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Madeleine Cookie was sent to investigate the St. Pastry Order in order to discover the secrets inside. He did end up being caught, and he ended up getting into a scuffle with a knight, but what he ended up learning was that their leader, Doughael, which some called the High Forkbearer, was informing everycookie about the truth of the Holy Avatar. It needed multiple sacrifices in order to be activated.
The paladin did manage to escape… But the sounds of distant screaming caught him off-guard. He looked back, and his eyes had widened in shock. There, in the sky, as everything began to grow red, was the Holy Avatar everyone was speaking about. Calling it huge would be an understatement. Madeleine Cookie looked tiny compared to it. He swore he could hear something calling his name… Beckoning him to come closer to the entity.
And, showing that he wasn’t known for using his brain, he stepped forward. He then took another step, and, with a foolish third step, something happened.
The entity had reached forward, grabbing Madeleine Cookie by the waist. “A- HEY!” The paladin yelped. “Put me down! What are you doing-?!”
Madeleine Cookie felt himself being lifted up into the air, his shield and sword still intact. The entity seemed to inspect him for a moment, as if it was curious to the Cookie that it was holding, before a white tentacle slithered from behind its back. Madeleine Cookie’s eyes widened, seeing the white tentacle slither up to his body. Then another. …Then another.
The paladin had only one thought on his mind— he was screwed. He knew that he had to do something, anything, otherwise he would become crumbs. He could feel the tentacles begin to wrap around his arms and legs, and that’s when he acted out on instinct. He tightened his grip on his sword, and, with an almost girlish yell, swung his sword at one of the tentacles that tried to grab him.
The entity, in response, let out a loud, pained cry after Madeleine Cookie cut its tentacle. It looked down at him, looking livid, although it was hard to tell considering its eyes were closed.
Madeleine Cookie stared back at the entity, glaring slightly.
“What were you trying to do there, hmm?” Madeleine Cookie asked. “Were you trying to crumble me or something? Well, that just won’t do! This Cookie you’re trying to crumble is a shining knight commander! So don’t think you’ll get off that easily for your actions!”
And with that, Madeleine Cookie hopped onto one of the entity’s tentacles. He clung onto it as he felt the entity try to shake him off. As defiant as ever, he clung on as hard as he could, trying to find an opportunity to try and attack it again. He studied the entity’s movements, seeing how it was incessantly trying to get him off of it, the constant shaking admittedly making him feel dizzy. This made it quite harder to focus, but a lack of focus never stopped Madeleine before.
Squinting so he can try to find a weak spot easier, Madeleine Cookie tightened his grip on his sword and shield, trying to get the perfect aim. However, the entity had other plans. Its incandescent wings suddenly spread as wide as they could, and a blinding flash of light stunned Madeleine. He lost his grip on the tentacle, but before he could slip off of it, he was attacked by another tentacle, which slammed against his body, sending him tumbling onto a floating pile of rubble.
The paladin, dazed and wounded, rubbed his temple as he tried to stand up. “Agh… That came… Out of nowhere…” He complained. He looked up at the entity, and it seemed to have reached up into the sky for something. Not too long after this action, five large stones fell from the sky, one of them almost crushing Madeleine. The paladin tried to push past the stones, grunting slightly with exertion.
“Hah…! Is that all you got?!” He called out. He had slight scratch marks on his body and his platinum blonde hair was slightly disheveled, but he was still standing. “For someone as big as you, you don’t seem to be as powerful as I thought you would be!”
His taunts agitated the entity, as it reached down with its hand, its finger extended towards Madeleine Cookie. The paladin raised his shield, defending himself as it attacked. He barely managed to block its attack, and when he looked down at his shield, he noticed that a large crack had formed in the middle of it. He gasped, his eyes widening as he saw the damage done to his shield.
“...Perhaps I’ve spoken too soon.” Madeleine Cookie commented. Before he could turn his attention back to the entity, two objects that looked similar to fiery balls fell towards him. One of them had hit him square in the chest, making him cry out as he hit the ground. While he was stunned, the entity’s halo had begun to glow a bright yellow, and as Madeleine Cookie sat up, groaning, he could hear the sound of something rumbling, coming from behind him.
When he turned around, he saw a column of light advancing towards him. He wasted no time getting back up on his feet and trying to run away from it. As he was running, the edge of his cloak was caught by the column of light, and flames began to form at his cloak, burning it. To make matters worse, Madeleine Cookie reached the end of the platform, almost falling off of it and causing small pebbles to fall off of the platform. As he turned back to the column of light, he had a worried, yet determined expression on his face. He decided to use his shield again, despite it having a large crack in the middle.
The column of light finally hit him, and to say this didn’t end well was an understatement. A sharp cry came from the paladin’s throat as he was struck by the column, his shield almost shattering to pieces. He tipped off of the platform, but he grabbed the edge of it with a trembling hand, his life flashing before his eyes.
With the tightest grip he could manage, the paladin crawled back up at the platform, breathing heavily. He collapsed onto his stomach, his body aching all over. By this point, he was covered in scratches and injuries, some parts of his body crumbling. His cloak, which once flew elegantly in the air, was torn and burnt in multiple areas. His hair was completely disheveled now, and his face had a large crack on the right side of his cheek. He saw a crumb of his own dough fall down onto his arm, the sight making Madeleine Cookie sick to his stomach.
Crap… I must look like a mess right now… Madeleine Cookie complained to himself. He was exhausted and totally worn out, his weapons covered in scratches and cracks. As he looked down at his sword, feelings of guilt and shame began to pry at his mind.
