Before the Mushroom War
Eve of Mischief
"It was very nice to meet you, Marceline…"
I smiled as I quickly wiped the single tear from my eye, slightly embarrassed at my unintentional breakdown. She simply smiled at me as she nodded understandingly at me before she decided to join me and sat at the edge of the overturned van. I noticed that she wasn't wearing her ragged cloak and patched shawl this time. It makes me wonder why she was even wearing it in the first place though. This time, she was wearing a dirty old purple pinafore completed with a blouse of a bright shade of red under it. The little red shoes she was wearing seemed worn out and at the brink of being completely torn and useless. She had very scruffy short hair which was as black as midnight, covering both of her ears and almost covering her... Whoa... I just realized that she had clear crimson eyes... That's... uh... That's a very rare pigmentation she had the luck to be born with. I never thought that I actually get to see someone who was naturally gifted with them... Anyway other than the fact that she just made three guys run away in fear not a few moments ago, she seemed so normal and innocent...
"Sometimes, I love to just stop and stare at the stars." She said softly as she gazed into the night sky. "Yeah... It's very beautiful..." I added to her statement. "Sometimes when I look up, it makes me remember about my mom." She suddenly said, her voice changed to a sad tone. I was afraid to ask... "...How so?" "Well... my mother was... gorgeous... Watching the stars every night, it reminded me about how beautiful she really was... and it makes me remember how she loved to dance so much. I still remember the times when she tried to teach me how to dance this ridiculous thing called the ballet, even if I never wanted to in the first place. When she was... gone... I like to think that she's up there in the night sky, dancing happily among the stars... waiting for me..." She explained somberly, her soft voice stinted my heart as her gaze quickly turned back towards the ground. "Well... she sounds like an amazing woman... Marceline..." I said softly, trying to hopefully comfort her. "She is..."
There was then a moment of silence between us; I'm not exactly sure what to say to her. I didn't want to offend her again..."What about your mother?" She suddenly asked me immediately breaking the silence between us. I was quite surprised at her sudden question and I really didn't know what to say... "She... uh..." I stuttered, trying to hold back the sadness inside me as fragments of the conversation I had with her briefly flashed through my mind. "How is she like?" Marceline sweetly smiled in a comforting manner at me. I took a long and deep breath before finally saying, "She... was a loving woman and she was always so cheerful... She never took a single day for granted as she lived her entire life and... She always had this pretty stupid thing that she believed in..." I accidentally chuckled to myself as memories of my mother began to unintentionally flood into my head.
"What's so funny? What did she believed in?" Marceline smiled nervously, pleasantly confused at my strange behavior. "She always believed that we're all just lost lovers and that when we finally find the one we used to love, we'll never forget about them... We'll never abandon them... She once said to me that she sees hope in everyone... Hope that everyone will one day find who they used to love and they will be happy together... That's actually how she met my dad." I smiled longingly as I gazed at the bright moon in the night sky, feeling slightly... sad. "Your mother sounds so... perfect. I'm happy for you, Louis..." She said softly, seemingly a bit depressed at my story... Another long silence immediately erupted between us. Well, this is getting more and more awkward...
"How long have you been living here?" It was my turn to break the silence between us as I tried to strike up a conversation with the little girl sitting beside me. "Pretty long..." She answered cryptically. "Well, what about your... dad, Marceline? Does... Does he know you're still here?" I asked her, carefully choosing my words so that I won't offend her yet again. Much to my dismay, Marceline's smile quickly disappeared from her face before she simply muttered under her breath, "I don't really like talking about my dad, if you don't mind..." "I... I see..." I nervously stuttered before I just nod understandingly at her. I learned that sometimes it's best if I don't pry that deep into someone else's life. It's their life and you don't need to know every detail about it...
She simply smiled at me, grateful that I somewhat understood her... "It's starting to rain..." She suddenly states out loud. What? Really? She wasn't even looking at the sky so... Mystified, I immediately looked up into the sky and saw lo and behold, there wasn't even a single cloud in the sky at all. At least, not that I could see... Confused, I turned back to her and smiled jokingly. "How did you kn-" Before I could finish my lame joke, a light drizzle of rain suddenly came down on top of us, out of nowhere. I was simply awestruck... But Marceline nonchalantly stood up from the edge of the van and promptly went back inside the van like it was nothing to her. "Marceline?" I cried out, feeling a bit worried about her sudden silence. "You're welcome to stay inside until the rain is gone..." She called out to me from the inside. Okay... Should I take her up on the offer? I was slightly hesitant at first but seeing as there's no other choice in the matter and outside in the middle of the rain was certainly not an inviting place to sleep for the night, I eventually shrugged to myself and slowly crept inside the overturned van... As they always say back in the day: Never look a gift horse in the mouth...
I slid open the tattered cloth blocking the entryway of the van, revealing a spacious and surprisingly open room inside it. There was some more dirty cloth draping over the cracked windows of the van and covering the entire floor. A small metal can with a candle inside it was hanging from the ceiling, which was actually the floor of the van, enlightening the entire vehicle. A makeshift lantern? This girl keeps surprising me more and more... The driver's seat and the passengers seat was seemingly used for storage as I could see little wooden boxes were neatly tied to the seats by some pretty sturdy looking rope. It seemed to me like it was a would-be cabinet of some kind. The ragged cloak and the patched shawl that she wore from before was hanging at the side of the entryway by two rusted hooks. Wow... I was simply amazed by Marceline's resourcefulness.
Speaking of which, where is she? I surveyed the van for her but there seems to be no apparent signs of her. But then I heard some loud rustling suddenly coming from behind of the driver's seat. I was partially relieved to see that it was just her fiddling around with some of the wooden boxes. Wow... I noticed that those boxes were almost filled completely by fresh red apples. Nothing else but red apples... That's kind of strange, I guess... But hey, crackers aren't exactly a very enticing food compared to apples. Eventually, I finally mustered up the nerve to calm myself a little before slowly kneeling down onto the tattered cloth of the floor, trying to make myself comfortable. I'm always nervous whenever I'm in someone else's humble abode...
