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Eleven-Damn

Ice King laughed as he zapped another section of forest and trolls, leaving living icicles in his wake. He had a large crazed grin on his face, which quickly turned down when he heard a voice next to him.

"Simon! Stop this!"

'Damn, she's here.'

He turned and saw that vampire woman; she wore a black hoody and pants with boots and the hood up. Lucky for her it was turning into a rather cloudy day and sunset was approaching. He sneered, Ice King had managed to make Simon put on the crown when he was alone and witnessing all the activity from the Fire Kingdom. There was a sizable amount of distance between the two kingdoms but it was easily visible with all of the energy flaring through it. He had reminded him of what happened last time that Flame Girl got worked up, his realm had almost completely melted away and mentioned it might happen again.

Oh he had fought, even shouted at the crown and at Ice King to leave him be-that had caused the pale woman to come find them- but Ice King had won out. Now Simon- all of Simon- was trapped within the Ice and Snow. Buried so deep not even that dreaming human would be able to reach him again and come back alive herself, he couldn't believe she had managed to do it before but good old Gunther had come and helped him. It was always good to have a Gunther around.

"Simon!" Marceline yelled; she flew in front of him to bar his way.

"Move out of my way pale woman! Everything must be frozen!" And there should be princesses, but he would get to that later.

"Simon, come on! This isn't you Ice King!"

Marceline floated forward and reached her hands out toward the old man. She was fighting back tears at seeing him more manic than he had ever been. She should have taken that damn crown from him the moment she had heard him talking to it but she didn't know what would happen. Now it looked like the lesser of two evils.

She gnawed on her lip a bit and thought, 'Dammit!'

"You waste your non-breath vampire! Simon is no longer here! He's safe within the snow. Now it is only I, The Ice King! The Glorious One!"

Marceline furrowed her brows, 'Glorious one?' She thought. Simon had never called himself that before…could this truly be the crown talking?

"Who or what are you? What do you mean Simon is 'in the snow'?" The male before her laughed.

"I am the one as old as the frost and the winter. I am the last of the primeval gods to remain on this plane. I am the true Lord of the Ice Crown; I am the Glorious One, I am Ullr! Simon's consciousness has finally been pushed back. Now get out of my way pale woman! You will not stop me from freezing the abominable lands of Fire and Heat and the rest of the lands of Ooo. It will finally all be mine!"

With that he did a quick movement and flew away from her, his manic cackle echoed back to her. Marceline could only stare after him.

'No, no, no, no, no. Simon's gone? 'Pushed back?''

Her hands trembled as she thought of the ramifications if this was true, this meant there truly was a spirit within the crown, an ancient one at that. And it had pushed Simon into his own head; this Ullr was now wearing her Simon as a blurping meat suit!

"No fucking way!" She yelled to no one in particular.

With that Marceline fisted her hands and flew after Ice King, she would not leave Simon all alone again. He had made her do it once; she wasn't going to do it again.

88888

Huntress grumbled under her breath. It had been quite a bit of time since the pulse had gone through the citizens of the Fire Kingdom and power had returned to the house of the Elder Sula. As soon as it had happened Furnius has taken command from his smiling cousins and now the whole kingdom was waiting in anticipation for their new Queen. The princess had won, but why hadn't Beth called her? If all was running smoothly why hadn't she notified her yet?

'Damn woman better call me soon', she thought darkly.

To make things worse Lady Rainicorn had received a message from her princess via light-wave communication that the old fart Ice King had apparently flipped out and was making his way here, all the while freezing various pieces of Ooo as he went.

Now she was sitting on the ground next to the large throne, Flame King's brood and Torcho were sitting and talking with her. Doing the best as they could to help calm her down. Guards and courtiers talked, as they were wont to do.

Honestly, could the guy have an episode and bother everyone some other time?

'Crazy old wizard.'

She wasn't left to her thoughts long though; she looked over as she heard someone lean against the wall with her. She had thought she would be left in peace for a while if she hid in an alcove of the main audience room but it seemed it was not meant to be.

It was Furnius, he was looking away from her and his expression was neutral.

"You need to ssstop worrying, I'm sssure they're fine. What we really mussst concern ourssselvesss with isss the reportsss of the Ice King laying wassste to Ooo asss he racesss here to extinguisssh usss."

The sorceress scoffed, "Ice King isn't that much of a threat; I don't care what that horse woman's princess says. Just give him a quick hit in the head to knock the crown off and he'll go down like the fool he is." Her tone was harsh.