…I called myself a paladin blessed by the divine light… I never lost… A battle before… Now look at me now. I’m covered in wounds… My cheek feels numb… My shield is almost broken… And my sword… The tip’s completely broken.
A weak, broken smile spread on Madeleine Cookie’s face as the entity looked down on him.
I can’t believe I called myself a paladin. I used to say that the divine light would shine and smile upon me, but… Now I don’t think it ever will.
…How pathetic. I’m going to crumble at the hands of my own power. Well… At least… I’ll go out… With a smile…
But just as Madeleine Cookie closed his eyes and was just about ready to accept his fate, he remembered something. …No, not something, someones.
Espresso Cookie, an expert in coffee magic that he had fallen in love with.
Strawberry Crepe Cookie, a child that he perceives as he and Espresso’s own.
Financier Cookie, a noble alumna that trained him during his early days as a paladin.
Grand Madeleine Cookie… His own mother, who was with him every step of the way as he was growing and developing, not once giving up on him.
…Why was he giving up? Why was he just… closing his eyes and accepting defeat? He has faced way worse than this thing, despite the fact that it, you know, almost crumbled him. What kind of paladin gives up like that? What kind of paladin, blessed by the light, would let an entity like this one destroy him?
Despite how much his body ached, despite how it felt like he was going to crumble at any minute, Madeleine Cookie began to stand up. Despair was not shown in his face, but instead, there was anger. Pure, determined anger. He whipped around to face the entity, still glaring at it.
"...No. This… Is not how it ends.” Madeleine Cookie started, the anger from his expression seeping into his voice. “If you thought I would just crumble here, to become nothing but a pile of crumbs, you thought wrong! I will not let myself crumble here! Not like this! You have put up a decent fight, but this is where it ends for you, not me!”
Madeleine Cookie’s sword, albeit in rough shape, began to glow as his speech went on. The entity saw the sword glowing, as if it interested it somewhat. At the climax of his speech, the wounded paladin raised his glowing sword as high as he could.
“And, as an heir of House Madeleine, a noble knight commander and a well respected friend of all…” His voice trembled as he felt the light from his sword enveloping him. He could feel the power of the light coursing through his jam, some of his wounds being healed. “I, Madeleine Cookie… Will STRIKE… YOU…. DOWN!!!”
And with a burst of light, Madeleine Cookie charged forward, his now repaired sword aiming at the entity’s face. Something had changed about him, though. Not only did multiple of his injuries vanish thanks to the power of the light, but a pair of white, feathery wings had sprouted from his back, glowing with powerful divine energy.
His sword swung at the entity, and it didn’t have enough time to dodge. Realizing it had to focus now, the entity tried to summon its fiery objects again, but Madeleine Cookie would not fall for its same tricks. He dodged them, flying behind the entity. By this point, he didn’t care about how colossal this thing really was. He wanted this thing to, in his terms, return to the heavens.
His sword was relentless, striking at the entity with quick movements. Its eyes were open now, its small black pupils glaring at the paladin as he continued to attack. His attacks were growing stronger by the minute, and they were becoming more frenzied and somewhat more desperate. It was clear that Madeleine Cookie was overexerting himself, but since he was in the heat of the moment, he didn’t care. Not even the column of light that previously gave him so much trouble earlier could bring him down. It was barely even affecting him!
Madeleine Cookie cut through one of the stones the entity tried to throw at him like it was nothing but tissue paper, and, with a final cry, he stabbed the entity right on its forehead, a burst of light enveloping both of them. This triggered an explosion, which caused not only the entity to disappear, but it also caused Madeleine Cookie to come tumbling down.
…I… I did it. I… Defeated it.
Madeleine Cookie opened his eyes, his vision struggling to adapt to the world around him after the bright explosion. When he realized what was happening, though…
…hoLY CRUMBS I’M FALLING!
In a moment of panic, upon realizing that he was, indeed, falling, Madeleine Cookie used his wings in an attempt to try and stop himself from colliding with the ground. Thankfully, he managed to stabilize himself, his wings flapping as he fell to the ground, landing on his two feet. The glow from his powers had worn off, except for the wings. He looked blankly at the church of the St. Pastry Order, which somehow was still intact, even during the fight.
…He honestly didn’t know how to feel. He just defeated the entity they worshipped… but that wasn’t going to bring back any of the cookies that were absorbed by it. Especially that Doughael Cookie…
He looked away in a huff, and began his journey of returning to the Crème Republic. He had no idea how to tell them. What was he going to tell them?
Hello, everyone! Not only did I defeat this creature that the St. Pastry Order worships, but check out these cool wings I got from it!
He doubts many cookies would believe him if he said that the St. Pastry Order was done for, especially if he said that he played a role in bringing it down. But, he didn’t care. He had to tell Cookies about it. He just had to, especially considering the fact that Cookies would ask about his wings.
He could feel himself flying closer to the Republic, but before he could actually enter, he gasped sharply, feeling a sharp pain in his side. He barely managed to land on his feet again before he collapsed forward, causing nearby Cookies to gasp.
“Madeleine Cookie?!” One Cookie exclaimed.
“You’re back!” Another cheered.
“Wait, something’s wrong with him…”
“...He… …As w… …ngs?”
“Wh… …ened, Ma…?”
All of the Cookie’s voices faded into obscurity as he felt himself beginning to pass out from sheer exhaustion. He wanted to talk to them, to settle them down, to try and explain what happened, but he couldn’t. He… He was just so tired.
So… Very… Tired…