Chapter Text
Bringer patiently waits for the arrival of her beloved Fount, finishing the final few touches to the little picnic area that she meticulously set up for him. She made sure she had all of her beloved’s favorite snacks, which she had some of her loyal followers help her prepare. She made sure to summon the softest cotton n candy clouds for him to rest his head on while they eat.
She would do anything to make sure her darling is nice and comfy upon arrival. Not only did she want him feeling comfortable, but she also had to make sure to keep him not only calm, but oblivious. she couldn’t risk exposing her true plans for him so soon. By making him comfortable perhaps she could slowly reel him into a sense of security, a blissful ignorance.
Couldn’t you just imagine? The ever knowing Fount Of Knowledge, oblivious to the manipulation and lies being told right in front of him? The idea should sound ridiculous, but to Bringer? It was such a beautiful thought to have.
She lets out an airy chuckle to herself at the thought. Oh how she just couldn’t wait until Fount arrived! To see her beautiful beloved Fount once again was nothing short of a miracle! And to think that soon he’ll be here permanently…
Well..maybe she shouldn’t get to ahead of herself. There was just a tiny bit more work to do before her inevitably victory. She turns to the beautiful ornate glass box that she had sat down next to her side of the blanket. Inside was the juicy red apple, coated in that sickly sweet jam that she would use for the final step of her wonderful plans.
She let’s out a pleased hum, tucking it back behind her pillow.
She just had to be patient. She had to make sure she could hold him here long enough for him not to become suspicious.
As if on cue, Bringer lifts her head up, easily sensing her beloved’s presence outside her garden. She stands to her bare feet, dusting off her skirts, doing an elegant twirl in the process.
Opening up her wings, she flies over to the garden gates covered in moss and blooming flowers. With a flick of her wrist the gates open with a melodic chime.
Her eyes widen in delight.
Because standing right in front of her is her beautiful Fount of Knowledge, in all his glory.
“My Fount !”
She runs to him, easily wrapping her arms around her fellow Virtue and embracing him in a tight hug.
Fount releases a noise of surprised as their bodies collide, but quickly regains his composure before wrapping his arms around her as well.
“Bringer Of Happiness. It’s been too long my dearest friend.”
Bringer releases him from the hug so she can look him in the eyes, which shone brightly and beautifully, as they always did. Despite the beauty, she can sense the exhaustion in them.
“Indeed it has,” she replies, resting her soft hands upon his shoulders. “How has your purpose been treating you?”
Fount gives her a sheepish look in response before releasing a long sigh. He scratches the back of his neck, hesitating for just a moment before responding.
“It’s been quite exhausting if I’m being honest,” he admits to her, his tone soft. “My followers…they’ve been especially rowdy lately.”
Bringer frowns at this. She supposed that she shouldn’t be too surprised at that, but it doesn’t change the way her heart breaks for him. You would think after a few disappearances of other disrespectful cookies that the others would learn to take a hint. Not that it’ll matter soon.
She bringers her hands up to softly caress her beloveds cheek, her expression filled with nothing but affection and sympathy.
“Oh you poor thing. Any wish to talk about it?” She asks him.
Fount shakes his head before pulling away from her touch.
“I’d rather not think about it to be quite honest.”
He says this while looking away from her gaze. He didn’t quite enjoy looking her in the eyes when talking about this stuff, knowing that she’ll looks at him with such pity. Besides, he does not wish to bother her with his own issues when there are much more important matters to discuss.
Bringer’s thrown deepens but she doesn’t push him. The last thing she wants to do is make him upset in any way. Instead she nods.
“Of course, I understand completely. Now come with me. I’ve set up a nice picnic for the two of us.”
She wraps an arm around his shoulder, guiding him deeper into the garden. Fount floats gracefully besides her, allowing his fellow Virtue to bring him inside her home.
“Picnic?” He asks, tilting his head to the side. “But.. i thought you said you found a way to help the others?”
Oh yeah.
She forgot about that excuse.
“ Of course I do! Don’t you worry your pretty head about that yet. I just want to get you settled in and fed first, that’s all.”
“Plus,” she adds, cheerily. “You must be very hungry after such a long day with your work and all. I thought it’d be nice a way to blow off some stress beforehand, you know?”
“Yeah, but-“
Bringer shushes him before he can continue, steering him over the picnic table blanket with ease.
“Oh hush now, my Fount~! There’s no need for us to rush things. Besides, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other face to face, and you wouldn’t want to upset me when I’ve worked so hard on everything, would you?”
