Author's Note: I don't really have anything to say. This chapter's a bit shorter, and maybe you'll think it's boring but I feel like it's kind of important.

Bitter Sugar Chapter 3


Princess Bubblegum smashed the buttons on the remote control of the holosphere, not paying attention to any of the sounds coming out of the bright images.

"... mysterious illness racking the lower city. Multiple deaths have been reported, but..."

"... The WhyWolf Countess has expressed interest in building a new hospital that..."

"... fanizens are pleading with King Hunson for help. He's responded that the best scientists are already..."

"... is Princess Bubblegum? It's been weeks since her wedding to Lady Marceline, and no one has seen even a glimpse of pink!"

Bubblegum frowned. Turning off the holosphere angrily, she stood with a huff and headed out the door of her bedroom. She was sick of all this nonsensical drabble.

Turning left at the end of the hallway, she came to a halt as a guard stepped into her path. "Where are you headed princess?"

"Somewhere," she responded tartly, moving past the man.

She had most of the halls memorized already. They were currently living in one of the Vampire Clan's houses, the one that Marceline owned. Every royal family had their own section of land in the royal society as well as property somewhere else in Nightos. The Vampire Clan's society land held seven different houses, but only two were lived in and staffed, one for Marceline and one for Marshall. Bubblegum had found that the lands the Vampire's ruled outside of the capitol were in the moutains near the shared border with the Candy Kingdom and Ice Kingdom.

Most of the other royalty inside the walls of the Society seemed insatiably base. Bubblegum had been invited to tea or brunch a few times. She accepted often enough to be polite, but otherwise she feigned exhaustion from the new environment. When she did attend, the conversation inevitably turned to Marceline. No one seemed to understand why Bubblegum became instantaneously uninterested in anything having to do with her wife.

Bubblegum had found that there were basically two types of people amongst the royalty. The type that gained popularity for the sake of being popular and revered by the masses, and the type that garnered popularity for the sake of gaining political power. She noticed that only the former ever approached her, indicating yet again that she was intended to do nothing but sit back, be silent, and be a well-kept house wife.

Every family seemed to have more than enough members to fulfill both roles, except for the Vampire Clan. For some reason, Marceline and Marshall were the only two of the family she had seen, and no one would explain to her why they were "adopted" by King Hunson, of the Demon Clan. It was a mystery she had yet to find answers to.

"Princess Bubblegum," one of the handmaidens that followed her interrupted her thoughts. "Excuse me, but, where might we be going?"

"Where ever we end up," she snapped back, picking up her pace.

This was another problem- these damned handmaidens and guards she had been assigned. First of all, there were far too many of them. Almost ten maidens and over twenty guards that constantly changed shifts. Second of all, they never ever left her alone. At least three maidens insisted on sleeping on the floor of her bedroom every night. They even stood outside of the door to the water closet in case the dear lady break a nail while wiping her own bum.

Bubblegum had never felt so utterly alone and constantly overrun with attention at the same time before. She consistently asked for any news from her brother or other Candy Kingdom friends, but was always assured there was nothing.

The only time the maidens disappeared was when Marceline came to visit. She dropped in every few days under the guise of visiting her new wife, but the two never interacted or spoke. A few times, the Vampiress had left out the window immediately after arriving, giving Bubblegum a few precious moments alone until the maidens reappeared. Bubblegum didn't quite understand until she realized that it was all probably made to look like loving conjugal visits for any onlookers. The thought made her frown in distaste.

She allowed her thoughts to drift to other worries, like her friends. Bubblegum had been allowed to see them off a few weeks ago, although it was a quick and tearful farewell. During her last hug with Rainicorn, she had quickly whispered news of the presence of the Peppermint Advisory in Nightos. She'd yet to receive any correspondence from Rainicorn or the others, but surely they would contact her if something serious had happened.

Bubblegum stopped in front of a pair of double glass doors, the entrance to the gardens that wove through the Vampire Clan's estates. Bubblegum requested the handmaidens to wait by the entrance as she entered the flowering path. Before she could even take two steps however, the women were quick to deny her request.

