Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything in our world begins with passion. These cookies for example were created by the witches to satiate their hunger for sweets. Their affiliations with magic led them to begin creating sentient cookies, however this did not stop them from eating them as they so pleased. They created a world they called Earthbread, and it has prospered ever since. Every day, new cookies are being baked, and sent down to Earthbread to begin their life. However, the cookie this particular witch was creating today was not meant to live independently.

The Witch of Truth, or what his friends knew him by, Pure Vanilla. He was head witch on the council of witches. Four other witches sat at that table with him, and together they protected earthbread from harm. They followed a strict set of guidelines, and for the most part, Pure Vanilla would follow them. One of these rules was to never interact with the cookies you baked. He had followed that rule as best as he could for quite a long time… But his heart longed for his sweet creations far beyond what he ever could’ve imagined. Every night he would lay in bed, twisting and turning, unable to properly rest. The constant scent of blueberries plagued him, even in his sleep. He wasn’t sure how to escape it. He would spend nights baking cookies of that flavor, and eat them to attempt to satisfy that hunger, but nothing appeared to work. Everything seemed to circle back to one specific cookie of his.

Pure Vanilla had begun mixing all his ingredients, gliding through his kitchen with the grace of a dancer. It wasn’t long before it was put into the oven to be baked, a lovely vanilla extract cookie. As this cooked, he prepared his frosting. He was a master of his craft, so he had his batches of frosting complete as soon as the cookie was out of the oven. Pure Vanilla set it aside to cool, then he sat himself down to cool. Should he really do this? But if not now, when could he ever?

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

The feast of virtues. A truly delightful event, where each cookie virtue gathered to discuss their spoils for the year. This year it was being held at the Pavilion of Promise, something the Fount of Knowledge had managed to pull together. The Herald of Change had already arrived, as he had been in charge of food that year. The tables were set, and the silverware had been placed, the decor was beautiful, and the food was ready.

It wasn’t long before the others began to arrive, each taking a seat at their respective thrones. The five virtues. Knowledge, Volition, Happiness, Change, and Solidarity. The virtue of knowledge had a throne that was a lovely deep blue color, with golden trims and milky pearls. The Herald had a throne that was large and firey, with intricate carvings on the wooden frame. On the contrary, the virtue of volition’s throne had a flowy design but was completely white. The virtue of happiness‘s throne was humble, a soft pink with white accents, and that was all they needed to be happy. Lastly, was the virtue of solidarity, who held the largest seat at the table. They had a deep purple throne, with black accents.

Centaurian cookie servants began to flood the halls with golden serving trays in their hands, The Herald’s servants of course, and they began placing the first course of the individualized meals for each virtue.

“You’ve really outdone yourself this year, Fire Spice Cookie!”

The virtue of happiness, Paradise Sugar Cookie, was the first to speak. Fire Spice happily took the praise, a wide smirk on his face.

“I’d have to agree. It is complimented by the elegant venue.”

Black Salt Cookie chimed in, and Blueberry Milk Cookie happily perked up, ready to tell the story of how he was able to secure it, but before he could speak, Fire Spice stood from his throne.

“But the real important thing here is the food!“

He gestured out at the many trays that lined the table, his many bangles jingling from the movement.

“I hope everyone enjoys the feast I’ve prepared!”

The man clapped his hands together, and he sat back down on his throne. Blueberry Milk Cookie nearly raised his hand, but everyone had already begun to eat. So he stayed quiet, beginning to dive into his own feast. It was quiet for a while, and this made the Fount of Knowledge antsy.

“Did you all know this pavillon currently houses the fabled dragon egg?”

He looked around to gauge the reactions from the others. They seemed to be listening, so he kept going.

“They’re just down the hall! I spoke with the owners of the venue, and they’re allowing us to view them after our feast if we’d like. The nursery currently holds three of them. Not all of them are dragons. Each of the eggs have their own section within the pavilion to best suit their hatching conditions. The first egg that was found was the snapdragon egg. However, the pavilion was only built until the yeti egg was found. Lastly, which is my personal favorite, is the ferret egg. It is a gorgeous color, and has the most suitable viewing conditions!”

Blueberry Milk had not even noticed that people were no longer listening to him, and before he went to open his mouth again, Fire Spice Cookie spoke up.

“How is everyone enjoying the food?”

Blueberry Milk finally looked around at his friends, who had turned their attention to answering Fire Spice’s question. He sunk down in his seat, he had done it again. This was not a lecture, so he began to eat, trying to keep himself quiet.

But as it turns out, that was quite difficult for The Fount of Knowledge. Anytime a topic came up that he was interested in, he chimed in with his input, and went on and on until he had somehow managed to circle back to how he gained the Pavilion.

“With all due respect, Blueberry Milk Cookie, could you give other virtues a chance to speak?”

Saint Flour Cookie wiped her mouth with a spare cloth.

“I understand that you are the virtue of knowledge, a high accomplishment, really, but this is a feast for all of us.”

Blueberry Milk stuttered, looking down at his plate. When did Saint Flour Cookie learn to be so harsh?

“Oh.. My apologies! There is just so much I've wanted to share with you all since our last feast, I can only write so much in my letters!”

He chuckled nervously, beginning to play with his fingers under the table.

“We do appreciate it, the knowledge you share is lovely. But I believe it's time for someone else to speak.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie nodded, he understood her perspective. He did talk a lot, and he had trouble understanding when he should stop. It might’ve been the result of being a teacher, he was used to speaking for hours on end without much input from others. He sat there and listened for once, stuffing his face with food to prevent him from chiming in. The more the conversation went on, he noticed just how much happier they seemed to be when he wasn't apart of the conversation. Eventually he sat his fork down, and stood from his seat.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

It was said over laughter, so if anyone had heard it they didn't acknowledge it. He quietly exited the room and walked down the vast halls of the pavilion. He walked into one of the restrooms and stared at himself in the mirror.

His friends were likely having the time of their life without them there… It made sense, he was rather a bore, being a teacher and all compared to his fellow colleagues. Each of them held a much higher significance. He sat at a table with monarchs and warriors, it was hard to feel like he belonged sometimes. He sighed and looked up at himself in the mirror, running his fingers along the sugar glass sink.

“I long for… Anyone.”

He looked up at the ceiling of the restroom, and clasped his hands together in prayer. The ceiling displayed a figure in waffle robes, with long flowing hair.

“Oh, witches… Please, bring me anyone I can understand. I do not wish to be an annoyance… Or a burden onto anyone. I speak too much, I bore and annoy my friends, I just… Wish I felt like I belonged with them.”

He looked down at his hands, his face constricting in anger for a moment. Praying to the witches for a friend? How pathetic was he? He huffed and quickly exited, going back to the dining hall and taking a seat. His throne produced an ear grating sound as it scraped against the floor, bringing everyone’s attention towards him. The air felt awkward, as if nobody had noticed that he had left.

The rest of the dinner was fine, the food was lovely, and the virtues had actually taken up on his offer of viewing the nursery. The Fount of Knowledge decided he’d only speak when spoken to, standing behind everyone and fiddling with his fingers.

“Say, Blueberry Milk Cookie, what did you say the name of this egg was again?”

To his surprise, someone else was speaking to him. He raised his head to find Black Salt beside him.

“Oh, Uhm! …This is the chamber for what should be a Cream Ferret, when they hatch of course…”

Blueberry Milk faded off before he could say much more and talk his ear off.

“This does have the most ideal atmosphere for viewing, thank you for suggesting we come view the eggs.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie nodded. Black Salt was kind, but he could tell he was only speaking to him out of pity. He did look rather pathetic standing in the back away from everyone else. He suddenly felt a weighted hand on his shoulder,

“...Do not take what Saint Flour Cookie said to heart. Alright?”

Black Salt leaned in closer, dropping his voice low so that the others could not hear.

“She has been acting.. Strangely as of late. Especially towards her followers at the Pagoda.”

How peculiar, and why hadn’t Blueberry Milk Cookie heard of that before?

“I for one enjoy when you share with us your virtue.”

He couldn’t tell if it was a lie to help him feel better, but regardless of what it was, it worked.

“…Thank you.”

The two shared a smile, and Black Salt took his hand and guided him up towards the egg. It was settled in a little basket, surrounded by beautiful flora. From up close, it looked less like an egg and more like a sleeping ferret. He glanced over at Black Salt, who had been looking at him, gauging his reactions. At least he knew that at least one cookie cared about him.

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

The vessel was complete. Pure Vanilla wiped his forehead, setting the piping bag elsewhere and licking some frosting off of his fingers. Before him laid a replica of him, but in cookie form. It had blonde hair, waffled clothing, and a bold vanilla flavor, he was incredibly happy with the outcome. He had to resist the urge to eat it, setting it nearby. Now he just needed to fetch that ancient spellbook from his colleague, Dark Cacao. He put on his hat and coat, then grabbed his broomstick, and headed out of his cottage. It wasn’t a far journey, most of the council members lived fairly close to each other for the general ease of travel in the case of an emergency. He wrapped his orchid‘s vines around his shoulders for ease of viewing, and set off into the sky.

Pure Vanilla glided through the air, his feet hanging off the side of the broomstick as he sat with his legs crossed. He didn’t like the way it wrinkled his robes in any other riding position. He hummed a soft tune, and it wasn’t long before he was approaching Cacao’s cottage. It was far larger than his own, sporting three stories compared to Vanilla’s meager one. Pure Vanilla didn’t find that he ever needed more space in his house, but Cacao often took in witches-in-training. He landed in front of the door, brushing himself off and knocking against it. The door swung open a minute later. In front of him stood Affogato, Cacao’s current witch apprentice, and his witch-in-waiting for the seat in the council. Affogato was honestly a perfect choice for Cacao’s witch-in-waiting. He was very cunning, and extremely skilled in every aspect of witchcraft. This was an excellent set of skills to have for a witch, the only thing he struggled with was baking itself.

“We’ve been waiting for your arrival. He’s in his laboratory.”

“Thank you.”

Pure Vanilla smiled and walked into his home, removing his shoes and following Affogato through the corridor. He really didn’t need the guide, he had been over enough times to have memorized the layout. Suddenly, there was a loud boom that rumbled through the entire cottage. Affogato muttered under his breath,

“Oh, hex me.”

Before he rushed to the laboratory. He coughed and waved his hands about to dispel the smoke as he opened the door. Pure Vanilla cautiously approached, he could hear the two bickering within the room. He gently knocked on the side of the door as he entered, pulling his wand out from a pocket within his coat.

“Two brilliant witches
call the calm within your heart
let your smoke dissolve.”

He waved his wand, his spell rushing through the room in the form of a small spark. The smoke was guided out of the open window, and the two witches sighed as they visibly relaxed, the star rushing through their bodies before disappearing with a small poof.

“My sincerest apologies for using a spell on you two without asking first, but It seemed like a rather unnecessary fight.”

Pure Vanilla grabbed a spare cloth and stepped up to Dark Cacao, taking the initiative and wiping the soot off of his face. Cacao instinctively bent down to accommodate Pure Vanilla’s height. You’d think Pure Vanilla was short, but Cacao was just abnormally tall.

“What exactly happened? Did your spell misfire?”

Cacao averted his gaze, so Vanilla looked towards Affogato for an answer.

“He didn’t follow the spell I provided him with… Again.”

Affogato crossed his arms, his sharp glare burning a hole in the side of Cacao’s face.

“…This dynamic seems reversed. Aren’t you supposed to be his apprentice?”

Pure Vanilla couldn’t help but chuckle, pulling the cloth away from Cacao’s face.

“I hold a council seat, I should be able to write my own.”

Cacao sighed, taking the cloth from the man and wiping off the rest of his face.

“But you cannot. It’s best if you just follow what I give you.”

Speaking of spellbooks, Pure Vanilla tuned out their conversation for a moment in order to look for the item he came to get. He spotted the edge of the book, conveniently placed out of the blast radius for any misfired spells… On top of a bookshelf. Cacao noticed him searching for it, clearing his throat to end Affogato’s onslaught on him, grabbing the book off of the high shelf and handing it to him.

“Say, what did you need this book for?”

Pure Vanilla smiled, it was an ancient book full of forbidden spells. It was a miracle how Cacao was able to get his hands on it, but he always had a knack for finding things.

“I’m doing research to see if any of these spells could be repurposed for good in our modern times.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, after he got the spell he was looking for he did intend to do that afterwards.

“What exactly were you trying to conjure?”

Pure Vanilla followed with the question, glancing over at his desks. There were cookie ingredients and potions, some had been spilled on the desk from the explosion.

“I was just trying a new kind of recipe… I was experimenting with making different things rather than cookies.”

Pure Vanilla hummed in acknowledgment, walking over to his work station and looking over his notes.

“Aside from the incorrect spell, I think you may have used too much life powder. That’s what caused it to explode.”

The two men went to his side, examining his deduction.

“I believe you might be right… Thank you.”

Pure Vanilla smiled, before turning around and heading towards the door.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at our next meeting. Thank you so much for the book… I’ll have to bake you something as a thanks.”

“Of course… Say, after the meeting, would you like to come back over and help me with this recipe?”

Pure Vanilla hummed, considering the offer. He could spare a day in the human world to spend some time with his friend. He just wouldn’t have the chance to see Blueberry Milk Cookie that day, or he’d have to see him very early in the morning or very late at night. Human time ran far faster than cookie time, so he’d have to see if he could squeeze it in.

“I would love to! We can head there straight after the meeting…”

“Lovely. I look forward to it.”

The two witches smiled, and the apprentice began to lead him out of the home. The flight back was quick, and Pure Vanilla skimmed over the book to find what he was looking for whilst on the way there.

Sugar Soul Transfiguration. The act of taking one's soul and altering it to be suitable for a cookie body. The reverse spell, less creatively named, was Human Soul Transfiguration. He glanced at the vessel he created… Once this spell was complete, he would be able to freely move between the two bodies, as long as the dormant body wasn’t heavily disturbed by touch. It was more of a threat for his human body, as the energy from his fellow witches would’ve been enough to send him and his vessel back to the human world. Cookies? Not so much, unless it was one with immense power. He made a mental note to find somewhere to rest his cookie body whilst it was not in use. He began practicing the haiku for the spell, waving his hands about without his hand to attempt to get a feel for what he had to do. Being an experienced witch of course, it didn’t take him long at all before he had it down perfectly. Now he just needed to gather the rest of what the spell required.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

The Fount of Knowledge began that morning with an unusually bright mood. Despite the little mishap, he still had a very good time at the feast of virtues. Black Salt had cheered him up and they even stayed for a little while after everyone else had left to help him clean up the venue. Maybe he didn’t need to pray to the witches after all. On the way to the academy, he grabbed himself a large iced vanilla latte. Vanilla was his favorite flavor aside from his own. Sometimes he wondered if that was a little weird, liking the way you tasted, but that brought upon weird thoughts of auto-cannibalism so he didn’t think about it often.

“Good morning,”

“Good day!”

“How do you do?”

He cheerily spoke to every passerby, giving them a friendly smile. He hoped to bring a small bit of joy to a cookie having even the slightest of bad days. When he arrived at the school, he was greeted by their choir. They sang him a tune, and he would clap, cheer, and shout ‘Bravo!’ once they were finished.

He walked down the large blueberry halls of the academy, admiring his view. He saw it every day, yet it never dulled. The ceiling held lavish depictions of the five witches, each representing something different. There was fruit, chocolate, cheese, flowers, and last but not least, vanilla. He remembered just how long it had taken for it all to be completed, but it was worth it. He felt blessed everyday he walked down the halls, with the witches staring down at him. The walls held large tapestries telling stories, as well as elaborate paintings. Some of them even featured the Fount of Knowledge himself. He always felt a little proud whenever he walked past them.

When he entered his lecture hall, he noticed a few of his students had already arrived. He greeted them each personally, having small talk with each before going down to his desk. What could he talk about today… They had been on the topic of witches as of late, but he felt the urge to talk about something a little different. He flipped through his lesson plans, perhaps he could switch it up today and discuss magic candies? He did intend to eventually have an experiment creating them, he had already reserved the lab. He might as well get them started.

He waited until the majority of his students arrived, before he began his lesson. It was a good idea to switch it up, the students enjoyed the change of pace, and it got them excited for further lessons. The talk went by smoothly, plenty of students were engaging and asking questions. Near the end, he noticed someone new enter the lecture hall. It was a medium baked cookie with short blonde hair. He had to admit, he was curious about them.

When the lesson was over, the peculiar cookie began to brush past the students, walking down to his desk. Now he had a much better view of him, he could see that he wore a large waffle cone hat, pristine white robes that sported a dark dripping pattern, and a large coat that matched with his waffle hat. There was a jewel that seemed to hold everything together, and it held quite the resemblance to his own souljam. He held a large Vanilla Orchid staff in one of his hands, and he rightfully assumed he must be visually impaired. It was practically exactly what you might imagine a witch would look like if they were a cookie.

“Greetings! I haven’t seen you in my lecture hall before.”

The Fount of Knowledge could hardly contain his joy at someone new to spread his knowledge to. Pure Vanilla thought it was cute the way he clutched his hands together, and slightly bounced on his feet. He supposed not many cookies came down to talk to him after a lesson.

“Mhm, my name is…”

Pure Vanilla trailed off, he hadn’t actually thought of a name yet. It seems the cookies already knew a lot about the witches, and on top of that he had seen depictions of himself and his friends on the ceiling of the academy. This was also the Fount of Knowledge he was speaking to. Perhaps he should’ve thought this through a little bit more.

“…Healer Cookie! You must be The Fount of Knowledge.”

Vanilla extended his hand to shake, though hesitating for a moment. Did cookies do that? Was that something only humans tended to do? Luckily for him, the Fount took his hand within his own and shook it. It was less of a handshake for Vanilla, more so having his hand flapped by the eager Fount.

“Please, call me Blueberry Milk Cookie. Did you have any questions you wished to ask me?”

Pure Vanilla glanced down at his hand, before looking back up at Blueberry Milk.

“I wanted to… Inquire about one of the tapestries on the wall, just outside of your classroom.”

It was then that Pure Vanilla then realized just how truly unprepared he was for this. He had come up with that on the fly, he could care less about that thing. But the smile that then formed on Blueberry Milk’s face was large enough to bring a smile to Vanilla’s own, and the galaxy haired cookie leant forward, his hand still clutching the blondes.

“Oh, of course! Which one did you wish to ask about?”

The two were closer now, and Blueberry Milk was able to get a good look at him. He noticed they had rather similar forehead markings. That was fascinating to him, most cookies he saw did not bear any birthmarks, and they happened to have one in the exact same position.

Pure Vanilla didn’t particularly need the up close view. He had baked him after all. He placed every piece of candy, enchanted his hair, and piped out his face multiple times before he settled on something he liked. He remembered when he had first baked him, his entire kitchen had smelt like the fruit.

