Chapter Text
The spectral knight froze the very instant Elder Faerie presented himself between its colossal helmet and the hand that clutched Shadow Milk cookie. Even the blue flame of its mane stopped moving.
A metallic whimper, slow and hesitant, escaped the hollow creature, mesmerized by the sight of the providential cookie who stood before its very eyes with his wings spread to appear bigger.
Slowly, particle by particle, the body of the specter dissipated into a cloud of thin salt. Its chestplate vanished from the bottom down; the chains disappeared like a mirage, and the whole creature disintegrated into a swirling, coiling cloud of the blackest salt.
The hand that held the blue Beast disappeared. Elder Faerie cookie’s wings were stiff after being re-baked and therefore never used, and it was with an unstable flight that he took Shadow Milk cookie in his arms. Horror ran through him when he felt the mauled cookie’s dough falling apart in his mere touch.
They abashedly watched the storm gather to compose Silent Salt cookie’s silhouette; the knight in black, passed out, hovered a short moment in the air before beginning a slow fall towards the ground.
Shadow Milk cookie was half-unconscious, his body trembling in the fairy's hold as it fought to not give up; but when he saw Silent Salt cookie tumbling down, he cried out his fellow’s name with a broken sob. A cracked hand reached helplessly for the falling knight.
Silent Salt cookie would have crashed onto the ground if not for Golden Cheese and Eternal Sugar cookie. They laid him down in the burnt grass in a haste and took a step back, worried that he would wake up and return to his folly.
The fairy king gently deposited Shadow Milk cookie in an almost stable landing a few meters away; he needed to be slow, as the blue cookie was crumbling in his very arms.
Mystic Flour and Pure Vanilla cookie were immediately onto Shadow Milk cookie to tend to his catastrophic wounds; the Beast in white threw a side look at the blonde Ancient cookie, a silent remark on the fact that he was in a state just as dire as the jester. But she already had understood that Pure Vanilla cookie was the kind to always help the others before tending to himself, and she said nothing.
White Lily cookie was struck to immobility as she stood in the middle of the chaos of her own creation. Not a single inch of ground had been spared by the conflict, the entire landscape scarred by bodies and flames. The population of cookies running around had noticeably lost in numbers; many of them laid in pieces in the damp dirt, lifeless. Some survivors, the ones with the strongest guts, started to reunite the dead to count the fatalities. Many injured couldn't be moved, leading to the healers needing to run around.
Swords were raised at the cake hounds that sniffed around, but soldiers of the Cacao Kingdom promptly spread the news of the truce; the creatures were therefore left free to roam around and happily bark at the cookies they met. Weak smiles appeared on some faces, but the reality sinking in was too heavy for most cookies to find the energy to find happiness in the hounds’ joyful behavior.
The Dark Cacao soldiers demonstrated their experience in the battlefield, compared to the Hollyberrians who had for the majority never witnessed such a high level of brutality before. In a natural instinct to not face the violence of the day alone, cookies gathered in crowds of a few only each. Some were quick to speak, others talked about mundane things like the foods they had brought to eat to forget about the horrors they walked through. Some soldiers joined others that they knew not, and the impromptu groups began to work together without more than a glance and an agreeing nod. Many remained silent, for they needed time to collect themselves before their voice came back to them; but all knew not to stay by themselves. Unity came to them stronger than ever, a natural opposition to the ordeal of violence and death all had lived through.
Golden Cheese cookie stood by herself at first, but Hollyberry and Dark Cacao cookie were quick to join her. The king in black did not protest as Hollyberry cookie embraced them both in a powerful hug of hers; he smiled even, and the two cookies knew he had suffered a hit to the head.
All whispers of comfort and cries of sorrow died out in the perimeter in which cookies could hear the slurred stammer of senseless words that slipped out of Shadow Milk cookie in sobs and choked whines. Everyone and everything avoided making sounds around the scene to allow silence for the two healers who struggled to tend to the critically injured Beast.
Shadow Milk cookie was delirious; he squirmed weakly in a puddle of his own jam, deaf to the repeated requests of Mystic Flour cookie to stop moving. Trembling hands tried to push away the presence he felt touching him, but his arms crumbled as he raised them, and he cried out in a pain he was too frantic to understand.
Adept hands gently wrapped around his shoulders to bring his head onto Pure Vanilla cookie’s lap, careful as to not cause him any more pain; the coldness of the healer against the Beast’s feverish dough drew a startled moan from him, and he flailed backwards with an overwhelmed hiss. He was held in place despite his thrashing by the four hands that refused to let go of him.
The Ancient cookie looked one foot in the grave. Too much use of his magic at once, coupled with the weight of the day looming over his shoulders, had his dough appear drained of life. Sunken eyes stared at Shadow Milk cookie’s miserable condition; the healer focused entirely on the Beast, too concentrated onto the other to respond to his own body’s distress. It tried to bring him back to reason with sparks of sharp pain running through him, which he ignored with pained hisses.
The jester’s eyes looked all around frantically without seeing anything. His hands moved without reason, pushing Pure Vanilla cookie away when he tried to touch him but yearning for the feeling of the other’s dough when he was left without an anchor to keep afloat. Pure Vanilla cookie indulged in the nonsensical gestures and babbling of the blue cookie, saddened to see him desperate for a comfort he was unable to perceive even when it caressed his cheeks and pulled his hair out of his face.
But as Shadow Milk cookie’s blurry pupils laid on White Lily cookie who prudently walked near, his face widened with a terrible fright that washed all color off his dough. He screamed out with such a suddenness that the healers thought he had seen Death itself; he thrashed around pointlessly, a barren attempt to get away from her, but the two cookies holding him managed with difficulty to keep him in place. Mystic Flour cookie needed to apply both hands to stop him from moving his right leg, which had been cut from the calf down and whose bottom half was hanging only by his jam, White Lily cookie realized with horror.
Pure Vanilla cookie hugged the sobbing cookie tighter, shushing him through his babbling, lending the sweetest kisses on the top of his head.
“No… please please, I don’t want to go back… I don’t want-don’t let her, no, please…” Shadow Milk cookie was crying like a begging child; his hands grabbed and pulled at the healer’s robe in despair, his voice muffled but persistent in its feverish pleas when Pure Vanilla cookie buried the Beast’s head in the crook of his neck to cradle him slowly. Shadow Milk cookie winced when golden magic ran along his dough to aid his own powers to heal him, his oversensitive body interpreting all sensation as pain; his terrified mind failed to soothe into the touch, and he cried silently, shaking with each choke and pained breath his own powers forced him to take in.
Pure Vanilla cookie exchanged glances with White Lily cookie. He gave her a smile, earnest but bittersweet. Her eyes lowered to his fractured body; she did not smile back.
Her heart almost jumped out of her chest as Elder Faerie cookie grabbed her hand.
“Oh! My apologies, I meant not to scare you, dearest.” he said. “… How about we leave those three alone for now? Some space would certainly benefit Shadow Milk cookie.”
“… Is there anywhere I can go without causing fright to anyone?” she frowned. Brand new hands cupped her face gently.
