Chapter Text
It isn't working.
Betty breathed heavily as panic quickly set in.
Why isn't it working?!
Her previous two attempts at using the crown to wish away Golb had failed, and the room was getting smaller at an alarming rate. She crouched to the smallest position she could get into and began to whimper. She couldn't fail this, all of Ooo and Simon's life were on the line!
Simon… she thought. Even in the end, she couldn't help but think of him. She huddled closer and steadied herself, thinking of one more last-ditch effort wish as the room continued to cram her. "However it has to happen…" she murmured. "I wish for the power to keep Simon safe."
She heard a faint tone come from the crown and smiled to herself. The wish must have gone through. I guess this is it, she thought as a strange feeling of calm fell over her. At the very least, I'm glad he was the last person I got to see.
Suddenly, however, the room stopped shrinking. Betty had closed her eyes to brace for the inevitable, but peeked them open again at the sudden change. Crouching in this position was extremely uncomfortable, and she was almost certain she was running out of air. What's going on? Is Golb just gonna keep me like this?
In the moment after her thought, the entire room started to tremble. The odd vibrations made her ears hurt a little, and her confusion shifted to nervousness. "Is...is someone there or something?" she asked nobody in particular, with no clue of what was happening.
Without warning, an awfully loud screeching sound surrounded the whole area and the room's walls completely disappeared. The space around her went from bright red to a blinding white, and forces of energy spiraled around her, making it feel like she was hovering in a wind tunnel. She put her hands up to her ears to block out some of the noise, but it hardly made a difference. Dizziness hit her and she closed her eyes, groaning.
A minute or so passed, and the screeching sound faded away. She felt herself stand up, and before she could notice, her eyes were open again. But as she looked down, she realized she was several feet above the Gum War battleground, and could hardly hear anything more than a muffle. Her vision was weak, and she couldn't make out the faces of anyone on the ground.
What happened…? she thought hazily. I don't understand…
Take him out of here. Another thought entered her, stern and urgent. You won't have control for much longer. Enter the portal and get him out of Ooo.
Betty looked up, feeling drawn to the pitch black void above her. She slowly levitated herself inside the portal, not casting a glance backward. Once she was fully in the void, the portal underneath her closed up. She hovered in the darkness and sat herself in a cross-legged position. She raised her right hand to look at it- red, sharp, and felt enormous.
Golb? I'm Golb? Or maybe...I merged with him? Betty's head spun. If he's here with me, and we're out of Ooo, then did I really do it? Everyone's safe now...away from Golb… Dizziness began to creep back up on her, drowning out her thoughts. Her hands fell back into her lap and, despite her best efforts to resist, she felt herself start to black out.
.
..
…
"...not doing that, Jag."
"Hey, you never know! Chicken calls could work, and this one looks human. I've heard humans love chickens."
Betty grumbled hearing the voices around her. The other two must've heard, because they quickly went quiet afterwards. She tried to open her eyes to see who was talking, but promptly realized that she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. She also noticed that her hands were in an interlocked position that rested on her chest, and her legs were bent at an upwards angle, like someone who was mid-jump.
One of the two, a lady, spoke up. "Excuse me...were you also taken by Golb? I ask because you don't really look like the rest of us in here."
"'The rest of us'?" Betty echoed. "What do you mean?"
"Uh, we all kinda look similar here in Golb," the other guy chimed in. "And we can float around pretty much anywhere, at least until you hit a wall. But that's if you go reaaaallllly far."
"Can you open your eyes?" the lady asked, Betty shaking her head. "Well you can't see us, but you're definitely not the same. You still have your physical form, we may as well be spirits."
"Whoa," Betty said, wishing she could see. "Did you lose your bodies over time?"
"Nope, we came here this way," the other replied. "After Golb took us, we just kinda floated aimlessly here. Somethin' about you is different. You still got all your colors and stuff."
"But you said you could float around? I...can't really move that much…"
"Yeah, I honestly don't know why," the lady said. "You're the only one we've seen who's like this."
Unseen by Betty, all three of them floated in a dark maroon and spacious void, slightly illuminated by the blueish gray glow from the spirit-like bodies of other people trapped there. A dimension on its own, inside of Golb himself.
"Oh sorry, guess it would be nice for you to know our names. I'm Margles," she said, sporting what would be a purple dress and long, gray boots, but she had the same blue-gray color scheme as everyone else, save for Betty.