While the two were this close, the both of them took in the other's scent. This was nothing new for Pure Vanilla, but for Blueberry Milk Cookie, it was overwhelming. He had never smelt such a strong vanilla aroma. In fact, he only ever really smelt it in his daily coffee. He had never actually met a vanilla cookie before.

“The largest one, that tells the tale of the virtues. I assumed you would be the best one to ask about such a thing.”

Blueberry Milk finally seemed to realize just how close he was to this stranger after his fifth sniff, so he backed away, releasing the cookie and putting his hands awkwardly to his side. He nodded in understanding, leading him out of the lecture hall and at the tapestry he was asking about.

As they walked, the Fount took notice that this cookie did not appear to take steps. He seemed to glide up the stairs and over the ground, although just slightly so that it didn’t appear as if he was. It seemed he had divine powers, just like he did.

But truthfully, Vanilla was only hovering because he found it increasingly difficult to walk in this new body. He was a cookie now, so he didn’t have the appendages he was used to walking with. He didn’t wish to put too much strain on his staff by utilizing it as a cane, so this was the next best option.

They arrived in front of a large round tapestry. It depicted the 5 virtues, each split up into sections. The top was the Virtue of Happiness, the bottom was the Virtue of Solidarity, the left was Change, the right was Volition, and in the middle was himself, the Virtue of Knowledge. Each of them were separated by forks, each of them pointing to the middle at Blueberry Milk Cookie.

“This is my favorite work that we have on display here! It was sent down with us when we arrived here on Earthbread.”

Pure Vanilla nodded, he remembered weaving his part of this piece. It took him a while to finish his half, the small size of the art proved difficult for him. By the time he was done, he had pricked his fingers just about a thousand times, and he thanked the stars he wasn’t a princess.

“There are five of us, Volition, Happiness, Change, Solidarity, and of course, me! The Virtue of Knowledge… We each have our own area to rule over. I have my Tower, and the area surrounding it...”

As the Fount began to talk, Pure Vanilla listened carefully to each of his words. He couldn’t help but smile as he spoke. He seemed truly passionate to share his joy of knowledge with another person.

“I do apologize for not knowing much about how it was created. I did study it for a long while after we received it, but the witches simply gave this to us and sent us off.”

He stepped forward, putting his hand on his half of the art.

“It seems you really do like this tapestry… Is there any particular reason for that?”

Blueberry Milk paused for a moment, running his fingers over the delicate threads.

“The witches don’t come down to see us very often, so to think they thought us five special enough to be worthy of something crafted by their own hands. There are even faint blood stains on the back of my half.”

Pure Vanilla grimaced slightly, he had tried his hardest to wash those out, he had even considered redoing it just so they weren’t there. But unfortunately he had run out of time, and had to present it to the council as is.

“But enough about that, I have some questions for you!”

Blueberry Milk turned his body to him, circling around the man.

“I don’t see many cookies using a Vanilla Orchid, or any vanilla cookies at all really! That’s something you usually see in the history books. How did you acquire one? Do you use it as a visual aid? May I touch it?”

“Oh my! Well, as my vision was steadily decreasing, a… Very good friend of mine created it for me.”

When they were younger, barely even adult witches and just out of their own apprenticeships, Pure Vanilla and his girlfriend at the time had experimented with some spells they weren’t supposed to. The result was detrimental, and Pure Vanilla spent weeks watching his own eyesight leave him at a steady pace. It was a horrific experience, and on top of that his girlfriend had broken up with him. So Cacao tirelessly spent his nights researching something that could help, connecting him and his Vanilla Orchid.

“Yes, I do require it to see, and you may, just not the eyeball.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie gently brushed his fingers along its petals, then the vines, and then the back of the flower head. Pure Vanilla felt a little weird at the touch. He knew he and his orchid were linked, but the link was never this strong in his human form. He shifted, laughing nervously.

“How fascinating! It truly does appear to be a plant… Oh, my apologies, am I making you uncomfortable?”

”Oh, no, not at all…”

Pure Vanilla reassured him, waving his hands in front of his face.

“You and your Orchid are linked, correct?”

He shouldn’t have been surprised by his knowledge on the subject, considering who he was.

“Yes, we are. It just felt a little weird, that’s all.”

The fount nodded, rubbing his chin before examining the cookie’s clothes.

“You said your name was Healer Cookie?”

Blueberry Milk circled around him once more. His clothes looked extremely pristine, fresh even. All of him looked extremely fresh, not one crack or even the slightest discoloration in his dough. His scent was also extremely strong, usually that was only present in young, newly baked cookies.

“Yes, I did… You know, this feels awfully like an interrogation, Blueberry Milk Cookie. If you have something to ask me, I really don’t mind.”

Pure Vanilla stepped back, looking over at the Fount. Blueberry Milk glanced away, slightly embarrassed. He had truly just been curious by such a cookie, he had never seen anyone like him before. Well, aside from in his books.

“Oh… I apologize. I mean no disrespect, but I've never seen anyone like you before! You carry such a strong scent of Vanilla, a plant I’ve never seen before with my own two eyes, and…”

Blueberry Milk Cookie stared at his clothes, pointing to the matching jewel on his cloak.

“A soul jam that is just like mine.”

Pure Vanilla glanced down at the gem on his chest— He hadn’t even noticed that it was there. He certainly hadn’t put it on the vessel when he baked it. Blueberry Milk Cookie took a step forward, intruding on the other cookie’s personal space and hovering his hands over it.

“Is it a soul jam?”

The way it sparkled beneath the light was a complete mirror image of his own. It was the same shape as his, the same color. It was like Pure Vanilla had taken it from his staff directly.

“I’m… Not entirely sure. I was simply baked like this.”

Pure Vanilla touched it briefly, feeling energy spark underneath his fingers. He concluded that it must’ve been a result of the spell he had performed, so in a sense, it was a soul jam.

“How fascinating.”

Before Blueberry Milk Cookie could barrage the man with another question, the school bell echoed through the halls.

“Ah.. I must take my leave! Will I be seeing you tomorrow?”

Pure Vanilla hummed, had it been time already? He had hardly been able to speak to the man.

“I’ll try my best to attend tomorrow’s lesson.”

“It was such a pleasure meeting you.”

The Fount smiled, nodding, before he spun on the tip of his toes and glided off to the exit. He glanced back at the cookie, only to find he was no longer standing there. He frowned, he had probably scared them off with his endless array of questions. He took a deep breath and sighed. Next time -if there was even a next time- he would do his best to not be so inquisitive during their conversation. He was such a smart man, yet he could not get one simple thing like interaction down. He took his own hand, rubbing it softly.

“It is not a crime to be curious… That is your purpose, after all. You are the Virtue Of Knowledge.”

Tomorrow was a new day. He went home that night confident that he could do this tomorrow, If the cookie even came back. That vanilla cookie lingered in his mind that night. He had a plethora of questions still, but he could keep those to himself until the time was right. If the witches were giving him a chance, he intended not to waste it.

Chapter Text

Pure Vanilla watched as Blueberry Milk Cookie sauntered down the hall, quickly pulling out his wand from his inner pocket and waving it briefly over himself.

“Blueberry steps echo,
Cloak me from the sugars gaze
Unseen and unheard.”

He saw the jewel on his chest begin to glow a soft blue… So his theory was correct, it was a result of the sugar spell. He watched as the Fount turned back and frowned, obviously no longer seeing him behind him. Now he needed to get to business, where could he put the vessel whilst he was in the human world? He could always take it out of the world each time, but it felt more convenient to just… Leave it here.

He exited the school, his muscle memory kicking in when he nearly used his staff as a broom. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. Silly witch, he could fly in this form! He flew up towards the top of the school, scanning the area and spotting a large tower that loomed over the academy. It wasn’t Blueberry Milk Cookie’s tower, no, that could be seen to the left out into the distance. This tower didn’t seem like it had been used by anyone in a long time.

Nature had reclaimed it for its own, panels of glass were missing and any remaining windows it had were cracked. The inside had potted plants that had thrived in the environment, overgrowing and causing the majority of the flora. He noticed little candy beetles and cakeapillars crawling along some nearby vines. This seemed… Suitable. He glided inside, taking care to not rip any of his clothing on the sides of the glass.

It was awfully humid here, but it was comforting to be surrounded by vines and flowers. Now that he was inside it appeared to be an old observatory. The telescope that used to be here had been removed long ago with a large open slit in its place. The rest of the area seemed to have been converted to some sort of study, as there was a desk with an open book on it and a dried out jar of ink. There were loads of dusty bookshelves, none were of any interest to him so he stepped up to the desk, peering at the book. The page it had been open to was empty.

He attempted to lift it up, nearly dropping it, he hadn’t expected it to be so heavy! He tried again, more carefully this time, examining the cover. It was just a plain blue, and he flipped to the very front page.

‘A journal for you to begin documenting all your new finds.’

It was written in purple ink and had Black Salt Cookie’s name written at the bottom… This used to belong to Blueberry Milk Cookie. The pages were yellowed from what he presumed was at least a century of sitting within this room. He was very careful as he navigated through the book, not wanting to rip any of the pages.

‘The only guidance we received was this tapestry the witches left us with... The other four cookies all agreed I should take it, as the new virtue of knowledge…’

Pure Vanilla skimmed through the first couple pages. It was filled with weaving techniques he had used. He even had written a hypothesis on Pure Vanilla’s size based on the amount of blood stains on the back. It was fairly accurate too, but that was only half of it, the rest was him trying to figure out what it meant and why it was made for them. The words held such an obvious uncertainty, there were multiple dots of ink on the page where he had placed the pen down to write, but reconsidered his words and lifted it again. The writing itself was shaky and not written in cursive, which was how Blueberry Milk Cookie wrote now. He had seen it on the board at his lecture. A freshly baked sweet stumbling blindly through this new world with only this piece as his guidance.

‘I’ve noticed that each part of the tapestry has a different scent.

Black Salt: The lilies that grow at the base of my tower. It’s quite pleasant.

Paradise Sugar: The sugarberries I often see Paradise Sugar Cookie eating. I’ve never tried them.

Saint Flour: The scent of chocolate. I’m already familiar.

Fire Spice: Cheese??? It’s a very sharp contrast from the rest of the tapestry.’

Pure Vanilla giggled as he read. Lily’s cottage was full of flowers, the scent would always rub off on the things she touched. Holly simply wore a lot of berry scented perfumes, and it was likely she purposely sprayed her part of the work when it was completed. Cacao‘s was due to the shampoo he used to wash his hair, it was scented like chocolate. Then, the cheese scent? Golden just really liked cheese. She called herself ‘The Cheese Connoisseur!’ whenever someone questioned her about it. The others thought it was amusing when they first met, but it grew to be one of the things they liked most about her.

‘Blueberry Milk: I can’t figure out what the scent on my half is. It's very subtle and inviting. I hope to find more of it one day.’

The scent he had been referring to was probably Vanilla. He didn’t apply any perfume or anything, he just naturally smelt like it. He flipped through the pages more, before stopping at one that caught his eye.

‘I’ve resorted to sleeping here in this study. It is far more efficient than returning to my tower every day. Black Salt brought me a futon, but I haven’t been using it. I’ve found that the smell on my part has helped me sleep whilst I’m alone. It’s familiar, and it reminds me of a home I’ve never been in.’

Pure Vanilla hummed, recalling how prominent Fount’s blueberry smell was when he was first baking him. It took weeks for it all to clear out, even with proper ventilation.

The next pages after that were him trying his best to research the witches. Pure Vanilla still wasn’t sure how they made that mural on the ceiling, because in this journal it seemed that Blueberry Milk Cookie didn’t know anything about them at all. Though it had been a long time since his creation and he wasn’t in contact with whoever was in charge of what information Earthbread received. It just meant he had to be more careful, he didn't want him getting too curious.

He shut the book and held it in his arms before laying down on the vines. He could read the rest of this later when he had more free time to do so. The heavy weight on his stomach was comforting, akin to a weighted blanket. He was in a fairy circle made of premature flowers and mushrooms. Pure Vanilla took a deep breath and put his hand over the jewel.

“My sugar boils
Return my heart to its home
Ease my tortured soul.”

He felt his body gradually grow weaker, the jewel glowing under his hands. His fingers twitched, and his head grew a slight bit dizzy… Pure Vanilla suddenly couldn't breathe. His attempts to gasp for air were futile as he had lost control over his lungs. He tried to grasp at his neck, his natural reaction to kick and scream, but he couldn't move. He felt the dough grow hot, excruciatingly so. It was like his body was on fire.

You’re going to die.

You messed up the spell.

These are your final moments.

You’re never going to see him again.

⠀.　　　˚　　　⠀　⠀  　　,　　　　　　.　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　　　　*⠀　　⠀  　　　　　⠀✦⠀　　　　　　　*　　　　　☾　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　　.　　　　.　　　⠀　　　　　　　　　𖤓　　.　　　　　　　　　　˚　　　　　　　ﾟ　　　　　　.⠀　　⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀,　　　*　　⠀.　　　　　ﾟ　　*　　　　　ﾟ　　　⠀✦　˚　　　　　　　　　　　　　　.⠀ 　　　　　　　　　　.　　　　　,　　　.　　　　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　    　　　　　　　　.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀✦ ⠀ ⠀　　　　　　　　　　　　　ﾟ　⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Vanilla awoke a moment later, gasping for air. His instincts from his previous body started to kick in, and he began to kick and scream. He kicked himself right off his desk chair tilting it backwards and causing him to fall backwards onto the ground. This falling sensation didn’t help his panicked state, and he grabbed his throat, mistaking his heavy breathing and racing heart for his death.

It took him a moment to realize his surroundings. Once he finally did and came to his senses, he released the hold on his neck and laid there for a moment. In his panic to breathe, which he had already been doing, he had been choking himself in the process. Was this the price he had to pay each time he wished to return back to his human body? It was so much easier to get into the vessel. All he had to do was speak the spell, lay his head down, and he would fall asleep. His feet and hands were sore, and his head felt unusually large. When he tried to stand he experienced intense vertigo and landed back onto his knees. He decided his best course of action was to sit on the ground until his soul readjusted.

He knew this spell was dangerous. Anything could go wrong and he would simply die without a word. The book didn’t include the side effects of the spell, only the harsh consequences of misuse. He reached up and rubbed the back of his head, he must have hit it on the way down. The blonde took a shaky breath, rising to his knees, before standing with the support of his desk. He thought to himself,

‘Maybe it’ll get easier with time.’

Before glancing at the open spellbook on his desk. The book recommended completing some stretches to get back used to being human again. Shit, why wasn’t this as easy as it was to be a cookie? It felt right, like it was second nature to him. He almost didn’t want to be human anymore. But he had to figure this out later, he didn’t have much time before he needed to get ready to leave, so he wiggled his fingers and toes, rolled his hips and neck and cracked his spine until he felt good enough to maneuver again.

To a normal human his current outfit would’ve been fine. It was just a white robe, but to his fellow witches it was extremely unprofessional, especially for a meeting as important as this. It was the equivalent to wearing his pajamas. So he went to his closet and fetched a white robe that had a golden crown pattern on the bottom and the edge of the sleeves. It had a matching coat, so he grabbed that as well. Lastly, he grabbed his most shiny golden staff. Vanilla unwrapped his Orchid from around his neck and placed it into the empty part of the staff. The Orchid’s vines wrapped around and blended into its new confines. He hummed, walking up to the mirror and examining himself.

“Not bad! I just need my hat.”

Pure Vanilla smiled, spinning in a circle so he could get a feel for the outfit. The coat was fairly heavy so it didn’t twirl as much as he liked. That wasn’t a big deal though, so he fetched his wand out of his other coat and placed it into this coat.

“All good to go… I suppose I should head out then.”

He kept his hats all near his front door on a shelf. It was convenient for him so he wouldn’t lose where he placed them, and it doubled as a pretty display for visitors. He selected the hat that came with this set, white and gold. Maybe he needs a bigger wardrobe. He stepped up to his front door, before a sharp pain shot up into his foot.

He had gotten a splinter from his floorboards. He should probably put on some shoes.

After a quick spell to remove the splinter, he put on some white flats. You couldn’t see them under his robes anyway. He grabbed his broom and quickly hurried out of his cottage.

He hummed a tune as he flew over the forest, enjoying the breeze. A couple birds came and flew beside him. Pure Vanilla giggled, it wasn’t often he got to see birds fly this close to him! Though they wouldn’t be going his way for long, so he waved goodbye to the birdies and headed off to the witches headquarters, The Odyssey. If you had a map of where all the council members' houses were placed, right at the connecting point in the middle is where it would be. He ascended higher up and over the clouds, poking through an opening so he wouldn’t get wet.

There it was. The Odyssey was like the kingdoms you’d see in princess movies. There were three different floating islands. One held the castle, which is where he would be meeting up with the other witches. The other two held shops and houses for other high ranking witches. Vanilla had actually been given the option to live at the castle when he earned his seat, but he preferred his own private cottage. It was easier for him to get around, and far more comfortable as he knew he wouldn’t be surrounded by people. Technically as head witch on the council, he owned the place.

He landed at the entrance of the castle, walking up the steps and entering into the large corridor. He glanced around, spotting some other lesser witches here for the outcome of their meeting. He gave them brief waves, making his way to the council hall.

When he reached the large doors of the hall, he pulled out his wand and tapped it against the doorknob. It shined a bright white, accepting his magic, and the doors flew open for him.

“Look who's finally arrived!”

Hollyberry laughed, the sound of her chalice slamming against the table echoed through the room.

“Hello all! Am I the last one to arrive? My apologies, I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting too long…”

He walked over to his seat at the round table, looking around at his fellow witches. He was indeed the last to arrive, but thankfully it seemed they weren’t yet fully ready to begin. Usually there would be trays of cookies out for them to eat, and all of them didn’t yet have their cups. Hollyberry had probably brought her chalice and something to drink from home.

“Nah, you have nothing to worry about. We all just got here around five minutes ago.”

Golden Cheese reassured him, tapping her perfectly manicured nails against the table. Pure Vanilla looked over at White Lily, who was holding an embroidery hoop in her hands. He watched her for a moment before inquiring,

“Are you working on something? May I see?”

White Lily looked up at him, turning the hoop and showing him an incomplete piece of a rose.

“It’s not finished yet, It’s my first time doing something without a pattern…”

She turned it back to herself, staring down at it. She furrowed her eyebrows, lip quivering slightly. She was judging every single stitch she made, running her hands over the embroidery.

“I think it looks beautiful so far! I can’t wait until you finish it.”

Whily Lily smiled at him, before their attention was redirected from a knock at the door.

“Come in!”

Yelled out Golden Cheese, waving her wand. A young apprentice mer-witch rushed into the room, using their magic to place individual trays of treats in front of each of them. They then rushed over to Pure Vanilla, setting their wand on the table. They held their fist over their chest and did a circular motion, then lifted both of their hands and wiggled their fingers.

