This chapter is packed with dialogue and I have no regrets :) It just means we get to see first-hand the relationship development between our two girls! Also, please remember that (as most of you already know) this is an alternate universe, and therefore not every detail is the same as in the actual show. With that being said, Marcy's powers are limited to flight and maybe some self-healing, just to help the story flow better.
Note: My winter break is coming to an end, so expect future updates on this story to be less frequent
Marceline flew over the endless trees, toward the realm of the vampires. She carried the princess with her, rather uncomfortably. They were, in fact, close to strangers.
"Are you sure leaving the kingdom is the best choice? What if my people need me?"
"You said yourself that Finn is your most trusted knight. He can handle it. Probably," Marceline shrugged.
Princess Bubblegum was dressed rather casually in a simple dress with a hooded cloak atop it, while Marcy was forced to cover up in her long socks and sunhat. It was daytime again, approaching evening, and it was such a nice day. The flowers were all in bloom. It was spring, though the princess had to tell her that. Marcy never paid much attention to plants and nature when it was dark and cold, and when she just wanted to go home and stop pretending to be hunting for candy people. They flew on as a gentle breeze ruffled their hair like feathers on a falcon so free, hundreds of feet in the air. It was a feeling of liberty, and it pained her to know they were only enjoying it at the moment because of scheming and ravaging.
"So," said Bonnibel. "Remind me again why we're heading to precisely the place that wants my very blood?" It was obvious that the princess was experiencing a great deal of discomfort and doubt. Who was to say that Marceline wasn't faking, and that she wasn't feigning innocence to capture the enemy's ruler? It was an effective war tactic to first take out the leader, and leave the rest of the enemy distressed and unsure what to do with themselves. When the thought was brought up, Marcy was quick to remind her that the vampires didn't want capitulation, and rather sought murder and blood. Literally.
"I told you, genius. We need to find a friend of mine. He'll have vital information on the king's plan to attack." If he hasn't been caught and executed, Marcy thought. "We'll need that to organize a direct attack on the king, or at the very least, a defense."
The bubblegum girl narrowed her eyes. "How do you know so much about this war?"
"I, uh-" Busted. "Oh! We're here." Or not.
"Really? I thought- wOAHHH!"
The outlaw began descending rather quickly, but landed soundly within the outskirts of the kingdom.
"Whoops. Forgot you're not used to flying."
"THEN REMEMBER!"
"Yeesh. Sorry for getting us here before dark, when the vampires come out and eat your people alive like dissolved sugar cubes, then leave their husks to rot."
The candy princess looked at her in horror. "That's really distasteful."
"Well it's the truth." She shrugged. "Did you want me to lie and pretend this war isn't already disgustingly gruesome?"
Bubblegum opened her mouth to respond, then closed it, and instead jumped on Marceline, pushing her over and completely behind a dense blackthorn bush. "Convenient," she hissed, now atop her vampire ally.
"What the-?!"
"Shh." She held up a finger, physically ordering Marceline to quiet, as if hushing her fell short of delivering that message. After about a minute of silence, and an oblivious Marcy staring daggers at the princess, Bubblegum let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "Okay," she breathed, stepping away. "I think we're safe now."
"Safe from what? The scary wind?"
"Safe from your people, you ding-dong!"
"A vampire?"
"A vampire?" Bubblegum mocked. "Yes! What else?" Marceline was beginning to notice that this girl had a temper. "You ought to thank this opportune bush for conveniently being two feet away from us."
"Thanks, bush. And thanks, princess."
Bubblegum rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"You can just call me Bonnibel, you know."
"Hmm." Marcy pretended to be conflicted, before grinning mischievously. "Nah."
"Fine. If you're done being difficult, my map says that we're near a market."
"Forget your map. I know where we are. This way." She led them through serpentine alleyways and hidden streets for nearly an hour, grumbling about not being able to fly. It would draw too much attention. "Where did you even get a map of the kingdom?"
"Peppermint Butler, of course." They looked at each other solemnly. "He had sources."
A source. Leon.
They went on a ways, until Marceline stopped them just before a crossing came into view.
"The market is just across the road. We have to go through there to avoid being spotted by an army base on the left. Beyond there is a forest, that's where we'll have a chance of communicating with Le- uh, a friend of mine." She avoided mentioning his name in case they were compromised sometime in the near future. "If we're seen- if you're seen, we're done for. Early birds will be setting up their shops and stalls. If we stay quiet, they'll have no reason to be suspicious."
"Okay. I'm trusting you to not get me killed." Bubblegum pulled her cloak tightly around her and the hood over her head, careful to hide any bright, strawberry hair.
"As if, Princess. Let's go."
They crossed an old intersection that seemed to no longer be in use. It led directly to the market, which was awfully small. Marceline said it was already twice the size compared to last year, and still growing. Along the barrier of the marketplace were older people who were setting up, withered and scarred from unknown causes. Perhaps they'd once been a part of past wars, or forced into daytime slaving by kings of the past, now gone or retired.
Some of the elderly vampires were bringing livestock into gated enclosures. They were big, healthy animals like cattle and pigs, with pulsing veins and wide eyes. It was if they somehow knew a terrible fate would befall them, and soon.