As I sat there nervously; It wasn't long before she came out from behind the overturned driver's with a little wooden box. "What's that?" I asked her, pointing towards the strange object of a box. "It's... uh... It's nothing..." She stifled a weak smile at me as she promptly tries to hide the box behind her back, her cheeks slightly shone a pinkish red. Well, that's not suspicious at all... Not suspicious at all... Marceline promptly sat down on the floor right across from me, still trying her best to hide the obvious wooden box behind her back. I then for some reason, pretended that I didn't notice anything strange at all as I turned my gaze to a different direction entirely. At the corner of my eye, I saw her smiling slyly, seemingly glad that she managed to hide the little box. She then turned her back towards me before placing the strange wooden box right in front of herself. What is this curious little girl doing?
Marceline slowly and gently opened the little wooden box; For some reason and much to my pleasant surprise, she started humming softly to herself. Wow... She seemed like she was in her own little world or something... Marceline then continued to hum cheerfully to herself for what seemed like a long while. I couldn't help but to stare at Marceline silently humming to herself, an amazed and pleasantly surprised expression written all across my face. Who is this little girl? And why do I feel like she's someone very important? Eventually, she felt something strange for some reason, and quickly turned around only to finally caught me curiously staring at her. "...What? What are you looking at?" She blushed nervously as she rolled her eyes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry that I was disturbing you but... I couldn't help but wonder what exactly were you doing?" I smiled inquisitively at her.
She seemed like she hesitated to show me at first but after a short while, she simply closed her crimson eyes and nodded to herself in an agreeing manner. I guess she was discussing with herself... Marceline immediately stood up from the ground and promptly sat back down next to me whilst carrying the curiously small wooden box. "It's a very special box of mine..." She muttered as she held the little box under the light of the makeshift lantern. Now that I got a clear look at the box, I noticed that it was intricately carved with all kinds of floral patterns and seemed to be finely crafted to the tiniest detail with its elaborate design. Whoever made this box clearly took quite a lot of time to make it...
"My Mom used to always sing me this lullaby song when I was a baby. Sometimes, it really helps me to sleep at night..." She longingly explained to me as I paid my full attention towards the little box. "When she was gone... It's... It's all I have left of her..." She said softly as she gently opened the wooden box revealing a little white cushioned compartment with two golden colored odd-shaped metals resting neatly inside it. "It's... It's her brooch that she used to wear all the time..." Marceline finished, sounding a little bit depressed but also slightly relieved to get it off her chest. "...Her brooch?" I asked in disbelief as I glanced at the two odd-shaped metals inside the cushioned compartment. That doesn't look like any other brooches I ever seen. So I was slightly surprised when Marceline gently nodded at me and told me it's a brooch. "I know it's broken... but sometimes... Sometimes I like to look down at the brooch and sing her lullaby before I sleep every night. It... It makes me feel safe... It makes me feel like she's still there with me..." She muttered softly as she gazed longingly at the broken brooch. "Marceline..." I didn't know what to say except it was possibly the sweetest thing I ever heard. It actually reminded me a little bit about my own mother and I... At that moment, I didn't know exactly what came over my head... It could've been another one of my half-baked ideas or something much more... But I decided I just wanted to make her smile again... Make her happy...
"Can I see the box, please?" Marceline seemed very hesitant and greatly confused from my sudden request. "Don't worry, Marceline... I'll be extra careful. I just want to inspect the brooch a bit more, if you don't mind." I smiled at her reassuringly. "Well... Okay... But please be very careful..." She finally agreed at my sudden request and slowly handed me the wooden box. I immediately held the box up to the light of the canned lantern and proceeded to inspect the broken brooch inside it a little bit further. It appeared like the brooch was somehow destroyed by something very powerful but thankfully, the brooch seemed sturdy enough that it's still mostly intact... There were all kinds of colorful gemstones encrusted on the edges of the odd metal pieces, forming some kind of shape but I'm not so sure what it is... Both of the pieces were so deformed that it was pretty hard to tell what the original shape was. "Do you know what your mother's brooch looked like from before? When it was still brand new..." I asked her as I gleaned over the broken brooch.
She then tried her best to recollect all of her past memories as she gazed into empty space. After a while, her eyes finally lit up with excitement as she quickly exclaimed, "I think I got it! I think... Uh... I think it was in the shape of a bat. A golden bat!" A golden bat? That's certainly quite an odd choice for a brooch... but who am I to judge? So if it's really in the shape of a bat, then the pieces are not really that damaged at all... If I just rearrange it here and there... Yeah, maybe I could do it but... It's certainly a possibility... "Um... Louis... Are you okay?" Marceline suddenly asked, interrupting my entire train of thought. "Hmm?" I finally looked up from the box and saw Marceline staring at me with a weird look on her eyes. It was like she just witnessed something strange and perplexing... "Um, Louis... You were... talking to yourself... For quite a while..." She oddly exclaimed. "I was?" She slowly nodded at me with her eyebrows raised in disbelief and confusion. Uh... I really don't know what to say... I always keep forgetting about my strange habit...
"I... got some good news, Marceline... That's right! Some very good news!" I smiled nervously, hoping that it would quickly change the subject at hand. "Okay... what's the good news?" She said, seemingly a bit befuddled at my peculiar behavior from before but quickly moved on. I gently closed the box firmly and smiled at her before I happily exclaimed, "I can fix the brooch!" "Really? You really think you can fix it?" She shouted excitedly, her eyes immediately lit up with all kinds of disbelief and amazement at my sudden exclaims. "Marceline, you have my word..." I said softly as I handed over the little wooden box back to Marceline. "Now all I need are some materials and-" "Materials?" She gently interrupted me as she swayed her head with curiosity. "It's nothing much actually. I already have the tools..." I said while pointing to the Omni-Tool which was still inside my jacket pocket. "Now all I need is a clasp or some kind of metal that resembles it. The size doesn't matter. I can just whittle it down to the right size. I just need to combine the broken pieces together with the piece of metal and it would be like nothing happened to it. I bet we could go and scavenge for the clasp somewhere in the camp... It shouldn't be that hard to find in this place, knowing all the junk that's lying around in the place." I droned on and on about the details of my idea to her, who simply sat there and listen with such intent.
