Chapter Text
How would cookies from the era of the Virtues and Beasts describe that said era as?
Perhaps they would call it “paradise”?
They also might have called it “Doomsday”.
How about “Hell on Earthbread”?
Or maybe even “The year the harvest was bountiful, but the skies turned red”.
There were many mixed opinions about the Five Virtues of Knowledge, Volition, Change, Happiness and Solidarity, who turned into the Five Beasts of Deceit, Apathy, Destruction, Sloth and Silence. Some say that during their reign, nothing could have been better. Others would remark in the records that having the Five Beasts in the world existing at their prime reportedly “turned the skies red and scorched the whole of Earthbread”. Though none lived long enough to tell the tale, there was one cookie, whose Life Powder cycled through the world after she died, and retained some of her memories, though it was still incomplete. That cookie was the Sixth Virtue, the Virtue of Innocence and Hope.
According to the many records located in Elder Faerie Cookie’s archive, the former Virtue of Hope prevailed through the fight against the darkness and transcended beyond her current limits to gain a power far beyond her former ability called “Innocence”. She was never named in many records, though many cookies speculated grandiose names such as “Pure Yeast Cookie” or “Shimmering Yeast Cookie”, she was not even a Yeast Cookie at all! On the contrary, she was…
Just a flower cookie. A flower cookie known as “Pure Daisy Cookie”. It was also said that everywhere she stepped, no matter how barren or snow filled the land she travelled was, there would always be daisies seen where her footsteps had once landed. There was some evidence that Pure Daisy Cookie had gone almost everywhere in Earthbread though, due to the amount of Sugar Daisy flower seeds that could easily be found around the whole of Earthbread.
However, that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the story of the Virtue of Innocence and Hope. The question was, how did her story end?
It was… a sad ending, for such a pure being in this land of betrayal and pain.
While the other Virtues turned and succumbed to darkness, Pure Daisy Cookie had prevailed over it with new power, but fighting against her brothers and sisters as the youngest was something her heart could not take. She also did not want to kill them, and went to the Witches, begging them to seal her siblings instead of killing them. It was said that the Witches were adamant about their decision, but Pure Daisy Cookie had somehow managed to convince the Witches to seal instead of kill.
However, it was this choice that doomed the Virtue of Innocence and Hope to her fall.
When trying to distract her siblings in a battle, she had severely underestimated how powerful the darkness had turned her beloved older brothers and sister’s powers, twisting and warping them into something even Pure Daisy Cookie could not deny was of an unholy descent.
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“Hehehehe… HAHAHAHA! Come on, my dear sister~ the darkness made us stronger than ever! You could join us in overthrowing the Witches, and we would be the masters of our own fate! The world would turn into our very own stage!”
“No! Blueberry Milk Cookie, you have to fight it! Fight the darkness, please! We are meant to protect and guide the world! Not to lie to the world or rule it!”
“Why even bother with protecting this… futile world, little sister? It is simply… helpless. Besides, cookies are such breakable creatures. Everything they do to satisfy their endless greed is in vain, and we simply should assist in making them realise that.”
“Please, Light Flour Cookie, we’re supposed to teach the cookies how to live!!! We were meant to be their guides to the light! Not to the twisted path of pure apathy! They’re breakable, that’s why we were created to protect them!”
“ HAHAHAHA! That’s exactly why they’re so… FUN to play with! They’re so WEAK, it makes it all the more satisfying to crumble them!”
“Come on, Red Spice Cookie! Your axe was once a symbol of change and protection… it could be that once again! Please, please fight it! Fight the Destruction corrupting you now!”
“*yawn*... Dear little sister, step out of our way. It’d be easier for you to go back to sleep after all this is over, and then we can sleep in as much as we want if we rule the world! Come on, join us and it would be quicker for us to just rule the world this way!”
“Radiant Sugar Cookie, you once brought this world to happiness and love! You were a guide, a friend to all! I’m begging you… just fight the darkness that’s closing your eyes, we all could guide Earthbread to a happier future!”
“...”
“Your silence already says it all to me, Silver Salt Cookie… you were a great elder brother to almost all of Cookiekind, it could be that way again if you come back to the light!”
The fighting consumed much of Pure Daisy Cookie’s energy, and she was already worn down as her brothers and sisters with more combat experience landed one hit too many, that was harder than most, causing the Virtue of Innocence and Hope to collapse to the ground in exhaustion. It remained that way for a few minutes, with the Beasts expecting Innocence to get up and keep fighting.
“Alright Innocence! Show’s over, come and join us! Get up and fight!”
The Five Beasts felt a wave of concern for their youngest sister, with her lack of response. Mystic Flour Cookie glided over, with the most amount of expression on her face ever since she became the embodiment of Apathy as she knelt down to check on her beloved younger sister’s pulse.
“How is she?”
“...!”
Mystic Flour Cookie turned to face the other Beasts, an expression of horror on her face.
In a strict tone, she asked,
“
Burning Spice Cookie
, how hard were your strikes to our younger sister?”
“Eh?? Not that hard. Just enough for her to learn a lesson,”
Silent Salt Cookie , who was getting concerned, knelt down to check on her pulse.
“..!”
Shadow Milk Cookie began to become concerned as he walked over and asked Mystic Flour Cookie what was wrong. That was when the revelation came upon them.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S GONE ?!”
Pure Daisy Cookie was dead.
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The Witches, who witnessed this scene, were enraged. Their final, ultimate creation had been crumbled by her brothers and sisters. In their fury, they sealed the Beasts, casting upon them a spell of binding and pain, making all Five Beasts suffer as long as they were in captivity of the Silver Tree.
They stripped the Five Beasts of their power, and rebaked the five vestiges of their power into what became Truth , Resolution , Abundance , Passion and Freedom .
However… Innocence’s purity was impossible to rebake. Her power was completely destroyed in the process of sealing the beasts, and her secondary power of Hope remained locked away, allowing none without the purity of Innocence to wield it.
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Elder Faerie Cookie closed the scroll, looking at White Lily Cookie , Pure Vanilla Cookie and the Brave Gang.
Gingerbrave spoke up, “So there WAS a Sixth Virtue, and she was called Pure Daisy Cookie, huh?”
“Indeed. However, since all Life Powder returns to the earth, there must be some form of hope that the Virtue of Innocence would be able to return, and her power of Hope with it. After all, Earthbread needs all the power it can get to fight the Five Beasts once again…”
At that moment, Strawberry Cookie piped up, “Um… but doesn’t Daisy Cookie over there almost share the same name as Pure Daisy Cookie?”
Everyone looked towards Daisy Cookie, whose small frame was weaving a flower crown of her signature flowers. She noted everyone’s gaze on her and curiously tilted her head.
“Huh? Did I do something wrong?”