At Long Last - Part 2

    Marshall Lee floated down, and stood, somewhat crumpled-looking, by the foot of Gumball’s bed.

    “Your father? The Drauger? What vision?” Prince Gumball frowned, confused. “Marshall Lee Abadeer, are you messing with me again? Cause if you are, I’ll-“ Marshall Lee looked up at Prince Gumball, his red eyes wet and sad. Gumball stopped talking immediately, realizing that Marshall Lee would never go this far to mess with him. He sat on the foot of his bed, and motioned for Marshall to sit with him. “OK, let’s start from the beginning. What’s going on?”

    Marshall sighed, sniffed, and sat awkwardly by Gumball. “We’re gonna need to go into some backstory, some of my personal history. You have to promise not to tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.” Gumball nodded. “Promise. Please.”

    “I hereby Royal Promise not to tell anyone what you are about to tell me.” Oh glob, Prince Gumball thought to himself. This must be really bad.

    “OK, here we go.” Marshall steeled himself, and began. “I wasn’t always like this. A vampire, I mean. I’ve always been part demon, what with my mom being in charge of the Nightosphere. But my dad… he was normal, a normal human. This was all before the Great Mushroom War, you see. When… when the war began, I was separated from them. I thought I’d lost them forever. Thank glob Simone found me, I would have been a goner. I didn’t know, not really, that I was different from her. My father had raised me, and I thought my mom was just a business woman. After the war was over, after Simone had become the Ice Queen, I was reunited with my mom in the Nightosphere. We didn’t always see eye to eye, and I ended up moving out when I was 22. That was when I saw my dad again.” Marshall’s eyes filled with tears again, and Gumball reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thanks. We had been together for less than twelve hours when the Draugur came.”

    “Yeah, this Draugur thing, what is it?” Gumball asked, interrupting.

    “I’m not sure. You know how the Lich was created by the Mushroom War, somehow? I think it also created the Draugur, but I’m not sure. Anyway, the Draugur is a vampire. The vampire. The one that bit me, that turned me in to… what I am today.”

    “I thought you are a vampire.” Gumball raised his eyebrows inquisitively. He had never heard of this Draugur thing before, and it intrigued him.

    “I am, but I’m also half-demon. That’s the only reason I’m still alive. Well, alive-ish. Normally a bite from the Draugur kills instantly. I saw…” His hands shook, and Gumball reached over and squeezed them again. “I saw it kill an entire village, men, women, children, even their livestock. It was horrific.”

    “Why?” Marshall shot an angry glare at Gumball, who realized he had been misunderstood. “No, I mean why did it kill everyone? What does it want?”

    “I thing it’s lonely. Imagine a being with the power of the Lich, but with the crazy emotions and loneliness of Ice Queen. All it wants is a companion, someone to share it’s undead time with. I think it was going to choose me, since I didn’t die from its bite, but my father… he sacrificed his life to save mine.”

    “The Draugur killed him?” Gumball was beginning to tear up as well, realizing the trauma Marshall Lee had gone through.

    “Worse. He volunteered to spend his life with the Draugur, to be its companion, in return for sparing me. The last I saw of him, he was being taken by the Draugur to the  Unknown Lands in the north. I tried to follow, but I didn’t know I could fly. I never saw my dad again.” Tears were now streaming down Marshall Lee’s face. He sniffed, turning away from Gumball.

    “Hey, hey. Come here.” Gumball put a hand on Marshall’s shoulder, guiding the vampire to Gumball’s shoulder. Marshall Lee buried his face in Gumball’s soft shoulder, blushing.

    After a few minutes, Marshall sat up and wiped his face. “You know what?” Prince Gumball said, looking into Marshall’s eyes. “That globing sucks. Like, big time really really ten hundred percent sucks.” Marshall half sobbed, half laughed, and a faint smile appeared briefly on his face.

    “Yeah…”

    “Are you gonna be alright?” Prince Gumball said, standing.

    “Yeah, I think so.”

    “OK, let’s take a look at this vision prophecy thing of yours.”