Chapter Text
Truthless Recluse was relaxing with Shadow Milk when they got news of the intruders.
He silently sat next to the beast cookie, resting his head on Shadow Milk’s shoulder. He was usually averse to touch, but around Shadow Milk, Candy Apple, and Black Sapphire, he felt comfortable. The grandmaster of deceit was surprisingly kind sometimes, even if he struggled to grasp the emotions of others fully. He hadn’t ever been there to make cookiekind happy, not like Eternal Sugar or Mystic Flour had. He had been there to spread knowledge. He gently put one arm around Truthless Recluse, holding the cookie close, just as Truthless had shown him before.
It was nice. For both of them. Shadow Milk gazed across Crispia with the help of his magic, finding plenty of cookies that could be useful. With Black Sapphire Cookie’s assistance, he had been able to sow many many lies and rumors across Crispia. The resentment, the hate, the chaos that ensued the lies, that was what he lived for. Well, that and Truthless Recluse. He gently brushed a few strands of icing out of the cookie’s resting face.
He stopped looking into Crispia, instead focusing on Truthless Recluse. He hugged the cookie back, reclining in their chairs together. The two would have drifted off to sleep together, dough to dough, icing to icing. But then Black Sapphire Cookie burst in, startling them both. Before Shadow Milk could berate him for waking up Truthless, the cookie spoke.
“An army is approaching the spire!” He hurriedly said. “They’re too strong for me or Candy Apple to handle on our own.”
“An army?!” Shadow Milk exclaimed. “How big?!”
“Look.” Black Sapphire said, pointing off the Spire. From their high vantage point, they could see a lot, so the army was visible. It looked roughly 150 cookies strong, maybe more. Five cookies were in the lead, presumably the reason behind this attack. “Me and Candy Apple tried to fight them off. We used all the tricks and deceit you’ve shown us, but still, nothing!” He shifted, revealing some cracks along his dough. “They got me pretty good. Can you believe this was from one attack?!” Truthless moved and instantly started to heal his wounds.
“Is Candy Apple hurt?” Shadow Milk asked, voice dangerously low. “Where is she?”
“She’s unharmed, hiding in the spire for now.” Black Sapphire said, nodding gratefully to his newly healed dough. “Thank you, Truthless Recluse.” He hesitated before adding the next part, like he knew it would make them mad. “The five at the front are the four other ancient cookies, as well as one beast cookie.”
Truthless gripped his staff tighter, wordlessly fuming with rage. Shadow Milk used his magic to take a closer look at the five cookies in front. Sure enough, there were the four remaining ancient cookies, all glimmering with newly awakened power. Then there was another cookie alongside them, riding on a large dark steed. It was Silent Salt Cookie. He hadn’t expected to see that cookie again, especially not fighting alongside the ancients.
Shadow Milk quickly thought of a plan, already beginning to hover a bit off the ground. “I’ll go down there and handle them. Truthless, if things go south, can I count on you to heal me?”
Truthless nodded. “I’ll come down with you but stay in hiding. Hopefully you can handle it.” He sighed with frustration. “I swear, if they’re thinking I’m kidnapped or something, I’m going to be so mad. I literally told them that I was fine and chose to stay here.”
And so they did. Truthless took the longer but more concealed way down, inside the spire of deceit, while Shadow Milk Cookie simply floated down from above. He landed on the ground in front of the spire with little more than a noise, staff at his side. He hadn’t wanted to deal with any trouble, as he would rather be relaxing with Truthless Recluse or wreaking havoc on Earthbread for fun. Within a few minutes, the army came into view, stopping several feet away. The four ancients and Silent Salt dismounted their horses, weapons drawn. Silent Salt stepped forwards, dark armor clinking slightly with each of his movements.
“Shadow Milk Cookie.” He said. “We have come for Pure Vanilla Cookie. Hand him over unharmed or we will use force.” The cookie signaled with his hand, and all of the ghostly soldiers in the army that followed drew their weapons as well.
“Hmmmm. No. I believe Truthless Recluse made his wishes quite clear. He informed you all that he will be staying here with me, and that he is treated well.” Shadow Milk responded, motioning to the spire behind him. “Both of those things are true. He wants to stay with me, so I let him stay. Me and the two other cookies that live here treat Truthless Recluse with the utmost respect-“
Before he could finish his sentence, Silent Salt lashed out, as deadly and sudden as a viper, just barely missing Shadow Milk as he ducked out of the way. Unfortunately for them, they had just given him a reason to fight back. Truthless wouldn’t be mad if Shadow Milk defended himself, but would be if Shadow Milk attacked his old friends without any reason. The floor around the five cookies in the front darkened into a navy blue, the air turning heavier. Silhouettes of cookies, his puppets, rose from the ground as an eye opened above them. He started laughing. “Oh, this is gonna be FUN!”
