"Citizens of Ooo!" he proclaimed, raising his wine glass in front of him.
The hundreds of people milling about the room and tables lowered their voices to the occasional whisper, turning in his direction. "On behalf of the Candy Kingdom, I welcome you to the Fifth Annual Cross-Kingdom Banquet," the prince said, beaming from ear to ear, "Please, enjoy yourselves. Lunch will be served in around ten minutes."
The crowd's volume slowly increased again, and the focus drifted from the man at the front of the room.
Peppermint exhaled softly and muttered, "How did I do?"
"Great," Braco said, "That outfit looks great on you, too."
The albino glanced down at his clothing. He was wearing a navy blue tuxedo and his trademark crimson gloves, a red bowtie tied around his neck. His hair was slightly neater than usual and tucked into a small ponytail on the back of his head, red paint creating small, peppermint-like swirls on his left cheek. "I feel like a butler," he mumbled, looking down at his cherry-red shoes and adjusting his stiff collar, "I would've preferred a cape."
"We can't always wear capes," the brunette said, playfully narrowing his eyes. He was clothed in a similar outfit: a white dress shirt and long, red tie, navy blue pants and red shoes. "Come on, let's go sit down."
The two walked down the violet-colored steps to their table, which was exceptionally long and packed with nobles. Because they were the hosts, they had the privilege of sitting in the exact center of the wood. "Well, if it isn't Prince Peppermint?" a woman with raven-black feathers for hair chirped.
"Hi, Raven Princess," he mumbled, smiling and waving his hand rather awkwardly.
"I love what you've done with the place," she said, smoothing out the folds of her elegant black gown, "Very lovely indeed." Her gaze lilted to the man sitting next to the prince. "And this must be Braco."
"Hi," the brunette squeaked.
"Are you two married?" she asked, resting her chin on her hand.
"Uh, no," Peppermint said, rubbing the back of his head, "We're not. We're engaged, but we don't really have time for a wedding quite yet." Braco lifted his hand to show off his simple engagement ring, which was silver and intricately carved.
"How exciting," Raven Princess said, clapping her hands together. Her long, frosted eyelashes batted together. "We've never had two kings from one kingdom before."
"That's because everyone's too old-fashioned," Peppermint whispered under his breath.
"And how about your eye?" she asked, tilting her head in a rather bird-like fashion, "It must be horrible to not be able to see."
"It's not that bad," the prince said, shrugging, "I was growing blind for years. I'm used to it."
Right as he finished that statement, a flurry of marshmallows burst from the kitchen doors, carrying large platters of food. Peppermint crossed his fingers and hoped that none of the meal would spill.
Thankfully (and to his surprise), the food made it safely to the tables. The guests dug into roasted chicken and steak, steamed vegetables, and for a beverage, peppermint tea. When the pitcher of the liquid was set in front of him, Peppermint instantly began to sweat. "What's wrong?" Braco asked, taking a long sip of his glass.
"The tea's peppermint," he mumbled.
Braco's eyes widened, and he snickered under his breath. "Hope you don't mind if I have some more," he said, the syllables rolling off his tongue. He poured himself another large glass and took his sweet time lapping up every last drop. The prince's eye imperceptibly twitched.
He leaned over and whispered in the other's ear, "After this, you, me, hallway behind the kitchen." The yellow-skinned man blushed, and Raven Princess chuckled.
The meal went by quickly and was rather uneventful. It was only during the final course of cotton candy ice cream that something went wrong.
Peppermint was minding his own business, savoring the taste and wondering if the cotton candy citizens of the kingdom tasted like this. From out of the blue, he felt a hand around his mouth. He looked down and found nothing covering his lips. "Stand up and calmly walk out of the room," a woman's voice rasped.
The prince stood, and Braco raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. "Where are you going?"
"Uh…bathroom," he replied, walking up the stairs and out into the hallway.
An old woman materialized in front of him, her shaggy black hair hanging past her feet. "What have you done, stupid boy?!" she hissed, the wrinkles on her face multiplying as she scowled.
"Lay off, hag," he spat, narrowing his eye.
"You've angered the Ice Prince!" she whispered, "He's been wreaking havoc on the entire land.
Something must be done!"
"Not my problem," he replied, stubbornly crossing his arms.
"I remember you when you lived in the Nightosphere," she muttered, "You stuck out like a sore thumb, one of the only humanoids around. You were number one on the most wanted list for your use of black magic and trickery. Everything you ever did always had your name written all over it, like you were taunting everybody else.. Now, this problem just reeks of your work!"
"And how do you know about my life in the Nightosphere?" he asked defensively.
"After the Lich was recreated and after that infernal wretch stole Simon's crown, I retreated back to my father's realm."
"Right, Hunson Abadeer. I thought he was overthrown a couple thousand years ago," Peppermint mumbled.
Marceline narrowed her beady, coal black eyes. "Just get rid of the Ice Prince," she spat, morphing into an ugly, grizzled bat and flying out the window.
Peppermint frowned and returned to his seat, crossing his arms once again. "What's up?" Braco asked.
"Oh, nothing," he replied. The prince waved his hand, and a piece of paper appeared in the other's lap.
On it was the inscription "Just Marceline – she wants me to get rid of the Ice Prince."
Braco ever so subtly nodded. Finally, the guests had departed. Peppermint waved his hand, and the illusion of the room disappeared. The candy-colored walls faded into a grey, the chandelier growing cobwebs, and the twin thrones morphing from pink into black. "That must've been a lot of work keeping that illusion up," Braco muttered, loosening his tie.
"It was," Peppermint replied, taking off his bowtie and stuffing it into his pocket, "but we can't let anyone see that we haven't changed much since the Dark Days."
