Chapter Two: Of Dungeons and Caverns
By the time they arrived at their destination, it was already forty-five minutes before two o' clock—the designated time wherein this crystal will appear. The trio drank in the breathtaking view in front of them: the earthen tendrils and vegetation that curls up against the temple's feet—as if it was left alone to nature a very long time; how the mighty yet ancient temple stood still against the beaming moon; faint fissures adorned the landmark—a sign that its structure is weak and fragile.
"Mathemathical!" The blonde breathed, her sapphire-like orbs eyeing the landmark with childlike wonder. Gingerly did the young adventuress approached the temple, only to be stopped by a furry hand (or was it paw?) on her shoulder. "Hold on for a second, girlfriend—" Without removing her paw on Fionna's shoulder, Cake shortened her stretched arm and eyed the place warily. "I've got a bad feeling about this—my tail's totally frizzing out."
The duo appraised their destination: looking at the possible weak spots of the structure for them to have an easy escape just in case something went wrong during their quest. Many are found but a few possible exits are safe enough for the three of them—and it wasn't as easy as they thought.
"I don't smell anything different." The vampire shrugged beside them, breaking the ladies' mental planning. Two pair of eyes found his, making the male shift slightly in awkwardness. Marshall Lee shrugged, brushing off that irritating feeling. "I mean, it smell like any other old places to me: dark and stinks like dead people."
"Dead people?" The two siblings echoed incredulously, eyes bulging out of their sockets by a fraction.
The male's shoulder rose and fell again: a shrug. Though he was not completely oblivious by their lack of interaction with real dead people, The Vampire King thoroughly enjoys their raw reaction cross their faces.
Despite her worries, the adventuress stood up a little straighter: a brave attempt to brush off her own fear. Detaching her backpack from her back, Fionna started rummaging through its depths; only to fish out a dagger—its golden blade is almost as long as the vampire's forearm. Determination and adrenalin coursed through the heroine's veins, energy almost building up as an excitement to explore this unknown land.
"Let's roll guys," Speaking a little louder, Fionna smiled at her two companions. "The crystal's not going to wait for us when it appears."
Despite that really huge signage plastered at its entrance (DO NOT ENTER. IF YOU DID, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING.), they still insisted going in. Thanks to Marshall and Cake's ability to see through the darkness, they have avoided dragging an oozing Fionna-pie as they trudged deeper into this ancient maze-like place.
Through Marshall Lee won't admit it, he have spotted the familiar-looking white bunny hat from afar long before he actually approached the two. He remembered strumming a tune that matches his mood earlier, only to be interrupted by the faint rustling he heard by his left. No, he wouldn't call it stalking since he only done it once, (perhaps more than once; it was few nevertheless) so it does not count—or at least that's what he was forcing himself to believe.
It took the Vampire King long enough to realize that they were walking around in circles in the forest. An internal debate surged through him whether or not to approach his favourite adventurers for he was enjoying their frustration. Deciding to make fun of the duo's misadventures, the male drifted close to them—strumming his weapon-slash-favourite instrument as eerily as possible to scare their wits out.
Now look what it got him, forced to tag along with Fionna and easily scared cat, Cake, because of that Gumwad's stupid request.
Not that he was complaining that he got the chance to have an expedition with this particular hot adventuress of Aaa (this opinion is completely platonic, Marshall reminded himself, he had to admit that puberty did a good job on her), it's just he find it completely idiotic and ironic that a lumpin' prince needs to acquire a help of a female friend for such strenuous activity. No, the vampire wasn't being sexist. But c'mon, wasn't it a bit embarrassing for what manly pride you have to ask a girl for a helping hand that was supposed to be done by a male?
Well, The dark haired male mused, thinking of his sometimes friend (because they argue a lot). Gumball seems to be girly compared to me—and everybody else, maybe.
However, his pensive thoughts were interrupted by a peculiar glow coming from the blonde girl's weapon. "Hold on," Marshall stopped in his tracks, making the two follow his suit. "Why you're not using a sword?"
The female shrugged, "Let's just say I wasn't too fond of using swords ever since the Ice Queen tricked me." Glob, that was totally embarrassing. How can she even let herself deceived—no, blinded by her own feelings for Gumball—by that cougar?
