He was standing over her, a sword in his hand. A smile spread across his face and he leaned down to caress her cheek.
"Missed you, Mar-Mar," he said.
Marceline cringed under his touch and closed her eyes. After a moment, her curiosity got the best of her and she opened them again. Instead of Ash staring back at her, it was a strange man with ram's horns growing from his head, one broken off. His face was split, one side that of a vaguely familiar man, the other side a lipless skeleton. Marceline began to scream, and arms clasped around her.
"Marcy, Marcy wake up!" Finn yelled, gently shaking his fiancée. She had started crying ten minutes ago; at first he had tried talking to her and stroking her hair, but he soon began to panic.
"Get off me!" Marceline screamed, lashing out with her fangs.
Finn tried to subdue the vampire, only to feel her fangs sink into his hand. He pulled back and Marceline's eyes flew open. She looked wildly around the room until her eyes landed on Finn, his face twisted up in pain.
"Finn? Are you okay?" She asked.
"What's going on in here?" The chief banana guard burst into the room, his sword drawn.
"Nothing," Finn replied through gritted teeth. "Just a little accident. We're fine."
The banana guard looked suspiciously at the Vampire and the human before slowly backing out of the room and shutting the door behind him.
"Did I bite you, Finn?" Marceline asked quietly.
"No-I mean, you did, but it's fine," Finn replied, hiding his hand beneath the blanket. "It doesn't even hurt."
"Let me see," Marceline ordered.
"It's nothing Marcy, I promise."
"Then let me see it if it's nothing."
Marceline gently took Finn's hand and grimaced. The wound was much deeper than she imagined, and bleeding heavily; her saliva had anti-coagulant properties. Finn went to the attached bathroom and rummaged around until he found a first aid kit. He went back to the bedroom, laid the kit on the bed, and held up his hand.
"Hey, Marcy can you help me bandage-"
Finn stopped midsentence when Marceline shielded her face with her hands and curled up into a ball.
"I'm sorry, Finn, please don't hit me!" She yelled, trying to protect herself and her baby from the non-existent threat.
"Marcy, stop! I'm not going to hit you."
Marceline slowly lowered her hands and looked up at Finn with tears leaving stains on her pale face. She saw the look of pain and hurt in his eyes, and she realized her mistake.
"Oh, Finn I'm so sorry. I didn't mean…I just was scared and…I'm sorry."
"S'okay, Marcy. Can you help me bandage this?"
"Sure thing, hero."
Finn sat down on the bed while Marceline bandaged his hand. They sat in silence for a long time, the queen staring at her hands, the adventurer staring down at his shoes. After the pain in his hand lessened a bit, he spoke.
"You went through a lot with Ash."
It wasn't a question, but Marceline nodded in agreement anyway.
"Him hitting me wasn't even the worst part," she said after some time. "I got used to that after a while. The worst was when he would force me to have sex with him. Sometimes he'd make me get undressed and then he couldn't, well, you know. He'd get so mad that he wouldn't stop hitting me until I started crying…usually when I cried he would get it up. I think he liked to see me hurt."
Marceline stopped talking when she glanced over at Finn and saw that he was visibly sick. She threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that."
"No, no, it's okay," Finn said, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I walked in on you guys once. You told me that he wasn't hurting you and I knew better, but I left anyway."
"I remember that," Marceline said. "It wasn't your fault. Bonnibel, Simon, my dad, everybody knew how he treated me, but no one stopped it. I wouldn't let them. Don't blame yourself, okay?"
"I'll try," Finn said. "Marceline?"
"Hmm?"
"I'll never be like Ash. I promise."
"I know, Finn," she whispered, brushing her lips against his chest. "It's just, I guess when you get used to living with fear, it doesn't go away no matter how safe you are."
"That's okay, Marcy," he replied. "I can be patient."
Marceline settled in Finn's arms and closed her eyes. She was enjoying just being next to him when a light knock sounded at the door.
"Queen Marceline? It's Caramella with news from a Vampire named Malum. May I come in?"
"Of course, Caramella," Marceline replied, sliding off of Finn's lap and onto the bed.
The Candy woman opened the door and handed Marceline a piece of paper. She bowed deeply, forcing Marceline to suppress a giggle, and left. The queen opened the message and read it aloud, her eyes growing wider with every word.
"We are delighted to hear of your upcoming marriage to Finn the Human. In celebration of this marriage, we will be holding a royal ball in your honor. Please report to the Vampire Castle at 6:00 this evening. Invitations have been sent throughout our kingdom, as well as to those who out themselves in danger to protect your life."
Marceline looked up at Finn, her eyebrows arched in disapproval.
"These globdamned royal balls are one of the things I hate about being a queen. They expect me to dress up, and act proper and junk!"
Finn smiled and giggled into his bandaged hand.
"What is so funny?" Marceline asked, struggling not to smile.
"Nothing," he replied. "It's just, you sounded like my radical dame again."
The queen smiled and hugged Finn.
