Chapter Text
Life wasn't always like this for Elderberry Cookie. He once had other scholars by his side, observing and studying the stars for hours on end, endless discussion of them ensues in the Tranquil Observatory. It is his duty to stay and study the stars, as what he promised to his creators. The wizards have baked him with the necessary knowledge for it, and he enjoys his work. Even after they left him, he stayed. He still enjoys his work as a scholar and a researcher of the stars, even after all these years. He felt like something is missing from his days, but he brushed off his concerns, insisting that he's not lonely as the stars accompany him through his studies..
Do they still look upon the stars after leaving our home?
Elderberry Cookie has once again awoken to a quiet night in the Tranquil Observatory. His day-to-day activity has pretty much stayed the same for years, wake up, climb up to his seat and observe the stars, take out his pen and parchment and record his observation, rest when he's completely tired. He's no longer waiting for morning to rest, as that time never comes since his fellow scholars left. It's like his home died upon their abandonment. He only has Blueberry Pie Cookie to talk with nowadays, on some odd days he would leave the observatory just to coop himself up in another place, the Wizard's Archives. Maybe talk with her at times but he's mostly just interested in studying the tomes.
And today is one of those days. He has to return the tomes he borrowed from the Archives a week ago or he is quite sure she will curse him from afar.
After roughly an hour of walking through the giant city, the Archives is finally on his sight. Nights upon nights of studying really didn't do his dough much favor, his dough is so stiff and it tires him out so quickly, he had to take one last stop before stepping his foot into the Archives.
However, his day has turned out to be stranger. He saw other Cookies leaving the Archives. Cookies that's not him, Blueberry Pie, or that mythical Moonlight Cookie the wizards told him about. They look far too colorful for them to just be another Cookie living in the city, they had to have come from the outside.
"We'll come visit again! I'd like to take a closer look at all the books!" Says the blue one. He sure does look a lot like his creators, with the pointy hat and all, he should ask him if he knows where they are.
"Alas, goodbyes are most difficult..." Says the brown one. He's holding something resembling a crystal ball, and he has a beard, just like some of his creators. At some point he thought these are just new Cookies baked by the wizards. Great, they abandoned their old loyal Cookies and made new ones as their playthings.
"Hey, Blueberry Pie Cookie! Why don't you come with us? There's lots of things to see out there!" Says the orange one. Who is he? He doesn't look like he was created by the wizards, in fact, he looks the strangest among the three of them. Is he a true outsider? If so, that explains why he can just easily ask his friend to leave home. As if she will do that. She can't do that. That would break her oath to her creators and will leave him all alone in this city. She strangely took a while to answer that though.
"No, this is where we must part. I am the Keeper of the Archives. I must remain here." Expected answer from his ever-loyal friend Blueberry Pie Cookie. They should know better instead of even trying to persuade her like that. They couldn't have been created by the wizards then if they just easily leave their creators like that to pursue their selfish goals.
But what is this feeling?
Why does he feel the urge to approach them and talk with these outsiders?
"W-wait! Hey!" Elderberry faintly shouted. Those three are conversing loudly with each other they probably didn't even hear him. He can hear them discussing about the tomes in the Archives, and the city. They look so.. content with each other. Unbeknownst to him, a pang of jealousy arose in his heart. He scrambled to grab his tomes and tries to approach them, he doesn't know why but he needs to know about them more. "You three! I wanna talk to you! Please!"
Vvop!
They disappeared right in front of him, he assumed they used magic to teleport away. He's too late. He just drops onto the ground they disappeared from, heavy breathing from running and carrying the heavy tomes.
"Elderberry Cookie?" A familiar voice calls his name, he turned his head to look at the source of the voice. Unbeknownst to him, Blueberry Pie Cookie had witnessed his entire ordeal in front of the Archives. How embarassing...
