Chapter Text
It was a dimly lit night in the academy library. Each portrait of the school’s headmaster was lit eerily, allowing the eyes to appear ominous in nature. The air was thick with dust and the smell of pages faded yellow.
The library was peaceful and quiet, as it should’ve been so late past curfew. Most other cookies would have tucked themselves into bed by now, seeking refuge from the stress of finals and the hardship of their work. Sleep, after all, was one of the few things in this world that was an actual escape.
However, though most cookies were asleep, Pure Vanilla Cookie and White Lily Cookie were not “most cookies.”
“Shh,” hushed the young White Lily Cookie, who had just barely managed to sneak by one of the night attendants. “Don’t you dare be the reason we get another suspension.”
Pure Vanilla Cookie stifled a laugh, knowing any more noise would surely get them thrown out of the library. “You’re the one who dragged me here. What could possibly be so important?”
White Lily Cookie ignored him. Or perhaps she was saving the answer for later. Their footsteps were light, a habit practiced through years of sneaking into this secluded area.
The air only got thicker with dust as they made their way to the forbidden section of the library. White Lily Cookie was good at holding her breath so as not to cough, but Pure Vanilla Cookie, being blind, had his other senses enhanced quite unfortunately. He was struggling not to sneeze, holding it in purely for White Lily Cookie’s sake.
Smiling at Pure Vanilla Cookie with a grateful look, White Lily Cookie went to shuffling through the titles on the shelf. It was laughable how poorly this section was concealed from the rest of the archive. The guards were too sleepy at this time of night to disturb them, she had observed.
Categorized by the author, White Lily Cookie was easily able to find the title she was looking for, aided by the silver moonlight pouring from the side window. “A Guide to Time Management,” written by a cookie whose name was scribbled out on the cover.
Peeking over her shoulder, Pure Vanilla Cookie sighed. “Can we take it back to the dorm? I’d hate to be caught here again…”
White Lily Cookie shook her head. “It’s only a small passage I’m looking for. I think it’ll be easier to keep it here.” She motioned for Pure Vanilla to crouch down, which he followed using his staff. She followed suit, kneeling down and placing the book on the floor.
The spine made a small cracking noise as White Lily Cookie opened it, but the noise did not cause her panic. She casually flipped to the section she had remembered needing—“Time Loops.”
Pure Vanilla Cookie perked up with interest. “I don’t recall having an exam on time. Is there…a reason you’re showing me this?” His staff scanned over the excerpt, reading the following:
“Time Loops are a curious phenomenon within our universe. Not even the higher ranks of our employees know how they came to be, yet the procedure is always the same: never interfere directly. This will only intensify the experience for those trapped within it.”
He felt a bit uneasy reading that, and White Lily Cookie had still not answered him. She was deeply engrossed within the contents, which detailed all the methods to discreetly help someone out of a time loop by providing small, inconsequential clues for their escape.
Before he himself could finish reading, White Lily Cookie closed the book, having seen what she needed to see. “I see…so in that case….” She was talking to herself again, speaking in incomplete sentences.
Pure Vanilla Cookie didn’t understand, but he knew by now not to question it. Still, the idea of time loops kept echoing in his mind. “What would it be like to be trapped in one?”
Perhaps if he had questioned it, things would be different.
・・・・・
The sky was jam-red, the same hue as the fluid beneath Pure Vanilla Cookie’s trembling legs. Yes, the stench of jam was overwhelmingly potent, causing the exhausted Ancient to gag reflexively.
The light of the moon was not comforting in the slightest, for in this moment, its contrasting glow against the darkness was nothing but a mocking sheen. It was blinding like the sun, even if it wasn’t supposed to be.
There were no more screams of dying soldiers, though the noise still echoed in his head anyway. It was like the loud chime of a bell—a noise that left an impression on the brain.
A droning silence stretched on. Because every last soldier had perished beneath the power of Dark Enchantress.
Pure Vanilla Cookie began to hyperventilate. And looking at his fallen comrades surrounding him didn’t help the panic that was slowly setting in. It wasn’t just the fact that they were dead. It was that their corpses were laid down so gently in comparison to the other fighters.
