Ice King sneaked out through the back door and went to the roof. He saw the duo walk out of the restaurant, satisfied with their meal.
"Marcy, what do you think of playgrounds?" Simon asked, Marcy looked at him with the sense of joy.
"I love playgrounds!" Marcy exclaimed, she remembered how her mother would bring her to a playground once a week every night.
"Really? I know one playground that's just for you" Simon said nicely, he wanted Marcy to play for a bit. Simon then led Marcy through criss-crossing roads and confusing turns which Marcy didn't remember, all she did was follow Simon.
Ice King followed them and noticed them nearing a big rusted playground from the distance. He landed on a nearby roof of a ruined building and watched them from there.
Marcy became cheerful on the sight of the playground, she hadn't played for awhile She ran as soon as they got nearer toward the rusty playground castle and tried out all the slides and toys. Even if they were rusty, they were still in usable shape.
Simon sat on a stone stool which had a view of the front of the playground, he looked over Marcy as she played on the playground. He wanted Marcy to cherish every memory, not frown upon them. Simon predicted that one day, when he was gone, he will be one of the last, if not only, happiest memories she will ever have.
Simon surveyed the playground and noticed a swing that was still in good condition, he walked towards it and called out for Marcy. "Hey! Marcy you want to play on the swing?" Simon yelled as he asked.
She slid down a slide and approached Simon. "Sit here and I'll push you" Simon offered warmly. He wiped the swing's seat to rid it of dust, Marcy quickly sat on it. "You ready, Marcy?" Simon asked hurriedly.
"Yeah, Simon!" Marcy answered with determination. Simon pushed her and she swung to the air. She laughed, she enjoyed the moment. "Weeeee!" She shouted gleefully.
Ice King watched them from the rooftop as they enjoy their moments. "This what I'm missing?" Ice King asked himself in his mind.
"So this is what Marceline was talking about…" Ice King thought to himself, he remembered that Marceline would plead for Ice King to remember. He didn't know what it meant, until now. He felt guilty now, that he forgot, it was like he abandoned her and left her to be depressed.
Simon kept pushing her to the air, every swing fueled Marcy's laughter. After five more minutes, the swings started to became weaker until Simon finally stopped.
"Ok.. your old bag of bones is tired…" Simon said exhaustingly, he sat down on a rusty bench and drank some water from his backpack.
Marcy got on her feet and sat beside Simon. She had this thought that these happy memories would be all gone, if Simon was going to go, he would at least stay with her long enough.
"Simon… About the crown" Marcy said sadly, the thought of losing Simon forever came back.
"Yeah? What about it?" Simon asked as he took the crown from his belt. He knew her thought it mind.
"What will I do when the crown takes you and all this... is gone?" Marcy answered sadly, she looked at the ground with a sad face. Tears were forming up, she resisted them though. Simon embraced her and held her cheeks as she looked at her.
"All you can do is forgive me, got it? When I don't remember a thing, just remember me, Marcy" Simon encouraged. Marcy nodded, she knew for a fact Simon knows that the crown will one day take him away for eternity. Marcy hugged Simon for the first time, she nearly cried to the point where she could feel the tears trying to leave her eyes. Simon felt pity and he hugged her back, the child was so innocent and pitiful. He couldn't abandon her, not now, not ever.
Ice King can hear them, their voices would echo through the whole block. He sighed deeply, he had empathy for the two.
"I'm sorry, Marceline" Ice King thought to himself as he frowned. He realized that he could see the scenes unfolding in front of him now, everything Marceline told him about was happening right now. It made him feel more guilty, he started to want to reconcile himself, but in what manner?
Simon stood up from the bench and picked up his backpack. Marcy then stood up too and held his hand. "Come on, Marcy, we should set up camp, it's about to go dark" Simon said as he looked at the dimming daylight. "We'll go sleep under the playground" Simon walked towards the playground with Marcy, he let go of her for awhile and crawled under and examined the space.
