"You really want me to wear this shirt?" The princess said.
The shirt was a joke in itself- it must've been. She held it up in the light, twisting up her face in scrutiny. It was just a skinny black tee with a whole mess of unserious ideas on it. Snakes in front of a river, kebobs with… burnt marshmallows? They supposedly purchased it on the night of the concert, waiting an hour in the merch line. But all the princess could now recall of that night was Marceline's face- oh, and Marceline's body lined silver by the moonlight. That striking image was grinning in front of her now.
"Yes! Since you liked the band I got it for you, y'know..." She said, scratching her left arm and looking away.
It had been two days since their dance, two hectic days full of suffocating decisions and flurries of council sessions. Now that dance flickered in the back of her head like a candlelit shrine. A warm memory to collapse back into when overwhelmed with the weight of the war, but not a place to stay too long lest the still confused emotions tumbled into a wall of noise against her composure. This was the first time the princess and vampire had been allowed privacy since that night, though it was not as eventful as the princess had been expecting- it was mostly just hazy. Marceline was clearly doting on many things, eyes hovering on nothing particular, intimidating in her silence.
"How was your last council session?" Bubblegum ventured, leaning back into the plush chair by her vanity, she draped the t-shirt across her chest.
"Not…very good." Marceline said, staring out the slits of a shuttered window in front of Bubblegum.
"I heard you have a new nickname? Marceline the vampire queen?" The princess said, yawning slightly at the end.
"Egh." The vampire threw a hand into her forehead, gritting her teeth. "Those stupid vamps. So damn stubborn. All I'm trying to do is protect them and their home and they say I'm scraping for attention!"
"I'm sorry, Mar. I didn't mean to bring that stuff up…" Bubblegum slid up in her chair, like she was trying to reach out to the brooding vampire.
"Is that your new nickname for me?" Marceline said, smiling.
The princess was relieved to hear warmth in her voice, and the joy in it made her heart leap around. Marceline turned from the window to face Bubblegum full and the princess delighted in the sensual view of the vampire's sharp body in a black beater and skin-tight jeans. Suddenly, the stuffy fatigue was wiped clean and a swelling of heat pulsed through the princess. She smiled back, staring intently into Marceline. A different smile broke on the vampire's face and her eyes looked in a hungry way, causing the air between them to blaze recklessly, like a pot boiling over.
A knock tore through the tension in the air, coming from a frantic assistant at the Princess' door.
"Right on cue, huh…" Marceline grumbled, flitting out an open window into the night air.
The Princess glanced back to see the vampire wash away into obscurity, staring longingly at the last wisp of her shadow through the fog. Biting down a wide frown she opened the door to the aide. He stammered for a few seconds before collecting his senses.
"P-princess. It is extremely dire. It's about Prince Eota…"
A makeshift caravan fell around the Princess's carriage as it prepared a trip to the Underground's infirmary. The guards were on the edge of a long weariness, trying hard to pull themselves out of the sleep they had just been wrapped in. A goblin in prominent decorum broke through the ring of steel, rapping on the door of her carriage.
"Good Princess, I am the goblin Nirbai, Eota's second-in-command. I wish to speak with you, if you allow." He said after the knock.
"Come in." She replied.
He hastily threw himself into the cabin as it jolted to a start.
"It is very nice to meet you, Princess. Unfortunately, we are meeting under very strenuous circumstances" The goblin produced a stack of frazzled papers, seemingly out of thin air, and started scanning over them. He continued without looking up,
"We were ambushed in the grasslands by the fire wizard. He seemed to be unac-"
"Is Eota one of the survivors?" The princess quested firmly, hovering on the edge of her seat in tension.
"Yes. We are going to see him now. He is fine, although quite burned. In more ways than one." Nirbai returned his eyes back to the papers, sifting through them quickly.
He exclaimed lightly upon finding a particular sheet of parchment, licking the tip of his right index finger and pulling it from the pile. The Princess observed the curious nature of the letter as he placed it into her hands: the weight and appearance of it indicated that it was made of hardened lava, slimmed down to paper width. In the center of the black rectangle arose two paragraphs of writing, wicking with vivid light. The words were cutaways into the core of the hardened lava, which was fresh and flowing.
"This document was found on Eota's person when we recovered him after the fight. We believe the fire wizard wanted this message to reach you."
The princess focused onto the paper, and the letters jumped with burning intensity to her. It began,
My fires have been rising and they know no heed
Your hero was no match,
No match, no match,
They have always been burning, there was never a need.
You have been playing blindly in the palm of my hand
No wick, no wick.
I am the doctor of your sick
And death is the cure for your land.
-The Fire Lord Ignisem
"Ah…" The Princess mused, tossing the block of obsidian to her side.
Nirbai glanced at her with a flick of intensity, then returned his eyes to his papers. The Princess also stole a glance across the cabin, calculating his expression with bristling focus. Even though this sudden revelation had thrown her into a panic, she knew she dared not leak even a hint of the horror that brewed in her. This assistant, though assuredly loyal, was still a goblin and they were known to be fantastic gossipers before any other notable ability. Once he was soothed and had returned fully to his work she shifted away and let the panic swell over her.
