Hey everyone! If you decided to skip out on reading my last note in the second chapter and wanted to just skip to the story, then read this. I have all the chapters of the story written out in my journal, but after this chapter I'm going to take longer in posting them, so I can keep you in suspense. I'm that evil, I know. Just a heads up the next few chapters were kind of a tear jerker for me writing them, so I'm sorry if you feel the same way when you read them. I wanted the story to feel authentic. Also I wanted to give a shout out to the first 2 reviewers of my first ever fan fiction. Thank you to EmmaWinterFrost and Leon. It means so much to me that you guys really like my story! Please give me some more feedback if there is anything I need to work on. Enjoy
Chapter 3: The People We Care About
Darkness. Nothing but pitch black in an abyss of nothingness. In the center of it all stood two people. A man and a woman, holding each other in their arms. The man was olive-skinned, with brown hair, circle rimmed glasses, and wearing a dark suit. The woman in his arms wore a green sweater, wearing glasses with pointed ends, and had beautiful auburn hair. Together in the darkness, they were as happy as can be; all that mattered was that they were together. Then disaster struck. Snow began to fall from the sky and the ground beneath them shook. Out of the ground came a giant golden crown with red jewels encrusted into it. It rose between the two lovers and separated them as far as possible. Then a giant icy hand reached from the darkness above and pulled the woman into the black. The man dropped to his knees, shivering, and sobbing, all while screaming her name. Betty. That's when Simon woke up screaming and covered in a cold sweat. He woke to see Marceline next to him, with concern filling her gaze.
"Did you have a nightmare Simon?" she asked
Simon let out a shaky breath, "Yes, yes I did. And it was the most terrifying nightmare I've ever had."
He rubbed his temples to trying to remember where he was. Then he remembered that he and Marceline had stayed the night in an abandoned shack. Marceline sat next to him rubbing his shoulder.
"Don't worry Simon, nightmares aren't real, whenever I wake up from a bad dream, I'm always happy to know that it wasn't real at all," she said reassuringly
'Oh but some nightmares are all too real, and some nightmares are ones from our past,' Simon thought.
"Yeah, you're right Marcy, I'm just glad it wasn't real," he said to get Marcy to stop worrying, "How did you sleep Marceline, did you have any bad dreams?"
She shook her head, "No, I can't really remember what I dreamed last night, but I did sleep pretty well,"
After they had some breakfast, consisting of fruit and granola bars, the two got their stuff together and got ready to continue on their journey. Simon and Marcy stepped out into the wilderness. The air was crisp that morning and there was a cool breeze. Marceline was still a bit groggy, so Simon lifted her on his shoulders to carry her while she got some time to wake up. Simon began walking south looking at his map to find any landmarks nearby with some supplies. He saw there was a nearby town with a supermarket and decided that they would be able to get some canned goods and maybe some water there. With Marcy on his shoulders he headed south in the direction of the town. Looking back he could see some of the snow from the previous campsite had blown its way to the area and was turning into slush. 'I need to be more conscious of what I do with the crown on' Simon thought, "If I don't I could seriously hurt Marceline," That's when he was reminded of Betty. He remembered the dream he had last night, playing over and over again in his mind. Betty. Where was she now? Had she made it someplace safe, or had she burned in the fires of the bombing along with the millions of other innocent lives. Simon quickly put that thought out of his head and focused on walking. Soon, they made it to the little town on the edge of the forest. From a distance Simon could see the supermarket at the end of the street.
"Hey Marceline, do you think you could walk now? My shoulders are starting to ache," Simon asked
"Okay sorry about that, thanks for carrying me," she said politely
"Oh there's no need to be sorry, I'm just here to be a human pack mule," he said smiling
Marceline giggled and held onto Simon's hand as they walked down the desolate street. The entire town was a mess. Buildings half demolished, cars crashed into trees, and fallen down power lines. This town wasn't hit with a bomb; the panic of the town's residence must have caused this destruction. They soon made it to the supermarket and looked around for any signs of supplies. Most of the food and supplies had been pilfered, but there was enough to last only two people a good amount of time. It was around noon, since the sun was above their heads as they walked inside, so they decided to have some lunch. As they sat there eating their canned foods at the food court, Marceline spoke up.
"Who's Betty?" she asked
Simon choked on his water and went into a coughing fit for a few seconds. Once he was better he responded, "How do you know that name?" he asked
"You kept saying her name while you were having your nightmare, is she someone important?"
Simon sighed glumly, "Yes, she was the most important person in my life before the war started, she was going to be my wife. I loved her more than anything, but she left me after I…" Simon couldn't form the words
"After you… what?" Marceline asked
"I really don't want to talk about it right now," Simon said sadly, "I'll tell you another time; let's talk about something else, who's your dad Marceline, what's his name?"
"His name is Hunson Abadeer," she replied
"And is he a good dad?"
"Of course he is, he makes me laugh, he takes care of me, and he always makes sure that I'm happy, he's the best dad ever!" she said in a defensive voice.
"Ok, I'm sorry, I just wanted to know," Simon said raising his hands up in defense.
Simon pondered it. If Marceline's dad is from the Nightosphere, could she be a demon? Well then why is she in the human world? Could it be her mother was human? Is she a half-demon? What kind of father would leave their daughter alone in this world? So many questions were running through his mind. He came to the conclusion that these questions would be unanswered for now and went back to eating.
"Hey Simon, what was your job before this?"
He smiled, "I was working with ancient artifacts, and was studying them to become an antiquarian,"
Marceline tilted her head to one side, with a puzzled look on her face.
He sighed, "An antiquarian is someone who finds old ancient things and studies them,"
"Oooohhh, so you find these things and study them, that sounds really, really boring,"
Simon chuckled, "I suppose it did get boring at times but I enjoyed it, I just wish I could have been able to get the job,"
"I'm sure you would have been the best, um, whatever that word is,"
"Antiquarian darling, say it with me,"
Marceline tried to say the word with Simon, but after trying over and over, she gave up in frustration. Simon laughed and told her she'd get it eventually. Once they had finished eating Simon and Marceline got ready to leave, and they stepped back outside. In the distance Simon saw a little playground.
"Hey Marceline, want to go play over there for a little bit?" he asked
"Yeah!" Marceline jumped with joy and ran over to the playground.
"Slow down Marcy! Wait up!"
Simon ran to catch up with her and once he got there he was out of breath. He looked to see Marceline by the swings.
"Will you push me on the swings?" she asked
"Well of course," he said, "I thought that you'd never ask."
She climbed up and sat patiently on the swing. Simon gave her a good push and she laughed while yelling "Higher! Higher!"
Meanwhile
In a dark room lit with nothing but candle light stood a man. Through the sight of a crystal ball he saw an old, blue skinned man, with an abnormally long nose, pushing a little girl on a swing. The man eyed the little girl with such interest.
"Oh Marceline, my little baby girl has to grow up in a desolate and dangerous world, instead of being here, safe in my arms."
His eyes drifted over to the man pushing her on the swing.
"Petrikov," he muttered under his breath, "I don't know if I should thank you for caring for my daughter, or be full of rage that you can't keep yourself from losing control with that crown at your side."
He clenched his fists, "I swear if you hurt her in anyway, I Hunson Abadeer shall personally kill you myself!" he calmed himself down and unclenched his fists, "But of course, you can't even hear me."