"Margles?" Betty blurted out, stunned. It's actually Margles? I can't believe I met up with her!
"Um, yeah...what, have you heard of me?" she said, scratching her head. "I'd be surprised."
"Yeah, I've definitely heard of you…" Betty muttered.
"Well, I'm Jag, the lone 'corn. Or used to be, I guess," said the other one, a rainicorn with a body that would be mostly white with a few tan triangle-shaped fur patterns across his back. His horn was naturally chipped but would still work like normal had he not been in the void, and his mane and tail were silver. His limbs would be a dark gray color, but his current look gave them a slightly blue tint. "Have ya heard of me?"
"No, sorry."
"Dang, guess my reputation didn't hold up as long as I thought it would."
"Aw, I'm sure it held up somewhere. My name is Betty Grof," she said, nodding her head slightly.
"Well despite our situation, it's nice to meet you." Margles cleared her throat a little. "So...you said you know me?" she said hesitantly.
"Only because of King Man," Betty explained.
"King Man?"
"Uh, he used to be called Magic Man."
"Huh?!"
"Hey, your boo!" Jag laughed.
"You've seen him? Oh, that means he's okay!" Margles beamed, putting her hands together.
"Not just okay, he's the ruler of Mars now." And the one who caused me to go nuts, but that's another story, Betty added to herself.
"Such a relief…" Margles sighed. "I think about him a lot, just hoping he's doing well. I wish I didn't have to leave like that." She paused for a second. "I can't keep track of time anymore, but I'm sure it's been hundreds of years by now. He's probably found someone else, and I wouldn't blame him. I wouldn't want him to be alone for the rest of his life, and he could probably find someone more fitting."
"What? What makes you say that?" Betty asked. "Weren't you married?"
"Well, yes but I've always been a rather simple martian, not nearly as magical as a few others. The most impressive thing I could do is float off the ground, and now I float 24/7," she laughed halfheartedly. "Magic Man has his name because of how stunning his magic is. It makes sense considering his brothers are deities, but still. I always found it funny how he liked someone like me."
"Girl, you downplay yourself too much," Jag said, frowning. "I've known you for a long time now and I've always thought you were cool."
Betty nodded. "Yeah, and Magic-- well, King Man, tried really hard to find you. He told me himself."
Margles held onto a bit of her hair. "...Really?"
"Mm-hm. We actually had a plan to save you, but as you can see, that failed. He's put up statues of you all over Mars in your honor, he definitely cares about you."
"I...don't know what to say…" Margles felt herself tear up. "I'm so glad he still loves me. I was kind of afraid of saying so, thinking I should move on or something since I'm stuck here."
"Pshh, come on, Marg." Jag floated over to her and gave her an air hug, unable to give her a real one due to not being physical. "If you love your man, you love your man. Ain't nothin' wrong with that."
Margles sniffled, always thankful for his company. "Thank you, Jag."
"Heh, no prob. Okay, be right back," he said, floating upwards a bit. "I'm gonna find someone who isn't asleep and see if they've hearda me." He shook his mane a little and floated off into the distance, seeing if anyone else was willing to chat for once.
Margles watched him fly away, then turned her attention back to Betty. "So you two were trying to save me? How come you wanted to, specifically?"
"Well, to be honest...I mostly wanted to summon Golb to use his powers," she admitted.
"But Golb is nothing but chaos. Why would you ever use his powers?"
Betty thought of all the research and work she did while in Ooo, feeling wistful. "Because...I was scared. I've been scared for months but I was really scared. Of failing, of giving up, of losing the person I love: Simon Petrikov."
"Another human, I'm guessing," Margles said, listening intently.
"Yeah," Betty nodded. "He's been cursed for so long, and I've tried so many things to help him, but I couldn't do it. I knew Golb was an all-powerful being, and I felt like harnessing his power to help Simon was my last resort. I panicked so badly, it really felt like it made sense, but Golb is extremely dangerous. MMS was making me lose it, and I didn't grasp just how badly it affected me. Why couldn't I see it…" she said bitterly. She then shook her head. "Sorry, sorry."
Margles waved a hand. "No, you're okay."
Betty sighed. "But I guess it sort of worked out in the end. It's a long story, but I was able to use a magic crown after Golb had reset Simon and I back to normal, and I think that made me fuse with Golb somehow."
