Chapter Text
Being forgiven for his betrayal - finding out his knights thought there was nothing to forgive in the first place - by Salt Cellar Cookie, felt like being absolved of the biggest sin he had committed in his long, long life. The guilt still remained even after the resolution, but it weighed less than it had before.
“Thank you, truly, I am undeserving of your forgiveness,” he, Silent Salt, feels it appropriate to bow to her.
“It is our honor to serve with you once more, Salt of Solidarity,” Salt Cellar shakes her head, not taking the bow as gratitude, even though he knows very well that he does not deserve what she and the rest of his spectral knights have decided to give him.
“I am no longer representative of what I used to be. I have turned my back on Solidarity, and I no longer am worthy of such a title. I am Silent Salt Cookie, and I will do what I can to atone for my failures,” he stands straight again, head held high as he accepts blame for what he has done.
“It’s a relief to hear you say that,” comes a soft voice, accompanied by the sound of fluttering fabric and an unmistakably floral scent. “I was hoping to get your help with something, Silent Salt Cookie.”
“Of course, Freedom, I will do my best to help,” he turns to face White Lily Cookie, the grand glow of her awakened form almost bright enough to outshine the lanterns on the walls.
“Through what pathway have you made it down here? I was under the impression that we were blocking the only way in,” Salt Cellar says, a little off put at her sudden arrival.
“She came with me,” Silent Salt explains, “Though I expect you’d have been preoccupied with… Everything else that my arrival brought.”
White Lily Cookie nods in agreement. “I’ve been with Charcoal and Pastry Cookie.”
For the first time, Salt Cellar looks over to where White Lily had gestured to and found that yes, they had had an audience the entire time.
“My instincts are not as sharp as they used to be, I suppose,” Salt Cellar says, perplexed.
“What did you need of me?” Silent Salt steers them back on topic.
“As I’m sure you know, the other beast cookies are free now. While my friends have kept them stationary and the world safe, I fear that it won’t last. I wanted to try to get rid of the threat,” White Lily says.
Ah, murder? He had not thought her the type. Nevertheless, he was certainly not opposed to the idea, his old companions a twisted and gruesome shadow of who they used to be.
“I may not have used this blade for such a thing in a very long time, but I am willing and capable of doing with it what is right,” Silent Salt agrees.
It takes her a solid second to understand where exactly their trains of thought had converged and then subsequently completely missed each other. “What? No, no, not like- I do not mean to kill them.”
“I do not see what you mean, if not to kill them. There is no alternate way to dispel the threat. They are too far gone. If I were in their positions, killing me would be the best option,” Silent Salt says.
White Lily takes a moment to contemplate such a statement before shaking her head. “No. The Beasts are dangerous, but like you they are not immune to change. If we can convince them to do so, or even just to stand down, our war against Dark Enchantress will be much easier.” As if to illustrate her point, the banner waves gently in the air behind her, even with no discernible source of wind in the catacombs.
Salt Cellar Cookie squints her one eye at the banner, checking for wind, as Silent Salt makes a discontent noise. “I do not believe those accursed beasts could change for the better in any way. They corrupted and abandoned their virtues, and care only of their personal beliefs. Nothing short of their destruction will change their ways.”
“But you have managed to see your own error without the crumbling of your dough. Life is precious, and I know there has to be something worth saving within every cookie, even the worst of us. Please, just let us try? Maybe… Maybe we can make them see again, see the merit of the virtues they had in the first place,” White Lily pleads.
Salt Cellar chimes in, “She has a point. You yourself are evidence to the idea.”
Silent Salt, against his better judgement, stops to consider it. White Lily Cookie had earned his respect, she had cleared his mind, at least a bit, and after every hoop that she and her own band of ancients had had to jump through for his failure, he owed her something.
“If we are to be unsuccessful at convincing them, then our only option is to make sure there is nothing left of them. You understand this, yes?” Silent Salt watches her.
She frowns. “If that is the case…” But she shakes her head. “It won’t come to that.”
“I am sure it will, but if prolonging the inevitable is something that will satisfy your curiosity, then it is your choice, and I will aid you. Where do you suggest we begin?”
“I had thought that…”
Eternal Sugar Cookie was moping. Of all cookies on this accursed land, Eternal Sugar should not ever be the one to mope. She was happiness incarnate, she was the epitome of all things good, and she could not make herself feel an ounce of contentment, much less happiness.
Her other half, her beloved, the only cookie in her life who had shown her true happiness, was gone. Hollyberry Cookie was gone, she had left Eternal Sugar in her garden, alone, left to fend for herself.
“Pavlova,” Eternal Sugar calls from where she’s draped over two trees, “Will I ever be happy again? The answer should be yes, right? But she is gone and my garden is in ruins. Nothing so horrible has ever happened before, and I fear I am losing myself.”
Pavlova Cookie glances in her direction from where he is working on resuscitating a sad looking pink flower bush. “Of course you will, Sugar, you’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.”
She groans and flips over, reaching towards the sky. “My Hollyberry. My only true love. Where did I go wrong? What more could I have done to make you happy? To make sure you never left me?”
