It has been FOREVER! I finally got past my writer block... not a lot, but enough! This chapter is ratchet O.o forgive me, cause I am trying hard to write this to the point where i actually know what I am doing. Read on...
Chapter 16
Darkness. All darkness. A sparkle of gold catches my eye, and then I'm soring, the large owl holding on to my shoulders. I laugh, watching as nothing passes me by. Then, he lets go.
I scream. Hitting the floor isn't pleasant. Pain, writhing inside me, threatening to take over all my senses. The ground starts to crumble away, and I'm left hanging onto a jagged piece of rock. I want to let go so badly, I want to end my torture.
Suddenly Peppermint Maid appears above me, her eyes black. "Giving up on him, giving up on him, giving up on him…" a voice echoes.
But I can't let go, not yet. He needs me, he needs me to live. A hand grabs mine, but it is for not. My hand slips, and I am weightless once again. Flying through the air, I close my eyes, then, smash! Something's wrong, terribly wrong! I've doomed us both!
Metallic, and warm. Blood in my mouth. Up and down are wasted on me, I have no idea which is which. I finally dare to open my eyes. His face is worried. I didn't even feel him pick me up. "It's going to be ok..." I hear him through a tunnel.
I want to believe him, want to believe that this isn't happening. But I see the shining light above me. I focus on his face until I slowly start to go blind. Faintly I hear him screaming my name. But we both know that I'm dead.
Fionna woke up with a jolt, her mind coming back to reality. She felt herself shaking slightly and a small trail of wet tears streamed down her flushed cheeks. She could still hear Marshall screaming, her name the only thing she heard.
But then she realized she wasn't dead, even though she was in his arms. Fionna again felt the soft fabric of the comforter underneath her, felt the small up and down movement of Marshall Lee's chest on her back. His arms were around her, grasping one of her hands in his.
She slowly got her racing heart beat under control, taking deep breaths. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop shaking. The feeling that had overtaken her was one she was not used to.
It was pure dread mixed in with regret and pain. She had let go. She had left Marshall, right when he had come for her, she had left him. The darkness, she felt, was still closing in on her.
Fionna's mind was abuzz, trying to take in the fright, nausea, and panic. What had happened after she was gone? Had he lived? Or had the same fate awaited him after she…
Realization hit her like a brick. It had all been a dream. A horrifyingly clear dream. But… an icy chill crept into her veins. The Cosmic Owl had been there. He had carried her, dropped her onto the hard blackness that she barely remembered was a floor.
Blood. She still tasted it, still felt it in her mouth. Searching with her tongue, she found a place where she had bitten the inside of her mouth. Her brain wracked the inside of her skull, What does it mean, what does it mean! She demanded.
Fionna stopped breathing, stopped thinking.
It was her croak dream.
It means you're going to die.
She wanted to deny it, say it wasn't true. She clutched Marshalls hand in hers, closing her eyes. No, no, no, no, no, why now? Why, after all we've been through, why do I have to die now?! She wanted to scream, to tell the Cosmic Owl that he couldn't have her. But she knew it didn't work that way.
When you had your croak dream, there was no running from your fate. Really, it was a warning from the Cosmic Owl, pretty much saying say your goodbyes now before it's too late. But Fionna didn't want to say goodbye, didn't want to leave behind her life with Marshall and Cake.
Fionna hadn't realized she had been squeezing Marshall Lee's hand so tightly. She heard him take a deep breath, mumbling as he came to. Fionna tried to get her shaking under control. She tried to hide her fear, and mask the shock that was probably plastered to her face.
But Marshall, being a half-demon and a vampire, could smell fear a hundred miles away. "Fi, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice rough from sleep. She shivered, a chill running up her spine from hearing his voice. She still heard the screams.
"Fionna, are you cold? Why are you shivering?"
She didn't answer him, afraid of the truth.
"Fi, answer me…" Marshall pulled his arms tighter around Fionna, turning her so that she flipped around and was now facing him. He gasped when he saw the glistening tears on her face, the way her eyes were dilated, like she had seen a ghost.
She didn't stop shivering, not even when Marshall pulled the covers up more. "Fionna, talk to me. What happened?" The concern in his voice was thick, and his voice wavered. He was staring at her, his eyes almost as wide as hers. He rubbed a hand across her cheek, wiping the rest of the dried tears away.
Fionna didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell him about her croak dream, about how he had screamed her name, how she had died in his arms, covered in blood, and…
She shook her head. No, she told herself firmly, you can't tell him. What if it wasn't your croak dream, what if it was just a… nightmare. No need to worry him about something else. She closed her eyes, trying with all her might to banish her croak dream from her mind, to purge Marshall's screams from her memories.
"It was just a bad dream. A really bad dream. I'm sorry for scaring you, I'm fine," was all she said when she finally built up the courage to talk. Marshall stared at her hard, his black eyes searching her blue ones.
Eventually he tilted his head, "Gosh Bunny, it looks like you were about to die..."
Fionna suppressed a flinch.
"…was it really that bad?" She nodded, not trusting her voice. "Don't worry Fi, everyone has bad dreams." Marshall kissed her forehead, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
She nodded, not looking him in the face. He looked around the room before finding an old looking clock hanging on the wall behind Fionna. "It's only two in the morning. Let's get some more sleep."
