Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Oh boy, here we go.

Hello everyone! This is my first fanfiction ever posted. I don't plan to update very often (probably twice a month, maybe even less), but I hope it's still worth it lol

I apologize if I end up missing any tags, and would appreciate it if this chapter was mainly used as a means of reaching out to me one I get the ball rolling.

In the meantime, is it just me, or is there a weird black box around my text? I tried applying a work skin, but it persisted with or without it. Could you help with that? It's very annoying.

Edit: nevermind that last paragraph, just found out it's only in the preview for some reason :P

Chapter Text

A blur. Everything was a blur.

Memories meshed together as haphazardly as the colors in their vision. Eyes opened and closed rapidly as they tried to match colors to objects. Yellows blended into a single ray of light reflecting off other objects, reds became slivers of walls, whites became a ceiling and, eventually, everything fell into place. Once it all settled, though, Roguefort Cookie was left with nothing but confusion and lingering dizziness.

Sitting up seemed like too much of a challenge at the moment, so instead, Roguefort Cookie observed what they could through their one good eye (they noted their glasses were laying next to them, almost dangerously close). Turning their head, they saw that they were placed on a singular bed in what seemed to be a bedroom. It was a pretty cookie-cutter bedroom, seemingly meant to cater to many kinds of cookies. The walls were sparsely decorated, the most eye-catching additions being a closet door left slightly open and a TV screen placed too awkwardly to be easily used for its core purpose.

After way too long, Roguefort Cookie felt well enough to get off of the bed. Their back, as well as most of the rest of their body, ached as if they’d fallen from a high place and hadn’t fully recovered from it. Grabbing their glasses, their other eye was finally able to see the rest of the room as well as the door. Before going out, they looked down and noticed their outfit was different from what they’d typically wear; pastel yellow overcoat, light cyan shirt, black finger-less gloves and boots covering halfway up their navy blue pants, and a black belt with a gold buckle completing the look. They put their hand out, which was pulled back quickly as the door opened on its own.

The door opened upward, strangely similar to a security barrier, to reveal a white hallway. Right across from the room Roguefort Cookie came from was what appeared to be a door to another room with a sign on it reading ‘Madeleine Cookie’. The name was unfamiliar to Roguefort Cookie, though they didn’t know many cookies, so that wasn’t too much of a surprise. Stepping out a little more to look up and down the hall, they noticed all the doors had signs on them, likely also having names etched on their surfaces. Roguefort Cookie counted 16 including theirs before their attention was grabbed.

"Hey!"

Roguefort Cookie instinctively looked toward the voice. On one end of the hallway was an unfamiliar figure, who started approaching. The stranger appeared to be a lighter doughed guy with bubblegum hair that went to his shoulders. He wore a blue jumpsuit with yellow stripes down the middle on either side of a long zipper. There was also a long black stripe going diagonally across the chest. As he came closer, a yellow-tinted visor became more apparent, concealing his real eye color.

The stranger looked at Roguefort Cookie more closely as he neared before speaking again.

"You wake up in a room too?" The stranger asked.

"...Why, yes in fact."

“Well, I guess that makes three of us then."

"Oh, three? It appears to only be the two of us here."

Roguefort Cookie tried to subtly look around for a third cookie, but before they could see anything, the stranger sighed.

"And of course, she ran off. Eh, it doesn't matter. I'm Gumball Cookie."

The stranger, Gumball Cookie, held out his hand. Roguefort Cookie shook it softly before letting it go.

"Roguefort Cookie.” They bowed. “Pleased to meet you."

"Same. Think anyone else is still in their rooms?"

"Perhaps. Do you suggest we stay here and wait for any others to arrive?"

Gumball Cookie chuckled. "Nah, I'm gonna explore. You do you, though."

He exited the scene through an open doorway. Roguefort looked back at the empty hall before following.

The two came upon an intersection. The walls were the same white as the hallway they just came from, and the area split three ways. Right in front of them was what appeared to be a storefront, however strange that would be. The left passageway was wide open with sounds coming from down the hall, but the right was blocked off with chains and a lock.

'Odd choice', Roguefort Cookie noted, rubbing their pointer finger along the smooth metal. 'Not the strangest thing here though, I suppose.'

As they turned back, Roguefort Cookie followed Gumball Cookie into a large dining hall. The noises from earlier were very prevalent here, clearly coming from all the conversations happening simultaneously. There were many cookies scattered about, 14 if Roguefort Cookie had counted correctly. Including them and Gumball Cookie, there were 16 cookies in the room total, though it looked as if it could comfortably hold many more. The center of the dining hall had a large table, clearly capable of seating all 16 occupants with extra space. Everything was covered with a faint orange tint as the chandelier (why was there a chandelier?)’s candles emitted a soft glow that made the room feel safer and more inclusive.

Roguefort Cookie was quickly separated from Gumball Cookie as he (likely) went to find whoever he was referring to earlier. Suddenly alone, Roguefort Cookie went to find someone to talk to, if only to pass the time. Their eyes landed on two cookies off to the side. One seemed to be comforting the other.

As they walked over, the standing girl turned her attention to them. She was darker than Gumball Cookie with brown- no, hazel eyes. Her long, curly hair was white with a faint light brown fade near the bottom and white streaks in it covered by a darker brown hat similar to a typical witch's hat. She wore a long-sleeved tan dress with stripes on the bottom fading it to black and a slit on her right side. Her shoes were simple black slip-on shoes.

“Heeey...” Roguefort Cookie started, elongating the vowel in nervousness.

“Oh, hello! I’m Latte Cookie. What’s your name?” She responded, not taking her hand off the other girl’s back.

“Uh, Roguefort Cookie.”

The other, paler girl had slightly shifted away during the short conversation. She wore a pink jacket with a hood over her hair, which was closer to red than pink. The hood was designed to look like a strawberry with black ‘seeds’ and a green tip. Below the jacket was a pair of black shorts that went halfway down the thigh. She also had similar slip-on shoes to Latte Cookie except for a small band over the top and green baggy socks underneath. She also wore a black mask over her nose and mouth.

Latte Cookie noticed their glare and quickly explained, “That’s Strawberry Cookie. She doesn’t like talking to other cookies.”

“I... can tell. Should I leave?”

Roguefort Cookie looked away awkwardly, glancing in the general direction of everyone else in the room. Now that they were inside, they could feel the body heat in the room, making it feel more stuffy. The talking also seemed to overlap unnaturally, not helping the slight dizziness they felt.

“Oh no, you don’t have to go-”

“Hello, hello! Glad you could all make it!”

Suddenly, as if to purposefully interrupt Latte Cookie, a high-pitched voice broke out from seemingly nowhere. Everyone quickly began to look around, trying to identify the source.

“I can see you, you know. You won’t find me that easily! Pupupu~”

A couple of cookies started leaving the room to look around. While someone with an orange band started leaning over the storefront in the main intersection, another cookie with purple hair snuck behind a curtain. Roguefort Cookie followed them into another room. This room wasn’t as big as the dining hall; the space was filled with many smaller wooden tables and chairs. As if the room needed to contrast more, the entire aesthetic was darker and moodier. Greens covered the space of the walls, making a bright spotlight across the room more apparent.

Roguefort Cookie would have observed more if they hadn’t been pulled down to the ground. Their attempts at objecting were muffled by a dark-colored hand as the owner whispered to them.

“Keep yourself low to the ground. You’re too obvious.”

Through what little light shone through a sliver in the curtain and reflected from the spotlight, Roguefort Cookie could make out a purple eye and a deep blue shawl that went down to the hip with a turtleneck-like part that covers the cookie’s mouth. Roguefort Cookie nodded silently, which prompted the lilac-scented cookie to release their mouth from his hand. He then looked towards the light, Roguefort Cookie following his glance.

On a stage and in the spotlight was a strange-looking sugar gnome. The face was the main issue. The gnome’s beady but harmless eyes seemed more lifeless somehow. As if they were artificially placed into their sockets to stare into the souls of all those they observed. Their smile was wide, almost too wide for their good. Their coveralls, while still cut off at the knees, were colored half black and half white. The hat and boots stayed their original colors, but the subtle differences did not help with the sinking feeling in Roguefort Cookie’s stomach.

The pair watched the strange gnome as they continuously taunted the others with their microphone. Surprisingly, their mouth didn’t move once when they spoke. Finally, some other cookie got the idea to pull back the random curtain in the dining hall, casting the room in a sudden light that would have revealed the two cookies if they hadn’t retreated closer to the wall next to the curtain.

“Aww, damn it! I wanted to make fun of you guys a little longer.”

