Chapter Text
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A light, shadowy figure dances through the moonlight glazed garden. It is night; a chilly breeze runs with the wind, despite the usual warm weather. One would think it came out of nowhere… Not a soul in the Hollyberrian kingdom is awake. Except one. Her dress, moving like water as she walked. Each footstep barely heard, only with light “taps!”; moving so gracefully you’d think she’s floating. The silver fade embraced her pearly-white wings… An angel? Could it be? No… her plan was far from a good deed.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
More footsteps, now against the soft, regal carpets of the castle’s hallways. She passes by a multitude of paintings, all showing the members of the royal family. How humiliating: they paint themselves perfect, yet they’re far from it. No one can be this perfect. Well, except for one… The angel giggled at the thought, but quickly moving away from it.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sickly sweet melody she hums fills the cold air. She’s already going up the stairs, with the same grace as told before. She’s not familiar to the castle, not at all. A complete stranger. Yet she traversed through it like she knew every nook and cranny. She knew what she was looking for, after all.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Each tap got louder as she went. She was still her elegant self, of course; however it is as if she was trying to hide a form of… Anger? Aggression? Either way, she kept her nose high and her stance straight. Her undying fury couldn’t overtake her and ruin her perfection. It’s the one thing that must stay…
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She’s getting closer. Her footsteps now trembling as she walked. Was it excitement? She hasn’t been even near her true Souljam in years. This should be a piece of cake, she thought. If she was good at anything, seduction and manipulation were those two things.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Or was it… fear? No. It couldn’t be. She was the Beast of Sloth, after all. And what a title that is! A Beast, feeling afraid? Only a deceitful liar like Shadow Milk could think of such stupidity. She didn’t think of the Beasts as much different from her, they were her allies after all - they had the same goals as her. But she couldn’t not think of them as lesser. Of course, who isn’t lesser than her…
Tap. Tap.
However… her fear was still there. Creeping, in the back of her mind. She’d try to ignore it or overlook it, but it’s there. She has no idea what to expect from This Holder. She’s heard from her followers on what had happened to the rest of the beasts. What if she’s banished? What if she’s killed? Even worse, what if she fails… How embarrassing that could be…
Tap…
Truth be told, she’s hoping The Holder has no clue of what had been going on with the rest of the so-called “Ancients” and their own Beasts. Although, she could always use her power in the dream to cloud her memories and thoughts… Her plan must go perfectly. It must not fail. Not after everything-
Tap.
She’s here.
She peeks through the crack of the almost closed doors.
Her Souljam.
And The Holder, lying in her bed, untouched.
Unknowing.
Naive.
The Beast giggles to herself as she walks in without a sound.
She glances at the Souljam with a taste of hunger she hasn’t felt in years, licking her lips as she looks down at it. But she can’t take it. Not now. Her plan needs to flow perfectly.
She averts her path towards the bed, the one The Holder is in. The Beast even felt pity looking at her. How innocent she is… Entirely clueless… The pity she felt didn’t matter though, given the fact that she honestly couldn’t care less.
She finally takes her silver harp out, set in position, ready to play. She grins at the thought.
“This shall be fun.”
~
“Your Majesty.”
One of the highest of guards, Wildberry Cookie, runs towards the almighty queen. His voice is as monotone as ever, but today there is a noticeable fear.
“Wildberry! You’ve known me for long, there’s no need for formality… What’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Hollyberry joked; but it seemed like it was serious, so she quickly changed her form.
“Your Highness… You must come with me. Immediately.”
As they went up the stairs, a shiver fell down Hollyberry’s throat. Where was Wildberry leading her? What could be so urgent? I mean, she’s heard of the sudden appearance of the Beasts with her friends… Or has she…? She honestly couldn’t remember at the moment. What was important right now is to follow Wildberry to the potential threat, and end it.
Wildberry was leading Hollyberry to… her own sleeping quarters? Curiosity is now getting the best of her. I mean, she has no idea what to expect… especially from her own bedroom.
However, Hollyberry’s fears weren’t dramatised. Her bedroom was unscathed, not a single faulty or anything missing. But there was one thing added.
Right in the center of the room, laid an elegant pink-shaded angel. She looked like she had crashed in, but she was seemingly unhurt. It’s like she’d been lying there for a long time - like she barged in just as Hollyberry left the room in the early morning. One thing other than her sheer beauty caught Holly’s attention: the pink devil tail that wrapped around her possibly lifeless body.
She wasn’t just a simple Cookie.
She wasn’t an angel.
She was a Beast.
And she was right there, in Hollyberry’s room.
But then again…
The way the day’s light shone against her silky white dress and body… You could see it giving her a certain shimmer; like it was tempting you. And her hair, how it curled and fell oh-so neatly against her face. Her wings, pampering her back while she lies there. Like a literal angel. Her beauty was unimaginable… Hollyberry could try to look away, but her gaze would still come back to the Beast. It’s as if her mind was in a haze.
And maybe it was, given she didn’t even realise Wildberry was calling to her.
“Hollyberry Cookie… What are we to do… with this?”
It’s like he didn’t even care for the Angel’s beauty.
How could he not?
Hollyberry quickly shook her head. She was thinking nonsense.
“My apologies, Wildberry… I was just lost in thought… Right then! Let’s have a look at the task at hand-“
“Your Highness-“ He stops her in her tracks. “No offence but, the beasts are supposed to be cruel, lying, wretched creatures… We do not know what to expect from… this. Maybe we should approach it with caution.”
“Well it’s not like we heard much about them anyway! Say… Do you remember… if I’ve gotten a letter from Pure Vanilla about this…? I bet he’d probably be the first to know about something like this… And it’s like I knew, but my mind is trying to stop me from remembering…” This last sentence was more mumbled than truly spoken. Maybe she didn’t want it to be heard.
Wildberry looked like he hesitated before he spoke, but still did so.
“No… Not that I recall… Why?”
Suddenly, like it was just bound to happen, one of the royal messengers quickly rushes in with a folded inky parchment in his left hand. Whoever wrote it must have been in a hurry to get it here.
“Your Majesty!” He huffed with each new sentence. “News! From Pure Vanilla!”
As the messenger folded from exhaustion trying to catch his breath, Hollyberry quickly took the parchment to read it, out loud.
“My dear Hollyberry Cookie,
Apologies in advance for my crooked writing. I tried to get this letter to you as fast as I could…
I write to you in terms of news about the Beast Cookies…”
Hollyberry stops mid reading to glance at her very own Beast lying right across from her. She continued…
“…I had the very unfortunate luck of having to meet my own so suddenly. But, to my surprise, it wasn’t at all what I had expected. You see, my Beast did not attack, grab at, or even try to harm in any way. For his memories were entirely reduced to minimum. Except for a few things, such as some hazy things about his past, some of his companions, etc.
And this has not only happened with me. I have gotten information from our friends that their own Beasts have gone had a similar fate. We are all currently trying to help them overcome these struggles, and grow as new, better Cookies.
So do not worry about what may happen with you and your Beast! I am almost entirely sure that the same thing has happened to them. And if it hasn’t, write back to me immediately.
Your dear friend,
Pure Vanilla.”
Hollyberry didn’t know what to think. Was this really true? Have these Beasts really forgotten everything about their cruel reign? Do they really have the chance… to better themselves?
And it looks like she didn’t have the time to think about it, because in that moment…
“Ugh… my head…”
…that exact moment…
“…Where am I?”
…Was when the Beast woke up.