“Of course there is. The fairies are in dire need of someone to guide them, if you want. The sun doesn’t do us well, and we are not used to being out in the open…” he gave a concerned look at his people, who had gathered into a disorganized flutter in the distance.
“They have you back; they want you to help them, certainly…”
“My presence does not strip you of your title of Queen of the Silver Kingdom, White Lily cookie,” he said with a discreet smile of his. “Unless you wish to, that is…?”
The Ancient cookie’s gaze avoided his, but he knew she was merely lost in thought. She mindlessly followed with her eyes a few fairies that fluttered above curious Hollyberrian soldiers. They needed to be close to see the wingless cookies well, as the sun rendered everything too bright for their comfort, but the fairies were held back by fear; they still remained close, too absorbed by the sight of so many wingless cookies to flee. The Hollyberrians observed their strange spins of terrified curiosity with reassuring smiles.
Elder Faerie squeezed her hand before letting go. “If you’ll excuse me, I must do something quite urgently. Where is Silent Sa...ah.”
Their gazes turned to where the poor Beast had been let on the ground; he had not been touched. He laid face down in the dirt, in the center of a wide area in which everyone was very careful to not step into. The now almost nonexistent wind still tried to stir some movement from the knight, gently brushing through his cape but failing to gain any answer to his caress.
“Mh.” Elder Faerie’s wings fluttered in frustration; he however first went towards Eternal Sugar and Burning Spice cookie, who observed their knight friend from afar, unsure if they should approach.
The two Beasts were exhausted to the point where no one bothered to keep them under surveillance; it was obvious with just a glance at their pale faces and sheepish fatigue that they weren’t a menace to anything, and they were left wandering freely like lost cattle. They barely reacted when the king walked up to them, merely a blink of confusion as he touched them and their Soul Jams floated away from their bodies.
They watched speechless as the two artifacts were swallowed by each a thin bubble. With a final whispered incantation word and a faint sign of the king’s hand, the Soul Jams were gone. Burning Spice cookie looked at the fairy, not knowing if he should demand explanations or just kill him right here and there. He quickly decided and tried to summon his weapon, but he realized with horror that he couldn’t.
“… You insect…” he groaned. An attempt to grab the fairy was promptly refuted when one of Elder Faerie’s wings flashed open and slapped the orange hand away; Burning Spice recoiled with a snarl.
“Do you perhaps prefer to be sealed back within the Silver Tree right this instant, Burning Spice cookie?” Elder Faerie gave him a glare over his shoulder; the Beast was too worn to ignite his anger, and he watched befuddled the fairy walk away.
Fear thwarted any cookie from joining Elder Faerie near Silent Salt cookie; dozens of wide eyes followed his tranquil march, shocked that anyone -and especially him, who no one knew where he had come from- dared propose themselves and check if the Beast in black was truly unconscious and not pretending to be. A few cookies in his line of sight shook their arms in the air to signal him to stay back, but he ignored them.
There was no precaution nor ceremony as the fairy king knelt down and brushed a hand along the Beast’s back; noting the lack of reaction, he lowered himself so his head hovered just above the knight’s, long strands of silver hair grazing the black metal.
He remained in this position for a minute without a move: if he spoke, no one was close enough to hear his voice. Then, with a sudden flap of his iridescent wings that startled many witnesses, he passed an arm around the Beast and lifted the limp cookie up.
“Witches, you are heavy…” he groaned, but he persisted in his odd effort. “That armor is not for style only.” he stood up with great difficulty; somehow, the weight of the Beast did not crush him, a surprising sight that whispered that the in appearance slender cookie was stronger than the delicacy of his allure showed.
Among all the soldiers who observed the scene, Dark Cacao cookie was the only one to join in. He ran at them with the same lack of fear as the fairy king and promptly grabbed Silent Salt cookie by the other shoulder to share his weight evenly with the winged cookie.
Elder Faerie smiled at him. “Not afraid of the big mean Beast?”
“I know a thing or two about being turned into a monster by external forces,” Dark Cacao cookie groaned. “Is his armor made out of pure titanium? He’s as heavy as three cookies.”
“The fact that he’s out of it isn’t helping our case… No, I’m not leaving him here.” Elder Faerie shook his head at the fairies who floated near before they had time to ask him to let the Beast to them.
“But, Elder Faerie…! He’s still a threat with his Soul Jam…” a winged cookie pleaded.
“I shall confiscate his power when he’s stabilized and rested. He won’t be of any danger in the meanwhile, do not worry, my dears.” The fairies fluttered around in concern, but the confidence displayed by their king dispelled another attempt to convince him to let the Beast to them.
“Let us bring our big fella to one of my people’s tents… Surely they’ll spare a bed for him.” Dark Cacao said. “Aren’t you going to seize Mystic Flour and Shadow Milk’s Soul Jams?”
They threw a short look at the scene as they passed by, not wanting to meddle more with the Beast in blue’s already mauled privacy. Exhaustion had got rid of his thrashing, and he laid mostly inert onto Pure Vanilla cookie’s lap, his body only animated by occasional sniffs and unwanted tremors. A hand from the healer petted his hair slowly while Mystic Flour cookie finished bandaging his shattered leg, the task far much easier now that Shadow Milk cookie was calmer.
Even in his sorry state, his instinct to hide his vulnerability remained awake. With the inability to move, the jester couldn't do more than bury his face in Pure Vanilla cookie’s robes, perhaps in a blind hope that no one would see him cry. That failed miserably, but no one would blame nor judge him for expressing distress in his situation; and as such, everyone complied to his silent plea to ignore his quiet crying.
Elder Faerie sighed. “Mystic Flour cookie needs her Soul Jam for now, and Shadow Milk cookie… Let’s lend some sympathy for the devil, he deserves a zest of clemency. I shall wait until he gets in better condition to take his away.”
The tents were crowded with a cacophony of injured cookies and healers hustling in all directions to assist the endless waves of the wounded that soldiers brought in. And yet, when a fairy in silver armor and the king of the Dark Cacao kingdom arrived carrying the Beast of Silence, they were offered a tent just for said Beast immediately.
A wall of wide eyes observed the surreal scene from a safe distance. What a peculiar opportunity, to see such an ominous-looking cookie in full armor of the purest black, unconscious and carried by two just as unusual cookies. Several doubted his slumber as they noticed the flowing of his plume and his cape however, and the ones who loomed too close tried to walk away, fearing the Beast would attack them; they met the crowd of other bystanders behind them, turning the silent choir of curious eyes to a mute ballet as no one dared to speak a word, too scared to catch the Beast’s attention. No one wanted to leave, and no one wanted to be the first in line.
Dark Cacao cookie and Elder Faerie watched the silently panicked group of cookies stuck into an endless loop of pushing each other while trying not to make a sound. When they finally noticed the two cookies staring at them with a raised eyebrow, they recoiled and scattered away in the blink of an eye like a flock of scared birds.
The tent was tiny, but nonetheless a luxury they were thankful for. It took all of their breaths and Elder Faerie’s back for them to finally lay Silent Salt cookie onto the thin makeshift bed. The poor beams creaked and bent under his weight, but it held strong.