The gnome pouted (supposedly- the still lifeless face did not help) as others began to fill the room. Once there were more cookies in the room, Roguefort Cookie felt more comfortable revealing themselves, acting as if they’d just entered. The lilac-scented cookie appeared to do the same, though was much more effective at it. Now with the added light, they could tell that the shawl had a lilac pin near the hip and was covering a transparent light purple robe that got more opaque the further from the end it got. He also didn’t appear to wear shoes, which was odd.

“Were you the one who brought us here?” the band-wearing cookie accused, pointing his finger at the bear aggressively. They giggled in response.

“Well, of course, I was! Who else could it be but me, little ol’ Gnomakuma?”

“Th-then why are we here, exactly? None of us knew e-each other before this, and nothing else really makes any sense to me right now… uh…” Strawberry Cookie asked softly, cowering into herself as everyone’s eyes were drawn to her.

“Great question, my friend! I’ve brought you all here to play a game!”

Murmuring began spreading through the crowd. From their position, Roguefort Cookie couldn’t exactly tell what any one person was saying, but most of the unintelligible voices sounded excited at the aspect of playing a game. Gumball Cookie was the first to exclaim his excitement loudly.

“Sweet! What kind of game?”

Such a simple question. A question with a horrifying answer no one, except for Gnomakuma, could have ever expected. Said gnome grinned wider if that was even possible with its unmoving smile.

“Why, thanks for asking! Just a simple little killing game, that’s all!”

Gnomakuma clapped their hands as the room otherwise silenced itself and everyone began looking at each other. Some cookies were surprised while others were clearly in disbelief. Roguefort Cookie was part of the former group. As they collapsed onto their knees in shock, a couple of yells started ringing out. Gnomakuma ignored them, however, doing a little dance in place as they continued speaking over the protests with wild gestures.

“’A killing game?’ Righto! You’re all trapped here with no escape. The only way I’ll ever let you out of here is if you murder someone else here and get away with it! I’m off limits, of course. If you lay a finger on me, you’re going to get executed, pupupu~.”

Everyone finally went silent for a little until a cookie wearing armor similar to a knight spoke up.

“Executed? As in you’re going to kill us?”

Gnomakuma gasped in feigned shock. “Wow, you’re so smart! I’d give you a gold star if this were the third grade, but we’re all older than those blissful times, unfortunately.”

“That cheeky fucker,” someone muttered under their breath, but Roguefort Cookie couldn’t figure out who it was before Gnomakuma continued.

“Anyways, I’ll have to give you all the gist of the rules, since your Monophones aren’t quite finished yet. Basically, no hurting me, no trying to go in restricted areas, and, really, just those two those are the big rules. Anything else will be placed in pamphlets in your rooms. I’ve gotta go now, but I’ll see you in a few days when the Monophones are done. Ta ta!”

Gnomakuma spun in place before the spotlight went out. After a few seconds, the light came back on, but the gnome was nowhere to be seen. The room was silent for a few seconds as everyone let their new knowledge sink in.

“That bastard really just left us here, didn’t he?” Roguefort Cookie finally regained control of their body as a lady with a southern accent asked what (likely) everyone was thinking.

Gumball Cookie scoffed before responding in kind, “Clearly. So what now?”

Latte Cookie quickly replied, “Well, I think we should introduce ourselves to each other. We’re going to be living together for a while, so might as well not be total strangers, y’know?”

“And it has a use psychologically.” A cookie with light green hair continued. “The more you know about someone, the less likely you are to kill them.” He rubbed his neck nervously. “...In case anyone here wanted to have a ‘logical’ reason to say anything; I’ve dealt with too many people like that for my own good.”

The room went silent again after that. Roguefort Cookie got up and looked around, as did everyone else, seemingly no one willing to start. One or two cookies even tried to leave before a nun-like cookie broke the silence.

“If we are to begin introducing ourselves, then I suppose I shall go first. I am Pastry Cookie, a sister of the St. Pastry Order. It is a pleasure to acquaint you all.”

After she spoke, slowly but surely, cookies started speaking up and also introducing themselves. Roguefort Cookie noted that a couple of cookies, namely the man with purple hair and the woman with a southern accent, refused to introduce themselves before the group broke up to go do their own things. Roguefort Cookie went back to their room to read the pamphlet that Monocookie mentioned.

As they entered their room, however, they were suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion and sadness. Instead of reading the pamphlet, which was incredibly obviously placed on the bedside drawers, they collapsed onto their new bed. The reality of the situation finally stood up from its backseat and drove itself straight into the foreground of Roguefort Cookie’s mind.

Everyone in this place could die.

They could die.

Surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar location they were unlucky enough to be chosen to live in.

They started crying without realizing it, grabbing onto a pillow as tears ran down their face and into the fabric of the sheets below them.

Roguefort Cookie’s thoughts wandered aimlessly as they tried to come to grips with their circumstances, but found themselves going back constantly to... nothing.

Their mind went blank, for nowhere near the first time. It was natural for them in stressful situations to simply stop recognizing the world around them. It helped, sometimes.

A blank mind, however, was the last thing they needed.

For now, though, that’s what Roguefort Cookie was left with. A blank mind and no idea about their future.

If they even had one anymore.

Chapter Text

‘…How long has it been?’

Roguefort Cookie zoned back into reality. They realized they had fallen onto the bed with their glasses on and sat up in a panic; their glasses fell off their face as they did so, luckily unscathed. Wiping tears from their eyes, they turned their head to the knock at the door (the knock sounded like metal instead of wood, not helping with the weight in Roguefort Cookie’s chest.)

“Hey, are you okay in there?” A soft voice called before knocking slightly harder. “It’s been a couple of hours, and no one has seen you since you left.”

‘Is that... Clover Cookie?’ Roguefort Cookie barely recognized the voice in their current state of recovering from a depressive stupor. They then realized that they should probably respond for his sake.

“Y-yeah, I’m in here. Not exactly okay, though.”

Roguefort Cookie murmured while propping themselves up on one hand and combing through their hair with the other. It had gotten tangled while they were laying down, so they started trying to untangle it while Clover Cookie continued speaking.

“Alright, just making sure you weren’t, uh, you know...” A pause. “A-anyways, everyone’s meeting up in the dining area to discuss what’s happening, so you should probably come. Oh, and make sure to bring your pamphlet with you too, please.”

Roguefort Cookie groaned as they got up, dramatically grabbing the booklet on their bedside drawers without looking. They almost forgot their glasses, swiping them and placing them on before slightly wincing at the wet spot on their pillow and opening their door.

“Oh my, I didn’t realize you’d look so exhausted! You don’t have to come to the meeting if you don’t want to.” Clover Cookie had to look up in shock, as his green-brimmed hat blocked his eyes. From this perspective, the shorter man’s green long-sleeved top and lighter green bolero jacket nearly blocked the black tights he wore.

Roguefort Cookie sighed, leaning on the door’s frame. “I’ll be fine. The other cookies would probably prefer to see me anyways if your time frame is to be believed.”

“Well, at least let me help you over there. You look about ready to collapse.”

Roguefort Cookie felt ready to collapse as they let Clover Cookie grab their hand and lead them to the dining room. Once the two arrived, Clover Cookie let go as they took the first opportunity to sit down, ignoring everyone’s stares by looking downward at the table and placing their head in their hands. Soon after, they groaned internally as someone sat next to them and started tugging on their right sleeve. Pulling the respective arm down, they turned and were met with Latte Cookie’s worried expression.

Roguefort Cookie dreaded the inevitable questioning. Before Latte Cookie could begin, though, someone else spoke up first.

“So, does everyone understand why we are together right now?” Madeleine Cookie pridefully flipped his long, flowing hair and stared across the room. He wore a blue pashmina over a white dress shirt. Below that was a pair of black tights and knee-high white heeled boots.

“I sure hope the rest of you do.” Roguefort Cookie muttered to themself.

Madeleine Cookie, not hearing the very subtle complaint, continued. “Well, I took the liberty of gathering the entire populous of these grounds in this location to establish an agreement to refrain from the extermination of any fellow cookies.”

“…was that even English?” Gumball Cookie looked very confused, to say the least.

Madeleine Cookie sighed before being interrupted by Pastry Cookie. “I believe he was saying he brought us all here to ask us not to kill each other.”

“Wow, you couldn’t understand him? How low’s your vocabulary?” The southern lady had a mocking tone as she bent over the table aggressively.

“I-it’s high enough. Not my fault Mr. Fancy decided to start speaking witch.”

“Madeleine Cookie ain’t speaking witch. You would know that if your brain wasn’t the size of my fingernail.”

“Tch, like you’re any better, uh...” Gumball seemed to zone out for a second before asking, “…what was your name again?”

“Wow, incredible. How old are you, dumbass?”

Gumball Cookie had had enough of her backlash, slamming his hands down on the table. “You know what? You don’t need to know that. Either way, I’m allowed to be a dumbass. What gives you the right to be such a dick to me, huh?”

