Every able-bodied leader had been called into the counsel that afternoon. Everything ranged from the Queen - or King - Ember of the Fire Kingdom, who had her chin in her hands and her eyes empty, to the Leader of Marauder Village, to Aerys, of the Ice Kingdom. Queen Bubblegum herself was there of course, along with Lady Marceline, and beside her was her father Hunson Abadeer. Both the Queens looked as distraught as Ember, as if sick of worry, moreso than the others.
Finn sat beside Rebecca, who in turn sat beside Peppermint Butler, Jake and his family, and then next to him was the Abadeer Family: Marshall, Fionna, and Nathaly, who earned respect among the ranks for her quick witts in battle. To Finn's right: The Bravest Warriors. The entire roundtable was filled to the brim, barely having any room to squeeze in Wallow.
The room was hot and every breath might have been able to feed a plant for a century. The air smelled musky and the silence echoed. The sound of Queen Bubblegum clearing her shaking voice was enough to make everyone jump.
"Everyone thank you for coming," she started. "As you all know, we are all here on important matters. Surely most of you are still surprised to find that I am alive as well as Jake." The crowd grumbled in agreement before becoming slightly restless. Finn sat there with his arms crossed and Rebecca hasn't moved since her arrival. "Nevertheless!" She continued, "This is a problem that should be addressed right away. Peppermint Butler, care to enlighten us?"
He jumped from his seat and walked into the center of the large round table. "Thank you your majesty. I would tell all of you what is going on, but first, everyone must know my deepest darkest secret." His hands came from his pockets, and lifted into the air and everyone gasped. Glowing black bits of aura emanated from his body. Black magic. Some were already ready to strike him down. Nathaly grabbed a kunai from her sheath on her thigh, but Marshall held her back. Peppermint Butler continued. "I am a sorcerer of dark magic." The room transformed until everyone saw through his eyes what happened on his last visit to the underworld. "Death and I were close buds. Every now and again, he would host poker nights. But this time, Death wasn't in his castle of light. And in the distance..."
Another gasp from everyone. Except for Finn, who seemed to shake at the entering of the castle. He shivered as he remembered everything within a second. It was the touch of Rebecca's warm hand that brought him back to reality. He looked at her, and she was smiling back at him.
Everyone's attention was brought over to the massive white hole (like a black hole, but white) from the point of view of Peppermint Butler. In his eyes, Peppermint Butler stood at the edge of a mountainous hill, overlooking the undead down below and the river of memory (Jake took to calling it the River Styx). The massive white hole compared to the undead marching below was like ants marching off into a giant oblivion. The hole made the sunset look small along the horizon. For most it was the biggest and most terrifying thing that everyone has seen. Ever.
Around it, were the dead, surrounding the portal and walking in before the light devoured them completely. Billions upon billions upon billions that have gathered to walk through. Then everyone was back around the round table.
First, silence. Only the sound of the air conditioning unit. Everyone had wide eyes. After all, who wouldn't? They saw the bare minimum of what they had to face. Even Queen Bubblegum was frozen.
If all of the women and children were counted, Ooo would only have at least a population of almost 4-5 billion. In the Land of the Dead? Infinitely many more. They were outnumbered.
"It's impossible..." Nathaly Abadeer broke the ice. "The moment we go in, we're doomed!"
"She's right!" Ember added. "We're heavily outnumbered! Even with everyone fighting, we wont last!"