"Ah.. Blueberry Pie Cookie..." He got up and brushes off the dusts from his robe, grabbed the tomes he dropped, then walked it off like nothing happened. "I came by to return these tomes, and maybe read some more today." Elderberry smiled at her.
Blueberry Pie Cookie hesitates, she peeked into the Archives and back at him, bearing bad news. "I think the Archives need to close early today."
He seriously doesn't wanna go back now, he wants to at least make his long trip worth it. "What happened? Did those three Cookies do something?" He asked, quite worried for his only friend remaining in the city. She just moved out of his line of sight to reveal the slight damage that was done to the Archives. Glowing ink splattered across its floor, and papers scattered everywhere, it looks like all hell broke loose in the Archives, out of all places. Elderberry's jaw dropped open looking at it.
"It's not their fault, a tome had swallowed their magical artifacts and they only came here to retrieve what belongs to them."
"And they didn't help you clean?!" He asks, because it really is ridiculous to just leave her alone with the mess they created.
"I rejected their offer to help. I insist to clean the Archives by myself. If you could.. just go back to your observatory, Elderberry Cookie, I would appreciate that. I'll take your tomes from here." She sighed and went to grab the tomes from his hands, but he tightened his grip on them.
"No, I will help you clean, this place is too big for you to just clean it alone. Not to mention you got none of those celestial globes to help you around."
His respond just got him a sigh from Blueberry Pie, as she lets him in. She knows he will practically stay unmoving if she doesn't let him help. He's quite a goal-oriented guy.
After visiting the Archives so often, he pretty much knows where everything belongs. He picked up some of the papers laying around the ground and cataloging them in their respective shelves while Blueberry Pie return the tome he borrowed to its rightful place, she then comes to clean up the ink from the floor.
Took them a while to clean, and they take a much deserved break after, with tea and snacks. Elderberry can't help but break the silence by asking his friend about the Cookies he saw earlier.
"Are they your friends? Or is this their first time visiting?"
"I just got to know them today, they might be a loud bunch but they were a decent company. It's been a long time since other Cookies gets interested in the Archives after all, especially that Wizard Cookie."
"The Cookie with the ice cream cone hat, I assume?" Elderberry tries to remember his appearance from his encounter earlier. He wore a creamy white scarf and an oversized robe, he's quite short. He doesn't look that old and he already bears the Wizard title, he must be quite good with magic. That teleportation magic must've been done by him too.
"Yes. His thirst for knowledge, he's somewhat like you. He was actually the reason why they came here. His friend, Prophet Cookie, foretold him that his wand can be found in this city. Funny how his beard ended up missing as well, I wouldn't suspect his beard, out of all things, to be a magical artifact at all, I thought his crystal ball would be stolen instead." She shares more of her encounter with them. Out of the times he visited the Archives, this is the first time he sees her this chatty. It truly was a strange day for them both.
"What about the orange one? He does look the strangest out of the three of them."
"Cinnamon Cookie... He's not like them. Ordinary, compared to his friends, but he's the loudest. He might not be as interested in the tomes as his friends but he sticks around them anyway. He's... interesting, to say the least. He's just happy to be around."
Ordinary is just her polite way of saying he doesn't wield magic. He's unexpectedly similar like him, as he doesn't do much magic either. Not like he needs it, all he knows is the stars above, and that's enough. Probably
"Interesting group of Cookies... Do you think they will visit again? I would love to talk with them."
Blueberry Pie Cookie raised her eyecing brow over that statement. "When did you become the type to open up to strangers?"
"I-I just wanted to know if they're interested in astronomy! I doubt they do, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. I wouldn't let them into the observatory though." Elderberry retorted. He almost failed to keep his calm facade up in front of her, crumbs, now she might think he's a traitor to the wizards or something.
Blueberry Pie just laughed at him quietly as she sips her tea. She can sense his discomfort with the topic and quickly changed it to talk about something else. Those three Cookies will come back here soon, no doubt about that, and she will try to savor her peace before that day comes as much as she can. For now, they can spend the night chatting away.