Ignisem.
The dots connected, and in front of her the fire wizard blazed into sharp focus in her mind. His form came from all manners of reference- horror stories, mythic legends, historical accounts. Sometimes he was a wizard of total rage, in other telling's a twisted fallen king bent on destroying his domain. In whatever medium his likeness was carried through, there was always a consistent theme: he came from the dark beginnings, flowing out with the fire itself- an elemental force.
Is this it? The end of my Kingdom?
The Princess placed a hand to her mouth, fighting the urge to collapse into a nervous seizure.
"We're here." Nirbai said, throwing his papers into their case and hoisting himself up from the deep couch.
The Princess nodded, allowing him to exit first, then quietly collected herself in the dark corner of the carriage. She took his dark green hand as she hopped down to the dark, foggy floor of the Underground, and together they entered the infirmary amongst a convoy of armed guards. The infirmary was a derelict building, built long ago by some unknown mason for another purpose. It was a long half cylinder, with the back end completely blown out. The hole was covered by panels of blankets in an attempt at beautification, though not much could be done for it. With vampire's healing abilities and the ghost's immunity to injury, the infirmary was never given any attention by the municipality. They slowly approached the end of the long hall, where a large cluster of machinery marked the war hero's asylum.
Singly Eota turned his head wearily to the Princess, who forced down a gasp at the sight of his marred face. A large bubbling scar ripped across his forehead, the tortured skin glistening under the candlelight of the improvised hospital.
"Is that you, Princess?" Eota said, the swollen skin had pushed over his eyes and temporarily blinded him.
"Oh, my hero! I am so sorry!" Bubblegum rushed up to him and grasped his hand, squeezing it affectionately.
Eota spilled a smile that couldn't be bridled, and squeezed back on her hand.
"It's okay, Princess. I will be just fine. A medicine woman is coming from beyond the Rock Candy Mountains-" he stopped as a great wave of pain hit him, pulsing from the stump of his severed hand.
A candy nurse rushed through Bubblegum and Nirbai, frantically adjusting knobs on the machinery. After a minute of tense breaths, Eota soothed out again and turned his head back over.
"…We must discuss this Ignisem, Princess. He is much more powerful than we think."
"I know. I've read all of the stories. But… Are you sure it is the Fire Lord? He was nothing but a mythical villain from the wild birth years of Ooo…" The Princess said, letting her anxiety leak.
"I've heard the stories. The elders of my village told many times the tale of the Fire Lord Ignisem and the first goblin wizard Gambley dueling in the Lost Cliffs… I know certainly it is he. He is the genuine. I can feel that power he commands. He is the fire." Underneath the black and red puffs of skin the beady eyes of the war hero glittered, a tight frown on his face marked his inner turmoil.
The Princess glanced to Nirbai, who raised his eyebrows in response.
"We can defeat him. Your aide here has recently informed me that most of Ooo's kingdom's have already agreed to our alliance. Your sacrifice has moved the people to action." Bubblegum said, smiling warmly.
"I have not yet made my sacrifice, Princess." Eota turned his head away.
The Princess glanced nervously again to Nirbai.
"Well, take care my brave prince. You will be well soon." Bubblegum said, backing away towards the line of armored guards behind her.
Eota discreetly motioned for Nirbai to stay beside the bed as the Princess headed the procession out of the infirmary. He knelt down close, bringing his ear to the Prince's swollen lips.
"What is it, my Prince?" Nirbai whispered.
"Do you have any more reports on the lady vampire?" Eota huffed into his ear.
"Ah, yes…" Nirbai reached into his case that was set beside him on the stone floor, bringing out a piece of paper that he began to quietly read to the prince.
"An anonymous tip from a member of the royal guard details two new instances of the vampire Marceline entering the Princess' royal housing in addition to the first night. One yesterday morning and another this morning. I indeed noticed a black flash at her windows when we came to collect her today."
Eota deepened his frown, fast shots of air squeezed out of his crinkled nostrils.
"What could they possibly be discussing?" He said, frustrated.
Nirbai smirked, letting out a light chuckle. Eota reeled his head over to the noise.
"What is funny?" He demanded.
"I don't think they are discussing much… my lord." Nirbai grinned.
"They certainly couldn't be-"
"Isn't that a little naïve, prince?"
"Calling me naïve?! Grod oh whence, you really are fit to be a statesman, Nirbai." Eota snapped, shouldering around to face the other way, indicating he was done speaking to him.
With that, Nirbai whipped his case's locks back into place and ran across the broken-down hall, scrambling back into the decorated carriage that waited impatiently for him.
The princess nodded to him as he entered and then averted her eyes, immediately returning to a loop of distraction and patient waiting. In her head she forced the depressive darkness into a neat line far away, concentrating on a good thought. Right now it was the warmth of feeling something new and strange, the joy seemed to bloom like a flower inside.
I need her.
The thought had been triggered minutes ago, upon walking away from the broken hero. Now it tumbled around restlessly in her head. She had her next task: to tell Marceline those three words.