"I'm only going to walk the path in the immediate area," she snapped, hands on her hips.

"It's too dangerous to let you out of our sight, Princess," the maiden with the whiniest voice entreated.

"That's nonsense," Bubblegum practically hissed. "I've been sitting in this house for weeks and I haven't even been attacked by a bug."

"What if just one of us went?" the youngest of the group offered.

Bubblegum was about to retort that one was one too many when a familiar voice called out behind them.

"Good day," Marshall beamed a fanged smile at the group of ladies as he floated over. Bubblegum glanced up to the sky. As usual, Nightos was covered by a thick layer of grey clouds, allowing the Vampire access to the outside world for the day. "What's this commotion I hear?"

"I merely wished to walk through the gardens alone for a few moments," Bubblegum informed him, glaring at her handmaidens.

Marshall followed the direction of her stare with his cool smile. "Perhaps you'd like to accompany me? I've just had a midday snack prepared at the river bank. Lovely maidens, surely you can trust me to look out for my own sister-in-law?" he grinned at the group of ladies.

Somewhat reluctantly, the women finally agreed to release Bubblegum from their grasp. She walked next to Marshall's floating figure in silence until they were far enough away that the maiden's wouldn't hear them.

"Thank you," she sighed. "I can never get them to leave me alone for even a few seconds."

Marshall chuckled happily. "No problem. Although, you've been here over three weeks now. You'd think they'd stop worrying at least a little."

"Yes, well... It seems I'm still a threat. Or I attract too much danger. I'm not sure which."

Marshall didn't reply as they rounded a corner, reaching the lunch he'd had prepared. He floated ahead of her, picking up the edges of a large picnic blanket and shaking it out over the grass. He invited her to sit as he landed on the opposite side of the blanket and began to pour drinks. Bubblegum settled on the soft fabric, her dress fanning out around her in all directions, watching the small river pass by.

She accepted the glass he offered her with thanks, watching as he laid out a plate of miniature sausages, cheeses, and crackers. Marshall picked up a block of cheese, tossed it into his mouth and began to chew happily.

Bubblegum took a sip from the glass absently, frowning as the liquid hit her tongue. She swallowed then smacked her lips a few times. "This tastes... strange."

"Strange?" Marshall replied through a second block of cheese.

"Is this grape juice? Or... wine?" she asked, sniffing it. "It seems like there's something else in it?" The extra taste lingered on her tongue, almost reminding her of home, but it was just different enough to feel foreign at the same time.

Marshall laughed as he raised his own drink to his lips. "Well... the truth is, I made this juice myself! It's kind of a new hobby of mine, so I haven't really worked out the kinks. I tried mixing in a few new ingredients..." he wrinkled his nose in worry. "If you don't like it, I can fetch another."

"Oh, no," Bubblegum waved her hand emphatically. "Its fine," she took another sip, not wanting to be rude to her wife's brother. She glanced over as Marshall took another block of cheese. "Can... you actually eat those?"

Marshall grinned at her as he munched on a cracker. "I don't get any nourishment from things like this of course, but I still enjoy the taste. I'm no different than Marceline."

"Oh," was all Bubblegum said as she took another sip, looking back at the river.

"I suppose... my sister hasn't been very forthcoming with such details?" he asked softly.

"We don't talk much," Bubblegum answered. She frowned. Why had she admitted that?

"I see. So she just... bites and flies?" Marshall swooped one of his hands in a flying motion.

"No?" Bubblegum furrowed her brows. What was he talking about?

"I see," he said again, taking a sip of his own juice. "It must be rather difficult. I'm not sure I quite agree with my sister's treatment of you, to be honest."

Bubblegum turned to look at him in surprise. "She's done nothing cruel."

"Oh, no," he said assuredly with a smile. "She's not the type for cruelty. Well, I guess... if it were me I wouldn't lock you away in my house being constantly under watch by your handmaidens and guards." He shrugged.

