Chapter Text
The walk back to the Solarium was quiet. For the most part.
The strange Cookie that had come to fetch him and Golden Cheese Cookie led the way, and Golden Cheese walked behind her. Red Velvet used the word walked, but she was flying, just above the ground. He clarifies this to me soon after.
This left him and the other Cookie his size towards the back. She kept her head straight forward, eyes trained on Golden Cheese Cookie as if she too was amazed by Golden Cheese’s splendor.
“...she’s shiny, right?” He asked, almost mumbling because speaking too loud felt dangerous. As if he was back in the Hot Place, having to be quiet as he and Nightrider snuck their way out.
The small Cookie didn’t look away, her eyes still trained on the sparkles and golden glow of the winged Cookie.
Red Velvet looked down and away, embarrassed. Of course, she wouldn’t want to talk with him. Wherever they were going to…they needed to be quiet. They were going to disrupt something…though what exactly he didn’t know at the time.
When Red Velvet focused back, he found the girl staring at him, like he was the treasure. The girl had very wide eyes that seemed to sparkle in the warm and comforting glow of the castle. They were black. No, purple. A very dark purple. Darker than Nightrider Lily’s skin.
“Your arm…” Her eyes briefly looked down at it, “...where’d you get it?”
His eyes went wide. He didn’t want to answer that. He felt his hands tense at the question. “I…um…”
Suddenly, she grabbed his face with her own hand with the same roughness as a freshly-baked one—not realizing they have strength—and gasped, interrupting the silence of the hallway, “Your eyes!”
Red Velvet was frozen against this Cookie’s touch, so utterly unaware of what was happening and he didn’t know what he was feeling. But it was different and he didn’t like this Cookie being so close to his face…or that she had disrupted the silence, like someone shattering a sugar-stained window.
“You have eyes like Pure Vanilla–!”
“Black Raisin Cookie!” The small cookie was shoved off of him, and standing between him and her was the other Cookie. The one who had come to retrieve him. Her parent, maybe? Her caretaker?
She turned to face Golden Cheese Cookie, “I’m sorry about her behavior, I can have her sent away for the night.”
Golden Cheese looked at the Caretaker, then to Red Velvet, then to the small cookie–Black Raisin Cookie. She smiled, “No, it’s okay. Black Raisin was just curious about Red Velvet, right little one?”
The cookie nodded, seemingly amazed that the Golden Cheese Cookie was addressing her. Golden Cheese Cookie seemed satisfied with the answer, and also glad that someone was unafraid of their amazement towards her. She turned back to Red Velvet, “Are you okay? Was the little one making you uncomfortable?”
Red Velvet scrunched his shoulders up, and sheepishly nodded, his cookie hand grazing his cake one. Golden Cheese tilted her head, but seemed to understand.
“Black Raisin Cookie?” She asks, chiding like a mother.
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, no no. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you upset! I’ve just…never seen anyone like you,” Her eyes sparkled, “I thought only Pure Vanilla Cookie had two colored eyes.”
At this, both the caretaker and Golden Cheese turn to look at him, peering into his face, and then to each other.
“...My Radiance, do you know who this Cookie is?”
Golden Cheese shot her a look, as if to say Not the time or Not in front of the kids.
The Caretaker relented. “My apologies. Let’s get you to the banquet, shall we?”
*********
The Solarium didn’t look too different, but there was much more food all spread out. The two long tables near the front were filled with everything he could imagine, and more, and things he didn’t even know he could eat.
The main table where Pure Vanilla and Golden Cheese were before was now decorated with a white, blue and gold tablecloth. Pure Vanilla sat facing the door, and seemed to hear them come in.
“Golden Cheese Cookie,” He smiled and sighed, a much more tired look and feel coming from him than before. Red Velvet wondered what could have happened that would make him that tired. Lack of food, maybe?
“I apologize for making you leave suddenly, especially before the Feast that is for you, ” His smile faltered slightly, “...I will explain. Soon. Over dinner. I’d like the small cookie to be here as well. He is with you, I’d assume?”
“Yes, Pure Vanilla Cookie,” Golden Cheese responded, but not tiredly. More…slightly annoyed? “Will this…Nightrider Lily Cookie be joining us?”
His smile disappeared, “Yes. She will.”
Red Velvet scanned the room, but couldn’t see her. Just a bunch of cookies that looked similar to Black Raisin Cookie and her caretaker. “Where is she?”
The smile returned to Pure Vanilla’s face like it had never left, “Ah, Red Velvet Cookie. She is just getting ready for the Feast. She will join us soon, I promise. In the meantime, would you mind if we talked?”
Red Velvet nodded, if a bit uncomfortably. He wanted to see Nightrider Lily Cookie again, and being apart from her for this long made him scared. Worried. But he was curious about the not-king King of the Vanilla Kingdom. Curious about him and what he was. Who he was.