“Do you think a healer will dare approach him?” Dark Cacao grumbled between two pants. He still couldn’t comprehend just how a single cookie could be that heavy: but Silent Salt cookie, somehow, weighted more than two of his own soldiers in their heaviest armors. His imposing stature, bigger than most cookies’, could not be the sole reason. If it was his armor that was the cause, then the Beast’s strength was far beyond what he had witnessed.
Elder Faerie’s entire dough felt stiff after that intensive effort, and he needed to stretch towards the skies. His wings went along with the gesture; Dark Cacao cookie noticed with amusement how the fairy’s wings fluttered in quick succession through the movement.
“I hope they won’t. I would prefer that only Pure Vanilla or Mystic Flour tend to him, if preferable.” Elder Faerie said. If Dark Cacao cookie wanted to hear a justification, he did not ask for it, and the king in silver did not explain further. “He appears in good health… physically. But I will wait before taking his Soul Jam away. You ten each possess unique physiologies: the fact that he’s armored from head to dough does not help in assessing his state.”
The temptation to finally ask who exactly Elder Faerie cookie was was growing stronger in the back of Dark Cacao cookie’s mind, but he was not talkative enough to inquire. He only nodded as if the winged cookie’s words made sense; he did not feel like he functioned much differently from other cookies, and never had any healer said anything of the sort. But there was an assurance in Elder Faerie’s speech that he would not dare question.
“That is a very thorough protection,” Dark Cacao cookie instead said. “Silent Salt cookie does not take safety lightly… I wonder how he can live carrying all that weight.”
Elder Faerie’s wings twitched. It was subtle, unwanted and yet unmissable. “… Me too.” His voice was no more than an honest sigh.
He observed Silent Salt cookie without a word. He stood just beside him, a strange gesture when fairies always did their best to remain in safe distance from anyone outside of those they trusted. There was no fear in his eyes, no sign of that mix of abhorrence and uneasiness unique to those who laid eyes upon twisted Virtues.
No, Elder Faerie cookie was not afraid. He looked at the Beast the way one looks at a friend, eyes tearful with untainted concern. For a minute, as the sounds of the exterior were muffled by the dimness of the tent and that the silk walls concealed them from the world, Elder Faerie did not have to pretend.
Dark Cacao cookie was wise enough to understand that he did not know enough to say something. He allowed Elder Faerie to have that moment, just this one moment to breathe. Pretended that he saw nothing, because he knew that he was bearing witness to something no one ought to know.
When the winged cookie was brought to reality and regained his facade, Dark Cacao cookie was here to play along.
“I will tell my kingdom’s cookies to not enter the room. Better to let Silent Salt cookie by himself to rest.” he said, looking at the ceiling like it was interesting to act like he hadn't noticed anything.
“Thank you, Dark Cacao cookie.” the fairy threw another look at the knight; this time he successfully hid any fondness in the periwinkle of his eyes. “I’m going to see if I can perhaps relieve him with magic; if his flare-up was indeed caused by a curse from Dark Enchantress cookie, then there must be a way to help him.”
“If I find White Lily cookie, should I tell her to come here then?”
“That would be very welcome indeed, thank you.”
Several healers came in succession to beg Pure Vanilla cookie to please, please go to a tent where he could be tended to, but none could bring him to leave the side of his predecessor. Using his powers to heal the intensive wounds on Shadow Milk cookie came at a cost however; Mystic Flour caught his moment of weakness and grabbed him before he slumped forward.
“Oh…” Pure Vanilla cookie brought a hand to his pounding head. “I’m sorry, I am exhausted…”
“Shadow Milk cookie is in stable condition now. May I?”
Mystic Flour approached her hands towards Pure Vanilla cookie’s still untreated wound on the side of his waist. She waited for his nod of agreement to touch him; he winced at the sensation, but sighed when the pain finally began to ease.
He looked at Shadow Milk cookie, whose crying had ceased. Finally, the Beast had given in to slumber. He appeared relaxed for the first time of the day, all mockery and fear gone from his usually dramatic expression. Pure Vanilla cookie admired the rare sight of a subtle demeanor on a visage that was always exorbitant, but whose newfound subtlety intimated to the sincerity of his quietude. Shadow Milk cookie’s trembling panic had turned to a fever and occasional shivers that ran through his body, a significant improvement.
“… You look pale.” Mystic Flour cookie said. She had bandaged the worst of Pure Vanilla cookie’s injuries, but there was not much even a divine healer could do better than his own magic and time. At least he wouldn’t crumble into a million pieces at the first breeze.
Perhaps, he could have accepted White Lily cookie’s aid to walk him to a tent so he could finally rest, had she proposed a hand; but as she wondered whether to approach or not, she saw Dark Cacao and Hollyberry cookie walk to the blonde cookie, and she dared not join them. This victory was not hers to celebrate.
She turned to walk away, gaze already looking in the distance to search for the tents where Elder Faerie cookie had brought Silent Salt cookie; but she found herself face to face with the upside-down face of Golden Cheese cookie, who was flying just beside her.
“AH-! Golden Cheese cookie…!” her voice died in the middle, the end of her words barely a whisper as she realized who she was facing.
“Where are you going? Come on, let’s find the others.” the winged cookie said. She appeared… without any joy to see her, White Lily cookie noticed. Her gaze escaped her own; the gilded cookie waited half a second for her fellow’s reply, but then went towards the others before she made a sound. The cookie in green hesitated for a moment but eventually followed behind reluctantly, conscious that leaving would only worsen the tension.
The reactions of the Hero cookies were mitigated when they saw her arrive. Dark Cacao cookie did not react, but he was Dark Cacao cookie after all: the absence of a smile on his visage was a sign of good health, despite his limp and what appeared to be a freshly bandaged crack on his left temple. Hollyberry welcomed her with a big hug of hers to make White Lily cookie feel more at ease; Pure Vanilla cookie appeared less dead than earlier, but more tired. He gave her another smile than she this time reciprocated, although weakly.
Golden Cheese cookie did not even look at her. The instant White Lily cookie reached them, she suddenly flew up with a shaky flutter of her wings to talk with fairies a few meters above.
Hollyberry cookie energetically landed a hand on White Lily cookie’s shoulder. “So, you defeated Dark Enchantress cookie, Dark Cacao cookie told me. Congratulations!”
Pure Vanilla cookie’s hands rushed to cover Shadow Milk cookie’s ears, but the Beast was in an abyssal sleep.
“We apologize for leaving you alone with her, White Lily cookie.” Dark Cacao sighed. “That must have been arduous.”
“No, don’t worry! I needed to face her alone. It was for the best. Thanks to that…”
White Lily cookie hesitated. She could not tell whether it was the good moment to tell them what had happened, but was there a good moment for that? How to announce that without making it sound like bad news? She had never mastered the peculiar art of speaking in tune with the outside’s melodies, always falling between beats or striking the wrong chord. Her friends had always gone along her missteps, but what she wanted to tell them might be too grave for their usual leniency…
“If Elder Faerie cookie is back,” Pure Vanilla said to aid her, “then it must mean that you regained what part of you had become Dark Enchantress cookie. It is great to have you back whole and smiling again, White Lily cookie.”
“Is she gone?” Hollyberry cookie asked hesitantly. “I mean. Are you… you?”
