Chapter Text
”Have you ever wanted to see the cookie world in its glory? I mean, like when the first cookie has stepped upon it.” The Fount of Knowledge asked.
”What do you mean by that, Azure?”
“I can’t explain it for some reason….. but my soul jam can shine the idea beautifully. Has that ever happened to you?
”Of course it has, but I wouldn’t dream of a cookie world more greater than the one we have right now! The wonderful cookies, the praise, the glory, the titles, and yet we still have so much more to explore! Herald of Change even said that there are growing colonies down south! What could be more perfect than that?”
”For you? It might, but for me…. It’s just tiring. People keep asking easy questions like they were born yesterday to me. More cookies just lead to more headaches for me.”
“Oh it can’t be that bad though, right?” Fount's eyes twitched a little but he let it slide.
“It is bad. Not all of us have it easy, Salt. You know that.” The Fount argued. He moved back to where he was originally sitting.
”But what if it is better! Better enough that we won’t be needed anymore! We finally get to retire.” The blueberry scented cookie exclaimed. That made the knight think for a second. He looked up to the stars and hummed.
“That does sound quite pleasant.” The blueberry scented cookie smiled at that comment. “But that doesn’t mean that things will be better or that we will be needed less.” That smile quickly dropped as fast as it rose.
“Such a buzz kill!” The blueberry scented cookie wined. That made the knight chuckle.
“Don’t be so dramatic.” He rolled his eyes. The two laughed when suddenly the meteor shower began. “Oh! Shooting stars!” The knight exclaimed. He sounded like a child who never knew the concept of astrology.
”Are you going to make a silly wish, Salty knight?” The blue cookie joked. That just made the knight jokingly nudge him on the shoulder. For some reason, the Fount liked moments like these. Sure he got annoyed by the knight’s words and excuses for being late to every meeting. He also hated how the knight was always so… cheerful at times. What the hell was the reason for that? And another thing-!
“Fount, you are such a jester!” The knight joked. That caught the Fount off guard. Jester? He saw the knight chuckle a bit and decided to laugh along. The two laughed and Fount effortlessly plopped his head on the knight's shoulder. “I do wish for the light that I have been searching for to come and find me. The light of freedom…. For the cookie world.” There was a long thoughtful pause. “Do you have a wish, my friend?” The Fount hummed.
”I do, but I am not going to tell you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The wish wouldn’t come true!”
”Fount!”
This was nice. It was nice to be there with the person who saw him as an equal. He wished that no matter the situation. No matter what he does. He wished he would never be….
Alone.
———————-
The three beasts and virtue climbed themselves out of the painting. Eternal Sugar looked up and down the hall. No sign of that muddy monster. Phew.
“So, how far are we away from the exit again?” Burning Spice asked.
“Not far. I believe we are just about half way there!” Fount said cheerfully while Eternal Sugar and Burning Spice groaned.
“Are there going to be any other monsters we should be aware of? I am getting too tired of running from…. From… from those things! Especially since one tried to eat me!”
“Sugar, it was not trying to eat you.” Fount said with a pitch of annoyance.
”oh yeah! You were really bummed out about that.” Burning Spice made a sly comment. Basically calling fount out.
All three of them started to bicker about nonsense, but Mystic Flour has been awfully quiet recently though. That was normal for her. Always keeping things to herself when the others argue. But this quiet felt more personal. She knew that. She also kept an eye on Fount. Making sure he doesn’t do anything to the others. She finally coughed into her hand so all the attention can be on her.
“We should not be arguing right now. We still have an exit to find.” She stated. No room for questions. She was making direct eye contact with Fount. Just looking. That made the Fount’s run a cold sweat down his back.
“Y-yeah. Mystic Flour is right. We need to keep moving forward.” Fount said while making fast steps up the hall. Mystic Flour followed him, and Eternal Sugar and Burning Spice at toe.
The silence was loud. Very awkward, very boring, and very painful. Just everyone talking to themselves in their own heads. There were some small gasps before the speech but nothing came out of anyone’s mouth. The paintings on the walls weren’t helping visually either. A lot of the paintings showed memories of all of them before they were ‘corrupted’. It just felt so wrong to look at old pictures of them being so naive and unaware of their futures. Eternal Sugar started to count the lights on the ceiling, Burning Spice stared down at the floor, and Mystic kept looking at the Fount of Knowledge.
“So how much longer did you say?” Burning Spice said. He sounded very irritated that he had to walk through this.
The fount just ignored him. Keeping to himself.
“He asked you a question, Fount. Why don’t you answer him.” Mystic Flour said. For some reason, that sentence sounded like it had emotion. Luckily, Fount was the only one who heard it.
”I think we are getting closer-“
”Why is there a door?” Eternal Sugar interrupted Fount. The three cookies whipped their heads towards her to see what she meant. And, lo and behold, she was not wrong. There was a door, in the middle of two paintings. The painting on the left was a portrait of a blue cookie on top of a guillotine with a crowd of people surrounding it. The painting on the right was just a bunch of scribbles with blue, black and red crayon. A true artist really.