“I-I-of course not. I didn’t mean it like that…” Fount trails off, biting his lip to stop himself from sounding ungrateful. “B-But I suppose we could eat first..since you worked so hard.”
“Wonderful!” Eternal cheered with a delighted clap of her hands. “I knew you wouldn’t disrespect my gift like that, my precious Fount. So silly of me to assume otherwise.”
She leads him the rest of the way over to the picnic area. Everything is set up where it’s supposed to be and the apple stays out of Fount’s sight.
“Whatcha think? Beautiful, isn’t it?” She asks him, resting her elbow onto the others shoulder.
“Oh..yes! It’s..it’s certainly nice,” Fount agrees, albeit a bit hesitantly. He can’t shake the feeling that something seems off. “And it’s all my favorite stuff.”
Bringer senses the insincerity but doesn’t acknowledge it. Still, she makes a mental note to be more careful.
“Of course! It’s you first visit in so long, after all. I got all of the sweetest foods for us to munch on~!”
She twirls Fount around, gently shoving him towards the blanket in the process.
“Now sit, sit! We have much to discuss.”
Fount obeys her command, taking a seat on one of the cotton candy pillows, making sure to fix his robes in the process. It would be improper not to, after all.
Bringer takes a seat next him, making sure to fill up most of the gap between them. She simply wished to be as close to him as possible.
Bringer pours out some tea for the two of them, slowly sliding a cup over the Fount.
“Tea with honey. Just for you~” she says.
“O-Oh,” Fount replied, looking down at the contents inside the cup. It smelled nice. “Thank you, Bringer.”
“Of course. Anything for my dearest friend!” She beams before taking a sip of her own cup. “So tell me, how have you been doing? Outside of answering the cookie’s important questions, of course.”
Fount takes a small sip of his tea, contemplating his next words.
“Well..nothing much really. I’ve just been so busy with work that I haven’t exactly had the time for myself..” he admitted. “Everyone has been so insistent on having my attention lately”
Bringer tilts her head, a sympathetic look on her face. She knows all this, of course. The watchful eyes of her sugar angels as well as the secret impromptu visits of her own. She noticed firsthand all of the burden that was placed upon his shoulders. She saw the way those disrespectful and disgusting cookies treated him.
Oh Fount Of Knowledge, tell me this! Oh Fount Of Knowledge tell me that! It made her sick. Especially when they wouldn’t accept his answers. She saw how they belittled him. How they would yell at him when he told them something they disliked.
Still, she couldn’t let Fount become aware of the fact she was aware of this. As far as he knew, all she understood was that his followers weren’t exactly the nicest. Nothing more and nothing less. So she put on a mask of obliviousness.
“Oh, my poor Fount. I’m sorry that you’ve been so busy. It must be very isolating.” She tells him with a comforting rub of his arm.
Fount shrugs slightly, looking down at her arm that was currently rubbing against him.
“It..it is, sometimes. Sometimes I do feel pretty alone, but it’s not so bad I guess. I just don’t have much time for personal stuff. Which is fine. I don’t need alone time anyway.”
Eternal frowns at this admission. She was caught by surprise at the fact he seemed so casual about the situation. It almost sounds like he’s in denial of how lonely he is. The poor thing, she thinks. He doesn’t realize just how lonely he is. It makes her even more determined to continue her plans.
“You don’t..mind it?” She asked, confused. “But don’t you think it’s kind of..sad?”
Fount tilts his head, confused by her question.
“Why would it be sad? Spreading knowledge and truth is my purpose. The one given by my mothe- I mean..the witches. I’ve learned to accept that I’ll never get that personal time back. My followers, they need me. Even if they aren’t the kindest at times, I can’t just not help them.” He said.
“I understand you want to follow the witches orders. I know you and your creator were..close. But, don’t you find it strange to be so determined to follow this so called “purpose” we were given, when the witches who had given it to us have abandoned us? Why do you continue?”
“Because I know that’s what she would want from me,” Fount said, bringing a hand up to his chest, right where his heart would be. “ and i know she would want me to follow my purpose. Even if it’s not the most happiest outcome for me.”
“But you deserve happiness. You deserve the freedom to do whatever you wish. You don’t have to work yourself to exhaustion like you’ve been doing for so long. Don’t you wish that you could just..relax?” Bringer doesn’t understand why he was choosing to do this to himself.
“Spreading knowledge DOES make me happy.” Fount insisted.
“Does it really? Or do you just force yourself to believe that?” Bringer questioned him.
