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It had been several months, almost a year since Dark Choco abandoned the Strawberry Jam Sword, left the Cookies of Darkness, and went off on his own to travel the world. For the past year, he had gone around Earthbread, experiencing and seeing things that he never got to see/experience while he was in the Cookies of Darkness, and he got to do it of his own volition. It was the first time in over 10 years that he had made a decision by himself, and not with the ‘help’ of the parasite that was the Strawberry Jam Sword. It felt so….refreshing, just to be his own person, and do things he wanted to do, instead of what the sword, or Pomegranate Cookie, or Dark Enchantress Cookie wanted him to do. His thoughts were finally his own. For the first time, in a very long time, he felt truly happy.
He didn’t struggle when surviving on his own for a year. In fact, he was thriving. As expected of the son of the warrior king, Dark Cacao Cookie. He had all the years of training out in the forests and mountains of the Dark Cacao Kingdom alongside his father to thank for that. Sure, he could stay at an inn or something, but sometimes he just wanted to feel the thrill of sleeping outside, having to hunt to get food, and crafting his own tent from the hides of animals that he had hunted. It reminded him of his childhood, and it reminded him of home. It brought him a sense of comfort, and familiarity. Even sometimes while in the Cookies of Darkness, he’d leave the Castle of Darkness to go outside in the wilderness of Beast-Yeast and pitch a tent. He’d only do it when he was feeling particularly homesick, because whenever he did it he’d get a repremanding from Pomegranate Cookie, saying how his “primitive ways'' had no place under the roof of Dark Enchantress Cookie, and that if he really wanted to sleep outside he could leave and not come back. He ignored her and did it anyway, because her words had no meaning to him if they weren’t instructions from Dark Enchantress Cookie. She could judge him if she wanted, but he really didn’t care as long as Dark Enchantress Cookie was fine with it.
Now, to the present.
His newest challenge stood before him. The Black Citadel, the place he once called home, hadn’t changed a bit. The pitch-black cacao bricks that lined the Great Wall, the sugary banners and flags adorning the Dark Cacao Kingdom’s insignia fluttering gently in the icy wind, the sounds of Cream Wolves howling in the distance, the strong, overwhelming scent of chocolate; He couldn’t deny it any further, he was finally home. He would be lying if he said he didn’t miss the icy winds nipping at his body. All that was left was to go and see his father, but considering the last time he came here, he pushed him off the Great Wall, he assumed he wouldn’t be let in so easily. He’d have to sneak in, then. So for now, he trudged into the forest, where he’d wait until nightfall.
Nighttime had finally arrived, so he got up from the fallen tree trunk he had been sitting on, finished the last of his rations he had saved from the last inn he went to, and made his way towards the intimidating looking Citadel.
Sneaking into the Citadel was easier said than done. The Dark Cacao Kingdom was probably the most heavily guarded kingdom in all of Earthbread. There’s a reason the Great Wall exists, after all. The warrior took a moment to think up a strategy, using what knowledge he remembered about the Citadel’s security system to his advantage. He knows that the West Wall tends to be the least guarded at nighttime, so he’ll sneak in through there. He knows not to underestimate the Watchers, because even though it’s the least guarded, the Watchers will still be there, and even the cockiest of warriors know better than to underestimate them. The Watchers are the most elite of the elite, they’re incredibly skilled and absolutely lethal in battle. Most of them were trained under King Dark Cacao Cookie himself. He had to be very careful.
Climbing the Great Wall using imperfections and chips in the cacao bricks, Dark Choco scaled his way up the wall. Before he fully climbs onto the wall, he does a quick scan to see if there are any Watchers. The coast is clear, so he hoists himself up onto the wall, and quickly hides behind the battlement of the wall to shield himself from the line of sight of any Watchers who were inside the Citadel, looking out at the wall. He’s been successful so far, so hopefully nothing goes wrong.
Until he hears footsteps behind him. Shit, the only weapon he has on him is a dagger he made out of a cake boar’s tusk! He unsheathes it from his belt and quickly turns around, holding his dagger in a defensive position, only to be met with the bow and arrow of…
“...your highness??”
It was Caramel Arrow Cookie. Her face had a mix of emotions on it; On the one hand, she was relieved to see Dark Choco again. But on the other hand, she was shocked. Why did he come back here, and why on Earthbread was he scaling the Great Wall??
“...Caramel Arrow Cookie?”
Dark Choco responds in a hushed tone of voice. After a few minutes of silence, save for the wind blowing gently and the sound of the flag flapping, Dark Choco motioned for Caramel Arrow to kneel down below the battlement of the wall, which she did. Putting away his dagger, he sighed.