Unable to argue with the observation, Bubblegum continued to sip her juice. It wasn't so bad, the more she drank.

"It seems a bit strange," he continued nonchalantly, "not to allow you access to the current discussions about the new treaty. King Gumball has not been shy in his correspondence."

Bubblegum's head shot up instantly. "Correspondence?"

"Hadn't you heard? The council meets often to discuss the contents of his telegrams."

"I was told there'd been no word from my brother," Bubblegum answered through grit teeth.

"Oh, there have been plenty of words," Marshall seemed amused. "He's quite taken with Nightos' army. It seems he seeks our help to strike the Ice Kingdom before they can strike us again."

"What!" she almost shrieked. "That's lunacy! There hasn't been a peep out of the Ice Kingdom since the last war. There's no reason to start a new one over nothing!"

Marshall regarded her strangely for a moment, as if his eyes had gone dead. He blinked, and then he was smiling again. "You seem to know what you're talking about. It must be awfully frustrating for you. If it were me, I would be rather incensed at being tucked away out of sight while others do work. Perhaps you should talk to Marceline about it? She could take you to the meetings."

"Perhaps I shall," Bubblegum said darkly, glaring ahead but seeing nothing.

Once all the cheese was gone, Marshall floated up above her. "We should probably get you back before your maidens start to worry."

Bubblegum followed the prince out of the garden silently, offering no comment on the flowers he pointed out. Once they were within sight of the handmaidens, but still out of earshot, Marshall turned to her. "If you ever need anything, princess, please feel free to come to me."

Bubblegum blinked at him. "Thank you, Marshall."

When they approached, the group of handmaidens made quite a scene of exclaiming their relief to have Bubblegum back in one piece. The headache that had begun to plague her only grew as they continued to express how worried they'd been. The headache only spurred her anger further. Halfway back to her rooms, she ordered one of them to summon Marceline.

Bubblegum flung herself onto her couch, staring at the ceiling. An hour passed as she waited, listening to the handmaidens chat about nonsense that just increased her bad mood. Finally she sat up. "What is taking so long?" she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else, but that didn't stop the handmaidens from answering.

"Oh, Lady Marceline is very busy."

"Yes, she's always working hard to help and protect the fanizens, so she doesn't have much free time."

"Princess Bubblegum, you're rather lucky she always makes time to come visit you. I hear many political figure wives don't get to see their spouses half as much."

"Although, it's really understandable if you miss her!"

The handmaidens were giggling as if they'd told some kind of joke, but Bubblegum simply couldn't take it anymore.

"Shut up!" she yelled, standing from the couch and glaring at them. "I'm sick of hearing your mindless worship of her! Shut up!"

The handmaidens had backed away, obviously shocked by the princess's words. Bubblegum was about to try her luck at leaving the room without being followed when the door opened and none other than Marceline floated in. "What's all the commotion about?" the Vampiress looked around confused.

"Oh, look," Bubblegum propped her hands on her hips, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "My doting wife, finally come to pay me attention and not just pretend for her precious fans. I hope my summons hasn't hurt your image!"

Marceline stared across the room at her silently before requesting the handmaidens to leave the room. Once the two women were alone, Marceline glared at her. "What is this about?"

"This is about how you have not only been lying to me, but have kept me sequestered away from the rest of the world like some embarrassing secret!" Bubblegum accused heatedly.

Marceline snorted. "Sequestered? You've had nothing but the opportunity to do whatever you like since the wedding."

"Wow," Bubblegum's voice was flat. "You really think that by treating me like a pet, fed and clothed in this cage of a house, that you are doing me some sort of favor? How self-righteous can you get?"

"Cage?" Marceline was obviously confused. "I merely do not wish for you to travel anywhere unescorted. The handmaidens were instructed to accompany you to where ever you wanted to go."

"Right," Bubblegum rolled her eyes. "Which is why every time I've gotten within ten feet of an exit they've dissolved into a tizzy about how unsafe it is outside and I should wait for my strong, powerful wife to come escort me herself.

