What happened last:

After discovering who put the hit on Finn's head, Marceline planned on going to the Nightosphere alone to root out the problem. Possibly at any cost…

After Finn had his heart wrenching moment in the princess's room he returned to Marceline with the bug milk.

M: "Oh, there you are." She said as if she was waiting for a while for Finn to return.

F: "Yep. Here's the milk, Marceline."

M: "Marceline? Is something wrong? You usually don't call me that unless if something serious happened." She said, identifying Finn's very subtle nuance.

He was shocked that she noticed. He hardly noticed himself but he actually did say her name in full and in a way that would make her think that something happened while he was in Bubblegum's room.

F: "N-no Marcy. It's all good." He tried to sound honest but stumbled over his words as he usually does.

Finn was never a good liar and he didn't usually need to be. He just didn't know how to tell Marceline what he just heard the princess say.

Or how to tell her that he still loves Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum.

M: "Well, ok. If you say so." She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the bug milk from Finn.

M: "Well, I guess you should probably go to a different room or something. I don't want some crazy demon attacking you or something. Trust me, I've seen it happen. They all wanna get out of the Nightosphere."

But that's too bad because…

No one leaves the Nightosphere.

F: "Ok. I'll just see you when you get back. And Marcy…?"

M: "What, Finn?"

He walked up to her and got close to the vampire's face.

F: "Please, be careful."

M: "Ok Finn, I-"

He interrupted her by kissing her. This was becoming almost routine for the both of them. They both thought that a kiss was always the best way to start and end any serious conversation; or any conversation for that matter.

They were becoming more in tune to what each other thought, more synchronized, and it was becoming apparent for the both of them more and more every day that passed by.

When Finn pulled away, Marceline looked at the hero boy with content. She was soo happy to be with him and he always knew just what to say or do to make her happy.

While staring into Finn's eyes, she tossed the carton of bug milk over her shoulder carelessly and it splattered over the face symbol. The image began to glow and it was ready for the final step in the ritual.

She turned and shouted the words to finish the ritual.

M: "Maloso vobiscum et cum spuritum!"

The portal instantly opened and a clear pathway to the Nightosphere was visible. It was a doorway to chaos and suffering. This was also a place that Marceline saw as home regardless of how reluctant she was to call it that.

M: "I'll see you soon, Finn. Bye." She said as she waved and stepped into the portal. She closed it as soon as she went through to make sure nothing unwanted entered Ooo.

F: "Marcy, I…" He couldn't finish his sentence, he didn't know if he could have completed it anyway even if the vampire queen was listening.

He knew what he was thinking and wanting but he just didn't have the nerve to say it to her face. Yet…

F: "Marceline…" He just wanted to say her name before leaving the room. He had a heavy heart but he knew that she was doing something that had to be done. He kept telling himself that everything would be ok.

He left the room and went back to spending time with Beemo and Jake to pass the time…

Back to Marceline

As soon as Marceline exited the portal she was about a half mile from her home. She was slowly getting better at making the portal bring her back home and not to some other remote location in the Nightosphere.

M: "Man… that's still kinda far away…" She said, recognizing the distance between her and her home.

As she traveled across the land, she saw the normal things that were in the Nightosphere. There were random people that were now called demons, suffering and being in pain for no other reason than because they were in the Nightosphere. There were random towers of flame shooting out from the ground as if the entire area was a volcano, ready to erupt.

The sadness and torment that was floating around in the atmosphere was enough to almost kill a person from the stress. It was intense and painful to witness.

After traveling for a few minutes, Marceline arrived at her old home. It was where her dad still lived. He had lived here for all of Marceline's life, even when her mom was still a part of the family. Bitter memories of her dad being depressed almost every day during her childhood were burnt into her mind.

Normally, she would fly up the building and enter through one of the open windows or spaces, but she simply decided to use the front door. She stepped inside and the inside of the house looked just as it always had.