Marceline caught Bonnie's questioning eyes. "Those are for the people who have given up on candy blood. They just breed and slaughter livestock. It's awful, but I guess better than sucking your subjects dry."
The princess paled. "And those?" she asked, gesturing towards the rest of the stalls. They were full of fruits, some vegetables, and occasionally miscellaneous objects, all red in color. There were endless apples, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, cranberries, and any other red produce with sugar.
"Those are for the least wild of us all. We suck the color, instead of murdering innocents, or any live breed."
They neared the marketplace exit with exhales, and then managed to get by without a single questioning vampire.
"We?" Bonnibel eyed her with a new fondness.
"Oh- yeah. I don't suck animal blood, if you thought I did. It's no good anyway. You know, humans taste a lot better."
Bubblegum stopped in her tracks, horrified.
"Kidding! I've never actually had human blood. Humans are extinct in most regions anyway, I'm surprised you have one back at the-"
"Marceline, we have to go, right now."
"What?"
"Now!"
Marcy averted her eyes from the pink girl, and immediately realized what struck such terror in her. It wasn't the prospect of her sucking human blood. A vampire, armored specially against stakes and shielding night dwellers from the sun, was heading their way. He shot through the air at lightning speed, right for them.
Marceline didn't wait even a second before shouting, "Up we go!"
The princess yelped as cold hands grabbed her, in a rather ungentle fashion, and took off into the air. They went up and up for what felt like forever, the murderous vampire ever gaining on them.
"Marceline, the forest!"
They stopped suddenly and descended toward the trees, the wind blinding them as they cursed, hoping to shake the blood-sucking soldier. He didn't stop chasing.
"I have to leave you here, just for a second," Marcy said quickly, placing the candy girl on the widest and lowest branch of the nearest tree. If she was discovered, at least she could escape.
"What?! You can't leave me h-!"
"I'll be back!" she promised.
Teeth bared, she flew headfirst in the direction of the enemy. He wasn't deterred, and in seconds they collided. Marceline was not armed, nor protected. She was knocked immediately out of the sky from the contact, skidding violently against the dirt and gravel.
"Is that all you've got?" she snarled. She took flight once again, drawing dangerously near to the vampire. The switch in his eyes was easily noticeable, when recognition dawned on him.
"P-Princess?"
Oh. Well that's that. Guess I have to kill him now.
In the span of a second, she'd grabbed the distracted soldier, headbutting him, and crashed their skulls together with a sickening crack.
They both fell backward, smashing into the ground with no protection or compensation for the impact. They were both instantly knocked unconscious.
"Marceline!" Bubblegum had leapt from her hiding spot within the tree, running full-pelt to the two vampire bodies. She knelt beside her ally, patting her face roughly. "Marceline, wake up." She knew that vampires didn't perish so easily. So the dark-haired girl couldn't die on her, could she? Just as the thought crossed her mind, the patting promoted a groan from the girl, cracking her eyes open ever so slightly.
"Stake…" she mumbled.
"What?"
Marcy sat up partially, groaning. "Stake him." She rolled over, fumbling around, apparently searching the unconscious body for stakes.
Bonnibel pushed her hands away, looking for herself. Strapped to the man beneath his armor, by what looked like a utility belt, but more noble, were several tiny stakes. Perhaps they were for dealing with colleagues gone rogue: traitors. Rogues like Marceline. Without hesitation, the princess grabbed one, lifting the heavy armor with a struggle. With a swift downward motion, she'd driven the pointy piece of wood straight into his pale skin and through his heart. In but a moment, he was finished.
"Are you insane?" she said, panting. Marcy only grinned, her eyes still shut with relief, grateful for the survival and victory. "Come on, then, genius." She helped the girl sit up, who nearly fell back over. "Grr, Marceline, please. We don't have time for this. The others at the base definitely noticed the commotion. Who knows how long we have before they decide to come investigate the sudden silence."
"Mm fine." She allowed Bubblegum to help her to her dizzily to her feet.
"Tell me where to go." She huffed under the taller girl's weight, though the vampire was incredibly thin.
"Where we came," Marcy mumbled, entertained by Bonnibel's struggling.
They continued struggled for a while, going as quickly as they could to avoid being caught by the sellers of the market, or by the rest of the army base. They finally crossed the old intersection when Marcy completely came to, backing away from the princess's aid.
"We weren't supposed to run into them," she grumbled, directing them to a dark alleyway.
"Well, we did. And I had to kill that guy. I killed him, without hesitation. Why?"
"Are you seriously asking that? It was him or us, Princess. Even if he survived and we did escape him, he would most definitely alert the others of our presence. Why are you stressed about one guy anyway, your sworn enemy?"
Bonnie fiddled with her cloak, avoiding eye contact, but holding her dignity without showing weakness. She could not compromise her credibility as an effective and capable ruler. But perhaps to Marceline… "I've never killed anyone. Not like that, anyway."
