Okay, here's the newest chapter. Sorry it took so long, I've been a little distracted with my family, depression, and the fact that I've adopted a story. Sorry if it seems like I'm trying to plug that, I'm just telling what has been happening.

Well... hope you enjoy.

That Conversation

Beautiful. The green grass, the blue sky, the way the grass, trees and clouds dance with the wind.

Just beautiful.

It completely contrasts with whats going on in a cave nearby.

But not for long.

A skeletal hand tears up out of the ground, followed be many others like it. An army of the wicked dead claw their way to the surface.

They do not think. They do not feel. They only do what they have been ordered to do.

"Kill. Kill everything you see."

The Lich's massive army of the undead make their way to where their king ordered them to strike first, leaving a field destroyed behind them. And it's such an apparently beautiful day today, that no one in the Candy Kingdom would ever even suspect that their lives can be measured by minutes.

. . .

"It's getting pretty late, Simon. Maybe we should go to sleep now. for tomorrow, ya know."

"Yeah, maybe you're right, Marcy. But... there's one more thing... I need to know."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Did I... I mean, when I wore that thing... did I ever... hurt you?"

"... Yes. Every time you put that thing on it hurt."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I hurt you when I was like that, Marcy. I'm sorry that I was such a monster."

Why am I thinking about that right now? Why would I be thinking about anything else besides the fact that I'm flying through the air right now. I'm not brushing by clouds and the sky isn't even blue, just darkness, but I am flying peacefully and there is nothing wrong in the world.

Well... there is one thing that I find odd as I fly through the great nothingness.

Why do I taste iron? As soon as I think this, gravity kicks in and I fall to the earth.

I hit the ground numbly. The tightness in my stomach comes loose and I feel warmth there. I can't tell if my eyes are open or not, everything is still so dark.

No. I can see green. Shimmering green. I can hear something too. But what is that? What's being said? Oh, that's right. That's my name.

"SIMON!"

Mm... Marcy. She's screaming. Why is she screaming? Am I hurt? I feel... something on my stomach.

I try to move and see where Marcy is, but I start to really feel the pain then. It probably wouldn't matter anyway, I can't figure out where she's screaming from.

Somehow things get even darker. I look up at the sickening sky to instead see two horrifying stars sitting in a void. Then I see a large, pale, skinny hand come towards me. It belongs to the monster.

I'm tired. I can feel myself slipping into a deep sleep, but I'm sure that if I let myself do that, I'll never wake up again.

before that hand ends me I notice something of mine on the monster's neck. "...That's... mine," my voice comes out as a shallow breath.

"No... not anymore."

Just as those long slender fingers are about an inch from my face, I learn the monster's name.

"LICH!"

The Lich turns around and is met by an enormous fist that sends him into the cave's wall. Then I see Finn kneel beside me. He studies my wounds before hearing Marceline. "Finn! Get me out from under here! I can bite Simon and save him!"

Finn looks at me, then to Jake, who's currently trying to fight off the Lich, and then runs to Marceline; I can finally see where she was screaming from. Finn tries to lift the rocks off of her, but before he can finish Jake is swung into him. Marceline seems too weak to shrug off the rest of the gravel.

Finn rights himself quickly. He sees something at the other side of the cave and maneuvers past the Lich to get to it, Jake distracts the Lich in the meantime.

I can just barely make out what Finn is trying to get his hands on. Something gold...

The Crown.

He lifts it over his head, readying to don it.

He told me that he was a hero of Ooo. I guess sacrificing your sanity in order to defeat evil is something a hero does.

He places the Crown on his head.

Nothing.

"...Why isn't this working!?" Finn yells frustrated. He throws the crown to the floor and grabs an old longsword from the ground, which looks much too big for him, and charges at the Lich.

He slashes at the dark tower of a monster that is the Lich for all he's worth. But all damage seems to be reversed, causing the Lich to laugh.

An ant to a god.

For an instant, the Lich is distracted by Jake and ends up getting hit in the side by Finn's blade. The attack, of course, does nothing, but somethings do fly out of those decaying rags; there must have been a pocket in there.

I see shimmers of red fly through the air and land on the ground. Suddenly, they all shoot in the same direction.

Strait to the Crown.

It impact of the shimmers propels the Crown into the air, causing it to bounce off the wall and rolls when it hits the ground. It continues to roll in a very large arch around the three figures, who seem to not have noticed whats going on, and comes into an arms reach away from me.

But it still keeps rolling.

"Enough," the Lich speaks, causing Finn and Jake to fall to the ground. They try to get up while the Lich moves in for the kill.

