A/N: Hey y'all. This is cosla. Wildfire is on Megapause due to con season/full time work and full time school/moving homes
When it starts updating again I promise it will be a flood of content, with a great climax!
"Where is she?!"
A howl of wild fear echoed off the great arching walls of the Candy Kingdom's hospital. It was the first thing Bubblegum heard upon regaining consciousness.
"Please, we have particular security protocols and you can't just-"
A crash followed and several men yelled in confusion, then the clomp of heavy boots tumbled towards the damaged princess in her bed. She was blinded upon straining open her eyes, finding she couldn't move her head to the side. Quickly, though, the flood of light was blocked by a looming figure of pure blackness. It stared down with vivid white eyes and the intensity in them stirred her lips with stumbles of breath. In her state everything was blurry, nothing fitting together in cohesion. She did not know where or what she was- until a sensation hit her on the cheek. It was wet, a little drop of icy water. The orb slid down her cheek and the coldness of it drew together the light with forms, the blurs into images; inside her mind began the subtle beginnings of a long crescendo of brain activity that would break her back into cognizance. More tears dropped onto her face. The shadow was wavering. Then the tears showered over her, every dapple bringing her closer to life again. Words burst from some dam in her mind and her eyes brightened with recognition.
"Mar…" She wheezed.
Marceline hiccupped with joy and fell onto her, squeezing her tight. The princess drew a little smile, finding the effort quite a strain.
"Hello, vampire." Nirbai said as he approached the two, hands clasped behind his back. "Yes, as you can see she will be all well."
"It was the Fire Wizard, wasn't it?" Marceline looked up, tucking the dazed princess in her breast.
"Who else would do such a thing as this." The goblin said, looking down solemnly.
Marceline grunted and turned her attention back to the princess, running pale hands through her tousled hair. He eased away from them, walking aimlessly about the aisle of gurneys while they embraced. The ruffled paper in his hand that he kept glancing to indicated that he had something important to say to the princess but was waiting for her to recover further. Bubblegum saw this and recognized the situation, but she knew that whatever news it could be it would most certainly be bad. For now, she played dead and kept within the safety of Marceline's arms and sweet whispers.
Some time passed before Nirbai's impatience inevitably drove him over to them.
"Is she fully awake?" He quested, gripping onto a railing of the bed.
Marceline looked down to the princess who nodded and began to shift herself from under the folds of her embrace. Marceline floated off completely, setting down beside the bed and reaching for a hand to hold. Bubblegum inched up carefully in her bed, knowing that any overextension would bring down the full pain of the burns that had ruined nearly everything below her stomach.
"…What is it, Nirbai?" Bubblegum husked out. Marceline poked her eyes out from behind the princess' orb of pink hair to stare at the goblin.
"Grim news, I fear. It's about Eota." His mouth tensed as he drew out a particular paper, purposefully placing it down in her free hand with a dramatic slowness.
The letter was wrinkled and water stained; she recognized it's blaring watermark immediately as the chest of the Loudsteel tribe of goblins- Eota's very own. The words were frantic, depressive, the stains upon the paper spackled, like tears… A dread hit her then as she realized what she was reading.
"Eota wrote this?" She began, trying to avoid the truth.
"Ah… Yes. It was discovered in place of him in the Underground's infirmary this morning."
Losing her place, Bubblegum started again at the top of the letter. Her hand gripped the paper tightly, it began to tear.
I hope this makes it to the Princess.
Bubblegum- if I may be so informal,
There are things I wish I could say to you, moments I wish I could've had.
But it's too late… I am just a sword, and I need to swing.
You and I both now bear the burns of the Fire Lord, that menace,
That bastard, who thinks he can destroy us.
He has far too long made us cringe in fear, and now, attacking you…
How dare he. How dare I lay here and let him do such a thing?
He will never win, not against The Princess of the Kings.
Do you think it would shock the people if they knew that you were my hero growing up?
Of course you would never marry me, I will always be a child to you.
But I have my purpose, I am a sword. Watch me swing. Maybe, even, remember me.
Farewell my hero,
-Singly Eota
"He attached an illustration detailing a weakness he has supposedly found in the Fire Lord's defense. Something involving an enchanted amulet beneath his robes that channels his raw soul essence. He indicates that he will concentrate his attacks on the amulet." Nirbai added as the Princess finished reading.