When I was finished, she seemed thoughtful for a while. "That won't do... It would take too long to find it... Maybe you could just use another brooch instead." She finally suggested. "Well, it would certainly make everything easier. Do you know of another one?" "Yes, I do! Right outside the camp!" She smiled excitedly at my obviously shocked expression. "Outside the camp? What are you talking about?" I said, sounding slightly nervous... "I know where there's an untouched boutique that sells all kinds of jewellery and junk!" She explained to me, still very excited. "But... But that's impossible... We can't just leave the camp and go past the barricades like it was nothing... Do you think the soldiers would make a parade for us or something?" I exclaimed, breathlessly worried about where this will be heading... A part of me is telling me that sleeping for the night is now out of the question... An excited grin crossed Marceline's face revealing her white pointy teeth to me yet again. "We don't have to, Louis... I know another way!"
I was standing outside the overturned van waiting for Marceline to get ready. Thankfully, the drizzling rain was all but gone, for a while at least... There was still some thick-looking clouds gathering all over the night sky above us. I remembered how she hurriedly pushed me outside of the van and told me to wait outside for a while. I guess that she was getting ready by putting on her shawl and cloak again. Whatever it is, it sure is taking her quite a long time though. I'm not so sure whether we should even be doing this... It's just screaming all kinds of craziness and stupidity... What if get caught by a random soldier? What will happen to us outside those fenced walls? If the people inside here aren't exactly playing nice, I shudder to think what the people outside will do to us. I got a really bad feeling about all of this craziness but she seemed so excited... It's the only thing we could do to fix the brooch without wasting godly amounts of time... And I can't just let her down after what happened to her mother... I guess I really have to do this then...
The tattered cloth quickly slid opened and there she was, wearing the dirty cloak and the patched shawl from before, covering her purple pinafore entirely. She was carrying some kind of brown satchel slung over her right shoulder. The bloated satchel had all kinds of little holes at the sides and seemed so ancient... "Are you really bringing all that?" I asked her in disbelief as I pointed towards the bloated satchel. "Well, I'm not going anywhere without a fresh batch of apples." She proudly exclaimed as she tightened her grip around the satchel. "And I'm also bringing the box with my Mom's brooch." She said as she patted the satchel confidently. So she wants me to fix it as soon as I could... Okay then, I guess I have no qualms with that. "Okay... Anyway, are you bringing anything else? What about the van? Do you want me to carry it for you?" I said sarcastically as I smiled at her. "Let's just get going already..." She pouted at me as she clutched onto the satchel tightly. "As you wish, my Queen!" I jokingly bowed down to her, gesturing my arms for her to lead the way. I didn't know how or when but I guess we both naturally got used to each other's presence...
Marceline carefully jumped down onto the ground from the edge of the van and immediately head towards the corner of the camp. "So... Should we really be doing this, Marceline? I don't know why but I just got a really bad feeling about all of this..." I changed my tone to a much more serious one as I warned her about all the possibilities that could happen if we leave the safety of the camp. She simply chuckled at me before she mockingly said with a smirk, "Come on, Louis! Where's your sense of Adventure? Don't be such a weenie right now..." She then gestured me closer as she went closer and closer to the hidden corner of the camp. I'm not exactly sure on what she's actually trying to do but I just followed her intently nonetheless. As we arrived at the empty corner of the camp's area, I saw Marceline was quickly approaching a nearby patch of tall grass. "Over here!" She called out to me as she knelt down besides the tall grass. I unknowingly walked closer to her and immediately saw that she was kneeling down beside some kind of worn out wooden palette.
"What is it?" I asked out of curiosity. Marceline answered by kicking the wooden palette out of the way like it was nothing and revealing a partially open manhole. "My secret entrance!" She exclaimed excitedly. I promptly knelt down beside Marceline and inspected the manhole and what lies under it. It seemed like it leads to the... Sewers... "The sewers? Really? We're going down there?" I asked hesitatingly in disbelief. "Come on... It's really not that bad." She reassured me as she easily slid the rusted manhole fully open. The horrifying stench from the sewers immediately flooded my nostrils and I'm not even down there yet. "Uh, yeah... Not bad at all..." I peered inside the darkness of the Sewers, unsure if I'm really about to do this... "Take a deep breath of air and just jump down, okay? It's actually not that deep down there..." Marceline instructed me before she immediately leapt inside and completely disappeared from my sight. Surprised, I immediately peered into the unending darkness below me and I could see... nothing at all. Man, it's freaking dark in there! "Marceline! Are you okay?" I called out to her, my voice echoed throughout the thick darkness. "Just jump down, you weenie!" She shouted back to me. Well, it looks like I really have no choice... But I made a promise to Marceline. I gave her my word and I intent to keep it... I quickly stood back up onto my own two feet, standing at the edge of the manhole and overseeing the darkness below me. I took a pretty long and deep breath before I immediately regretted for doing so. Oh God, that stench! It felt like it burned my nose off. But I still kept telling myself... This is for Marceline, Louis... I bravely leapt inside the manhole and into the unending darkness below...
"OW! ARGH! GOD! Fuuuuuu..." I crashed onto the stone ground with an unceremoniously large thud. All of my bravery quickly dissipated away as my body was firmly planted on the ground. And I almost said a nasty word back there too... Not in front of a little girl, Louis, or Hannah will have my hide... The sound of Marceline immediately bursting out laughing sure did not make it seemed any better or heroic at all. "I can't believe you actually fell from that drop!" She snorted out loud. I looked up from the ground and saw Marceline standing under the moon light which was glistening from the manhole. "I'm... not exactly the most able person... Plus, the ground was very wet... Very wet... from all of the rain..." I hastily explained myself as I quickly scrambled back onto my own two feet. "Yeah, right..." She said, sounding quite pleased with herself as she rolled her eyes. "Could we hurry it up a bit? I thought we were in the middle of leaving the camp and putting ourselves in great danger?" I sarcastically exclaimed as I surveyed the area around me. The only thing I could say about the sewers is that it's incredibly dark to the point I could not see a thing. And that's not saying anything about the ridiculous smell... I can barely see Marceline clearly and that's only because of the moonlight... The sound of rushing water nearby and the unbearable stench quickly reminded me that this is a very bad and 'stinky' idea. Ha! I suck at puns!