He finally processed what was happening. This was the first one-on-one meeting the two had had in over 10 years. Caramel Arrow used to be his student. He taught her how to use her bow and arrow, and he trained her with the utmost efficiency. As a result, she became one of, if not the best sharpshooter in the entire kingdom, second only to himself. However, over the years he had become rusty as a result of a lack of practice, so he was certain she was better than him at this point.
The silence was broken by her, a twinge of sadness in her voice.
“So you have returned…I missed you greatly, your highness.” Despite her stern demeanor, she smiled. Her words were touching to the fallen prince. In return, he cracked a smile as well.
“...I missed you as well…sister.” He remembers the day she first arrived in the Citadel. His father had brought her in and told Choco that he had taken her under his wing, and to consider her a sister from this day forward. So he did. He tried to be the best big brother he could to her, and when Crunchy Chip came along, he did the same with him. The three of them ended up to be inseparable, until the day of Dark Choco’s banishment.
Caramel Arrow’s smile grew when he called her sister. It had been forever since she was lasst called that.
“I’m glad to see that you’ve come off the path of darkness. But tell me, brother…why are you here? You know how dangerous it is for you to be here!” She says in a hushed tone of voice, matching the fallen prince’s volume.
He sighs. Guess he can’t avoid the subject any longer.
“...The past year has given me the opportunity to think clearly for the first time. I got the opportunity to really think about what I wanted to do with my life. And…I realized that I want to be home. I want to be here, in the Citadel with all of you once more.” He takes a deep breath, a nervous feeling building up in the pit of his stomach. “I want to make amends with Father. I hoped with time, our wounds would heal and we’d be able to face eachother once more, after he had forgiven me.”
Caramel Arrow patiently listened to the Prince’s explanation. It was at that moment when she decided she’d help Dark Choco achieve the relationship he had lost with Dark Cacao.
“Right. I will assist you in any way I can.” She said, putting away her weapon and standing up straght. “At the moment, the king is in his quarters. I can take you to him, if you wish.”
Dark Choco stands up as well, and nods.
“Remember what I taught you. Try not to get us caught.” He nudges her playfully with his elbow, and in response she rolls her eyes.
“Follow me, your highness.” She says quietly, making her way from the Wall to the inside of the Citadel, Dark Choco following close behind, trying his best to stay out of the line of sight of the Watchers patrolling the hallway.
They eventually made their way to the private quarters, where King Dark Cacao and Dark Choco’s bedrooms resided. Dark Choco’s room was the more obvious of the two, as the door to the fallen prince’s room had a faded and torn Cacaoian flag hanging from it, while Dark Cacao’s door was plain. King Dark Cacao was never really one to stand out, anyways…
Taking in the sight, the fallen prince had a remorseful expression on his face. This place was truly a sight for sore eyes…he had really been homesick, more than he thought, it seems.
“Well…here we are.”
Caramel Arrow spoke, breaking the silence again. She stood outside of the King’s bedroom, glancing at it with an uncharacteristic nervousness in her eyes. Dark Choco took note of this, and felt slightly relieved that he wasn’t the only one who felt nervous. In fact, the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach had him feeling borderline nauseous. Ignoring this, he made his way towards the door, but before he could open it, Caramel Arrow blocked the doorway with her arm.
“Wait.” Dark Choco looked at her with confusion, and she lowered her arm. “I don’t know how he’ll react, so I think I should go in first. To…soften the blow, so to speak.”
Dark Choco thought about it for a moment, before he nodded in agreement. He felt this was the best course of action.
With that, Caramel Arrow knocked on the door softly, then opened it and headed inside, shutting the door behind her.
Meanwhile, the fallen prince was re-familiarizing himself with his surroundings. It had been so long since he last had been here…he wondered what his room looked like. Did his father destroy it after he got banished, or did he leave it in the same state that it was in before? He was so curious…Thinking about that distracted him from the looming sense of dread he had. He missed his father, but at the same time he reeeaalllyyy didn’t want to do this. He was terrified of what he’d say. Would he get mad and yell? Would he refuse to see him? What if he tells Caramel Arrow to arrest him or something? There were too many unknowns in this scenario, and it was worrying him.
“Your highness, you can come in now.”
His thoughts were interrupted by Caramel Arrow, and he looked at her and away from the wall that he was blankly staring at.
“...right. I suppose it’s time, then.”
Caramel Arrow exits the bedroom, and leaves the door slightly ajar for Dark Choco to go in. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, by the dragons he was so nervous. He took a deep breath, extended a shaky hand towards the doorknob, and headed inside his father’s room.
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It was suffocating, almost. Part of the fallen prince wanted to bail, but another, much louder part of him was digging its heels in, refusing to give in now. He had gotten this far, he might as well rip the bandaid off now.