Latte Cookie took the small silence after his angry questioning as a chance to intervene, “Alright, this is getting a bit intense. How about we come back to this later? Does that sound good?”

The nameless woman scoffed, muttering under her breath as she quickly left the dining hall. Roguefort Cookie thought for a moment before deciding to follow her. No one else followed them out of the room.

Roguefort Cookie quickly found the lady at the end of the hallway filled with doors. She had tan freckled skin and long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She wore a dark red jumpsuit under a yellow jacket with a breast split and a symbol on the front. She also wore black boots that ended just below the knee and elbow-length black gloves. Her belt also had an empty gun holster, matching her southern accent.

The lady was facing away from them, so they couldn’t see her face. They wanted to leave, but realistically couldn’t. Both of them stood there before Roguefort Cookie decided to try to talk to her. As they approached, she turned her head swiftly, her dark green eyes wide in shock. After recognizing Roguefort Cookie, she fully turned around and seemed to resign herself to soft anger.

“What do you want.”

“I wanted to check in on you. Are you okay?”

She didn’t respond at first, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Roguefort Cookie didn’t want to approach her, but they didn’t need to, as she sighed before answering their question.

“…yeah. You don’t need to worry.” Roguefort Cookie didn’t believe her.

“Are you sure? You two got really heated a few minutes ago.”

“I said I was fine. You can leave me alone now.” She turned back around, clearly wishing to be left alone. Roguefort Cookie was willing to fulfill her silent request, but something seemed to force them to refuse her offer.

“No.”

There was a pause. Roguefort Cookie quickly realized what they said as the lady pursed her lips. She didn’t expect that response.

“What?”

“I’m not leaving this alone. I can’t leave it alone, at least not with the current situation.”

“…” She lowered her head in thought. The silence was deafening.

“You’re very persistent, you know that?”

“Trust me, I’m very aware.”

“Well, I appreciate your concern, but I’m okay. Really.” She walked past Roguefort Cookie as she headed to one of the rooms in the hallway. They couldn’t tell the name on it from the angle, but with how quickly she managed to move, they probably wouldn’t have had time to read it anyways. “You don’t need to worry about it any longer.”

“Would you at least-” Roguefort Cookie was unable to finish their sentence before the door closed behind her. They were appalled at her reaction and unwillingness to address the issues. They stood there for a moment before deciding to leave. As they walked back through the hall, they turned toward the door that the lady had left through. From the new perspective, they were able to see that the name was listed as ‘Rye Cookie’.

Roguefort Cookie very quickly ran into another cookie, almost literally. Roguefort Cookie yelped as they quickly backed up to avoid a collision. The cookie they nearly ran into, who happened to be Adventurer Cookie, backed up as well with his hands up defensively.

“Whoa, whoa whoa whoa!” Adventurer Cookie moved one hand to lift his now disheveled peroxide blond hair out of his brown eyes. “You good?”

“Er, yes. I… apologize for scaring you like that.”

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Adventurer Cookie began to fidget with the bottom of his brown tab-collared shirt. Roguefort Cookie realized, now that they were closer, that what they thought was an orange band on his upper left arm was a tie wrapped around it. Along with the wrinkled dress pants, short boots, and lack of blazer, you’d think he was rebelling against any sense of professionalism in his outfit.

Things got slightly awkward after that. Eventually, though, Roguefort Cookie remembered something; the pamphlets were forgotten entirely after Gumball Cookie and Rye Cookie began fighting.

“Hey, want to check out the pamphlets? We didn’t get to in the dining area, so…”

Adventurer’s eyes lit up at the question, and he quickly nodded. “Yeah, absolutely! I left it in my room though.”

Roguefort Cookie chuckled internally. “It’s alright; I still have mine with me. We can just talk there.”

Adventurer Cookie nodded again, leading the (very short) way to his room. As Roguefort Cookie entered, they noted that his room looked essentially the same as theirs, with a few subtle changes. Firstly, the closet was open and had multiple replicas of the same outfit Adventurer Cookie with a few subtle details off, like the tie being properly around the collar and one of the sets having a very dark brown blazer. Second, the bed was made neatly (Roguefort Cookie made a mental note to fix theirs). Thirdly, and most strangely, was that despite the clean bed, the rest of the room was in disarray, as if Adventurer Cookie had lost something very important and frantically searched through everything he could get his hands on. Said cookie quickly noticed their stare and started closing the drawers previously left ajar while excusing himself.

“Ah, sorry about the mess. After I first woke up, I started looking for, well, anything useful. I haven’t gotten back around to tidying since I stayed out after the meeting with ‘Gnomakuma’ (he used finger quotes while stating their name) to look for any potential escape routes.” He sat on the bed with the booklet he found on the desk while cleaning. “…we were unsuccessful, by the way.”

“I could guess, considering you’re still here.” Roguefort Cookie reluctantly sat down on the other side, trying not to ruin the only pristine furniture in the room.

Adventurer Cookie chuckled sadly. “Yeah, I guess so. Anyways, we’re here for the brochures, right? Let’s have a look at ‘em.” Adventurer Cookie opened his pamphlet and quickly began skimming the contents.

Roguefort Cookie followed and quickly noticed two things. Firstly, a table of contents was on the left side. Secondly, and more obviously, a lot of Gnomakuma imagery was posted around the entire outside and, based on a quick flip through the contents, inside of the pamphlet.

‘Man, this sugar gnome’s so full of themself. It’s ridiculous.’

THE RULES:

Rule #1: Students may reside only within permitted areas. Leaving said grounds is an unacceptable use of time.

Rule #2: "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.

Rule #3: Violence against Gamemaster Gnomakuma is strictly prohibited, as is the destruction of surveillance cameras or other specified equipment.

Rule #4: With otherwise minimal restrictions, you are free to explore at your discretion.

Rule #5: Anyone who kills a fellow player and becomes "blackened" will be allowed to leave unless they are discovered.

Rule #6: Once a murder takes place, a trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving players.

Rule #7: If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be punished.

Rule #8: If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be punished.

Rule #9: The guilty party may only kill a maximum of two people during any single "Killing Game."

Rule #10: Gamemaster Gnomakuma retains the right to remove, add, or otherwise alter any listed rules within reason.

‘Hmm, a surprisingly short list. I should be able to follow these rules pretty easily.’ They looked over at Adventurer Cookie, who was still reading them. Roguefort Cookie decided to move on, turning the page to be met with a card slipping out from within. They picked up the card curiously, looking at the back before flipping it over to read the front.

‘Tracker?’

“Hey, whatcha looking at?” Roguefort Cookie nearly jumped at Adventurer Cookie suddenly asking them a question. After giving themself a second to recover from the auditory jumpscare, they held up the card so Adventurer Cookie could see the back.

“Oh, well, this card fell out of my booklet and-”

“-And you shouldn’t be looking at it!”

It was now Adventurer Cookie’s turn to jump as he turned around instinctively to see a very angry Gnomakuma behind him. At least, they sounded angry; it was hard to tell with the face. They quickly walked over to Roguefort Cookie, snatching the card out of their hand.

“Wh- hey!”

“Don’t ‘hey’ me, mister! This-” Gnomakuma holds up the card, “-is a spoiler. You weren’t supposed to see this, so you’re not allowed to tell anyone about this. Got it?”

Roguefort Cookie was still in a slight shock. “Well, A. I’m not a mister and B. If I wasn’t supposed to see it, then why was it in here?” They asked, holding up their pamphlet.

Gnomakuma sighed heavily, avoiding the question entirely. “Just- don’t tell anyone what you saw. Especially him.” They pointed at Adventurer Cookie before turning away and walking out the door. The room was silent until said cookie spoke up.

“…so what was on that card?”

Roguefort Cookie facepalmed. “I just got banned from telling you about it.”

“Damn it.”

As Adventurer Cookie pouted, someone knocked on the door. Both cookies turned to it as it opened to reveal a less angry Gumball Cookie. Before the other two could say anything, he quickly started explaining his presence.

“Okay, so to make up for the fight with what’s-her-face earlier, I’m gathering people for dinner and an ‘actual conversation’, as Latte Cookie put it.” He was not the happiest about the situation but was nowhere near how angry he was before. Roguefort Cookie just assumed Latte Cookie had calmed him down and stood up to head to the giant dining area that they were now plenty accompanied with. Before they left though, they asked Adventurer Cookie a question that had been bugging them.

“Oh, by the way, why is there a single blazer in your closet?”

Adventurer Cookie, immediately after hearing Roguefort Cookie ask, jumped up and rushed to the closet, grabbing it out.

“Ah crap, I must’ve forgotten that one.” He said to himself as he nearly pushed past Roguefort Cookie to rush towards the dining hall with the said blazer. Gumball Cookie, who hadn’t exactly left yet, looked just as confused as Roguefort Cookie. He simply sighed before going and knocking on someone else’s door and continuing the process of gathering everyone together again.