Fortunately, the space was big enough for both of them to fit and it would hide them easily from the mutants. "Come Marcy, the space is ok!" He called out to assure her. Marcy soon followed and sat down beside him.
Simon took off his backpack and put it horizontally down, he was relieved by the feeling of taking off that burdensome backpack in a tight space. The space under the playground was big enough to let Simon sit and Marcy stand up.
Simon took the bedroll from his backpack and unfurled it in front of Marcy. "Here, Marcy, lay down" Simon offered as he patted on the bedroll. Simon decided that he will just sleep on the ground, with the backpack as his pillow.
Marcy sat on bedroll she wasn't that tired yet.
Ice King glided to the playground, silently landed and watched them just above. He could peek with the little space of the flooring right on top of them. Simon took something from his backpack and pulled it out.
"Hey Marcy" Simon said near quietly. Marcy looked at him with a smile and a curious look.
"Say cheese!" He took a picture of Marcy. The shot was perfect, Marcy was smiling softly while looking at the camera. Marcy giggled at the shot. The picture processed and was soon printed out of the camera.
"Can you take another one?" Marcy asked happily. She moved beside Simon. He got the idea, she wanted a picture that contained both of them together.
Simon flipped the camera to face them and put it far back with both of his hands.
"1,2 and... 3!" He took a shot, the picture printed. Simon took the picture and blew on it, the picture then became less blurry and it revealed the picture. It was a good shot, the picture showed them together, smiling at the camera.
"Pretty nice, Simon" Mary commented, Simon nodded in her approval. He returned the camera back inside his bag but he still held the pictures.
Marcy went back to her bedroll, the sunlight was getting even dimmer until it finally turned dark. The whole place was silent now, the fires burning and the wind slightly whistling can be heard to at least fill the silence of an apocalypse.
"Well, Marcy, time to go to sleep" Simon said, he lied his head down on his backpack and Marcy started to sleep on her bedroll.
Ice King was still watching them, it was getting tiring and less interesting, until Simon sat down and pulled out a small candle and lit it up with a match.
"What could he be doing while Marceline's asleep?" Ice King thought to himself, he wondered why Simon would be awake while Marcy was asleep. Simon took a pen from his chest pocket and started write on the first of the pictures.
Ice King was able read the words Simon was scribbling, they looked quite familiar:
"Marceline, is it just you and me in the wreckage of the world?
It must be so confusing for a little girl…
But I know you will need me here with you
But I'm losing myself
And I'm afraid that I'll loose you too"
Ice King remembered the words, it was part of the lyrics he made with Marceline. He became more inclined to watch, Simon took the next picture and scribbled on it next.
"This magic keeps me alive, but it's making crazy
But I need to save you…
But who's going to save me?
Please forgive me for whatever I do
When I don't remember you…"
Simon let a tear fall and it splat on the picture. He looked at the sleeping Marcy, making him frown a bit. He pulled out a book and a stick of glue from his backpack and opened the book.
The book he pulled out seemed to be a scrapbook of all his memories, it might have been his attempts to always remember the past. There were pictures of his home, family and background. They were filled with so much apologies and depressing thoughts.
Ice King remembered the scrapbook from his "The Past Room", he remembered that he ripped some of the pages for lyrics inspiration.
Simon pasted the two pictures on the scrapbook. The glue he put was only a few strokes, he seemed to want it to be removed in the future. He then wrote a few words on top of the page where he placed the pictures.
"Marceline… not so lonely anymore" Simon scribbled on the top part of the page. He closed the book and placed it back inside his backpack.
Ice King quickly got off ground level before Simon faced up when he tried to lay down. "Phew, that was a close one" Ice King thought, He got back to a roof and decided to spend his night there, he wanted to continue following the duo until the next day.
He forgot another piece of instruction though. If the user of the gem sleeps in the time traveling state.
He unstably accelerates in time,
By one year.