It took a moment for Pure Vanilla to realize it was sign language. He repeated the motions in his mind until he translated it. The kid had told him that they were:

“Sorry for the wait!”

In response, he held his pointer finger and thumb together in a circle and let the rest of his fingers rize, then held his hand to his lips and brought it down and outwards to say,

“It’s okay, thank you.”

The child looked to be about 16, and he hadn’t seen them around before. He thought of the proper signs, then pointed to the child, then put his hands in front of him and skimmed the back of his right hand along the palm of his left hand. He then pointed to the child again, then closed his hands, extending his pointer and middle finger, tapping one on top of the other.

“Are you new? What’s your name?”

“S-O-R-B-E-T”

Pure Vanilla smiled, pointing to himself and finger spelling his own name. He then held his palms flat and swiped the top one off of the other, then balled his fists and extended his pointer fingers and put them together, one in front of the other.

“I’m Pure Vanilla. Nice to meet you.”

Sorbet smiled, curtsying with their robe before glancing back at the door. They pointed to themself, holding their hand above their head with an extended palm, pulling it away from themself whilst simultaneously closing it.

“May I leave?”

Pure Vanilla nodded, and waved the young witch goodbye. The child signed ‘nice to meet you’ before they scurried off. He was probably nervous, and the apprentices generally weren’t allowed to be in here too long. The food the kid brought out had been covered by metal cloches. Curious, he lifted it, and the strong aroma of blueberry suddenly overwhelmed his senses.

“Oh my goodness…”

Whoever had prepared their snacks this week had really outdone themselves. His plate was filled far beyond just blueberry cookies- There were turnovers, scones, braids, brie bites, danishes, just about anything he could imagine. He clutched his chest, then his thigh, then wiped some drool from his mouth before anybody else took notice.

The glistening blueberry jam that oozed atop the pastries… The delicious, mouth watering aroma… The gentle warmth that the pastries gave off… They were beckoning him, just begging to be eaten.

“…Is it alright if we took a break to eat before we began the meeting? I would hate for these to go cold…”

The rest of the group all agreed, and he glanced up to notice that everyone had received such high quality treats and were also losing their minds. Well, not as much as he was, but they were generally pleased.

Pure Vanilla took his time savoring absolutely every bite. The way the jam oozed out and into his mouth was heavenly. The pastry itself practically melted away, and he sighed in delight. He was too busy eating to notice when cups danced through the room and sat beside each tray.

After a while, Vanilla licked his fingers clean, having eaten most of what was on his plate. He set the rest aside to save for later, some of these deserved to be enjoyed in private.

“Okay, is everyone ready to begin?”

Pure Vanilla looked over at his fellow council members, gaining an acknowledgment from Dark Cacao.

“I believe so...”

Vanilla nodded and looked over at the women at the table.

“We should hurry up before Hollyberry gets drunk.”

“I know how to hold my alcohol!”

“Isn’t that your third cup now?”

Golden Cheese and Hollyberry began to go back and forth with each other, and Cacao loudly cleared his throat to end their conversation.

“Thank you. Now, let’s begin…”

The meeting from then on went by rather smoothly. The economy was stable, the population was steadily increasing as they continued to bake, and there weren’t many looming issues so far that the cookies couldn’t fix themselves.

“Does anyone have any comments, questions, or concerns?”

Golden Cheese sat up in her seat, putting her elbows on the table and leaning on her hands.

“Have all of you been checking on your subjects?”

Dark Cacao sat up to attention. White Lily seemed confused, so Golden Cheese went to clarify.

“The virtues.”

Pure Vanilla also sat up, he had been checking up on his but… In a different way. White Lily put down her embroidery, properly joining the conversation.

“Is there something wrong? They just had their yearly feast, right..? Black Salt Cookie has been performing just as well as since my last check in…”

Golden cheese folded her hands together, looking down at the table and thinking of a proper way to approach what she was trying to say.

“Fire Spice Cookie is growing… Restless.”

She made a gesture with her hands,

“He doesn't seem satisfied with all I've given him anymore! He's been neglecting his people, claiming he ‘needs something more!’”

She made air quotes, talking with her hands far more than her mouth.

“I don't understand what he wants. I've been baking him more people, sending gnomes to build more things for him, and there's only so many coins I can have minted, but it just doesn't seem to cheer him up!”

“... You've been minting coins for him?”

Dark Cacao looked at her with concern.

“Yeah? I’m the treasurer, that’s what I’m supposed to do.”

“Not without express permission from the rest of the council first?”

Golden Cheese made a face of realization, chuckling awkwardly.

“We’ll discuss that in a moment, Cacao, you were saying?”

“Right, I have noticed a change in Saint Flour Cookie’s behavior as well. There has been quite the increase of visitors to the pagoda recently, and she has been handling it the best she can, but she’s overwhelmed. She’s taken breaks for her own sake, but all the cookies who visit her aren’t taking that well either.”

Cacao folded his hands together, and they all redirected their attention to the head witch, who was sitting silently in thought.

“Is it just you two? Hollyberry? How has Paradise Sugar Cookie been?”

“She’s fine! Happier than ever, more so than usual actually, she’s been giving away a lot of her stuff to cookies in need!”

Pure Vanilla furrowed his eyebrows, clutching his staff. What could be done about this? He knew for a fact that his virtue was fine, and Lily had attested to Black Salt’s state.

“Well, let’s try to restrict the number of visitors Saint Flour Cookie receives. Second, for Fire Spice Cookie, why don’t we just give him some space? Perhaps he wishes to explore the world some more. He has been stuck in the castle for around a century, that would drive anybody mad. He just needs a little bit of his own virtue.”

The two witches nodded in understanding.

“Now onto you… Golden Cheese, how many coins did you mint?”

“About half a million?”

“Have those coins been put into circulation, or are they sitting around somewhere in his castle?”

“How would I know?”

Pure Vanilla gave an exasperated sigh.

“Since this is your first offense, I’ll let you off with a warning. However, if you are caught minting coins again without a unanimous decision from the rest of the council you will be temporarily suspended…”

He felt like such a hypocrite threatening Golden Cheese when he had been committing a far worse offense.

“Is that all? Then we can commence with the paperwork…”

This was the most boring part of their meetings. But it was absolutely crucial so the rest of the witch world knew how Earthbread was doing, as only the council witches had direct access to it. Pure Vanilla hadn’t done much but bake cookies this week, so the majority of the work he needed to fill out concerned the meeting they just had. After all of them were done with their paperwork, a witch sworn under oath would take what they had given and turn it into a one page report for the newspaper.

Pure Vanilla stood up from his seat to stretch, gathering the completed paperwork from each of the witches.

“Meeting adjourned.”

All he had to do now was deliver this to the witch. He left the room and walked down the hall, noticing the footsteps seemed to be double. They were heavy steps, it was someone large, so it wasn’t Golden Cheese or White Lily. There wasn't the clicking of heels, so it wasn't Hollyberry, and there was a lot of swishing of fabric… Perhaps of a man wearing a myeonbok.

“Cacao? Are you following behind me?”

The man chuckled softly, and that laugh was unmistakable.

“Apologies if I frightened you.”

He sped up so he was now walking right beside him.

“Once I deliver these papers, we can head to your cottage together… What kind of dessert were you trying to make?”

The two turned at a corner, stopping in front of the office of the other witch.

“I was thinking about a donut? It’s not too far off from a cookie, so it shouldn’t be too jarring… I can give it a jam filling.”

Pure Vanilla nodded, then held up a finger to indicate that he needed a moment, quickly slipping into the office before slipping right back out.

“That sounds absolutely lovely. What flavor?”

“How about multiple? I can do one filled with strawberry jam, then another with just frosting on top.”

“That sounds like a lovely idea.”

He smiled, and they walked in silence back to the council hall. They said goodbye to the other witches, then flew off to Cacao’s cottage. When they arrived, they were greeted by Affogato. They didn't see much of him as he quickly left out to do his own business.

“Let's get started then, shall we?”

The two began to toil away in the laboratory, starting the dough for the donuts. Pure Vanilla was kneading the first batch, whilst Cacao was mixing the frosting.

“You really like blueberries, right?

Pure Vanilla nodded to confirm,

“Why do you ask?”

“The pastries they gave us today… You seemed to enjoy them quite a bit.”

Pure Vanilla squeezed the dough in his hands extra hard, his face turning red in embarrassment.

“Then you put the rest in your coat... You don't usually save them for later.”

“Yes, well, they were really good…”

He hadn't thought he looked that odd eating, but next time he was definitely going to take those home to enjoy by himself.

“It's almost like you-”

Pure Vanilla loudly laughed to cut him off, clearing his throat before trying to redirect the conversation. The fact that he had seen it was embarrassing enough.

“What's your favorite flavor, Cacao?”

Cacao hummed lowly at him, setting the bowl down and walking behind him. Vanilla had not been paying attention, so he jumped when he felt Cacao’s hands on his own as he began kneading the dough.

“Vanilla… Second only to chocolate.”

Cacao pressed his chest against Vanilla’s back, producing a soft ‘Ooh!’ out of the man.

“You need to keep kneading the dough.”

The flush on Vanilla’s face didn't disperse, a very attractive man was putting his weight on him after all. Vanilla wasn’t sure what to think.

“Mhm… I got it.”

He glanced up at the man, who pulled away from him and returned to mixing the other bowl. Pure Vanilla exhaled deeply, grabbing the cutters and cutting out a couple donuts for them to test different recipes. It was silent for a while as the tension settled, and soon the only sound was Vanilla dropping the donuts into the fryer.

“Uhm, do you have the spell ready?”

“Actually, I believe we may not need a spell… I may have just been a bit overzealous yesterday.”

Pure Vanilla looked back at Cacao, who was holding a pouch of life powder. A minute or two passed as the two finished their designed tasks: Vanilla took the donuts out of the fryer and let them cool, whilst Cacao prepared the bowls of frosting and filling for each donut.

“Why is Blueberry your favorite flavor, Vanilla?”

The blonde hummed softly, mentally reliving the story as he retold it.

“When I was in the first stages of creating Blueberry Milk Cookie, I was searching through all my cabinets for the perfect flavor. Strawberry felt just a tad too sweet, the chocolate I had was too bitter, and vanilla was far too plain for someone like him.”

He grabbed the donuts, deeming them cool enough and spacing them out onto a grilling tray.

“But then I found some blueberry extract far back in my cabinet that I hadn’t used at all, so I figured I may as well give it a shot.”

The two of them grabbed a donut each, silently communicating on who did what. Cacao would fill the donuts and Vanilla would decorate them.

“When I baked that first batch of cookies, I was trying different amounts of the extract each time… I didn’t put any life powder in them, so I ate each one.”

Cacao handed him a donut that had been filled, strawberry flavored, so he dipped the top of the donut into light pink frosting and placed it onto the grilling tray.

“Then when Blueberry Milk Cookie was baked, the smell flooded my whole house for weeks. So I just grew fond of it.”

Cacao handed him another, blueberry. He dipped this one in the blue frosting, before grabbing some sprinkles and putting them on top of both of the donuts.

“You smelled like blueberries for a while, too…”

Vanilla giggled, decorating the other donuts that he was given, before the rest were all placed on the rack. Cacao grabbed the life powder and measured out the exact amount, before pouring them over the donuts.

“Since no spell is involved, it shouldn’t explode.”

The two watched expectantly as the dust settled over each donut, sparkling in the light. The donuts with the amount you’d give to cookies gave no reaction at all, and so did the amount you’d give to the animals. Cacao bit his lip, and the two looked at the last pair. A smile grew on their faces as the powder began to sink in, then a pair of eyes appeared a moment later!

The two cheered, sharing a high five. Cacao picked up the strawberry one, examining it as a mouth appeared as well.

“I need to give it some arms and legs… But now I know how much life powder is necessary. Thank you for coming over to help me.”

“Of course! Any time…”

Vanilla picked up the blueberry one which had begun to scream, wiggling the best it could with no limbs.

“…We should put them out of their misery.”

Cacao agreed, and they pushed their donuts together as if they were clinking glasses, biting the bottoms of the creatures clean off. Their screams grew louder as the witches enjoyed their gooey insides.

“The blueberry filling is very nice…”

Vanilla licked the donut's guts from his lip, taking another bite and humming in delight. The two creatures didn’t last much longer.

“When are you going to present this to the rest of the council?”

“I was thinking the week after next. That gives me time to perfect different recipes and types of donuts.”

The blonde looked down at the other pairs of donuts which hadn’t been burdened with the curse of life. Cacao lifted one of the blueberry ones, holding it up to Vanilla’s mouth. He stared at it for a moment, before grabbing it with his hands.

“Thank you… Am I allowed to take this home?”

“Are you leaving so soon?”

“Not now, but in a little while. I wasn’t able to get much sleep last night.”

“Ah… I hope you’re taking good care of yourself.”

The two conversed for a little while, just small talk, while the rest of the donuts were eaten. Vanilla had saved one for later, putting it in his coat with the rest of his snacks from earlier. When it was finally time for Vanilla to leave, he sighed in a sort of relief. He loved speaking to Cacao, he truly did, he was one of his oldest friends and he had done so much for him. But it was clear that Cacao held something for Vanilla that he didn’t share, and he wasn’t sure how to approach it. Pure Vanilla arrived home exhausted. He put on his pajamas and got lost in his own pleasure enjoying the rest of the treats he had received, before promptly falling asleep.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

Blueberry Milk Cookie waited all day to see if he would arrive again. Every hour, after every lecture, he stared at the door to see that bright man enter. The more time grew on, the more frustrated he grew with himself. He had scared off someone so interesting. Someone who willingly approached him to speak to him. When the day was over and he was ready to go home, he was practically on the verge of tears. He went to his tower, notably alone, and tried to get lost in his books. Soon it was late into the night, and he felt tired, both mentally and physically, but he couldn’t get to sleep. Usually if he couldn’t rest he’d sit in his bed and read a book, but clearly that wasn’t working, so he made the decision to leave his tower and head to the cafe where he got his morning coffee.

When he arrived he ordered vanilla milk, sitting in the front near the window. He melted into the comfortable seat of the booth. The scent of vanilla and the warm drink soothed his body, and he began to grow tired by the second. As he nearly drifted off in the seat he heard a soft ‘plip’ hit the window… Then another. It had begun to rain.

“Hm… I should leave now before it becomes overwhelming.”

He muttered to himself, beginning to gather his things to leave. He noticed a cookie in the corner of his eye rushing by the cafe to escape the rain, a dull white blur. He took a swig of his drink as the bell jingled to signify that a customer had entered… At this time of night? They must’ve had trouble sleeping too…

“Blueberry Milk Cookie?”

He lowered his cup, nearly choking on the drink in his mouth. His face instantly brightened, a sharp contrast from how tired it was before.

“Healer Cookie!”

Pure Vanilla hadn’t expected to see him here. As he anticipated, he was far too late to view his lecture. So he decided he’d still go anyway and educate himself on cookie culture through their literature. But on the way to a nearby library, it began to rain… And here he was.

“You weren’t at my lecture… I was worried you might never come back.”

Blueberry Milk only realized how clingy that sounded after he said it as Pure Vanilla sat on the other side of the booth with him.

“I apologize… I did want to come, but I had something important to attend to. Why are you at this cafe so late at night?”

“I was having trouble sleeping and the smell of vanilla makes me drowsy…”

He looked down at the liquid inside his cup, then back up at the cookie.

“Sorry, is that weird? Since you’re…”

Vanilla giggled, putting his elbows on the table and leaning forward towards him.

“No… I think it only becomes weird when you point it out.”

Blueberry Milk looked at him before bursting into a fit of giggles much like Vanilla was.

“Why, I suppose you're right… My apologies then.”

The two stared at each other's eyes, interrupted by Blueberry Cookie yawning.

“I should probably head back soon… At least before the rain gets worse.”

“Would you like me to walk back with you?”

“...That would be delightful.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie drank the last of his milk and delivered the cup back to the cookie at the counter. They then met at the front of the shop, waiting underneath the awning. Blueberry Milk cookie looked up at the sky, rubbing his chin.

“Do you want to fly through the rain…? I should’ve asked the shop owner for an umbrella, give me a moment-”

“My hat and coat are large enough to shield us both from the rain.”

Pure Vanilla looked over at him whilst adjusting the brim of his hat.

“Only if you’d be comfortable with it. We will have to be awfully close to avoid getting wet.”

The blonde extended his hand out to the Fount, who hesitated before taking it into his own.

“I don’t mind at all.”

The blonde nodded and promptly pulled him against his body. He wrapped a hand around his waist, then flung the majority of his coat around him. Their faces were mere centimeters apart, and Blueberry Milk found himself wrapping his arms around Pure Vanilla, nesting his head near his shoulder. He couldn’t remember the time he was this close to anyone.

“Are you ready?”

Blueberry Milk nodded, and off the two flew. Even though Blueberry could fly for as long as he could remember, he clung to Vanilla as if his life depended on it. It wasn’t wrong to indulge in his warmth or his scent when he was this close, right? It came with the territory, how could he avoid it? It’s not as if he could hold his breath- But he tried. It was a poor excuse for his mind to allow him to breathe in deeply. The smell of Vanilla overwhelmed his senses, and he felt himself drifting off to sleep.

When he woke up in a panic, to the sound of a loud boom, he was just outside of his tower. He squeezed the man who held him, tucking himself deeper into his neck. When they landed at the entrance and entered the corridor, Pure Vanilla almost caught himself uttering a spell to remove the excess water. Blueberry Milk Cookie lingered in his hold for just a moment, before pulling away, not a drop of water on him.

“Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it… Oh my.”

In the time he had fallen asleep and for them to get there, it must’ve started raining harder. Pure Vanilla’s clothes were absolutely drenched. Blueberry rushed forward to remove his hat, placing it nearby.

“Let’s get these off of you before you catch a cold…”

He removed his cloak before Pure Vanilla could object, setting it on a rack to dry.

“It’s still raining rather hard outside… You can stay if you’d like! I have a guest room where you can sleep, it’s filled with books though, I hope you don’t mind.”

He grabbed his hands, leading him up into his tower. Pure Vanilla followed him slowly, looking around. It was a beautiful home, there were paintings of who he assumed was Blueberry Milk Cookie. The place was large and very confusing, staircases that lead back into itself or blank walls, doors at every corner. It was majorly white, with accents of blue and gold. There were keyholes everywhere, matching Blueberry Milk Cookie’s staff.

“Are you sure it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle? I’ll have to leave first thing in the morning.”

Blueberry Milk nodded eagerly, when was the last time he had someone over? A childish delight took over him, and he almost dared to call it a sleepover. Almost.

“Think of it as my thanks for bringing me home dry.”

As they reached the top of the tower, Pure Vanilla was taken aback by the view of the city, stopping the two in their tracks. The lights of the city sparkled from up here.

