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Dark Enchantress stood atop the crumbled ruins of the Vanilla Kingdom once again. The destruction was nothing but another necessary loss, yet... it was almost sad to destroy it.
The entire throne had crumbled, nothing left to prove it had ever even been there. The stained-glass panels behind it had shattered, scattering red, yellow, green, blue and purple glass across the ground. She picked up a shard, but whatever it had previously depicted had been reduced to meaningless lines that she could spend years trying to put back together and still never get the full picture. But she didn't have to put it back to know what it had been- the glass was their colours. Those self-righteous 'heroes'. How pathetic.
She tossed it aside- she had better things to do The mural was nice, but now wasn't the time to admire what it had been- or mourn it's raw potential she still didn't possess.
She was halfway through the complicated enchantment to summon a portal when she heard a second portal open behind her, crackling with energy, and a pair of delicate footsteps hitting the ground from it.
"Who dares-?" She twisted around, facing the stranger. They seemed... familiar. They wore a cape that must've dragged at least three times their height behind them, charcoal black in colour but the ends were smeared with crimson red jam. Where their eyes should've been was instead a thick black bandage tied around their head- though they had a third eye in the middle of their forehead, its pupil nothing but a black circle that was white inside, but the sclera of it was deep red, like it was bloodshot- the eye only trained on here, not even blinking. Their head carried twisted horns, curled around the sides of his head like a goats. Their dress was dual-toned, like hers- strange. Their sleeves were oversized, hanging loosely over their arms. They held a staff- the end pointed like a spear, but the top held a mechanically looking eye that blinked rhythmically, protected by a ring of short but deadly looking spikes.
"Dark Enchantress Cookie." The stranger spoke, and at once she recognised their voice. A slight rasp had developed, but it was undeniably Pure Vanilla's voice.
"Pure Vanilla Cookie." She looked him up and down, trying to decipher whether he was an illusion or not.
His pale fingers tightened around his staff. "I abandoned that name as you did yours. I am not 'Pure Vanilla Cookie'. I am Dark Mage Cookie."
She scoffed. "Hm, how original of you. You even copied my colours." She stepped a little closer, putting a finger under his chin- though that was now harder than she was used to. Being reborn had stretched his dough- he was a good head taller than her even with her horns, without even considering his own horns.
"I did not copy you. I only met the same fate. And... that sounds awfully petty of you to say."
She took a step back, though kept her eyes on him, searching for anything that might signal he was merely an illusion. "If what you say is true, pray tell, how could you possibly have met my 'fate' when the Witches Banquet is not for many, many years from now?"
He frowned. "I went back. Back to the Witches Banquet before the war. The one you went to." He let her get over a slight twinge of anger over referring to her as White Lily before he continued. "I merely tried to prevent you being reborn. It was a misfortunate side effect that in doing so- I was reborn myself."
She chuckled. "You've done your research, hm?" She pushed the bandage away from his eyes, revealing dark sclera that seemed to be able to look past her and see into her soul.
"I suppose you could potentially put it that way. We both share the same goal. That is why I'm here."
She held her hand out, inviting him to take it, "If that's all true... why not join me?"
He placed his pale hand on hers- his touch felt icy, like any and all warmth had left him. Then, her grip tightened and she pulled him downwards until he was eye level with her- he was, conveniently so, on one knee. She put her other hand on the back of his head, putting her lips on his. He closed all three eyes, at first slightly shocked but quickly giving in and pushing his lips harder on hers.
She broke away, a smirk across her face. "You're beautiful when you're broken."