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The Nephilim King Michael: I was actually worried about the dream sequence, so I'm glad you liked it!

Chapter 8: A New Lease, A Short Leash?

"Thanks for taking me to see Billy, Jake," Princess Bubblegum said as she sat upon Jake's back, the dog dashing through the open grass and making his way to the cave of the hero he totally didn't have a massive bro-crush on. At all. Nope. For not the first time (though this time was albeit much more tongue in cheek), Jake had to remind himself he was in a stable, puppy-expecting relationship.

It wasn't that he would ever slip up, but he knew how scattershot his brain was and would rather commit the ultimate sin of wrapping bacon in broccoli than betray his beloved, so necessary precautions were being taken. Never knew when a lost water nymph would try to crash your house (that actually had happened last night and, he of course had turned her down, so she had slept in the pond).

"No prob PB. You sure you're doing okay though?" The dog replied, showing his concern by physically twisting his head back toward her, and immediately after running into and over a pine tree. Bubblegum smiled sadly, rustled his fur (knocking a few pine needles as she did so), and then pushed his head back forward just in time for the dog to swerve away from a boulder.

"Keep looking ahead silly, I'm fine," The Princess replied dishonestly, a skill her long years of ruling had sadly instilled within her, nuzzling his ears as he ran. She flipped the subject quickly. "The Lich returning is a huge problem, but hopefully one we can head off. Would be easier if Finn was around though."

"Yeah, that's generally about the same for anything. Cept cooking," Jake replied, twisting his head this way and that to maximize the satisfaction his ears were receiving.

"Originally I was afraid his chances with Marceline were low, but I'm sure he'll pull through… somehow…" Bubblegum muttered in reply, shaking her head. Indeed, she did have faith in Finn, though admitting that he was better suited to help Marceline that herself was a bit of a tough pill to swallow.

"Hey, PB, how often does she run off like this?" Jake asked. Marceline, from his perspective, was a little impulsive, and while he shared that trait and respected it, he wasn't one to up and ditch everyone he knew without sufficient explanation.

"She's done it quite a few times over the time that I've known her… as you might imagine, it angers and worries me every time she does so," The Princess replied. "Sometimes it's a steady build of emotions and circumstances that sets her off, other times it's just one event. I've little clue as to where she travels; all of my attempts at sending my banana-guards to track her have been gigantic failures. The Nightosphere seems like an obvious guess, but I doubt Marceline would want to run back to her father when already feeling bleh. It's most likely somewhere else from her past."

"Makes sense," Jake replied, unsurprised the Princess was so on top of the situation. Suddenly, he began to slow his run to a jog, and shortly after halted all together. "We're here. I'm glad Billy's alive… when I talked to Prismo he told me he was dead." They had indeed arrived at the location of the hidden cave, which the Princess promptly opened by lifting the sword out of the ground as the magic dog shrank down to normal size. Jake was initially confused as to how she knew how to open it, but shrugged it off; it made sense that the monarch had knowledge of Billy's residence.

"Did he? I suppose Billy will explain," Bubblegum said as she stepped into the tunnel. They walked for a short time until they came across the cave itself, immediately searching for the elder hero.

"Sorry 'bout my digs lookin' like the bad side of a Cyclops," Came Billy's voice, their gaze quickly finding the giant, who was lying down on a bed in the corner. They gasped in horror, Bubblegum simply raising a trembling hand to her mouth while Jake's began to water immediately as their eyes scanned his many injuries, but Billy only chuckled. "Den again, guess I'm not one to talk, heh?" The many gashes, black cracking burns, and general scarring on his body agreed. In many places the bone and flesh shown through.

"…Sweet Glob, Billy, we need to get you…" Bubblegum began, but was instantly interrupted by the fallen hero.

"Nah, Princess," He wheezed, speaking clearly very painful for him. "I'm close to leaving dis world behind; that loser finally did a numba on me I can't recover from, being old as dirt to begin with. Heck, I was dead. Death owed me a favor though, and gave me a bit more time on Ooo, so I could warn you about da Lich and his plot."

"…A true hero, right till the end," Jake whispered, thick milky tears pouring from his eyes. The poor dog could barely take the sight of his idol mauled and barely hanging on. It had been bad enough, seeing such an epitome of goodness caught in the Lich's grasp. "We'll stop him, Billy!" He pledged, and a worn smile graced the hero's lips at these words.