"So that's what that weird event was!" Margles exclaimed. "It was so loud and bright, I thought it would scare every person in here." Though it doesn't look like she's fused all that much now, she thought, noting Betty's appearance: blue, pointed glasses, a green turtleneck dress shirt with dark green on the openings, jeans, and gray boots. She also had a faint glow around her, and was still stuck in that odd position that she couldn't really move out of.
"Yeah. It wasn't pleasant, but it beats getting smashed to death like I almost was." Every painful event that led up to Betty's current situation started to resurface in her head, and she shuddered. "Actually, I think I just wanna rest for now. All of this is a lot to take in. Sorry."
"Oh, it's fine," Margles said, backing up a bit. "I wouldn't want to probe you. Sorry for...all that's happened. I know it's rough."
Betty nodded and went silent, glad to get some time to herself.
Margles hovered into a lying position and closed her eyes, thinking of getting some rest from one of the rare times something eventful happens in this place. Not too long after, Jag came floating back, calling for Margles, and she sat up again.
"Almost everybody is still asleep, surprise surprise," he grumbled, settling next to her. "And anybody who is awake doesn't wanna talk."
"Can you really blame them?" she asked, swinging her leg a little. "Life here, if you can call it that, is rather bleak."
"Yeah, but it'd probably be a little better if we were all a bit more interactive," he muttered, turning to look at Betty. "Aw man, don't tell me she's gonna sleep for eons, too."
"No, I think it's best she gets some rest," Margles said. "Seems like she was really going through it before she got here."
"Hm?" Jag curled himself into a comfy position.
"Well that big, weird thing that happened with the bright light and screeching?" Margles explained. "She says that's because she fused with Golb or something. And there's this one person she's in love with, Simon Petrikov…"
Margles continued to tell Jag what he missed out on, him listening curiously. However, Betty was already asleep by the time he arrived, hoping to get her mind off of everything.
.
..
…
Betty had sat on what she thought was a fallen log; she wasn't sure, nothing was entirely accurate in a dream. So this is what lucid dreaming is like, she thought. Too bad I'm doing it while my body is God knows where in the living world.
To be fair, she did know where she was: inside of Golb, who was inside of the Plane of Nothingness. She had been there once after all, with King Man. But she might as well be nowhere. That place is depressingly endless.
She got up from her log and started to walk a bit, the areas around her seeming to be a mash of memories and feelings. It felt good to be able to see and move her arms and legs again, even if it was just a dream. She noticed something dangled around her neck, but it was oddly obscured and hard to make out, so she just let it be.
Time passed, and she continued to walk around assorted memories: her eating food with her mom, dealing with co-workers who sometimes drove her up the wall, her lying on a couch with Simon, and plenty others. It all felt bittersweet, and still had the weird sense of fogginess that came with any dream.
Some unknown time later, Betty laid on a grassy field and stretched her limbs, her eyes closed. She couldn't sleep since she was already dreaming, but it still felt nice to rest her eyes. Maybe I should wake up soon, say hi to Jag and Margles, she thought, wondering how long it had been since she'd fallen asleep. But if I'm awake, I'll just be stuck in that position again and not be able to see. I can probably dream for a while longer.
She sat up and sighed, deciding to get up and do some more walking. As she walked, she noticed that the scenery began to turn more sparse. Areas had random gaps of white throughout them, until eventually she was walking in an open plane. She glanced behind herself and saw nothing but a white void, for what looked like ran on for miles. She also noticed that something about this area was...different. Like she could actually see for the first time since she started dreaming.
I know this is a dream. I've been dreaming. So why does it feel so real...? she thought. Just as she was trying to piece together what was going on, she saw something red drift to the ground a few feet in front of her. She leaned forward a bit, looking closely. A...petal? She looked up in the direction that it came from, and saw someone who was seemingly sitting on nothing, right in mid-air. He was sitting amidst a few roses, and his front was turned away from her, but his features were unmistakable.
"...Simon?" she whispered. She wondered if she was starting to lose it again; it almost felt too good to be true for him to just be there.
Apparently her whisper was loud enough for Simon to hear, because he pricked up at the sound of it. He glanced to his sides for a second before he turned around and looked down, jolting at the sight of her. "Betty! Is that you?" he called down to her.