"Would you mind taking me to my house, Finn? It's been shut up all this time and I'd like to clean it out before I move into the castle."
"Sure thing, Marcy. I'll help."
Marceline changed out of her pajamas and into a pair of yoga pants and one of Finn's shirts. She looked down at her outfit and scoffed; she wouldn't have dreamed of going out in public like this just a few short months ago. She sighed and stretched on a pair of long gloves and placed her floppy sunhat on her head.
"You ready?" Finn asked.
Marceline nodded and took his hand. They traveled to her house on Princess Bubblegum's Morrow, and the trip only took a few minutes. During that time, Marceline had held onto Finn's waist, her stomach keeping them from being too close. When the bird swooped into her cave and her house came into view, a strange, dull fear rose in her throat.
The Morrow landed on her porch, and Finn hopped off and helped Marceline awkwardly slide down. She momentarily rummaged in her pocket for a key before she noticed that the door was standing open. She glanced from the door, to the busted window, down to Finn's bloody hat lying on the ground. She stooped over and picked it up, turning it over and over in her hands.
"I used it to keep from getting too cut up when I punched in the window," Finn explained.
Marceline nodded. "Guess you need a new one."
"Nah," he replied. "I was getting too old for it anyway."
Marceline nodded again and took a deep breath. She pushed open the door, and stepped into the home where Ash had caused her so much pain. It was silent, and everything was as she had left it. It was messy, as always, but this was the first time that Marceline was embarrassed by its state. Everything from the burn marks on the sofa where she or Ash had fell asleep with a lit cigarette to the discarded beer cans littering the floor provided Finn with a stark picture of the life his fiancé had been living the past few months.
"I'm sorry it's so messy," Marceline said, stepping inside and flipping on the lights. "I guess I didn't have much time to clean."
"No problem," Finn said. "What can I do to help?"
"Um, do you mind looking in the hall closet for a box of pictures and song lyrics? They mean the world to me and I kinda want to make sure they're safe."
"Sure."
"I'll be in here trying to get rid of this mess. Yell if you need me."
Marceline showed him to the closet and he opened it to reveal a jumbled mess. Finn bent over the pile and picked up a black leather dog color, marred by a spot of what looked like dried blood.
"Marcy, where's Schwabl?" He asked.
The queen turned away to hide her expression.
"Ash didn't like dogs," she said simply, walking back to the living room.
Finn carefully turned the collar over in his hands and stared at, his whole body trembling with anger. He remembered Marceline telling him that Schwabl had been a gift from Princess Bubblegum when they were younger, and that the dog had been her best friend ever since. The young hero couldn't believe that anyone would take him away from her. He carefully placed the collar on a shelf and sat down in front of the closet.
After rummaging around for a few minutes, Finn found a cardboard box filled with papers, some new, some yellowed with age. He grabbed one and held it to the light revealing a flyer for a one night only solo show featuring Marceline, held at a bar in the Soft Village. Finn smiled and pulled out another flyer, this one for a performance in the Brimstone Saloon in the Nightosphere. There were similar advertisements from bars all across Ooo. Finn had always known that Marceline was talented, but he'd never realized that she had been so famous.
He dug deeper in the box and pulled out another flyer, this one advertising a club called Guilty Pleasures. It featured Marceline wearing a black corset, fishnets, and high-heeled combat boots. In one hand, she was holding a leather whip, her lips curled into a sultry smile. Finn blushed and put the flyer underneath the others, and started to close the box. Curiosity, however, got the best of him and he pulled out stack of advertisements, the majority of which showed the Vampire in skimpy clothes and erotic positions. His hands shaking, Finn moved onto his knees and looked into the box. More flyers, both for concerts and clubs, stared back at him, along with a few Polaroids of Marceline nude or nearly so. The young hero felt his jeans bulge and he tried to replace everything just as it was when he found it. He was so concentrated on the task at hand that he didn't hear Marceline come up behind him.
"Finn?" She asked. "Did you find the-"
Marceline stopped mid-sentence when she saw the flyers Finn was desperately trying to hide. He looked up at her guiltily.
"I'm sorry, Marcy, I wasn't snooping, honest!"
Marceline sighed.
"It's okay, Finn. That's from when I was younger and I did some pretty…pretty wild things. Mainly to piss off Dad, but, ugh, it's a long story. You wanna hear it?"
"Sure," Finn replied. "If you want to tell me, that is."
"Why not? I mean, you're going to be my husband after all," Marceline said, smiling wryly.
Marceline sat down next to Finn and crossed her legs. She took a deep breath and placed her hands on her stomach.
"Simon took care of me as long as the crown let him, but by the time he left, it was more like me taking care of him. He realized that, I guess, and he left in the middle of the night. Left me a note telling me how sorry he was and how he was going to find a way to get his memory back. By the end it was all gibberish. He signed it as 'Ice King', and I guess that was when I knew I'd really lost him."
A/N: Sorry about the relatively short chapter! The next one will be much longer and deals with Marceline's past. Don't forget to leave a review, as they are all very much appreciated! Thanks for reading!