Ice & Shadows

-|CASPER, NOVA, & ASTRA|-

SIMON'S POV

I awoke with a disgruntled sigh, feeling as though my head was throbbing like a drum. With a groan, I rose from my bed and reached for the back of my head, hoping to alleviate the ache. To my astonishment, I discovered that the portal at the base of my skull remained open.

"The crown!" I gasp. I turn around and see the crown lying on its side nearby.

Getting up fully, I pick it up and look around.

"Where am I?"

It appeared to be a void full of different shaped blocks, floating around in random patterns. I walk towards the edge of my platform to see the Lich. I can vaguely hear what he's saying.

"Scared of the darkness that lay before your eyes..."

"You!" I yell out as I try and carefully climb off my block platform onto the Lich's.

The Lich pays no mind as I land in front of him.

"Hey! Lich!" I grunt and kick. "What did you do to my spell, huh?"

I flinch back as the Lich's head snaps upwards to look into the void.

"Great embodiment of chaos."

"Great embodiment of chaos?" I question.

"Hear me!"

I take more steps back as I look into the void also.

"For ages untold I studied your ways, devoting my existence to you," The Lich continued. "I strove to be your vassal on the physical plane, to build mountains of bodies in your honor, to extinguish all life, and in my universe, this I achieved."

The Lich looked up with victory before looking down with sadness.

"But this gave me no satisfaction. In succeeding, I lost all purpose."

I don't know why I decided to speak up, but I did.

"I know what you me-"

"Why? Why must this be?" The Lich interrupted.

The Lich then slammed his bony fists onto the block, causing the block to crumble from the impact.

"Hear me, Golb."

"GOLB?" I whisper in fear and shock before paying more attention to the void.

A rumbling happens around us. I watch as Golb slowly rotates to face the Lich and I. Golb's eyes are big and round but just above those eyes of chaos, lies the eyes of Betty.

The Lich quickly bows his body down, but I feel the need to say something. To ask something.

"Betty, are you in there?" I walk forward. "Even a little?"

The eyes of Golb don't move. I feel a frown make its way to my face.

"I finally get to you when I'm not even trying. I've–I've wanted to see you again for so long." I hug the crown tighter in my arms.

"No, no, no. Answer me." The Lich yells as he sheds his skin to reveal his skeleton form. The Lich stands up and looks at Golb.

"What more could I have done? What do you want from me now?" The Lich's eyes glow a bright green fire before calming.

Golb's eyes move and look at the Lich. A deep, aggressive growl echoes through the void. The Lich starts to float upwards and his bones start to shake aggressively.

"What?" He asks in confusion and fear.

Golb's eyes shake the slightest as the Lich continues to float high above the ground. The Lich suddenly screams as he is contorted, bones breaking everywhere, before being turned into one of the many floating blocks surrounding us.

I stood there in stunned silence, grappling with a mix of emotions that left me speechless and bewildered. The heavy stillness that enveloped us was impossible to overlook. My gaze shifted towards Golb... Betty? Golbetty? As my eyes met the fractured visage with four unblinking gazes fixed on me, a shiver of fear shot through me, causing me to gasp involuntarily.

"Betty, I really tried to fix you," I say as I walk more towards the ledge of the block. "I searched for years for a way to undo this..."

Golbetty continued to stare.

I lower my head in involuntary shame.

"...but I failed."

"Living among the humans in Ooo, I felt completely out of place and time. I did meet someone similar, you would have loved to meet her. But that isn't the point I'm trying to make."

I look down into the void.

"My life had been drained of all meaning."

I continued to stare into the void. It felt familiar in a way. Like something was trying to tell me it was okay. It gave me a realization.

"You gave me a second chance, and I've wanted it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Betty," I stared up at Golbetty.

I stare at the crown for a second before placing it down beside me and sitting on the edge.

"When I first did the ritual, I just wanted to come here and tell you that...but then something else happened. I met someone like me, Lucy Thompson, who had been trapped in a cave since the apocalypse. She only survived all that time because she made a deal with Marcy's father. He gave her a curse that came with it. She was found by Princess Bubblegum and had to learn how the world worked." I look down with a smile.

"Then we met two people who really needed our help, Fionna and Cake." I get up with the crown and back away from the edge. "You would have liked them."

I look at the crown in my hands. I know what needs to be done, it's just a shame that I won't remember Lucy. I just hope she'll cherish the time we spent together as much as I did.

"They'll use a second chance better than I ever did." I tap the crown as I hold it in my hands. "You of all people should understand why I must do this."

I turn my back to Golbetty with a smile. I hold the crown above my head and close my eyes.

"I finally have a purpose now." Just before I can rest the crown onto my head, I feel lightning electrocute me, making me gasp. I feel my body become lighter and I feel the crown drop from my hands.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I feel static in my body as I continue to hold the crown above my head.

"I finally have a purpose now."