On the Other Side

Chapter 13//UNEDITED

The smooth sheen of the card ran under the tips of her fingers as Marceline gazed down upon it, awkwardly biting the inside of her cheek as she shuffled her feet. It was the next day, and she had woken up early after spending the night tossing and turning with anxiety-inducing thoughts buzzing through her head. Now, though annoyed, that she had a few more hours before they had to leave for rehearsals, she decided to finally pick up the card and start whatever hero's journey bullshit life path that she had to go down.

"How the fuck do I even do this?" her quiet voice followed with a confused and annoyed scoff as she further tried to examine the card. She knew she had to do something with it. It'd be great if she had any means of actual instructions, though. "How the actual fuck am I supposed to contact a bitch with this?!"

"I see you're having some issues there."

The message was scrawled out in the exact same manner the first one was, but seeing it now made Marceline want to put it in the shredder. It read like a siri tech support message and she felt like the bitch on the other end was laughing at her confusion.

"You think? I've been here for like 5 fucking minutes."

"Place it in some light"

"Like a candle, candles are fun"

Marceline rose her eyebrow, hesitantly placing the card onto the nightstand before taking a candle and a match to light it with. After a few seconds of hovering the card over it, it started to shine a bit, glistening in small sparks that scattered across its surface until it completely died down. Looking over the card she could see a new design lightly encrusted into it, showing the figure of a human sitting in a standard Lotus pose. Marceline groaned, already feeling her bones and joints start to ache as she grumbled out, "I hope y'all know I'm not flexible." Nevertheless, she still sat down beside the bed where Holly continued to sleep and grabbed her legs to try and get them to comply. It had cost her a solid 10 minutes to get her legs and feet into position, and to get them to actually stay.

"Annoying ass" she reached over to grab the card again with a final grumble, "least they could have done was picked a bitch who could sit the way they want them to."

"Will you calm the fuck down, you're supposed to be relaxed for this." Restraining herself from saying something that would undoubtedly wake Holly up, she sassily threw the card down in front of her before taking a few deep breaths. With her eyes closed she spent the next few minutes in the peaceful, quiet darkness behind her eyes. Though, as serene as it was, she was starting to get impatient.

Now what the fuck do I do? She cracked an eye open to be met with the same room she woke up in. Sighing impatiently, she forcefully squeezed her eyes shut as she took another deep breath. Still plagued with some exhaustion from a poor nights rest, her mind quickly wandered off from her annoyances. Muscles relaxing, but not slouching, Marceline was able to focus on the steadiness of her breathing, the cool breeze that circulated her, and the muted sounds of the city from outside her window. Small, pleasant tingles started on the tips of her fingers and toes, gently spreading up and over her body like traveling water until it encased her entire body and touched the tip of her nose before completely vanishing. The temperature in her surroundings changed to something a bit warmer, and the smell of nature wafted in her nose.

"You figured that out pretty fast, I must say." Snapping her eyes open she was met with the sight of Minerva standing before her, that same big smile decorating her face. "Would have thought you could have at least figured the card part without me, easiest step in my opinion, but all in all you're here!"

Scowling, Marceline stood up on her two feet before crossing her arms. "Listen, I'm spending my morning hours so you can clear things up for me. The least you can do is not insult my intelligence."