Nightmares (FioLee)

Chapter Fourteen

Marshall was having a wonderful dream. 

He was standing in the sunlight in a strawberry field, but for once it wasn't burning him. He walked along slowly, feeling the warmth against his skin and smelling the sweet scent. However, something... tangy was mixed in with the smell of the strawberries. Not something bad, just something different. Something that smelled more delicious than any strawberry or apple he'd ever had. 

A strawberry close to his size loomed into view, and his mouth began to water. This was the source of the delicious smell. He could feel his fangs growing out. But as he got closer, the strawberry started to move away. He chased after it, only for it to evade him. After a while of running around the field, Marshall went invisible and jumped in front of it, wrestling the strawberry to the ground. As he turned visible again, he sank his fangs into the strawberry, gulping down some of its juice. 

And that was when he woke up to hear Fionna screaming. 

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

She moved away from him quickly, holding her neck. "What did you do?!" 
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was dreaming, I did it by accident!" 
She looked at her hand, before looking back at him. "Marshall... your skin is turning a different color." 
"What?" He asked, staring at his hands. "What do you mean...?" 

"It looks like you're turning human from the neck down!" Fionna said quickly, before saying. "Go check in the mirror if you don't believe me!" 
"I can't see myself in mir... holy cow." Marshall breathed. "I'm back. I'm back to the way that I was before all this." 

A groan from Fionna drew his attention. He turned back into the bedroom to see her curled in on herself. 
"Fi?!" He asked, worried. 
"It feels like my blood is on fire." She choked out, biting her lip to keep from crying out. 

"It'll be over in a minute." Marshall promised, picking her up bridal style. "I know it hurts, but you're my strong heroine and you're gonna make it through it, okay?" 
"Why aren't you in pain?" She asked. "Your body's going through a lot of change too." 

"Either I'm used to it, which I doubt, or it hurts more to become a vampire than it does to stop being one." Marshall rubbed her back gently. 
She clung to him. "When is it going to stop..." 
"Soon, soon, I promise." 

A little while later, he still held her as she quieted down. 
"The pain's gone now." She breathed. "Thanks, Marshall." 
"We've gotta go see Gumball." Marshall said. "This isn't normal. I shouldn't have lost my vampirism by turning you. And I've gotta call Timothy, 'cause Gumball isn't gonna know what happens to me and the kingdom now." 

"Okay. I have to call Cake too." Fionna said. 
Marshall grimaced. "She's going to kill me." 
"Well, you did turn me into one of the undead without my consent." Fionna huffed. 
Marshall sighed. "Again, sorry about that." 

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

After dressing, eating and calling, Marshall and Fionna made their way to the Candy Kingdom, with Fionna wearing Marshall's gloves and hat over her own hat, and hovering experimentally. Marshall however was enjoying the sunlight filtering down on him for once. The warmth was nice. 

Eventually, they arrived. 
"What in the name of the Nightosphere happened to you?!" Gumball demanded, grabbing Fionna's shoulders. 
"I'm a vampire now." 
"And I'm whatever I was before." Marshall grinned. 

"...and... you want me to fix this?" Gumball guessed, releasing Fionna. 
"Yes, please." Fionna agreed. 
"I wouldn't mind." Marshall added. 
Gumball stared at them for a minute. "I see... well, luckily for you two, I've had a formula for anti-vampirism prepared for a while for Marshall, in case he ever decided that he wanted to step foot in a church ever again." 

"Ha, that's a myth." Marshall said dismissively. 
Gumball ignored him. "It would be easy for me to recalibrate the formula for Fionna's specifications." 
The door slammed open, as Cake and Timothy entered. 
"Hold it right there, Rislington!" Timothy demanded. 

"Who are you, anyway?" Cake asked him. 
"That's not important right now. With Marshall's vampirism gone, I'd hazard a guess that she is now the ruler of our kingdom. If there is no ruler... well, several things will ensue, chaos among them." Timothy adjusted his glasses, before continuing. "The nature of what happened here has to be studied further." 

"How is he still alive...?" Gumball groaned. "I thought I stopped having to deal with this lunatic after the war ended!" 
Timothy started pulling Fionna away from Gumball. "Oh, I'm the lunatic here? I saved people's lives! You turned them into horrifying abominations of nature!" 
"I saved them too! Your way was not the only way!" Gumball growled. "You're so narrow-minded, it nearly drove me insane!" 

"Clearly it did, because with a lack of subjects, you tested on yourself!" Timothy sneered. 
"Whatcha guys talking about?" Marshall asked, prying Timothy's fingers off of Fionna. 
"We ran into each other a few times before the Great Mushroom War." Gumball huffed. "I was a biologist at the time, working on changing the chemical composition of the human soldiers at the time to become more durable." 

"Dirt golems." Timothy hissed. 
Gumball glared at him. "I am not a golem! And I happen to be a prince!" 
"Guys, stop it! Dr. Tepes, if he can't turn me back, what do you want us to do?" Fionna demanded. 

Timothy adjusted his glasses. "At the moment, there's only a working theory of what is going on. However, if you could find the sword of Caoillainn and transfer the power back to Marshall after he has regained his vampirism, that would return everything back to normal." 

"You said it was a myth." Marshall pointed out. 
Timothy sighed. "You can go myth-chasing while I figure out what this entire mess is. Of course, the other option is for the two of you to get married, but then you wouldn't be able to divorce." 
"No no. The marriage idea is better." Gumball said hurriedly. 

"That is only a last minute option." Timothy huffed. 
"They are not getting married when my sister's 18!" Cake snapped. "That is a bad decision that she will regret for the rest of her life!" 
"Perhaps she would be a good queen." Timothy said. "After all, she seems more level-headed than some of our... previous rulers." 

As Timothy, Gumball and Cake devolved into a long argument, Marshall grabbed Fionna's hand and pulled her out of the door. 
"Let's ignore them. They'll work it out eventually. Wanna go on an adventure, just the two of us?" He grinned. 
"What about following the map?" Fionna asked excitedly.
"Perfect. Let me just get my axe." 

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

*Author's Note* 

Dang it, sorry about the lack of the Tuesday update. I totally forgot.