"He went to attack the Fire Lord alone?" She asked, hand over her mouth.
"It would seem. I have assumed command of the United Goblin Forces for now. In the event that he doesn't come back-"
"He's not coming back. This is a suicide note." She said, dropping the letter to a corner of the bed. She turned to Marceline and frowned, tears rolling down her cheeks.
She didn't expect to be so effected by his death. In the past she had found him to be a pest- an intriguing pest, but nevertheless… It was just another sign of the oddness of these times.
"If I may ask… What did he mean exactly when he said you were his hero growing up? And why did he refer to you by your grandmother's title?" Nirbai asked, he held a brow up in question.
Bubblegum turned away from the goblin, glancing to Marceline. The vampire knew many secrets of the Kingdom and of her past- the princess having spilled it out in emotion while in a loving caress- but there were things too sensitive even for her to know.
Damn that prince for his wits. He manages to make me cry in his memory, and then somehow guesses my ultimate secret? It's a shame he was so foolhardy in the end. They always are… She was chewing her lip, contemplating the repercussions of an open truth.
To her relief, though intensely bittersweet, the question was killed by the loud entrance of the Kingdom's surgeon, Doctor Cane. Slamming through the heavy doors at the far end of the sick ward, his brisk pace betrayed the worry in his sterile face. He stopped at the foot of the bed and placed both hands on its railing.
"I would wish to speak to the princess alone about very sensitive matters." He said.
"Oh no, they can stay. It's about time the full truth be known." Bubblegum said, waving a hand.
On either side, attentive eyes shot to Bubblegum's face. She simply waved her hand again for the doctor to precede.
"Ah… okay, then." He stood upright and started to saunter around near the foot of the bed. "Princess. As you know we've been having quite some difficulties finding a suitable procedure for your injuries. And since you've banned even the discussion of… well, you know…" He trailed off.
"What do you know? What's happening?" Marceline rasped.
"Just a second, Abbie. You may discuss it, doctor." Bubblegum said.
"Well… I don't like piling on the bad news, but… without the Broth Elixir, you are looking at a steep risk."
The Princess was already shaking her head.
"Not this time." She muttered.
"It's the only way now!" The crackly peppermint cane snapped.
He settled at the foot of the bed again, giving the princess a firm but somber face. His hands rung the railing in tension.
She swung her eyes into her pillow, catching a little fit of coughing.
"What about enchanting a new gem?" She said a little quietly, glancing around to the doctor again.
He shook his head tiredly, "It's not something we can summon up last minute like this. I do it regrettably as well, Highness, but if we don't give you the Elixir immediately, you could suffer unpredictable illnesses. You might age, or warp, or turn inside out, I just don't know. One thing is certain, though- the risk could very well be fatal."
"Fatal? As in death?!" Marceline said, whipping her head from Bubblegum to the Doctor.
"I still won't allow the Elixir. I- I can't…" Bubblegum shook her head, looking down.
"What is that? Can someone tell me anything?!" Marceline said, exasperated.
"…The Broth Elixir is my greatest secret. It is the reason why I have been alive for the past 500 years." The princess said.