Fionna clutched at his red shirt, shaking her head. The thing farthest from her mind at the moment was sleep. What if she had her croak dream again? She couldn't bear to see Marshall's tortured face again.
He seemed to read her mind, because he once again grabbed Fionna's hand, snuggling up to her. "Hush-a bye, don't you cry. Go to sleep, my little bunny. When you wake, you shall have, all the pretty little ponies. Ash and fray, pebbles and grey, flowing through the night. Hush-a bye, don't you cry, go to sleep my little bunny."
Against her better judgment, Fionna's eyes started to slide shut, Marshall's lullaby soothing her nerves. "I love you Marshall…" she whispered before she could stop herself, "I promise, I won't let go."
(A/N) It's been a while since I've even touched this story O.O If my writing style is different, please just go with it. I'll try to keep with the writing style here, but I don't know how this is going to go. BEWARE! KK Read on…)
In the morning, a servant came and woke the sleeping pair, telling them that they were needed by the Prince. Marshall and Fionna instantly got up and headed down the hallway to the secret room.
When they had finally gotten up the long stair case and Marshall had opened the door, they walked inside to see that the whole room was a disaster area. Messy piles of books and papers laid spread out, even worse than the night before.
Fionna cast a worried glance around the room. "Gumball? Where are you?" Marshall floated up and over a pile, straining to see the Prince. A muffled voice finally sounded across the room, calling Fionna and Marshall.
They both ran over to find the Prince under a slew of books, scrabbling to get out. Marshall laughed as he grabbed the Prince and pulled him out. "Wow dude, book avalanche got ya?" But Gumball completely ignored the vampire, going into a fit of coughing and talking.
"I-," a cough took over, "I found the piece of paper I used to draw the Karm symbol." Fionna gasped, her excitement and anxiety peaked, "Really? Where is it!" Gumball reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.
Marshall set him down on the floor, his own feet on the ground, "Well, don't keep us waiting, let us see it!" Fionna nodded, coming closer. Gumball unfolded the paper, revealing a large symbol with a tri star at its center. It was circled, and words followed closely to the circle. She raised an eyebrow. They weren't in her language.
Marshall on the other hand had no trouble reading some of it. He hissed slightly, backing away from the image. "I don't know what's worse, the Mark, or Karm. This thing, although a copy, has some serious black magic mumbo jumbo going on."
Gumball nodded, folding it up once again. "This gets us one step closer to defeating the Lich. Now we just need to find the book." Fionna thought it over. "But," she said thinking out loud, "isn't the Karm symbol all we need? I mean, it's the anti-Mark, with is the Lich. So, it should be able to defeat him."
Gumball shook him head, "You'd be right if I knew how to work it. I have no idea what it will do, if anything. It might just be good for putting up barriers that the Lich cannot get through, or it could completely obliterate the land of Aaa."
Fionna smiled, grabbing Marshall's arm, "But Marshall can read it! And then we will know what to do!" Marshall gave an inquisitive look, "Fi, I'm not that good of a reader. And this is old OLD demon language. I can only make out a few words."
Fionna looked desperately between the two, "But a few words is all we need, right?! We only have two more days! We're never going to find that stupid book, but we have the Karm symbol! We can strike before it's too late!"
"Fionna," Gumball said, shaking his head, "The symbol is useless until we know for sure how to activate it. What you are requesting is out of the question."
Marshall stayed silent, his own thoughts dominating the conversation. He wanted to kill the Lich, to stop him before it was too late. A part of him was with Fionna. Even though they didn't know much, they could still do something with the Karm.
But then again, that was the reason they shouldn't. They knew about as much as nothing about the symbol. It could end up hurting someone other than the Lich. I could hurt him, or Gumball, or even Fionna. Gumball was right. They didn't have enough information.
Fionna continued to try and validate her point, saying that she killed him once, she could do it again. Gumball's brow furrowed. "Fionna, you didn't kill him! He's back, and he has terrorized my kingdom and the land! I am not going to let some little girl with a grudge and a sword make the ultimate decision for my kingdom. This is life or death! Don't you realize that?"
Fionna gritted her teeth, her eyes watering. Marshall grabbed her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug, but Fionna pushed away. "Do you think the same Marshall?" He frowned, turning to the Prince. "No, not with what he just said. But I do agree that it's a suicide mission. It's useless now Fi. All we can do now is hope we find the Book."
Fionna shook her head, backing away, "I thought you had my back Marshall. I thought you understood." She turned, walking to the door. Marshal groaned, "Where are you going?"
"To the tree house. Cake must be worried. Keep looking for your dumb book. I want to spend time with the people I love before we all go up in flames." She slammed the door behind her, leaving the two royals behind.
Marshall sighed, wanting desperately to go after her, but deciding she needed her space. Gumball crossed his arms, "Silly girl. Thinking she can do it all herself." Marshall turned to him, scowling, "She's trying, ok? It's hit her hard. This world is all she has, all she's ever known. Cut her some slack."
Gumball sighed, his face emotionless, "She should have stayed. The Book won't find itself." Marshall nodded, floating over to another pile of books. Fionna just need time to think things through. Then she would realize that she couldn't just run in blind and alone. He resumed his search for the book, now more motivated to find it. For her.
So, yeah. I know it's short, but I hope to update more on it. I am going to be writing like a whirlwind! REVIEW! ^.^ Until next time my adventuring friends!
Cheyenne iz out, PEACE!