Chapter Text
The moon hung high in the night sky, its beautiful glow illuminating the forest below. Not enough for clear visibility of course, but just enough for the path to be seen. Perfect for a night as important as this. For this was the night of the Witches Banquet, the night that White Lily's questions would finally be answered.
The moonstone Elder Faerie gifted her weighed heavily in her pocket, fingers repeatedly smoothing over the crescent shaped stone. It wasn't far now, her destination, she could already smell the smoke and sugar getting thicker as she pushed forwards, heart beating in her chest so fast it might explode.
"Well! I feel that this is a good place as any, let's take a quick breather shall we?" A voice chimed.
The Ancient paused, whirling around as the world around her seemed to slow to a stop. The cookie in front of her looked... different, to say the least. Hair more voluminous than she had ever seen (soft looking too), a suit that looked far too fancy for the forest, and her visible eye was a vibrant yellow, with a white swirl slowly spinning.
"W-what? Who a-" "Bup bup bup!" The odd cookie interrupted. "Not yet my dear, time and place." They giggled. The Ancient only blinked in return, head tilting as she looked over the odd cookie again.
"Usually I don't interfere at such integral parts of the timeline, but I also don't usually do recruitment either! So today seems to be full of surprises!" They laughed. White Lily had so many questions. This cookie was... odd. And there was something about them, something that they just couldn't place.
"Anywho! I suppose I should actually introduce myself." They sighed. The cookie straightened out, smile growing as her eye swirl began to spin faster in excitement. Her scissors glinted behind her with an odd, almost manic gleam.
"I, am Timekeeper Cookie!" The newly named gave a deep and theatrical bow. "And you, my dear need no introduction!" A soft giggle followed as they drew closer. The Ancient only blinked again, gripping her staff tighter as the cookie drew closer, that may have answered one of her questions but it seemed ten more sprouted from her introduction alone.
"Now then," she cleared her throat. "Onto the boring bits," a barely suppressed scoff, "I, Timekeeper Cookie, formerly invite you, White Lily Cookie, to join the Time Balance Department, or TBD for short, and become a valuable member of our team!"
Nothing in that sentence even made the slightest hint of sense to the Ancient. "What's the TBD?" She managed to ask, finally finding her voice. The cookie in front of her started talking about it, what it meant, represented, everything that one might need to know.
Yet, it didn't feel like enough, (no knowledge ever did really) there were so many questions, so little time. "Why me?" She asked, watching as an excited glint entered the others eye. They stepped closer, grin widening as they took the Ancients hands in theirs.
"You'll see."
"Now!" Timekeeper spun away just as suddenly as they appeared. "I'll give you say... five minutes? To think about it." They waved before disappearing again, the wind started to blow as the smoke from the chimney began to rise. She stood there for a moment, eyes drifting over the spot the other cookie once stood.
She looked back at the witches cottage, debating, wondering what she should do. She... she knew nothing of this strange cookie, nothing of the world she spoke of or the responsibilities she would have placed upon her.
And yet... yet she felt a pull towards this, towards an unknown fate that could hold anything. "Timekeeper! I've made my decision!" She shouted to the forest. A moment passed, then another, her shoulders drooped, goodness, she was going insane wasn't-
"Oh? You still have three minutes to decide, but I suppose I can hear your answer now!" The cookie laughed. The ancient whipped around, braid nearly smacking her in the face from the force. "I... have decided to join the TBD." She nodded. Timekeepers grin seemed to grow wider with every word, it almost looked wrong, a smile that was just a touch too big.
Within seconds the world around them dissolved, leaving the two floating in a sort of weightless area. Around them was the constant sound of gears clicking and turning, as if they were in a giant clock. She squeaked as a pair of goggles were forced over her eyes, the gear shaped things resting comfortably.
"These," Timekeeper tapped the goggles, "Will keep you from getting lost." She explained. The flower cookie nodded, reaching for her staff, only to find that it's gone, the familiar bud no longer with her. Before she could argue they were whisked away, landing in a fairly bustling place.
There looked to be a giant clock in the center, its steady ticking echoing through the area. "Director! Welcome back, and with the new employee!" A cheerful voice sounded. Timekeeper moved to greet the other, calling her Dark Fondue before pushing the flower cookie towards her.
"Dark Fondue here will get you all sorted, she's the head of the Cookie Resources Department after all." She chuckled. The director nodded at the other before leaving, her heels making a soft click on the linoleum tiles before it faded fully. She was quickly led to a small office room, one clearly used for these introductory meetings.
It was the usual, signing papers, watching informational videos, and everything one would expect. Though, she couldn't help but mourn a little, she would never go home again, at least, not without her memories of this place. Even check in's on their own timelines were forbidden, so she was left in the dark about her home, and, more importantly, her friends. Doing so would end up with her being fired.
"Now," Dark Fondue roughly tapped the paper on the desk. "Usually we have our employees do a test run of each department before being assigned, but the director insisted that she already has the perfect department for you."
The flower cookie only blinked before she was being led down the hall, the paper in her hands feeling oddly important as she entered the new area. She gasped as she gazed upon the room, every wall was lined with relics, some from times she had only heard whispers of.
"Welcome to the Relics department, your department head should be around here somewhere." Dark Fondue smiled, though it was too proper, definitely one of those customer service smiles. Soon, a cookie with amber hair popped out, dark green glasses obscuring his eyes.
"Maple Taffy! There you are, you've got a new employee!" The resources head cheered, though it sounded forced. She quickly shoved the flower cookie closer to her supposed department head before scurrying off. The two stood there for a moment, awkwardly waiting for the other to say something. Finally, Maple Taffy cleared his throat and stepped forwards with a semi awkward smile.
"Well, I'm Maple Taffy, welcome to the Relics department! We handle the objects that slip through the cracks of destroyed timelines!" He chuckled. White Lily nodded along as her new department head led her through the area, it was small, and mostly looked clean.
Her job was pretty straightforward, document and preserve whatever needed to be preserved. She also very quickly met Schneeball, a respectable (if not a little hammer happy) archeologist who almost always went head first into dissecting a relic. "Excuse me?" The flower cookie piped up, managing to break the twos argument. "Aren't there supposed to be more employees?" She asked.
The two quieted down quite quickly, a sort of nervous air quickly filled the room. "Well, about that, we tend to be a fairly... underfunded department, so we don't usually have many employees." Maple Taffy laughed awkwardly.
"You're the first new employee to come here in months, most go towards the flashier devisions, Engineering, Registry, hell, anything other than Relics." Schneeball snorted. White Lily mouthed a little 'oh' before glancing around at the empty desks. She nodded slowly, before sitting down, grabbing a relic from the pile and getting to work.