"I need a moment with Phoebe," Marceline announced to Jake and Betty once they were inside the Fire Kingdom palace.
The pair nodded solemnly in agreement and walked towards a separate hallway.
"Guards," Phoebe spoke with authority. "Leave us."
After a minute, the vampire and elemental stood facing each other in solace.
"Arrangements are being made for Finn's burial," Marceline informed Phoebe with her voice thick. "His resting place will be with his adoptive parents Joshua and Margaret. It'll be a private event for only his friends and family."
"I thought he would run down in between the speech and scream this whole thing was a prank," Phoebe replied with her voice rough.
"We would all hate him if he did," Marcy argued shaking her head disapprovingly. "Playing with our hearts like that."
"He'd still be alive then," the elemental sniffled. "Have a chance to make up for it."
The vampire turned away and hummed in thought as she couldn't think of a response.
"...How long did you know?" Phoebe asked after a long while. When she didn't hear an answer right away, she faced Marceline who also gazed back.
"I didn't know the whole time if that's what you mean," the vampire replied carefully. "I only suspected."
"How does that work?" Phoebe asked irritably with a frown.
"Look," Marcy began as she tried to keep her voice patient and even, "Just because I've been around this earth longer than you have, doesn't mean I know everything! That being said, I can only piece whatever I have that is in front of me based on experience."
"Go on." Phoebe crossed her arms.
"On the day we began leveling the city, I asked you some questions about the bodyguard. What he looked like, if he had any history, that sort of thing," Marcy counted with her fingers. "For me, it seemed that it was easy to guess Finn was the one all along. He disappears after doing his own thing and then this other guy shows up right in his place."
"How can that be?" Phoebe asked in skepticism. "Sure it sounds coincidental, but how did he-"
"I know Bonnibel a lot more than you do," the vampire said matter of fact. "You'd be surprised how far she would go when it comes to science and experimenting. To think that she managed to grant Finn new abilities in between would not be so far-fetched."
"You mean to tell me," the elemental widened her eyes in realization. "That she had the means to defy the laws of nature?! That Finn and I could have actually been together long beforehand?"
"There is no moral boundary for her," Marcy shook her head. "Once she wants something, she'll make it an obsession until it's finally hers. In your case, she only decided to change Finn as he was when it only served her purpose."
Phoebe looked away in disbelief, "I never would have thought she could ever be like that.. It just blows my mind especially since the way she reacted after the Cooler incident."
"Jake felt the same way about her too," Marcy grimly stated. "He thought he knew her well enough to not even consider the possibility."
"But since you seem to know her so well more than anyone else," Phoebe narrowed her eyes as her anger built. "Why didn't you tell me ahead of time?!" Her flames on her body flared from the sudden outburst.
"Do I really need to point out the obvious?!" Marcy raised her voice. "This is Finn we're talking about here! Even though you didn't admit your feelings about him from the start, I knew he meant a great deal to you. That said, what good would it have done had you known earlier, huh?" She slightly pushed the elemental. "Are you saying you wouldn't have choked as much when we fought him underground?"
"Stop," Phoebe protested as she tried to exchange pushes of her own.
"Or maybe," Marcy speculated. "You would have thought of a better plan to keep him alive?! Face it Phoebe, there was no way of knowing ahead of time until it was too late!"
Suddenly, Phoebe grabbed both of Marcy's wrists mid-push and squeezed tightly.
"You better stop right freakin' now before I lose anymore of my temper," the elemental seethed with a fierce expression.
"I got news for you!" The vampire yelled defiantly as she felt no pain from her grasp. "You were the one who lead the charge that day! Everything you fought so hard to defend was put on a high stakes game. There was no time to hesitate or hold back and if you did any of those things, it would have been over for you and for everyone else in the Fire Kingdom."
"Arrgh!" Phoebe cried out in a mixture of fury and anguish. "I'm gonna kill you!" The elemental tackled her to the ground moments later. Their bodies rolled briefly across the corridor length until the elemental was settled on top throwing punches.
"There was no other way," Marcy argued as she blocked the elemental's attacks with her forearms.
"I had no choice!" Phoebe barked. "As much as I loved Finn, I couldn't afford to drag my people down because of it. And believe me, it was far from easy!"
