The Note

Chapter 2

"Princess Bubblegum," Engagement Ring Princess sipped the peppermint licorice root tea politely and gave the princess a small but questioning smile. "How many Candy Kingdoms are there?"

"Just the one, silly!" Princess Bubblegum replied with a giggle, taking a sip of tea from her own dainty cup. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, because yesterday I met a prince." She smiled in a coy manner.

"Oh? And what was his name?" Princess Bubblegum couldn't hide the fact her curiousity was piqued. She had been alive for a long time, and a prince was seldom come across because most kingdoms were run by the monarchy of a female, or princess.

"His name is Prince Gumball," Engagement Ring Princess paused. "Of the Candy Kingdom."

There was a moment of silence between the two, as Princess Bubblegum's face hardened in consideration and she thought for a moment. Engagement Ring Princess awaited her response-or explaination-in silence while continuing to sip her tea. It came to a point where she almost thought she was never going to get one, and she was starting to feel quite awkward. "...Princess?"

"Sorry." Princess Bubblegum instantly straightened, nearly spilling her tea onto her skirt. "I have to go do some research in the lab."

"But-"

"Come back tomorrow and I'll explain in to you." Princess Bubblegum got up and the other princess followed suit. "Sorry I had to cut this visit so short, it's just... You gave me some very valuable information and I need to figure it out."

"...Oh. Okay." Engagement Ring Princess set down the fragile cup and did a small wave before she turned to leave ad exit the castle. Her face was set in a frown, not because she was just kicked out of her and Princess Bubblegum's private teaparty, but because she didn't get a definite answer. Okay maybe a little about the teaparty. It was good tea.

During the walk back to her own kingdom, Engagement Ring Princess reconsidered the situation. What had happened the evening before didn't make much sense. Prince Gumball was right. Meeting strangers late at night in the middle of the woods doesn't make sense. The visit with Princess Bubblegum didn't make sense. What if the princess was hiding something she didn't want Engagement Ring Princess to know about? Then again, she invited her back tomorrow, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's gonna spill the beans. What have I got myself into? She thought. It's all too weird. It doesn't make sense.

Meanwhile, in the Candy Kingdom, Prince Gumball was trying his own hand at figuring out the situation. He stared blankly at the computer in his labratory scrolling through pages and pages of search results until he came across something peculiar. A page about the Candy Kingdom. But not his. The one run by the so-called Princess Bubblegum. The page read:

"...The Candy Kingdom is a wonderful place to visit in Ooo. Ruled by Princess Bubblegum, it is a friendly and wecloming place to almost everyone. Except maybe Ice King... ...Princess Bubblegum is a strong leader to all of her candy citizens, and is always working in her lab to find ways to improve candy life and, as rumoured, extend candy lifespan? She's way into science. But everyone has their secrets so we won't get into that biz..."

"Who wrote this?" The prince exlaimed out loud. He reached for his notepad and scrawled a couple words, including "Ooo", "Princess Bubblegum" and "Ice King". He noted a few things under each term, including that Ooo appears to be the name of a place, Princess Bubblegum is a scientist and Ice King appears to be outlawed from the Candy Kingdom. He began searching up about the inhabitants of Princess Bubblegum's Candy Kingdom and was shocked to discover the vast majority-if not all-of the citizens looked quite like his. Somewhat satisfied with the information he had collected, the next portion of his research was to locate the duplicate kingdom. From his understanding the kingdom appeared out of nowhere... Just like that girl he met yesterday. What was her name...?

Engagement Ring Princess. She appeared out of nowhere. But that was far more normal than an entire kingdom.

And then it clicked in his head. Wait a minute...

He already knew someone from the Jewelry Kingdom. Named Engagement Ring Prince. He looked fairly similar to that princess he met. And yet Engagement Ring Prince never mentioned having a sister. Prince Gumball was ready to explode upon this realization-there were two Candy Kingdoms and two Jewelry Kingdoms. The rulers appear to be opposite genders from the other, and have similar qualities. He stood up and pumped his fist in the air. "YES!"

Quickly he scribbled down his findings and rushed out of the lab with them. "Hey! Hey! Look what I- wait..." He halted himself abruptly and looked around at his confused citizens. "Sorry," He mumbled before walking briskly toward the castle doors and outside his castle. He whistled for Lord Monochromicorn and hopped on his back. "TO THE JEWELRY KINGDOM!"

Within a few moments the prince hopped off Lord Monochromicorns back infront of the castle doors of the Jewelry Kingdom. He knocked hurriedly on the doors and realised that he technically could be at the wrong castle. What if Engagement Ring Princess was the one who appeared at the other side of the door? He took a deep breath and brushed that notion aside-she could use this information too. He could use it to explain why he randomly appeared at her castle. After a few moments he knocked again, and to his relief it was the prince that answered the door.

"Hello, Prince Gumball." Engagement Ring Prince greeted. Prince Gumball looked him over, mentally comparing him to his counterpart. They were both well-dressed classy people with rings for crowns. It seemed he was staring to long too intensley because the prince eventually rose a brow and said, "Why are you staring at me like that? Are you checking me out?"

"What? No!" Prince Gumball exclaimed, slightly flustered. He shoved his notes into the other prince's arms. "Look at these, okay? It's like major important!"

Engagement Ring Prince fumbled with the papers for a moment before he read them. His face hardened before he let out a snicker. "Is this some kind of joke? That's kind of weird."

"No!" Prince Gumball let out an aggravated sigh. Snatching his papers back, he began sketching on the back of one of them. "Last night I met a girl that looked just like you. Her name is Engagement Ring Princess, of the Jewelry Kingdom in... Ooo." He handed the paper over to the other prince, now with a rough sketch of the princess on it.

He looked it over for a minute before he started laughing. "Dude that is mad creepy."

PG forwned. "Ugh... I should've known you wouldn't understand." He took his papers and hopped back onto Lord Monochromicorn. "Good morrow, sir."

So much for sharing his discoveries with people. Now he needed to locate one of the duplicate kingdoms. Maybe he should call Fionna and Cake to do that. Or he could do it himself. Whatever works. Regardless of how he was gonna make this happen, it was going to be tomorrow. He wanted to make sure there was enough time available to dedicate to this search-not just half a day. Besides, right now he wanted to relax and plan out how this was going to be done. Peppermint Maid greeted him with tea and graciously poured him a cup. He thanked her and plopped down on his couch with it. In an attempt to sip it he ended up burning his mouth and instictively he pulled the cup away from his face-a little too fast because he ended pouring some of the hot tea onto his legs. Shouting in pain, the prince threw the cup to the side and jumped up as a reflex, and instantly regretted it when he heard the porcelain smash on the ground. "FUDGE!"