Pure Vanilla held out his hand. After a moment, he timidly took it with cake hand. If Pure Vanilla noticed or felt like it was odd, he didn't show it on his face, and continued to smile as always.
As Pure Vanilla Cookie led him away towards the massive table set up for them, Red Velvet Cookie turned back to Golden Cheese Cookie and Black Raisin Cookie. Golden Cheese began to take in the sights and selections on the tables, while Black Raisin Cookie was led out of the room entirely. She also turned back, and the two locked eyes. The Cookie smiled shyly and waved. Before he could do the same, she disappeared behind the set of doors.
Red Velvet frowned, a pit growing in his stomach. She was odd, sure, but…something about her interested him. Why did she care so much about his arm? Didn't it scare her? Didn't it make her uncomfortable?
These thoughts passed through his mind while he sat down, and as Pure Vanilla took his own seat across from him. Pure Vanilla Cookie moved a bit more cautiously, a hand on the table and another on his staff. His eyes did not open but he seemed to know where to go anyway.
“Red Velvet Cookie,” the king said as he sat down. His smile was warm again, and he looked straight ahead, a little tilt to his head, “I understand you made a very long journey, is that correct?”
Red Velvet nodded as he took in Pure Vanilla more clearly. The King of the Vanilla Kingdom had freckles dotted around his face, and his waffle cone hat seemed almost a quarter of his length. His hair, blond like the sun or the waffle supports around them. And in the middle, the light blue symbol like an ice cream sat squarely on his chest. While it didn't seem embedded in his body, it felt so a part of his being that Red Velvet couldn't imagine him without it, even now.
Pure Vanilla didn't notice Red Velvet's staring. “...is that a no?”
“Yes, we did.” He said sheepishly, “...did I not nod my head hard enough?”
Pure Vanilla Cookie laughed, a light and airy sound that made him feel warm and fluffy. So much love and tenderness was felt through that laugh. “I apologize, I forget that not every cookie knows. I cannot see. Or rather, it takes quite a lot of energy and magic to help me see. Would you mind speaking rather than nodding?”
Red Velvet started to nod. “...yeah. Sure.”
“Well, I’m glad you and… Nightrider Lily Cookie are safe. Have you enjoyed your time in the Vanilla Kingdom?”
“...everything’s so big,” He said, “...but…the flowers were pretty. And it’s a lot nicer than the forests.”
Pure Vanilla tilted his head, “I am glad to hear that. Every cookie in the Vanilla Kingdom tries their hardest to make it as welcoming and as beautiful as possible, myself included. I hope it was not too overwhelming.”
“It wasn’t,” Which wasn’t a lie, per se, but Red Velvet didn’t really know what he was feeling. He just wanted Nightrider Lily back. Or Golden Cheese Cookie back. Or the cookie who was his size.
“Can you tell me about your journey?” Pure Vanilla continued, “Or where you were before you met Nightrider Lily Cookie?”
“...I didn’t meet her,” Red Velvet mumbled, “She was just…there. She was the only other cookie there, other than the cake creatures that surrounded us.”
Something shifted in his face, “Cake creatures you say? And they were friendly?”
Red Velvet nodded, and muttered a quiet “...yes…” Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen a single cake creature in the kingdom, and the surrounding desert didn’t seem to have any creatures at all. All of the cakes had been too scared to leave the forests and plains, and only the red cake horse stayed with them before it, too, sped off back to the plains.
“I knew they had the potential to be tamed…” Pure Vanilla smiled as if Red Velvet had delivered the sweetest and best piece of news in all of Earthbread, “Red Velvet Cookie, would you mind–?”
“Why can’t you see?” He blurted, curiosity overtaking his senses. “Can’t you see my arm? Doesn’t it…make you uncomfortable?”
Pure Vanilla startled, and his staff shifted, the eye in the flower seemingly coming alive and darting towards him, before returning to normal. “Apologies,” Pure Vanilla sighed, clearing his throat, “I haven’t been able to see without the use of magic for a long time. I could see, once, when I was very young. That’s why I wasn’t…aware of your arm. But, if it helps, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable.” His smile drops ever so slightly, “But how did you come into possession of such a gift?”
Red Velvet explained to him what he had explained to Golden Cheese Cookie, but he also told Pure Vanilla the details of the scroll and the magic and the small cake hound that was once there and no longer there. Pure Vanilla seemed so intrigued and was listening with such intent that Red Velvet felt comfortable sharing all this. Pure Vanilla felt like a close friend, like someone he could tell everything to and not be judged. Red Velvet began to speak of other things too; how scared he was and still is, how much he loved the cake creatures and were sad to see them go. He talked through the Red Place, and his earliest memories. He even talked about the moments where Nightrider Lily scared him.
