Stormchild

Chapter 1: The Poodle Was The Last Straw

"Marceline, I love adventuring and all, but a lot of the time I wish I could be chill like you. You're always on your own schedule and taking things slow! It's like you don't have a care in the world!"

Finn undoubtedly had possessed no inclination as to how much those words had hurt, and per usual, when someone unknowingly said anything that hit close to home, Marceline had shrugged it off, claiming she DID have quite the life. That had been three days ago, and even now she was absentmindedly floating around her home aimlessly with the words stinging her like salt freshly pressed into a grizzly cut.

It was a miracle that Finn, being the doofus he was, hadn't seen anything too revealing when he had journeyed through her memories. Her interrogation of him about the experience a week after it had happened had shown a good deal of holes; not a word of her mother, or her time in the Nightosphere, and (Thank GLOB) anything involving her and Bonnibel.

She hadn't really doubted Finn's honesty, mostly because he was such an upstanding guy, and if he had seen such things she imagined he would have taken them very awkwardly. As it was, he already seemed… different around her since that incident had occurred. Understandably, knowing someone is centuries old pales in comparison to seeing a millennia-old life play-out in regards to mental impact.

Marceline sighed, and in a rare moment of mortality wanted to set herself down. Being too lazy to fly upstairs (let alone climb), she plopped down on the couch. At least, plopped was the word she used while in the motion of falling, as upon collision it felt a lot more like a slam.

"Ugh… ow…" She muttered as she promptly rolled off the stiff leather monstrosity, finally agreeing with Finn and Jake that her couch needed immediate attention. Maybe next century?

She giggled at her little joke before frowning at it and shifting to her back to stare at her ceiling. How long had she occupied this little house? A hundred years? Laughter once again filled the air as she remembered her excitement at having her own home; sure, she had lived in caves and even with Ash in the Treefort, but never had she smacked four walls together, a few windows and doors, and thrown a roof on the whole shebang and labeled it a house.

Well, actually she hadn't done that with this one either; she had just found the least crappy and dilapidated house in Ooo and teleported it. Yeah, teleportation was a pain in the neck-bites, but that and fixing it up had been easier than BUILDING one would have been. Still, it just had to be some crappy off-pink. Bubblegum had just loved that.

To Marceline, it was a shelter to be sure, and she had some fondness for it, but in reality? It wasn't home. She could easily imagine a fleet of scenarios which could cause her to pack, fly away and never come back. And maybe she would think about it with fondness, but no tears would be shed.

Just another shift, another drop in the bucket. If she was so used to faces changing, of faces disappearing, how could she give two fluffs about a house? All she could say about it was that she lived there. At least with people, there were memories, no matter how painful. Heh, as if that were true. She had plenty of memories painful enough to bury for goo—

Knock knock

Marceline turned in surprise, not expecting any visitors today… or perhaps she had been and had forgotten. With a sigh, she attempted to clear her mind at least a bit before greeting the knocker, but found herself unable to do so. She then walked to the door and opened it, revealing none other than a slightly petrified canine clutching a viola as if his life depended on it.

"Sup Jake. Can't believe you're here without Finn," Marceline commented, wondering if Jake was asking himself the same question due to how much he was shaking. The poor dog had never really gotten used to her, even though he did put a commendable front of it up while around his buddy.

"Finn wanted to ask if you wanted to jam out today, but he had some p-biz to deal with, so he sent me ahead," Jake replied, calming down a bit. Marceline decided she would ease off the scares today, and had to give him credit; he hadn't stuttered once.

"…I'm kind of feeling down," Marceline admitted, but on second thought realized that Finn's bright and stupid optimism might be exactly what she needed. "But I guess that would be pretty cool. Wanna give him a ring?"

"Ah, he figured you would say yes so he's just going to head down in a few," Jake replied, his eyes caught on something inside the house. Marceline raised an eyebrow and followed his gaze, leading right to Schwabl, her poodle.

"You gotta problem with my pooch, pooch?" Marceline asked darkly, already breaking her resolve.

"Oh, wha?! No! No! Uh, just wondering if… you know, is it alive?" Jake sputtered, and Marceline slapped her head and laughed.

"Nah, HE, Schwabl became a zombie a long time ago. Don't worry though, it was a mutual decision," Marceline added hastily as Jake nearly bee-lined out the door, though it was partially a lie. "Jake, listen bro, we need to have a discussion. Can I rub behind your ears?"

"E-Ears?! That's… that's tier 9, and I'm in a stable, committed relationship expecting child-rawwwwww." Jake's stand lasted up until Marceline's delicate fingers found his favorite ridges and dug in deeply. "A-Alright, whatever you want to talk about, just don't stop… er, do stop…"

"Sheesh, that was easy," Marceline giggled, shaking her head as she walked into the house, and despite his hesitation, Jake followed. "What I wanted to talk about was the fact that you need to stop being so scared around me. We've known each other for a while, and how many times have you seen me suck out someone's soul?"