Betty was stunned. None of the memories of Simon had acknowledged her whenever she tried to intervene, it was more like looking at a recording. I can't believe-- how do I…? She frantically wondered how she could reach him if he was a little distance up in the air, but then she remembered she was still dreaming. She gathered herself and took a big jump from the ground, floating quickly as she reached Simon's level and grabbed him for a hug.
They wrapped their arms around each other and laughed heartily, the momentum of Betty's jump making them spin around gently in the void. "Yes! It's me!" she answered him as they settled back down to the "ground" with roses on it, still holding each other.
"I can't believe it's really you!" Simon said, leaning back to look at her. "You escaped Golb!"
Betty looked to the side a little, sad to bring his hopes down. "Well no, not really. This is a dream, I'm afraid." But why does it feel so real?
"What?" He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small paper, only to see that the text on it was gibberish. "Just another dream, huh?" he said bitterly, tucking the paper back into his pocket. He pulled her in closely again. "Then I'll still treasure it as long as I can."
Betty rested her head on his shoulder. This is too much, she thought, closing her eyes. It was so unfair to feel this if it was all just make-believe anyway. She'd probably wake up and forget it even happened. But something in her kept nagging away, telling her that what was happening was crucial, until she suddenly remembered something. A concept she had learned while traveling Ooo and questioning other wizards: shared dreaming.
Shared dreams were phenomenons that happened between creatures that shared an extraordinary connection. In the past, Betty had believed that something similar could happen to other humans, but nothing to the scale of what the people of Ooo had said to her. Being able to have full-blown conversations, increased senses and more, she had an uncanny feeling that they were currently experiencing it. Something this important had the ability to change everything, and she couldn't miss this chance.
She lifted her head and looked at him. "Simon, if I tell you something right now, do you think you could remember it when you wake up?" It suddenly felt like she was racing against a clock.
"I'll try my best," he said, looking at her questioningly. Dream or not, he'd definitely give his full attention to Betty.
"When Golb and I left Ooo, we went to his realm called the Plane of Nothingness. Though the dimension is accessible, I'm not sure you'd be able to get there on your own. I've never really heard of an easy way to do so. But given that I'm able to speak to you now, there must be a way," she said hurriedly.
Simon was startled. There was no way his mind would just make up that information for a dream, which led him to believe that this was no normal dream. "Wait, so...is this really you?" he asked hesitantly. "Not even a made-up dreamy presence, you're actually…" He lifted his hand to hold the side of her face and she nuzzled into it, tears threatening to leave her eyes.
"Yeah…" she murmured. "I want to say more, but I don't kn…..ime we have left." Ugh! she cursed at herself, feeling her words melt away as the area around them got hazier. We can't wake up now! I swear we just got here…
"Huh? I didn't hear…"
She held onto his arm sadly. "We're waking up. I'm sorry…"
"What-- no! Please, just stay a little longer…!"
Betty shook her head, and leaned forward to hug Simon tightly again. "...hope….you again soon. I love you, Simon."
"I…" Something shimmered in Simon's peripheral, and he looked up. A giant golden bird, someone who he had only seen once, stared down at him. "...love you…"
Slowly, Simon woke up in his bed, feeling the remnants of a couple tears on his face. "...too," he muttered.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, then sighed. He currently lived in one of the few guest rooms in the Candy Castle, offered by Princess Bubblegum. Finn and Jake also had a room of their own some ways away in the castle, needing one after their treehouse got destroyed during the battle with Golb.
He reached over to his side and grabbed his phone off of an end table and turned it on. 5:27 A.M. The sun would be rising soon... Thoughts of the dream he just had with Betty suddenly hit him, and he quickly started typing up all he could remember from it; he had a feeling he wouldn't be forgetting this one anytime soon, though.
Once he was done, he turned his phone back off and put it on his lap, resting his face in his hands. Of all the recurring dreams he'd had of Betty since the incident, none of them ever felt that real. As he sat, various ideas began to swim through his head, and a certain major one pressed at him. He wondered if anyone else would believe him to be silly for thinking so, but he quickly disregarded the thought.
He looked to the window to see the night sky, which would soon turn into a milky dawn. It really was a lovely sight, something that should be shared, which made him feel all the more fixated on his current goal. "Betty…" he murmured, sitting up straighter. "I won't give up on you."
He had decided: when the sun rose, he would get back into extensive research. And, for the first time since his initial failed trip to Prismo's months ago, Simon felt a rejuvenated spark of determination.