Was there a reason why nothing was ever changed with the house? Marcy would think every time she came back home and she never found an answer. For a moment, Marceline's anger dissipated in a hazy influx of nostalgic sentiment.

Although her childhood was imprinted with her father's sadness, it was still mostly good. Her father always cared for her and made sure to keep her as happy as possible. He loved is little half-demon daughter and vowed to keep her protected from anything that would ever try to harm her.

That may have been true, but the sad truth is that it was never that easy. Hunson did everything in his power to keep Marceline happy, but the crushing stress from running the Nightosphere, along with his wife leaving and various other problems, made things much more difficult to handle. Eventually, the father-daughter relationship between Hunson and Marceline started to erode into something that made a passing glance almost too much. They argued more and more as little Marcy grew in to a young woman.

After all of the time being under Simon Petrikov's care, Marceline never really got to fix things with her father. She held a grudge as she normally does with everything. She doesn't mean to, she had just been through a lot during her lifetime and it's become a method to protect herself against people with malicious intent.

After her brief moment of nostalgia, she quickly remembered why she was even here in the first place. Her father did something unforgivable and he was going to fix it and explain himself. Marceline fought her father once in the past and this very possibly might be the second time. Her blood began to boil as she started looking around the house for the demon lord.

M: "Where are you?!" She was getting angry and impatient.

She was floating between rooms with haste; she didn't want to waste any time. Every second could bring Finn closer to an unexpected death due to a random assassin attack.

For all Marcy knew…

Time was running out.

Eventually, she went to the kitchen. And to no surprise, she found her father there… making a sandwich.

HA: "Marceline! I haven't seen you in ages! How are you, sweetie?" He stood straight up and faced her. He was happy to see his daughter after a long period of not seeing her.

M: "Don't you "sweetie" me! I got a bone to pick with you!" Her anger was beginning to take over.

HA: "What are you talking about, Marcy?" He seemed as if he was honestly confused.

She walked up to him and got in his face.

M: "Don't play dumb with me! I know you're the one that wants Finn dead!" She was still yelling out of anger.

HA: "What are you talking about, Marceline? Finn is a protected living being. I've told you this before. If you don't want me to suck out someone's soul then they're obviously important to you. And that's why I protect them. I want to make sure you're happy-"

M: "Real good one dad… You expect me to believe that?"

HA: "It's actually published in the official "Encyclopaedia"… Here, I'll show you. He turned around and took a book out of one of the drawers in the kitchen. He showed Marceline page 21 of the book and lo and behold, Finn was the first thing listed in the "Worthless Inhabitants of the Land of Ooo Whose Souls I Shall Refrain From Sucking in Deference to my Daughter" section of the book.

HA: "See, darling? I would never put some crazy hit on one of your friends. And I mean c'mon… if I really wanted him dead it would have already happened. You know this, Marcy."

Everything that her father was saying made a whole lot of sense but she still didn't trust him for some reason. Maybe it's just the way she is.

If you didn't do it, then why did the "hit" come from the computer here?!" She was starting to get more angry again.

HA: "What? You mean that old laptop that you gave me when you left?"

M: "Uh… yeah."

HA: "Hmmm… I still don't know what you're… oh… my glob…"

M: "What?" She still sounded frustrated.

HA: "I think I know what you're talking about…"

M: "Well, what are you specifically talking about? Cause we talked about more than one thing…"

HA: "The hit that "you" put on Finn was my fault."

M: "I'm pretty sure we know this already…"

HA: "Yes, but it's not like you would think…"

Hunson got a very serious look on his face as he began to explain himself.

HA: "You see Marcy, when you and that repulsive Ash character broke up, I remember you being sad for a very long time. It hurt me to see you in such pain and misery for soo long. It killed me to see someone treat you as if you were trash like Ash…"

Hunson had to pause to regain his composure. He was starting to become infuriated but he contained himself well. Just the thought of Ash and the way he treated Marceline enraged him.

