she turned her head she came face to face with yet another unexpected sight.

"B-B-B-B-Bonnie…" she managed to choke out, as she stared at the unmistakable form of her ex-girlfriend.

"Marceline, what have you done?" the Candy Princess asked solemnly.

But before the Vampire Queen could even attempt to answer, another winged horror emerged from the mass of bones and swung its massive scythe directly at her beloved Bonnibel.

Seconds later, Marceline felt herself jerk upright.

Suddenly she was back in her room at the Happy Hotel; her skin damp with sweat.

Just another nightmare.

After she finally stopped hyperventilating, she climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash some cold water in her face.

This helped, but not much.

And while it was a relief to not see the Empress staring back at her in the mirror, her own reflection wasn't much better. Those dark circles under her eyes, that paler than usual skin, she looked like a zombie; as opposed to the sexy Vampire Lady she truly was.

This was her eighth straight night of nightmares, and while this was nothing new to her, what with all the shit she'd experienced over her 1000+ years of life, these latest night terrors were of a decidedly more disturbing nature. And although she'd done her best to dismiss them and stay focused on her mission, she could no longer deny their source.

Guilt.

It had been exactly eight days since she'd gotten Angel Dust fired and cost him his protection. But more than that, it had been exactly eight days since she realized that taking Charlie back to Ooo with her might not be such a good idea. For one thing, doing so would put at least a half a dozen relatively innocent demons in danger of being permanently erased from existence. For another, she was beginning to question her own intentions.

From the beginning, Marceline envisioned herself as the hero of this story; like those of Greek Mythology. More than once, she'd compared herself to Orpheus, the poet and musician who'd braved he depths of the Underworld to rescue his beloved Eurydice. But that analogy didn't quite fit anymore.

For one thing, Charlie didn't need rescuing. She hadn't died at the bite of a snake, she was born here. For better or worse, this pit of suffering was her home. This is where her friends and family were, she didn't want to leave it. For fuck's sake, she opened this Hotel just to try and make it better.

No, the Vampire Queen had gotten it wrong. This wasn't the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, it was the story of Hades and Persephone. And she was Hades.

Hades, the God of Death who kidnapped the beautiful Goddess of Spring and took her down to the Underworld to be his bride; and in so doing, condemned the world above to an endless winter. Granted, it was sort of a reversal, but the analogy still applied.

Here she was, trying to convince an innocent girl into unwitting abandoning her home and family forever just so she could be her wife, and all at the expense of people she'd called her friends.

And for what?

Just so she wouldn't be lonely anymore?

No!

This was wrong.

This was all wrong.

Coming to this universe was a horrible, stupid, selfish mistake.

"Sigh. I have to fix this." She told herself as she looked into her haggard reflection. "I have to get out of here before I make things any worse."

"Oh, but why would you wanna do that?" a familiar voice asked, causing Marceline to nearly jump out of her skin.

She spun around and, sure enough, she saw Alastor standing right behind her; his ever-present smile as wide as ever.

"Alastor! Wha… What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Your door was unlocked, so I thought I'd let myself in."

"I don't care if my door was unlocked! That doesn't mean you can just come in whenever you want!"

"Actually, it does. You should've thought of that."

"Look, I don't know what your game is, but I'm no mood for any of your crap right now."

"Why not? Too busy thinking about going back home to Ooo?"

Once again, Marceline felt her heart stop. How on Earth did he know about Ooo? She was about to ask this question aloud when the Radio Demon placed a finger on her lips.

"Ah-Ah-Ah. Don't speak. Don't even nod." He said in a casual yet authoritative tone. "The rules say you're only disqualified if you blab your secret yourself. It doesn't count if someone else figures it out on their own. As for how I know all this, well… let's just say I have an old acquaintance who loves to gossip."

The Vampire Queen did as instructed. She did not speak. Nor did she resist when Alastor put his arm around her shoulder and started leading her back into the bedroom.

"Now, now, Dearie. I know you've had a tough time recently. You've got all this guilt welling up inside you and you just wanna try to fix things so you can go back home with a clear conscience. But I'm afraid you haven't thought things through." The Radio Demon explained as he sat Marceline down at the foot of her bed. "You see, there are three fatal flaws with your logic. Do you know what they are?"

Marceline just shook her head.

"I didn't think so, but that's okay. I'll explain it to you nice and simple." He said politely before pausing to clear his throat. "Flaw Number 1: You've forgotten where you are. Namely Hell, Darling. You pity those creatures down stairs because you shared a few laughs with them, but you forget that they're down here for a reason. They're down here because they squandered the lives God gave them on selfishness and vice. They had their chance and they blew it. And there's no way out, no matter what Miss Charlotte thinks. And as for the Cleansing, well… it happens to everyone eventually. Even me someday. We're all just on borrowed time. So there's really no point in feeling sorry for us."

Marceline hated to admit it, but there was a certain dark logic to what he was saying.

"Flaw Number 2: Ending things now would just be so… anticlimactic. I mean, there's just been so much build up so far. So many ups and downs and crazy plot twists, that pulling the plug now would just be so… so… BORING!"

For a split second, Alastor dropped his signature smile and allowed his true burning rage to shine through. But fortunately for her, he quickly regained his composure.

"Anyway, that leads me to my final point. Flaw Number 3: Your escape route comes with a delay timer. Even if you were to go out right now and spill the beans to some drunken vagrant, you'd still have to wait 24 hours before you could leave. And I can get a lot done in just one day. Heck, I once crammed an entire lifetime's worth of pain and suffering into 90 minutes. Oh sure, you could try to run and hide, but there's nowhere in Hell I can't find you. And I suppose you could try to fight, but given your performance with Valentino, I wouldn't bet on you wining. Not that I ever engage in such things."

The Vampire Queen suddenly felt very small and very afraid. It was like she was a field mouse caught in the jaws of a hungry leopard.

"What I guess I'm trying to say is that I'm dying to see where this little drama is going. I'm genuinely curious to see which one of you Miss Charlotte will choose, and I'd hate for anyone to spoil my fun. Do you understand me, Dearie?"

Marceline nodded, still too scared to speak.

"Good. You don't have to do anything else if you don't want to. You've already done quite enough. Just don't leave the Hotel until after Miss Charlotte makes her decision. And don't do anything that might push her back to Miss Vagatha. Oh, and don't breathe a word about this conversation to anyone. Understand?"

She nodded once again.

"Good girl. Well, I've kept you up long enough. I'll leave you alone now."

And with that, the Radio Demon made his grand exit. But not before pausing to add.

"Pleasant dreams."

End Notes:

Nothing else to add this time.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one.

Peace.