Chapter Text
Golden Cheese POV
"By the sun's rays, it's never-ending."
Golden Cheese groaned as she looked at the stack of paperwork sprawled across her desk. She wasn't even sure if there was a desk underneath it anymore. More like endless stacks of paperwork piled together in the shape of a desk.
"Ugh, such is the duty of Queenship," She thought to herself. "You take one slow morning to take a luxurious bath until noon, and what do you end up with? Stacks upon stacks of boring ass paperwork."
And as much as she would love to call in one of her attendants to do all this tedious work for her. Golden Cheese had promised Smoked Cheese that she would take her duties more seriously after the whole....
Well, the whole battle of fates with that rotten Burning Spice Cookie.
"Ugh." Golden Cheese hated when the damned cookie crossed her mind. Just the thought of that beast made her wings tense and her fist clench in anger. Giving that beast space in her mind was beneath a brillant and radiant Queen such as herself.
And yet...
No! No.... just....
Cheese took a calming breath.
"Now, now, now. Her Golden Radiance doesn't get feathers ruffled over a mere thought that crosses her mind. You are a Queen, act like one." A motherly tone echoed in her mind. Focusing her thoughts and calming her temper.
"Now lower those wings and get to work," the voice nagged.
Begrudgingly, she listened to the voice in her mind and sat down at her desk. Letters, papyri, and scrolls were scattered everywhere, almost as if they had been dumped on her desk from the night before. Golden Cheese scratched her chin, half pondering whether she had done that or not.
Her conclusion was that it was most likely her own doing.
After some time and plenty of grumbling, Cheese managed to wrangle some sense of order out of the mess of paperwork. She had even managed to fish out a few letters from friends that had been buried underneath the mess. So, Golden Cheese decided to indulge herself in a brief but hard-earned break by reading through the latest batch of letters from her beloved friends.
First up was a letter from Hollyberry, written in her usual flowery cursive script. Cheese always found it amusing how delicate and flowy her handwriting was. Even after years of hearing her complain about her old childhood governess forced the flowery script upon her. Holly never grew out of using, nor did Cheese even want her to stop using such a flowery script. It fits her too well. Cheese mused.
Hollyberry wrote of nothing new in particular. Some noble balls thrown at the palace, patrols with her bodyguard looking for shadow creatures to fight, a date with that dragon friend of hers, same old same old from Cheesy's perspective. The only mildly interesting thing was the gossip Holy included about her bodyguard's not-so-secret crush on a member from Dark Cacao's court.
"How amusing." Cheese thought to herself.
The thought of gossiping with Hollyberry over some Berry Juice amused her radiance greatly. But a spur of the moment trip for gossip wouldn't fly with her generals and attendants. No matter how much they worshipped her. So, she dismissed the idea from her mind.
"A plan for another day, perhaps." She sighed.
Up next was a letter from the Crème Republic. Golden Cheese rolled her eyes at the extravagance of the envelope and the overly fancy cursive script. She may love everything that glitters in gold, but there's such a thing as trying too hard. But for all the gaudiness of the outer envelope, the letter inside was rather simple.
And written in colorful crayon.
It was from Duke Custard the Third of House Custard. A little duke-ling that was a close friend of that ginger kid from the new kingdom. And as much as her golden radiance loathed admitting to liking any young children, let alone one related to the blowhard Custard family.... She did have a soft spot for the brave little duke.
The little duke-ling's letter was less of an actual letter and more of a colorful display of pictures of his latest adventure. Golden Cheese smiled from ear to ear at the small boy's vivid imagination and wild antics. She was particularly charmed by a simple drawing of a sugar seagull that he drew with the title "Friend I made at the port today," written in bright letters. With great care, she placed the drawing on a nearby side table, with the intention of hanging the drawing up in her office later.
"Even the simplest of treasures should be cherished." She thought with a nod, especially those from such a charming little duke-ling.
The next letter was from White Lily. Nestled in a simple white envelope with a dark silver ribbon and a teal wax seal. Oh, how Golden Cheese loved when White Lily wrote to her. Her shy old friend was far more vocal in her letters, often having more confidence in her written word than voice.
Cheese chuckled to herself. Lily often monologued about the pen being mightier than the sword when they were younger. Riling a certain warrior cookie right up the wall.
Lily's letter read more like a grand fairy tale than a letter between friends. Fitting seeing that Cheese's once shy and frail friend was now the ruler of a magical kingdom of fae and flower cookies. The fairy cookies were an odd bunch for sure, but not entirely out of the realm of Lily's vast knowledge. The old scholar in Lily was having a field day noting all the new discoveries to be found in Beast-Yeast. And with the help of the old king's assistants, Lily was more or less adjusting to her new role as Queen.
Cheese was relieved to hear that Lily was doing well. It calmed her radiance's soul to know that one of her dearest friends had faithful allies close to her.
Especially given how far away the others were.
Speaking of allies and friends that were far away. Cheese spied the last letter in the bunch from her friends. A letter and handwriting that Golden Cheese could spot from a mile away.
Pure Vanilla cookie.
Golden Cheese chuckled at her sweet-flavored friend's handwriting. Even on the drab and dusty envelope of the Cacaoian Kingdom, Vanilla's script sparkled like magic in the faint light. Cheese didn't know if it was from their handwriting being actually magic or just Vanilla's pension for glittery inks. Either way, her golden radiance could appreciate the taste for finery in her sweet-flavored friend.
Unlike a certain bitter-tasting cookie that had been slacking on his letter writing as of late.
