Adventure Time, Fantasy AU, education
A row of candy children stood in front of a wide, pink door, hopping from foot to foot and giggling in excitement. Though the class wasn’t going to start for another five minutes, they had already been waiting for twenty—each of the little pieces of chocolate, jollies, peppermints, and taffies, thrilled at the idea of what was coming.
When the door finally opened, they burst into the classroom, and in the span of seconds, instead of the usual minutes accompanied by the princess’ instructions, they took their places and began the silence-packed wait.
“Boy, I see you’re excited.” The response was twelve heads’ nods. “Good morning, class.”
“Good morning, Princess Bubblegum,” they replied in unison.
“Who’s going to tell me what we’re doing today?”
Her question was met with twelve arms springing into the air.
"Caramel Popcorn?" A chunky little caramel with the sweetest dimples stood up. "We're going to learn about VAMPIRES!"
The last word was close to a shriek, and the other children joined Caramel Popcorn in exhilaration.
"Yes, yes, SHH!" Though she appeared to be trying to sound commanding, the faint smile on Princess Bubblegum’s mouth couldn’t go unnoticed. “Yes, today’s topic is another of our series of lessons about ancient mythical creatures. So far, we have talked about fairies, titans, cyclops, dragons, and unicorns. Today, let me introduce you to my very special friend—”
The end of her sentence was cut out by a sudden, ground-shaking, mischievous laughter. A silky mist rose up the windows, so heavy and dense the classroom turned grey. A creature showed up, wide and pitch-black, making the space drown in darkness, with only the figure’s bloodshot red eyes serving as a source of light.
The children cried. Tumbling and tripping, they shoved away their desks and chairs to run and grip Princess Bubblegum’s dress with their little hands. Shaking, they listened to their own sobs prove inaudible against the monster’s roar. They shut their eyes in an attempt to drive away the danger.
“We’re dead!” screamed one of them, who then jumped at the sound of their own voice.
“Marceline!” shouted Princess Bubblegum with her eyebrows furrowed. It was quiet again, aside from a dark-haired girl rolling with laughter on the other side of the room.
The place was a mess; furniture trampled, crayons broken, and children bruised. And to top it all, there was still mist dissolving around them, now smelling like eggs and pie.
“You should’ve seen your faces!” Marceline wiped away a tear. Then, a finger pointed at the bunch, still half-hidden behind the princess. They peeked out and watched her with their eyes wide and mouths open. The remnants of forgotten tears were still on their faces. “That’s why you never pick a fight with a vampire queen. That was lesson number one.”
The children unleashed their inner mayhem; utterly enthralled by what they so feared not a minute ago, they surrounded Marceline, bombarding her with way too many questions for anyone to be able to keep up.
“I can’t believe it,” huffed Princess Bubblegum, mostly to herself. “Why would I ever think that’d be a good idea.”