There was an awkward silence where Jake alternated between frowning and looking at and then away from her. Finally, Jake sighed, placing his Viola on the wall and stroking his jowls. "Alright, guess this is finally happening."

With another clearing of his throat, the dog began to speak. "I've gone down to H E double-hockey sticks for you, lady. I've seen you illegitimately draw my friend into slavery. Your dad is the most evil being I've ever met. AND YOU SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF ME. But all of that was water under the bridge, until I found out about the LUMPING ZOMBIE POODLE. That's a dog, Marceline. I'm one of those. You turned an innocent, lovable Dog into one of your monstrous followers, and I will not stand for it, sit for it, or lie down for it lest it happens to me as well."

For a moment, after hearing his speech, Marceline nearly considered lashing out at how ridiculous Jake was being for still thinking she had any interest in causing him harm, but, to her surprise, he raised a paw as she opened her mouth and continued to speak.

"And furthermore, as much as I would rather NOT turn into your zombie dog, you don't worry me." Marceline raised an eyebrow as she smirked in amused protest, and Jake gulped. "Yes, you do scare me, but that's different. What worries me is you and Finn." He folded his arms, awaiting her reaction.

That caught Marceline off guard, and with a slight stutter she replied, "Wha-What about me and Finn? I already told him that I don't like him like that, you were there…" She grimaced, and as she did when afflicted by emotion, lifted her bass guitar off the ground and strummed a few chords.

"Oh, I believe you sister," Jake replied with sass, wagging his finger. "That's not my issue. You see, I'm a freaking magic dog. I'm not worried about the world around me sending some crap my way. But Finn? He's still a scrub! We go on some whacked out adventures, but the worst of them have involved you, and your psycho Dad. No offense!" He added quickly, but it didn't seem to do anything to calm Marceline.

It had the opposite effect, as she rose in the air, her eyes burning with red malice and three days of self contempt rearing in pure anger. "The worst of them have involved me?! So, you're saying you don't want to hang out with me? I'm just too bad and terrible, and—" She cut off as abruptly as she had started, lowering herself as she viewed the confused look on the dog's face. Clearly, that's not what he had been going for, and she bit her lip hard for her reaction.

"No, no, no! Not like that… sorry, I'm terrible at getting out what I want to quickly…" Jake muttered, smacking his head and turning around. "They were rad adventures. Some of Finn's favorites. But they were dangerous, and half the time he was in on them purely for your sake. Heck, half of them occurred because you didn't give us the whole picture in the first place!"

Marceline bit her lip ever harder, shrugging. His words rang true, as much as she disliked to admit it, but she found no real meaning to them. At least, she doubted he would possibly be willing to do down that road with her…

"I understand you're a deep person, and that you've lived a long time, and that you have a hard time getting your emotions out without music," Jake continued, and it appeared he was getting to his point. "But as far as I'm concerned, Finn is willing to risk his life for you, sometimes when you refuse to tell him what is going on and even sometimes when you tell him not to bother helping at all, and you don't even have the decency to let him know who you really are. You're more full of secrets than those magical black balls with the little screen and the 8 in the white sphere from before the War we find all over the place. And it's not like he hasn't tried to talk! And how on Ooo do you know the Ice King? And I didn't even know you had a zombie poodle! How hard it is to be open! GAH!"

Caught up in his emotions, Jake reached to flip over a table, before breathing out and realizing he was over-reacting. Marceline simply floated, unable to come to terms with the harsh truths of everything the dog had said, as well as the fact that he was the one who had said them, after hundreds of years of people who were much, much more legitimate and much less afraid of her failing to.

"Ya, ya get what I'm saying?" Jake asked, huffing as he bent over after the rant, but Marceline didn't respond. She just stared through the glass of her window, into the sunny fields just outside of her cave. Her mind flashed to years long ago. To sitting in a field like that herself. It was barely a memory; just the scent of grass and jam and the yellow of the sun in the sky.

"Get out. I have nothing to say to you. None of it would be worth it, and it's better this way. I can do this to you, but not Finn," Marceline whispered very quietly, her voice shaking with barely contained emotion. She should have known it was coming sooner or later. Heck, she actually gotten confronted about it, and that never happened.

"M…Marcy?" Jake said with a gulp, using her shortened name, which he rarely did. "Listen, you scare me, yeah, but it's not that I don't like you, and Finn thinks you're great! It's just, you know…"

"I know Jake. I know. It's always been me. I've always been the one to call out my own… is there even a word for it?" Marceline felt as if every other word would lead to a waterfall of curses and sighs and pleas and sobs. "Crap? You don't give yourself enough credit. You're a great friend and one of the bravest beings I know."

