Chapter VII, Dreams

She opened her eyes, just to find herself completely alone, in a place she knew nothing about. The dark trees that surrounded her seemed to twitch at the slightest gust of the wind. They were dead, leafless, almost glared into her soul from within their hollows. Now that she thought about it, everything here was vile and twisted, from the very soil she stood on, to the dark, misty sky.

"Marceline?"

She shouted the first thing, the first name that came into her mind. No one responded to her calls however. The princess began to slowly walk through the creepy forest, looking around from time to time. She recalled the last moments she spend right next to her loved one. So where was she now? Was she alone once again? Did she abandoned her yet again and didn't even bother to remember that? No, that was impossible.

"Marceline!" She shouted once more, this time louder, from the top of her lungs. "Marceline, please, come out, Marceline!"

"Looking for your loved one? She won't come to you." The voice behind her began to laugh. "You are alone. You always were alone. But don't worry. I'm always near. Isn't that refreshing, Bonnibel Bubblegum? Isn't that refreshing..."

As she turned around, she saw a shapeless shadow, staring at her with it's two dotty eyes, constantly moving over it's surface. Chills ran through her body as she gazed at him.

"So you found yourself a bit of happiness? You think your friend will help you? Oh, it's because she loves you?" He chuckled, as he mocked her further. "That's charming, Bonnibel Bubblegum." His silhouette began to narrow, as he got thinner and thinner. "But she's useless and you know it. Useless little being. Pitiful by it's very existence. Her father should know better when he raised her..."

The shadow tangled around her, almost like a snake that tried to smother his victim. His cold body slithered around her pink skin, as she tried to free herself from within his grasp.

"Get.. out... from my head you freak!"

"I am you now. So that's impossible." The shade hissed from within it's maw. "Does that thrill you? The fact that the destruction of Ooo will come from within you?" His voice was like a shattering murmur. "You will be the end of it. You and me."

The creature detached from her body and as he twitched and fizzled once more, he eventually took her shape. He seemed identical, if not a bit darker. His eyes however, were like two pieces of an endless void.

"I am you." Said the doppelganger. "I will be the destruction of Ooo. You will be the destruction of Ooo." She paused. "We will be the destruction of Ooo."

"I will stop you." She sighted. "And when I'll do, I'll make sure you will never, ever be able to come back!"

"The greatest hero, the greatest of them all, the best of all of you could not stop me." The copycat began to laugh with the voice of the Lich. "The purest heart that ever existed in this world. Your greatest knight, whom the boy worshiped in awe! He died trying to stop me. What power do you have, pitiful, little girl."

"I..." She staggered at first, but the further she looked at the reflection before her and more importantly, the more she thought about her lover, the more certain she got. "I am the ruler of this land. The ruler of Candy Kingdom, with the Vampire Queen right at my side. You are nothing but a corpse. You are nothing but a trash that someone left behind, trapping inside me. You are nothing but a mistake! Mistake that should be utilized." She paused. "And I shall erase this mistake, either with science... or with my bare hands."

"Look who found some strength in herself." He gasped, pretending that he is amused, as his pink hands began to clap. "Is it because of the fiend? It is, isn't it. Think she'll help you in any way? Pitiful."

"Talk all you will you patoot. You fought the greatest, true. You caught me off guard once, true." The princess tightened her fists as she stepped forward. "But I won't make the same mistake again, oh no. And when we'll met in person, I'll put my electrode gun right in your..."

"Petty talk." Her reflection interrupted her nonchalantly. "Pitiful."

The Lich faded, only to appear right behind her, clutching his new frame around her. As he began to hiss loudly, as his pink hands started to caress her cheek and message her shoulders, she could only feel disgust.

"You've grown so much. This frame is attractive to your lover, yes?" He chuckled. "Such a strong, firm body."

"Don't even speak about her, corpse."

"You will be my finest vessel." He playfully draw his finger around her neck. "Can you even imagine it, Bonnibel Bubblegum?"

"How wold I put it for you to understand. Oh, yeah, shut up already!"

"You are just a mean to fulfill my task. I will be the end of you. Think nothing more of yourself. You will soon cease to exist."

He let go of her just like that and became one with the mists. She knew that this wasn't over however, as the decaying stench still floated around. She remembered that smell all to well as she never felt anything that disgusting. And the princess was right, as usual. He appeared right before her, gazing into her eyes, swirling her soul inside out. His dead sockets were fixated right upon her, yet no spark of life appeared within them. There was just emptiness within them. Cold and vast emptiness.

"Your mind is such a delightful sight. Full of confusion, anger, brightness and even ferocity." He yawned. "All of you were ferocious, till broken."

"You seem to enjoy empty words, freak."

"I do wonder however..." He didn't listened to her at all. "Comfort is what you seek out there, yes? Comfort in the arms of your dearest fiend perhaps?"

"I'm done talking with you."

"However, I'm not done. Impatient, aren't you, Bonnibel Bubblegum." He burst into laughter, as maggots once again spew from his wide opened maw. They seemed to burn down before they even could reach the ground. "No matters. You will listen!"