“A lovely view, isn't it?”

The blueberry cookie softly squeezed Vanilla’s palm. Vanilla looked over at the other cookie, who wasn't looking down below, but up. There was a beautiful galaxy that mirrored his hair. The two stayed there for a moment just enjoying the company and the beautiful night sky.

Eventually though, the Fount pulled away to go to the kitchen. It would be impolite to not feed his guest... Vanilla naturally followed behind him, the two still intertwined. The Fount scoured his fridge for something, but he didn't cook very often so it was fairly empty.

“It appears I’ve eaten all my leftovers…”

“Why don't we make something then?”

Pure Vanilla looked through what he had. It was mainly flour, cream, and a couple of jellies, so…

“Do you like candy pasta?”

“It’s my favorite!”

“That settles it then!”

So Vanilla started sanitizing the area, and the Fount went off to fetch the aprons. Once everything was clean, and the two had on matching blue aprons they were ready to start. Blueberry Milk was given the dough while Pure and Vanilla began with the jellies.

Pure Vanilla had no trouble at all, of course, he dealt with jellies very frequently back in the human world. When he looked over at Blueberry Milk with the dough, he had begun the kneading portion but was having a bit of trouble, the dough was sticking to his fingers and he was clearly uncomfortable. Pure Vanilla sat the jellies aside, grabbing the biscuit flour and put a hand on Blueberry’s wrist to cease his kneading.

“You need to sprinkle the biscuit flour consistently as you knead the dough! It’ll make it less sticky.”

Blueberry Milk let out an ‘Ah’ in realization, he knew he was forgetting something. He was too focused on the feeling on his hands and not on fixing it. Pure Vanilla sprinkled a healthy amount of flour over his hands and the dough, encouraging him to continue moving. When he didn’t, Pure Vanilla frowned.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes… I’m just not particularly fond of the way this feels on my hands.”

“Do you want to swap? I can handle the kneading…”

“No, it’s fine… You go back to the jellies. The quicker I knead the quicker I can get it over with.”

“Let me help you then!”

Pure Vanilla sprinkled his hands with flour, helping him knead the dough. Their fingers came in contact many times, prompting the two to giggle like children. Gradually, it formed into a proper dough, and Blueberry Milk got more comfortable with it. Pure Vanilla then went off to finish the jellies, then helped Blueberry Milk grab a bowl to let the dough for the pasta rise.

“Say, why were you out in the rain earlier?”

“I was just going to the library to brush up on some history.”

The other cookie perked up, a large smile forming on his face.

“I have a library just down the hall! You can still get your history in.”

He gestured for him to follow, and they went through the twisted floors and never ending steps and Vanilla had to reconsider his definition of ‘just down the hall.’ They stopped in front of a large set of golden doors, and the fount used his staff to unlock it and heave the heavy doors open. Inside was a room so grand, he wondered how it could even fit in here. It seemed to stretch on endlessly.

“This is just my personal collection, feel free to roam around.”

Vanilla didn’t want to stray too far from the entrance, if this library was anything like the rest of the tower he’d get lost rather easily. So he walked up to one of the desks, picking up a big book on the production of some musical he had never heard of.

“That’s an excellent choice, Healer Cookie!”

He gestured him out of the library, and he led him back up to the top of the tower, then to his bedroom. It was also large, like everything else in this tower, decorated with fancy drapes, rugs, and paintings. There was a recurring theme of a galaxy, it was painted on the ceiling and was on his bedspread. Some of the curtains even matched too.

Blueberry Milk Cookie led him to a large Victorian style desk in a lovely deep blue color, clearing a bit of stuff away and shoving it in the drawers. Vanilla sat the book down in the middle, moving a jar of ink over a bit so it wouldn’t get crushed.

“Shall we begin? Ooh, I cannot wait to tell you about the story of The Odyssey, it’s one of my favorite theater productions!”

The chair to the desk was big, far too big actually, and was large enough to hold two people comfortably with room to spare. So when Blueberry Milk Cookie pulled it out, the two just sat right beside each other.

“For all the water in the various acts, they used a combination of cellophane and fabric… They had at least five cookies on stage for when the water had to appear very rough!”

Pure Vanilla nodded and listened to him ramble about the production, watching him scoot forward in the chair and reach over Pure Vanilla to point out some obscure detail in the set or the costuming. After a while it seemed like sleep had finally decided to catch up to him, not to mention his senses were overwhelmed with the scent of vanilla, and the dynamic swapped. Blueberry Milk Cookie listened and leant against his shoulder whilst Pure Vanilla read from the book.

Pure Vanilla had The Fount of Knowledge asleep on him for the second time that night. He gently shut the book and took him into his arms, placing him onto his bed and tucking him in all snug. That next morning, when Blueberry Milk Cookie awoke, he found a big plate of candy pasta in his fridge.

Chapter Text

Dancing through the stars with a beautiful blonde cookie… That’s what Blueberry Milk Cookie dreamt of that night. He wore a long dress that blended in with the sea of stars, and the other cookie wore a bright suit that shined like the sun. He didn’t shift not once in his sleep, snuggling into something that calmed him with every breath he took. When the sun started to peak over the horizon and hit his eyes, he would whine softly and pull the item closer.

Blueberry Milk Cookie fluttered his eyes open, sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes… He must’ve fallen asleep whilst they were reading.

“Hmm..?”

When he looked down at the item in his arms… He saw a hat… Pure Vanilla’s hat. It had been bent out of shape from his incessant cuddling. He instinctively looked around at his room to see if he was anywhere nearby.

“Ah… Right. He had to leave first thing in the morning…”

He pulled the hat closer, running his hands over the waffle pattern. He looked over at the horizon, before crawling out of bed. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and got dressed— All with the hat not leaving his side. Since he had slept in his usual clothes, he had to put on a different suit that he didn’t often wear. It was all white with golden accents, and had a lovely blue tailcoat that dragged against the ground. For a final touch, he smoothed out Pure Vanilla’s hat and placed it on top of his head. A perfect fit!

When he went to the kitchen to pack his lunch, he saw that it didn’t look at all how they had left it. It was practically spotless, there wasn’t a single speck of flour on the island. There also wasn’t the bowl they had put the dough into, so he thought Pure Vanilla must’ve put it into the fridge so he could finish it later.

However, instead of pasta dough, he found a large plate of pink candy pasta with love heart jellies. It looked absolutely divine, and he promptly packed it away into his lunchbox.

As he went to exit his tower, something caught his eye. Pure Vanilla had left his cloak too? He probably just had to do something and didn’t have time to grab it… Regardless of what his reason was, Blueberry Milk Cookie left his tower that day wearing two articles of clothing that did not belong to him.

Blueberry Milk had to hover a little higher than usual since the cloak was suited for Pure Vanilla’s height, and he was a couple inches taller than him. He also had to keep adjusting the hat, as it was so large and the brim of it was surprisingly heavy.

Since he had lunch today, he headed straight to the break room when he arrived to put it away. A couple of other professors had been inside discussing lesson plans before he entered, and as soon as they caught sight of him he became the new topic.

“What are you wearing?”

It was quite unusual for anyone at the academy to talk to him, so initially he didn’t realize that they were. Only when they stood and approached him did he put two and two together.

“Who, me?”

It never hurt to ask to avoid the embarrassment of talking endlessly and nobody was speaking to him to begin. It had happened far too many times.

“Yes! What are you wearing? Is this real vanilla?”

The professors began talking over each other, grabbing at the coat and the hat in awe. They were flipping the seams of his coat, running their hands over the fabric, they had their hands so close to his face. The Fount cleared his throat, stepping back from all his touchy colleagues.

“If you must know, yes. It is real vanilla! It also does not belong to me, so please refrain from putting your hands on it.”

The Fount held the coat close to him, it wouldn’t be wrong just to show off just a little…

“They belong to my friend, he left them at my home last night… He was baked with these clothes, too! He’s a real vanillin.”

The other professors ‘ooh’ed, fascinated.

“He has gorgeous blonde hair and a marking on his forehead in just the same spot as mine! He carries a vanilla orchid with him and he has a wonderfully strong aroma of vanilla… He’s ever so kind. Last night we flew through the rain and he stayed the night at my tower. We were making pasta but I fell asleep on him and I woke up with his hat in my bed and he finished the pasta blah blah blah blah…”

The more Blueberry Milk Cookie went on, the more the professors noticed that he was no longer on the topic of the clothing he was wearing.

“Is this vanillin cookie your new boyfriend?”

“…Pardon me?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie puffed up like a cheesebird, looking around at the other professors.

“No? What could’ve given you that idea!?”

He pulled the coat closer to himself, almost as a sort of defense.

“You fell asleep on him!”

“You’re wearing his clothes?”

“You slept beside his hat.”

The blueberry cookie looked between all of his coworkers, a soft purple settling on his face.

“I assure you it’s nothing like that… We’re just friends. We met just the other day.”

“Do you like him, though? The way you speak of him feels rather affectionate.”

The Fount shook his head.

“What kind of fool falls in love with a cookie they met three days ago?”

He then excused himself as the bell rang. He found that interaction amusing for the majority of his day. It kept replaying in his head during class… really? His coworkers had thought he had a boyfriend from something as silly as him wearing another cookie's clothing… How ridiculous.

Blueberry Milk Cookie sighed as he reached his last class of the day, grading papers calmly at his desk. He heard the hustle of rowdy cookies who were ready to go home shuffle into his classroom.

“Class will begin momentarily!”

He announced, his head not rising from the paper in front of him.

“This new outfit of yours is quite lovely…”

“Why, thank you! It belongs to my…”

Blueberry Milk Cookie looked up, the healer standing right in front of his desk.

“You! It belongs to you. Apologies, I just felt it would be convenient if I kept it with me…”

Embarrassed, he scrambled to take off the clothing, the other stopping him.

“You can continue to wear it until class ends… It suits you.”

Pure Vanilla giggled as the other avoided eye contact.

“I’ll see you when class is over.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie watched him glide and sit in the front row, giving him his complete undivided attention. He cleared his throat, preparing to start the class.

“Alright, everyone, please open up your textbooks to page 165… We’ll be continuing our studies on the witches.”

The sound of pages turning filled his ears, so he grabbed a piece of chalk to write on the board. The lesson went by smoothly for a while, before a student raised his hand.

“Professor, why do we have to learn about the witches?”

“Because they’re an important part of our history!”

“But they’re not actually real.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie’s eyes widened in surprise, stepping away from his chalkboard.

“Well, that’s certainly a first… Why do you think that, may I ask?”

“Well, I have parents and siblings… I've seen other cookies create other cookies, so how do we know all of us weren't created that way?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie hummed, turning his back to the class as he began to draw on the board.

“Creating life is an art that must be mastered… And just like art, there are multiple ways for life to be created.”

The first drawing depicted a witch kneading cookie dough in her kitchen, sprinkling some sort of powder within it.

“The most essential thing in our creation is life powder. Without it, none of us would be alive.”

The other drawing was two cookies mixing the dough for a cookie child.

“In order for two cookies to create a child, we must add the basic ingredients: milk, flour, sugar, salt, and spice… Then sacrifice pieces of our own dough.”

Setting the chalk down, he turned to the student.

“Our dough is already infused with life powder, so the child bakes without any hardships. However, if we were to exclude adding our dough, or not add the proper amount, a hollow cookie shell would be born instead. Does that answer your question?”

The student seemed to nod, satisfied with the answer. However, another student raised their hand.

“Professor, I always found it odd that the information on witches we rely on are frequently found in some obscure location and not in old literature. Why do we keep believing it’s from the witches, when there’s no proof at all?”

This sparkled discussion from within the hall. Blueberry Milk Cookie cleared his throat to silence the class.

“Excellent question! Each of the artifacts we find are all written by a witch named Latte. So far, all the information that has been written within is 100% correct. It has even helped us discover certain things after numerous testing. Also, we do have information on the witches in old literature! It’s simply not publically available.”

“But that doesn’t prove they’re real! Why should we trust you?”

“Why isn’t it publically available? We should be able to research things on our own, not have it delivered to us for the rest of our lives!”

“Yeah… Why are you the cookie of knowledge? Who decided that?”

A bunch of students began to talk over each other, and Blueberry Milk Cookie’s eye twitched. This was a lot at once, his class had never questioned him to such a high degree before.

“I do not dictate what information is publically available…”

“But you’re the Fount of Knowledge, if you don’t, who does?”

The Fount wasn’t sure how to respond, glancing at Pure Vanilla Cookie. It wasn’t his fault he was baked this way, what was he meant to do? The witches had decided who he was, not him.

“What if the literature we read is untrustworthy, how can we trust those so-called witch artifacts that are on the walls too…?”

“Does anyone else find it kind of strange that the only artifacts we have is art? You expect me to believe the only thing they’ve given us are art projects and books? A lot of that stuff us cookies could easily make!”

“Actually, yeah, professor, haven’t you published a paper on how to recreate most of those tapestries?”

The hall began to get louder, Blueberry Milk Cookie only catching bits and pieces of conversations. What was going on? Everyone is so loud. So, so loud. There were so many questions being thrown at him that his head was spinning, he couldn’t possibly answer them all at once.

“Please, SETTLE DOWN!”

He hardly ever raised his voice, so the class went quiet, all turning their attention to the Fount.

“First… I am not the keeper of knowledge! The library does not belong to me so I cannot control who can access what. Take that up with the headmaster.”

He was never the type of cookie that was afraid of public speaking, but right now he felt his body shaking and a lump forming in his throat.

“Second… I always intend to tell the truth. The witches are an important part in our creation. I suggest you do your own research if you truly do believe they are not real. I can even provide access passes to the library if necessary…”

Before another cookie could speak up, the bell rang suddenly, and Blueberry Milk Cookie exited his lecture hall as quickly as he could. He could hear his students continuing to speak about the class, so he rushed off down the hall. Pure Vanilla had hurriedly followed him, reaching out to his shoulder from behind.

“Are you alright?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie flinched at first, before visibly relaxing when he saw who it was.

“Healer Cookie, hello… Ah…”

The Vanilla cookie reached out to grab his shaky hands, squeezing them.

“Why don’t we go to the library?”

The Fount stared at him for a moment, before he nodded, being guided by the man through the academy. The two gradually got closer until they were right beside each other.

“So… Why are you wearing my cloak and hat?”

Pure Vanilla could ask about the lecture later, as he was clearly still a bit shaken up. The other cookie pulled the cloak against him and inhaled deeply before he responded.

“I’ll answer that with another question: Why did you leave your hat in my bed?”

“For the same reason you took a heavy breath just now.”

Blueberry Milk looked down at the cloak covering him. The weight of it felt calming, and he felt like he was wrapped in one huge neverending vanilla hug. When they reached the library, Pure Vanilla searched for a more secluded area to take the Fount. Class had just gotten out for the day, so the front of the library had begun to flood with students.

They ventured into the back, surrounded by old fiction literature. Blueberry Milk Cookie sighed and sat down in one of the leather loveseats that the library provided. Pure Vanilla looked around at some of the book titles— He could kill two birds with one stone here. He could learn about the culture whilst also spending time with Blueberry Milk Cookie.

“Are you feeling any better?”

The Fount shifted in his seat, looking back down at his lap.

“I suppose so… I apologize for rushing out like that. I just got overwhelmed… That has never happened before.”

He sighed, but Pure Vanilla leaned down and grabbed his chin, tilting his head up to look at him.

“I don't think you should worry so much about it. It was perfectly reasonable what you did and you handled it excellently… Now, we're in a library, why don't we read something?”

Having someone around whilst he was overwhelmed usually never did him any good. But in this quiet library with Pure Vanilla Cookie, he felt soothed. He'd tell himself it was probably because of his scent, but his coworkers' previous words still lingered in his mind.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as a book was placed into his lap. It had a gorgeous red and black cover. Blueberry Milk Cookie looked up at the blonde, who had a large smile on his face.

“Can we read this together?”

He sat down next to Blueberry, leaning against him.

“We can take turns reading the characters… Let's act it out like a play. That would be fun!”

The book he had selected was a screenplay, a love story, Blueberry Milk had read it many times. It was about a thief of hearts and a detective prince.

“I quite like this book. It’s about—”

Pure Vanilla shushed him, putting a finger on blueberry’s lips.

“I want to find out for myself!”

Blueberry smiled, and they began reading. Pure Vanilla was fascinated with the literature, getting quite into the story. They had reached the mid way point of the play, right before act two.

“Oh, detective prince! I have stolen your rotten little heart~! It melts within my clutches!”

He twirled dramatically, holding his head over his forehead. The Fount watched him, amused. He wasn’t exactly taking it seriously right now, so glanced down at the book for his line.

“Stolen my heart? Ha! You must be deluded, for it is you that is rotten, if you ever think I would’ve allowed you to do so!”

Pure Vanilla quickly leaned over the book to read his part, smiling. He suddenly moved the book from the Fount’s lap, hoisting him up out of the loveseat and twirling him.

“Oh, but prince…”

He wrapped his arms around him, dipping him down. He ran his hand up his chest, stopping over where his heart would be.

“I have already stolen your heart… I have been rid of the evil inside it.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie went purple and Vanilla ran his hand up from his chest to his face, cupping his cheek.

“You need not to hold up that mask of yours any longer! Simply melt away in my arms.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie hadn’t expected him to go this far… But he could go farther. He wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling them both down onto the loveseat. He sat up and pushed him against the back of the chair, straddling him. He held his hand to Vanilla’s neck to mimic a sword, and the two both had color to their faces now.

“Melt away in your arms? Preposterous… I will crumble you, horrid thief, if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

Pure Vanilla glanced over at the book momentarily, before leaning up into his hand.

“Detetive prince, you must believe me… But if you truly must… Do it. Crumble my dough… If I must fall by any hands I would want it to be yours.”

Pure Vanilla grabbed his arm, pushing his hand further against his neck. Blueberry Milk squeezed very lightly, as this is the part where he would press the sword against their neck and draw jam… Then pull away.

There was a pause in the script, and Blueberry Milk Cookie pinned him down against the loveseat.

“Mark my words, thief… Even if you have taken my heart, I will still destroy you.”

Pure Vanilla couldn’t see the book from this angle, trying to glance back, shifting weakly in his hold. He looked up at Blueberry Milk Cookie for guidance.

“…Wrap your arms around my neck. Your next line is… ‘Then destroy me.’”

Pure Vanilla did as told, wrapping his arms around the man and leaning forward up to his face.

“Then destroy me.”

The two stayed in this position for a while. Usually, at this part, the actors would lean together and kiss… Then the scene would end. Blueberry Milk had nearly gained the courage to do so, but Pure Vanilla giggled.

“That was fun. You’re a very good actor!”

You’d have to be a fool to fall in love with a cookie you met three days ago.

“It… was. Thank you.”