"Whoa, whoa! I'm so sorry dude! This was not supposed to be friendship-ending stuff! Listen, cut me off, but not Finn! Finn's a great guy!" Jake shouted, anxiety getting the better of him, but Marceline only shook her head.

"He is. Too good for me. He'll get deep enough down the rabbit hole that he'll feel I deserve saving, when there's nothing left to save."

"That's bullcrunch! You're a nice lady Marceline, you're shortchanging yourself!"

"I've been down this road so many times. Only one path. I've dragged you guys, especially Finn, in for too long. Tell him I'm sorry, and that we can't see each other anymore. And if he comes around here, tell him I'll leave. Tell him all that will occur if he shows up here for whatever reason will be me finding a new house. Then tell him it is entirely my fault. And if he doesn't believe you, here's a note."

Marceline snatched a spare piece of paper she had left out for songwriting and belligerently marked out a few words that Finn would recognize as her handwriting. As she turned to give it to the dog, she, to her surprise, felt his hands on her shoulders.

"Marceline," He said slowly and calmly, looking directly into her eyes. "This is insane. I'm mad sorry if I struck a never somewhere, but that wasn't my intent. You are my friend, and I am not going to let what I just said hurt you to the degree that it looks like it is. If I thought it would have, I never would have said it—"

"And how is that your fault!" Marceline screamed, slapping his arms off her body. "How could it be?! I'm the reason you wouldn't know! How can you say anything around me without knowing what would set me off?! Sometimes I cry when I watch people eat French Fries, Glob it! After Finn heard that song, he point-blank APOLOGIZED for eating fries in front of me before he knew. Who? Who would do that? I… I… Get out. Get out, get out, get out."

Marceline flew back into the wall, and slid down it, landing with a soft plump as tears began to fall. Jake, from the little bits of him she could see through her eyes, seemed dismayed as could be, but after a minute of having no idea what to do and realizing she would not reply to anything he said, heaved his shoulders, sighed, and walked out of her house with Viola in hand.

From outside, she could just make out fervent paddling, and all of a sudden: "Hey Jake! Sorry I'm late! Ready to jam? Whoa… dude, is everything—". Marceline didn't want to hear Jake's whispers describing her words, and wanted to hear Finn's admissions of disbelief even less. It took Jake ten minutes to convince the boy to not try to talk to her, and Marceline thanked the dog more than she could ever put into words for that effort.

She waited a long time after she knew they were gone before she did anything. Part of her was content to sit there and cry out for as long as she wanted, which could have been awhile. Yet, part of her knew that without a doubt Finn would return to try to console her either tonight or the next day, and that she had to leave. And fast.

Marceline knew she should leave now, but she was just too miserable to even considering it. As she continued to cry, she began to sing softly to herself, building a song from the latest wreckage in her life. Within the first verse she had worked in a bass line, and recovered her axe, strumming it softly.

I never thought someone would be so foolish and young
To care for a strange girl who must hide from the sun
Never thought I'd meet a boy, who cared about my fries
Never thought he'd care enough to stare into my sullen eyes

But I thought that if he knew it was only every friendship
That he would run away, and live to see another day
I thought that if he knew, I was a monster, through and through
He could hate me, and when he didn't, I let him in, anyway

Such a nice thought for a change, a hand to hold onto
But that hand won't stay the same, just like they all do
Everything about him screams he is of such endless age
But every time I look at his face
All I can imagine is me, digging his grave

With a whimper, Marceline shuddered, laying her bass down and curling up into a small ball on the ground. Schwabl came into the room a moment later, gently lapping up a stray tear of his companion's before lying down next to her in comfort. And as distraught as Marceline was, some part of her found solace in the presence of her only friend beside her, insisting on providing comfort no matter the cost. Reminded her a little of someone else she knew.

Well, my original idea for how I wanted this story to go completely shifted mid-way through, and while I kind of think this chapter is a little all over the place in some ways, I really like it in others.

As indicated by the "child" in the title, this fic will deal a lot with Marceline's past, but rather than going along with it completely chronologically I'm placing a story outside of it.

I've always found there to be an interesting dynamic with Marceline and Finn as she doesn't assume much out of people and Finn assumes so much out of himself. At first, I think she just thinks he's an idiot, but overtime warms up to how ridiculously noble he is, and a lot of this fic's plot will be that dynamic.

There will be some Sugarless Gum, but it won't be a focus, the same being said for Ash whenever he shows up.

Finally, it's worth noting writing Adventure Time styled songs is kind of difficult, hilariously enough. But I liked how it came out, along with the chapter as a whole. Thanks for reading!