As Roguefort Cookie entered the dining hall for the third time that day, they noted Adventurer Cookie very quickly handing the lone blazer to Mint Choco Cookie, who thanked him for it. It was at that moment that Roguefort Cookie finally realized that both blazers looked identical and that Adventurer Cookie must’ve given them all to Mint Choco Cookie for him to wear. If they were to be honest, they thought that Mint Choco Cookie likely looked better in the blazers anyway. They suited his dark green undershirt, turquoise jeans, and similarly dark brown shoes better.

Apart from that, it was like that morning; lots of cookies were talking to each other. Roguefort Cookie felt singled out but opted to stay out of conversations this time. They didn’t want anyone asking about their whereabouts for those depressing two hours. Instead of talking to anyone in particular, they decided to head to the kitchen and see who was taking on the monumental task of making food for 16 cookies.

In the kitchen, Roguefort Cookie found a very large room. They realized they had never come into the kitchen and took a moment to revel in its sheer size. There was a corner dedicated to fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients. They presumed the top cabinets were stocked with dishes based on the few left open, so that meant the bottom must’ve been other foodstuffs or non-ingredient items commonly found in the kitchen.

‘Like rat poison,’ they thought nervously.

Roguefort Cookie also found Pastry Cookie hard at work mixing a large pot of what appeared to be a soup while Latte Cookie cut up some fruits and placed them in a bowl. On the other side, near the ingredients, was Cocoa Cookie taking a hard look at everything before asking,

“Latte Cookie, did you put any citrus in that fruit salad? Because I’m allergic to citrus.”

Latte Cookie turned to look at Cocoa Cookie. “Oh, you are? I’m so sorry, I did. Would you like me to make some without citrus?”

“Yes, please.” Cocoa Cookie turned away from the ingredients and finally noticed Roguefort Cookie in the doorway. “Oh, hello! Would you like to help with dinner?”

“Oh, uh…” Roguefort Cookie didn’t want to be called out, but now that they were mentioned, they felt obligated to help. “Sure?”

Pastry Cookie smiled at their answer. “Well, I could use help with making a third meal for the other cookies. I want there to be plenty of options in case anyone has a specific taste. Could you see if there’s any meat in the pile of foodstuffs in the corner?”

“Alright then.” Roguefort Cookie said, heading over to the corner. It was a lot more packed than they thought. Luckily, before they could embarrass themself by spending 20 minutes looking, Cocoa Cookie had them covered.

“Oh, there’s a freezer full of meat next to the garlic over there.” She pointed to a certain section where, as she said, there were a few select types of meat in a large freezer. Chicken, steak, pork chops, and several other types were set out ready to be used. Roguefort Cookie looked them over before turning back to Pastry Cookie.

“Yeah, quite a few kinds. Any specifics?”

“Hmm…” Pastry Cookie thought to herself for a moment before responding, “Yes. Is there any ham?”

“Plenty.” Roguefort Cookie said, opening the freezer and shivering at the sudden cold before picking up one of the aforementioned hams. The one they grabbed was smaller than most of the others but was still definitely enough. They still had to hold it with both hands (even though it was easy to carry; it’s the principle).

“Wonderful. Bring it here, please.” Roguefort Cookie did as they were told, bringing the smaller-but-still-large ham over and placing it on the counter next to Pastry Cookie. As she set the oven to 325°F, they grabbed a pan to place the ham on.