Fount goes quiet after that. He picks up his cup again, but this time Bringer can see the slight shake in his fingers as he lifts it to his lips as he takes another sip.
“I don’t think I want to talk about this anymore.” He said, his voice suddenly quieter.
Bringers frown deepens as she looks into his eyes. She can suddenly see how tired he looked. Not that she didn’t before, but this time was different. The deep bags under his eyes, the small quiver of his lips. It unlocked a deep devastating ache within her dough.
“Of course. I understand.” She replies with a nod. “Have you at least had any time to read your books? I know you were reading a very interesting novel last time we spoke.”
“I finished it.” He said bluntly. “A while ago. Just before things got..well busy.”
Bringer simply nods, sensing the awkwardness in the air. Maybe it’s time to change the topic now.
“Well that’s good. Now, why don’t we eat?” She asked, quickly changing the subject.
She’s 90% sure she heard Fount say “sure”, but his voice sounded too quiet to be sure. Ignoring the pang of guilt in her dough, she carefully made a plate for Fount and herself. She made sure to give Fount a larger portion than herself.
It’s quiet for a few moments. Just the sound of the garden to fill the void. Bringer fears that she might have messed up this visit. It was supposed to be something nice for Fount. Not something to make him upset. Still, she says nothing. Instead opting to take a few casual glances at the other. He didn’t look too upset, just the usual tiredness. Yet she seemed to notice him blinking quiet a bit.
It doesn’t take long for the two of them to finish the lunch and snacks. Bringer waves over a few of her sugar cherubs, politely ordering them to clean up their mess before standing to her feet. She holds her hand out for Fount to take, easily pulling him up to his feet.
“Do you want to see the bunnies for a bit? She asked, gently, softly squeezing his hand.
To her relief, Founts eyes light up at the suggestion. He always liked playing with animals in her garden, but especially the bunnies.
“Yes, of course!”
So they go straight to the area where the bunnies currently reside. At the sight of Fount, a few of the bunnies came running and jumping towards him.
Fount gets down onto his knees, scooping some of the tiny creatures in his arms. The bunnies lean into his touch, nuzzling against him.
“Aww,” Fount coos with a giggle. “I missed you guys so much too!”
Bringer watches on with a fond smile across her face. Her eyes filled with a deep affection. She thinks to herself about how much she couldn’t wait for when Fount was hers, then he could play with and love the bunnies for the rest of eternity.
While he’s distracted by the bunnies, Bringer flies back over the now nearly clean picnic blanket, lifting up the pillow and taking out the glass box where the apple still lies. Carefully she hides the box her back and flies back over to the bunny area.
Fount is laying on his stomach when she comes back, his hand brushing through the fur of one specific bunny. Some of the others still nuzzling against him. He uses his other hand to feed the bunny one of the carrots.
“You like that?” He asks the bunny, head tilting to the side.
The bunny’s ear twitches and hops in place in response. Fount chuckles at that and gives it another, which the bunny happily accepts. It devours the carrot with ease.
“Wow, you’re really hungry aren’t you?” Fount asked, poking the bunny on the nose, making it twitch.
He glances back up at some of the bunnies as they run and hop all around without a care in the world.
He hums to himself, a ghost of a smile on his face as he watches them face their fun. At least they had some freedom. They didn’t have to spend their existence as a tool for cookies to use and harass. They had the choice to be free.
Founts smile falters and he feels the need to blink back the tears he thought had been buried earlier. He wants to push those negative thoughts back and enjoy his time in the garden.
After giving one more caress to each of the remaining bunnies, he stands up, dusting off his robes. He turns just in time for Bringer to come up behind him.
He raises a curious eyebrow as he notices her hands behind her back.
“Done with the bunnies already, Fount?”
She asked, sweet smile on her face.
Fount nodded.
“Y-Yeah. Just thought they’d want some alone time.” He told her. “Plus, I was thinking maybe we could finally discuss your idea to get the other Virtues back? Before I go home and all.”
“Aww, but why the rush? Don’t you enjoy my company, Fount?” She asked, a small pout appearing on her face.
“I-I mean.. Yes! Of course I enjoy your company! I’m just..tired is all. Besides, my cookies need me.” Fount told her.
“Your cookies?” Bringer asked, her face slightly darkening. “They are just fine without you, Fount. They can go a bit longer without you, can’t they?”
Fount hesitated for a moment, sensing the tension. Clearly, the idea of him leaving so soon hit a nerve. Still, he didn’t want to upset her. Seeing her upset frightened him sometimes.