Blueberry Milk pulled away from him, and Pure Vanilla got up and looked at the last bits of the script that he had missed.

“Oh, a kiss! How romantic…”

He kicked his feet and giggled like a little girl,

“What a unique love story!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie recalled the rest of that story… After the kiss the two would live happily. But the king wasn’t satisfied with that, and would force the prince to murder his love. Blueberry Milk Cookie stood up, adjusting his— Err, Pure Vanilla’s clothes.

“Would you… Like your cloak back now?”

“Oh! Yes, if you don’t mind…”

He returned his cloak and hat to him, and Pure Vanilla grabbed the book off the loveseat.

“I think I’m going to check this out and finish it later! Should we begin to head out now?”

The Fount nodded and they began heading to the entrance of the library. Pure Vanilla honestly did not wish to leave, but he had to return to the human world eventually. He had gotten too frightened to go last night after what he experienced, but he didn’t want anyone growing suspicious and to come looking for him.

“Children, please, single file line! You must all be quiet, we are in a library…!”

As the two tried to leave the library, they were stopped by a large group of rowdy children, all no older than 10. There was an overwhelmed faerie cookie attempting to guide them to the back of the library. The Fount hummed, waving his staff over his head. He summoned a beautiful display of the galaxy, using his golden eyes to appear like sparkling stars. The children were in awe, settling down so they could be further guided.

“Now now, young ones. Listen to your teacher… Come now to the crafting area.”

The Fount helped the teacher guide the group to a secluded room where the kids could be as loud as they pleased. Pure Vanilla had trailed behind him, and somehow the two ended up being caught in their craft.

“Please, Can you help me?”

“Oh, of course!”

The children ended up all gravitating towards Pure Vanilla Cookie. Much like the Fount, they’d only ever seen a vanilla cookie in their books.

“Children, don’t bother him…! My apologies…”

“Oh, no, it’s quite alright! I adore children, you go sit down and take a break… I can handle the rest from here.”

“Hm… Well, I suppose if The Fount of Knowledge is here…”

So, the faerie cookie went to relax while Pure Vanilla kept the kids entertained. As it turns out, they were weaving friendship bracelets to give to whomever they liked. Pure Vanilla proved useful to the kids due to his previous experience on that tapestry. But he couldn't avoid his own personal curse of pricking his finger and drawing jam.

Blueberry Milk Cookie got comfortable in a corner on the floor, away from the large commotion surrounding Pure Vanilla. He might as well create one too. He grabbed the provided supplies and cool colored threads, humming a soft tune as he began to weave.

“Excuse me, Mister…”

The Fount turned his head to see a young chocolate cookie tugging at his sleeve.

“Oh, hello there. May I help you with something?”

The young cookie held up the bracelet he was working on. It was a combination of pink, red, and purple.

“Can you help me make a heart in the middle?”

The Fount smiled, nodding his head. The boy sat beside him, following his guidance to create the heart on the bracelet.

“You all have to create these for another cookie, correct? Who are you making this for?”

The boy looked down at the bracelet, before glancing over at one of the cookies surrounding Pure Vanilla. The boy’s voice dropped to a whisper,

“…If I tell you, can you promise to keep it a secret?”

The Fount smiled- A childhood crush. How adorable. He leaned down so the boy could whisper into his ear. He listened as the cookie told him who his affections were for, pulling away when he was finished.

“Are you going to tell them when you give them the bracelet?”

“I don’t know. I’m scared… I haven’t known them for very long… What if they say no?”

The Fount looked over at the crowd of cookies, his eyes naturally drifting over to Pure Vanilla Cookie.

“If they are what your heart desires, go for it. If it’s not meant to be, it simply won’t be… Love can be fleeting. Especially at an age as young as yours.”

Pure Vanilla had felt a hole being burnt into the back of his head, turning around and spotting Blueberry Milk Cookie, waving at him. Blueberry smiled and waved back, watching as the children tried to regain the healer’s attention.

“Don’t be afraid. You’ll never get anywhere in life like that… Especially with love.”

He gently took the child's hand, pointing to the heart on the bracelet they had just completed.

“Be confident! I believe in you.”

The younger cookie nodded, and the two made small talk until the bracelets were finished and it was time for the children to go back to their classroom. He saw the younger chocolate cookie get in line, and watched as he and his crush exchanged bracelets with each other. Both had made one with little hearts all over it.

They both waved goodbye to the children and the teacher, and our cookies gathered near the entrance to say goodbye for the day.

“I do hope that teacher can learn to handle them…”

Blueberry Milk noticed that Pure Vanilla had gained about four accessories from the children. He had wrapped them around his staff, so they weren’t hidden beneath his robes.

“Before we part ways, I made this for you.”

Blueberry Milk reached out and grabbed his hand, tying a bracelet with a blueberry pattern around his wrist. Vanilla gasped softly, looking down at the bracelet.

“Oh Bluebird, you shouldn’t have! It’s beautiful… Heh, now I feel less guilty for making you this.”

Pure Vanilla reached into his pocket and pulled out a waffle patterned bracelet, tying it around Blueberry Milk Cookie’s wrist.

“This is… Beautiful.”

He ran his fingers over it. The craftsmanship was excellent, not a single misplaced stitch… But there was a little spot of jam in the corner.

“Do you promise to never take it off?”

Blueberry Milk was teasing, now guiding him to the entrance of the academy. The two stopped in the middle of the doorway, below a beautiful flower arch. Pure Vanilla grabbed the hand their bracelets shared, intertwining their fingers.

“Hmm... I promise.”

Pure Vanilla leaned in and pecked his cheek. Then, before he knew it, Pure Vanilla had flown off into the sky, the sound of the school bell gracing their ears. He waved him goodbye, holding his bracletted hand close to his face. It smelled of vanilla.

When Blueberry Milk went home that night, he wrote six letters. One to each of his fellow virtues, wishing them good luck and good health in each of their respective domains. His friends had been acting a little off lately. It could just be something in the air, but he had an odd feeling… So he sent them off that very same night via cheesebird. Then he sat down at his desk to write one final letter.

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

Pure Vanilla jolted awake in his chair, gasping for air and clutching his rapidly beating heart. Second time he has done this, it’s just as bad as the first. At least he didn’t kick himself out of his seat this time. He sighed, exhausted, sitting up and rubbing his eyes… Ow. He had scratched himself with something hard on his hand. He pulled it away to see a silver ring with a beautiful sapphire. He squinted over at his orchid, to see adorable beaded necklaces wrapped around it. The spell manifested different items in such mysterious ways.

Once he was accustomed enough to moving his body back around, he began doing his daily chores. Sweeping the house, cleaning his clothes, making his bed. He also needed to bake a couple cookies today, just to keep the population stable. Whilst he was in the middle of baking, however, there was a knock on his door. He peered out the window of his kitchen… It was Dark Cacao.

“Just come in!”

Pure Vanilla continued kneading the dough as he heard his door open, looking over and spotting the man.

“Hello, I won’t stay for long. I’m just here to deliver something for you.”

“Deliver?”

“The usual mailman is out sick, and they asked me to bring this to you since I was already at headquarters.”

Cacao was holding a letter, and he placed it on his desk beside that ancient spellbook.

“Sugar Soul Transfiguration?”

Pure Vanilla paused. Dark Cacao was a very smart man, so he had to be cautious about what his next words were. If he were to find out what he’d been up to, he had no doubt that Cacao would try to put a stop to it.

“Yeah, I couldn’t really think of a practical use for that one… Unless we banish criminals to earthbread? But that might cause more problems than solve.”

“Hmm… That’s a spell we should leave in ancient times. It would be directly interfering with earthbread.”

“Yes, right…”

“Well, you take care. I’ll see you next week at our meeting.”

“You as well…”

He played that off well, right? He didn’t suspect him… Had he seen the jewelry he set aside? Gosh, he couldn’t worry about that right now… What was this letter about? He hardly received any mail. When he touched it, he flinched. It was absolutely overflowing with magical energy and it sparked beneath his fingers. Who could’ve possibly written such a powerful letter?

He took a deep breath as he grabbed it, doing his best to regulate the magical energy from the letter to match with his own. He opened it, pulling out the paper and unfolding the letter… It smelled like blueberries.

“To the witches of old…

I humbly thank you for answering my prayer. I have met a cookie who seems… So perfect. He has lovely golden locks and a souljam the same as mine. It’s meant to be. He enjoys theater, just as I do. He smells so beautifully of vanilla. It’s been three days, yet I feel like he’s already enchanted my heart. I know this letter will never reach you, but again, thank you. To think you may have created a cookie in my mirror image for me to meet… I am undeserving.

- The Fount of Knowledge.”

Pure Vanilla held the letter to his chest. So that’s why it had so much energy flowing within it. It belonged to the virtue. Pure Vanilla could finish baking later. He retrieved the ring, sliding it back onto his finger and going to lie down in his room. He held the letter up as well as his hand, staring at them in tandem. So he had begun to fall for him, huh? It was something straight out of a fairy tale, his magic being strong enough to cross the border between worlds. Then again, Pure Vanilla had already weakened that bond with his spell.

As he stared at his ceiling, something felt… Missing. He pulled out his wand, waving it across his head.

“Paint me a picture,
Of the galaxy I seek…
Gazing upon me.”

The magic flowed from his wand and concocted a beautiful galaxy, much like the one Blueberry Milk Cookie had on his bedroom ceiling.

“Oh… How positively lovely.”

He closed the eye of his orchid and opened his own. He didn’t care that his vision was tunneled… He could see halos around the artificial stars he had created, and somehow that made it far better. He held the letter to his chest, taking in that beautiful blueberry scent. The jewel on his ring had begun to reflect the light, so he could see a halo around that too.

“I’ve bewitched you... I didn’t even need to cast a spell on you, either… I won’t let anyone interfere with us. I promise.”

Chapter Text

“Someone fetch Dark Cacao, QUICKLY!”

Dark Cacao was one of the strongest witches that held a seat at the council, both physically and in terms of his magical ability. He often didn’t even require a wand to properly channel his magic. Due to this, he was often tasked with things that required a high amount of magical energy. The only thing he struggled with was creating high ranking spells—haikus—which the witches on the council used exclusively.

He had ventured to headquarters to meet Latte, as part of his monthly duties. She was the curator at headquarters, having her own personal library filled with history. She would create books for the cookies, he would look over them, and then send them off to the desserts.

“Dark Cacao! Welcome back… I have quite a few things for you today!”

Latte stood up from her chair, tipping her hat to him. Cacao returned the gesture, a smile forming on his face.

“Good morning. It’s always a delight to see you. How have you been?”

Latte sat back down in her chair, and Dark Cacao sat on the other side.

“I’ve been just great, thanks for asking!”

Latte grabbed a hardcover book off of a pile on her desk, which depicted the council members on the cover.

“I think it’s time they learn more about the council! I’ve included your names and added a lot more detail to the visuals then what they've ever seen before…”

“…Our real names?”

“No, your witch names! If you want me to add that I can, though I’d need permission from the rest of the council.”

Cacao shook his head, picking the book off of the desk and reading through it. The sketches of them were very detailed, including color, but they never showed any of their facial features.

“You’ve really outdone yourself this time… These illustrations are excellent.”

He flipped to his own page, skimming over the information.

“Very detailed, too… I'm a little scared.”

“You have no idea how hard it was finding some of this stuff, you guys are so secretive!”

“We do have to protect our identities, Latte.”

Cacao was a fast reader, so he reached the last chapter in no time. It featured Pure Vanilla, and he hummed softly as he read over the pages.

“Soo… What do you think? Is it good?”

Cacao didn’t respond. Latte stared at the other witch, who was clearly distracted staring at the book.

“…Earth to Dark Cacao!”

She placed her hand over the top of the book, having leant over her desk.

“I have other copies you can reread, you know… After you've reviewed all the other things we need to send down.”

Latte giggled as Cacao snapped out of his trance, directing his attention back up to her.

“Ah, yes, right. None of the other witches will have access to this information, correct?”

“Nope! Just the council, me, and of course, the cookies.”

“Well, this book is fine… Put it in the to-go pile.”

Latte took the book back from him, giving him another book to review. This was a children's book, Little Red Riding Hood. Cacao flipped through it, frowning once he reached the end.

“The wolf eats both Red and Grandma? That’s an awfully dark rendition of the story.”

“I thought it would teach the cookies that we humans are afraid of things too! It also gives them some parallels, you know, with cakehounds…”

The last book was… A cookbook? Cacao raised a brow, flipping through it. It was just a book on how they made cookies. The last page was an illustration of Pure Vanilla himself eating the cookie he baked in said book.

“Hm… I suppose this is fine too.”

Cacao reviewed a couple more books, not deeming them good enough to go down just yet. Latte took the three books and shrunk them with a spell, handing them to Cacao.

“Hm… I'll just give these directly to The Fount of Knowledge. There's no point in making him find it anymore.”

“Doesn't that break the interference rule?”

“No? I'm not speaking to or touching the dessert. I’ll simply set the books down and close the portal.”

He looked down at the books— They were about the size of his fingernails in his large hands.

“Ooh! This is my favorite part!”

Latte rushed from behind her desk to stand beside the man, looking up at him expectantly. Latte was a lesser witch, so she was not meant to know the spell in order to travel to earthbread. Thus, Cacao had been selected for this job for one main reason: He could reliably conjure spells without verbalizing them.

Cacao chuckled, extending his pointer finger out in front of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, channeling all his mana into his finger.

‘Part the barrier
Between sugary and flesh
Unheard and unseen.’

A swirling blue void formed at the tip of his finger, and he opened his eyes. He dragged his arm down, tearing a hole through the barrier of the two worlds. As the portal opened, Latte peered inside, staring directly at Blueberry Milk Cookie’s bedroom. Latte contained her excited squeal until he had completed the spell, not wanting to risk breaking his focus.

Cacao exhaled when he was finished, blowing off the tip of his finger.

“Gosh, that never gets old! Why aren’t you Head Witch?”

Cacao waved his hand about to cool it and get the energy flowing normally again.

“It’s just not something I’d want to do… Hm, do you think sending down a cookbook would be too dangerous?”

“Well, it’s not like they have life powder… Seems like something you should've thought of before you gave it the OK.”

Latte chuckled and they both watched the Fount of Knowledge walk into his bedroom, clearing some things off of his desk.

“Perfect timing…”

He waited until he had his back turned, releasing the books down onto the Fount’s desk with a loud thump. The cookie quickly turned around and rushed to his desk, searching for who could have possibly left it there.

“Aww, it’s kind of cute! That's a Blueberry Milk Cookie, right? Sounds tasty.”

Latte held her cheek, watching as the Fount squealed after examining the cover of the book.

“I cannot wait to share this with Healer Cookie! Oh witches, thank you!”

Cacao raised a brow. Healer Cookie? He hadn’t seen any cookies baked by that name before. He brushed it off though, as there were plenty of cookies the council hadn’t made themselves. Cacao grabbed the top of the portal, preparing to close it.

“Say goodbye to the Fount of Knowledge.”

“Awww, bye little treat!”

She waved at a cookie who could not see them, and even if he could, he would be far too engrossed in his new books to care. Well, until he saw the witches. Cacao grabbed the bottom end of the portal with his other hand, and then brought his hands together, balling up the portal until it disappeared. He brushed his hands off, before a witch burst into the room.

“DARK CACAO! Please, come quickly! A young witch has collapsed in the-”

“Collapsed!? Lead me to them!”

The witch ran off towards the room, and Cacao rushed to follow behind them. They brought him to the entrance of the mailroom, and Cacao could see a merwitch convulsing on the floor with a letter in their hand. Shit.

He immediately took to their side, taking the letter from the child— Before dropping it on the ground with a hiss. There was so much energy flowing through this letter, it was no wonder the child collapsed. Adult witches could barely handle this amount of magic. The child had stopped convulsing once the letter was removed, so he lifted them up into his arms. A medical team had arrived just behind him, and he carefully put them onto a stretcher.

“It’s mana overdose.”

Cacao put his hands above the child, feeling the energy overflowing from them. He really could just take the excess mana from them, as summoning a portal was no easy task. He’d have to be careful not to take too much, though, and accidentally make the child more sick. He took a deep breath, taking the child's hand and slowly siphoning the energy from within them.

When the child's face relaxed, only then did he pull away and completely hand the child over to the doctors. They rushed the child off to the medical wing, and Cacao turned back around and walked over to the letter.

“How could a single letter contain so much mana…”

He leaned down, bracing himself before he took it into his hands. It sparked beneath his fingers. He turned it around to see who it was addressed to, but the front was blank.

“It just appeared in Pure Vanilla’s mailbox…”

The witch who had gone to fetch him was beside him now, looking at the letter. Cacao hummed, looking down at the witch.

“I’ll deliver it to him personally. Tell Latte I’ve gone.”

The witch nodded, and Cacao left the odyssey. As he flew through the air, he kept staring at the letter. Who could’ve written such a letter? It had already harmed a child, what if it was a trap? He stopped in the middle of the air.

This was a terrible breach of Pure Vanilla’s privacy. But if it was something that could harm him, he’d rather it have been him than Vanilla. He landed down in the middle of the forest, resting his broom on the side of a tree. Let’s hope this wasn’t a combusting spell.

He opened the letter, expecting the worst… But nothing happened. He was greeted by the pleasant scent of blueberries. Curious, he opened the paper, reading the letter.

“To the witches of old… I humbly thank you for answering my prayer…?”

Prayer? Assuming the witches of old meant all of the council, none of the rest of them had heard of any sort of prayer.

“I have met a cookie… Lovely golden locks… Souljam???”

He read over that last part multiple times, very confused, how had there been another cookie with a souljam? None of the virtues had blonde hair… Unless Saint Flour’s white hair counted.

“He enjoys theater and smells of vanilla…”

As far as he knew, only Pure Vanilla, ironically, made vanilla cookies. Even so, according to his logs, he hadn’t baked a cookie like that recently.

“The… Fount of Knowledge!?”

There was no possible way this had been sent by the Fount. He was a cookie, Cacao had only opened the barrier for a moment, there was no possible way it could’ve gone through. He put the note back inside, sealing the letter and taking back off into the sky to Pure Vanilla’s cottage.

As he flew through the sky, he kept thinking about the letter… Maybe it was a secret code, and The Fount of Knowledge was a code name? Hm… He’d already breached his privacy once, what’s one more time? Just to make sure he wasn’t doing something against the witches. That was all.

“In-vis-i-ble sight… Five syllables… Not seen by him…? No…”

He counted the syllables on his fingers, trying to think of a spell.

“Peer into his life… That’s good. Maybe temporary instead of invisible…”

He landed in front of his house, retelling the spell to himself.

“Temporary sight… Unseen to his eyes… Not enough syllables.”

He knocked on the door, he’d figure it out.

“Just come in!”