“Now, we’re going to have to make an estimated guess on the cooking time, but I’ve made these before, so it shouldn’t be that hard.”

~~~time skip because I’m not writing every step of the cooking~~~

“Dinner’s ready!” Latte Cookie yelled into the dining room as she brought out her bowl full of fruits. Behind her was Pastry Cookie with her steamed ham (somehow not burned to a crisp), Cocoa Cookie trying her best to carry the soup, and Roguefort Cookie struggling to balance a bunch of plates and bowls like they were Cinderella. As the first three tried to give out their several foodstuffs to whoever asked, Roguefort Cookie kept getting more and more exasperated. Eventually, they got fed up and just yelled,

“HELP ME, DARN IT!”

Afterward, a couple of cookies, namely Beet Cookie and Clover Cookie, ran over to help with the load. White Chocolate Cookie tried to rush over to help as well, but ran into Cocoa Cookie and got soup all over his armor. He quickly apologized, grabbing a napkin on the table and beginning to wipe the ground. Alongside this, there was a small group of cookies in the corner hiding away from everything.

All in all, the room was complete chaos.

Eventually, though, things somehow managed to settle down. The dishes were placed around the table accordingly, the meals had all been sorted based on tastes, and the small group in the corner was lured out by the relative peace that had been formed. The table this time, however, was quieter. White Chocolate Cookie had left with a bowl of salad and a slice of ham, citing the mess on his armor. Other than that, the previous chaos was contrasted by the sounds of metal hitting metal as people ate and the softer conversations.

This went on for a small while, as the elephant in the room was either accidentally or intentionally ignored by everyone in the room. Roguefort Cookie, alongside Mint Choco Cookie and Latte Cookie, happened to be caught up in Madeleine Cookie’s very captivating tale of a ‘memorable spar between [him] and a fellow paladin-in-training [he] respected.’

“…and so she tries to go for my left, but I parry and, get this, even manage to thrust her sword out of her hand. It was the first time I’d ever done that. Of course, we’ve both gotten way better since then.”

”How old were you both?” Mint Choco Cookie asked.

Madeleine took a second to think. “Well, I forget, but we couldn’t have been older than 12.”

“12? That’s pretty young.” Latte Cookie said in response.

“I mean, the Divine chose us as paladins. The least we could do was practice from a young age. I’m pretty sure I started as soon as I could hold a sword without falling over.” Madeleine Cookie chuckled to himself, likely from a memory. Roguefort Cookie joined in, suddenly given the mental image of Madeleine Cookie of all cookies failing to hold a sword. Based on the other two’s snorts (Latte Cookie) and muffled laughter (Mint Choco Cookie), they assumed both had been given the same vision.

And with that, the story ended with a circle of laughter and forgotten dishes as Pastry Cookie got up from her seat and headed to the side of the table in front of the kitchen. Roguefort Cookie watched as she knocked on the table to gain everyone’s attention. It took a few tries, but eventually, everyone stopped conversing and turned to her.

Once she had confirmed everyone’s awareness, she began, “I believe we have a previous matter to properly discuss. I understand many of you have likely not brought your pamphlets this time, but I would like to bring attention to rules 7 through 9, specifically referencing a trial.

“As a reminder, they state that after a body is discovered, a trial will commence. We must find the killer within that trial or be ‘punished’. I am willing to believe this punishment will likely be either torture or death. Due to this, I would like the group to agree not to kill anyone else, especially with this punishment in mind. Does anyone have any thoughts they would like to add?”

Cocoa Cookie raised her hand. “There’s enough food in the kitchen to last us for a long while. Considering we’re supposed to be here for the rest of our lives, it’ll likely be replaced as we use it to guarantee that any death is from murder. So we’ll be good on that front.”

“Splendid. Anyone else?”

Silence.

“I will take a lack of objections as a silent agreement. You may remain here, but I will head to my room as nighttime is near. Goodnight, everyone.”

Pastry Cookie left the room after her statement, and soon, everyone else began following her lead. The only ones who stayed back were Beet Cookie and Adventurer Cookie offering to wash everyone’s dishes. Roguefort Cookie considered helping, but they were tired after the surprisingly long day.

“AHEM! It is now 10 PM, and certain areas have now been locked. Good night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bed bugs bite!”

They headed back to their room and sat on their bed, considering their circumstances. Now with the knowledge that their lives were sustainable, and with the hope of help on the way, they supposed living there wouldn’t be so bad. The risk of death was likely too high for anyone to try anything, at least this early. Taking their glasses off and setting them on the bedside drawers, they pulled the covers over them and fell into a mostly dreamless sleep.

GNOMAKUMA THEATRE

“Well, well, well. The killing game has commenced. You know, hope is a fickle thing. One moment, you’re holding on to the idea that everything will be fine, and the next you’re dropped into a pit of despair. It’s fun to think about. Seeing hope fade from a cookie’s eyes is just about the best entertainment I’ll get here unless there’s murder. That would be better. You know what? Who cares? I’ll take what I can get.

“For now, at least.”

Chapter Text

“Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 AM, and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine!”

The now present brightness slowly stirred Roguefort Cookie from their sleep. Their eyes opened as they woke on their side, which helped with the sudden blast of light assaulting them. Sitting up, they reached for their glasses but felt a slip of paper instead. They grabbed it and rubbed their eyes, attempting to read as much on it as they could.

“Hello, Madeleine Cookie.

I would like you to meet me in my room as soon as breakfast is over. There is an important issue I believe we should discuss as a group. I’d also prefer it if this were kept secret. I understand how suspicious this seems, but White Chocolate Cookie will also be there, so if anything happens, there will be a witness.

With best regards,

Beet Cookie”

'Okay… so this wasn’t meant for me.’ Roguefort Cookie made sure to change before leaving, deciding to place their dirty clothes in a corner until they could figure out where to wash them. They noted where a few other cookies’ rooms were compared to theirs as they left their room.

As they stepped into the dining room, Roguefort Cookie noticed that there weren’t nearly as many cookies as there had been the previous night. The only ones in the room were Mint Choco Cookie, Clover Cookie, and White Chocolate Cookie. They could hear noises in the kitchen, so they assumed that there were others in there. They decided to head in and see if they could help with breakfast.

When Roguefort Cookie entered the kitchen, they were immediately hit with the crackling of eggs on the stove and the smell of bacon in the oven. Pastry Cookie was making breakfast by herself, wearing a white apron over her dark purple dress and cross necklace. Her yellow sash was placed on the counter. She turned around, her long hair in its typical chignon.

“Ah, hello Roguefort Cookie. Would you like to help me make breakfast?” Pastry Cookie smiled kindly.

“Well, that’s why I came here.” They responded, walking over to stand next to her. “So, just eggs and bacon? Or do you have anything else in mind?”

“Hmm…” Pastry Cookie pondered for a moment. “I don’t know what else to make. What do you think?”

Roguefort Cookie had to take a moment to ask themself what they knew how to cook. Their parents would teach them when they were younger, but their teenage years consisted of noodles and other unhealthy meals due to their ‘independence’. The somewhat-expensive college they went to didn’t help that particular skill, either. At some point, they had to start relying on microwaved food to get through the day because of the high tuition.

‘Man, I don’t know how to make anything related to breakfast, huh?’

A snap in front of their face took Roguefort Cookie out of their mind. Pastry Cookie was trying to get their attention.

After they blinked a couple of times, she asked, “Are you alright? You zoned out on me.”

“Yeah, I’m good. It’s just-” They rubbed their neck nervously, “-…I don’t know how to cook more common foods. Last night was all you; I just so happened to know a formula to calculate the cooking time for different kinds of hams.”

“…ah, I see.” Pastry Cookie went silent for a moment before continuing, “Well, would you like me to teach you? With bacon, you can follow instructions. Eggs, however, require quite a bit of attention.”

She turned back around to focus her attention on the foodstuffs as mentioned earlier, nearly done. “There are many ways to make eggs. The kind I am currently making is sunny-side-up, so we don’t flip the eggs. Instead, we let the yolk cook from the bottom. This is the most common way you see eggs, especially on TV. For other kinds, you may flip the egg or boil it with the shell in a pot.”

Roguefort Cookie nodded in understanding. As they did so, White Chocolate Cookie came in. He looked distinctly different from the previous night; his body shape seemed thinner without the white armor. His black gambeson covered similarly dark pants, and the only armor he did wear (his boots) matched surprisingly well. His blond hair looked washed, accentuating the baby blue fade at the bottom. Pastry Cookie was the first to attempt a conversation with him as she turned off the stove.

“Good morning, White Chocolate Cookie. What would you like for breakfast? We have a little time until more cookies arrive.”

“I would prefer to make my own meals if you wouldn’t mind. I don’t trust anyone here, and that includes you two. Now, where’s the bread?”

“…oh. Well, I believe it’s in one of the lower cabinets near the sink. Roguefort Cookie, would you mind helping him find it?”

Roguefort Cookie nodded before realizing she likely wasn’t watching them.

“Sure.”

They walked over to the sink where White Chocolate Cookie had already crouched down and begun searching. The both of them proceeded to look around in separate directions until Roguefort Cookie heard the wrinkling of plastic and a monotone “Found it.”

White Chocolate Cookie got up and placed two slices of bread into the toaster placed conveniently on the counter right above where he found the bread. As he did so, Roguefort Cookie began slowly heading towards the door. Opening it, they saw that multiple other cookies had entered the dining area since they last checked including Madeleine Cookie. The sight of him reminded Roguefort Cookie of the note they had received in the morning, and they quickly left the kitchen to give it to him.

Madeleine Cookie was conversing with a very visibly nervous Strawberry Cookie (or at least, he was trying to). They were both sitting near the center of the table but on opposite sides. Roguefort Cookie decided to sit to Madeleine Cookie’s right to get the heat off of Strawberry Cookie, at least for a little bit. It also made it easier to sneak the note to him. Madeleine Cookie noticed the sudden presence beside him near instantly, turning to face them as Strawberry Cookie audibly sighed and uncurled herself slightly.

