A/N: These chapters just keep coming! We're moving on to the next stage of the plot, so hold onto your hats.
Chapter 6
Finn awoke to a peculiar feeling. It was nice, but he'd never felt anything like it. His eyes opened and he stifled a gasp. The hero was still sitting fairly upright as he'd fallen asleep, but he had the queen in his lap. Phoebe had, at some point in the night, laid down and was currently using his thigh as her pillow.
Out the window, Finn could see that it was still dark, but a brighter blue peaking over the horizon signaled the approaching morn. That's when he noticed, in the chair by the window, Amun sat with his arms and legs crossed. The masked man's head tipped forward and his eyes were closed, his breathing steady. Finn sighed and remembered the man's wishes to leave at first light. As gently as he could manage, he shook Phoebe by the shoulder.
With a sharp inhale, she stirred awake. The fiery girl sat up. Her glow brightened a bit and she spoke groggily, "Morning, Finn."
The Treefort was still, with the quiet of the night not yet broken. "Morning, FP."
Before she could say something else, Finn held up his hand in a "one sec" gesture. The younger human approached Amun's sleeping form. Finn reached for his shoulder to shake him awake, but hesitated. After what had happened between them last night, he opted to avoid any part of the cloth. Instead, he laid a hand on Amun's lower bicep and shook gently.
Amun's eyes opened and he lifted his gaze to meet Finn's, "Finn."
"Hey, Amun- woah, what?" he found himself wrapped in an embrace from the other human.
When the taller man backed away, his hands still on Finn's shoulders, he said, "I apologize for snapping at you and Her Highness last night."
Finn could only blink, and Phoebe walked over, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "No, no, i-it's cool, man," he said, "Let's just forget it happened and get down to this next dungeon."
"Thank you," Amun's eyes smiled at him, "You understand how sensitive my identity is, right?"
"I get that, man."
"Alright," he clapped Finn's shoulders, "Our next target is the Amulet of the being called Bastet. This will be much more difficult to get to than the Nut's cloak."
He turned to Phoebe, "Highness, you've done me a great kindness and I'll always remember it. If you wish to return to your kingdom, you're welcome to. I know you must be a busy young woman."
Phoebe shook her head, "No. Both Finn and I are with you till the end on this. If this concerns the fate of Ooo, that includes my kingdom."
"Very well," he said, "Then, let's be off."
They now stood outside of a structure that Amun knew all too well. It was a sandstone pyramid. The journey had passed almost instantly, in silence for the most part. While he had been forgiven, Amun felt as though he was unwelcome now. So, he stayed silent and left the conversation to Finn and Phoebe.
What he didn't know was that the two were incredibly silent while walking, only relying on small talk more towards the end of the journey. In the course of the journey, Amun had lead them into a desert area, where the grass tapered off and gave way to the gritty dunes of sand. So, there the pyramid stood, tall and regal. The dryness of the air parched the two humans more so than Phoebe, but it was more bearable than the muggy humidity of the Grasslands. But, even the sandy wind seared their skin.
Once again, Amun dropped to one knee.
He could feel the warm orange gaze upon him. Amun stood, turned to them and finally spoke, "Now, a word of caution. Some of the elders in my village had encountered Bastet themselves. She's supposedly a horrible monster that brings misfortune if she's crossed. If we come across her, don't upset her."
"You got it, Amun," Finn gave a thumbs up.
Phoebe also chimed, "Alright."
"More than likely, we'll have to work our way from the bottom to the top to reach the relic," he continued, "I don't know what awaits us, but we shouldn't have to worry about not being able to get out."
The shade from inside of the pyramid welcomed them. Their relief, however, didn't last very long when they saw the design of the insides. Pillars, narrow walkways, tunnels, and tight spaces of all sorts filled the place. That didn't even include the axes that swung back and for across some of the narrow walks and the unstable rope ladders that were supposed to help one climb up. These obstacles went up until they hit a flat ceiling and went up through a narrow opening that presumably led to the relic.
"Of course," Amun groaned, "Bastet is a cat being. She would have this place built like a cat house."
Finn only smirked, "Aw, yeah. This is totally my element!"
Before any of them could protest, Finn dove in. He climbed up the first ladder onto one of the narrow walks... only to come face to face with a log. Finn had been unaware of the tripwire he had stepped on. Thus was the log sent sailing from its place on the bottom of the walkway above it. He struggled to keep himself up and tried to pivot around the log, only to encounter a pressure plate that shot out flames at him.
He yelped, and while he felt no pain from the flame, he instinctually jumped to the side. Finn sailed over the edge and landed rather harshly in front of Amun and Phoebe. While Finn groaned in pain, Amun was looking down on him with an amused shimmer in his eyes, and Phoebe was hardly holding back her laughter. "Finn," she snorted and further held back a laugh, "You okay?"
