The Bloody Traveled Road 3 (Patreon)

The Bloody Traveled Road 3 - or ‘I was turned, I bleed, now let me rest!’ (Adventure Time, Vampire!SI)

Changing in better clothes allowed me to finally address the main topic that was Finn and Jake.

Marcy was willing to wait a bit more for a more private explanation, especially since she knew her friends were not to be privy of some information that was familiar just to the two of us.

It was a matter of privacy rather than unwarranted secrecy. And as we all sat down by the living room by the fireside, I couldn’t help but be amused by the two adventurers.

It felt odd to ‘render realistic’ the two characters, but I have to admit they looked like some faithful ‘adaptation to the original’. Odd way to approach their appearance, but I was glad I wasn’t up for some crazy surprises in that department.

“So, you are a… wizard? And a vampire?”

“That’s a few traits to use, yes, but I admit the list to my titles is pretty long. How about we made it easier for commonality? I am a very smart individual that loves to help people when possible and… keeping in mind that logic should be made within restrictions.”

Finn nodded and Jake. “Oh, like Princess Bubblegum.”

It took a lot out of me to not flinch or scowl at the mention of Bonnibel considering the awkward period of time I spent trying to teach her about ‘good morality’ and ended up with something quite wrong instead.

“In a sense, yes,” I curtly agreed and then turned to the two. “Now, from my understanding and from what Marceline told me, you two are some experienced adventurers.”

“We sure are!” The human confirmed with a big smile, still juggling with the amusing amount of swords he had claimed from the small armory. “We have seen far and wide and we know everything about the Land of Ooo.”

I raised an amused brow as Jake nodded to confirm this claim.

“Finn, that’s your name?”

Marcy had a hand on her mouth, hiding away a grin as she recognized the tone I was using now.

“Yep!”

“And you’re Jake.”

“That’s my name, pal.”

“Good, then, I don’t mean to sound silly here but… I too know the Land of Ooo and have known it for many many years. Consider me a bit of a skeptic because of your relative experience but… do you know what the Szechuan Sauce is?”

“Of course- I mean, we definitely know that answer… right, Jake?”

“Yeahhhhh… I mean, it’s a difficult question. We don’t want to… wellllll, be too short with that one.”

“A fair reason. Tell you what, I will give you both a week to find the answer and, if you succeed, I will give you some legendary weapons owned by a very important hero in the Land of Ooo.”

“What if we mess up?” Jake asked flatly, sounding neither upset or nervous about this bet.

“I'll tell you what it is and let you try some.”

“...It’s edible?” Finn asked, a smile creeping on my face.

“Good assumption. I will tell you that Marceline here has tried it a few times.”

She hummed. “It wasn’t the best sauce, but it was good.”

“Then… Finn, we should get going and- and relearn what the Sze-szeee- the sauce stuff!”

“Yeah! Let’s go, Jake- and Thanks, Mr. John.”

I waved at them as they bolted out of the room and the house entirely. I may have not interacted with them before, but my reduced remembrance of the two adventurers’ attitude was indeed on spot from the way things went.

But as these two left, I was left once again with Marcy, and she didn’t hesitate to use the privacy to enjoy what she had been missing for a while: cuddling.

I hummed as she just tackled me down on the couch, hugging me as a smug grin appeared on her pale blue face.

“So, how have you been? For real.”

“Mostly well, maybe a bit sleepier than usual since things had grown quieter as of recently- decades recently.”

Marcy nodded at this, and then gave me a quizzical look.

“What about ‘Operation: Godslayer’?”

“Successfully completed,” I answered smoothly. “The last step was taken just a century ago.”

“That’s… quite earlier than I had expected. Who fell first, the Lich or the God?”

“Lich was the most pressing, so I had some assistance in cornering it into a good enough trap and, after a few trials to find the best way to keep him buried forever, we managed to get him sealed off and unable to break free.”

The girl nodded, then looked away for a moment before giving me a concerned look.

“Did Simon… give you trouble? I mean, when it came to Gunter.”

The question held some reasonable merit and concerns. And, admittedly so, it took a long while to get that huge part of the operation wrapped up due to how dangerous ‘Gunter’ truly was.

“I admit that it took a lot of effort to properly seal Orgalorg off, but I managed to create a drone to mimic what Simon’s crown told him was his minion.”

“...And Simon?” She wondered with a worried tone, the topics growing a bit frustrating as she clearly was very interested in the topic for good reasons.

“He is the Ice King and… Marcy, I want you to hear me out.”

The Vampire Queen deflated. “You can’t fix him?”

“Not without killing him, or worse.”

“W-What would be worse? Maybe it’s not that-”

“The Crown is not what is making him mad.”

My words brought the girl to a pause, then to a frown.

“...What?”

“The Crown is actually an artifact filled with knowledge and intent. The reason why it turned Simon like that is because the original creator of it had tried to use it to prevent the arrival of the Lich, but mishaps had led it to actually leave a corrupt version of his powers imprinted inside the crown. It doesn’t render people crazy, it overwhelms them with a strong intent that makes their worst habit stand out even more.”

“You mean that Simon was… crazy?” Marcy inquired, confused by this development, but I patted her head to bring at least some comfort.

“He was crazy for love. He had a wife.”

The female vampire perked up. “She did?”

“Her name was Betty, I can't find anything on where she went before the Mushroom War. She just vanished and yet that need to find her ultimately consumed Simon. Which is why the Ice King is looking for ‘his princess’.”

“That’s… that explains a lot. But still, are you sure there is no way?”

“I have exhausted all options, even the most extreme. I thought about using something to depower the crown, but I can say for certain his normal body would decay fast due to the aging it went through. The Crown is keeping him alive right now, and removing it properly would make him die.”

She bowed her head at this, tears forming as she didn’t want to lose any hope but… I couldn’t fix Simon. The circumstances that allowed him to be saved just were not viable. Not without almost destroying this dimension entirely.

Still, that didn’t stop me from giving her some comfort via just hugs. It wasn’t the solution she hoped for, but it would do for now. I had been looking forward for this meeting, but the unpredictable factor of what Marcy would have asked had left me worried on how this would end up being.

And I kind of felt nervous about letting her go home like this.

“You could stay over for the day if you want,” I offered, and the girl’s red eyes blinked in surprise at that idea. “Since it’s been a while since we had a proper interaction, it would be like old times. And it gets you off that somber mood you have now.”

…

“Like old times?” Marcy asked, her tone weird for just a moment but I saw no reason to not validate that guess.

“Like old times.”

I should have known she was going to try and get in my pants with that strange smile that crept on her face as I said that…

—-----d-d-d-d—---

AN

Next time, Operation Sleepover by Marcy (but with no sleeping and lots of romantic efforts) begins!