“Hello, Roguefort Cookie! This is such a fine morning, right?” He said, leaning over and beaming.

“We can’t see the outside world. I would have no idea if the weather was pleasant or not, unfortunately.” Roguefort Cookie pursed their lips, wondering how to bring up the topic of the letter. Eventually, they decided to just tap the note against his side, hoping he would get the hint. Madeleine Cookie got the hint surprisingly quickly, though he also ruined the secrecy surprisingly quickly.

“Hey, what’s this?”

Roguefort Cookie quickly whispered, “Keep it down! It’s a secret.”

“Oh, sorry.” He began whispering as well, “Hey, what’s this?”

“It’s a note. It was meant for you but was delivered to my room instead. I read it, and no one else is allowed to know about this except Beet Cookie and White Chocolate Cookie. You didn’t get this from me, okay?”

“Got it. No one else knows.” He took the note and slipped it into his breast pocket (when did he have a breast pocket?).

Just as he said that, Beet Cookie entered the room. She silently walked up to the trio and whispered something into Madeleine Cookie’s ear. He looked up at her, nodding. She didn’t smile, opting to instead sit closer to the kitchen. Roguefort Cookie watched as she pulled her green cape up to fit into the seat correctly and propped one leg up. Her pink up-down dress over a dark purple tunic and pants covered by deep pink boots had them wondering how she got dressed in the morning.

Roguefort Cookie didn’t dwell on that thought for long, however, as they were hit on the shoulder and brought out of their head. They quickly realized the table had gotten much fuller since their conversation with Madeleine Cookie first began. Food had also been brought out, so they decided to take from the plate of eggs that Pastry Cookie had (somewhat) let them watch her cook. They also noticed Strawberry Cookie poking at her food, but opted not to say anything, simply waving to get her attention without anyone else noticing.

Strawberry Cookie looked up at the motion, and Roguefort Cookie pointed to her bacon, then to her with their fork. She pointed to her mask in return. They then remembered that typically, cookies are unable to eat with something covering their mouth. Nodding, they looked back down at their eggs and took a bite. Something was missing.

Cocoa Cookie, sitting to Roguefort Cookie’s right, noticed their change in expression and swiftly sprinkled some salt onto their eggs. They looked over at her, confused. She simply smiled and went back to her… cocoa.

After breakfast, Roguefort Cookie entered the cabaret, keeping the curtain open to be able to see better. They watched from a distance as everyone went their own ways, most leaving to (likely) go to their rooms while Latte Cookie and Beet Cookie collected dishes for washing. The area became silent soon after, giving Roguefort Cookie room to think as they sat down at a table close to the curtain.

At least they thought so before a sudden loud noise caused them to nearly jump. They turned around to see Licorice Cookie, who had fallen behind them. He seemed to have slipped on a badly-stitched part of his robe, his hood falling off to reveal dark dreadlocks down to his shoulders and partially covering one golden eye. Roguefort Cookie got up to help, but their foot got caught on something, causing them to nearly fall themself.

Catching themself on the table, they turned their attention to whatever had tripped them only to find a (nibless) scythe laying at their feet. It was very crudely made; the blade wasn’t sharp and the tang was held to the snath by string instead of bolted. They looked up to see Licorice Cookie grab the scythe from under their feet with one hand and cover his face with the other while apologizing profusely.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for you to get hurt because I fell, please forgive me-”

“Whoa, calm down, okay? I’m not hurt!” Roguefort Cookie put their hands up as they said that, causing Licorice Cookie to uncover his face slightly.

“Y-you’re not?”

“Uh, no? Why would I be? Unless that scythe managed to cut off my sole painlessly when I stepped on the flat part of the blade, which I highly doubt.”

The ragged cookie looked down nervously, fidgeting with the lavender string wrapped around his abdomen as he attempted to attach the ragged scythe to his hip with it.

“…sorry.”

Roguefort Cookie sighed to themself. “It’s fine, Licorice Cookie. You don’t need to apologize.”

“Okay.”

Licorice Cookie and Roguefort Cookie departed soon after, the former heading (presumably) to his room and the latter heading towards a pair in the lobby. Mint Choco Cookie and Cocoa Cookie were conversing excitedly. They turned to the approaching cookie, Cocoa Cookie pulling them into the conversation almost immediately.

“Hey, Roguefort Cookie! We were just discussing where we lived before being brought here. Turns out Mint Choco Cookie and I went to the same school! Isn’t that crazy?”

Mint Choco Cookie nodded. “Yeah, we've even had one or two of the same teachers. It’s shocking how we’ve never met all this time.”

“Anyways,” Cocoa Cookie interjected, “where’d you live before this?”

Roguefort Cookie stuttered a bit while responding. “Oh, well… I grew up in the Hollyberry Kingdom before moving to Parfaedia for college. I’ve lived there ever since.”

“The Hollyberry Kingdom? I’ve always wanted to go there! What’s it like?”

Roguefort Cookie spent some time answering all of Cocoa Cookie’s questions.

During their long conversation, the two of them had somehow moved to the kitchen, with Mint Choco Cookie having left the group at some point. Cocoa Cookie was dumping powder of her namesake in her green cup full of milk as Roguefort Cookie grabbed their own cup of cocoa and took a sip.

“So,” they asked once they had set their cup down, “why do you drink cocoa so much?”

Cocoa Cookie hummed to herself as she turned on the microwave, seeming to ignore Roguefort Cookie’s question. They had to clear their throat loudly for her to realize they had asked something, turning around in confusion.

“Oh, sorry, repeat that?”

They repeated their question, prompting her to respond with a shrug and a “Why not?”

“Well, it seems like cannibalism to me, you know? Like drinking yourself?”

“Oh!” Cocoa Cookie giggled to herself before responding, “I never thought of it that way. I always believed that it would be cannibalism if I ate another cookie, but now you’ve got me thinking. I might be a vampire.”

“…yeah, that makes more sense. Both the cannibalism and the vampirism.”

Roguefort Cookie paused before continuing their thoughts.

“Wow, how did we go down that path?”

Cocoa Cookie shrugged again. “You asked.”

“Fair.”

They stood in silence for a small while, the only noise being the beeping of a microwave finishing its cycle and the freshly made cocoa being taken out. Their peaceful quiet was interrupted by Cocoa Cookie asking an odd question.

“Who do you think will start it?”

“…start what?” Roguefort Cookie looked over at Cocoa Cookie. She elaborated after a quick pause.

“The killing game. We both know someone here will snap at some point. I’m just wondering who you think it’ll be. I’m personally eyeing Lilac Cookie as a suspect.”

“You mean the guy with purple hair?” She nodded. “Yeah, he’s suspicious, but-”

“I assure you, I have no intention of killing anyone.” Both of them jumped as they turned toward the sudden voice, the sound of shattering glass accentuating their shock. Lilac Cookie(?) had joined them in the room while they weren’t looking, likely slipping in through the now slightly open entrance.

Roguefort Cookie was the first to respond after a quick silence, “Oh, uh… hi.”

“…you’d better clean that up.” Lilac Cookie pointed out. Cocoa Cookie nodded and began wiping the ground with her jacket, staining the minty green fabric as she cleaned up her spilled cocoa with no other options. Both of the other cookies stood for a moment before Roguefort Cookie grabbed a towel and started picking up shards of glass, making sure not to cut themself.

Once the job was done, Cocoa Cookie thanked Roguefort Cookie before leaving. They watched her leave, and soon realized that Lilac Cookie had left as well. Cursing him under their breath for not helping, Roguefort Cookie followed Cocoa Cookie out.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, all things considered. Nothing major happened until dinner, when Gumball Cookie started a food fight. Everyone helped clean up after that, and nighttime fell before anyone knew it.

Roguefort Cookie laid in bed, exhausted after having to rinse ranch out of their hair for 10 minutes straight (the salad was *really* good, but not when it made your hair stick to itself.) They turned on to their side, but couldn’t seem to fall asleep.

Knock, knock, knock.

A series of long knocks on their door made them shoot up in a panic. The long pause afterwards certainly didn’t help. They sat there, tense. Just waiting for something to happen. Just when they thought they might go back to fruitlessly attempting to fall asleep, it happened again.

Knock, knock, knock.

Whoever it was knocked a second time, but didn’t speak like Clover Cookie had. No, they stayed in silence, likely waiting for Roguefort Cookie to make a move. Something settled deep into their gut, and they soon realized it was fear. Fear of what could happen if that door opened.

Knock knock knock.

Roguefort Cookie’s breathing increased as the knocking did. They couldn’t do anything apart from wait; they sat and silently prayed to whatever is beyond life that the cookie outside would spare theirs.

…

Seconds ticked by, but no knocking followed.

…

They held their breath in anticipation.

…

Still, no more knocking.

…

They let their shoulders down from where they had instinctively shrugged, breathing out a sigh of relief before quickly silencing themselves in case the cookie outside decided to come back. When no more noises came, they slowly laid back onto the bed.

Hours seemed to pass before they finally fell asleep.

GNOMAKUMA THEATRE

“Everyone fears the unknown, at least to an extent. It’s cookie nature to look out for what you aren’t aware of. Of course, I know everything, so that particular fear doesn’t affect me that much. What do I fear, though? I mean, I’m in control here. Nothing could possibly happen that I’m not aware of.

“Is that foreshadowing, though?

“Meh, who knows. I sure don’t! Pupupupu~”

Chapter Text

The morning was similar to the last; everyone was gathering in the dining room to enjoy breakfast. Roguefort Cookie once again was on edge, as if the instinctual fear they (somehow) brushed off the previous night had been reignited. Now, however, it didn’t have an immediate cause. It followed them into their ‘conversation’ (if it could even be considered that) with a visibly tired and barely comprehensible Gumball Cookie. He hadn’t even bothered to put on his visor, revealing that his eyes were a similar shade of yellow.

He mumbled to himself for a bit before face-planting into the table. Roguefort Cookie shook him, but he only moved his arm to push theirs away before (apparently) falling asleep. Now with nothing to do, Roguefort Cookie looked at everyone else. The room was more silent than it had been for the past couple of days, but it wasn’t a comfortable silence.

“Boo!”