"Yeah," he hissed as he turned the wrong way, "We're gonna need some help. I can't maneuver and keep track of all the booby traps at the same time."
Amun cleared his throat, "But, what else can we do?"
"Look!" Flame Princess pointed to the ceiling.
They looked and on the ceiling, right next to the opening to the next floor, was a lever. The fiery monarch continued, "Maybe that's some sort of mechanism to shut everything off?"
"Even so, we'd have to be able to fly to get to that. Or, at the very least, fly to the ladder," Amun said.
"I can fly," Phoebe said.
Finn, who was done brushing himself off, piped in, "Uh, no offense, FP, but I think we need someone who floats more than rockets. And I know just the person. C'mon guys."
Amun was outside his comfort zone. He could handle monsters, he could handle all sorts of spiritual horrors, and he had cast out evil spirits multiple times. But, the Vampire Queen herself was a thing that he could have gone his whole life without encountering. Amun's mother had told him stories about the vampires that she had killed in her day. Those stories had terrified him and made him hope that he'd never have to see one.
"Th-This vampire, uh, she's their Queen?" he asked.
"More like one of the only ones left," Finn replied, "Marcy was a vampire hunter before she got turned by the vampire king and then ganked him. It's kinda complicated if you think about for too long, so I sorta don't."
"And she drinks... red?"
Finn laughed, "Dude, chill. Marceline's been one of my best friends for about five or six years now. She'd pretty harmless."
But, he paused, then added, "As long as she isn't too hungry."
Amun groaned and they were at the cave. Surprisingly, there was a quaint little house sitting further back into the cave with a white fence and a front yard. Phoebe was just about to knock on the door when Finn's hand came up over hers and lowered it. They both blushed a little before Finn said, "Since it's about noon, it'd be kinda like someone wakin' us up at midnight, so she's gonna be a little cranky."
Flame Princess and Amun nod. Finn knocked on the door, then waited. Some moments passed by before a muffled voice could be heard, "Go away."
"Marcy, it's me; Finn."
A deadbolt clacked and revealed the tired queen herself, floating just above ground level. "There better be a good reason, weenie," she croaked groggily.
Out of nowhere, Finn spoke at the speed of light. He rambled and babbled about Amun, Set, the relics, the dungeons, and how the couch was kinda lumpy on the side he slept on, and how he really wished he could've eaten breakfast before they had left-
"Slow down," the vampire sighed, "Come in."
They came into Marceline's home, one after the other, Amun being the last and most reluctant. He observed her. Marceline was a rather thin looking girl that looked about his age. Her ears were pointed and her skin was grey, an unnatural shade even for a dead human. Her hair was black and cut short into what looked more like a messy attempt at a bob cut.
The vampire queen lounged in the air with her arms crossed over her chest. At the moment she wore a grey tank top with a pair of comfortable-looking black sweatpants. Marceline's red eyes looked skeptically to Finn, "So, what's all this crazy biz you're talking about?"
Slower than Finn, Phoebe went into detail about Amun, the strange masked man who showed up in her kingdom and requested her help. At point,s Amun was asked to fill in holes in the story and Finn threw his own details in. They recounted their run-in with Set, an uncomfortable silence falling on Amun. As they told it, he bowed his head and looked at the ground almost shamefully. "... And now, we can't get through this dungeon we need to get through 'cause it's booby trapped out the whack-hole," Finn wrapped up.
"There's a lever, but it's on the ceiling; more than likely for when you come back down, to deactivate the traps," Phoebe added.
Marceline hummed, "What's in it for me?"
Finn rubbed the back of his hat covered head, "Gee, Marcy... I didn't really think of that. Sorry."
The subtle, vampiric glow from her eyes brightened ever so slightly as she shifted gaze between Finn and Phoebe. "I'll do it. But," she drawled out playfully, "You gotta give me a kiss, Finny."
"Oh, okay," and he planted one on her cheek.
But, she wagged her finger at him, "Nuh-uh. I mean real deal. Lips, hero."
Amun crossed his arms, his eyes shone with joviality. A small chuckle escaped him. Both Finn and Phoebe were both taken by surprise. But, when both came out of it, Finn blushed and Phoebe crossed her arms and looked another direction. She, too, had a burning blush across her face.
And with that, the vampire queen grabbed Finn by the front of his shirt and smashed their lips together. Finn's eyes widened almost impossibly. He pulled away when he felt something slither against his bottom lip. The hero yelped, "What was that?!"
Marceline reeled her head back and laughed heartily, "What? You never gotten tongue before, hero?"
"N-No!"
More laughter, "Alright, alright, weenie. Let's go get this necklace and save Ooo again."
And then chuckles from Amun.
And there's yet another chapter from me! I hope you enjoy this little somethin-somethin. Until next time, ja-ne!