He came closer and despite her struggle, he once again put his sharp claws right over her head, surrounding it like a cage. The princess looked at him with much disgust, yet was unable to do a thing about it.

"I will let you watch, when I'll take over your body." He leaned closer, rattling with his teeth. "I will let you watch for the rest of your essence, as your frame commits things that you would never think off." Slight sparks appeared within his eyes. "I will let you watch when you'll fade, as by your hands, I will kill your loved ones. I will let you watch, as I will hurt her."

"You'd wish, you patoot." She spat on his face. "You will never touch..."

"And after I will come to her. After she will greet me. Love me. Trust me. I will let you watch. I will let you watch, as my hands will catch her neck. I will let you watch, as they will squeeze every breath out of her." He spew out even more worms from his gaping mouth as he chuckled. "I will smother her. And who knows... Maybe for this one, last moment. The last moment before you'll fade." He paused, only to pierce her skin with his fingers even deeper. "I'll give you your body. For you to feel her last dying breath on your skin. For her to reach out for you that one last time, saying, how much you failed her. How much she loved you..." He paused and looked closely into her eyes. "She is nothing. She's a waste. Screeching brat."

"You..." Despite his claws on her head, she finally found the strength within her, as she grabbed him by the neck. "...shall not speak a word about her anymore."

But he just waited for this very moment it would seem. And before she could even blink, before she could do anything else, the Lich was no more. Instead, she held in her hands the one she loved. Her eyes widened.

"Bonnie..." The black embers looked at her, as she tried to catch breath. "I thought you... love me... Bonnie, why are you doing this..." Her slim hand tried to reach Bubblegum's cheek for the last one time. "...why..."

The princess let go of her and looked as her pale body reached the ground. Her hands shook as she attempted to say something, yet no words came out of her mouth. She wanted to came closer, yet was unable to move, unable to act. And the laughter once again echoed through the forest. The very voice she despised. The Lich appeared right next to Marceline's body and simply smiled as he leaned towards her.

"This hurts you." He grabbed the flick of her black hair. "Pain does not hurt you. But this..." He began to pull the hair from her lifeless head. "...this hurts you. Fascinating. Maybe I should..."

"Hey!" A different voice trembled around, which made him disappear from her sight. "Hey!"

###

"Hey, wake up." A familiar, cheerful tune dragged her out from her slumber. As she opened her wet eyes, she sighted with much relief as soon as she saw the face of her lover. "Hey Bonnie. You're sweating. And it's not because of me" The vampire smiled to herself slightly, wiping away the tears from her lover's cheeks. "And... that's a bad thing." Almost instantly she got serious about it. "What's wrong?"

"Some bad dreams..." The princess tried to laugh. "Well... as they say, it'll get worse before it'll get better and..."

Marceline grabbed her hands and looked at them. They were shivering. She did all she could to comfort her, tangling her delicate, cold fingers around.

"The Lich huh?"

"Rather obvious, isn't it?"

The pale girl shrugged and kissed her on her palms, smooching her soft, dulcet skin. The very notion of her doing just that was comforting to Bubblegum. The vampire seemed to be lost in thoughts for few minutes as she delicately nabbed the pink fingertips. Finally she responded.

"We need to do something about it then." Marceline looked at her warmly. "It's just another obstacle between us. We're used to that, aren't we Bonnie?"

"Right..."

"So, take what you're here for."

"It's..." The princess hesitated for a bit. "...unsettling for me to hurt you."

"Hurt me? Oh please Bonnie." She blinked. "We did wilder things then that."

As Bubblegum prepared one of her vials, Marceline looked at her pale hands. With a swift swipe and a single bite on her own vein, the blood started to pour inside the vessel. When they had enough, the princess tried to attend to the wound, which already started to heal.

"Demon, yes. But a vampire as well, remember?" She blushed. "But I won't mind you patching me up..."

"Well... if that won't be necessary..." She said silently as she came closer with her lips. "I have other ways to repay you..."

They smiled one to another and just as Bonnibel was meant to give her lover a rewarding kiss, all lights in the room were put out. From within a puff of smoke, Death emerged in a rather theatrical pose.

"And so the battle was held, and your dearest fiend was defeated sugar babe..." He paused as he began gazing at the two. That wasn't the sight he expected, that's for sure. "Well, well now..." He took of his hat. "Now that's a sight sugar sweet. Care to introduce me? Or better yet, shall I introduce myself?" Skeleton bowed down to the very ground. "I'm Death. Here to fulfill all of your wishes. And desires. For a price."

"Care to give us a moment?" The princess sighted and coughed. "Be a gentleman and such."

"You can um..." Marceline blushed. "Help yourself at the fridge..."

"Fridge? Aw, demon babe, it's the center of heat, and you're sending me out to the cold? Where's your heart." He clicked his teeth and chuckled. "Besides, how are you expecting me to enjoy..." The look that Bubblegum gave him, was enough for him to stop right there. "Fine, fine."

He finally left, constantly looking behind. When he eventually disappeared behind the door frame, they quickly dressed up, smirking to each other. As they joined him in the kitchen, he was sitting rather comfortably with his legs on the table and a cup in his hand.