Suddenly, a particular sugar gnome jumped out from the other end of the table. A couple of cookies fell out of their seats in shock, while White Chocolate Cookie stood up defensively and reached for his empty sheath. Gnomakuma laughed at the chaos they caused before clearing their throat.

“Well, hello again! Happy to see me?”

“…no. None of us are.” White Chocolate Cookie took his hand away from his sheathe, his face a practiced lack of emotion save for a twinge of anger.

“Hmph!” Gnomakuma pouted before quickly recovering. “Anyways, wanna know why I’m disrupting your fine morning?”

They didn’t let anyone respond before continuing, “Well, I’m here to let you all know of a grand opportunity happening right now! Head to the lobby for more details! Or, I guess,” Gnomakuma’s limited expression became much more sinister, “go to the lobby if you don’t want to be crumbled.”

They laughed at everyone before disappearing behind the curtain to the cabaret. Everyone stood for a moment before Madeleine Cookie interrupted the silence excitedly.

“Well, we might as well go see whatever they’re talking about, huh?”

Cocoa Cookie hummed before responding with a simple, “I’m going.” Everyone in the room voiced their agreement in several different tones as they all haphazardly left through the only door.

Out in the lobby was everyone else, likely having been woken up for this ‘opportunity’. A very awake Ninja Cookie quickly supported this assumption.

“I assume we were all awoken for this meeting.”

“Actually,” Cocoa Cookie started, “Some of us were getting ready for breakfast. Gnomakuma woke you guys up?”

Beet Cookie stretched, “Yeah. I was lucky enough to already be getting ready by the time they appeared. Imagine waking up to that thing.”

Rye Cookie spoke up at that point. “Uh, I have a question. Madeleine Cookie, why on Earthbread are you carrying that twerp?”

Roguefort Cookie turned behind them to see that said cookie did, in fact, have a sleeping Gumball Cookie in a fireman’s carry. They couldn’t help a snort escaping their lips, and soon just about half of the room was laughing in one way or another at the funny sight. Madeleine Cookie, however, did not seem amused by the show. In fact, it seemed to make him panic slightly.

“W-what’s happening? Did I do something wrong?”

Roguefort Cookie managed to get themself to stop laughing long enough to respond, “No, no, i-it’s just… Sorry, let me just,” they cleared their throat and took a breath, “It’s not you, I promise. We just… expected Gumball Cookie to be awake for this.”

“…oh. Alright.” He began jostling the still-asleep Gumball Cookie in his arms. “Come on buddy, wake up.”

“Okay, everyone! Thank you for waiting so patiently!” Everyone turned towards the voice to see that Gnomakuma had returned, this time from behind the storefront.

“’ So’, you may be asking yourselves, ‘what’s this whole shebang about?’ Well, this is the opportunity of a lifetime! At least, until the end of one of yours.”

That’s when Roguefort Cookie noticed the giant box behind the desk. It was dark grey, sleek with a recent cleaning, and holding a glass dome showing that it was filled to the brim with small, spherical capsules. Each capsule was a different color and had small grooves in them, likely so that the claw would be able to grab a capsule. The front showed two slits and a bordered platform connected to a large hole similarly sized to the capsules.

“It’s behind this door to my right. Check it out if you want. Or don’t. You are allowed to forfeit this offer now. Once you go in, though, you can’t get yourself out of it. So choose now, and choose wisely.”

Gnomakuma disappeared behind said door, leaving a room of confused cookies to their own devices.

Rye Cookie was the first to speak her mind. “What the hell is their deal with leavin’ us here?”

“How are we supposed to know? It’s just their thing, I guess.”

“So what now? Do we just accept it?”

“I think at least one of us should go check it out.”

“I’ll go! Well, once Gumball Cookie wakes up.”

“Will we even have the deal on the table when he wakes up?”

“Is anyone else willing to go?”

“I mean, I am a bit curious about what they’re offering. Could be a way out of here.”

“Or it could be bait, to get one of us to kill. Who knows why Gnomakuma’s offering this now as opposed to when we all first woke up here.”

Roguefort Cookie piped up. “Well, we’re not getting answers just by standing here and talking at each other. I’m checking it out; feel free to join me if you want.”

Roguefort Cookie let the chatter behind them simmer out of their hearing range as they entered the newly opened room. It had a much different feel than the rest of the space they’d been living in; the walls looked as if they were made of metal, cold and hard to the touch. The room itself was surprisingly large, with several small pedestals filling some of the empty space on either side but still leaving plenty in the middle for walking. Each pedestal had some object on it encased in glass, and to the side of each was a flat plane with a scanner on it.

Roguefort Cookie put their hand on the scanner, to no avail. They turned behind them as they saw Adventurer Cookie and Mint Choco Cookie enter the room, silently taking in the sight just as they had. Suddenly, Mint Choco Cookie gasped at the sight of one of the objects.

“My violin!”

He ran over to one of the pedestals near the end of the room and, as he said, there was a minty green violin with a similarly colored bow lying next to it.

He started clapping in excitement as Roguefort Cookie noticed something of their own interest. A simple golden cane was off near the very back, its diamond blue crow head catching their attention. They walked over slowly, going around a few others that had entered the room as they reached into their memories for any trace of whatever is drawing them to it.

But only as they touched the glass did they remember.

“…my father owned a cane like this.”

There was a small engraving on it.

“No… this was my father’s cane.”

“Was?”

Roguefort Cookie turned around quickly, their ponytail hitting the cookie behind them. Pastry Cookie took a moment before speaking again, backing up while holding the side of her face and clearing her throat.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine, I guess. Are you hurt?”

“No, just recovering from the recoil.” She took her hand away from her face, a small blush of embarrassment in its place.

Roguefort Cookie looked behind her to see that about half of the group had joined them in the room, nine cookies in total including Roguefort Cookie seeming to consider the offer given. They had all seemed to gravitate towards specific items, some talking to each other while others simply looked at whatever had caught their eyes. The room now seemed much smaller compared to when Roguefort Cookie first entered, the air slightly more stiff.

They grabbed onto the pedestal for support as a familiar voice echoed through the room yet again.

“I assume this is everyone?”

The room chorused with multiple replies all along the lines of ‘yes’.

“Great! So now, let me finally answer your dying question. This opportunity is simple. Each glass container has something of great value to someone, whether they be inside this room or waiting for you all to be done. Everyone in this killing game will receive a Monophone.”

Gnomakuma held out a Monophone from the stack in their hand for them to check out. It was slightly larger than an average phone with a large screen, but the similarities between it and the average phone quickly ended there. The case was split in half with a toothy grin resembling a certain sugar gnome they all knew. The lock screen, as shown when Gnomakuma experimentally turned it on, displayed the name of White Chocolate Cookie. Said cookie was then given the Monophone. Gnomakuma began talking again as they walked around and started handing them out to everyone else.

“They will be used from this point onward to access information, chat with others over long distances, and even for getting into your dorm rooms. The doors will be reprogrammed to only unlock from the outside when the appropriate Monophone is within a set distance. For safety, y’know?”

“…since when did you care about safety?”

“Anyways,” Gnomakuma promptly ignored Beet Cookie, “these Monophones are also the key to this, well… I’ll call it more of a motive than an opportunity at this point. You can use a Monophone to unlock a glass case, letting you gain access to the object inside. But, and here’s the fun part, if you decide to do that, you must murder someone with said object.”

The room was silent. Roguefort Cookie looked back at their father’s the cane in the glass behind them. The thought of someone bludgeoning another cookie in the head with it made them sick. They gripped the pedestal harder as Gnomakuma gasped before excitedly continuing their monologue.

“Or maybe this is the fun part. You’d think there’s no point to this, right? ‘Wow, you give us an assortment of unusual objects to use as weapons, but why not just use a knife?’ Well, the answer to that is simple.”

Gnomakuma grinned.

“If you opt to use one of these objects to end a life, tainting the memories of whoever’s weapon you choose in the process, you’ll be allowed to leave here without a trial.”

The silence from the group was filled with shocked gasps and the beginnings of whispered conversations. Roguefort Cookie was not privy to any of them, but the idea was there.

“That’s right! I know the main reason you haven’t been shedding jam all over the place is the trial system I was so nice to mention in the rules. I was starting to regret that decision, but this should give everyone here a bit more of a push to get things started. Of course, everyone not here is missing out, but that’s the consequence of giving cookies options, y’know?

“Speaking of which,” Gnomakuma circled back to the center of the room. “Care to give these to everyone else outside?” They asked while handing the rest of the Monophones to a very stunned Latte Cookie.

“Oh, uh… sure!” Latte Cookie took a moment to re-enter her usual cheerful persona.

“Thank youuuu~” Gnomakuma took that as a sign to leave, waltzing out the only door and leaving a very contemplative room in their place.

As the group left in a collective heap, Pastry Cookie pulled Roguefort Cookie to the side. They looked at her, confused.

“If you don’t mind me asking again, what did you mean by ‘was’ earlier?”

“Huh?”

“You… said that the cane you were observing used to be your father’s. What did you mean by that?”

“…” Roguefort Cookie looked back at the door solemnly and sighed, “…my father was a distant cookie. He wasn’t always there for me emotionally. But he promised I’d always live comfortably and happy as long as he was around.”

A pause.

“Of course, he dies, and now I’m here. Kinda funny though, right? As soon as he’s not around, my life gets very uncomfortable and unhappy. Guess his promise came true, however unfortunate for me.” Roguefort Cookie wiped a tear as he looked at Pastry Cookie’s reaction. She was stoic but sombre, showing empathy quietly. Instead of saying any words, she simply opened her arms, offering a hug.

And they obliged.

She was soft and plush, comforting in the best way possible. Roguefort Cookie cried into her shoulder as she rubbed circles into their back comfortingly. Pastry Cookie let a moment pass before she began speaking.

“…I’ve never had a father. All I’ve known are my sisters and mothers at the St. Pastry Order. None of them have left, so I have no idea what you’re going through. However, I can tell that you are suffering. Whenever I am feeling sad, I like to pray to the witches.”