“Yes, I am. I got back her life energy and her memories, but I am fully me.” She hoped her friend would not doubt her, since she had no way of proving her honesty; but Pure Vanilla nodded in agreement, and if the others had any reluctance to believe her words, they trusted his judgment.
“What a wonderful outcome of events…” he sighed with a smile. His gaze did not leave Shadow Milk cookie, even for a second. His hand brushed in a regular motion the Beast’s hair, a gesture that would certainly have been rewarded with a bite had the blue cookie been awake. “Everyone has lost a lot today, but at last, Earthbread is saved.”
Mystic Flour cookie looked at him, or rather turned her head in his general direction: she, too, rarely revealed her eyes to the world. The Ancient cookies expected her to remark something about the Beasts, but she simply looked at Pure Vanilla and his predecessor who gripped his white robes in his delirious sleep.
“… Your magics are intertwining.” Mystic Flour cookie observed. Pure Vanilla cookie’s fellows looked at them in concern, but the healer looked happy about the phenomenon.
“Yes, our Soul Jams appear content to work together to aid his dough’s regeneration… I didn’t even have to ask mine to help, it did it by itself.”
The Beast in white stared for a moment. “… They used to work in symbiosis, so that is not much of a surprise.”
“Ah! That makes me think… I should go and find Elder Faerie, there are things we need to speak of urgently. I just need…” Pure Vanilla cookie frowned when he realized he needed Shadow Milk cookie off his lap, something complicated to achieve without waking him up. Mystic Flour cookie observed him struggle for a minute without helping him at all; when finally the healer had managed to free himself from their embrace, she knelt to his side to replace him as a pillow for her fellow.
Pure Vanilla dusted off his robes, a ridiculous gesture done by habit despite his torn and burnt clothing being soaked in a horrific mixture of his and his predecessor’s jams. “Thank you for your aid, Mystic Flour cookie. I shall return the favor when I can.”
“… By taking our Soul Jams from us, or by sealing us to yet another Tree?” she asked, still with a neutral tone that sounded dissonant with her own words.
“No Tree for any of you, no sealing. Nothing. I promise you.”
“Then take my Soul Jam and give it to the Faerie King. I have no use for it if the other Beasts are stripped of their; I might as well lend it myself.”
Pure Vanilla cookie blinked in surprise at what was a subtle admission of defeat from her; he accepted the Soul Jam with both hands as to handle it with the precaution an artifact like this deserved. “… We will take good care of it, Mystic Flour cookie. Thank you.”
“Elder Faerie stayed with Silent Salt cookie in the fourth tent over there,” Dark Cacao cookie said. “I will go back to aid in my people’s efforts to tidy things, if that is fine for you.”
“Yes, I need to do the same… There are many things to be done here and there,” Hollyberry cookie added. “Golden Cheese cookie, do you wish to join me? I could use a hand!”
The gilded cookie threw a quick glance at them and nodded. She was gone before Hollyberry cookie was, forcing the pink cookie to run behind her to catch up; Eternal Sugar cookie noticed her from a distance and began to fly in her direction. Hollyberry cookie must have lost part of her audition in the battle, because she did not hear any of the pink Beast’s calls. It almost looked as if she ran faster when Eternal Sugar cookie shouted her name, even; but it probably was nothing more than an impression due to the perspective.
“White Lily cookie.” Dark Cacao cookie said before he’d smile- he had definitely been hit on the head. “Elder Faerie wanted to see you about Silent Salt cookie…”
“Oh… Is there a particular reason?” White Lily cookie’s eyes glistened with the same attempt to conceal secrets as the Faerie king, Dark Cacao cookie noticed.
“He suspects that Dark Enchantress cookie was the cause for whatever curse transformed him into the thing that almost ended Shadow Milk cookie. If someone might know anything, it is you.”
“...Ah… I’m afraid I must familiarize myself with Dark Enchantress cookie’s memories for this. They’re quite disorganized, I cannot find knowledge so easily…”
Pure Vanilla cookie passed an arm around her shoulder to hug her tenderly. “That’s okay, White Lily cookie. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you, even if you do not know. Shall we go to him?”
His dough was febrile under her touch. She feared he would crumble, were she to grab his arm too roughly; she let him lay his weight onto her, which he welcomed with a sigh of pain he failed to keep in.
“Oh, Pure Vanilla cookie… Why would you willingly face the wrath of the Silver Fork in his place…?” she let out, too distraught not to ask.
His legs trembled and he needed to rest against her. The subtle current of yellow magic that blanketed his dough passed to her own body, but it was tainted with a faint scent of blueberries that meddled with the sweetness of vanilla she was familiar with. The two distinct perfumes refused to mix into one, swirling around each other in a perpetual fluctuation of blue and gold.
“They are us, White Lily cookie. They deserve another chance.”
She almost made the mistake or replying without thinking first, but the irony caught up to her before she did. She swallowed her tongue and added nothing, preferring to not add fuel to the bitter sorrow that veiled this accursed day. Even she could discern that this was not a good time to push Pure Vanilla cookie deeper into any form of misery, and even a small disagreement forced onto him would be plain cruelty.
So she nodded and walked alongside him in silence, supporting him when his body needed her not to collapse to the ground. She stopped with a smile when he needed a halt to catch his faulty breath. She hugged him closer when he laid tired eyes on the desolation around them and that horror blanketed his visage, and brought him to reason with whispered words when he was tempted to help what was beyond treatment despite his state.
His injuries had absorbed most of what energy Pure Vanilla cookie had left when they walked inside the tent. He let himself sit down onto the bed closest to the entrance before asking if he could do so, as he was sure he’d faint before he could mutter a word.
Elder Faerie did not notice the two cookies. His back was turned away from the entrance, wings stiff with static stress. He observed Silent Salt cookie from far more close than anyone dared approach a Beast; his hands traced over the arms of the knight, which were ‘only’ covered by the thick chain mail icing of black and dark purple. That protection was already more thorough than the Faerie king’s own icing armor, but it was the only part of the Beast where could be felt the ghost of his dough’s surface underneath his adornments.
Several times, his hand wandered to the lower part of Silent Salt cookie’s helmet, to that guarded part swallowed by darkness where the cold black metal breached open, revealing his neck and part of his shoulders when the position of his pauldrons betrayed him. The black chain mail too concealed the dough there: and thus, even as the Beast laid unconscious and vulnerable, each part of him, each crumb remained veiled in shadowed purity.
There was no reaction from the Beast when his friend’s hand rested against the side of his neck to check on his temperature. Elder Faerie cookie was careful to touch where he could feel the dough’s warmth without going too high; Silent Salt cookie had, as far as he knew, never felt touch without the barrier of armor and metal. Therefore, his hand did not stray to where Elder Faerie could not be certain of the chain mail’s presence, never treading beyond the shadows that assured the Beast’s modesty.
Even through the chain mail, Elder Faerie felt what he was searching for. He had expected a fever at worse: the sheer cold that sizzled against the warmth of his hand almost had him recoil in surprise. Silent Salt cookie was not of the temperature of the room: he was colder than even the metal of his armor, a harsh cold that bit at the fairy’s dough.