"I know ya will, buddy," The hero replied, raising a thumbs up that managed to warm Jake's heart, despite the lack of skin upon the thumb in question. "I take it you and da Princess are here for dat information?"

They nodded solemnly, and in return Billy, his titanic hands gripping his sheets in a stranglehold, began to shift into sitting position.

"Billy, you don't have to! Please rest," Bubblegum immediately pleaded, but Billy ignored her, continuing until he was fully upright.

"Actually, Princess, lookin' at you like dat was hurtin' my neck," The adventurer said with a worn smile, patting a very visible gouge on his neck to further his explanation. "I hope my information will help…" He continued, his eyes falling.

"Billy, there's no reason to blame yourself for what happened," Jake said quietly, trying to console his hero. "The Lich is one bad mutha lumpin' monster."

Billy smiled again, reaching his arm out and patting Jake on the head. "Your words bring me much relief, man's best friend," The giant said kindly. "But I have already kept you too long… we must discuss da Lich."

Both the Princess and Jake nodded once more, and Billy began. "While I was dead while the Lich was possessing my bod, upon coming back to life I had some latent memories, or at da least feelings, of what he had been thinking when he was all up in my guts. I don't remember much… but I think he's after some kinda machine. He needs it to use something else… I think it might be a bomb of some sort. Nuthin good. Other than that, all I remember is dat he's obsessed with heading north."

"…A machine, a bomb, and he's heading north…" Bubblegum repeated, scratching her chin as her mind raced like a rocket-propelled racecar powered by the cuteness of puppies. "I think he's too weak to take his normal form, so he must intend to take control of someone…" She frowned, realizing the information was too scant to form anything near a conclusion.

Billy immediately frowned as her face fell, sensing his words were of little help. "I'm sorry I can't remember more…" The hero murmured, a stray tear forming in one of his eyes.

"No, Billy, it's spectacular you were able to remember anything at all, let alone find a way to come back to tell us," The Princess replied quickly; Billy had already been near the tail end of his career once she had taken the throne, but he had served Ooo dutifully and she had the utmost respect for him and his services to the land. She also thought he served as a great role model for Finn in a land often lacking in them.

"It's just…" She continued, biting her lip. "From that, I'm still not sure how to proceed. Is there anything else at all you remember?"

Billy's face scrunched in concentration, his eyes sealing shut as he searched for any scrap of information. "…The machine," He said at last, blinking. "I think it was… alive somehow. Kind of… greenish in color."

His words drew only silence as Bubblegum and Jake's eyes slowly found each others, realizing the other was having the same fear.

"…Billy, does the name BMO ring a bell?" Jake asked with a gulp, and after a moment Billy nodded.

"…I think that might be what he called it," Billy replied with a sorrowful nod, reading from their faces that this was not good news. "Go. It sounds like you now have a lead. And don't bother coming back, guys." The old hero smiled as they frowned deeply. "My time's about done, and I'm going out with a bang. I ordered enough pyrotechnics yesterday to make the Fire Kingdom blush. It's the next best thing to croakin' in battle, and I'm just happy I get to go out my way, rather dan getting murked by dat old crusty fart."

Bubblegum's eyes widened at the thought of one of the greatest heroes Ooo had ever seen having such a (in her eyes) inappropriate burial, but Jake spoke before she could voice these displeasures. "Sounds boss, my man. I'll see you in the yonder. Tell my folks I say hi, and thanks for the help." He bowed deeply as he finished, and while the Princess still looked incredibly uncomfortable, she played along, bowing as well.

"It was da least an old guy like me could do. Tell Finn I'm proud of him, Jake, and it's his turn to take up the mantle," Billy said in parting, and with a nod Jake turned, the Princess following him. They were silent through the walk out of the mountain, and Bubblegum only voicde her displeasure once she had mounted him again, the dog immediately setting course for the Tree-Fort.

"I wish he wasn't doing this, it seems so…" She murmured, unable to compose her thoughts.

"I know how you feel, but for heroes like Billy…" Jake replied, smiling as a tear sailed into the wind. "You want to go out with a—"

A humongous explosion rang out from behind them, both immediately snapping their necks back to see the word BILLY flash into the air via fireworks as the mountain his cave resided in promptly exploded; somehow, a shout of "BILLY!" akin to the one in his theme-song rang out as well. Their jaws hung low for a moment as they processed the loss of the hero, along with his epic means of departure.

