Nightmares (FioLee)

Chapter Three

"So what's the plan?" Marshall asked, walking along beside her.
"I don't know. We should have brought Cake, this is taking forever." Fionna sighed.
"Well, yeah. Walking takes forever. If you want to get around fast, let me carry you."
Fionna flushed quickly, and Marshall raised an eyebrow. "You can't carry your guitar and me around all day. You need to be able to access it and stuff...?"

"Yeah, but we're not supposed to be fighting the Lich." Marshall pointed out. "Gumball wants you to be treated like glass, remember...?" He smirked a little at her, and she frowned at him. "Yeah, but I don't get why. I've saved his butt a bunch of times. Why is he trying to believe I'm so fragile? He is the fragile one."
"Hey, I totally get that part. Sunlight probably bothers him."

She squinted at him. "You literally can't survive sunlight."
"True, but I've got an awesome reason for that." He pointed to his teeth. "Anyway, Gumwad's right. He's just worried about the Lich getting you 'cause then there would be no one to save his kingdom from the Lich. I'm certainly not gonna do it. Besides, you're friends."
"Don't be like that-- you'd help. I know you like to say you're a bad guy, but we've been over this before. If you're so bad, why do you want to hang out with me?"

He laughed awkwardly and turned away. "Why would I... that is an excellent question."
"See? I'm not wrong, you're a good guy. Or at least you try to be." She smiled at him, before they both looked away, their cheeks tinged with a bit of color.
"I... new topic. What if the Lich sees us?"
"Then we fight her and win." Fionna said enthusiastically.

"...how did you beat her last time?"
"Um... Citadel last-time, or Prisma last-time or first-time last-time?" Fionna asked.
"First-time last-time. I didn't hear much about that. Didn't really hear too much about the others, but okay..."
"Oh. I um... I defeated her with the power of liking someone a lot."
"Oh. Gumball?"

"Y-yeah. But then there was that whole thing with FP and now everything is different." She blurted out.
"Uh huh... so... would you prefer that he was here with you?" Marshall asked awkwardly.
"No. That would be super awkward since we broke up and everything."
"O-oh yeah. You two broke up. Hey, um... I missed your eighteenth birthday, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess you did. I mean, I didn't really celebrate it."
"If we make it out of this alive, I'm going to write you a song. No... Fi, I'm going to write you your own lullaby."
"What?" She asked, caught off-guard and stopping.
He stopped as well, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "You have trouble sleeping, right? That's why we're out here? Why not kill two birds with one stone? This way I don't have to write you another song later, and you get a lullaby... just for you."

"Whoa, really? That would be really nice. Thanks, Marshall." She beamed at him, and he flushed a little.
"I mean, why not? We're friends."
"Y-yeah. Just... just friends." Fionna agreed.

"I mean... yeah! Totally. Friends is literally all we will ever be." Marshall laughed weakly, before suddenly saying, "Okay, new topic."
"Uh... what have you been doing lately?"
"Um... not that much, actually. I went down to the Nightosphere... saw my mom... went down to the Vampire Kingdom..."

"Wait, they're different?"
"Yeah. They actually hate each other a little. The vampires really like revolting and stuff, so they have to have a lot more care put into their government."
"But you're up here a lot."
"I know. I have a sort of parliament. But they're super corrupt and I have to make sure they're not going to get me kicked off of the throne."

"What happens if you get kicked off the throne?" Fionna asked.
Marshall drew a finger across his neck, and they both grimaced.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" She asked.
"Nah. Unless you're the lost heir of the original vampire queen, Caoillainn." Marshall shrugged. "And even then, you'd be forced to become queen... and it's just a hassle, Fi. You don't want my job."

"Is that why you hang around up here?" Fionna asked innocently.
"Ah... one of the reasons." Marshall admitted.
They came to the mouth of a cave, and Fionna's face fell. "This is... this is Billie's cave. I haven't been here in a while."
Marshall pulled her close. "Well... what do you suggest we do?"

Another voice interrupted them. "I suggest you two come in."

They slowly walked in to see a woman with wildly curly hair and brown eyes behind glasses sitting with her legs crossed with her hands in her lap in a makeshift armchair that was uncovered and raised slightly off of the ground.
"Who are you?" Fionna demanded.
The woman got up and walked towards them, her boots clicking on the floor. "I am the Lich."

"That's the biggest bunch of gunk I've ever heard." Marshall scoffed.
The woman lit up her hand with green fire, which she threw off to the side. Marshall and Fionna both jumped, before Fionna unsheathed her sword. The Lich looked unamused. "You're going to stick that little needle in me? Kid, I can melt the sword, just like I can melt your face. Wanna test me on that, kid?"

"What do you want?" Fionna demanded.
The Lich frowned. "That's odd... you came into my lair, started threatening me... brought a new friend, that's nice... wait, is he just the pink one flash-dipped in a vat of black hair dye?" She squinted at Marshall, and he took a step back. "I am not Gumball."
"Oh, alright then. Anyway, you two came into my lair, and started bothering me. What do you want?" The Lich demanded.

"We're here to kill you." Fionna said.
"...why...?"
"Because I have nightmares and you're the cause of them!" Fionna answered.
"Not currently inside your head, so no. I'm not. Seek a psychiatrist."

"I'm worried about what you will do." Fionna snapped.
"Right, because clearly I've been a threat since I became more human-looking." The Lich answered. "Which is why you totally heard about my present form, and no one was surprised when they saw me."

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

*Author's Note*

Pfft. What do you mean, a vampire boyfriend writing his human girlfriend a lullaby isn't original? I mean... okay, seriously though, Marshall has an actual personality. That doesn't consist of stalking/self-loathing. And he has an actual reason for writing his girlfriend a lullaby other than what I assume is, 'hey, I write music, so maybe you should like me. Also, I wrote you a song to help you sleep because presumably the knowledge that I watch you sleep every night is very off-putting.'