“Is Silent Salt cookie okay…?” White Lily cookie asked. Elder Faerie’s wings flashed open with a startled rustling sound, and he turned around like a thief caught red-handed, eyes round with fear. “Oh…! Sorry, I thought you had heard us coming…”
“White Lily cookie…! And Pure Vanilla cookie! You look…” he observed the cookie in yellow for a moment. “… dead. Please, lay down on the bed. It is yours. I’ve demanded that no one enters this tent, so please, I am begging you, rest.”
“Do I look that pitiful…?” Pure Vanilla cookie chuckled, but he was wise enough to obey. His head was spinning and buzzing more and more, and laying down indeed eased a bit his headache.
White Lily cookie heard him sigh in relief. Her hand found itself above his.
“Dark Cacao cookie told me you wanted to know if I might know about what Dark Enchantress cookie has done to Silent Salt cookie...” she said to the Faerie king, “...But I don’t think it was her work. As much as I try to dig up knowledge about it or a related memory amidst what I got back…”
“Was it the cause of his corruption, then…?” Elder Faerie muttered to himself, a hand on his own chin. “Was the stress caused by Dark Enchantress cookie’s hold on the Beasts too much for him…?”
“… Didn’t he attack Shadow Milk cookie and ignore everything else? Surely, that tells us what happened…” White Lily cookie said, forgetting the presence of Pure Vanilla cookie and what it meant. Elder Faerie’s wings, which had gently returned to cloaking him like a thin veil of glitter, flashed open again to interrupt her mid-sentence.
“Does it? Why would a Beast attack his own? He has no reason to do so,” the king tried to make up for White Lily cookie’s words.
The cookie in green realized her mistake and flailed her arms around. “Ah…! I mean, he must have been cursed to attack the other Beasts so none of them would be a menace…!”
Pure Vanilla cookie observed their act with confusion. It took a second for him to realize that they were trying (and failing) to conceal Silent Salt cookie’s secret from him.
“Ah, I forgot!” he smiled. “I saw the silhouette of Silent Salt cookie in one of Shadow Milk cookie’s memories when our souls merged, so I can half-guess what happened…”
“… When your souls what?” White Lily cookie looked at him, horrified.
“Shadow Milk cookie knows?” Elder Faerie cookie let out louder than he wanted to. He put a hand on his mouth to shut himself up.
Pure Vanilla cookie shook his head, the meager pillow rustling his blond hair to messy strands. “No, he does not know. It was by mere luck that I noticed it among the ocean of memories I was flooded with for an instant.”
White Lily cookie took her friend’s hands between her own. “What do you mean? You saw Shadow Milk cookie’s memories…? Your souls merged? Oh, Pure Vanilla cookie, what happened back at the Spire?”
The fear in her eyes as she observed his face bothered him. She was looking for a folly she was certain that the Beast of Deceit had lodged into his mind, and he knew not how to convince her that he was in full possession of his thoughts.
“It was brief, just for a brief moment as he momentarily wielded both Soul Jams. But he gave it back to me.” He began to explain, but he chose not to went further as he saw suspicions grow in White Lily cookie’s gaze. Each word he spoke would only grind the credibility off a truth he could not prove.
White Lily cookie appeared to the least terribly unconvinced, but Elder Faerie spoke before she did. “So you know… Silent Salt cookie wished and certainly still wishes to this day that his secret remains as such. I have no doubt that you shall not divulge it.”
“My mouth is sealed shut. Although, if that is not too much to ask of course… May I ask to know what exactly happened?”
Elder Faerie sighed. His hand had wandered by pure instinct to Silent Salt cookie’s inert one, holding the frighteningly cold cookie like he was afraid he’d disappear if he let go. “… Me and Silent Salt cookie have known each others for eons. The Guardian’s Tree was but a sapling the first time he presented himself at the gates of the Silver Kingdom. He would visit the nights where he was not busy running around Beast-Yeast… Rare were those occasions, for he was as busy as you might expect from the Virtue of Solidarity.”
Voices echoed from outside, and he paused to make sure no one entered the tent. He only spoke again when silence had come back to the dark room.
“Yet he was a man of his word, and we became close friends. We observed together as Cookiekind, led by the five Virtues, thrived. We worried together as Beast-Yeast’s atmosphere turned from hopeful and bright to sour and curdled by spiteful rumors and unfounded violence. Societies stopped helping one another to instead hoard their resources for themselves, even when their surplus of victuals rot to the sun. Groups split and clashed, certain that others wished for harm. And before we knew it, we were witnessing together the downfall of Cookiekind.”
“The other Virtues had fallen?”
“Yes, although we would only learn it later. The four other Emissaries stopped answering to the Salt of Solidarity as they corrupted, and he was denied each time he tried to see them in person. But we knew something was wrong. Even I, who remained in the safety of the Silver Kingdom, could sense it. The air was heavy with death and fear. Each whisper we heard from the outside bore the stench of war. So we elaborated a way to begin anew… To give another chance at life to the Virtues.”
“So you asked the Witches.” Pure Vanilla cookie said, because the notion of the Witches being the ones to have sealed the Beasts away was so accepted that he failed to imagine otherwise. As such, he was taken aback when Elder Faerie shook his head. “… You didn’t?”
Elder Faerie took a deep breath. “...Silent Salt cookie and I were the ones to tailor the spell, and we were the ones to cast it. The Silver Kingdom is filled to the brim with godly knowledge, so we had all the cards to do what the Witches, who had long disappeared by then, could not do.”
Pure Vanilla cookie blinked in succession as he processed the information. The Faerie king paused to let him grasp the implications.
“… Silent Salt cookie sealed his friends and himself by his own volition?”
“Such was the sacrifice needed for the good of Cookiekind.” Elder Faerie lowered his head in sorrow. “We cast the spell, and he left to make his farewells to the cookies of the Great Barren… Only to find it ablaze, his army and people massacred in cold blood. Four armies, each waving the twisted values of a fallen Virtue, assembled to enforce the evil they bowed to with their swords.”
The healer nodded. “So he was not the one who slayed his army… You made that up to hide the truth.”
“No, indeed. He was however the one to slaughter the four armies.”
“Ah.”
“An act of much violence for certain, but I couldn’t possibly judge him for the jam he shed... Through his rage, albeit legitimate, the Virtue of Solidarity joined its sisters in corruption. It was as the Beast of Silence that he returned to the Silver Kingdom to offer himself for the ritual, thus sealing the five fallen Emissaries within the Silver Tree and beginning what would lead to the creation of you five’s Soul Jams.”
“… I see.” Pure Vanilla said. The air of the room, thick with fatigue, swallowed his febrile voice. He passed an arm above his eyes to focus on the many thoughts that raced through his mind. “That’s… That makes awful sense. And so, you’ve kept the truth away from the world to honor Silent Salt cookie’s sacrifice… You are a resilient cookie, Elder Faerie. Speaking evil of your friend to protect your vow…”
“What must be done for the good of our world shall be done. My mission comes before my life and before what I wish could be.” The Faerie king said solemnly, but his eyes betrayed his pain. He was honestly relieved to finally speak of his heaviest secret with another. “I apologize for lying to you, Pure Vanilla cookie. I hope you understand why I did as such.”