"With one of those," Jake said brightly, and Bubblegum coughed, embarrassed she had gotten caught up in the spectacle.

"Er… I think I will receive a standard burial, but I believe I understand your point," She replied matter o' factly. "At any rate…"

"I hope BMO's okay," Jake whispered, finishing her sentence for her. "I haven't been back since yesterday…" They didn't speak again until after they arrived at the Tree-Fort to find the door wide open, the air rank with dark magic, and their friend BMO nowhere to be seen.

In only a day (er, night) of travelling with Marceline, Finn had become very aware that the Vampire was either very mad at herself for giving into him, mad at him for pushing her to do so, or both. Regardless of which it was, he was nearly getting the silent treatment, and desperately trying to come up with ways to lighten the mood.

At the moment they were camped out in a small cave located midway up a mountain; before Marceline had stopped talking to him and started only replying in one word answers (if not shrugs), the Vampire had laid out their travel plan, it being a fairly basic one. They would travel at night (for obvious reasons) until it was growing close to dawn and then she would find an area, be it a cave, forest, or whatnot, with good covering from the sun, where they would then make a makeshift camp.

Finn had always had a decent directional sense, and after sensing from this and his knowledge of Ooo's terrain that they were going south, had asked Marceline why, since she had stated they were going north. This had elicited a shrug, so he figured that she was going somewhere else first. Or that she was purposefully avoiding her actual destination until she was convinced he wouldn't heed her and leave.

Finn had to admit it wasn't going to be the best of adventures if it continued as it was going. Falling asleep while flying wasn't exactly easy for him, and he had always hated sleeping in the daylight, so he already felt groggy from a lack of rest, even as he lied on his back in the small cave, trying to find sleep. Also, while he was perfectly able to survive in the wild, he was a fan of having a roof over his head once the day ended.

He grunted at his continuous whining ("Keep smacking your lips about how badly the day is going and it will only get worse," Mom had always said), though at that a draft from outside flew into the cave and made him shiver. Rather than build a fire, he started to think about Flame Princess, which usually did the trick, and soon he found himself smiling and imaging a lot of cuddling. He also liked imagining cuddling with her, mostly because it was a much better idea in concept than application, lest he grew interested in becoming BBQ'd Finn.

"Can't sleep either?" Marceline's voice split the silence in the cave, and was followed by another breeze rippling through the cave, causing a light whistling to sound around them.

Finn nodded and turned off his back to look at her, but then answered, "Yeah," when he saw that she was facing away from him, her arm slowly shifting this way and that. He realized slowly she was using her nails to dig into the rock, his own aching from the thought of such an act.

"I'm not really trying… not worth it," She continued, and Finn had the urge to follow up with a question, but wasn't sure if that would be breaking the third rule, asking about her p-biz. Since she was speaking to him for the first time all day, he decided to play it safe and bring up something else.

"How could you tell I was awake?" He asked, legitimately interested in her answer.

"Breathing and heartbeat," Marceline replied proudly, the hollow sound of rock cracking merging with her soft voice. "They slow down when you sleep, and I can hear them with my Vampire ears. The human body also emits different kinds of smells when asleep. Long story short, your heartbeat just fluttered, and it's been too quick for you to be asleep, so I figured you were awake."

"Whoa. That's mathematical!" Finn replied, smiling in slight awe.

"Heh," The Vampire Queen chuckled, shrugging from her position on the floor. "It's pretty cool, I guess. Helps with pranking. Having powerful senses is one of my favorite things about being a Vampire. Except for having the smell of garlic amplified. Glob, that stuff reeks."

Finn giggled, but then another thought crossed his mind, and after yawning, asked, "Hey… if you have such powerful senses, did you know Jake and I were hiding in your house that one time before you actually talked to us?" He still felt slightly awkward about that whole situation (mostly because he had seen the Vampire Queen naked), and the fact that Marceline sometimes hung out at the Tree-Fort without he and Jake knowing had only made him feel more odd.

"Oh, yeah, I thought you two were trying to prank me or some ish," Marceline replied with another chuckle. "If I had known you were just scared I was going to suck your blood out or something I would have let you know I knew you were there and we could have jammed."

"Aight," Finn replied, content with not bringing up the moment he had seen her nude, and happy she hadn't mentioned it either. How foolish he was to think the undead girl would miss an opportunity to play yet another mind game.