“I-I guess they can but..” he trailed off, as he notices the annoyance? Disappointment? On her face. Either way, it causes shrinks back.
Bringer almost smiles at the way he shrinks away from. She feels a dark satisfaction at the way he cowers at her.
“But what?” She pushes on, taking a step closer. “But you rather be answering the pathetic questions of those disrespectful followers of yours? I’m wounded, Fount.”
Founts eyes widen slightly and he shakes his head. Something tells him that he shouldn’t push her.
“No! That’s no true! I enjoy your company, truly I do. It’s just that I came here because I thought you had a plan to help out friends! The picnic was nice and so was seeing the bunnies again, but think we have some more pressing issues to discuss. You..DO have an actual plan, right?” Fount questioned her, staring into her soul, a hint of doubt in his bright blue eyes.
Bringers eyes widen in surprise at this newfound bravery from the blue cookie before her.
Perhaps a nice nap will do him well.
Bringer sighs, closing her eyes. She brushes off her dress and forces a smiled.
“You know what? You’re right. I’ve been stalling long enough.” She says, her eyes half lidded. “But there’s just one more tiny thing I must give you before we begin.”
That’s when she pulls out the glass box from behind her back, displaying the delicious fruit to him.
“A gift, for you, my beloved Fount~!”
Fount blinked in surprise, thrown off guard by the reveal. He raises a confused eyebrow, unsure of its purpose.
“An apple.” He says, blankly.
“Yes, an apple.” She confirms with a nod, “A nice, shiny red apple. Just for you.”
“Oh..t-thank you?” Fount says, his eyes widened in surprise. “It looks..nice.”
He hesitated for a moment before picking up the apple. Holding it using both his hands.
Bringer grins in delight, clapping her hands together. There is not even a slight hint of malice in her smile nor her eyes.
“It’s a special apple just for you. I covered it in nice blue jam. Blueberry flavor, just like you love!” She explained.
She gently pushes the apple closer to his lips, a light chuckle oozing out of her.
“Go on. Take a nice big bite.” She coaxes him. “Just one?”
Fount hesitates, looking down at the apple and back up to her.
“And then we can talk?” He asked.
“Then we can talk.” She agreed.
Fount hums, curiously, continuing to inspect the apple. He sniffed it, smelling the fresh smell of blueberries.
“W-Well, here goes nothing .” Fount tries to joke, giggling awkwardly.
Bringer watches in anticipation as Fount slowly but surely brings the apple to his lips.
Fount brings the apple to his lips.
He opens his mouth.
And takes a large bite.
The sweetness tasting strong on his tongue.
Bringers grin widened as Fount chewed the apple. She claps her hands in excitement at the sight. Finally. Her plan was finally becoming complete.
It takes a minute for the affects to take in. All Fount can feel is the strong sweetness exploding in his mouth.
Bringer circles around him, the grin still ever present on her face.
“What do you think, Fount? Tastes nice doesn’t it?”
Fount blinks, half in confusion about her pacing half..something else, as he feels his eyelids slowly droop. He makes a noise in response, unable to get out a single word as the world around him starts blur.
Bringer chuckles fondly, coming around to stand in front of him. She leans in, eyes half lidded and grin wider.
“No need to speak, my sweetling. There’s no need to fear. The affects of the jam will simply spread into every part of your dough and put you into a niceeee deeeepp sleep. Isn’t that wonderful.”
Fount whines at that, releasing a horrified whimper at the reveal. He takes a weak step back, perhaps trying to find an escape? It’s no use, however.
He lets out a gasp as he stumbles backwards. With one last whimper for help, he finally falls backwards.
Sleep washes over him as he faints, falling back with a loud thud!
A pillow of Cotton Candy protects him from a harsh fall.
The bunnies scurry over the Founts unconscious body, rubbing up against him in an attempt to wake him, to no avail.
Bringer cackles in victory, twirling on her heel in twisted delight.
FINALLY. FINALLY he was hers.
She comes closer, shooing the rabbits away with her foot as she bends down.
“Goodnight my sleeping beauty,” she purrs. “For when you wake? You shall be nothing but mine.”
She lifts him up with ease, carrying him over to a nice big tree. Underneath lay a bed made of flowers, vines, and shrub. She slowly lowers him down, allowing him to rest comfortably.
Bringer sighs affectionately. Pressing a soft kiss to his forehead before sitting beside him.
In just a few hours he will wake, and when he does?
Well, hopefully he appreciates a makeover.