“...do you talk to yourself, Pure Vanilla Cookie?” He asked, eyes wide, and out of breath from his rant.
Pure Vanilla was quiet for a long time, his breathing slowed and concentrated. He seemed to be thinking long and hard about his next words. His hand gripped his flowering staff. During the time that it took for Pure Vanilla to decide his next words—and with Red Velvet wondering if he spoke too fast for the King to even comprehend what he was saying—Golden Cheese had emerged from wherever her quarters were. She had switched her previous clothes with a longer white dress, though her collar seemed to stay the same. A few of the piercings on her body were covered now, and her dress went down to the floor, just before her feet. She seemed slightly more relaxed. Her wings ruffled against her back, but were bunched up. Red Velvet wondered if that was uncomfortable for the goddess, but he didn’t think she’d do anything that would make her uncomfortable.
“...you no longer have to feel afraid, Red Velvet Cookie,” Pure Vanilla said, with so much sincerity and conviction Red Velvet had believed it in the moment, “I promise, nothing will happen to you while you’re here. I will do everything I can do to make you feel safe. You have my word,” And he smiled, “And I don’t break those easily.”
But in the moment, he saw Golden Cheese Cookie look away and tense, and when he looked back towards the King of the Vanilla Kingdom, he saw something flicker in the blue gemstone in his chest. A flicker of black.
Red Velvet took a breath in, unsure of what to say. The door opened.
Everyone turned and, standing in the doorway, was…a Cookie dressed in a black and red dress. It flowed out beneath her like one of the lilies in the garden, this wasn’t white. A black corset covered her chest, and a mesh see-through cape and sleeves were tied in a simple bow on her neck. Her horns were adorned with silver, red and black gemstones.
Red Velvet stopped. This didn’t…feel like the Nightrider Lily he’d come to know. She looked…off. She suddenly reminded him of the poisonous flowers and fruits Nightrider Lily herself warned him not to go near, or the shadows of a slowly building fire, or the jam the cake creatures would bleed if they got hurt. This wasn’t the strong savior that Red Velvet had gotten to know. If he didn’t know any better he would assume that she was a ruler. A king. A goddess.
Suddenly he didn’t know what to think anymore. Suddenly he wanted to be anywhere else but here. He didn’t know what to think. But this wasn’t her.
“...let us begin the feast,” Pure Vanilla clapped his hands, and the few servants remaining began to move and scurry, trying desperately to keep their gazes away from Nightrider Lily Cookie. Golden Cheese Cookie jumped and also looked away, a hand going to her mouth. Her cheeks were now more red than the dark brown hue they once were, but he wouldn’t understand the significance of this until later.
“...shall we?”
*********
Set before the young cookie was the biggest feast he had ever seen. It was filled with all matters of jellies: from steaks, fruit, and sweets. There were plenty of cheese-related foods too, from cheese platters, cheese and noodle combos, and cheese desserts. There was a huge tower of fondue, and bowls of shredded cheese and olives. There were also a large number of vanilla-based treats as well, from ice cream, to creams and cooling vanilla teas. It seemed that if you were in the mood for something, literally anything, you could find something here to satisfy the craving.
But Red Velvet wasn’t hungry. He stared at his pitiful plate of a singular jelly steak with a small bite in it, a few slices of white cheddar, and a quarter of a waffle with a small dollop of cream on top. Everyone else ate like nothing was the matter, and Golden Cheese Cookie made an effort to try everything given to her, thanking the staff for their hospitality and generosity with this feast.
“It’s what a Queen like you deserves, ma’am,” One of the servants said quickly, smiling wide at the compliment. Red Velvet saw Nightrider Lily narrow her eyes slightly, before going back to her plate.
Golden Cheese sat to his right, and Nightrider Lily to his left. Pure Vanilla sat across him, and he ate his food slowly and deliberately, as if the smallest wrong move would cause the food to shatter. But he always ate with a smile on his face, like he was thoroughly satisfied with the feast he ate.
This went on for a long time, enough time to pass for the sun to disappear entirely from the stained glass windows, which were now darkened. But it didn’t feel like night time, not here. Everyone still seemed lively, and the lights of the room gave Red Velvet the impression that the sun in here hadn’t set.
The Pure Vanilla cleared his throat, and set down his silverware, which rang against the fine china and echoed in the chamber. Both Nightrider Lily and Golden Cheese looked towards him, both with unreadable, but vastly different, expressions.
“...I think…we all owe each other explanations,” He said simply. “To you especially, Golden Cheese Cookie.”
The Golden Goddess narrowed her eyes but made no objections. Her eyes shifted from Pure Vanilla to Nightrider Lily and back.
Pure Vanilla looked towards Nightrider Lily, and gave her a slight smile. But she didn’t return the gesture.
“I don’t owe her anything,” Nightrider Lily said simply, “I barely owe you an explanation. Not after what you did.”
