Nightmares (FioLee)

Chapter Ten

"Marshall... it's a myth." The doctor said, forgetting momentarily that this was his king and addressing him by his first name. "You'll never... and even if it wasn't, you aren't the true heir." 
"Well, the heir died in the Mushroom War--" 
"World War Three." The doctor corrected. 
"--so I'm the next best thing. That'd solve your problems, yeah?" 

The doctor adjusted his coat, fixing Marshall with his violet gaze. "Not completely. It might pick another line of royalty to replace Caoilliann's. That means Annika, me, anyone could be the true heir. Your claim is only secondary, and once again, it's a myth." 

"So many things that shouldn't exist do." Marshall said quietly. "So many stories ring with truth." 
"Stop being philosophical." The doctor replied dismissively. "It doesn't suit you at all. And you don't see me riding around everyday on a unicorn, do you?" 
"I see a vampire. I've seen demons. I see a human girl sometimes. I see a talking cat with her. I've seen things that will really make you say 'like what', Timothy. So who's to say the sword doesn't exist when all those things do?" 

The doctor looked unamused. "It's a fairytale. It's not as if I'm having tea with Cinderella and the Snow Queen tomorrow. And what do you mean, a human...?" 
"It's a myth. It exists for a reason." Marshall argued, ignoring the human comment. 
"Do you want to know why it exists?" The doctor snapped, finally losing his temper. "Because our country has been screwed over so often, torn apart by war and revolution, one after the other continuously, exploited, nearly destroyed... and we wanted hope. Hope that one day, someone would come along who was meant to be there. Who could protect and lead us into an era of being something. And you could be that person, Mar-- sir. But you need to be there, instead of searching for a useless sword!" 

"You think they'll ever accept me?! You think I wouldn't go the way of every other ruler we've had if I didn't have something cementing me to the throne?!" Marshall demanded. 
Neither of them noticed the door open. 

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"So, you're really okay?" Fionna asked. 
"Oh, yes. I haven't seen hide or hair of the Ice Queen all day." Gumball pointed out. "You're free to go see Marshall, of course..." 
Cake made a face, implying that she didn't really like the idea of Fionna and Marshall together in the first place, but her sister's choices were her own. 

Fionna laughed awkwardly. "We're not attached at the hip, or anything..." 
"No no no, I insist! I've taken up too much of your time!" Gumball told her, ushering her towards the door. 
"Well... if nothing's going on." Fionna said hesitantly. 
Gumball smiled and made a shoo, shoo motion with his hand before shutting the door on her. 

"What are you up to?" Cake asked him. 
"I may not like him at times, but they are cute together." Gumball pointed out. 
The Lich finally piped up from her tank. "Aren't you... like... super jealous, though? That's usually how this goes." 
"What? No, why would I be...? Oh. It was one time!" Gumball said. "And we both agreed that really, we were better off as friends." 

"You and my sister...?" Cake started. 
"No, Marshall and I." Gumball corrected. "I've never really viewed Fionna in that way." 

"So what now?" The Lich asked. 
"...well, I have work to do, but you two are welcome to start planning their wedding. It's not like either of them are going to do it." Gumball pointed out. 
"Yeah... I think it's a little early for that... and I don't trust the Lich not to plan a wedding revolving entirely around everyone being on fire..." Cake said. 

The Lich nodded. "Fair enough. Fire wedding... hmm..." 
"Yeah, the Lich doesn't ever get to weigh in on this." Gumball agreed. 

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Fionna knocked on the door, but no one answered. She could see Marshall inside, with someone else she didn't recognize. Would it be okay if she came in...? She could wait until the person left, and Marshall did say it was okay if the door was unlocked. 

She twisted the doorknob experimentally, and the door quietly opened.

"--something cementing me to the throne?!" Marshall demanded. 
"What are you talking about?" The other man retorted. "The only person who thinks you don't belong on the throne is you! Except for the growing faction that is angry because you don't seem to care about us, since you'd rather cavort around up here looking for a fairytale!" 
"You think people don't talk about how I'm half-demon?! The Vampire Kingdom and the Nightosphere were at war... Timothy, look at me." 

The bespectacled man was staring straight at Fionna. "Who are you, what are you doing here, and how did you survive the atomic blast over a thousand years ago...?" 
Marshall turned to follow his gaze, and relaxed a little. "Hey, Fi! Come on in! This is Timothy. Ignore him when he gets all pissy, he's even less fun than Gumball to get angry." 
Timothy frowned at him a little, before turning back to Fionna. "How are you human?" 

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I mean, I know my parents were... or my mom, at least... but...?" She shrugged again. 
"Do you mind if I take your vital signs?" Timothy asked. 
"Um... sure?" Fionna replied uncertainly. 

He rose from his seat and walked over to her, his fingers clasping her wrist tightly. Then he examined her neck. 
"Hey, can you let go of me?" She asked. 
He frowned, stepping back. "You seem... completely and utterly human... I mean, there's a tiny arrhythmia... probably genetic, and I wouldn't have caught it if I was human myself... but you're a normal human? How?" 

"I don't know, man. I'm just the last, I guess." She shrugged. 
"I see... I see... can I study you?" He asked. 
Fionna shook her head. "I'd really rather you didn't." 
"Understood." Timothy agreed. 

"What were you two talking about, anyway? Before I came in?" Fionna asked. 
Marshall hugged her from behind, resting his head on top of hers while watching Timothy carefully. 
Timothy adjusted his glasses. "His Majesty was talking about how he's been ignoring his obligations for a fairytale." 
"And I was countering that it's not a fairytale." Marshall said quietly into Fionna's ear, brushing his lips on her ear before moving them lower to her neck. 

"Marshall!"

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*Author's Note* 

You know, I'm starting to wonder why so many writers (including me, obviously) prefer the GumballxFionna route to the Gumshall route when they're talking about the jealous ex/potential lover/rival/current love interest that must be gotten rid of. 

Regarding this, you're probably wondering what role Timothy serves that Gumball doesn't already serve. Well, Timothy is more disdainful of what he considers to be beneath his intelligence, he thinks he has a higher capacity for human life (even though he acknowledges that he could never rule the way Gumball and Marshall do) and he tries to keep his distance from people more, especially since... well, no one wants to hear me talk all day about my characters. (You might say you do, but trust me, you don't.) Basically, Timothy gives us information on the vampires and is a trained medical professional.