“Of course, my friend. Not all secrets should be brought to light.”
Pure Vanilla cookie raised an inviting hand in direction of the winged cookie, who needed to do barely two steps to accept the gesture and take it in his own hand with a smile. He gently brought it to his lips to lay a chaste kiss on the dough.
“May I kindly ask you to be Silent Salt cookie’s sole doctor, Pure Vanilla cookie? He has always avoided healers like the plague, but he’s going to need someone to take care of him.”
“I’d be honored to.” the blond cookie’s voice began to fail as he gave in to exhaustion, making the fairy step closer. “After I rest, that is… I will need all the magic my Soul Jam shall allow me to heal safely.”
“What even happened to you? You look like the Heaven’s wrath struck you in the heart.”
White Lily cookie winced at the fairy’s unfortunate choice of words; Pure Vanilla cookie chuckled. “That is quite what happened… A ritual to seal the five Beasts back was cast, and the Silver Fork- or rather, its trail, for I believe White Lily cookie must have revoked the spell beforehand, reached me.”
Elder Faerie stared at him with a surprising lack of shock; rather, he appeared confused. “… The first Fork was aimed at you?”
“No, at Shadow Milk cookie.” For a reason neither Ancient cookies could fathom, this was what surprised the winged cookie.
“At him…? Not at Silent Salt cookie. That is… hm.” Elder Faerie murmured to himself, but the realization stopped him in his reflection. “Wait. Did you willingly stand in the Silver Fork’s trajectory? Or did Shadow Milk cookie use you as a shield?”
“He tried to push me out of the way as best as he could... But I refused to. Oh, White Lily cookie, don’t cry!” Pure Vanilla cookie’s eyes wandered to her and noticed the tears running down her cheeks. He tried to lift himself to go to her, but the room appeared to melt around him. He stuttered for an instant, and a hand from Elder Faerie cookie gently pressed against his chest to lead him back to the cot.
White Lily cookie rushed to the hands that raised to her direction: she gave Pure Vanilla cookie the tightest embrace she could offer him without risking to hurt him further. “I am so sorry… I thought I’d help everyone, and instead I hurt you… Again…”
“I chose to remain where I was, you couldn’t have known.” Pure Vanilla hugged her back, careful not to apply any pressure on his arms.
“But why…?” White Lily cookie laid her forehead against his, saddened to feel his fever as magic ran through him. “Why would you risk your life for the Beast? Shadow Milk cookie did so much harm to everyone…”
“The Beasts mustn’t return to the Silver Tree.” Pure Vanilla said with as much assurance as his condition allowed him to. “We cannot just seal them back and forget about them… Oh, Elder Faerie cookie, let us give them another chance to live.” He pleaded, expecting resistance; but while White Lily cookie appeared horrified by his words, Elder Faerie listened. The expression that had appeared on his face when he learnt who the earliest Silver Fork was aimed to had not left his face, surprise slowly morphing to contemplative reflection.
His gaze had gone back to the unconscious knight behind him like a moth to a candle. He looked at nothing for a second; White Lily cookie recognized the discreet trembling of his wings that only manifested when he was lost in thought. “… It appears they can mend their ways, indeed. I know Silent Salt cookie well enough to believe in his capability to heal from corruption, and perhaps he isn't the only one; do you think the other Beasts are capable of it as well?”
“I am certain of it. The other Ancient cookies have, too, met their predecessors; and while some will definitely need more effort and time to be better, I do not believe that any of them are beyond redemption.” Mismatched eyes plunged his eyes onto White Lily cookie’s. “Everyone deserves second chances.”
This was a bad idea. White Lily cookie knew it, the cold shiver that ran down her back screamed to her that this was a bad idea. But what a hypocrite she’d be to retort to the endless sympathy Pure Vanilla cookie was capable of, when she was the cookie to have benefited the more from it. She looked at Elder Faerie in the hopes of meeting his gaze, but his eyes remained fixed on the knight.
Too bewildered by the events of the day, the cookie in green had failed to notice the strange flow of energy between her and Silent Salt cookie that had only intensified as she walked into the tent. It had been discreet when they travelled together, for neither of them had time to focus on it; but it was unignorable now.
Whereas Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla’s magics meddled into chaotic swirls, never merging and yet never straying away from one another, hers was met with a dark hollowness. Her magic reached him with an invitation to join and dance together but was not answered. The limit between her Soul Jam and his offered him the foretaste of her emotions, the ultimate portrayal of trust for him to do the same; but all that came from him was tainted by a grey silence that crumbled to ashes when she tried to grasp it.
She approached him and rested a hand on the fleur-de-lys on his chestplate. The cold struck her first; she grabbed his wrist with her other hand, confused that his Soul Jam was not of the same temperature as him as it should have been. But it was, in fact; he was colder than ice, dough and Soul Jam alike.
She ignored the many questions that came to mind and focused on the dormant power. His Soul Jam was immobile and refused to speak, even as she pushed further and further. Her green magic dissolved into resilient black that muffled its voice down. She tried again to stir a word from his power: white-hot metal fangs plunged at her from the cold darkness. The abrupt change in temperature had her recoil with a gasp.
For only a second, she tasted the saline scent of the anger that his power carried. Then it was gone, concealed back by the veil of grey stillness.
“Are you okay…?” Elder Faerie asked. The scene must have been quite curious for him, she realised.
“Yes… His Soul Jam is in a curious state. It’s dormant…? There’s only anger left in it.”
“Let’s talk about it with Silent Salt cookie when he’ll be awake”, Pure Vanilla said through a yawn. “If you can feel the connection between him and you, then we at least know that his Soul Jam is alive.”
His words seemed not to appease the Faerie king’s unease; he looked worried as he returned to take Silent Salt cookie’s hand, feeling the cold seep into his own dough.
“Is that why he is so cold to the touch…?” he asked. “But he was struck by a vicious fever when we carried him here.”
Pure Vanilla cookie frowned. While it was by far not the weirdest thing to have happened to Silent Salt cookie that day, it was still not something he had ever seen. Yet, his mind failed to think of anything that could explain such phenomenon; he had been too slow to accept sleep’s embrace, and it was crashing over him with fervor to punish him.
A hand brushed over his cheek. “Should we let you rest, Pure Vanilla cookie…?” White Lily cookie spoke just above him, her voice half-a-whisper. The blond cookie nodded, which caused the room to spin around him.
“Sleep well,” Elder Faerie murmured. “This was a terrible day for you all… I’ll talk about the Beasts’ fate with the other Ancient cookies. Let us all talk about it together when you’ll feel better.”
Pure Vanilla cookie smiled. “Thank you.” He lant a hand in which rested the white Soul Jam of Mystic Flour cookie, which Elder Faerie picked up with both hands.
The cold air swept over the two cookies as they exited the tent. Around them, the waltz of cookies had not stopped despite most of the soldiers having found a place to finally rest and breathe. Evasive stares were thrown at them, but no one dared approach.
While White Lily cookie was dismayed to see the way everyone avoided meeting her gaze, Elder Faerie appeared relieved. He had met only a handful of cookies from outside his Kingdom, and a jam-packed battlefield was probably the worst place he could have started by to get accustomed to crowds.