I tiredly turn my head to look for the Crown, everything appearing up-side-down. I spot the Crown.

… too cruel. It's just too cruel.

The cursed crown found a resting place right by the still immobile Marceline; just barely in her range. She's reaching for it but only just grazes it with her apparently numb fingers.

Marceline, don't...

I'm unable to even speak. But I have to stop her from wearing the Crown. She's already immortal but at least she has her sanity.

She tries to grab the Crown again but only manages to push it slightly further away.

I painfully roll myself over and crawl.

They'll die. They'll all die.

"Simon?... no...please," I can hear Marceline's weak, hoarse, voice. "I'll... I'll do it.

Heroes make sacrifices...

"Simon, please... you don't need to do that... I can help you," she manages to stretch out just a little and almost grasp the Crown.

I spit up some blood but keep moving.

Even if those sacrifices bring back so much pain to the ones you care about.

"Please, Simon! Stop." I don't have time to get to Marceline and she can't even reach the Crown in time to save everyone either. "Simon... let me save you... please."

There's at least fifteen feet between us. I won't make it in time. Either we'll all die or Marceline will wear the crown and then I don't know what will happen. I do the only thing I can do right now.

I look up into her eyes and smile.

I smile and I hope she's thinking about the same things I am. How I won't make it in time. How she won't make in time. But most of all, our conversation yesterday.

"... I'm sorry I was such a monster."

"What? No! you didn't really hurt me like that—I didn't mean it like that. Actually... you did that to save me a few times."

"I did?"

"Yeah! You were a hero! And I guess heroes make sacrifices."

"Oh... Well, I guess I wasn't all that bad a guy then."

"... No... I guess you weren't."

"Well, sleep does sound pretty good right now. Good night, Marcy."

"G'd night, Simon."

"Good night, Marcy..."

I can tell by the look on her face that she does indeed remember. Tears trail while she lowers her head in defeat.

Marceline hits the Crown with what little vampiric strength she has left.

It skids and stops almost into an arms reach in front of me.

I somehow manage to get to my knees, ignoring the pain and warmth going down my ruined suit, and grasp the Crown with both hands, the metal already freezing.

I sluggishly look around the cave, I see the Lich holding Finn in his left hand and Jake in his right. My head pans more to the right and I see Marceline looking at me with desperate and sad eyes.

"Simon..."

I look over to Marcy, probably for the last time, and I try to think of what I should say. Should I tell her good bye? Should I thank her and make her feel worse about her decision? Should I just lie and tell her every things going to be okay? Should I just beg her to forgive me? All of these would just be too painful for the both of us.

So I just say what feels right.

"... Good night... Marcy... I'll see you... in the morning."

I then place the crown on my head.

The first thing I see is Betty, looking absolutely terrified of me.

I then hear a sickeningly familiar voice.

Welcome back... my king.

. . .

In the Ice kingdom, there is a snow golem going about it's business as usual. Well, trying too. For sometime now all the frozen creatures in the ice lands have become very listless. The ice and snow around them has even been deteriorating and turning to water and slush.

Not only are the magically cold inhabitants melting, but even some of the arctic animals, like the penguins, are feeling the effects of this climate change.

They don't know what happened. They don't know where to go. They don't know what to do.

All they know is that there is something missing. Something important.

The golem trudges through the wet snow, losing a little bit of itself with every step, when it feels a sudden pulse.

A pulse, like that of a heart beat, rippling throughout the ice lands. Through every compacted snowflake, every dripping icicle, every crumbling mountain and most importantly every single inhabitant of the Ice kingdom.

The golem doesn't know what to do for a moment; it just stands and looks at where it felt the pulse originated from.

After a long moment the golem abandons it's cart and moves towards the pulse. It starts as a walk but quickly builds up to a run. As it moves towards the border of the Ice Kingdom it notices a few other snow creatures running in the same direction, the ground shaking not only from the size of the frozen giants but also from the sheer number. And not only snow creature, even the regular animals are making their way. Including the penguins.

The oddest thing is not just that the penguins are the ones leading the charge, or that most of them are enormous green clones of one particular penguin, it's the flying kitten above what seems like the entire Ice Kingdom moving in the same direction.

But the golem doesn't pay any mind to that, none of the snow creatures do. Because every single one of them is too happy to care about that. The reason they feel such intense happiness is that that void that's been inside all of them has been refilled.

They don't share any words, but they all know what the other is thinking the cause of all this is.

Our king is back!

Please review. Seriously. And feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about... whatever.