An average-sized Cake purred smugly beside her, "Girl, but you have to admit, that kitty litter sword was very effective."
The vampire echoed incredulously, obviously gobsmacked. "Kitty litter sword? Does that thing includes Cake's poo?"
A low growl rumbled coming from the female's throat. Cake was really getting real tired of these people assuming about that. Inflating herself as if to intimidate the vampire, she shrieked: "DO I LOOK LIKE I'M GOING TO TOUCH MY OWN POO?"
Her shrill outburst vibrated through the ancient walls, earning a rumble from the landmark they were in. The adventuress glanced at those mentioned walls that enclosed her nervously; though the male remained impassive, he seemed to be anxious himself.
"I...think—" The blonde's voice faltered, lowering her dagger slightly. "—we should really lower our voices, you know. This place looks really fragile than we expected."
She heard a scoff from her right: Marshall Lee. "Thank you for pointing the noticeable thing, Captain Obvious."
A glare was shot towards the male, making him realize that he was the one who started this bickering thing with Cake. Marshall feigned a hurt look—like a child being reprimanded for breaking his mother's precious vase, though he completely understand that the main reason that the human was biased because Cake was technically her sister. An adoptive one, but true nevertheless.
Perhaps a silent agreement were exchanged between the trio as they trudged deeper into an endless maze of bricks and cobwebs (which Cake despises a lot), for they haven't spoken for a very long time until they reached a huge empty chamber. It was creepy enough for Cake and Fionna. The latter lets out a silent shriek as she accidentally shone her flashlight on a skeletal system lying on the floor near one of the passageways, though the former just squints through the darkness.
"Wait," The vampire called, also squinting. Deciding that he can't take this eerily dark room (which is slightly unusual, since he is a creature of the night), he snapped his fingers—resulting to lighting up the two torches that resides in the both sides of the room. "What is that?"
The lightened room revealed three doorways (which look as ancient as the rest of the landmark aside for one); series of dots and dashes were carved neatly on each. It also presents its high-ceilinged part of the chamber, Marshall thought randomly if he can fly up there to see if it was high enough to do a bungee jump.
"Oh! Oh!" Cake excitedly purred; elongating her supposed-to-be tiny hind legs long enough to reach that weird stuff carved against the wall. Fionna and Marshall exchanged a confused look, wondering what excites this little feline of theirs.
"My, my, it's our lucky day isn't?" Once again, she purred; now pointing at the dots and dashes. "I can understand them, babycakes! It's like the same thing MoChro uses to communicate to us!"
"That's great." Marshall replied cautiously, obviously not wanting her sudden euphoria drains away because of him. "Now can you tell us what those thing means?"
Facing the wall, the two of them felt her upbeat realization ebbs away. Worried, the blonde adventuress called her quietly. "Cake?"
"The first door—that one with the bonehead—says 'Never go here!'. That one—" Pointing her paw at that modernized doorway, she spoke quietly. "—says 'It's safe here!'; and lastly, that one in the middle says 'EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STUFF HERE'."
Wrinkling her nose, the adventuress spoke, "Neither of the three sounds so rad. And that path with the skeleton does not look inviting at all."
"Plus, I don't really trust that fancy passageway, you know?" Added the Vampire King, eyeing the mentioned pathway suspiciously.
Three pair of eyes landed on the middle doorway. Cake stammered, now edging beside the two, "B-but Fionna, it says 'EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STUFF HERE'."
A beat. "Well, we always live in danger haven't we?"
"I would also like to add that you're technically travelling with the Vampire King here." A grey slender finger pointed itself smugly, nodding at the two.
The feline sighed, "Guess we never have any choice here but that one, huh?"
Two voices coming from the blonde girl and the vampire blended in, saying in unison: "Nope."
A/N:
And that's it for chapter two, haha! To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed typing this chapter a lot (so it kinda, you know, got long?). It'll be a great help (and joy!) for your reviews. It keeps me motivated and stuff. And yes, those "dots and dashes" are the Morse Code. It was said that it was Lord M's language for the genderswapped episode. C:
Also, I inserted a few Fionna and Cake comic references. Like that episode, I like the comics, too.
Thank you and have a nice day!
—A