The fairies all bore the same uneasiness; the other soldiers had quickly noticed, and therefore the winged cookies had been left in peace when they withdrew to a secluded corner of the glade, the area closest to the very few trees left on the island.
They saw White Lily cookie and Elder Faerie approach from across the glade. Now that he wasn’t busy carrying around Beasts, finally the fairies could greet him properly. A tsunami of joyful sobs and fluttering wings fell onto them mid-way; the king welcomed the flood of happy faces with open arms.
“My loves, my dearest…! What a joy to see you all again!” he laughed. Being discreet when it came to displaying his emotions, it was always in earnest that he did. He hugged them with a wide smile, never ashamed that his subjects could see him cry. “How lucky I am to embrace you once again, my loves.”
The fairies who helped the other kingdoms were quick to join in the charm of wings in the center of the clearing. Silverbell cookie’s arrival was announced by the celebratory chime of the flowers of his bow. “It is true…! Elder Faerie cookie is back! My sisters, my brothers, come and rejoice! Our beloved King has returned from the Beyonds!”
The heavy silence was hushed away by an orchestra of jubilee as the fairies gathered together after a day of jamshed. White Lily cookie teared up when she realised that their numbers had lowered; Elder Faerie had noticed, certainly, but he preferred to focus on the fairies fluttering before him.
The cookies from the other kingdoms watched the scene with smiles on their faces; the sight of reunion reminded them that they’d soon be home, a much needed sparkle of brightness for everyone. This was the first true moment of joy anyone allowed themselves after the day, and it washed over the glade as to remember them the taste of happiness.
The sun had the generosity to settle behind the horizon, letting the winged cookies finally see their surroundings properly. Elder Faerie cookie’s first clear visions were of his subjects, and he could not have imagined a better sight to open his eyes to. He cuddled and kissed each of them with the same joy, and they in turn welcomed him back to life with delighted chants and a myriad of hugs.
The Mercury Knights watched from afar, shyer than the other winged cookies. They were still quick to accept their King’s embrace when he walked to them.
“My dears,” Elder Faerie said, observing their exhausted visages with a proud, bittersweet smile. “You fought so well, out in the unknown… I am so proud of you all. How strange it is to see you all in the sunlight.”
Many fairies turned to White Lily cookie to embrace her as well, having noticed her saddened expression. Silverbell took her hands and joined them together between his. “Oh, White Lily cookie, you can breathe now… The war is over. We won! And thanks to you, the impossible has happened: Elder Faerie is back!”
“Thank you, Silverbell cookie… It is a miracle indeed, to see him again…” a shy smile finally appeared on her face as fairies gave her flowers to try and cheer her up. The desolate land hadn’t offered many colors, blanketed by nothing but long-charred fungi. They had nothing more but wilting flowers for her, but she thanked them for lending her the very few blossoms of life they had managed to find. “I hope he isn’t mad that I led you outside of the safety of your Kingdom… Now everyone will know of your existence.”
“Like he’d ever be mad at you!” Dandelion cookie laughed. “Plus, didn’t the outside already knew of us? We have several songs about wingless cookies visiting the Silver Kingdom!”
“Most of them speak of the same cookie,” Elder Faerie admitted. It was his turn to startle White Lily cookie, who had not seen him approaching. “But yes, there were already rumors about us, mainly in Beast-Yeast however. Rest tranquil, dearest: the Veil shall protect us even if outsider cookies try to find us.”
His eyes wandered to where Hollyberrians had built their camp. It was miserable compared to the Dark Cacao cookies’, but was of a fine quality for something built in a haste.
“Is that a dragon…?” he asked, but continued before White Lily cookie could reply. “And… Wind Archer cookie? And Fire Spirit cookie!”
“The Elementals…? Elder Faerie, wait!” White Lily cookie needed to sprint to follow him, forgetting that she could awaken to too have wings.
Pitaya Dragon had by some miracle managed to land in the border of the Hollyberrian camp without crashing onto a single tent. A dragon was of a considerable size, and their descent had created a generous crater in the ground.
The creature had been subject to the overflow of life energy that Elder Faerie felt. He had remained exempt from it, as his energy came from the faraway Silver Tree; but Pitaya Dragon hadn’t be so lucky, and the forced efforts had exhausted its body. It laid on its flank, flapping its wings in an attempt to stand back up.
It finally gave up as the two cookies arrived to the camp and morphed to its cookie form: while far less imposing, it had enough strength to stand up. It watched with careful eyes the curious fairy that passed by without even looking at it, something that most cookies did when they met a dragon.
The Elementals weren’t in a much better state. Their eyes had still a spark of unstable energy within them, albeit they were now able to contain it. Wind Archer cookie had regained just enough reason to lift Fire Spirit cookie by the shoulder; he had wanted to carry him away so they’d flee, for they weren’t supposed to be so close to cookies, but the orange Guardian was too busy yelling nonsense and laughing to obey.
“Heyy, there’s another butterfly!” he said excitedly when he noticed Elder Faerie. The king frowned but decided to let his words fly by. “This one’s flamboyant! I’m almost jealous…”
The Wind raised his gaze from the ground when he heard his friend. His emerald eyes widened the instant they laid on Elder Faerie, and he decided to let his drunk friend go to instead run right at the fairy for a hasty embrace. The Fire fell on the ground with a grunt of indignation, but quickly went back to babbling whatever strands of thoughts passed through his dizzy mind.
Elder Faerie hugged the Wind with a shy smile. “My Wind, what a lovely surprise to see you here. You, too, participated in the battle?”
Wind Archer replied with only a nod, an extravagant answer coming from him.
“The flows of life energy are chaotic. Are you two feeling better, now that the rain and your winds have lessened the overabundance?”
“Couldn’t be better!” Fire Spirit cookie shouted despite being near. “It was AWESOME! When do we do that again?”
The green Guardian threw him a murderous glare. “We don’t. That shouldn’t have happened, our loss of control could have killed everyone… We are lucky Sea Fairy cookie was standing from a greater distance than us.”
He turned back and noticed White Lily cookie. He watched her with an intensive gaze, then tilted his head in inquisition.
“I sense a familiar energy from you… You are the knight’s successor, are you not? And…” he observed her for another second. He must have recognized the other half of her powers, for hostility shadowed his eyes. “... Hm.”
“She’s gone for good, don’t you worry…” White Lily cookie said, but the usual shyness in the tone of her voice sounded like hesitation to those who did not know her. The two Guardians stared at her, unconvinced.
“Ah, right. This is White Lily cookie, a dear friend of mine.” Elder Faerie said. The doubt in the Wind's eyes did not diminish, but he appeared to calm down. “White Lily cookie, this is Fire Spirit cookie and Wind Archer cookie, an old friend of mine.”
“The Silver Tree was so distraught without you,” the green Guardian sighed. “It will be gleeful to learn of your return, if it has not sensed it already.”
“I guess Millennial Tree cookie is to be thanked for my return?” Elder Faerie asked. The Wind nodded, hugging him closer. He knew that he could press against Elder Faerie's wings without hurting him and did not hesitate to do so, relieved to see him again. It was not everyday that gone life returned. “I shall visit him to offer him my thanks, but may you also tell him when you'll see him?”