"Okay, it's right over here..." I heard Marceline's voice echoed in the distance even though she was still standing next to me, pointing towards the thick darkness before me. I simply swallowed my throat and mustered up all of my courage before I took a step into the darkness. But I felt something immediately pulling me back so I quickly turned around to see Marceline holding onto my jacket. She gestured me to stop for a while before she briefly climbed up the metal ladder leading to the manhole until she half emerged back to the surface. She pulled the rusted metal lid closer to her and shut off the manhole entirely. Now that the moonlight was cut off, I can barely see anything. Not even my own hands which is right in front of my face! I could only see the vague outlines of stuff around me and that's not exactly helping much... The sudden sound of Marceline gracefully landing onto the ground somewhere near me almost made me jump out of shock. "Marceline? Is that you?" I stuttered with shock.
"Who else could it be?" She said sarcastically. "Okay, I don't want to alarm you, Marceline... But I think the smell just made me blind! Either that or it's so dark that I can't see anything down here. I think it's the first one..." I jokingly exclaimed as I try to make sense of the darkness. "Do you even know where we're going?" I asked out loud, my voice echoed throughout the sewers. "Of course I do! This isn't the first time I left the camp." She exclaimed proudly. "And no one else in the camp knows of this?" I inquired as I was trying my best to look at Marceline in the thick darkness. "Yeppity Yep Yep! It will be our own little secret together..." She said cheerfully. I smiled at her but I don't think she could even see me smiling or could she? After all I seen of what Marceline is capable of, she could fly for all I know and I think I wouldn't be surprised...
I suddenly felt something cold grasping at my hand. I was incredibly shocked at first because I thought it was something disgusting that just crept up behind me and ambushed me... But then I eventually realized that... It... It was Marceline's hand... "Is... Is that you, Marceline?" I said nervously. "Just hold onto my hand, okay? I'll lead the way..." She said in a hushed tone. For some reason, she sounded genuinely happy like she was experiencing something joyful... I don't see anything particularly to be joyful about considering we're at the bottom of the sewers. She suddenly started to pull me towards a direction as she continued to yell happily and excitedly, "Let's go! Let's go!" I stifled a soft chuckle as I obediently followed her lead through the darkness of the sewers. "Okay, Marceline... It'll be our own little secret..."
"Are we there yet?" My disheartened voice echoed throughout the sewer tunnels. "That's the third time you asked me! I told you we'll be there in maybe five more minutes!" Marceline's annoyed voice snapped back at me. "That would be all fine and dandy to me if you haven't said the exact same thing ten minutes ago..." I groaned loudly at her. "Be quiet and just hold on!" Marceline exclaimed breathlessly. I don't even know where we are or where we were going and I can barely see anything in the darkness. It felt like we're just going around in circles with all the turns we just made... I'm starting to even wonder whether or not if we're still under the city. For all we know, we could climb up right now and somehow found ourselves in Narnia! Dang... It's really stuffy under here and I think I may have just lost my sense of smell... Marceline suddenly halted in her path, much to my surprise as my body almost slammed into hers. For some reason, we continued to stand there for who knows how long. Please don't tell me...
"Okay, are we lost?" I finally asked her, hoping to God that the answer is a 'No'. "No... I think... I think we're finally here!" She exclaimed happily. Well, thank you God... The sound of Marceline climbing a metal ladder suddenly flooded throughout the sewer tunnels as I stood still on the same spot. It wasn't long before a sudden stream of moonlight entered into the tunnels as Marceline carefully slid open a manhole which was apparently above us both all the time. "Up here!" She called out to me as she climbed out into the surface. I quickly took a deep breath as I clutched onto the cold metal bars of the ladder before I finally climbed up as fast as I could. When I reached the top, I peered outside the manhole and saw that we were in some kind of deserted alley between two large buildings. Apparently we were back in the outer suburban part of the city again...
I saw Marceline was hiding behind a large metal dumpster at the end of the alleyway as she peered outside into the streets. She quickly looked back to me in the manhole and gestured me to get over to her. I nodded at her before I hastily climbed out of the manhole and promptly slid the nearby metal lid to close the manhole behind me. I then stumbled my way as I rushed over to Marceline's side, half crouched through the entire way. I suck at all this sneaky stuff... I'm a scientist, not a bloody ninja or something! "It seems that the streets are empty..." She silently whispered to me. Well, it's a good thing there was no patrols then... Military people likes patrolling everything, am I right? "So where's this boutique you were talking about?" I muttered as my eyes surveyed the dozens of seemingly abandoned buildings throughout the streets. She didn't say anything to me... She just grabbed onto my hand and quickly pulled me into the streets as we immediately head towards a random direction. "A simple 'Yes, I know the way' should had suffi-" Marceline quickly shushed me before I could finish as we quicken our pace. Okay then... Be quiet, Louis... I don't want to hear another word from you! Alrighty then, Brain!
Anyway, I began to notice that pretty much all the streetlights lining across the streets were shut off tonight and there was not a single soul to be seen anywhere on the road or the buildings as far as the eye can see... It was kind of creepy actually as the whole town area seemed like it was deserted and haunted. And with the slightly dense fog creeping down from the gathering of clouds above us, it made me remember about that horror game that Hannah used to play back in the day... We quickly passed by what seems to be dozens of boarded up shops and dilapidated buildings. I wondered which one of these buildings she is leading me to, because it feels like we've been searching it for a long time already... We even passed the tunnel entryway which leads to the subway system of the town. I was about to ask if we were lost... again... and if we were close to this legendary untouched boutique that she was talking about. But before I could, we suddenly halted our tracks right in front of an overturned wreckage of a car. I was awestruck at the sight of the destroyed car which was jammed and crashed right into the side of a dusty building. "What... What is this?" I stifled the words out of my mouth as I gently let her go and stepped forward, placing my hand onto the wreckage of the car standing before me. I felt the vehicle was also heavily rusted and it seemed like it has been crashed here for quite a significant amount of time... "It's the boutique... The one I told you about..." She said in a serious tone as she gently hold the satchel close to her chest. "...What? Are... Are you sure?" I exclaimed in disbelief as my voice slowly grew weaker. She hesitantly nodded at me before she finally whispered, "The boutique is behind the wreckage... That's why nobody could get inside..." Oh, freaking wonderful... One problem after another... It seems like that's happening a lot lately...