Cacao entered his home, welcomed by the lovely scent of a witch baking cookies. He walked into his kitchen, smiling as he saw Pure Vanilla.

“Hello, I won’t stay for long. I’m just here to deliver something to you.”

“Deliver?”

“The usual mailman is out sick, and they asked me to bring this to you since I was already at headquarters.”

Just a little white lie wouldn’t hurt. He watched Pure Vanilla, who didn’t seem to have any visible reaction to the letter itself. Maybe he wasn’t expecting it. He went to set the letter down on his desk, wasn’t that the spellbook he found for him?

“Sugar Soul Transfiguration?”

That was a spell he had never heard before... Maybe now was the time for that spell. It might’ve been a good idea to read through the book before giving it to him… He stared at Pure Vanilla, putting his hands behind his back and channeling his magic.

‘Temporary sight
Unseen by his… Pretty eyes,
Peer into his life.’

Perfect! Each syllable accounted for. He waved his finger as Pure Vanilla spoke, summoning an invisible eye in the corner of the room.

“Yeah, I couldn’t really think of a practical use for that one… Unless we banish criminals to earthbread? But that might cause more problems than solve.”

“Hmm… That’s a spell we should leave in ancient times. It would be directly interfering with earthbread.”

“Yes, right…”

“Well, you take care. I’ll see you next week at our meeting.”

“You as well…”

With that, Cacao left his home. He went out of view of the windows, closing his eyes so he could easily see out of the magical one. He watched Pure Vanilla handle the letter… He had been shocked by it too. Cacao watched as he left the room with a ring and the paper, before looking down and reading the contents of the spellbook.

Interesting.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

After the kids had seen the Fount yesterday, they had requested to see him and that Vanilla cookie again. The Fount was only the slightest bit annoyed to have been pulled away from the new books he had acquired, but he had his whole life to read them. Over and over again. He’d been interrupted all morning when he tried to read, so he'd only been able to glance at a couple of pages.

Blueberry Milk Cookie made his way to the second building of the academy, where the younger cookies stayed. He watched as the students grew younger and the faculty grew unfamiliar to him the more he walked down the halls.

“Hmm.. Pistachio class…”

There it was! He knocked on the classroom door before entering, finding the children already in the carpeted reading area and ready to engage with the Fount. Unlike yesterday, they were fairly well behaved. For now.

“Aww, where is Mr. Healer Cookie?”

“I’m sorry little one, he’s quite elusive. If I see him later I’ll be sure to bring him.”

“What does elusive mean?”

Right. These were children.

“Elusive: Difficult to find, catch, or achieve.”

The child ‘oohh’ed as they understood, and the Fount walked over to the teacher.

“Feel free to do whatever you please with them. There's crafting supplies in the back… Oh, are you going to read those books?”

The teacher pointed to the three books the Fount had gained from the witches, and he glanced down at them.

“Oh! Well, I didn’t intend to… But I suppose I can ask if they’d like to. Thank you again for having me!”

The Fount smiled and turned on his heel, making his way to the back of the classroom and sitting in the chair in front of them all.

“Hello all! Most of you saw me yesterday, I am the Fount of Knowledge, Blueberry Milk Cookie. I teach the big college classes in the other building.”

“Hi Blueberry Milk Cookie!”

Said all the students at once, some of them even waving at the Fount.

“Sadly, I was not able to find Healer Cookie… He usually arrives near the end of the school day. However…”

He held up the three books he had acquired, showing them to the children.

“We can read one of these books, or a book you all choose from your classroom.”

He presented the witches council book to the children first.

“We could read this book, which tells us all about the witches.”

“The witches aren’t real!”

There it was again. The child who had shouted out of turn was elbowed by the kid sitting next to him.

“Shut up, Fruitcake Cookie! Yes they are!”

The kid stuck their tongue out at them. Okay. Maybe not this book. He held up the cookbook next.

“This is a cookbook!”

“Borrrinnngggg!”

Multiple of the children groaned. The Fount faltered slightly, he found it quite interesting… But alas. They were children. He put the book down, holding up the last book he had acquired. When he had skimmed through it earlier, it was a picture book. Perfect for the kids!

“Well… How about this? The story of Little Red Riding Hood! It has pictures…”

As expected, the children seemed interested in this story. Especially the fact that it had pictures.

“Alright then, let’s begin… Once upon a time, there was a girl called Little Red Riding Hood. She lived with her mother in a small cottage near the forest.”

He turned the book to show the children the illustrations on the page. Blueberry Milk himself even leaned down to peer at the pages. It was so fascinating. The girl was dressed in clothes similar to theirs, but her name was so odd! Even her dough looked weird. The witches were fascinating creatures.

“‘Oh Little Red’ Said her mother, ‘Be a dear and bring this to your grandma. She has caught a nasty cold.’ ‘Yes, mother,’ Little Red replied. ‘Follow along the forest path and you'll reach her house.’”

The mother looked even more interesting. Her hair looked like it was made of little strands of frosting instead of big globs. She also had extra appendages on her fingers.

“So off Little Red went. On her way to her grandmother's house, Little Red met a wolf. ‘Hello.’ Said the wolf, ‘I’m sooooo hungry. Can I have some of your food?’ Little red shook her head, ‘I’m sorry. My grandma is sick. She needs this food.’”

Blueberry Milk Cookie stared at the drawing of the wolf. Such odd colors! He assumed by its fangs and ears that it was similar to a cakehound. It also looked like it was covered in some sort of weird fluffy material, it certainly wasn’t frosting.

“The wolf grumbled and ran off down the path and to Little Red’s grandmother's house. He looked through the window and said, ‘I’ll just eat her grandmother instead!’”

The kids gasped in horror, but the Fount was fascinated. So wolves ate the humans like how cakehounds ate cookies!

“The wolf gobbled her up and put on her nightgown. When Little Red arrived, she noticed something strange. ‘Oh grandma, what big ears you have…’ ‘The better to hear you with, my dear.’”

Some of the kids whimpered, some began to sniffle, and some held onto the cookie next to them. The Fount didn’t notice. He was too interested in the book.

“‘Oh grandma, what big eyes you have…’ She said, ‘The better to see you with, my dear!’ answered the wolf.”

The Fount turned the book back to himself, flipping to the last page of the book.

“‘Oh grandma, what big teeth you have!’ Little red said. ‘All the better to eat you with!’ yelled the wolf. The wolf jumped out of the bed and gobbled Little Red right up.”

He flipped to the next page… But that was it. Wow! Such a morbid story… Was this really a children's book? He stared at the pages, before the piercing sound of crying hit his ears. He flinched, looking down at the kids who had begun to cry. The story had probably frightened them… They began to get louder, kids crying as the others cried, so he stood up and set the book down.

“When Little Red’s mother noticed that she didn't come home, she sent out a hunter to find her daughter.”

It was hard to speak over the crying kids. He wanted to cover his ears.

“The big hunter went through the woods and found the wolf laying in grandma's bed, rubbing his huge belly. ‘Yum yum yum!’ Said the wolf.”

He made a silly voice for the wolf to get the kids attention, the yelling dying down ever so slightly.

“The hunter took his axe…”

The Fount hummed, before having the perfect idea. He utilized his shapeshifting abilities to turn himself into the hunter, using his staff as the axe. This got the kids attention, fascinated with the display.

“Lifted it high above his head…”

He lifted his staff high above himself, before swinging it down and very lightly tapping one of the kids who had been crying on the forehead.

“And hit the big bad wolf right on the head!”

The kids giggled, especially the one who had been tapped.

“The big bad wolf yelled, then the hunter… Kicked him so hard in the stomach that he threw up Little Red Hiding Hood and her grandmother!”

He transformed into the wolf, making gagging motions with his mouth. Excellent save, Blueberry Milk Cookie.

“They then chased the wolf off, and he was never to be seen ever again! Then they all lived happily ever after…”

He sat back down in the chair, going back to his usual form, having resolved the situation. He looked over at the teacher's desk- …Where was the teacher?

The Fount ended up staying in that classroom for an extra thirty minutes. By the time the teacher had returned, he was very overstimulated. The kids were very affectionate and touchy, which he didn't mind at first, but it got to a point. The kids were so, so, loud. They’d quiet down when instructed then come back even louder than before. They’d kept asking to read the story again and begging him to shapeshift. When the teacher arrived he waved the kids goodbye and hurriedly rushed out of there. It was going to be a study hall for the rest of the day.

“Study hall… I don't care what you do, just be quiet and leave me be.”

He repeated, class after class. Most of his classes got the memo. He spent the classes examining the Little Red Riding Hood story, absorbing every detail and taking notes- Before a cookie walked up to his desk.

“Uhm, professor…?”

What part of ‘leave me be’ didn't they understand?

“Yes? How can I help you.”

“I'm struggling with algebra, do you think you could help me?”

Oh for witches sake.

He extended his hand to take the paper from them, and he looked it over. Witches… Why did a cookie come up to him when he had specifically asked them not to with advanced maths?! He groaned audibly, grabbing a pen and marking over their mistakes and what they missed, before handing it back to them.

“Thank you!”

The student rushed off, and the Fount went back to his own studies.

Until the student appeared back at his desk 5 minutes later.

“I still-”

“Give me the paper.”

He has a headache. He took his fountain pen, looking over their work again. This cookie had completely disregarded the notes he had given and gotten the completely wrong answer. He sighed.

“You need to make both sides equal to zero before solving the equation.”

He scribbled that note on the paper, even including a small diagram so they'd understand better.

“Thank you!”

Could you imagine his annoyance when the student returned for a third time? The cookie didn't say a word and just slid the paper on the desk. The Fount gave them a look, then he looked down at their paper.

Stupidity just can't be cured, it seems.

“There is no possible way you are this ignorant.”

He held his forehead, grabbing his pen and grabbing an entirely new paper. He harshly scribbled step by step introductions to solve the problem.

“Do not come back to my desk again. If you can't figure it out this time, you might as well drop out.”

“…Sorry.”

He handed them the paper, and the student rushed off as to not face anymore of the teacher's wrath.

One more class… then the day is over. He closed his books, putting them away safely on his person. He wouldn't be able to focus on that right now.

“Study hall. Be quiet. Leave me alone.”

He announced, before promptly putting his head down on his desk. The class listened, thank goodness.

But as soon as he began to relax, a loud ringing hit his ears.

Over.
And.
Over.

The fire alarm. The fire alarm was going off. He whimpered, covering his ears with his hands. It wasn't enough. He needed to get out of here, and fast. But everyone else had the same thought process. As he tried to exit, people kept pushing, bumping, fuck, it was all too much. He could fly away, but then he'd be flying even closer to the alarms. His breathing began to pick up as he continued to be tossed around… So he started pushing others out of his way, not caring if they got hurt.

Eventually he had made his way through the hoards and was pushed out the front door. Blueberry Milk Cookie immediately flew up into the air, wiping tears off of his cheek. The cafe should be empty around this time of the day.

He flinched at the jingling from the bells, going to a small private booth in the corner. The owner of the place, sensing his distress, brought him a Vanilla Latte and left without a word. He closed his eyes, putting his head down and just trying to relax and take in the scent.

Then someone had the audacity to sit beside him and pull him into a hug. Who exactly did they think they were? As he inhaled to snap at them, his senses were filled with a lovely aroma.

Vanilla.

The way he collapsed into him was immediate, and Pure Vanilla gently pet his head.

“...Are you alright?”

“Please don't speak.”

So he didn't. He just held him close to him and let him do what he needed to do, which included getting his coat wet with his tears. But he didn't mind at all.

After a while, Blueberry Milk Cookie pulled away from him, beginning to wipe his face.

“My apologies for such an immature display…”

Pure Vanilla shushed him, moving his hand aside and wiping the tears from his dough.

“It’s okay. You don't need to explain yourself.”

Pure Vanilla ran his fingers through his hair, and the Fount leaned on him as he began to sip his latte.

“I feel… Awful. I was unbelievably rude to a student today and I may have even harmed some…”

“…What on earth happened?”

The Fount looked up at him. What on Earth… What an interesting phrase.

“The children we met the other day at the library… They requested we return. I was so incredibly overstimulated by the time I left… Then a student in my maths class needed help and they were having trouble understanding and I called them ignorant… Then the fire alarm went off. It was so loud and I pushed cookies, I… Gosh.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie groaned, holding his head. Gosh, he still had a headache. His gracious savior leaned down to kiss his forehead with the familiarity of someone who had done it to him a thousand times before.

“It’s okay. Everyone gets overwhelmed… ”

“It’s not okay… Being overstimulated does not give me the right to behave that way. Besides, I am The Fount of Knowledge! Crying over something so trivial is… Unbecoming of me. The witches would be disappointed.”

The Fount whined, sitting up and holding his head in his hands.

“How do you know that, Blueberry Milk Cookie?”

“I am one of their best creations. The witches blessed me today, and I’ve let them down. I could not imagine watching something I created screw up as badly as I’ve done today… Especially as an educator!”

He grabbed his hair, becoming more frustrated as he spoke.

“That student holds such great promise! They always struggle with maths, but they thrive in every other subject of mine! Yet now I’ve destroyed their confidence! We are meant to UPLIFT!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie began to pull at his hair, clenching his teeth. He shut his eyes tightly, only opening them when he felt the other cookies hand on his cheek.

“Blueberry Milk Cookie… Look at me. The witches cherish absolutely every inch of your dough… They understand. It’s okay. Tomorrow is a new day… You can apologize.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie didn’t understand why, but the other cookie’s words felt so sincere. He released the hold on his hair as Pure Vanilla scooted closer beside him.

“If they were disappointed in you, they would’ve eaten you right on up already!”

Pure Vanilla kissed his cheek, and the Fount couldn’t help but giggle, holding the blessed area.

“Silly Healer Cookie… Witches do not eat cookies. But that reminds me…”

He began to dig through his sleeve, before the cafe bell began to jingle over and over as more people flooded into the cafe. It began to grow loud from the conversations of others.

“Let’s get out of here…”

Pure Vanilla had read his mind.

The Fount threw away what was left of his latte, going to the counter and paying for the drink, with a little extra as thanks. When they were outside, the Fount began to dig through his sleeves again.

“As I was saying… I wanted to show you this.”

“Do you have pockets in there?”

“Indeed! I added them myself. I thought it silly to have such a large space with no practical purpose.”

“Extra, extra, hear all about it!”

The Fount pulled out the story of Little Red Riding Hood, before he was hit on the forehead with a newspaper. Blueberry Milk Cookie just groaned. He really didn’t have the energy to get upset.

“The Herald of Change’s kingdom has fallen! Read all about it!”

A cookie with wings on their heels was flying about, throwing newspapers in every direction.

“Are you okay?”

Pure Vanilla reached to comfort him, but The Fount had grabbed the newspaper so quickly it crinkled.

‘KINGDOM FALLEN!! Fire Spice Cookie destroying kingdoms, more on page 2.’

The Fount pushed the book into Pure Vanilla’s arms, hurriedly flipping to the next page, being shown images of kingdoms in rubble. Some of them had pixelated areas of red and orange on the ground.

“Blueberry Milk Cookie?”

‘Fire Spice Cookie, who is now going by Burning Spice Cookie, has left The Great Spice Kingdom in rubble…’

There was another picture, this time of the herald with his axe and bow and arrow.

‘...Moments before he grabbed his weapons, he allegedly told one of his servants that he was ‘through’ and was ‘willing to take everything on Earthbread down to get what (he) wants.’ After this, cookies would be crumbled if they did not profess their undying loyalty to him. However this is not a guaranteed way to be spared, as many report seeing plenty of loyal servants be reduced to crumbs and jam.’

As if the day couldn’t get any worse.

As Blueberry Milk Cookie was reading, Pure Vanilla looked down at the book in his hands. Little Red Riding Hood? Oh, they had that fairytale here too! But the more he looked at the cover, the more strange it appeared. These were… Humans on the front cover. Not cookies.

“Oh my witches. Oh my witches!”

Pure Vanilla looked up at Blueberry Milk, who had begun to hyperventilate, crushing the paper in his hands. His headache had come back tenfold.

“Fire Spice Cookie… What has gotten into you…
Oh goodness.”

Pure Vanilla stood beside him and peered at the paper… Fire Spice Cookie. That was Golden Cheese’s virtue. Wow… She did say he was acting weird. There were so many emotions running through Blueberry Milk Cookie’s head.

“I must return home immediately… I… Oh gosh.”

“Please breathe first, Bluebird…”

Blueberry Milk ignored the others' warning and held the paper to his chest, taking Vanilla’s hand and flying towards his tower. When they arrived, he rushed to his desk, scrambling to grab a piece of paper and his jar of ink. He was knocking books and jars of ink off of his desk.

“I must write to him… It'll be too dangerous to go in person… Fuck!”

As he looked for a blank envelope, he stumbled upon one that had not been opened and was addressed to him.

“Slow down!”

Pure Vanilla rushed to his side, trying to calm him. But it was to no avail, because that letter happened to be from Fire Spice, dated two weeks ago. Blueberry’s adrenaline spoked the moment he read who it was from. He quickly tore it open, how could he have missed this?

‘Blueberry Milk Cookie,

I hope this letter finds you well! I am writing to you as a reply to your previous letter as well as a formal invite to my kingdom! To answer your question, I haven’t been doing well. I find it hard to get out of bed in the morning when I know the same things await me. So, I was thinking we could go on a week long backpacking trip around Earthbread! We could go explore uncharted parts of land and you could be the first to discover them. I’ll even let you talk my ear off all about the plants and animals.’

Blueberry Milk Cookie couldn’t read the rest of the letter, dropping it down on his desk, staring off into the distance.

“Oh. So it’s… My fault.”

Pure Vanilla Cookie pulled him away from the desk, and the other cookie looked up at him.

“My friend reached out to me for help two weeks ago. Yet I Missed it. He thinks I ignored him.”

Blueberry Milk’s voice was monotone, and he clutched Pure Vanilla’s robes.

“I even mentioned my letters at the feast.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t think that-”

“What ELSE would he think?!”

The man was so evidently stressed, releasing the other and gripping his hair again.

“My friend has been depressed for witches knows how long and I didn’t read the clear cry for help he sent me and now two weeks later he is CRUMBLING COOKIES!”

The blonde reached up to grab his hands, but paused as he stared at his hair. A black streak had formed in his hair under where he had been clutching. A void in his beautiful galaxy. He had some common sense though, now wasn’t the time to bring that up.

He grabbed his hands, pulling him close to him.

“It is not your fault… Breathe.”

Pure Vanilla wasn’t sure how to comfort him. Saying there was nothing he could’ve done would not have helped, going there would pose a serious risk, and I don’t think he wanted to write him a letter right now.

“This day could not have gone any worse! I yelled at a student, I cried over something childish, and now this! Something I could’ve prevented!”