"Let me tell you something," Bubblegum continued, pointing at her spouse. "I don't appreciate you patronizing me. I don't appreciate you lying to me about my brother's correspondence, when my entire purpose here is to serve as a political representative for my home country. I don't appreciate you locking me away in your fancy house, hiding me from the world. If you expect me to sit still and follow your orders you have another thing coming!"

Bubblegum barely stopped for a breath, her anger spurring her on without pausing to think. "And I really don't appreciate you assigning those wretched excuses for handmaidens to spy on me while babysitting! I don't know what low-class sewer you had to dredge through to find them, but they are absolutely insufferable!"

"Enough!" Marceline snapped, raising her voice for the first time since they'd met. "How dare you? You expect me to take you seriously as a diplomat when you can't even treat your own handmaidens with a bit of decency?"

Bubblegum opened her mouth to argue, but Marceline cut her off. "You don't care about them or anyone else in this country, because they're not your precious, beautiful, infallible candy people. Here's a newsflash princess: You're in the real world now. It's not all sugar and cotton candy and beautiful people bowing at your feet. It is war and survival and making sacrifices to help the population of people you've never met face to face."

"You think I don't care about the people?" Bubblegum's voice rose in offense.

"You don't care about Nightos' people," Marceline accused. "If you could be bothered to realize that the citizens of Nightos are just as important as your Candy devotees, maybe I would bother to inquire your opinion on political matters."

Bubblegum didn't respond, so Marceline continued. "You owe those women an apology- a real one. That is if you ever see them again. As of today, I am terminating their service to you and you can serve yourself."

Marceline moved to leave, but turned back at the last moment. "Who told you about your brother's correspondence?"

Bubblegum's mind felt muddled as she tried to think. Rather than bother to remember, she simply glared at Marceline. "What do you care?"

Marceline closed the last of the distance between them, reaching out to grab Bubblegum's chin and tilt her face up. She stared down into the princess's eyes, searching for something. Bubblegum mysteriously felt her mind begin to clear, allowing her to jerk away from the Vampiress's grip. "Don't touch me."

Marceline gave her one last look of disdain before leaving the room without another word.

Bubblegum felt her anger dissipate almost immediately, leaving her winded and exhausted. It was as if the anger had never been hers to begin with, as if it had just inhabited her body for a while. Why had she confronted Marceline in such a manner? Obviously conflict wasn't going to solve anything or make it easier. And why had she said such terrible things about the handmaidens... sure they were annoying but she hadn't meant to insult them.

If she had any of her usual lab equipment from home, she could run tests on herself... check blood pressure, run tests for any infections... but that wasn't going to happen.

Grabbing a large notepad and pen from the nearby table, Bubblegum curled up and began taking notes of everything that had happened after recording her pulse rate.


Marceline took a moment to compose herself before she walked down to the library where the handmaidens waited. Once she had listened to their report of everything that had happened that day, she informed them that they would no longer be working in the service of Princess Bubblegum. A few looked distraught until Marceline assured them she would find them safe work. Once they finished thanking her, Marceline excused herself and closed the door behind her.

"Kovmir," she summoned her corporal. When he appeared at her side, she spoke quietly. "Get blood samples from them and kindly question them as to why they never allowed the Princess to leave the premises."

"Yes, my lady," he replied, crossing his chest with a fist in a salute. "Will you be returning to the military discussions?"

"I think I'll pay a visit to my brother first," she said, floating down the hall. The handmaidens had informed her of Marshall's visit earlier that day.

Being from the same clan, they lived on the same property but in different homes. It was only the two of them, so there was more than enough room with seven giant houses. It gave the area a desolate and haunted feeling. A servant greeted her in the front waiting room and informed her that Marshall was in his personal study on the second floor. Marceline floated there.

As soon as she was through the door, Marshall was grinning at her from his desk. "Big sister! What a surprise visit. I say, you do not stop by often enough."