He opened his eye to see Dark Cacao’s cold, intense stare piercing through him like a bunch of spears, and it could have killed him right then and there…until it softened, which is something he’s never seen before.
“...Dark Choco Cookie…” Was that a hint of…remorse? Dark Cacao looked awful: His normally well-groomed hair was in his face and messy, he had bandages on his chest that were mostly covered up by his hanbok, and he looked tired. When’s the last time he actually slept…?
“...Father, I…” He began to fiddle with his hair, which was a habit the two of them shared whenever they became stressed or nervous. “This past year, I’ve been…thinking. For the first time, my thoughts and actions were my own, and I used that to travel Earthbread. I wanted to discover who I was, and who I wanted to be, and I felt…free. And while I was travelling, I came to a realization. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be here with you.”
He takes a deep breath, and looks at Dark Cacao, his eyes filled with pain and remorse.
“I know it’s been almost a year since we last saw eachother, and I know our last meeting wasn’t under the best circumstances, so I wanted….I wanted to come back and see you again. I just…I want to apologise. For everything. I didn’t mean to attack you back then, I was just so angry, and the sword, it…it was already too late for me to ask for help, so I just..” He takes a breath, his voice wavering at this point. “..and for the incident with the Cookies of Darkness, I…I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t want to hurt you, I didn’t want to push you off the Wall, I…” He couldn’t hold back the tears that were forming any longer, so he let them fall down his cheeks, closing his eyes out of embarrassment. “I understand if you never want to see me again, and I’ll accept any sort of punishment you have for me.” Wow, he didn’t mean to word vomit like that. He was just so nervous, and all of that came out.
Dark Cacao, who had been silent the whole time, got up from where he was sitting, and made his way over to Dark Choco, who appeared to be shaking.
“Dark Choco Cookie…you are not at fault here.”
Dark Choco opened his eyes and looked at Dark Cacao in shock.
Dark Cacao finally understood. He understood how it felt to lose yourself to darkness, and lash out, hurting those you love. He understood now how Dark Choco felt, and it helped him realize what a fool he had been all these years to blame his son, his pride and joy, his baby boy for something that was his own fault. He was fully to blame, and it took his own son almost killing him for him to realize that, and apologize for the way he was raised.
“You were raised in a castle, devoid of any sweetness or warmth. Instead of focusing on showing you how deeply I cared for you, I foolishly neglected my duties as your father. You, my only son, were my everything. You were my pride and joy. I was so endlessly proud of the man you were becoming, and I still am.” Dark Cacao hasn’t been this emotional with someone in an extremely long time. It was almost unnatural to see the normally stoic king pour out his heart to someone like this. He spoke not with the voice of a leader, but with the voice of a father, who was grieving. His tone was softer and quieter than Dark Choco was used to hearing. “You were hurting, and you were angry, and as a result you took that hurt and anger out on me. I do not blame you. I never should have.” He put his hands on Dark Choco’s shoulders, his voice now also breaking slightly. “I understand now how it feels to lose control and hurt the ones you love. I understand the anguish and fear you feel while you are not yourself. And I cannot apologise enough that it took me this long to realize how deeply I hurt you.”
This opened up a wound the fallen prince didn’t know he even had. He stared up at his father, his vision a bit blurry due to the tears that were falling from his eyes. Dark Choco, who was normally stone-faced like his father, was borderline sobbing as he listened to his father speak. Hearing his feelings be validated by someone, let alone his father, for the first time in years was making him feel a way he didn’t know was possible.
“All of that to say…I am deeply sorry. You are, and always will be my son. And I am so proud to call you such.”
The warrior king then pulled his son into a hug. He was feeling so many emotions at once. Seeing his son cry was making his heart ache, but at the same time he was finally allowing himself to feel the fatherly love he had denied himself all these years.
That was it. Dark Choco tightly hugged his father and began to sob, his cries muffled from the fabric of Dark Cacao’s hanbok. Dark Cacao stroked his son’s head as he cried after wiping his own tears away. He had to be strong for his son.
Dark Choco didn’t let got of his father after he had calmed down. He felt like if he did, he’d be losing his father again, so he held on, allowing himself to feel genuinely loved by someone. He could finally say something coherent without letting out another sob, so he decided to say something.
“Father…I never want to be away from you again. This kingdom is my home, and I realize that now.”
Dark Cacao smiled. He would hold this boy for as long as he wanted him to. He owed him that at the least.
“I am relieved to hear that, my son. When you are ready, your room is in the state you last left it in, so you may return to it if you wish.”
Dark Choco couldn’t help but smile too. He took a deep breath, and sighed contently.
“...I love you, Father.”
Dark Cacao paused.
“...I love you too, my son.”