“…It’s out of your hands now, Blueberry Milk Cookie. The past is in the past. What you can do now is work towards bringing your friend, and yourself, back up again.”

The cookie looked up at him, then down at his desk. He nodded, by the witches his head hurt. Pure Vanilla led him to the desk, sitting him and himself down on the chair. He set the letter from his friend aside, pulling out a blank sheet of paper and grabbing his fountain pen.

“Here, I’ll help… What would you like to say to him?”

The Fount stared at the page for a moment, before he began to just… Pour his heart out to the other man. Most of it wasn’t even about Spice, but he wrote it all down anyway. As it turns out, it felt good to vent out his frustrations. By the time The Fount was finished, he had filled two pages, front and back.

“Hmm… I feel better now. Should we send off the letter?”

“…Maybe after a couple revisions! You should rest first, you’ve had a long day.”

The exhaustion suddenly hit him like a freight train.

“Oh, maybe you’re right…”

Pure Vanilla lifted him up in his arms. If he wasn’t so tired, he would’ve told him that he was ‘not a baby’ and could walk on his own. As Pure Vanilla took him to his closet, picking out a pair of black and blue pajamas. It matched that streak in his hair.

“Healer Cookie, put me down. I’m still perfectly functional.”

He tsked, floating out of his arms and taking the nightwear from him. The two stared at each other for a moment.

“…Well? Are you going to turn around?”

“Right! Sorry.”

Pure Vanilla turned his back, slightly embarrassed. They had grown so familiar this past few days, he had almost expected him to change right in front of him. I guess not that familiar.

“Healer Cookie, I hope this isn’t too much of an ask… But can you join me for bed tonight? Your scent will help me sleep better.”

Maybe they were fairly familiar!

“Of course… I’ll have to leave—”

“Early in the morning, I know. Can I ask why?”

“I have… Business to take care of.”

The Fount didn’t pry any further, going to lay down in his bed. Pure Vanilla removed his hat and coat, setting it nearby so he could eventually replace himself with the clothing. He then got in bed beside him, the blueberry cookie pulling him close and speaking,

“Goodnight… I hope you rest well.”

“You as well…”

The Fount was correct, his scent did help him sleep that night. He was only disturbed once, when he felt the mass he had been cuddling gone. He fluttered his eyes open, looking up at Pure Vanilla. He hadn’t noticed he was awake, grabbing his clothing and filling the gap in his arms. Blueberry whined before snuggling into it.

“Now I must return home… I’ll see you tomorrow night, Blueberry Milk Cookie.”

He watched as the cookie kissed his forehead, before flying off into the night sky, blending in with the stars.

Return home, Huh…

What a fascinating cookie.

Chapter Text

As much as he wanted to, Pure Vanilla could not escape his duties on earth. Yet again, he has needed to leave the comfort of his galaxy to fulfill his duties at the council. Since he was having trouble on his return trips back to Earth, this time he decided he’d conduct the spell in his bedroom. He was honestly kind of upset at himself that he hadn’t thought of this earlier. Now, instead of risking hurting himself, he woke up in the comfort of his own bed. It was still a pretty harrowing experience, but at least he was comfortable.

He stretched as he exited his room and went into his kitchen, before pausing. He could feel a faint presence in his room… A magical presence. He looked around, but he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But it made him feel uneasy, as if he was being watched. Pure Vanilla hummed, closing all of his eyes and taking a deep breath. Focus… Where was the energy coming from? He walked closer and closer to where it laid, before stopping. It was right in the corner… He reached his hand out and waved it about.

“Someone put a spell in my kitchen...”

Either someone had come into his home whilst he was on Earthbread, or… No, no. Cacao would never do that. The spell was no longer there, but someone powerful had to of cast it for it to still have an aura left behind. He brushed off those thoughts, taking one more quick look around for any signs of entry. After he found nothing, he headed to his closet to pick out something to wear… Nothing too showy. Something casual. Some jeans… A white sweater… And a comfortable coat. Good enough. He made a mental to-do list of the things he needed to achieve today. He needed to go shopping for more ingredients and food… Turn in his baking reports… Then maybe he could pick up a snack before he left. After that, he grabbed his broom and flew off into the sky, arriving at The Odyssey in no time at all.

He didn’t expect to be at the Odyssey long, as he only needed to turn in his report. What he didn’t expect was to see White Lily at the same station to turn in her report too!

“Lily! Hello, It's nice to see you again.”

The two exchanged pleasant smiles to each other.

“What brings you to headquarters?”

“I forgot to check my mail the last time I was here…”

”Ah! Do you mind if I join you?”

White Lily shook her head, and the two headed down the hall towards the mail room.

“Did you finish that embroidery you were working on during the meeting?”

White Lily grabbed at her cloak, which was covered in different patches of embroidery that she had done. She looked around for a moment before finding the one she had recently completed.

“Wow! That’s very pretty… You should teach me how to do this stuff one day.”

Lily hummed as the two arrived at the mail room. Pure Vanilla followed her to her mailbox, watching as she pulled out three books. Pure Vanilla leaned in, curious.

“Oh, we’re on this book…”

“Hm?”

Pure Vanilla examined the cover, admiring the illustrations. He watched as White Lily shifted through to the next book, seeing one he recognized. Little Red Riding Hood.

“...Oh! These are the books they sent down to Earthbread!”

White Lily ‘ah’ed, nodding and tucking them under her arm.

“Well, that's all I needed… I'll see you later.”

“Oh, okay! Goodbye…”

Pure Vanilla smiled at her, but frowned once she turned her back to him and left. He sighed and walked to his mailbox, grabbing the same books Lily had gotten. There was the council book, Little Red Riding Hood, but he hadn’t seen what the last book was.

“Oh, a cookbook… Can they actually use these?”

He opened the book, beginning to flip through it before he was interrupted by a witch clearing his throat behind him. He turned, being met by one of the mailmen.

“Can you come with me, please? There’s something we need to discuss.”

“Huh? Is something wrong?”

The other witch didn’t answer, guiding him to a private office connected to the mailroom. Gosh, what had he done now?

“Yesterday, you received a letter in your mailbox that contained a ridiculous amount of magical energy.”

Ohhh. So it was about that. That made a lot of sense.

“Yes, Cacao delivered it to me yesterday… The amount of energy it had shocked me.”

Pure Vanilla could still remember the feeling of that much mana at his fingertips. The other witch furrowed her eyebrows, leaning further in.

“Are you aware of who sent this letter?”

Pure Vanilla glanced to the side. Technically? If it wasn’t all some elaborate prank, yes, but that wasn’t even mentioning how that could even happen.

“Maybe… I have suspicions but I’m not entirely sure.”

The other witch didn’t like that answer, grabbing the lamp on her desk and moving the light into Pure Vanilla’s face. He leaned back, trying to get as far from it as possible.

“Yes or no!”

“Uhm, no?

This was a really harsh interrogation for just a little letter.

“That letter was picked up by a child before Cacao brought it to you!”

Pure Vanilla gasped and covered his mouth with his fingertips.

“Oh my god, are they okay?”

“They are recovering well. Did you have any intentions of harming other witches?”

“What?! No! Of course not! I was completely surprised when I touched the letter. If I had known I’d receive something so powerful I’d have personally waited for its arrival!”

He tried to defend himself, the witch looking over his mannerisms carefully.

“What were the contents of the letter? Were you hexed?”

“As far as I could tell, no… It seemed like a prayer.”

The witch glared at him for three more seconds, before exhaling and setting the lamp back to its original position on the desk.

“Seems like you’ve been truthful this whole conversation…”

Pure Vanilla nodded.

“If I had known I’d receive that I would have personally warned the staff and gathered it myself.”

He held a hand over his chest.

“I swear on the council…”

The other witch hummed.

“I suppose you’re off the hook for now… But if something like this were to happen again and another child were to be hurt you’ll be taken back for further questioning. Do you understand?”

“Yes… I understand.”

Pure Vanilla stood from his seat, he felt like he just got sent to the principal's office and told off for something he didn’t do. He left the room with a sigh, looking over at his mailbox. He should visit the kid who was injured… They were probably being kept here.

As he walked down the hall, he flipped through the pages of the cookbook- It was just a guide on how to bake cookies and some simple desserts. Half of it wouldn’t be much use for them since they didn’t have any life powder.

“There's some interesting frosting recipes here I should try…”

He hummed absentmindedly, grabbing the edge of the papers and skimming over everything, before he reached the last page and immediately stopped in his tracks.

Was that… Him? Eating a cookie? At the end of the cookbook?

Oh my god.

He rushed to Latte’s office, knocking lightly but rapidly at the door. It took her a moment to respond.

“Who is banging my door down— Oh hello Pure Vanilla!”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?!”

Latte blinked at him, before noticing the books in his hand.

“It should be fine! They don’t have any life powder so they can’t go trying to play god.”

Latte chuckled, but Pure Vanilla looked at her sternly.

“Not that! This!”

He held up the very last page which contained that illustration of him.

“What’s wrong with it? I made sure I didn’t lighten your skin.”

“What?? Latte, I’m eating a cookie in this drawing.”

“Yeah, so?”

Pure Vanilla whined, lowering the book slightly before looking her in the eyes.

“Latte… What would you do if you found out your only purpose of living was to be killed? Eaten, like a tasty dessert?”

“Well, I’d be flattered, I am a tasty des-“

“Latte. They worship us like gods. What do you think their reaction will be once they realize we eat them?”

She shrugged.

“They’d probably start sacrificing cookies like back in our old days.”

Latte crossed her arms.

“I really don’t see the issue! We do eat them, why else would they assume they taste so good and have jam filling? Nearly every part of them is candy or sweets.”

“Well they don’t eat parts of themselves! …Latte, look at it this way. What if we received a book from the sky that shows a picture of a god eating one of us?!”

“Well, we don’t actively reach down and eat them… It’s fine. Nothing we can do about it now!”

Pure Vanilla held his head. Gosh, she was so careless! She had not a care in the world for how this could affect the other cookies either. He needs to get home, and quickly. People were becoming suspicious of him, and now Blueberry Milk Cookie had these books in his possession.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

Blueberry Milk Cookie’s found it odd that his students have suddenly gained an odd newfound confidence and curiosity overnight. Nearly every class he would engage in a debate with his students over even the smallest things. Maybe he was just sensitive after hearing the news of his friend. Nearly every class was talking about it too, especially the students who originated from the kingdom.

He sighed as he approached the last class of the day. They had a test so at least they’d be quiet… He could sit down and read another one of the books he’d acquired yesterday. Hmm.. He had read Little Red Riding Hood over five times already, so he decided to explore the cookbook.

He would read pages of the book and then glance up at his students, standing up regularly and walking through each of the lanes and examining the test papers. He was too fascinated with the book to notice someone had entered his classroom.

Pure Vanilla made an immediate beeline towards him once he noticed what he was reading. He’s going to have to drag him away from these books all day! Pure Vanilla went around Blueberry’s desk from behind, covering his eyes with his hands.

“Guess who…”

He whispered, not exactly wanting to disturb those taking the test. He glanced down at the book… Okay. He was only halfway through. He could manage to get it away from him long enough and rip that page out.

“Hmm… It’s my last class and you smell of Vanilla so… Healer Cookie?”

Pure Vanilla giggled, spinning his chair around and turning him to face him.

“Are you busy at all…?”

“No, not really… They’re taking a test.”

Pure Vanilla nodded, he needed to get him away from that book. He glanced over at the students, before taking the book from him and setting it on his desk, sitting down in his lap. Blueberry Milk Cookie looked back at his students, before turning his chair towards the board so they couldn’t see their homoerotic display.

“In front of my class?”

He whispered playfully, not minding of course, wrapping his arms loosely around his waist.

“I missed you… Today has been hard.”

Blueberry Milk whispered, and Pure Vanilla leaned down to rest his head on his shoulder, looking up at the other.

“Where exactly do you go every day?”

“That’s the second time you’ve asked me…”

“The Fount of Knowledge’s search for information is never ending… Which reminds me…”

Blueberry Milk Cookie turned back around to grab the books, turning back to face the board.

“I got these books from the witches the other day! Aren’t they just fascinating?”

Pure Vanilla mentally cursed, pushing the books away slightly with his hands.

“I suppose…”

He snuggled deeper into him, pulling out Little Red Riding Hood. This book was harmless, as long as he wasn’t reading the cookbook…

“Can you read this one to me?”

“Of course!”

Blueberry, lost in his excitement, had said that far louder than he intended. Pure Vanilla giggled softly, trying to appear small so most of his class would not see him. Blueberry flushed up slightly but opened the book, and began to read. Pure Vanilla had heard this story about a thousand times growing up, so he was hardly even listening. Anything to keep him away from the other two books. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't looked through the council book either. That could give him away almost immediately depending on what was in it.

Pure Vanilla did his best to keep his interest on Little Red Riding Hood. But he would gravitate back to the cookbook when the food was mentioned, wondering if the food she had that was displayed in the cookbook. Her basket contained bread, fruits, and vegetables. So Pure Vanilla pointed to them on the page.

“Those are fruits and vegetables… They won't be in the cookbook. That's bread… It’s made about the same way pasta is.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie hummed, listening to what the cookie was saying. He knew all of this already, of course. But he didn’t mind learning again.

Pure Vanilla was able to keep him away from the other two books until the bell rang, in which he sprung up and took all three books into his arms.

“I can carry them for you!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie looked at him strangely, but shrugged it off as he collected all the test papers, putting them in a folder before they headed out the classroom.

“Blueberry Milk Cookie…”

Pure Vanilla thought to himself… He needed to keep him away from those books.

“Can I come over tonight?”

“You’ve been coming over the last few nights, there's no need to ask anymore…”

Pure Vanilla giggled softly,

“I guess you’re right… Maybe you can give me a tour of the library? Play some chess, or another game you like?”

Blueberry Milk smiled, looking over at him.

“That would be lovely.”

The two walked to Blueberry Milk’s home in a comfortable silence. He would glance over at Pure Vanilla every now and then. He hadn’t met this cookie long ago, but they’ve already grown so close… He looked over at him, then would mutter under his breath.

“I really am such a fool…”

“Did you say something?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie shook his head, taking his free hand and leaning in to peck his cheek, before flying into the air with him.

“Nothing at all…”

They arrived at the house not long after. Blueberry Milk Cookie extended a hand for his books, but Pure Vanilla held his hand up and shook his head.

“I can put it down for you…”

He walked over to his desk, looking for someplace he could hide it under. Blueberry Milk Cookie stared at him for a moment, before covering his hand with his mouth and giggling. What was he doing? He walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm.

“Just put them in that drawer… Are you okay? Did the Little Red Riding Hood story scare you?”

He teased, gently shaking his shoulders. Pure Vanilla seemed stiff, but placed the books down in the drawer.

“Oh, give me that book with the witches on the cover though…”

He reached over for it, but Pure Vanilla grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers, gliding them away from the desk.

“Why do you want that book when I'm here with you?”

He wrapped his other arm around his waist, twirling him around the room.

“I thought you might want me to read to you again… Besides, wouldn't it be fascinating to learn about the witches together?”

To learn about the people he had known since he was a child? No.

“Why don't we do that later… Why don't we explore your library, dance, or play chess… Even take a nap!”

Pure Vanilla tossed himself and Blueberry Milk Cookie onto the bed.

“I'm feeling a little tired, how about you?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie stared at him for a moment.

“You're acting rather strange, Pure Vanilla. Why don't you want me to read those books?”

The galaxy haired man sat up, looking down at the other cookie. Pure Vanilla looked to the side, he had been figured out… It’s not like he was being subtle about it, though.

“Do you really require my attention that badly…”

The blonde nodded frantically. It was basically true.

“Fine… I will indulge you. I won't touch those books tonight.”

Pure Vanilla smiled, leaning up and taking his hands. Mission accomplished.

“My chess set is in my library… We can kill two birds with one stone!”

So the two went down to his library, enjoying a game of chess together. Pure Vanilla had not played this game in quite a long time, becoming frustrated rather quickly as it seemed Blueberry Milk Cookie would always checkmate him.

Pure Vanilla leaned down so close to the board he was sneezing from all the dust. Blueberry had his elbow on the table, looking down at him in amusement. He could put him in checkmate again if he just moved his knight to B7… Pure Vanilla grabbed one of his pieces and placed it in a spot where he could take his king.

“Ha! Check!”

Pure Vanilla exclaimed, and Blueberry Milk Cookie smiled at him.

“Ohh noo…”

He moved his king out of the way, maybe he’d humor him a little bit. Pure Vanilla kept chasing him with that one piece, and Blueberry Milk Cookie would purposely move his king in a position where Pure Vanilla could put him in checkmate.

“...I won. That's checkmate!! Bluebird, I won!”

Pure Vanilla nearly jumped out of his seat in excitement. Blueberry Milk Cookie clapped his hands.

“Bravo!”

Even if he had let him win, he still won, and that was enough for him.

“Would you like to explore the library now?”

“Oh, right, yes! That would be lovely…”

The two enjoyed the stroll through Blueberries vast collection of books. He would show off absolutely everything he had on the witches, and Pure Vanilla would awkwardly look away and try not to appear too much like the waffle witch in the books.

“You know, you look awfully similar to this witch…”

He pointed to the vague drawings of him, looking up at Pure Vanilla. The blonde held his breath, nodding.

“He's probably the one that baked you! Isn't that cool?”

“Yeah! Super cool…”

Pure Vanilla exhaled softly. Blueberry smiled, raising a brow at him.

“Hmm… I'm quite hungry. Do you want to order a Jelly Deluxe Pizza?”

Pure Vanilla nodded, letting the other lead him out. Pure Vanilla sat and rested on his bed whilst Blueberry Milk Cookie ordered the pizza… This was his chance. He floated up and out of the bed and over to the dresser, carefully opening the drawer and picking up the book. He carefully tuned to the last page so Blueberry Milk Cookie wouldn't hear him…

“Pure Vanilla Cookie, do you want red jellies or blue jellies?”

He jumped, dropping the book and kicking it under the desk, shutting the drawer quickly. Blueberry Milk Cookie hadn't noticed, sticking his head in the doorway.

“Uh- Red Jellies!!”

Blueberry nodded and left the room again, and Pure Vanilla sighed. Well… If it was under here he wouldn't be able to find it. He'll tear it out later. He went and laid back down on the bed, sighing and holding his head. If only he was the one who sent things down.

“Are you alright?”

Pure Vanilla rolled over, uncovering his face and looking over at him.

“Mhm… Pizza ordered?”

“It’ll be here soon…”

And soon it was. Blueberry set it down in the kitchen and brought two plates to the bedroom.

“Please don’t get any jellies on my bed…”

Pure Vanilla nodded. This’ll be… Interesting. Candy Pizza. He was curious to see how it would taste, though… He took a bite, before smiling.

“Hm… It’s just a sweeter version.”

“A sweeter version? Of what?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie looked over at him, and he shook his head.