“THERE’S A DOOR?!?!” Burning Spice yelled. He pushed Eternal Sugar to the side and went over to open the door. That made Fount quickly run over and hold his wrist.
“Don’t go in there.” Fount demanded. No context, just a weak demand.
“Why not? What’s hiding behind that door?” Mystic Flour asked while tilting her head to the side. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion.
”We just can’t!” The Fount said while trying his best to keep Burning Spice away from the door.
“But… what if it’s a quicker way to the exit.” Eternal Sugar suggested. Having some hope. The Fount rolled his eyes and scoffed
“God, you just don’t listen! That’s probably the reason why nobody likes to be around you!” He bluntly said directly to Eternal Sugar while his yellow eye shifted to a blue hue now. That made her pause. Mystic Flour looked back and forth. Silently putting pieces together. Fortunately, since Fount was busy being rude towards Sugar, he let his guard down which made Burning Spice be able to shove him out of the way.
“We have been walking down this hallway, for what seemed like an eternity. We want out of this god damn hell hole you call a mind scape! And if this door is a way to the exit! We. Need. To. Go. Through. That. Door.” With Burning Spice’s voice. That sounded like a threat. And before anyone could object, he opened the door.
”NO WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN-“ The Fount of Knowledge yelled out, shoving his way through the opening. His voice died down when he realized that he was yelling and shoving for nothing.
The room was simple. Blue walls, tiled flooring, dim lighting. That seemed pretty sane for Shadow Milk’s mind and all, but what made things very weird was the hundreds of button eyes staring directly at the group who were in the doorframe. Rag dolls covered the room on every shelf and in every corner. A doll for every occasion.
“Ehhhhhhh… what the hell.” Burning Spice said while making room for the girls to enter the room.
“I-I…. I thought…” The Fount stammered. He didn’t look concerned, he looked confused. Whipping his head left and right like he was looking for something.
“Fount? Is everything going alright?” Eternal Sugar asked. Everyone was confused. Why did Fount make it sound like this room was hiding a dead body or something very revealing. Why was he being very dramatic all of the sudden?
Fount ignored her and walked around the room slowly. The beasts looked at each other, silently asking each other ‘what’s going on’, but they agreed that they should also look around the room. To see if there was some other opening.
Like said before, the room was covered with dolls. A lot of the dolls are based on a lot of different cookies. Some were just bland and vague, and others that were so detailed with embroidery, it was just another art piece like the paintings in the halls. Eternal Sugar walked and a shelf of dolls caught her eye. The shelf contained dolls of the ancient cookies with a sign calling them ‘THEIVES’. Full caps included. She took a deep breath and Eternal Sugar picked up one of the dolls. The Holly Berry doll. She turned the doll around in her hands, looking at the simple embroiders, and the goofy, jolly face that was permanently stitched in. She thought back of what Holly Berry kept telling her on the battlefield. Before Eternal Sugar was caught on-. She stopped thinking about the pain. Maybe the Fount of Knowledge was right earlier. She didn’t listen, and because she didn’t listen she lost the cookie that had something that would make her feel complete. “I’m sorry….” She softly whispered to the doll and gently put it back on the shelf. Eternal Sugar then turned her attention to Mystic Flour and Burning Spice. They looked like they were also looking at a group of dolls. She walked over to them. “What are you two looking at?” She asked.
”Nothing really. Just looking.” Mystic Flour said flatly. Eternal Sugar saw the dolls they were looking at and the doll Mystic Flour was holding.
“Do you miss them?” Eternal Sugar asked as she pointed at the Cloud Haetae Cookie rag doll in her friend’s hands. Mystic Flour looked down and nodded.
“Why do I feel like I failed them… Like I failed their mother….” She sounded very vulnerable.
‘Why is she bringing that up now?’ Eternal Sugar thought. She looked down and saw a small Pavlova cookie doll. Just about the same size when she found him. She sucked in her emotions and tried to cheer up her friend. “Hey hey, don’t think about that. You didn’t fail anyone. They are… all of them are probably fine. Right, Burning Spice? Burning Spice?”
Burning Spice was looking at the Nutmeg Tiger Cookie doll. He sighed and nodded. Agreeing with Eternal Sugar. “All of them are strong enough to handle themselves. I know Nutmeg Tiger is, since she is my best general in the wild spices army. Your little guy probably is strong too.” Burning Spice said.
Mystic Flour stared at both of them. “Thank you, you two.” She said calmly.
”Of course!” Eternal Sugar smiled. She then looked around the room some more. All dolls in their selective groups. No one out of place. “How many dolls are there anyway?”
“Probably all of the cookies that Shadow Milk has ever seen or met I assume.” Mystic Flour said as she placed the Cloud Haetae doll back onto the shelf, (She gave them a little head pat) before turning her attention on something else.
“I feel like this room has been kinda popular lately.” Burning Spice said he walked over and picked up something.
“What makes you say that?” Eternal Sugar asked.