Suddenly, Marcy reached for Phoebe's chin and used her vampiric strength to roll the elemental off. Before Phoebe knew it, their roles had been switched with the exception that Marcy merely restrained her in place.
"You need to know something else," Marcy countered with her breath panting. "All those assumptions I had about Finn were just that! I could give the best educated guess in the world, but there could also be something I might have missed that could have scared everybody for nothing."
"Sounds like you're just being full of it," Phoebe accused as she fired a blast in Marcy's face from the gem on her own forehead.
Marceline exclaimed in surprise more so than pain as she flew backwards a few feet. As she quickly recovered in midair, the vampire took on a defensive stance and argued, "I really wish I was! And to prove it, I had to do a little digging up."
Phoebe lowered her arms and frowned in confusion, "Wait, what are you talking about?"
"Did you ever wonder why I took so long opening the door for you after Jake was separated," Marcy began as she watched Phoebe blink in realization. "It was so that I could find a definite answer!"
"I should have known something was fishy from how casual you acted," Phoebe shook her head. "Tell me, did you know the whole time from that moment then?"
"...No," Marceline answered in resolute.
"Liar!" The elemental cried out as she pitched a fireball.
"I only took the data," Marcy countered as she dodged instinctively. "I swear I didn't have time to review it!"
"You placed Jake's life on the line with that," Phoebe criticized pointing a finger in her direction.
"Well, he's still alive isn't he?!" Marcy threw her arms. "Besides, if I decided to go in blindly like everybody else, there would be no way to save Finn's image. You and I can go out to the world and proclaim his innocence all we like, but it still won't mean spit!"
Phoebe sharply looked away.
"I wanted to be wrong," Marcy admitted lowering her voice. "I didn't want to see my best friend working as Bonnie's puppet. I wanted to prey on the remote possibility that maybe he was just a clone or some sort of machine to throw us off. Something where you and I wouldn't be having this conversation."
The elemental made no response.
"...I-I loved him too," Marcy confessed with tears running down her face. "I couldn't bring myself to do what needed to be done, even if it meant losing my life."
They shared a tense moment of silence as the words hung in midair.
"So," Phoebe shed tears of her own as she hung her shoulders. "Now what? Where do we go from here?"
"We take everything one day at a time," Marcy resolved with a sigh. "Talk with our friends and family and never keep to ourselves." She formed a serious expression, "I've been through the second option more times than you could count and trust me you don't wanna go there."
"Shouldn't all this be easy for you then?" Phoebe chuckled ironically. "You seem to have it all played out that you could write a book about it!"
"The flaw about immortality is just that," Marcy shook her head. "I should be used to something like this, but I'm not. Every single time I lose somebody, it becomes a brand new experience of pain and suffering. Why? Because I end up knowing them so well that it binds them to my heart!"
"I-I'm sorry," Phoebe said in shame.
"You're not the only person to point that out," the vampire comforted. "Sometimes, I try to say the same thing to get myself back into gear. When you're down in this sort of jam, you'll say and do anything to get right back out."
"I see," Phoebe whispered sadly. "What if I decide to not bother at all?"
"You're a fighter," Marcy asserted with a determined look as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not in your nature to give up. Finn would certainly say something similar too while I'm at it."
"Yeah," the elemental concurred dryly.
"Listen," Marcy continued. "I don't know why this had to happen, just know that right now you are not alone. Remember that."
The two embraced each other moments later, sharing their grief.
"I wish I could just move on from this overnight," Phoebe commented as they parted. "I mean I feel a little bit better, but the pain's still there." She gestured at her heart.
"It's the way of the universe," Marcy smiled sadly. "Probably would just beat the purpose." She began to gesture with her head to regroup with the others.
"One more thing," Phoebe asked before she followed after her. "What.. exactly happened with Bonnibel?"
Marcy took on a dark expression that bewildered the elemental surprisingly in the moment. "Do you really want to know?" She asked scowling in discouragement.
Phoebe could have sworn she caught glimpses projecting from the vampire's gaze. In those few seconds that passed, she saw a pink silhouette getting slapped from the vampire before being throttled in a portal to the Nightosphere. After that, the rest was distorted with someone shrieking followed by the dreadful sound of flesh being torn repeatedly.
"I.. I guess not," said Phoebe as her face turned pale, earning a grunt from Marceline.