The ancient cookies and Silent Salt reacted with their own attacks, Hollyberry shielding her friends, Golden cheese soaring into the air and summoning her arrows to rain down on him, Silent Salt readying another slash. Shadow Milk had some slight difficulty dodging the arrows, trying to avoid Silent Salt at the same time. Another minute or two of fighting went by, and now it was Shadow Milk versus the entire army. In his struggle to avoid all of the attacks, Dark Cacao managed to land a deep slash along his side, and Golden Cheese’s arrows now surrounded him like the bars of a prison. He was trapped.
Silent Salt stood outside the makeshift confines, sword raised. As the blade came down, a wave of powerful magic swept over the area, and an angry voice cut through the air. “ENOUGH!” Shadow Milk’s wounds healed almost immediately. He grinned smugly, looking at the ancients.
Every cookie turned towards the source of the sound, and saw Truthless Recluse marching furiously towards them. A look of anger and hate they hadn’t ever seen before was on his face. It was shocking to see their old friend, their healer, their fellow ancient so upset for once. The arrows trapping Shadow Milk became blanketed in dark blue magic, forcibly rising to free the beast cookie. Shadow Milk now stood beside a very, very angry Truthless Recluse, but he didn’t intervene. He understood that this was between Truthless and the other ancients.
“Why are you here?! I told you that I was fine!” Truthless Recluse said, seething with anger. “And on top of that, you tried to crumble Shadow Milk!”
“Pure Vanilla-“ White Lily began.
“-Truthless Recluse.” Truthless corrected, not wanting to be called by his old name.
“Truthless, you need to listen to reason here.” White Lily said, stepping forward. “That is the beast of deceit. He has taken your souljam. Whatever spell he has you under, were here to break it and save you.”
“Save me?!” Truthless exclaimed, anger only mounting now. “How many times do I need to say this! I. DON’T. NEED. SAVING.”
“Shadow Milk is a beast unlike any other.” Silent salt added, trying to get Truthless to see reason. “We came here for your own good.”
Truthless looked at Silent Salt and scoffed. “So you get to work with your beast, and that’s completely fine. Yet when I try to do the same, you come and attack the spire. Explain to me how in the Witches that makes sense!” Truthless said, now holding Shadow Milk’s hand. “Explain to me why I can’t be around my boyfriend!”
That left everyone speechless. “You’re dating the beast of deceit…?” Hollyberry asked, so shocked she lowered her shield temporarily.
Shadow Milk grinned smugly, rubbing salt into the wound on purpose. If these people would make his boyfriend mad, he would silently piss them off too. It was amusing to see the hate and confusion on their faces, like they wanted to strangle him but also were struggling to accept the truths laid bare by Truthless Recluse. Even while having his wishes disregarded and ignored, Truthless had stayed relatively calm, only raising his voice. Shadow Milk wouldn’t have talked with them, rather playing with his new toys until they broke. Black Sapphire would have all their secrets laid bare in one sentence. Candy Apple would have yelled, but ultimately fought or retreated to Shadow Milk. All in all, he was still a healer.
“Truthless, please. You’re our friend. Our healer. A king. Chosen by the Light of Truth.” Dark cacao said, motioning to the empty souljam socket on Truthless’s torso. “Now that beast took it-“
“I already told you, I gave up my half willingly! The Light of Truth has long since forsaken me!” Truthless snapped, clutching his staff tighter with agitation. “I’m GLAD. I didn’t want all this responsibility. I never wanted to be a king, to be stuck babysitting at least four cookies constantly. I LIKED not having a souljam. I liked it before we all got ours. “
“Truthless…” Golden Cheese said, trailing off.
“I’m finally content.” Truthless said. “And now you want to take away the only fragment of peace I have left, yet you claim Shadow Milk’s the beast here. Now leave. I won’t ask a second time.”
And so the ancients did. None of them fully understood what had just happened, but they tried their best to not get any further into Pure Vanilla’s bad side. No matter how they tried to contact him later, he didn’t respond. They had broken the bond with the one who had held them together through hardships. He had cut them out of his life.
Now, they had to deal with that, with the nagging guilt and mounting resentment. Pure Vanilla had suffered alone. Now, he had allied himself with the worst possible cookie.