He lightly touched his eye, knowing that all the good magic he was doing was just further angering the raging curse inside of him. If he did some wicked for the first time in months, he may be able to subside the dark energy.
He felt hands wrapping around his waist, and soon Braco's head was on his shoulder. "So, about that whole 'hallway behind the kitchen' promise?" he whispered.
Peppermint grinned, turning and picking the brunette up bridal-style. "I never forget a promise," he chuckled and dashed through the double doors.
He soared through the sky on large, leathery wings, black as midnight. His body was shrouded by a black cloak, leaving only half of his face visible. He stuck out like a sore thumb against the smoke-colored sky, but no one would question his intentions. There was too much sneaking around in the kingdom for anyone to really care.
He touched down on the snow-covered ground, gazing up at the icy mountains above. He strained his ultra-sensitive ears for any sound. There was nothing except the soft breathing of the wizard, asleep in his bed. Peppermint grinned, looking ahead at the black opening that was chipped into the side of the mountain.
His eye glowed an electric green as he stepped into the cavern, his wings fading into black smoke. His shoes clicked against the stone ground, his path illuminated by his magical eye.
A faint glow awaited him at the end of the hall, a dark red shade. He approached the color, finding a small block of glowing stone. "I knew I didn't get all of it," he whispered, reaching for the gem.
However, the instant his gloved hand rested on the Darkus midnite, a horrible burning sensation shot through his entire body. He hissed, his eye glowing a green and black and contorting into a shape that resembled Marceline's while she was in bat form.
He tugged off his crimson glove and found black veins creeping down his fingers. When he touched his face, he felt similar ones receding into his eyepatch. The curse is retaliating against the midnite, he thought to himself, Why?
He tugged a thick leather glove from his pocket and pulled it over his tingling hand. When he reached out for the stone once again, he only felt a mild sensation dancing across his arm.
"Something wrong, Peps?"
The magician whirled around and found Finn standing in the center of the walkway, blocking his path out. "What are you doing here?" he snarled, turning his glove inside out and encasing the gem inside the fabric.
"I'm waiting for my end of the deal," he said, sitting. He put his dog into his lap and rested his arms on it, setting his chin on his forearms.
"I'm working on that," Peppermint answered coldly, narrowing his eye, still a vibrant green.
The Ice Prince smirked, tilting his head. "Look at you," he said in a sing-song voice, "Your creepy glowing eye, black cloak, those nasty veins on your face. Sneaking out of the castle while your boytoy's back is turned, stealing the darkest element in Ooo. You almost resemble your old self."
"The only difference between who I am now and who I was then is that now I have Braco," the prince muttered, pocketing the midnite into his leather satchel.
"No, there is more than that," Finn said, shrugging, "I'm glad to see that you're finally embracing your dark side once again. I missed that part of you." He adjusted his sitting position and sighed, "Onto other matters. Do you have what you promised?"
"I already told you. It's nearly impossible to find children like you requested. 'Human' boys, as you called them. The species is nearly extinct," Peppermint returned.
"Why can't you just use your magic?"
"I've never seen a human before."
"I'm h…," Finn began, his voice trailing off at the end. His face fell, and he glanced down at his feet.
"You are…were?" Peppermint asked.
"Yeah," Finn mumbled, his face darkening, "What about it? I'm happier now. The power of frost has given me happiness." He didn't sound completely truthful, though. His voice wavered, and his fingers drummed furiously on the ice.
"Why do you want a human child?" the prince asked, taking a step forward in his direction. Now that he knew the wizard's weakness, he wasn't so wary anymore.
Finn showed a rare emotion on his icy cyan face for a split second: fear. "Reasons."
"Ice Prince," Peppermint asked, shadows shrouding his face, "Are you planning what I think you're planning?"
"What do you think I'm planning?"
"To become human again."
Finn's faded, milky eyes widened. "You're not as clever as you think you are, Prince Peppermint," he whispered, barely audible. Then, he closed his fist and opened it again, blowing a large gust of snow and ice from his palm. The prince growled, shielding his eye from the onslaught of blizzard-worthy frozen fractals.
When it was safe to open his eye, the Ice Prince had disappeared. The albino frowned and touched a hand to his eyepatch. Despite his best efforts, he was retreating back into the man he was before.
By the time he had returned to the castle, the sun was low on the horizon. He slipped through the window of his bedroom (who needed doors anyway?), glancing around for Braco. "I'm in here!" his partner called out from the bathroom, somehow detecting that the prince had entered.
Peppermint poked his head in, covering up his eye. "Can I peek?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
He removed his hand and found Braco up to his shoulders in a bubble bath. The brunette wagged his eyebrows. "Hel-LO," the prince mumbled under his breath.
"How was your meeting with the Swamp Kingdom?" the smaller man asked, swimming up to the side of the tub (which was the size of a small pool) and resting his forearms on the obsidian edge.
"Fine," the prince lied, stripping off his heavy armor and cloak.
Braco smiled, his cheeks a pale pink. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Peppermint answered. Another fib. His face was burning like fire from the seventh gate of the Nightosphere.
The blue-eyed man frowned, cocking a thin eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah, of course." Peppermint smiled warmly, leaning over and giving the other a quick peck on the forehead.
The brunette giggled. "Your mouth is gonna taste like soap."
"What if I like the taste of soap?" the prince shot back teasingly, sticking out his tongue and winking.
"Shut up," Braco chuckled, reaching up and pulling him into a soft kiss.
They parted slowly, and Braco brushed aside a stray lock of red hair from his love's face. "You can tell me anything, you know."
"I know," the albino whispered, "I've never hid anything from you."
His lies scorched his insides more than the curse ever could.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the short chapter - the story starts for real next part!
I was about to forget about this story, but the overwhelming support from all of you inspired me to continue!
Expect Chapter 3 to come soon.
- Ci