Golden Cheese Cookie was set down with her tattered wings outstretched. She had tried to save one too many soldiers, and this greed led to her impalement upon her own golden spear. The picture painted contrasted her usual arrogance with kindness.
Dark Cacao Cookie was kneeled in front of his deceased soldiers, having been poisoned by the wasteland of toxins that the Cookies of Darkness had created. His expression was one of grim acceptance, yet still filled with unspoken regret and guilt.
Hollyberry Cookie was crushed by both Dark Enchantress and the weight of her shield, leaving her twisted body still grasping desperately to the metal as if trying to rise again.
And staring down at Pure Vanilla Cookie now was that same haunting gaze that followed him through his childhood, all the way to his soon-to-be deathbed.
Dark Enchantress had absorbed White Lily Cookie, making her likeness into a twisted amalgamation of what it once was. Pale red skin was dotted with sickly splotches of a lighter color, and her eyes were split half and half, each resembling both of them. The witch’s hair had come free, painting a ghostly picture beneath the moonlight with strands flying in every direction.
Her expression was sorrowful, as if such a monster could mourn the loss of her other half. And yet her hand outstretched, reaching for the final obstacle in her way: Pure Vanilla Cookie.
The roaring wind that each movement formed was enough to bring him to his knees. He couldn’t accept it: the fact he was next. The last one.
The war was over. Dark Enchantress had won.
“Aah!”
The gasp that was forced out of his lungs nearly made Pure Vanilla Cookie lose the rest of his breath. He clawed at his chest, kicking the blankets off of him until they crumpled sadly onto the tile floor. His vision was spotted, with burning dots blocking his view of what was now his bedroom.
It took him a few more breaths to realize that he was no longer in the ruins of Dark Enchantress’s lair. He was in his bedroom, with blinding sunlight pouring in through the glass sugar window next to him.
Shuddering, he sat up, looking down at the blanket he had kicked over. “Just…just a dream. It was just a dream.” He laughed nervously, though his voice cracked in doing so.
He shook his head. No matter how real it felt, it was all just a cheap trick of the mind. And if he remembered correctly…he had an entire week before their campaign was set to begin.
He could still remember it so vividly, though…dreams weren’t usually like that for him. At most, the more profound moments would be remembered for a day or two. But Pure Vanilla Cookie could remember the entire thing.
“I really hope White Lily Cookie is safe, wherever she is.” He spoke to himself, finally getting out of bed to refine himself in the mirror. It was here he noticed something off.
There was a scar on the left side of his face, about as long as his eyecings and starting from his mouth.
If he remembered that silly dream correctly…he had specifically been cut there. Of course, he had plenty of other injuries on his dough, so he quickly disrobed to check. Thankfully, there wasn’t anything else out of the ordinary.
“I must’ve just cut myself there and not noticed!” He laughed again, even more nervously. Sheesh, what a pathetic way of coping. Despite the scare, he went to prepare himself for the upcoming meeting. Coincidentally, they would discuss their battle plan there.
・・・・・
“This can’t be…”
Pure Vanilla Cookie’s body felt heavy. So, so heavy. He was clinging on so tightly to his staff that his dough was bruising. He could only watch in sheer despair as Dark Enchantress absorbed the now deceased Avatar of Destiny, its pitiful form crumbling away and giving birth to new power within her.
In that moment, he had forgotten all about the dream which had predicted the events of this battle. All he could think about was what this meant. What Dark Enchantress’s newfound power would spell out for cookiekind now that almost every resource was exhausted.
“Everyone, behind me!” Hollyberry Cookie called, urging the remaining soldiers and Ancients to position. “We must not allow this evil to prevail! We must fight until the very end, no matter how hopeless it is!”
Dark Enchantress now towered even further above the cookies below her, like a looming shadow that had trailed cookiekind as long as it existed. Seeing their persistence, she cackled, “You fools may have tried to stop me, but it was all in vain! Your ‘beacon of hope’ is now gone! Little more than fuel for the new paradise that you refuse to accept!”