"What about the windows?" I suggested as I quickly circled around the building and went to check the sides of the small building. "Nope... All of them were barred and would not budge... no matter how hard I tried..." I heard her soft voice explaining it to me as I strolled through the alleyway at the side of the shop's building. She was right... All of the windows were closed by this thick metal panel and I couldn't even get a grip on them, let alone force it to open... "Can't we just somehow move the wreckage a little bit and I don't know... squeeze through?" Now I'm just spitting nonsense as I went deeper and deeper into the alleyway and inspecting the entire building. There's got to be a way... There's got to be... "The car crashed right into one of those big metal poles of the building... The one that keeps it standing... If we moved it too much, the entire building could come crashing down..." Wow... It makes every choice we have seems so bloody hopeless... "But you're sure the shop is untouched?"
"Yeah... It's not like the looters could just... I don't know, magically teleport inside it." She remarked sarcastically. So we know this place probably got what we need... Then there's no turning back... We already gone too far for that... Hmm... But how the heck do we get in there? Maybe... No, that won't work... That's just stupid... Maybe if I could- A rain drop suddenly came from somewhere up above and landed squarely onto my forehead, completely disturbing my thoughts. I quickly wiped my forehead and saw the wet smear of the raindrop at the palm of my hand. Looks like it's starting to rain again... I- Wait- Wait a minute... I slowly looked up from where I was standing and saw the emergency ladder for the building hanging above me. My eyes immediately lit up with an idea as I quickly called out for Marceline, who was still waiting for me at the crashed entrance of the shop, "Marceline! What about the roof?"
"There's nothing up there but the emergency door... Don't bother, I already tried to open it and it wouldn't budge at all or even break open." She yelled back to me from the entrance. Hmm... "That's where I come in..." I muttered under my breath as I gleaned over the fire escape... The ladder is simply too high for me even if I somehow develop an ability to double jump right this instant... But I need to open the clasp and release the ladder for Marceline... I noticed a metal dumpster next to me and my eyes immediately lit up yet again as I now know what to do. "I got an idea!" I shouted as I immediately pressed the dumpster with all the strength of my entire body... which wasn't that much in all actuality... "Really? What is it?" I heard Marceline's voice quickly getting closer and closer behind me. "Um... What are you doing?" I turned around to see her staring at me with a confused expression; An exasperated look on my face to counter hers. "No reason at all, I just suddenly felt like ramming my body against the trash... But seriously, would you kindly help me push this dumpster, Marceline?" I sarcastically exclaimed before I immediately started to press my body against the metal dumpster with all the strength I could muster yet again. Marceline simply shrugged off my strange behavior and quickly rushed towards my side intently.
Together, we slowly but surely pushed the heap of metal closer to the fire escape ladder. Ugh... First, it was the exotic smells of the sewers and then, it's the interesting smells from the dumpster... It seems like my nose is getting quite a treat for tonight... Almost there... There, got it! As soon as the dumpster was finally in place, I quickly scrambled my way onto it. Okay, Louis... Take a deep breath... Now give it everything you got! I readied myself on the metal dumpster and paced myself in place for a few seconds before I finally did a small running start from the top of the dumpster and quickly leapt forward, reaching for the fire escape ladder with all my might. I got it! I actually got it! Thank God! But with the sting of pain firmly at both palms of my hands, I was only dangling helplessly at the bottom bar of the ladder. I struggled to climb up the ladder as hard as I could but in the end, I wasn't making any progress at all and eventually, I simply lost all of my strength and dropped back down head-first onto the ground below me. Damn it! I pounded the ground with my fists out of my frustration and anger as the pain of falling down still coursing through my entire body. That certainly didn't go as planned...
Now I have to try again- What was that? The sound of someone jumping from the top of the dumpster and quickly climbing up to the top of the ladder suddenly erupted from behind me. It went by so fast, it was like a brief flash... Confused and surprised, I quickly turned around and saw the ladder already landing on the ground right in front of my feet with a metallic thud. Mystified, I looked up and saw Marceline was already at the top of the ladder and smirking proudly at me. "Is that what you wanted to do, Louis?" She jokingly prodded at me. "Well... I... uh... I loosen it for you... So you're welcome for that, by the way." I smiled nervously as I slowly stood back up and proceeded to climb up the tall ladder. "Yeah, right... Sure you did..." She chuckled at me as I struggled to climb the ladder. Oh God, I'm suddenly remembering all the bad memories from high school and PE... When I finally reached the top of the ladder, the first thing I saw was Marceline smiling sweetly at me as she outstretched her hand towards me and promptly helped me up. "Okay... Let's get to the top, shall we?" I said exasperatingly as I quickly dusted myself and slowly tried to regain my breath. "Uh... You... should lead the way, Marceline..." I muttered as I was still panting for air. "What's the matter? Are you already tired? Do we need to rest?" She inquired worryingly. "Nah, I'm good... I'm good... Let's just go..." I reassured her as I forced my 'best' grin to her. She simply nodded at me before we both proceeded to climb the many metal staircases of the fire escape. Oh God, PE memories again...
It wasn't long before we finally reached to the rooftop of the building. Marceline excitedly jumped onto the rooftop and happily shouted, "We're here!" I was forcing myself to climb up the metal staircases and was already crawling on the floor by the time I arrived at the rooftop. This is actually a small building and yet it felt like forever when I climbed the fire escape. Maybe Hannah was right when she told me to exercise more... It made me realize that I really need to get into shape... "Come on, Louis! Get up! Get up! We're almost to the end!" Marceline shouted excitedly me as she encouraged me. And by 'encourage', I meant that she was actually repeatedly prodding my entire face with her pointy fingers. "Okay! I'm up... I'm up..." I slowly struggled to get back up, just to stop her from continuing to poke my face, and proceeded to shamble the rest of the way towards the rooftop emergency escape door, much to Marceline's joyful cheer. I extended my hand and turned the knob of the door... Just as I expected, it was firmly locked shut...