Nirbai almost snapped his neck from how fast he shot a look of confusion to her. Her indifference to his shock made him turn away and put a hand to his mouth in thought. Bubblegum sighed heavily, then continued,
"It started first as an attempt at immortality. I've always been obsessed with the idea… Long ago, when I had just emerged from my father's vault into the wastelands, I found, sitting at the foot of the door, a note with a pink gem wrapped inside. It was from my father, a rare artifact from an old colleague of his. The note said that the stone would heal my wounds and keep me healthy from the fallout. He said that one day I would bring peace to the land under a kingdom, and on that day the gem will give me the tools to manipulate magic and I would wear it in my crown. He ordered me to live." The Princess paused, breathing deeply with only the slightest tremble touching her. She continued,
"I had no clue what he meant, I thought maybe he had gone mad. I mean, I could always tell my father had been grooming me for power, but ruling a kingdom in a nuclear wasteland wasn't exactly what I was expecting. But soon the green rain started to heal the land, and birth it. It became apparent that a new civilization was arising from the ashes, so I followed my father's instructions and settled a village of candy people. I was at first bewildered by the magic creatures, but I soon realized that I could not be considered normal anymore, either. The gem was turning my skin pink, and I was becoming candy, like them. I still cannot completely fathom why this happened. Perhaps the magic behaves like a localized infection, and everyone in that location is mutated the same way. Anyways, to get to the point… Our village soon became a castle, and I brought together a Kingdom from the major strongholds in the land- that was the Kingsdom, I'm sure you know. With all this time passing, I was growing older and weaker, and experiencing disabling fits of sickness. The stone had prolonged my life, but with my soul's spark waning, it was giving me too much power and making me sick. If it wasn't for Doctor Cane's great-grandfather, the land's first alchemist, I would've died right there, leaving Ooo to contend with the Lich and Ghost Eater without leadership. He had travelled from Wizard City, where he had learned all about the power gems of Ooo. Even to this day, power gems are for the most part a mystery. Directing or modulating their power output is still centuries away. However, he said that there were ways of restoring me to my old condition so that the gem would stop making me sick. This way appealed to me highly, for it appeared to be a path to immortality. At that time, I didn't care what the cost was. I just wanted it."
She paused again and coughed, then resumed,
"Everything in this world requires a sacrifice, and life has one of the highest tolls. For someone to live, many others must die. That is the rule of nature, and magic is nothing but an permutation of nature." She paused a third time, breathing in sharply.
"The alchemist Cane's solution required the bodies of living candy people to be boiled down, then extracting and purifying the soul energy from the broth. It worked, it saved me. I ruled the land and guided them from darkness, faking my first death and birthing into a new persona. I'd found immortality at last and, for the moment, I was fine with the price. But the problem with immortality is that you have to live with the things you've done to achieve it, you have to live with yourself and pretend to be okay with it forever. And I'm not, not anymore." Bubblegum finished and shot her eyes towards a window.
Nirbai was sitting back, taking all of it in with his eyes averted. He had been completely oblivious to all of this previously, but it seemed so apparent to him now.
Of course, look at all those historical accounts of the old Kingsdom, the Lich War, the Ghost Eater… All her! The appearance, the personality- all exactly the same! How could no one see it? She must have some fierce propagandists in her employ… He rolled around the thoughts in his mind, slicking back his hair over and over with his scaly hands
"I swear, I only used prisoners, bad doers who were beyond salvation! But I can't keep selfishly clinging to my life like that, no. The people trust me and in return I pray on them for my own greed…" Bubblegum flushed dark red, and shifted uncomfortably in her bed. Her lip trembled on the edge of a great shudder.
The two stared at her blankly. Bubblegum squinted as she failed to detect any shock from them.
"I don't really see a problem with that…?" Marceline said, arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah… They were prisoners, you said they were beyond salvation." Nirbai chimed in.
"Oh grod… Well, besides the ethical abomination, I am also inhibited by the fact that I promised all of my prisoners freedom if they fought in the war. I can't go back on that promise!" Bubblegum said
"…But you could." Marceline returned.
"No, Marceline!" The princess snapped, throwing up her arms, "This is exactly what is wrong with you! You are willing to do anything, as long as it helps you. Those criminals are still my people- they're still people period! I am good, Marceline, can't you understand I must be good?"
"No, this is exactly what is wrong with you! You keep choosing this moral high ground over me in order to feel better about yourself! Why can't you just feel better? I'm here, isn't that all you need- or was that a lie?!"
The doctor walked up to Nirbai, giving him an expression that read: 'should we leave?' Nirbai leaned over to him,
"I've been witness to a few of these fights, just let them sort it out." He whispered.
"You can't risk your life just for some stupid moral platitude, Bonnie! You… you can't die…" Marceline said, her voice thin and desperate.
"I have to be an example to my people. I must salvage what dignity I have left. I will see this war won but I won't continue this awful secret. I'd rather die than be forever known as the Princess who cannibalized her subjects just so she could be selfishly in love."
Marceline's lips trembled, defeated. She gave one last teary look to Bubblegum, pleading in her eyes, then stormed out.
The princess' eyes lingered on the exit for a few seconds, then she turned her attention to the two men at her bedside.
"So… the war?" She said tiredly.