Pure Vanilla’s eyebrows scrunched. “White Lily–”
“I deserve an explanation from someone, ” Golden Cheese growled, “Because I thought White Lily was dead. She’s been dead for almost five years. You’ve been dead for five years.”
“I wasn’t dead,” Nightrider Lily said, “I was…stranded.”
“Stranded?” Pure Vanilla and Golden Cheese said at the same time.
“Where could you have possibly be stranded where no one could find you?” Golden Cheese exclaimed, the wings on her back puffing out, hitting her chair.
Nightrider Lily Cookie went quiet, but Pure Vanilla said, “...Beast-Yeast. Unless…you lied to me about that as well.”
“ Beast-Yeast?!” Golden Cheese exclaimed, as Nightrider Lily yelled, “ As well?”
“I didn’t lie to you, Pure Vanilla. I never have,” She narrowed her eyes, her hands balling into fists, “Never once in my life did I lie to you.”
“You know as well as I do that withholding information is as bad as telling a lie,” He looked disappointed then, “...you didn’t tell me the full truth, so tell us now.”
“ Us? ” She exclaimed, “I owe nothing to Golden Cheese, this doesn’t involve her.”
“I am the Holder of Abundance!”
Golden Cheese stood up, her wings fully flaring up and knocking over her chair, and it clattered so loudly that Red Velvet flinched.
“I am a Soul Jam Holder. I am a Goddess amongst my cookies and all of Earthbread, ” She took a quick breath, staring daggers at Nightrider Lily Cookie, “...I am owed way more than a simple explanation from you.”
For a brief moment, Nightrider Lily Cookie’s eyes softened, as if she understood, but it was gone a second later. “All you are owed is the knowledge that I am alive, and was unable to return to Crispia. I am here now. That is what you deserve.”
Golden Cheese Cookie was quiet for a long time, and as Pure Vanilla began to speak, she said, “You’ve changed.”
Everyone looked over to her, and her expression was different. It was somber, sad…regretful?
“Or were you always like this?” She asked, so small and fragile, like she was finally understanding years of confusion, or putting previous interactions into perspective. “...did I– did we– ever mean anything to you? Or were we just…convenient? The type of cookies you needed for experiments and research?” Her eyes went wider, “...how greedy are you?”
“You accuse me of Greed?”
“I know what I am. I know that I am the greediest cookie in Earthbread. But my greed isn’t for me. I greed for everyone. I greedily collect and hoard for my subjects. For my friends," Her eyes narrow, “Do you greed for anyone but yourself?”
“Golden Cheese Cookie—”
But then the door behind Red Velvet opened.
He knew this thanks to the loud slamming, and the fact that everyone at the table looked behind him, and where their faces were originally angry, disappointed or concerned, now they were laced with confusion. Or, in Nightrider Lily Cookie’s case, shock with confusion.
Red Velvet turned himself around, peaking up over the chair. He saw a cookie hunched over, a small wooden staff in their hand, as a black and green shawl covered their body. They looked up, and Red Velvet could see their green hair covered in grass, moss, vines and leaves, and their hair fell down to reach the floor, dragging with it dirt and greenery. A small pair of black horns curled on the side of their head.
Their eyes were wild with victory and recognition, and they smiled wide and crazed.
“I finally found you, my lord!”
*********
Beast-Yeast…
I am aware of that name, though I am also aware that we will never visit or explore these lands. A shame, as from what little Red Velvet tells me he knows about it, the lands are strange to even the most knowledgeable. Even the fabled Pure Vanilla Cookie knew very little.
White Lily Cookie, on the other hand…
I do wish, sometimes, that I had awoken sooner, because then I could have asked her what it was like. But, then again, if I could ask her what Beast-Yeast was like, then she wouldn’t have transformed. She wouldn’t have gone to the Banquet of Witches. Red Velvet wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t be here.
But I let myself wonder about those strange lands. There is something within me that tells me that the secrets of Earthbread, the Ancients, the Beasts, the Soul Jam, and even life itself is found within Beast-Yeast.
But another part of me tells me that I am the one in which those secrets can be found.
I do not like to entertain these thoughts.
Because I am not an Ancient, or a Beast, or a God. I am the same as the rest of the cookies I aim to protect.
But also I am scared that these thoughts are true…and what would that say about me then? And I wonder if Pure Vanilla had figured me out sooner, could this all have been avoided?
Does that mean I am to blame? Or am I an unfortunate miracle? Am I the reason the Pure Vanilla Kingdom—that Earthbread itself—ended up like it is? Or am I a discovery we found too late?
What would White Lily think of me? What would Pure Vanilla think of me? What would Dark Enchantress Cookie think of me?
…I do not like to entertain these thoughts.
Maybe this is why I am recording these memories. Because I am tired of thinking.
Because I do not wish to entertain these thoughts.