"See... I told you it was locked..." She muttered, her previous joyful cheers was replaced by a depressed voice. But I was already busy surveying the entire rooftop around me. And when I noticed the nearby air vent system, a wry smile immediately crossed my face... Finally, something goes according to plan for once... "What are you doing?" She seemed perplexed when she saw me rushing towards the vents. I picked the most widest out of all of the vents before I knelt down besides it and quickly took out the Omni-Tool from my pocket. With the press of a button, a red holographic screwdriver emerged from the black metallic rod. I immediately set off to work on unscrewing the vent as Marceline just watched on from behind with a tint of curiosity in her crimson eyes. As I quickly unscrewed the final screw of the vent, I opened it easily revealing the entire ventilation duct inside it. "Marceline!" I excitedly called out to her as I gestured her closer. "What are you even doing?" She seemed completely befuddled. "Making an entrance..." I grinned cheerfully at her.
She proceeded to stare inside the duct for a while with a puzzled expression on her face, before her eyes suddenly lit up as she finally catches on. "I get it! All I have to do is go through the ventilation ducts and-" "Well, actually I think that I should go inside the vent and open the door..." I quickly finished it for her. "It's perfect!" She exclaimed happily as she peered inside the entrance of the duct, seemingly ignoring at what I just said. "Hey, Marceline... Didn't you hear me? I told you that I-" "Hey, Louis... Hold this for me..." Marceline cried out as she dropped the worn out satchel that she has been carrying all this time right on the floor in front of me. My eyes immediately lit up with horror as I knew what she was about to do... "Marceline... Wait! Wait! What are-" "Don't wait up, you weenie!" She exclaimed excitedly before she immediately leapt inside the ventilation duct and quickly disappeared from my sight before I could even do anything.
"Marceline! Marceline! Are you freaking crazy?" My voice echoed throughout the ventilation system... but there was no response from her... She was already long gone... I quickly squeezed my body through the ventilation shaft in an effort to catch up with her but much to my shock and surprise, I discovered that my waist couldn't fit through the vent... Well, this is certainly embarrassing... I did not expect this particular outcome... I managed to squeeze myself out of the vent which is way more harder and embarrassing than it actually sounds. I softly sighed, feeling defeated as I laid there on the ground. I guess I just have to rely on Marceline and hope that she'll be safe... She's a very resourceful little girl. I mean... She survived by herself all this time and she even managed to take out three burly guys. So maybe, I guess I have nothing to be worried about after all...
From the ground, I couldn't help but gaze into the night sky hanging high above me and the entirely dark city in the distance. The stars were glistening brightly amongst the veiled night as they pierced through the thick clouds hanging above me. It was beautiful... I just hope we can find what we're looking for, or else we did all of this crazy nonsense for nothing. For once, I hope everything will be fine in the end... Looking at the stars, I couldn't help but wonder if Hannah would be okay... But I bet she's already fine though, for all I know. She's a very tough woman, that's for sure... A very tough woman... I then realized Marceline's satchel was lying on the ground right next to my head.
With nothing else to do while I'm waiting for Marceline, I reached for her satchel and carefully opened it up, scrounging through the many apples inside it. I could feel the little wooden box inside it amongst the probably dozens of apples. The very reason we're doing all of this... When I randomly picked an apple, I slowly pulled it out from the satchel and promptly took a bite out of it without even looking at it. Turns out that was a bad thing... Much to my shock, I quickly sat back up and spit the disgusting remains of the apple out of my mouth. That was... disgusting! I looked at the apple on my hand to see what the hell was wrong with it only to be surprised to see a squishy and grey apple instead of a fresh and red one that I had expected. Ew! Disgusting! One of the apples was already rotten! I guess Marceline didn't really notice it... Well, it's a good thing that I took the bullet for Marceline rather than her, I suppose...
I angrily tossed the rotten apple off the rooftop out of sheer disgust before I slowly stood back up onto my own two feet, picking up Marceline's satchel along the way. I wonder how Marceline is doing? I hope she's alright... As if on cue, the sound of the emergency door budging from the other side quickly retrieved me from the inside of my own thoughts and cleansed me of my worries. She did it... I slowly approached the door as it quickly swung open with Marceline standing right behind it as she grinned happily at me. "Ta-da!" She waved her arms like she just did something magical. But it was not magical... It could have been dangerous... I quickly knelt down in front of her with a stern look on my face. "Listen, Marceline... Don't you ever do something like that ever again, you understand? I need you to always stay close to me and never do something as dangerous as that again. Do you understand me?" "Okay..." She softly replied, her smile slowly disappearing. "That's a good girl..." I gently smiled at her as I handed Marceline her worn out satchel. "Alright then, let's go..." I exclaimed as I slowly stood back up and outstretched my hand towards her. She smiled softly at me before her cold hand finally grabbed onto mine as we both immediately began to descend deeper and deeper into the darkness of the building, without a moment too soon...
"What are you going to do after all of this is over?" I heard her voice echoing beside me as we carefully descend the staircase of the emergency escape. "What do you mean by that?" I softly replied to her as our deafening footsteps flooded throughout the empty staircase. "When you finished fixing my Mother's brooch, are you going to stay?" "No... I have to go find my wife..." I could feel her cold grip tightening around my hand... "...Can I come with you?" Her sudden question immediately shocked me as my heart almost skipped a beat. I didn't know what to say to her... "Marceline... I... uh... I... We're here..." I sighed slightly in relief as we finally reached the end of the emergency staircase. There was a fancy wooden door waiting for us at the end of it. I slowly pressed my hand against it and gently pushed it forward as carefully as I could.
Much to my pleasant surprise, the door was not locked as it slowly swung open with ease. A dark and dusty room filled with all kinds of dresses and outfits laid before us. We kept close to each other as we slowly entered what seemed to be the dresses section of the boutique. They were plastic mannequins wearing fancy dresses littering all over the place as they were creepily staring directly at us. Because of the looters inability to enter the building, the rest of the shop seemed so untouched and practically normal... except the great quantities of dust everywhere. Man, it is so disgusting here! If Hannah was here, she would already start cleaning the place even if it was at the most inappropriate time. She has a fear for dirty things... A little phobia, in a way... I don't really mind it though considering that too much dirt and dust could harm my weak lungs. But right now, I'm just afraid that my asthma would suddenly be acting up again from all of this dust.
