"W-What?"
"Your death."
Flame Princess looked around the room frantically, trying to comprehend what was happening. Her death? How? Who would kill her? Why now, when she was the closest to happiness then she had ever been in her life? A million questions flooded her mind, none providing her the least bit of comfort. She tried to speak, but no sound could present itself. She finally spoke softly.
"My death?"
Bubblegum avoided her eyes and spoke in a strained tone.
"Yes. I know you must have so many questions and I will answer them all. But, first I need to get Marceline to the infirmary. She needs to be treated."
"A-Alright..."
It didn't take long for them to reach the infirmary. The injuries were grave. Marceline had passed out soon after telling them what happened. Flame Princess was surprised seeing the normally composed Bubblegum like this. She seemed almost…fragile. It looked like if you touched her, she would shatter into a million pieces.
"I'll leave you two alone." Flame Princess said.
Bubblegum stood up.
"No, I promised you answers and I'm going to give you them." She said shakily.
"It's alright." Flame Princess said firmly.
"But, I-"
"You need to be with her. I can wait. Besides, you look like you could use some rest."
Princess Bubblegum walked up and hugged her tightly. Flame Princess, a little unsure of what to do, patted her on the shoulder. Bubblegum let her go and smiled.
"Thank you. I can't believe I ever thought you were evil. No words can describe how wrong I was."
"I do my best."
Outside the room, Flame Princess leaned against the wall. She couldn't contain all the thoughts running rampant in her mind. It was hard to not think about what was happening. She was going to die and her father was on his way to kill Finn; He probably blamed him for what was going to happen. She had to stop him somehow. He couldn't do this. Finn had nothing to do with whatever was happening. She knew that. Hopefully, Bubblegum could answer her questions and give her a better understanding of the whole situation. To be honest, she worried about Finn. What was he going to do if she died? He loved her as much as she loved him.
"I hope this all ends alright…" Flame Princess sighed.
Marceline awoke from her sleep and found Bubblegum asleep in a chair next to her. She noticed that her right eye wasn't opening. Looking at her body, she noticed bandages covered quite a lot of her.
"I shouldn't have survived this. I'm lucky he didn't decide to kill me right there. I would have been helpless." She thought grimly.
"Bonnie…" She said softly, trying to get Bubblegum's attention.
Bubblegum's eyes opened slowly and she grabbed Marceline's hand.
"You're awake..." She said happily.
"Bonnie... Why isn't my eye opening?"
Bubblegum's face fell. She looked at her and sighed softly.
"Maybe you'd better see for yourself."
She pulled down a mirror from the ceiling and faced it toward Marceline. Looking at it with a cool expression, Marceline felt her face. The right side was a dark color and her eye was squeezed tightly shut. It looked horrible...
"Marceline... The burns on the right side of your face are the deepest. Your-Your eye.. It's dead. Even with your advanced healing, these scars won't ever heal and you're completely blind in your right eye if it does open."
"Wow. Is there anything good about this?" Marceline said sarcastically.
Bubblegum squeezed her hand tightly.
"You're alive. He could have killed you, Marcie..."
"Yeah. It's good that he decided to use me as a messenger."
"Please, Marceline... Take this seriously. Too much is happening right now for me to handle alone... I'm about to break..." Bubblegum said shakily, looking down.
Marceline squeezed her hand and smiled. She put her other hand to Bubblegum's chin and raised her head to face her.
"Hey, I'm still here. Not going anywhere as you can see."
Bubblegum smiled a little. But, not for long. She looked back down.
"I-I… Just wish I could help them. But, anytime I do, it just worsens the situation…"
"Don't try to handle all of this yourself, Bonnie. You did what you could, given the circumstances. Don't beat yourself up. Don't get lost in trying to save everyone. Sometimes you can't-"
"Look what happened to you, Marceline! I decided to send you to Flame King and you were almost killed! I don't know what I would've done if that had happened! You would've been gone and it would have been…" Bubblegum sniffled a little and continued. "My fault…"
Tears rolled slowly down her cheeks. Marceline raised Bubblegum's head to face her own and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. Bubblegum looked at her, a little surprised. Marceline smiled warmly.
"I can't die. Who would be your problem, then?"
Finn had turned the castle upside-down in search of Bubblegum. He couldn't find her anywhere. He was now walking down the medical wing of the castle, as it was the only he hadn't looked yet. He rounded a corner quickly and crashed into Flame Princess, who had been standing outside a door.
"Ow." She said, rubbing her head.
"Flame Princess? What are you doing here?"
"I was waiting for Bubblegum."
"Uh…Why?"
"She's going to give me answers." Flame Princess said vaguely.
Finn didn't know what was going on or why Flame Princess needed answers or even what she needed answers for. But, he had been looking for Flame Princess. That was the reason he had gone to see Bubblegum anyway.
"I have to tell you something…"
"Let me guess… I'm dying."
Finn gasped in surprise. How did she know that?!
"Wh-I-You…"
"Bubblegum told me when Marceline was brought in…"
"Marceline? What does she have to do with this?"
"Finn…Can we go talk about this privately?"
"I think we need to." Finn said quietly.
Flame Princess knocked on the door.
"Bubblegum? I need to talk to Finn. But, I'll be right back."
The door opened and Bubblegum stepped out.
"No. I need to speak to both of you. Now that Marceline is resting well, you need to be updated on what is happening."
Bubblegum motioned for them to follow her. They all headed to the lab and Bubblegum shut the door behind them. Finn turned around to face her.
"Why did you tell her if I couldn't?"
"Finn, given the circumstances, I had no choice."
Flame Princess looked to Finn and grabbed him by the hand.
"Finn, we have more important things to deal with right now."
"Agreed." Bubblegum said.
"What is it?"
"Yesterday, Marceline went to deliver the news of Flame Princess. To explain that her condition was caused by the large burst of fire blasted out on that night. Finn, as you know, Flame Princess' genetic material has become unstable."
"That's what was causing this?" Flame Princess asked.
"I'm afraid so. There is no cure that I can find."
"I see. But, what do Marceline and my father have to do with this?"
"Based on her account, he went completely insane and beat her to within an inch of her life. He showed no remorse. Apparently, he blames her condition on Finn. He's coming to kill him." Bubblegum paused. "If he could do that to Marceline, I'd hate to see what else he can do."
"He needs to be stopped." Finn said solemnly.
Flame Princess looked around uneasily.
"I can't believe he would do this…" She said softly.
"Well, he did. Now he's coming for Finn and I won't let him do what he did to Marceline happen to anyone else."
"Can we just stop him? Maybe he isn't thinking clearly… I mean, his daughter is dying…" Finn said.
Bubblegum looked out the window.
"You're right. We'll give him one chance to end this. If he doesn't, we won't have a choice."
"Thank you." Flame Princess said gratefully.
"I guess the only thing we can do is wait…"
Bubblegum looked at Flame Princess and gave a small smile.
"I guess I'll leave you guys alone. I need to go check up on Marceline."
They waited until she had closed the door to begin speaking.
"Finn, we have a lot to talk about."
"I know."
Sorry for the lateness.
I'm thinking of making a comic of this story... What do you think?
Tell me in the comments.