Marceline considered the situation as she greeted her brother and took a spot on the couch. Although they were not exactly close, Marshall had never treated her poorly or rudely, nor she him. While he was popular in his own way among the fanizens, he had expressed no overt desire to gain any power in Nightos as a political figure or ruler. At the very least, he never registered as a threat to anyone.

"Marshall," she began, crossing one long leg over the other. "A bird told me that you spent time with my wife in the gardens today."

"Aw, Marcy," he used her childhood nickname, floating over to the armchair across from her. "Are you jealous? I swear I held no other intention than to get to know my new sister-in-law. You've kept her so holed up from the world, I was beginning to wonder if she actually existed!" he laughed.

"She seemed a bit estranged when I visited just now. I was curious as to what you discussed with her," Marceline stared at him, unblinking.

Marshall met her stare, his smile fading. "Well, Marcy, I hate to say this but it's not exactly difficult to see why she would be estranged when you've kept her under lock and key... except for those few gossip parties she's been invited to, of course. A woman of her intellect is not fit for such a life, I believe."

Marceline raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Her intellect?"

"Surely you've heard, sister?" he crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair. "All you have to do is research the last twenty years of the Candy Kingdom to find mention of her work. I'm surprised the fanizens aren't all over it already. I suppose they're still hung up on being able to see her in person."

Silence fell between them and Marceline had the suspicion that she was being judged. Finally Marshall spoke again.

"I suspect the idea to omit her from any international proceedings was not yours?" He poured a glass of juice and offered her the cup.

Marceline waved the cup away, denying the offer. "I don't know what you mean."

"Well maybe you should consider standing up to that man's orders. He treats you like a dog," Marshall set the glass of juice on the table between them with a startling sound.

"Do not speak of our father that way," Marceline warned him.

"He is NOT our father. He's our sponsor. If he truly expected nothing in return for his patronage, he wouldn't demand these things from you."

Silence returned, the siblings staring at one another determinedly. Marceline hated that this is how all their conversations ended up going. It may be easy for Marshall, since he made it clear he had no ambition from a young age. But Hunson had then placed all his ambition and expectations on Marceline. Failure wasn't an option, and he made sure she knew that.

Marshall pushed the juice towards her again, his smile returning. "Won't you try it? I made it myself."

Marceline sighed and grabbed the cup, bringing it to her lips. As soon as the liquid hit her tongue, she grimaced. "What is this?"

Her brother smiled sheepishly. "Those Peppermint Advisory fellows have been teaching me how to make juice and wine, but I'm afraid I'm not as good at it as they are. I tend to offer one of the juices they've made when I want to make an impression, since it tastes so much better." He took a sip of his own juice and grimaced similarly to his sister. "I haven't quite figured it out, I suppose."

Marceline set the glass on the table and stood to leave. "My apologies for bothering you, brother," she said drolly.

"You never bother me," he said earnestly, floating over behind her. "You're my sister. I cherish your visits."

Marceline eyed her brother carefully. For some reason, she felt like she truly believed him. Perhaps they weren't close, but they were still each other's only true family. "Till next time then," she said a bit more warmly, clasping his shoulder.

When she approached the door, Marshall called out to her. "Marceline... you don't have to like the Candy Princess. If anyone has that right, it would be our family. If I'd been forced to marry her..." he shrugged. "The point is, you don't have to like her. But keeping her locked up isn't the answer either."

Marceline looked over her shoulder at him evenly. "Thank you, Marshall."

He smiled at her. "Anytime, dear sister."

Marceline left the premises, considering her brother's words. As she approached the window of her personal bedroom on the third floor, she summoned Kovmir. He appeared on the balcony after a moment.

"Take a blood sample from me and run it with the same tests as the others," she ordered.

"My Lady?" the man sounded surprised. "I thought you just went to speak to your brother?"

"I did," she said, rolling up her sleeve and thinking of the disgusting juice. "And that is why you need to search for that foreign agent in my blood that we've found in everyone else we've questioned."

"Yes, milady," Kovmir nodded, removing the small case that carried a pack of clean syringes from his jacket.