"Where's all the jewelry?" Marceline's voice suddenly chimed into the deafening silence as she slowly skipped to the center of the room. I was wondering about that myself as I surveyed across the entire room... Apart from the creepy mannequins and the fancy dresses, there was not a single jewelry to be found. Wait a minute... There's something else... What's over there? It's hard to see it under this thick darkness but I think it's... It's a staircase! And it seems like it leads downstairs. "Maybe it's not here... Did we do all of this for nothing?" She glanced at me inquisitively with a tint of worry written all around her crimson eyes. "Or maybe it's just downstairs..." I softly stated as I pointed towards the direction of the staircase. She turned to where I was pointing and saw the staircase, immediately understanding what I meant as she excitedly rushed towards it. "Don't go ahead of me! Stay close!" I warned her but she clearly didn't listen to me as she was already downstairs. I simply sighed as I followed suit and hurriedly went down the staircase as fast as I could.
"We found it!" I heard her excited yells from below as I quickly went down the stairs. When I finally caught up with her, I was amazed to see rows and rows of glass display cases filled with all manners of jewelry. I also noticed the wreckage of the car from before was firmly lodged at the entrance of the whole building, crashed directly into a metal support beam at the corner of the shop. But thankfully, it appears it did not damage any of the jewelry display cases. Marceline already set off to work on checking each of the display cases, looking for a matching brooch as I descended the stairs. I slowly shuffled my feet from glass case to another as I helped Marceline with checking each of the jewelry. There's got to be a matching one... All of it is either too small or too big... Most of them aren't even brooches... I eventually stumbled upon a glass case with a fancy necklace made out of sterling silver and freshwater pearls. To my numbing surprise, it immediately struck me that the necklace almost somewhat resembled the very same necklace that I wanted to give Hannah as an anniversary gift... The only difference was the star engraved pendant... Stars... Just like her bright hazel eyes...
"Over here! Louis! I found it!" Marceline suddenly called out to me while pointing towards a certain display case next to her. I quickly shook my head and immediately rushed to her side to inspect the glass case. And there I saw it in the display case amongst dozens of other finely crafted brooches, it was a golden brooch of a butterfly with gemstones engraved on its wings. "It's perfect!" She exclaimed happily. "Now we just need to grab it..." She added as she gently pressed her hands against the glass case in anticipation, exasperatingly waiting with bated breath. "Well, that's simple..." I stated as I pressed my hand on top of the glass case. In an instant, a blue-colored virtual interface materialized onto the glass display, showing all the prices and qualities of each piece of jewelry. The glow of the interface thankfully brightening the entire dark room ever so slightly. Now where is that thing?
My eyes quickly scanned the whole list for the golden butterfly and... Wow! The golden butterfly is bloody expensive... No wonder someone crashed a car into here... I would do it too going by these prices... It's freaking burglary! Oh well... I immediately pressed buy and a small column was immediately raised from under the butterfly brooch, lifting it up through the surface of the glass case which slightly opened to make way for the column. "...You bought it?" Marceline gasped out of shock. "Hey, it's not like money is the most important thing right now." I said jokingly as I grabbed the butterfly brooch from the column which immediately lowered itself back into the glass case. "Why would you do something like that?" She seemed so surprised of what I just did... I slowly knelt in front of Marceline and presented the prize of all our hard work to her. "Consider it as a little gift from me to a beautiful girl like you..." Her cheeks blushed a slight pinkish red as she tighten her grip around her satchel. "Now then..." I grinned excitedly at her. "Let's get your mother's brooch fixed..."
Marceline rummaged through her satchel as I placed the butterfly brooch on top of the glass case. Thankfully, the glow of the virtual interface gave me some kind of light source for the upcoming operation. She quickly took out the wooden box from her satchel and promptly placed it beside the butterfly brooch. She gently opened the box and carefully took out the pieces of her mother's brooch. "What are you going to do?" She inquired as she gently handed over the pieces to me. "It's simple... I'm going to neatly weld it together with my Omni-Tool and replace the clasp with the very same one from the butterfly brooch. It'll be like it was never broken at all... Good as new!" I explained to her as I quickly took out the Omni-Tool from my pocket. With the press of a button, a small blue holographic welder emerged from the black metallic rod. For a second there, I felt like I was some kind of wizard holding a wand... Why do I keep imagining all of this strange things? "Good luck..." She whispered, slightly worried... "There's nothing to worry about, my dear! You'll see it again, brand new!" I exclaimed confidently as I tried to reassure her before immediately setting off to work and carefully welding the two pieces together, making sure if there was no oddities or deformities on it. I wanted to make it perfect... I have to make it perfect... For her...
I didn't know how much time had passed but I was too busy concentrating into my work that I barely notice. Sometimes, I could hear Marceline inspecting the other pieces of jewelry in the room and in rare moments, I could hear Marceline humming to herself. I could also hear her impatiently shuffling around in the darkness behind me for quite a while before she eventually climbed upstairs to check out the dresses, or I think so... I'm not so sure... After I finally finished welding the two pieces together, it fully resembles the shape of a bat. I gently turned it around and saw the broken clasp hanging off it like a broken limb. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves first before I finally set off to work into removing the broken clasp from the bat brooch and the clasp from the butterfly brooch. Now it's time to replace the clasp of the bat brooch with the similar clasp of the butterfly brooch... At least this would be much easier than welding... It wasn't that long before I quickly replaced the broken clasp of the golden bat... I sighed in complete satisfaction as my eyes quickly gleaned over my completed work... I held it up to the limited light in the darkness as I inspected it further. It looks good as new... A golden bat with gemstones on the edges of its wings... It's perfect...
"Marceline!" I called out to her. "What?" Her voice suddenly came from behind me, much to my apparent shock. I turned around to see her standing right behind me, "I... I thought you were upstairs..." "I wanted to see all of the dresses upstairs." She explained to me as she nervously fiddled around with her fingers. Okay... "Look, Marceline..." I knelt down and proudly presented the golden bat to her. She was immediately stunned and awestruck just from seeing it. Her crimson eyes suddenly lit up in disbelief and in shock. I gently handed it to her petrified hands and smiled as she held it up close to her face. For a while, she kept gazing into the brooch with a sweet and longing smile across her face. A single tear... I noticed a single tear crossing her face as she closed her eyes, probably reflecting about the past... About her Mother, I bet... It was quite a while before she finally look back to me and smiled, "Thank you, Louis... For everything..."