She closes her eyes and lets her hand fall over them. The foliage around them starts to rustle, and she allows herself to brighten, pushing herself upright, thinking perhaps Hollyberry had seen the mistake she’d made and come back home to Eternal Sugar, but instead, the sound of hooves on dirt becomes clear and the happiness is replaced with disappointment. Metal armor clanking against itself is the next noise she hears, and the only person who comes to mind is…
Surely it wouldn’t be him? She has not seen Silent Salt Cookie in a very long time. In fact, the last time she remembers them even interacting was… Well, it had to have been before the tree, as the stasis they’d been set in had made it hard to speak and she is certain that she hasn’t seen him since being released. She can’t even really picture what he might look like now, just what he had looked like back when he had been the Salt of Solidarity, so she’s fairly sure he hadn’t been corrupted the last time they’d spoken. Hell, she might not have been. It’s been so long that she really can’t remember.
So that begs the question, what could he want with her now?
As it turns out, corruption had barely changed him at all. His armor had tarnished with time, or perhaps with his soul, but nothing about him was particularly different. For a moment, she allows the sorrow to float away.
“Silent Salt, old friend. What brings you to my garden~?” she smiles at him.
“It has been a long time, Eternal Sugar Cookie,” he greets stiffly, his horse looking mildly uncomfortable to be here. “Nevertheless, I have heard some of the things you have been up to.”
He dismounts Nox Black Salt, holding the horse’s reins so that he does not run off. He seems very liable to do that, right now.
“So you heard about my poor garden, and my Beloved Hollyberry,” the misery returns to her, and she plucks a flower off one of the trees. She begins picking the petals off of it one by one, counting in her head a cycle of, ‘she loves me, she loves me not’, expression souring further once the final petal had landed on the unfavorable option.
She discards the stem on the ground, Pavlova sighing at the dead plant and continuing his work.
“Yes,” Silent Salt grimaces beneath his helmet. “And in fact, I want to help you.”
“You do?~” She looks at him, getting uncomfortably close to where his eyes are behind the armor. Her smile is wry, like she understands a joke that he does not, and that he is the butt of said joke. “I don’t need help, dear, but it warms me that you would try. I am happiness, after all. I know what I am doing.”
“Eternal Sugar,” he says slowly, having hoped not to have to pull out the pity card he had prepared, “I have been… Dejected, lately. Loneliness does not suit me. I am no longer who I used to be, but there are echoes in my mind that ache for… Our past. I am simply asking you to grant me this one desire. Allow me to keep your company.”
She softens. Poor old Salt of Solidarity had never enjoyed being alone. She always knew him to seek out companionship, as was his virtue. She didn’t know how he had fallen, but being alone? She is sure that it would do it for anyone so loyal as him. Perhaps, like her, he still felt a tie to his old element. And, certainly, this was a desire that she could fulfill easily.
“Well~! I suppose, for you, dear, I will play along, though I don’t know if you’ll be any good with the garden~,” she laughs.
“I was not particularly interested in the garden,” Silent Salt approaches her place in the willow tree. “It was the Lady Hollyberry Cookie who had my attention in regards to you.”
“My Hollyberry Cookie,” Eternal Sugar presses the possessive as she speaks, making sure he knows who Hollyberry belongs to. “What about her?”
“It is truly a tragedy that she could leave you behind. I want to help you get her back,” Silent Salt offers.
“Oh, to bring her home to me~, that would just be splendid! If you could be my gateway to doing such a thing, I would be ever so happy,~” Eternal Sugar is reenergized at the thought.
“Eternal Sugar, isn’t it time we focus on rebuilding the garden? You’ve been so down at the thought of Hollyberry Cookie for so long, I just can’t bear to see you upset if…” Pavlova Cookie trails off, afraid to finish the thought.
“Actually, I may be able to help with that as well. Have you ever heard the name White Lily Cookie?”
“Hm… No, I can’t say that I have~ Who is that exactly?” She looms a little closer to him, and he has to resist taking a step back.
“She’s my ‘other half', so to speak. We’re working together, and if need be I suppose I could ask for her assistance with your garden… She’s quite good with flowers.”
Pavlova is about to speak up, but is blocked from doing so by Eternal Sugar’s wings spreading in delight. “Your other half! Salty, I knew you had it in you~!” She flies around him in a tight circle as Silent Salt tries his best to not appear displeasured by the nickname.
“Yes… Is this satisfactory?”
Eternal Sugar lands again, humming happily. “Oh, of course~! Why, if your other half works so closely with you, it gives me even more joy at the thought of reuniting with my Beloved Hollyberry! Bring her here, Pavlova will show her around~” Pavlova for his part looks stunned.
“I’ll summon her at once.” He turns to mount his horse again, when a coo from Eternal Sugar stops him.
“Oh, and of course she’s welcome to stay in the garden while she’s helping!”
He grimaces under his helmet at the thought. “A… Generous offer. But I believe she has her own lodgings.”
“Oh, I’m sure she’ll change her mind~!” She lightly giggles, turning back to Pavlova Cookie. “We can arrange somewhere for her to stay, can’t we?”
His protests die in his throat at her expectant stare. “...Yes, Eternal Sugar. I’ll go figure something out.” He flies off to do so, and Eternal Sugar turns around to find Silent Salt also gone. How odd, she didn’t hear his horse at all. Regardless, her happiness has returned in full force, and she can’t wait to be with her other half again~!