She raised her foot. “You’ll have to adjust the hard way, it seems!”
Hollyberry Cookie yelled, raising her shield above her and attempting to block the pressure. “I have to protect them all…!”
Pure Vanilla Cookie acted quickly, casting a spell around the shield to bolster its strength. The shield was enlarged enough to cover the entirety of Dark Enchatress’s stomping grounds.
It all happened so quickly.
The sound of shattering steel, the horrified cries of the soldiers.
The stench of jam, an air of despair.
Hollyberry Cookie, now crushed beneath the weight of the shattered steel. Her strong arms that had once held together many lives were unmoving. And many other soldiers had been crushed with her.
It was just as Pure Vanilla Cookie had dreamed only a week ago.
“You…!” Golden Cheese Cookie was the first to try and act, hurling her spears at Dark Enchantress in an attempt to weaken her offense. “I’ll strike you down!!”
“HAH! Your friend is crumbled beneath you, and yet all you can think of is bringing me down!” The spears were stopped in midair, held together by dark magic. “What selfish little things! Is there really enough left in this world for you to fight for?!”
The spears all turned on the army. Dark Cacao Cookie readied his sword, but a putrid stench caught him before he could attack. Close behind him was Poison Mushroom Cookie and Pomegranate Cookie, who had used the leverage to launch a counterattack.
The poison was terribly strong. Dark Cacao Cookie’s vision was becoming more and more spotted by the second, and tremors wracked through him even as he desperately tried to fight through it.
Golden Cheese Cookie, blinded by desperation, took Hollyberry Cookie’s place as the shield using her wings. “Not ANY more of my treasures…! I won’t let you-!”
Pure Vanilla Cookie rushed toward her, desperate to do something, anything. But spears were flying by him too quickly for him to cast any sort of spell.
Once again, it all happened so fast.
The surrounding poison was weakening everyone. Golden Cheese Cookie’s guard was let down just long enough for one of the spears to pierce straight through her. She spat out jam, staring in hopeless rage at Dark Enchantress. Even in her final moments, her wings did not falter.
Dark Cacao Cookie was on his last breath, resigned to his fate. The only one left, just as before, was Pure Vanilla Cookie and-
“Wait, White Lily Cookie-!”
Dark Enchantress had not absorbed her yet. But where was she?
The space distortion in the jam red sky soon gave its answer. White Lily Cookie descended at last, eyes burning.
Pure Vanilla Cookie tried to reach out for her. A feeling of warmth enveloped him. It was so, so warm.
Pure Vanilla Cookie didn’t notice he had been stabbed until he slipped on his own jam. In his abdomen was another spear, laced with poison.
Choking, he grasped his staff desperately. The eye was darting around, looking for anything that could save such a hopeless situation.
His vision was getting spotty…it felt so familiar, all of it. Just like the dream he had.
This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
・・・・・
“Aah!”
The gasp that was forced out of his lungs nearly made Pure Vanilla Cookie lose the rest of his breath. He clawed at his chest, kicking the blankets off of him until they crumpled sadly onto the tile floor. His vision was spotted, with burning dots blocking his view of what was now his bedroom.
It took him a few more breaths to realize that he was no longer in the ruins of Dark Enchantress’s lair. He was in his bedroom, with blinding sunlight pouring in through the glass sugar window next to him.
Shuddering, he sat up, looking down at the blanket he had kicked over. “Just…just a-“
Déjà vu hit him like a truck, his hands subconsciously digging into the sheets.
This…had happened before. A dream just like this, where he once again fell to Dark Enchantress.
His body shook. No, surely it was a coincidence…! A dream within a dream was rare, but definitely not impossible. But then, why could he remember it so clearly? And why did he wake up at the exact moment he was set to die both times?
Something had to be wrong here.
Desperately, he tried to calm himself. It was all just a dumb coincidence. The war was something they were all destined to win.
He finally stumbled out of bed, trying not to trip over his own trembling legs. Taking a few more breaths, he wandered to his bathroom to get ready for the upcoming conference.
There was another scar on his leg.