"It's not a problem at all." I whispered, slightly tired but mostly happy. She slowly approached the wooden box which was still resting on the display case and gently grabbed it. She gently opened the box and to my pleasant surprise, slid open some kind of panel under the lid of the box, revealing an entire part of the box I haven't even seen before. "Is... Is that a secret panel?" I was quite shocked just to see it. Really shocked indeed... "Yeah... I hid it from you and from... everyone else..." She said softly, a slight smile on her face. "But now I know I can trust you, Louis..." She sweetly grinned as she held the box upwards to me like it was some kind of trophy. I noticed that there was a large hole under the secret lid which seemed like it formed the shape of a... bat... "I can finally complete her box..." She whispered softly as she neatly placed the golden bat brooch into the odd shape under the lid of the box. We both waited with bated breath, unsure of what to even expect now... And then to our surprise and amazement, the sound of turning gears suddenly came from the box, echoing across the dark and silent room. "What's... What's going on?" She said as she carefully placed the wooden box back onto the display case. "I don't know, Marceline. I don't know..." I have absolutely no idea on what's going on... But the gears coming from the box finally stopped turning and then... Oh my...
A musical tune started playing out of nowhere... My eyes completely light up with disbelief... "It's... It's a musical box..." I stuttered the words out of my mouth, completely awestruck, as the tune continued to play without any signs of stopping. "It's... It's my mother's lullaby..." Marceline whispered softly to me. Wow... I... I don't know what to say... To my pleasant surprise, Marceline then started to hum alongside the musical tune as she slowly approached closer to the box. She slowly placed her hand on the box and closed her eyes as she gently laid her forehead onto the wooden musical box. I just stood there behind her, gazing at her with sympathy. It made me wonder how my Mother is doing right now... I hoped to God that she was safe from all of this... But who am I kidding? She stayed behind... She- She wanted to... die... My heart immediately fell deathly numb as I finally faced the realization... It's time I told myself the truth anyway... She's gone, Louis...
I didn't notice a single tear suddenly going down my cheek; it came out of nowhere... God, I'm ridiculous... I quickly wiped the tear away from my face as I slowly turned around and promptly walked away, thinking that Marceline needed some time alone anyway. "Hey, Louis!" I heard her voice suddenly calling me out from behind. Hesitantly, I slowly turned towards her and saw that she was standing right in front of me, happily grinning. "Let's dance!" She exclaimed excitedly. I raised my eyebrows in complete disbelief, "...What?" She suddenly grabbed onto my hands and pulled me closer to her. "I just wanted to dance..." She said softly as she started to pace around, trying her best to follow the melodious tune of the box. I was very unsure of Marceline at first, but... I simply nodded at her and smiled.
I tried my very best to follow her enchanting steps as we continued to circle around the dark room, repeatedly following the wonderful tune of the musical box. After a while, it was then that I realized... Marceline was trying to dance the beautiful ballet, just like her mother used to teach her... She was laughing merrily at our terrible dancing the entire time, as I stifled a soft chuckle at our pretty strange behavior. You don't see this everyday in the midst of a War... I didn't realized she was smiling sweetly at me as we continued to dance our woeful and pain inducing dance. I was too busy trying to follow her steps and not failing miserably. Dancing isn't exactly my strong point... And it seemed like it's not Marceline's too, judging by her stumbling movement. For a short blissful while, time felt so distant... It felt like the War was nothing but a forgotten memory... I didn't know how long we were dancing around the room... But it felt so... peaceful... It was getting quite clear to us both that we can't dance to even save our lives... but I could still tell behind her crimson eyes that she was... happy... And that made me happy, even for a brief moment...
A thunderous sound in the distance immediately stopped us on our tracks. Marceline's sweet smile quickly disappeared as another thunderous sound followed suit. I glanced at the unsure look on her face and gently let her go before I quickly approached the wreckage of the car. I peered behind the small cracks of the entrance and see... I saw dozens of people running around in the streets, frantically panicking and screaming their lungs out. "What the hell is going on?" I exclaimed urgently, slightly terrified. Another thunderous sound immediately silenced all of their deafening screams. It immediately struck me... No... Oh God... Please, no... It can't be... It can't be! I turned back to see Marceline already packing her mother's wooden musical box into her satchel, silencing the once beautiful and peaceful tune, before she curiously glanced at me. My heart sank deep as an uneasy feeling flooded through it...
"Marceline, stay here! Don't move!" I ordered her as I quickly rushed to climb up the staircase into the second floor. "Louis! Wait!" I heard her calling out behind me but I couldn't stopped myself as I make my way to the roof of the building. When I finally reached the rooftop of the building, I was devastated to see... to see... Oh God, the entire city was engulfed in searing flames... Oh my God... The deafening sound of jets quickly passed from somewhere above me in a brief flash as I saw what seems to be... airplanes as black as the night itself. They were heading directly towards the burning city and they were... Oh my God... I shielded my eyes as a sudden blinding flash of light emerged from the city and a deafening boom following suit. I clutched onto my head as I helplessly fell onto my knees, my heart filled with dread at the sight of the crumbling buildings.
No... No... Oh, fuck... Oh my God... The War... The fucking War... It's- It's finally happening... I could hardly manage to contain my breath as I started to panic nonsensically. No way... No fucking way... Hannah... Oh God... Oh God, why now? My hands were shaking uncontrollably as I desperately clutched onto my chest, struggling to even breath. The constant sounds of people desperately screaming and miserably shouting from below was immediately cut off with another thunderous sound from the city. I couldn't even bear to watch the blinding flash of light that followed suit... Oh God, why here? Why would they even come here? Of all the places in the entire goddamn country...
Why here? Why now? God... My body felt like it was paralyzed as I witnessed the burning city in the distance. "What... What is... What-" My eyes shockingly lit up as the sudden voice of Marceline behind me immediately snapped me out of my petrified trance. I quickly turned around to see her standing at the doorway, horrified at the sight of the burning city behind me as she clutched onto her satchel... I was completely stunned... "Marceline... I- I..." She was utterly speechless as she kept gazing directly into me, her crimson eyes filled with dread and fear as they slowly started to tear up. I didn't know what to say as every fiber of my being felt like they just gave up... Marceline was quivering helplessly before me... She was crying as tears slowly began to roll down her soft cheeks, tears filled with confusion and horror...
It was then her once pure innocence was lost... And it can never be regained... Could it?