Cheese rolled her eyes as Dark Cacao crossed her mind. She had no doubts that this current crisis was what had the stubborn warrior's one-track mind occupied. Dark Cacao rarely paused to think of other things once his mind was focused on something. As a young warrior, she admired his focus greatly, but now, as an aged semi-immortal, she could see how carried away the stubborn old man could get.
Golden Cheese sighed, that would have to be an argument for another day.
Returning her own focus to the letter at hand. She noted how odd it was for Pure Vanilla to be sending a letter from the Cacao kingdom. Well, not entirely out of the ordinary, in Vanilla's last letter, they had written about their plans to visit the frozen kingdom and speak with Dark Cacao in person. Wanting to "check up" on their dear "friend" and "coordinate" their plans on how to deal with the strange beast plaguing the lands.
The excuse didn't fly with Cheese. She knew a thinly veiled hook-up note when she saw one.
Plus, she knew that the two were not so secretly married for years now, the love-drunk idiots. Cheese sighed and opened the letter, not quite sure what to expect out of it. Vanilla hadn't written back since their departure for the Cacao kingdom, and that had been over a month ago.
My dearest Cheesy,
The letter started.
I deeply apologize for the prolonged delay in responding to your letters. I do not have a good excuse, and for that I do apologize sincerely .
Cheese rolled her eyes again. "Get on with it, Nilly. You can just say that you were busy and move on."
The letter continued.
I have made it safely to the Cacaoian Kingdom, first and foremost. Dark Cacao and I met up at the Citadel. He is doing well and would like to also apologize for not writing back sooner. The threat of the shadow creature has taken up most of his time, but he does feel awful about ignoring your letters .
"Called it." Cheese thought to herself. The stubborn warrior probably got himself all worked up and completely forgot about his promise to write to them more often.
"Ugh, maybe I should go nag at him some more." She spoke with a smile on her lips. Chuckling at the thought of annoying her old friend into taking better care of himself.
She read on,
I fear that there are some new developments with our current situation. Developments that will delay my return to the Vanilla kingdom and our plans with the Shadow creatures going forward .
Cheese sat up. "New developments? What happened?"
For you see, Dark Choco has returned and
"WHAT!" Cheese screeched at the letter, clinging to it for dear life as she read.
Dark Choco had returned?!
When? Why? How?!
He was injured!
How badly? And by what?
Very Badly!
And while fighting Shadow creatures!
Golden Cheese read through the letter as if her life depended on it. Searching every inch of it to find any clues. Any clues at all. Anything to hint at her nephew's current condition.
Her mind was caught in a flurry of racing thoughs from the news.
Dark Choco had returned.
Her once little nephew was home. Her heart sang with relief at the news, but was also filled with worry from Nilly's words.
He had been injured while fighting those shadow creatures. Oh, earthbread. Why was he out there in the first place? The last Cheese had heard, Dark Choco was on the edges of the frozen kingdom, hiding as a wanderer or something. Dark Cacao had assured her that he had eyes on his wayward son. He..
Wait....
"Was.... was Dark Cacao there?" A quiet voice spoke in her mind, causing all her swirling thoughts to come to a screeching halt.
"Did.... did Dark Cacao see what happened?"
Cheese's arms curled in towards her chest. Her mind was now occupied with the agony she knew her beloved friends were feeling. While she didn't know the full story behind Dark Choco's exile, or how their relationship between the two collapsed so spectacularly. She did know that Dark Cacao missed his son greatly and that he had canceled the exile within days of ordering it. His sense of duty and pride being the only things stopping him from chasing after his son.
Golden Cheese returned her attention to the letter. Reading and rereading through Vanilla's words.
There had to be more to it.
"Come on, Nilly. Give me something to work with."
But Vanilla's words fell silent to her radiance. The most she got out of it was that Dark Choco was found badly injured after an attack and was taken back to the Citadel for further care. He was stable and healing, but out of caution, Vanilla decided to stay in the kingdom for longer than expected.
"That's not making me worry less here, Vanilla." Cheese groaned.
She was about to call in her flock of cheese birds for any news when she saw it.
A little note written on the bottom of the last page.
And definitely not in Vanilla's handwriting.
"It's Dark Cacao's handwriting," She noted with a raised brow.
The note read.
Golden Cheese, my old friend.
If you are reading this, please send any news of a red priestess to the Citadel. It's important.
Sincerely,
Dark Cacao.
Cheese paused for a moment and read over the message again.
"Red Priestess.... why would...."
Then it clicked into place.
Dark Enchantress had a Red Priestess who served her. A vindictive and petty one if she was remembering her priests right. Oh, what was that cookie's name? Cheese knew that she knew it.
Grain Cookie? No, she was sure the cookie was a fruit-based one. Cranberry? No, that's one of the houses in the Hollyberry kingdom. Red fruit, red fruit.... Wait! Pomegranate! Pomegranate cookie, that was the priestess's name.
Cheese remembered her.
She also remembered all the foul rumors that swirled around the red priestess. Rumors of cruelty, pettiness, and the dark magic she used against the cookies who faced her.
"Was that part of why Dark Choco was found injured?"
Golden Cheese turned her head to the stack of scrolls to her left. She had some of her cheese birds keeping tabs on what remained of Dark Enchantress's scattered army. And Smoked Cheese, no doubt, would have more information on the matter.
If Dark Cacao believed that this priestess was important.... important enough to specifically ask her about it....
"Cheese Birds!"
Golden Cheese called forth her not-so-small army of golden and orange birds.
They responding instantly to their goddess calls, they flocked into her radiance's office.
"Fetch Smoked Cheese for me, will you. Tell him it's of the utmost importance." She demanded while combing through a stack of papers.
The bird chirped and nodded.
"Oh, and fetch me my finest warm coat. It seems that I will be taking a little trip."