”Because something was definitely taking their anger out on this thing.” He showed off an extremely damaged Salt of Solidarity doll that looked like it had been through hell. Stuffing leaking out of the seams, fray stitching all over, definitely been thrown at a wall or two and all sorts of different torture methods. Although the doll looked like it was going to fall apart any second now, the doll also looked like someone was quickly trying to fix it. Make it new and special. More customized. It also looked like it was hit with some droplets of water on its face. Like someone was crying to it.
The beasts stared at the doll. The silence was very thick. “Burning Spice, please put that down. You don’t know where that’s been.” Eternal Sugar cringed. Burning Spice put his hand up in defense.
“All I’m saying is that someone did not handle the truth well.” Burning Spice said before tossing the doll over his shoulder. “Fucking traitor.” He muttered.
”He’s not the only one.” Mystic Flour said.
The two of them looked at her, very confused. “What was that?” Eternal Sugar questioned.
”I said Silent Salt isn’t the only traitor.” Mystic Flour repeated herself. She then stared at the Fount across the room. The others followed her eye direction.
“Fount?” Burning Spice raised an eyebrow.
”No…. But the monster he turned into.” She said,
Before anyone could talk more they heard a loud voice. “YOU LITTLE SHIT!”
The beast turned to look at the Fount who was currently scooping a large amount of scrapped dolls away. Eternal squint and saw something behind the pile of dolls. A small sliver of light, leaking out of another door. She gasped. And rushed over. “Fount, you found an exit-“ She paused herself when Fount literally threw a handful of ragdolls at her. Rude.
Once the pile of dolls was cleared off, a new door was revealed. It was pretty much worn down. Scratch marks on the door frame, peeled paint, and even some bit marks. What kind of animal abused this door? The Fount slicked his hair back and ran towards the door and entered inside. He didn't even tell the others so it just looked like he abandoned them.
“HEY!” Eternal Sugar yelled. “GET BACK HERE!” She bolted out of the doll room. Following the Fount at full speed.
”ETERNAL SUGAR?!” Mystic Flour and Burning Spice said in unison. Burning Spice picked Mystic Flour up and ran after the Pink cookie.
Eternal Sugar followed the Fount into a very dark room. The light that she saw was apparently from stained glass windows. The windows were weirdly shaped like eyes, and there were a lot of them. She shakes her head and keeps running. The Fount was swallowed in shadow, then light, then shadow, then light again. Rinse and repeat. That’s when he fully stopped. Then he looked down.
Eternal Sugar didn’t notice this but the Fount appeared to be larger than when he started running. “What did I say about leaving the ‘toy’ room?” He asked but his voice sounded a bit more distorted. He folded his arms behind his back and tilted his head.
”I just thought…. They would be in here. I want to see them, my friend.” A voice said. It strangely sounded very familiar.
“I know! And you promised me that if you waited in the toy room, playing make believe, I would show them to you, dear friend.”
”Fount?” Eternal Sugar asked while looking up. Burning Spice and Mystic Flour catched up, and looked at the scene in front of them in confusion. The ‘Fount’ didn’t turn around. Just stood there, with rigid shoulders. He acted like he was caught.
“Sugar of Happiness?” The voice in front of the ‘Fount of Knowledge’ asked.
The ‘Fount’ finally turned, and looked up and down at the three cookies behind him. His face then stretched into a smile that reached up to his eyebrows. “Welp! It looks like the cat’s out of the bag.” The ‘Fount’ fully turned to his audience and took a deep bow.
“Welcome to the stage, my three assistants!” The ‘Fount’ then started to shake uncontrollably. Blue hands started to rip their way out of his back. The ‘Fount’… no. The thing started to laugh as it tore out of its Fount of Knowledge costume. It looked like he was using a costume like a giant hand puppet. The blue hands grew and grew, ripping out of the skin completely. Then a blue glow started to become more visible. The beasts backed up, not knowing what was happening.
“You know…. I thought my trap up there was going to get you three for sure!”
RIP!!!
”But I just had to lose my balance and fall through that DAMN PAINTING!”
TEAR!!!
“I was even shaking in my boots when you three started to not mind your own! DAMN! BUISNESS!”
SCHHLIP!!!
The thing finally ripped off the entire Fount puppet off of its body. The creature looked like the thing that they saw before from above, but way more gruesome. It looked like a molded up piece of clay trying to disguise itself as a cookie. The hands helped the creature stand up straight but the wiggling of the finger from each hand made it very uncomfortable to look at. The head rotated a full 360 clockwise, just showing off its disgusting smile. On its chest was the souljam of Deciet. Embedded in its body.
“What are you?!?” Burning Spice said, using his arm as a shield for the other two, looked up and down at the creature in front of them.
”Who am I? Well I am the ‘Light of Deceit’ of course!” The Light of Deceit did a pose so it can stand out in the dark room. “And my friend has been looking forward to your visit!” It took a step to the left, revealing a normal size cookie. His tired eyebags, messy hair, and yellow and blue eyes. That couldn’t be…
”My friends?” The Milk of Knowledge said. A light in his eyes finally returned.