"How was the view?" Marceline asked a moment later, and though Finn, as his heartbeat skyrocketed, could sense no teasing in her voice, he was fairly sure she was sporting a wide grin at the moment. "Hehe, I see. I appreciate the compliment," She added cryptically, Finn's brow furrowing in confusion until he realized she had listened for his heartbeat. The embarrassment he felt was softly dampened by the fact that he actually knew that when people thought about… romantic stuff like that, their heart beat rose. He had picked that factoid up from Princess Bubblegum, and had been sufficiently embarrassed when she had mentioned it as well.

"I've changed my mind about your senses being awesome," Finn deadpanned, and Marceline giggled. Though he wasn't a fan of being teased, he smiled; at least he was doing something right.

"Sorry I've been such a butt," She said, her tone shifting to apologetic as she rolled onto her back. "I usually sulk and act all moody whenever I run off like this… while trying to get rid of tension as best I can."

"Like the thing with the City of Thieves?" Finn asked hesitantly. Marceline frowned before slowly nodding. "I'm not judging, Marcy. But…" He trailed off, afraid to break the third rule once again.

"Go ahead, Finn," Marceline prodded, her voice hard to read, and he continued.

"That's not you. I know you've got demon inside you as well as Vampire, but sacking a town for the sake of… er…"

"Catharsis," Marceline provided, and though he wasn't quite sure if that was the word he was looking for (considering he didn't know the word), he nodded.

"Yeah. It's just… wrong. I know you didn't hurt anyone, but still," He finished, swallowing, hoping her reaction would be mellow.

"I know," She replied softly, her face unchanging. "It's just… I guess some habits die harder than others." Marceline let that statement hang in the air long enough for Finn to question whether she regretted saying it, but she moved on without elaboration. "Like I was saying, though, I try to get rid of my angst. Get rid of my anger. So, the fact that I'm being so uneven isn't because of you. It's me. Just wanted to let you know."

"I gotcha, no probz," Finn assured her in the most comforting tone he could muster, and while he was still down about her being down, he felt glad that it wasn't because of him.

"And about your question about going north…" Marceline continued, now sitting up and tossing herself an apple from her bag of red objects with telekinesis. "We're heading their eventually, but I want to work off some stress before we do." Her teeth snapped into the apple, emphasizing the stress she had spoken of.

"We could spar, or play some music," Finn suggested, Marceline shrugging at his ideas.

"Maybe. What do you when you're down?" Marceline asked, turning to look at him for the first time, and Finn bit his lip as he thought.

"Well, generally I either start balling my eyes out," He said with an embarrassed smile, Marceline smirking at his confession. "Or I do something heroic to make myself feel good about myself."

"Huh," Marceline replied, scratching her stomach and thinking it over. "I think by now you've picked up on me doing most of my good deeds incognito. I have a tough-girl imagine to protect, after all. But I like helping people. I kicked the stuff out of a Goblin, like, literally, he went flying, that was trying to steal your stuff from under your rock before we met back up, and it felt good even before I realized it was your stuff."

"See? That's what I live off of!" Finn replied cheerfully and honestly. Being a good Samaritan was righteous, yo, as far as he was concerned. Maybe it didn't get street appeal, but the Princesses dug it.

"I guess we can try that out," Marceline said with a small smile, effortlessly pushing off the ground into a float. As she began to hum to herself, her mood clearly raised, Finn peered over at the space she had been occupying. He smiled as his eyes fell on a large, fancy (but not overtly so) M carved delicately into the cave's floor.

I could use a lot of excuses right now, the biggest one being college, but in reality I'm sorry for the crappy update length. Next one will be up within a week.

In retrospect, I probably should have just had Death tell Bubblegum all the information Billy told her in this chapter in Chapter 6, but I had plum forgotten that Billy was actually dead, and didn't want to go back and change things. Alas, at least I got some Jake (Glob I love Jake) in. For Billy himself, though, it was kind of cool to give him a bit of a Viking burial kind of gig. Writing in his speech inflection is weird.

At this point, we're getting into heavy Marcy and Finn territory, where they will be making up pretty much the rest of the chapters. I wanted to fit as many other characters in as I could, and via flashbacks more will appear, but this is the last chapter I can think of where it will cut to a scene Marceline and Finn aren't explicitly present in (besides maybe a few Lich moments).

I have the rest of the plot mentally mapped out, and am going to get it on paper tomorrow just to be safe. Thanks for reading!