HA: "…like he treated you. And I told you when you were a baby that I would always protect you. And that's what I'm gonna do."

M: "…so what does that have to do with anything."

HA: "Well, It's kind of hard to explain"

M: "Well, you better try."

HA: "It all started with that one time that you and Ash broke up…"

M: "Which one? There was like a hundred of those…"

HA: "I believe it was the last time that it happened, or at least I think it was the last time. Anyway, so basically what I did was I put a special protection order on your head. I'm sorry honey, I was being very irrational at the time."

M: "Protection order?" She was surprised and confused.

HA: "Yes. Basically, if anyone… tried to have a romantic connection with you again then… a blacklist message is sent to a bunch of random "peace keeping" agencies and a hit would be put on their head for everyone to see… And it's only a special protection order because normal ones are just like having ninjas as bodyguards. You don't see them but you're safe. "

HA: "To be honest… I put the protection order on you because I thought that Ash would surely try to date you again. For once, I hoped that he would have tried. And I didn't just "fix" the little problem myself because how horrible would that be if I just killed him?" He started to sound very dark and ominous although attempting to sound like it was a funny joke the entire time.

Hunson then had a quick flashback to the time that he initiated the protection order...

In a fit of rage that had been held back for far too long, Hunson Abadeer left his home and tore a hole into the fabric of space and time in order to create the all too familiar wormhole that connects Ooo and the Nightosphere.

Once he arrived in Ooo, he immediately went door to door, to many of the most infamous establishments; mainly the ones that carry out contracts for money. He demanded that they keep a watchful eye on his daughter and prevent anyone from hurting her in any way shape or form. They originally wanted to say that it would be impossible to do something like that until he presented the reward money to them.

It all seemed very sketchy and odd to everyone besides Hunson at the time, but nobody could refuse the exorbitant bounty for the poor fool who tried to steal the vampire's heart.

The memory was all a blur. He could remember images of burning trees and an increase in torture in the Nightosphere. For one of the few times in his life, he let his anger get the best of him and he did something that could hurt the relationship with his daughter even further. But he always meant well...

He hardly even remembers exactly what he said, all he could see that day was red.

Back to the current time

Marceline had many emotions swirling around in her head, anger, betrayal, relief, sadness, etc. and it took her mind only a few seconds to decide which one was the most fitting.

For the most part, the vampire queen was relieved that she found the root of the problem, of which could be easily resolved. She was also slightly humbled by the fact that her father would go through such troubles to protect his daughter. She was still upset at her father but she was more relieved that the problem would be easier to fix than she originally expected.

Marceline began to tear up as she walked up to her father to give him a hug.

M: "Oh, daddy. You'd go through all that trouble just to protect me?"

Hunson was caught completely off guard. He expected her to try to attack him or at least still be furious with him especially after a hit was placed on her new boyfriend... or henchman or whatever she calls him.

Marceline didn't even understand why she wasn't mad at her father as she normally would have been. All throughout her life she would get angry at and blame her father for everything. He felt as if he never did anything right. But maybe, for her father's sake, she wouldn't get mad at him. She wouldn't blame him for something he did many years ago to protect his daughter.

HA: "Of course darling. I'll always protect daddy's little monster." He said with a smile.

Hunson was feeling content with life at this moment. It was a rare feeling for him and it made today one of the greatest days that he's had in a long time. He was glad that he didn't just upset his daughter as he usually does, although he always means well.

At the end of their emotionally confused conversation, one thing was very obvious...

Alexithymia seems to run in the family.

M: "Wait a sec… how would anyone know if someone tried to date me?"

HA: "Oh uh… His cheeks began to blush as he began to feel almost embarrassed.

He was going to be straight forward with her, regardless of how hard it might be. He took a deep breath and told her the truth.

What did you guys think of Ch. 31? You should leave a comment to let me know. :p

And by the way... Alexithymia is basically the inability to identify and describe emotions. If you people were curious. I feel like it's supposed to explain a lot soo...