Chapter Text
Cake walked across the road, happily humming to himself. The skies were clear, he felt motivated, and summer was coming. He'd been invited to a birthday party for Loser, along with all his other friends, and couldn't be happier. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh.
“Hah...Today's going to be great!”
He tripped on a rock.
“Ow.”
He rubbed his face as he got from the floor. The rock shifted and moved, then grew three pairs of small legs and walked away. Cake watched it with interest; that didn't seem right. Curious, he followed the crab rock. He kept a close eye on it, keeping a close pace with the crab.
The crab eventually made it to an area Cake didn't recognize well. He'd seen it once, but never got to exploring it himself. Ivy crept up the ruined buildings. The crab pushed its way past a small plank of wood. Cake moved it aside with his foot and continued after it.
“Where are you going? I'm going to be late for the party!”
The crab stopped walking and looked up at Cake.
“Wait...Are you trying to lead me somewhere?”
The crab started off again, coming to a sudden stop when it bumped into a stone wall.
“What are you doing, little guy?”
Cake went to the wall and watched the crab continuously jab its small face into the stone. He looked closer. Cracks lined the wall. It looked as if there had been a passageway there, but was sealed off. Cake tested the wall by pressing his foot against it and applying a bit of pressure. The wall shifted a bit, dust taking flight as small pebbles fell loose from the stone.
“I'll find you a way through. You should probably stand back.”
The crab, as if it understood Cake's words, backed from the wall a great distance. Cake grabbed a rock nearby and tossed it at the wall. It did nothing. Cake glanced to the crab, then went closer to the wall once more. He stamped a foot against the wall a few times, closing his eyes to prevent dust blinding him. The wall crumbled, ivy sprinkling its leaves down with the cloud of dust. Cake blinked a few times.
“Ow...My eyes...”
The crab walked around his foot and continued into the hall. Cake wiped his eyes a few times, then noticed the crab was gone.
“Huh? W-wait! What if you need my help again?!” He sped after the crab.
The path ended in a very sudden dip. Cake was not prepared and fell, rolling down the path until he stopped in front of the crab. He gave the crab a small smile, then watched it approach some sort of crystal. Cake got to his feet.
“Whoa. What is that?”
The crab began slamming itself against the crystal.
“Hey, careful! You don't know what that does!” Cake gently moved it away with his foot.
The crystal stretched between the roof of the cave and the floor, completely devouring the stalagmites and stalactites within the affected area. The crystal itself had a pink hue, and a blue glow came faintly from within it. A large crack was spread across its front facet. Light leaked from the crack, illuminating a portion of Cake's face and the cave nearby.
“H-hello? Is there somebody there?” Cake's voice shook slightly.
The crab clinked its claws and climbed its way up the crystal, vanishing into the crack.
“Wah! Get out of there, little crabby!”
The light shone brighter, and the crack began to grow. Cake ducked behind a rock, cowering in fear that he'd unleashed an apocalypse. There was a shattering sound, and pieces of the crystal flew all around. Curious and concerned, Cake poked his head over the rock. The light was an enormous ball of a brilliant blue hue. It didn't seem dangerous, so Cake stepped from his hiding place.
“Hello?”
The ball of light grew a large pair of wings, scattering white feathers in the air like rose petals. Cake smiled at the feather that landed on his frosting. A pair of eyes appeared on the ball of light, and many more on the front and back of its wings. Cake stopped smiling as the shape stared at him, a pair of thick legs appearing. The light died, tossing them back into the dark. Despite the dark, Cake could still clearly see the many eyes of the creature, and two glowing rings above the creature's head. A faint glow came from its body, a pastel blue, and pulsing like a heartbeat.
“Hello!” It voice sounded gentle and kind.
“What the what?!”
“I'm Cupid. It's nice to talk to someone new!”
“What happened to the rock crab?”
“That crab was a Heartstone. It was a piece of me. I want to thank you for bringing me back!” She walked in a circle around Cake, feathers scattering all about.
“You were trapped in a crystal...”
Her happy tone died. “Was I?”
“Yeah.”
“How...long has it been?”
“I...I don't know.”
“Show me the date.”
Cake pulled out his phone, swiping up a reminder notification about the party. He opened the calendar and showed it to Cupid.
“Twenty-twenty six?” She looked down from the phone. “It only felt like a moment...”
Cake pocketed it. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah! I'm okay!” She spread her wings wide, breaking rocks with their swing. “Let's restore the world to its rightful ways!”
She grabbed Cake with her foot and took off flying, crashing through the cave and the ruined building above it. Cake screamed as they dashed high into the air. She stopped, flapping in place. Her main eyes examined the area, a slight look of worry on her face. Cake clutched tightly to her foot.
“C-could you put me down p-please?!” His voice shook.
“Oh! Sorry!” She stopped flying, turning into a dive instead. She slowed when she reached the floor, then gently placed Cake on the grass. She landed on the grass herself, showing she was tall enough to rival the ruined buildings.
“What...are you,” asked Cake, to get his mind off the nerves he felt shaking his body.
“I'm Cupid. I'm an Angel.”
“A-a-an...An ANGEL?!” Cake flinched from her.
“Yes. I'm supposed to spread love and togetherness through the world!”
“Uh...”
“Sorry, this must be a lot to process! I've been trapped for sixteen years, apparently.”
“You're going to spread peace?”
“Yep! Shall we get started? I could use an assistant to make up for lost time!”
“W-wait!” Cake pointed a foot at her. “You can't go out. You stick out really bad. People will freak out when they see you!”
“Oh. Panic isn't good. Let's see...I haven't used my powers in a while, so I may be a little rusty, but let me try something.” She covered herself with her wings. “I need to blend in...”
Cake backed from her slightly as the eyes on her wings began to glow. Cake was glad she wasn't dangerous, but she was quite odd to say the least. She exploded in a barrage of white feathers. The feather in Cake's frosting faded to a pastel orange. She floated down to the ground, about the same height as Cake.
“How's this?” She spun a pirouette. “There's only so much I can do while still weak, so it's probably not the best...”
She resembled one of the number folk, a blue one. Her eyes and tiny wings matched the pastel orange of the feather, and she still had one of her halos. Regardless, she looked normal enough.
“Wow!” He glanced at her wings again, which floated away from her body a bit. “They're orange.”
She looked to it as well, then the feather. “So they are.” She smiled blankly. “Shall we get started, my lovely assistant?”
“It's Cake.”
“Cake! Lovely!”
“I have a party to go to-”
“Let me go with you! I'm sure there's plenty of love ready to blossom there! Please?”
“Okay!”