“Of course, Silver Tr… I mean, Elder Faerie cookie.”
“...The dragon is trying to catch Fire Spirit cookie,” Elder faerie stated, not trying to get off their embrace.
“May the beast try, and we shall congratulate them if they succeed.” Wind Archer cookie said.
White Lily cookie observed with an hesitant smile the race of the Fire Guardian and Pitaya Dragon cookie across the skies, a pitiful game when neither of them could fly straight.
“Come back here, you ssscony piece of shrimp!” The dragon snarled. “Give me back what you ssstole!”
The Fire laughed in affront. “I have no idea what you're talking about, lizard! Come on, is that all you got? You are so slooow, I’m bored over here!”
“How do you even have the energy to fly around…” Wind Archer cookie sighed. “I can barely see anything clearly. How is the Emissary?”
“The… Silent Salt cookie?” Elder Faerie asked, slightly confused.
Wind Archer cookie shook his head. “Millennial Tree cookie did not inform me of his name, I fear. The knight in black; he brought down the cookie of gelatin who threatened to hinder us Guardians, as Millennial Tree cookie had asked him to.”
“Really? Interesting that Millennial Tree cookie would consider him, and not a Hero, the most qualified to be tasked with such a mission.” Elder Faerie faked, although it was not that surprising coming from the mighty cookie. “He has returned to his senses and is resting. All five Beasts shall be stripped down of their Soul Jams until they cease being threats to Cookiekind… and themselves.”
“What then?” The Wind asked. He wasn’t afraid of whatever was to be done with them; he trusted Elder Faerie’s decisions as much as he trusted Nature, after all. He was merely asking for his report to Millennial Tree cookie to be complete.
“Then we shall try to turn them away from the evil that brought them to corruption.”
Hollyberry cookie waved at them from a distance. She had managed to bring her soldiers’ curiosity away from the curious scene, but this was not enough for Wind Archer cookie. All Guardians were to remain away from cookies’ gaze: he wasn’t used to the feeling of being watched, nor did he intended to.
He readied his bow with shaky arms and shot an arrow in the direction of Pitaya Dragon cookie. The projective lazily passed next to them, missing the dragon by a generous amount, but it still drew a reflex of dodge from them. Fire Spirit cookie flew to his partner with a triumphant laugh like his own wit had caused him to win the chase. “Well, if this war’s over already… We better go and report to Millennial Tree cookie and the others! Ready to go, Windy?” he crossed his arms behind his head and laid down in the air in smug victory.
Wind Archer cookie rolled his eyes. “Our mission here is done indeed. I hope we will see each other again soon, Elder Faerie. You were granted the rare gift of a second life; may you taste the merriness of your dear Kingdom and your friends again.”
“I will savor each breath I take, my friend. I won’t forget what I owe to Nature…”
The fairy brought White Lily cookie closer for an embrace, lifting his wings just enough that she could pass her arms around his shoulders. She sighed deeply. Feeling his presence again felt like a dream, and just like the gravity of the day, she found herself struggling to truly realise his return.
What a curious glee, to speak again to a friend you were grieving for just an hour ago.
“Let’s leave the Guardians to their errands, White Lily cookie. We must go find the other Ancients to speak about where we can discuss the best course of actions with the Beasts.” he spoke slowly, sensing stress in the shaking of her hands.
“... It is an horribly strange sensation, to be both as one...” she finally let out, her voice barely a whisper. She had wanted to keep her struggle to herself, but she knew Elder Faerie would never doubt her. Pure Vanilla cookie and him both carried the curse of trusting her through all horrors and mistakes. “My mind feels stable, and yet a violent storm of conflicts and contradictions…”
“You just merged back with your missing self, it only makes sense that you need time to adjust. Reconciling with foreign memories to make them your own mustn’t be an easy task.”
His wings hovered over her arms, the thin fabric slightly touching her dough like a ghostly veil of cold. She observed his face in an effort to realise that he was here, that this was real life. But nothing appeared real anymore, not the crimson skies falling to a sick grey as the fatal day settled behind him, not the slight tingles she felt as his silver hair brushed over her kindly, not the terror nibbling at each thought and refusing to leave her.
It was only when she stared at his eyes longly that Elder Faerie’s bittersweet look finally fractured the dam of avoidance she had wanted to see shattered. She broke down in tears. The entire war crashed onto her at once, all the guilt, the pain that still lingered in the air and would for years.
Everything, the smoke, the dead lying all around them in burnt soil, the jam spread, the dread roaring silently amidst the survivors. Everything was her fault. She’d carry on, she would accept the weight of her actions as she promised to Silent Salt cookie. But it was still too much to contain it without splashes of aperture.
She had wished to speak with Pure Vanilla cookie, her oldest friend, the one who never had turned her away. But she couldn’t, driven away by her own guilt, even as he smiled at her. He had been wounded beyond what most cookies could survive by her fault, imposing her struggles onto him in such a dire moment would have been unkind.
She was tempted to think the same about Elder Faerie, but he did not let her recoil from his arms, stroking her back slowly until her sobbing slowed down to irregular, tearful hiccups.
“I’m sorry, I…” she cried between sobs. “I hurt everyone… I’ve… hurt Pure Vanilla cookie…”
“He’ll be fine. He knows you didn’t mean to,” Elder Faerie tried to reassure her.
“But this whole war-! This isn’t Freedom. This is… folly. Nothing but folly. But yet, I…”
The king laid a chaste kiss on her forehead. “And yet you can make up for the wars. Not everything is lost, White Lily cookie. You picked up the origin of it all, now is time to rearrange the pieces and make sure nothing like this ever happens again… No cookie must ever fall to such evil in the search for good.”
“Do you truly intend to let the Beasts free? I am unsure whether that is a good idea…” she felt horrible saying it, but Elder Faerie appeared not to judge her for her hypocrisy.
“We… I always considered the Beasts as calamities before cookies. They became what they are and did what they did so fast… In the blink of an eye, our most trusted leaders had turned into the core of the plague that would bring our world to jam and ashes. But Pure Vanilla cookie has a point. If not for Silent Salt cookie, I wouldn’t have agreed, but…”
He stopped for a minute. Sadness froze his visage for a moment, but he shook himself to hope again.
“... Let’s give a chance to benevolence. The Beasts would bring a greater good to Cookiekind than their captivity could ever. Will you be part of this, my dear?”
White Lily cookie thought for a minute. She wasn’t sure, quite unsure even. But if both Pure Vanilla and Elder Faerie were in, she couldn’t possibly refuse.
If she said no, she’d return to either Crispia or the Silver Kingdom, both a home but not hers. The other Ancients might say yes; would accepting help mending their relationships? Would they be at ease at her side again?
“... Wouldn’t I be part of it, even if I say no?” she asked. “I, too, shall be treated as needing guidance… Which I do, albeit not the same way as the Beasts.”
“That is… Quite just.” Elder Faerie admitted. “Well then, let me reformulate… Would you be willing to be part of this foolish project of ours, both as a guide and a guided?”
White Lily cookie wiped her tears with a smile. “... I will, Elder Faerie. I will.”