Roguefort Cookie let go after another moment, but stray tears still betrayed their attempts to dry their face.

“I usually pray alone, but… once the day ends, would you like to join me in my room?”

“I don’t know… I’m not that religious.”

“Most cookies aren’t. Even if you don’t believe in it, the thought of something watching over you is comforting to most. At the very least, it’ll help you through this crisis like it has for me.”

“… well, it won’t hurt. I’ll see how I’m feeling then. Thanks for the offer.”

“Of course.”

As Pastry Cookie walked away, Roguefort Cookie looked down at the Monophone in their hand. They turned it on, squinting at the bright screen. It took a second to boot up, so as it did, they started walking back to their room.

Roguefort Cookie flopped onto their bed as soon as they entered. Sighing at their circumstances, they looked at the screen to see that a few options had shown up.

‘Profiles’

‘Map’

‘Files’

‘Notes’

‘Settings’

They clicked on the one listed as ‘Map’ first and, sure enough, it showed a map of the place they were stuck in. The other labels below ‘Map’ were pretty normal too; ‘Files’ and ‘Notes’ were empty while ‘Settings’ was a pretty standard settings menu. Roguefort Cookie set their device to Dark Mode before clicking on ‘Profiles’.

The first profile shown was theirs. It listed all the basic data, but also an ‘Ultimate’. It listed Roguefort Cookie as an ‘Ultimate Psychologist’.

“Hmm… well, I think Ultimate Psychologist is just about the biggest lie I’ve heard about me since that one police report.” They started scrolling through some other profiles, not seeing anything of importance before…

‘Wait.’

They scrolled back up to the previous profile, which was Gumball Cookie’s.

‘It says here he… 15?! What the fuck?’ Roguefort Cookie sat up in shock. ‘That’s gotta be an exaggeration, right?’

“God damn it. I thought I’d be able to keep it under wraps for a bit longer.”

The hallway was thankfully empty save for a pissed-off Gumball Cookie and

“Yeah, I could guess. Look, I don’t plan on treating you differently, but I’m willing to bet some of the others likely will.”

“…thanks for the heads up, then.”

“No problem.”

Roguefort Cookie started to try to walk away, but Gumball Cookie stopped them before they could get going.

“Hey, are you okay? You’ve been leaning on just about every object you could find.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

They took their hand off the table and very quickly fell to the ground. Gumball Cookie rushed over to catch them but failed. Now on the ground, they crossed their arms with a newfound significant lack of confidence and sighed.

“My legs just don’t wanna work properly today. They, er, get like this sometimes.”

Gumball Cookie did his best to lift Roguefort Cookie off of the ground but still had to quarter-drag them to their room.

“Damn, that sucks. Know what it is?”

“…sort of? It used to be called conversion disorder, but recently it got combined with some other symptoms into a new diagnosis. I can’t recall what it is right now, but-”

“Yeah, yeah, psychologist stuff.” He used their Monophone to open the door before placing them on their bed. “You gonna be fine now?”

“I’d be finer if you’d stopped infantilizing me over one fall. I can handle myself.”

“…sure, buddy. Imma see if there’s a call function or something on this.”

Gumball Cookie sat against a wall near the door and began fiddling with his Monophone. As he did so, Roguefort Cookie laid back down and tried to relax before a vibration rang from next to them. They turned just as the screen to their Monophone brightened, now showing some kind of notification. Roguefort Cookie clicked on the notification to see a display resembling a message board.

“There’s a chat function?”

Roguefort Cookie didn’t receive a response. They looked from their Monophone to see that Gumball Cookie was very quickly typing something into their Monophone before leaving.

“Wh-” Roguefort Cookie was very confused.

“Okay, bye, I guess? Rude.”

Their stomach decided to take that chance to rumble, reminding them that they hadn’t had breakfast. Unfortunately, their legs were probably still going to crumble under them, so they were somewhat left on the bed to starve as telling everyone of their issue was likely just asking to die.

‘Well,’ they guessed, ‘telling anyone else of my condition would likely be asking to die.’

They checked the time. 10:36. At least their legs had an hour to pull themselves together.

Roguefort Cookie spent said hour forcing their legs to function somewhat normally. Of course, they knew that wasn’t how that worked, but they were able to walk, so it probably didn’t matter that much. Just as they were walking around the room, there was a knock at the door. It then opened to reveal Latte Cookie with a sandwich on a plate in one hand and a cup in the other.

“Hey, uh, isn’t the door only supposed to open when the Monophone’s within a certain-” Roguefort Cookie pointed towards said Monophone they had left on the drawer, which was close enough to trigger the door.

“…ah.”

Latte Cookie’s face, previously in a state of slight shock, then reserved itself to the obvious signs of pity. Roguefort Cookie took the small silence to ask the big question.

“So, what’s the visit for?”

“Ah, right! Well, Gumball Cookie told me you’d had a fall, so...”

Oh.

Oh.

”…what else did he tell you?” Roguefort Cookie tried their best to cover the growing dread.

“Not much. Just that you might need some help. I was making lunch early, so thought I might as well bring you something.” She held out the plate and cup. “You’re not allergic to anything, right?”

“Nope.” They took the offerings and sat down on their bed. Latte Cookie stood beside them.

The two existed in silence for a brief moment. It was just long enough for Roguefort Cookie to take a bite of their sandwich before Latte Cookie began speaking again.

“Do you like it? I don’t know any of your preferences, so I just went with the safest option.”

“It’s fine. Not like I could do any better.”

“Ah, thanks.”

Latte Cookie then put Roguefort Cookie on bed rest. They resisted, of course, but it was either that or be pestered for the next hour with a rudimentary checkup. Obviously, they opted for the former and were left alone.

At least, for the next few hours.

Another knock on the door disrupted Roguefort Cookie’s slump. They walked over to the door, letting it open to reveal Pastry Cookie, who quickly entered the room. The sight of her reminded them of their previous encounter, so they weren’t surprised by her presence for long.

“So, what prayers were you thinking of doing? Like, is there a specific one you do before bed, or…?”

Pastry Cookie let a slight look of shock slip, but she recovered quickly and simply pat the spot next to her on the bed. Roguefort Cookie obliged, taking up the spot.

“Well, we don’t typically have prayers we only speak at certain times. We only use a daily schedule to pray about whatever we feel is relevant. For today, I believe a prayer for safety would be the most appropriate.”

“Oh, that’s cool. So how do we do it?”

“Give me your hand.” They followed her instruction, laying their hand on top of hers. She then placed her other hand on top.

“Breathe in and out, slowly.” She began a rhythm, which Roguefort Cookie tried their best to follow. Almost immediately, they could feel themself relaxing. Pastry Cookie closed her eyes and tilted her head down before speaking again.

“Now, I’m going to repeat the prayer twice. After, you will say it once, then we shall say it together three times. Does that sound fine to you?”

“Yeah, that sounds fi- mm, alright.”

The two then spent the next while completing the prayer. It seemed to go by surprisingly fast. In only about 10 minutes, they had completed their prayers. Roguefort Cookie noted how calm they felt compared to before Pastry Cookie had visited.

“…huh.”

“Feeling much better?”

“Er… yeah, actually. Much better.”

“That’s the intention. Despite a lack of religiousness, our prayer had a positive effect on you. Now, I must go.” She let go of Roguefort Cookie’s hand, stood up, and headed toward the door before stopping just short of it.

“Oh, one last thing.” She turned around. “Do you happen to know of the new section on the homepage?”

“Trying to find out what I know, huh?”

Roguefort Cookie had, in fact, not been aware of that. They decided, however, that bluffing was likely a better strategy.

Pastry Cookie was obviously shocked but, to her credit, tried to respond quickly enough to not seem more suspicious than she already was.

“Well-”

“I guess that was your intention from the start.” They continued, not giving her a chance. “You wouldn’t come to me since my lack of presence would likely have been indicative of a lack of interest in your offer of prayer. A tip, if you will. Don’t inform the cookie you’re talking to about what you’re asking about. Doesn’t help you at all. I’d recommend changing your question before trying that tactic on anyone else.”

“…” Pastry Cookie’s face had, at that point, reserved itself back to its previous monotone expression. “You know, you really fit the term ‘Ultimate Psychologist’.” Before Roguefort Cookie could respond, she turned around one last time.

“Goodnight, Roguefort Cookie. I hope this experience changes your mind on prayer.”

They watched her leave before laying down on their bed. They grabbed their Monophone, turning on the screen to see no new tab. Believing it was a bluff of her own, they simply tossed it aside before taking off their glasses and heading to bed early.

When 10 pm hit, however, they received a strange notification on their Monophone. Since nighttime had just fallen, their eyes had gotten adjusted to the darkness and were subsequently blasted by the bright light of the screen despite its altered settings. After turning their brightness down, the display changed to show the previously mentioned new section on their home screen.

‘Profiles’

‘Card’

‘Map’

‘Files’

‘Notes’

‘Settings’

“Card?” The choice of name seemed odd before Roguefort Cookie remembered the second day and the card that Gnomakuma had referred to as spoilers. They were able to assume, then, that that had been what Gnomakuma was referencing. Clicking on the new tab revealed a slab of text to read through.

The TRACKER is a role focused on gaining information unavailable to others. Every night, the TRACKER may select one participant per night to track. The target will have their Monophone’s location tracked for that singular night from 10 pm to 6 am. The last hour of the night is excluded. The target’s movements will then be filed into a digital report.

After the text was thoroughly skimmed, Roguefort Cookie selected Madeleine Cookie’s name. Shutting their Monophone off, they laid it back onto their bedside table and went to bed, blissfully unaware of the chaos ahead.

GNOMAKUMA THEATRE

“Religion is a touchy subject for most. Many people use it to their advantage or preach it while going against the morals of whatever book, scroll, or prophecy they claim to follow. I personally don’t think there is a ‘right’ religion.

“Of course, I’m likely in a minority for that. I mean, I’m in a minority in general. How many of you can say that you personally know a robot?

“But that’s not central to our discussion here. You don’t have to believe in any religion to pray, right? Whoever’s up there knows how much I damn those around me, if only internally.

“At least it’s funny.”