"Well, found yourself something to drink after all, huh?..." Marceline thought deeply about the nickname she should give him, as she hardly could take him seriously. Eventually, she picked the simplest one. "...Boney?"

"Well, Bats..." He replied rather quickly, as he looked inside the cup. "Anything I'll pour in me will just leave a stain on my clothes, so... unless you want to help me clean up after..." He grinned invitingly. "...I'll just hold on to it and look pretty, eh? Hah-ah!" He chuckled and swirled around on his chair. "Either way. I heard a saying, that it's good to sleep with your problems. You took it literally I see, sugar lady."

"What I do and how I will do it is my business." She raised her eyebrow. "Are we clear?"

"Indeed, not my pair of shoes. Of whom do you, should I say, bone sugar sweet!" He let out one single laugh, and got bit more serious. "But, business, business, right? You have the first thing. And that's a great start, sweet start even considering the odds!"

"I assume there's more to do?" She narrowed her eyes. "Or you're here just for the views?"

"You assume correctly, yes, even if I'd prefer the latter, ah-hah!" He clapped his hands, almost like if he enjoyed it far too much "There are other things, it's never easy you know. And this time it's nothing new honeydew." Death playfully smooched the air. "However, if I knew that's how you'll obtain the blood, I'd volunteered to get it myself, hah!"

"Is he always like that?" Marceline asked and chuckled, as for her, he was quite amusing.

"If by like that you mean being a jerk, yeah." She sighted and turned towards him. "Just tell us what we need to know."

"Well. You will need something sour. And I'm talking big stuff. Something that's so intense, it would melt your face off." He snapped his fingers. "And after that. Few things that you won't find just like that in this world. Everlasting ember would be one of them. I'll tell you more when you'll get those two, deal sugar babe?"

"Deal. Just, why you need all of those things? It's hardly a scientific match." She pondered about the items, and calculated odds in her head. "And I know a thing or two about science."

"Well." He scratched on his chin and glared at her. "You want me to erase something from you. Killing you is not an option, he would find another way. We'll have to cleanse you to get him out." He took a glimpse at Marceline and winked. "But not that way."

"I just don't see the connection with..."

"Demon blood to raise the heat, sour makes you feel the hit, living ember boiling skin, will erase you from your sin, and so on and so forth. Look here sweet cheeks." He poked her on her head. "I'm normally dealing with things that die, yes? Saving people? That takes more then killing. What I need, I need babe."

"Right. Sorry." Bubblegum said it more as a courtesy, since she hardly was sorry for anything.

"No biggie. Till next time. I'll be around when you will get what you will get. And." He chuckled. "I will appear bit later, if you'll decide to sleep with the rest things too, huh?"

"Say it one more time and something will appear right under your eye alright."

"Oh, you'll do my make up for me?" He smirked. "That would be grand!"

And he disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving a bit of ash behind him. The lights in the room were lighted once again. The girls just looked at each other, as Marceline playfully tweeted to her lover.

"So... of we go again. And together again."

"Thought you wanted this?"

"Oh don't get me wrong, I do." She shook her head and got more serious. "It's just, as always, it's the ending that bothers me."

"This time will be different." The princess caught her arms. "This time I'll be around, all the time."

"You said that before..." She tangled her fingers around her hands. "And I believed you back then. I believe you now. Just don't..."

"I won't hurt you again."

"I'd wish for that Bonnie." She smooched her on the cheek. "I'd for wish that."

"There's nothing to wish for, as it will be that way..." Bubblegum smiled. "...besides... your reward."

She pulled her closer and their mouths met once again. The princess couldn't let some things out of her mind however, as her hands quickly ventured around the vampire's shoulders, right onto her neck. And she began to caress it as delicately and gently as she could. She thought about it deeply. No, she couldn't afford to loose her. Never. As their lips eventually let go, she just cuddled around Marceline and smooched her on the nape numerous times. But eventually, the further delay was no longer possible and they knew it all too well. Outside, the cat already waited for them, waving his tail impatiently. When they finally left the house, he was quite surprised.

"Oh, so there's now two of you?" He looked at the pale girl. "Great, more to love I guess. You don't look like a demon at all." He winked a couple of times. "Don't see bruises on your skin either. The pink one left you alone? Without beating?"

"Beating?..." She looked at Bonnie and chuckled. "I see you're still subtle at gaining friends?"

"Well, he did asked for it..."

"You always say that." She pet him on his head and back. He seemed to enjoy it greatly, even purring a little bit. Not too much however, as he had a reputation to held.

"I kinda like you, demon fiend." The cat playfully waved with his tail to accompaniment those words. "It will be grand to have someone civilized on this trip!"

"So, he's coming with us all of a sudden?" The vampire shook her head. "Bit of shame really. Thought it'll be more... private. But what you gonna do... Either way, where to Bonnie?"

"Well. I know only one thing in this world that matches up Death's strive for sour." The princess rolled her eyes. "Can't wait to met up with Earl again..." She sighted. "Let's go."