Chapter Text
The stakes were high in Sugarteara. Unbeknownst to most denizens of the city, the pearl that held it all together was darkening by the minute. The only Cookies who knew of the pearl’s darkening were the Authorities; being the Elders and the High Regent.
No matter what the High Regent tried to do, the pearl didn’t change. They tried praying, cleaning, all of the sort. They even tried to purify the city itself, enforcing stronger law and helping the less fortunate. As hard and hard and hard as they tried, the pearl just wouldn’t return to its beautiful form it once held.
The walls of the city had begun to crack around the pearl. The elders had begun to argue and fight, betraying their roles and sinning against the rules of the status. Octopus Cookie tried their very best just to hold it all together, but they were only one cookie. There was not much they could do.
Octopus Cookie tried their very best to see the light in every situation, but this time they could barely see even the slightest bit.
The night the pearl fully blackened, the entire city trembled. Octopus Cookie was restless. But in all fairness, how could they rest? The home they’d loved and the people they’ve known their entire life were about to disappear from their grasp, and there was nothing they could do about it. It made them feel sick. Physically sick.
The water around grew dark as no more light came from the surface. All of the lights of Sugarteara were off at this point, all of the cookies laying rest.
And after countless hours of pacing, Octopus Cookie finally laid down to rest.
—
When they woke up, they glanced at the walls, only to find no cracks.
Confusion immediately washed over them as they bolted out of their bedroom, quickly changing into their governmental attire. They rushed for the door, grabbing their staff as they carried themself outside.
When they reached the building in which the pearl was contained, they froze. Their eyes shimmered with a mixture of shock and marvel.
The pearl that had been completely void only a couple of hours before was suddenly at its purest white, a lighter tint they’d never seen the pearl at before. Typically it was more of a grey-ish off-white, but… the pearl was a pure white, the only darkening spot of it being the shadows from light.
Cautiously, they approached the shimmering pearl, reaching out to touch it. “What… What the…?” They mumbled to themself.
They frowned a bit, taking a step back.
“Ah, so you’ve found the pearl…” A voice called from behind them.
When they turned around, it was Sashimi Cookie, one of many of the city’s elders.
She had a smile on her face. “Sea Urchin Cookie had a very bold idea to purify the pearl… and it worked, my dear.. Isn’t it just marvelous? The pearl has never shined so brightly before…”
Octopus Cookie nodded. “Yes, it’s quite lovely. But… Why would you do something like this without me? Must the Regent not be there for the Purification?”
Her smile faltered slightly. Not noticeable to most, but Octopus Cookie was observant. Very observant. Though they saw, they dared not comment on it. They simply just took a mental note of the shift.
“Well, Octopus Cookie… you… Would not particularly be pleased by the process… Since it takes quite a long time, and you have many jobs to do. We did not want to trouble you, is all.” she firmly said, before rushing away without another word.
The Regent had never felt more confused in their entire life.
—
[Flashback]
238 months, 14 days, 7 hours, 34 minutes, and 8 seconds. That’s how long the Cookie had been wandering.
He didn’t particularly know much else. Since he was little, all he seemed to know to do was wander. He let his feet take him wherever, whenever, however. He met a couple of people along the way, but none of which remembered his name.
But he remembered all of theirs. He remembered everything, really. He remembered every name. He remembered every city, every rock. He was stupid, but he wasn’t forgetful. No, he had the memory of a dolphin. They had awfully strong memory, longer than cookies. Way longer than cookies. But he might remember more than dolphins.
That was never a problem for the Cookie, memory was his magic. He’d never go to the same place twice, since he’d always remember which way he turned last time. Every day was a new adventure for him.
That was, until the day he ventured near a shining city. It had caught his attention from a distance, the way it radiated the little light that shone upon it. His curiosity immediately spiked, and he began to run towards it. He used his electric abilities to give him a boost, sending him rushing through the water.
But suddenly, his movement was interrupted.
Something had caught him, and he didn’t have enough time to react before it had begun to yank him in a direction he couldn’t quite tell. He jerked around, but quickly the Eel realized.
He was in a net.
He let out a disgruntled noise of irritation as he continued to squirm, his sour attempts at shocking his way out leaving him drained of energy.
Though it felt like an eternity, it had only taken a few seconds for the net to be pulled into the window of a building in the shining city, and be tossed on the floor.
The eel let out a small “hRmph-” as he felt himself be slammed down, weakly using his arms to push himself up. He was surrounded by several cookies. Ones he’d never seen before. Hell, he’d never seen cookies like them before.
Being a wanderer, he grew up and lived his entire life seeing rugged, scrappy cookies with scars and dirty clothes like him. So to suddenly see himself surrounded by cookies wearing regal attire with fitted sleeves and shining buttons, he was a little more than shocked.
Still, the wandering eel smiled. “Hey, uhh… I think you accidentally caught me, bahaha!”
The regal cookies remained silent towards him, whispering amongst themselves.
Before the Eel knew it, he had been dragged out of the net and bound, arms behind his back. The metal ropes used to bind his wrists dug into his dough, causing him to wince.
He cried out for help, yet the waves of the ocean seemed not to carry his cries and pleas, since the shadows of night were all that took up the lands.
He was dragged to a chamber in the center of the city, tossed onto the ground as if he was a dirty beast that the elders did not wish to touch longer than they had to. He tried to squirm his way out of the binding, but alas.
“O great pearl…” He heard someone mumble.
His fins shook as he trembled. What? What was going on? Where was he? Was he about to die? What did they want from him?
The mumbling continued as muttered prayers continued to fill the room around. All the voices overlapped, and he couldn’t hear a single thing.
Suddenly, his chin had been grabbed. He impulsively shocked the hand that contacted him, but they didn’t seem to react. His head was forced back and his maw was held open.
He didn’t understand.
And then he tasted it.
He didn’t know what it was. It tasted like misery. Like acid and spite and pain. It stung as it touched his tongue, venturing down his throat and into his body. He winced in pain as steady yet large droplets of the unknown liquid dripped into his mouth, feeling it absorbing into him after passing his throat.
He tried to resist, he really did. He jerked his head around like a madman, squirming and shocking.
The electricity brought light.
Only for a short moment; not even a second. But a second was all he needed. He saw each and every face of the same cookies of whom had caught him, smiles and malice staining their wrinkled dough.
He saw a gem. Perhaps a pearl? Whatever it was, it was what he was forced to stare at. He saw the last bit of blackness fade out of the pearl, forming a drip at the very bottom. He didn’t have any time to react before the final droplet fell into his maw.
There were sounds of bliss as the trembling he had noticed earlier came to an end. The faint lights on the walls made it visible that the cracks were fading out, returning the city to its beautiful state. Its pure state. Its perfect state.
The sheer pain the cookie was experiencing finally got to him, and he let out a blood-curdling scream of sheer agony. Quickly his mouth was covered, muffling his cries into a sad little “mmph!!”
He screamed and screamed and screamed. He blasted all of his air on screaming, until there were no more screams left from the gasp of air he had gotten. The excruciating pain made him dizzy.
He felt himself begin to topple over,
And everything stopped.