Marceline barked a laugh and led her to the end of the alley, where there was an abandoned drain pipe, taller than the both of them combined. It was dark and stuffy, as if it never knew the cleanliness of the wind. "Get used to it, good-looking. This is war. This," she gestured to themselves, then to their unusual surroundings, "is what war looks like. That dead soldier is what war looks like."
The pink girl suddenly tripped on seemingly nothing, but was caught by the arm by her fellow hero-in-progress.
"Stick close to me," said Marcy, continuing on. "The darkness is my kingdom."
Bubblegum could almost sense a smirk from the girl. She sniffed uncomfortably. "Why are we in a drain pipe?"
It was Marcy's turn to sniff uncomfortably.
"This is where I go when I need to… get away. It leads directly to the forest just beyond the castle. Thing is, it's winding and way longer than just passing through the marketplace." She cursed and pouted. "We were so close."
"Marceline?"
"Mhm?"
"Why did that vampire call you Princess?" Bonnibel confidently challenged as they walked through the blackness.
"All the boys call me princess," she quickly answered, smirking to hide her secret fraud.
"You're lying." Bonnie said immediately, but calmly. "Really, Marceline? You're the one who told me to look you in the eyes and see if you were true. You're a princess, aren't you?" Marceline froze, prompting the candy girl to stop as well. The vampire's mouth hung open, but with no words coming out. "A princess of what? Where?"
"Okay, listen, Bonnibel," she said finally. The name tasted sweet on her tongue. She ought to use it more often. "I don't think you really want to know."
"Uh, I think I do. We're, what? Partners now? Allies, at the least? I need to trust you. I need the whole truth."
What did Marceline owe her? This explanation, this truth? She knew it so definitively, but she also knew that it was a liability to be known as the king's betrothed, the one to whom he should be wed. What would it do to what they'd already built, from strangers, to whatever this was? But yes, she owed it to the sugar girl. She did, somehow, and for some reason that was linked to her roots. It always went back to her roots.
"Princess, I need you to just, not freak out on me, okay?"
"I guess that quite depends…"
"Just-please? Walk with me?"
The princess nodded, and they continued travelling through the eerie pipe.
"There are many regions of respective royalty in the Vampire Kingdom. I was the daughter of a terrible king who married me off to a psycho, as soon as he could."
"You're married?" Somehow there seemed to be a look of betrayal within the candy girl's eyes.
"Well, no, we never married because I ran away. I risked my life, and my friend's life, to come to you."
"And this mysterious fiancé is who, exactly?"
Marcy began fidgeting with the end of her shirt, something she often noticed herself doing in uncomfortable situations. "See, Princess, this is the bad part."
"I'm listening. Who is it?"
There was a long stretch of reluctance, and absolute dread. Marceline one hundred percent would rather have literally any other conversation. She inhaled sharply, and then let go.
"The Vampire King," she whispered, so softly that she wasn't even sure if the princess had heard her. But she must have. Bubblegum stopped dead in her tracks.
"Did you just say, the Vampire King?"
"Listen, please! It was an arranged marriage, and I never-"
"Marceline…"
"I mean I never wanted to, and sometimes I think that's part of the reason of why I ran away, besides the war, you know? I mean-"
"Marceline…"
"Can you really blame me? I was born into evil, and then shoved into an evil courting with-!"
"Marceline!"
She looked up, fear, unlike any she'd physically expressed, radiating from her eyes.
"It's fine," the princess simply stated.
"What?"
"I said it's fine," Bubblegum said softly. "I don't blame you. You were brought up within and forced into so much evil, and yet you chose the right path. What's different about you, I wonder? It must be genetic…" she trailed off, running possibilities of every circumstance through her brain.
Marceline crinkled her features at her in a pondering frown, before dropping the matter. "Sooo we're okay, then?"
"If you mean we as in partners who are about the save the two quarreling peoples of Ooo, then yes. We're okay."
Bonnibel smiled a big, beautiful smile, unforced and genuine. Somehow Marceline had overcome the hurdle of her acceptance easier than anything in the past two days. She had the princess on her side, and the princess had her. And for once, Marcy had hope.
They went on travelling through the drain, mostly talking to plan possible war tactics and products, and methods of preparation if worst came to worst. It was already nightfall by the time they reached the end opening of the pipe, with the forest directly in view. Far away, scavenging vampires were visible, searching for candy people, and coming up empty. They looked wild and starving. Evidently, there were no more stray candy people to catch. Other than the princess herself, which she realized with a shudder. Over the years, the hunters had become less and less, and now there were very few. Most were already converted to alternate diets of red shades or the blood of livestock. Still, it was unsafe to venture into the trees, so they opted on spending the night in the cold drain of never-ending shadows. Bubblegum was exhausted, naturally, and Marceline's sleep schedule was nearly as jacked up as the war itself. They took shifts guarding, like resting twin adventurers on a cruel night.
Marcy was barely drifting off to sleep, despite the fact that it was her turn to watch, when a large figure burst into their hiding spot. She shot up into the air with a yip, like a started dog. Her initial instinct was to grab the princess and flee, but as the candy girl shrieked from the sudden wake of consciousness, Marceline set her on her feet gently. The familiar sight of yellow and fangs brought her back down as well, panting like she'd run a mile.
"Leon?"