Furnius was looking at her now, a frown was set upon his face.

"You're really worried for her, aren't you? You weren't ever thisss worried for me even when I wasss your b-."

"Yeah, well I didn't let myself get really attached to people back then. Even if I was dating them." She said quickly, interrupting him.

He blinked, surprised. "Ssso you do care for thisss human." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yes I do. She…she's become important to me. We've had adventures together and despite just being a weak non-wizard and being new to Ooo she's never really been afraid, she just grins and runs into the new adventure." She wasn't looking at him now, she had turned and looked over the room.

"She's had my back more times in the short while I've known her than most people I've known for years. Even you." She turned to him now, but her voice wasn't accusatory.

"She crossed a sea into the unknown and fought monsters to find her lost family. I've known few people who would go to such lengths for their kin."

Here she gave him a small smile. She had always understood his motivations and plans towards his uncle, her support had seen him through a lot.

She turned back toward the room and leaned against the wall once more.

"She is friendly and open to everyone until they are a threat. She is my friend. And I can't help but feel something. Is. Wrong." Her voice held a desperate tone.

Furnius' brows rose, few had ever managed to gain the respect and comradeship of Huntress Wizard. He placed a hand upon her shielded shoulder.

"I'm sssure ssshe isss fine." She didn't respond but didn't shake off his hand either. He took it as a good sign.

Their moment was interrupted when a commotion started with in the great hall. The group had returned, and the denizens of the Fire Kingdom were celebrating the return of their new ruler. The two hurried over to the group, Furnius to congratulate his new queen and sister and Huntress to tell off a certain woman for worrying her.

88888

Blood oozed around her fingers as she uselessly pressed her hand to the largest wound on her abdomen, the waves lapping at her hips were turning red. Beth looked over and saw her opponent; he lay limp in the water.

Her sword, that wonderful sword that Huntress Wizard had given her, was buried to the hilt in his skull. His body was covered in the still bleeding gashes she was able to make, and his teeth were red with her blood from when he had managed to get a hold of her and pick her up in his mouth-big mistake.

Now he lay on his side, beached in the sand. The waves flowing around him; she wondered if she would be going where he had or if she would remain on this plane as a ghost, a phenomenon she had only ever seen in Ooo.

She looked over to the horizon; the sun was above the water and was on its way to slipping under the place where sea met sky. She wondered if she would be gone before it completely disappeared. Clouds cluttered the darkening sky.

'Damn, this sucks'. She though belatedly.

She looked back at the dragon, at least the others got away. She gave a cough and felt the blood drip from her mouth, she took a ragged breath. Her lung had been punctured again -along with several other things. Beth shifted against the side of her boat, feeling the familiar wood against her back.

She didn't want to die, she had never been overly afraid of death-she had mentally prepared herself for the possibility when she first started her journey toward Ooo- but a cold, unfamiliar acceptance was filling her.

Or was that just the feeling of her body going cold from blood loss and her brain not letting her freak out about it?

She sat thinking about that for a while.

She looked up when she heard footsteps coming toward her on the beach, she furrowed her brows. It took her until the person stopped in front of her to understand what she saw.

Before her stood a man-it looked like a man, but he had a –horse?-skull for a face and wore white clothes and a white hat. She spied a little brown satchel strapped around his shoulders.

"Who the…hell are you?" Despite everything she had seen, this guy really creeped her out, especially since she had an idea who he was. The man chuckled.

"Well, my dear. I'm Death." He crouched down to be eye level with her. "I must admit I was expecting to collect your brother before getting you, but that's the world for you."

She stared at him, a tear rolled down her face. She half whimpered half growled out, "Oh lovely, I really am… going to die."

Finally a bit of fear crackled down her spine.

She coughed. More blood spilled on to her lips. He looked at her a moment and said "You know I don't usually make personal appearances anymore but I owe your father a favor."

"My father?" She rasped in surprise.

"Yes, he was a good man, he did me a solid a number of years ago I never paid back. Anyway as a favor to him I'm here to make your transition a little easier, without my presence your death will languish on for another hour. Now it will be only about five more minutes, and believe me when I say my depriving you of time is more a blessing than a curse."

She stared at him; he was helping her die more smoothly?

"Why don't you make…it so I don't die?!" She ground out. A few more tears spilled from her eyes.

He gave a soft and surprisingly sad laugh, "For the same reason I let every entity in this universe die: because it is your time. There is no changing that."

She could only stare at him.

'Damn. I'm sorry guys….'