“Nothing… It’s good.”

The two ate in a comfortable silence, but Blueberry Milk Cookie had something on his mind. Once they finished the pizza and it was time for rest, Blueberry Milk Cookie stayed awake until he was absolutely certain the other had fallen asleep.

“I did say I wouldn’t read anything last night. I didn’t say anything about the early morning though…”

He lit a candle, walking over to the desk and grabbing a book, before returning to his bed. He gently pet Pure Vanilla’s head as he naturally snuggled into his thigh, reading the book in silence.

“I wonder if my little witch will leave early tomorrow as well… Hm.”

He gently ran his hand over his cheek, a smile forming on his face.

“You’re so obvious… It’s a wonder you haven’t been caught yet.”

Chapter Text

When Blueberry Milk Cookie fell asleep reading the book, he didn't expect to see Pure Vanilla still beside him that next morning. The candle had melted over his desk and the flame extinguished. He was unceremoniously sprawled out over his bed, book in one hand and Pure Vanilla’s head on the other. Pure Vanilla was between his legs snuggled into his belly.

Blueberry Milk Cookie was the first to wake up, the sunlight over the horizon disturbing his sleep and waking him. He was a little bit confused when he felt such a heavy weight on him, but he smiled when he realized what it was. He gently rubbed his head for a moment, before awkwardly shimmying and maneuvering the sleeping blonde off of him so he could get up without waking him. It didn’t work. Pure Vanilla just snuggled deeper into him, trying to ignore his movement.

“Pure Vanilla… Wake up.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie gently shook him. He hummed softly, stirring awake. He was fairly drowsy, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“Huh?”

He had overslept… He meant to leave that morning. But the other had been so soothing, that he couldn't resist laying his head back down on the other and snoozing for just a bit longer.

“Good morning…”

The blueberry cookie’s voice was hushed as he sat up. Pure Vanilla tried to lay back down, laying on Blueberry Milk Cookie’s shoulders.

“Do you want me to get you some breakfast?”

Pure Vanilla nodded into his shoulder, It had been a while since he had a good rest. If he could just sleep for a slight bit longer… He whined as he felt the Fount slipping away from him.

“I have to leave to get you food, Pure Vanilla.”

The blonde would grumble, but moved off of him and cuddled into the bed. It wasn’t the same. Blueberry Milk got up and left to the kitchen, leaving Pure Vanilla to drift back off on the bed, a lingering scent of blueberry edging him back to sleep. A while later, he felt the bed sink in beside him and the smell of a baked good hit his nose. Like a cakehound to a piece of jellybean steak, Pure Vanilla had sat up, still slightly leaning on the other, trying to steal a bite of the snack. Blueberry Milk indulged him, giving him bites of the cheese filled croissant.

“It’s filled with cheese…”

Golden Cheese would like something like this… The gooey melted cheese complimented the fluffy croissant. The more he ate, the more he would awake, and eventually the two had finished the cheese filled pastries.

“Did you rest well, Healer Cookie?”

“Yeah, I did…”

Pure Vanilla glanced down at his lap for a moment. Something about that name felt… Odd. Healer cookie. Blueberry Milk Cookie reached over to put the plate on the bedside table, his hand returning with the council book. Curse this cookie’s thirst for knowledge… He gently grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

“Really? You’ll read this early in the morning? Why not spend some time with me… You don’t have to go to the academy today, right?”

He took the book from him, leaning in closer to his face.

“Maybe we could do something fun today instead…”

He set the book aside, intertwining their fingers.

“Of course! What would you like to do, Pure Vanilla?”

The witch suddenly faltered. Pure Vanilla? Where had he learned that name? He hadn’t read the book yet, had he? He put that book in the drawer last night with the rest. Now it was… On the bedside table.

“That’s- That’s not my name. I’m-”

“Healer Cookie? You've responded to Pure Vanilla a couple times now!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie stood up from the bed, clasping his hands together.

“Heh, a vanilla cookie? Around these parts? Unheard of!”

Pure Vanilla’s eyes widened, what could he do? …Right, you are a witch. Haha, that’s the topic at hand. He reached into his inner coat, pulling out his wand as Blueberry Milk Cookie turned around and grabbed his wrist.

“Were you about to cast a spell on me?”

The grip on his wrist tightened. The other cookie had such an intense gaze, unlike anything he had seen from him before.

“I’m sorry, but If I just erase your memory-”

“Erase my memory?! Why on Earthbread would you do that…”

He pressed him down onto the bed, restricting his hands and snatching the wand from him.

“My apologies, but… How fascinating.”

Pure Vanilla stared up at the Fount, who was busy examining the wand he had taken from him.

“I thought I may have been going crazy… But, No… You really are a witch!”

The blonde finally started struggling in his grasp, but Blueberry Milk was surprisingly stronger than he looked. He burst out into a fit of giggles, looking back down at the cookie.

“I'm not a witch, Blueberry Milk Cookie!”

“Oh, but you are… There's no denying it anymore.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie twirled the wand in his fingers, releasing Pure Vanilla to run his fingers along it.

“Oh, how exciting…!”

Pure Vanilla took this opportunity to overpower him, pinning him down onto the bed instead and snatching the wand from him, pointing it directly at his face. Blueberry Milk Cookie didn’t seem afraid at all, instead excited. Pure Vanilla grit his teeth, trying to quickly think of a spell.

“Your eyes are so beautiful.”

…Damn it. Pure Vanilla sighed, covering his face with his hands. A memory erasure spell was so dangerous. He groaned, but Blueberry Milk Cookie reached up and grabbed his hands.

“Don't feel bad… I realized this days ago! You can't hide things from the Fount of Knowledge.”

Pure Vanilla pulled away from Blueberry Milk Cookie, clutching his wand in case he needed to cast a spell. Worst case scenario.

“What are you going to do?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie got up, going to his desk and grabbing a pen and scroll.

“... Please don't tell anyone.”

The blueberry cookie rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, but nodded to agree.

“I want to court you.”

Pure Vanilla stopped and stared at him, had he heard that right?

“I'm sorry?”

“I want to be your boyfriend.”

He began writing things down on the paper, looking up at him.

“Wh-why? What?! I'm a witch, I created you, we e-”

Blueberry Milk Cookie suddenly leaned over, kissing him on the lips. The shocked cookie hesitated before leaning onto it. The Fount pulled away only a little bit, holding his face.

“Why would that stop me?”

Vanilla opened his mouth to say something, but Blueberry Milk Cookie leaned back into the kiss. His tongue invaded his mouth, and the blonde was instantly captivated by the delicious taste of blueberry. The two got lost in eachother for a moment, before Blueberry Milk Cookie finally pulled away, grabbing his hands with a smile.

“Will you?”

“I-... I suppose.”

Pure Vanilla put a hand on his lips, in a slight daze from the kiss.

“Goodness, you taste delicious... Are you not afraid of me? Concerned at all?”

“Why would I be afraid?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie stood up, extremely pleased with the interaction.

“Now that we are officially together… I have so many questions I must ask you!”

Ah, there it was. That boundless curiosity of his. Pure Vanilla was still recovering from the bold action, that taste lingering in his mouth.

“What are the other witches like? How big is The Odyssey? How do you cast spells? Are you born a witch or must you earn the title? Goodness I still can't believe I really met a witch! …Oh gosh I'm dating a witch!”

Everything had seemingly hit the Fount all at once, who was now bouncing around the room in excitement.

“Why were we made? Why did you make me? Are there other cookies that live in your world? Wait, you live in our world, but in the sky in secret? Why are you a cookie? Why-”

“Please slow down…”

Pure Vanilla held his head, still holding the wand close to him. If he were to erase... No, alter his memory, he could make him forget he was ever a witch. But it seemed like a Fount had known for quite a while already, piecing together everything through their days together. That was so many memories he would have to look through and change. Perhaps there was no point.

“Are you alright? Surely you’re not thinking of getting rid of my memory again, are you…”

The blonde put his hand on his thigh, sighing heavily and looking up at the Fount.

“More trouble than it’s worth… Would you like to learn about spells?”

“Would I!”

This was a good, safe start. He couldn’t cast spells, nor would he need to. He should avoid telling him as much about his creation and the other witches as much as possible. His curiosity was endless, only god knows what would happen if he found out he could enter the human world.

“Each spell a witch makes must be poetry… Lesser witches use simple rhymes, whilst higher witches like I use haikus.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie leaned in further into his paper, writing down every one the cookie was saying. Pure Vanilla tsked, before waving his wand gently.

“My blueberry treat,
Bring your attention to me
Ink cannot love you.”

The Fount had been so busy writing what he heard that he hadn’t noticed the magic rushing from his wand until it plucked the paper and pen right out of his hands, blowing it back to the desk. The magic then rushed back to the cookies, picking Blueberry Milk Cookie up, who responded with a welp. The magic then pushed that cookie into the blondes welcoming arms.

“…Wow! Can you do that again?!”

He bounced in excitement in his lap, staring at the wand, then at the culprit of the spell. Pure Vanilla shook his head,

“Most spells are situational. It’s extremely common to make them up on the spot.”

“Can you cast another spell on me? The way it rushed through my body…”

He looked down at his fingertips, wiggling them and watching as small sparks flew from them, an aftermath of the spell.

“I didn’t cast a spell on you… This is casting a spell on you. It’ll feel a little weird, so prepare yourself.”

The cookie did as told, clenching his fists and closing his eyes. Pure Vanilla giggled softly, he didn’t need to prepare that much. He gently caressed his cheek, before waving his wand once more.

“Entrance little blue,
Vanilla, your fixation
Bewitching your heart.”

The magic, pink this time, flew out of his wand and wrapped itself around the helpless cookie. It rushed into his body, enveloping every part of him before settling over his eyes. The Blueberry cookie blinked, rubbing his eyes a tad.

“…Was that a love spell?”

“It should’ve been. Do you feel any different?”

The blonde wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him closer and against his body.

“…No, not at all.”

Once more, the two got lost in their love for each other, Blueberry Milk Cookie pulling away first.

“Seems like it did work a little bit…”

Pure Vanilla giggled softly, but Blueberry Milk seemed to have something else on his mind, staring to the side.

“…You’re the witch who baked me, correct? Why did you make me?”

Ah.

“Well, I and the other witches decided that this land needed someone to rule over each region. Guides. Virtues… You and your friends.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie avoided eye contact with him, now looking down at his thighs.

“You know this part of the story already… Each of us had a different virtue. I was tasked with knowledge.”

“So my purpose is to educate? To teach the lands anything they could ever possibly want to know?”

“Your purpose is to exist. That’s all.”

Pure Vanilla hummed, holding his face. But the Fount didn’t seem satisfied with that answer.

“You wouldn’t waste resources to populate Earthbread with useless cookies. You had to have a proper reason to create me. My friends and I are far different from other cookies, we hold power, land. Just tell me the truth.”

Pure Vanilla sighed.

“Your purpose is to seek the truth. How about that? Will that answer satisfy your curiosity?”

Blueberry Milk nodded, yet he still looked as if he was deep in thought.

“What would you do with me if I stopped seeking the truth?”

“Do you intend on doing that?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Then why are you asking?”

“So something would happen to me if I stopped seeking the truth?”

“No, Bluebird! I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“You wouldn’t let that happen? So then, what will happen to Fire Spice Cookie? He has strayed from his intended purpose. If I’m not mistaken, you didn’t bake him, so he’s not your responsibility. What will they do with him?”

The Fount of Knowledge. His search for truth would be unrelenting and his curiosity for knowledge never would be quenched.

“Nothing—”

“You witches will allow someone as dangerous as him to continue roaming free? He is crumbling cookies, destroying kingdoms—”

“Blueberry Milk Cookie!”

His voice was firm, eyebrows furrowed. Blueberry realized what he had said, covering his mouth.

“I apologize, I didn’t mean to question you all!”

“Everything will be taken care of, okay? I promise. Just stop worrying about it. There is only so much I can tell you.”

“Why? Aren’t I supposed to know? Isn’t that my purpose?”

Pure Vanilla looked away from the other, moving him off of his lap and standing up, stretching his body. Blueberry Milk Cookie sat there, looking down at his hands, his dough, then up at his creator. The witch.

“…In due time, okay? I’ll tell you everything when you’re ready.”

“How will you know when I’m ready?”

“Blueberry Milk Cookie… You should not concern yourself with the affairs of the witches. It’s a very dangerous game you’re playing.”

That firm voice again. He faltered, taking a breath and looking away. He wanted to snap back, but decided he should keep his mouth shut.

“Sorry.”

The two stayed in an awkward silence until Pure Vanilla turned on his heel, walking up to the Fount and gently taking his hands into his own, leading him off the bed.

“You will not seek out any further information. If I tell you I can’t answer something, move on. Do you understand?”

“…I understand.”

But he didn’t understand. Who was he to limit his flow of information like that, moreso than it already was? Well, he was a witch, of course, but… Something didn’t feel right. Was Pure Vanilla not meant to be down here at all? Why couldn’t he tell him all he wished to know? He had told him that was his purpose, right? To seek truth. Yet he wasn’t letting him do that. There were consequences for not being useful to Earthbread too, it seemed. Were there consequences for not being useful to him?

The Fount squeezed the others hands, before standing up and smiling softly at him.

“I want to take you somewhere… Meet me in the kitchen. Okay?”

Pure Vanilla smiled, kissing his face and doing as told, going off to the kitchen. Blueberry Milk Cookie grabbed the council book off his bedside table, going to his desk and staring at it. He furrowed his eyebrows, snatching open the drawer and attempting to throw the book down into it. But he missed, and it landed onto the floor. He grumbled, getting down on his knees and picking it up— Before he spotted the cookbook. He picked that up as well, staring at it.

A witches cookbook. Given to him directly by the witches. Surely he wouldn’t get in trouble for reading something they had literally given him to study. He grumbled, standing and placing the books back into the drawer.

Suddenly, he had a headache.

Pure Vanilla waited in the kitchen for the other to arrive. However, when he did, he frowned. In the few moments he had left him, he suddenly looked so drained. But in a single moment Blueberry Milk Cookie fixed his face, putting on a smile as he saw the other.

“We’re going on a picnic! You know what the yogurt river is, right?”

“Are you alright?”

“Hm…? Yes, I'm fine… I don't suppose you have a spell that would cure a headache, would you?”

The witch pulled out his wand, waving his hand.

“Soften my lovers
Debilitating ache
With a simple kiss.”

He waved the wand, leaning down and kissing his forehead. Blueberry Milk Cookie hummed in relief, leaning into the kiss. The magic made his kiss feel cool to the touch. He leaned in further when he went to pull away, but eventually the two parted.

“You said we were going on a picnic? If you'd like…”

He raised his wand with a smile,

“I can surprise you with some human food.”

The other instantly perked up,

“You can do that?!”

He can try.

“Yup!”

The Fount turned around and ran the other direction, presumably to fetch a basket and blanket. Pure Vanilla went to follow, but was stopped in his tracks.

The void had come back. It was spreading. It stretched all the way down the length of his hair, and had grown wider. Anyone would be able to see it. The bright stars that were once there now were blue, and resembled small eyes.

A monster within his galaxy of stars.

Oh, Blueberry Milk Cookie…

~

The Yogurt River of Rebirth, as the Fount called it, was where they were to have their picnic. Pure Vanilla had volunteered to take the basket, following the excited Fount. Pure Vanilla was still trying to figure out how to get human food down here… Well, the barrier was already weak. He could probably manage something.

They arrived at this beautiful clearing, surrounded by large trees bearing fruit. They reminded him of wisteria trees back home. The Fount took the basket and began setting up near the trunk of a tree, right beside the river.

“Is this real yogurt…?”

Silly question. He dipped his finger into the river, shocked by its runny consistency. He thought it would be more consistent with actual yogurt, not water. He then lifted it out, tasting it.

“Be careful! If you fall in, you’ll just sink to the bottom. There’s no way to swim in it.”

“It’s blueberry flavored.”

Pure Vanilla chuckled, it must’ve been due to those fruits from the trees falling into it. Blueberries usually grow on bushes… But he supposed here it was different.

“My favorite…”

“I’m done setting up!”

Pure Vanilla went over to the quaint little spot under the tree, beckoned by the other. They sat down on the cloth Blueberry Milk Cookie had laid out, getting comfortable.

“So, what’s on the menu? What human food will I be able to try?!”

Pure Vanilla tapped his chin… Maybe he should stick to something that had a familiar jelly equivalent, or wasn’t far off from its counterpart… Like a pastry. Or meat.

“Close your eyes and cover your ears…”

Blueberry cocked his head to the side like a cakehound, but did as told a moment later. The Fount heard very soft murmurs, some frustrated huffing, the clinking of plates, a bit more murmuring before he was lightly tapped on the shoulder. He removed his hands, looking around at the scene before him.

There were glasses of what appeared to be juice, then plates filled with weird snacks and fruits he had not seen before. Immediately he was drawn to them, sniffing them and examining them with his eyes but not yet his mouth.

“You can try one…”

“It would be impolite to start eating without you.”

Pure Vanilla smiled, scooting up beside him with his plate and picking up a generic BLT he had made. He held it up to Blueberry Milk Cookie’s mouth, who took a bite…

“Blegh!”

The blonde had to contain his laughter. The other tried to appear as if he liked it, trying to chew, but the more he did that the more it became obvious he didn’t enjoy it. The blonde picked up a napkin,

“Spit it out if you don’t like it.”

Trying his best to be polite and explore human foods, he shook his head frantically. Pure Vanilla huffed, holding the napkin against his lips.

“Spit it out!”

He repeated, going back and forth with the cookie until he finally swallowed the bite of sandwich. Pure Vanilla sighed and rolled his eyes, leaning back and deciding to eat the sandwich himself.

“It’s okay to admit you don’t like something!”

“But right in front of you? This is your native food, that would be rude!”

The blonde shook his head,

“It’s more rude to pretend you like it rather than tell me outright that you aren’t privy to it…”

Blueberry Milk Cookie huffed, reaching down at the plate and exploring some other things from the human world. Pure Vanilla just sat down and watched, honestly quite drained from the spells he had performed in order to get the food here.

Eventually the Fount found the things he liked, gobbling those up with such quickness that he was sure the other would get a stomachache later.

“That’s this?”

“That’s wine. It’s like juice.”

It was juice if you thought about it, actually… Blueberry picked up two glasses, handing one to the blonde.

“Drink with me.”

Following his lead, Pure Vanilla chugged down the glass of wine he had managed to obtain. Honestly, when was the last time either of them had drank alcohol?

Turns out, Blueberry Milk Cookie could not hold his alcohol very well at all.

“The higher frequency of alcohol must’ve affected our dough more than juice would…”

The Fount muttered endless things to himself whilst drawing things in the air with his finger, leaning on the other.

“What are you… Doing…?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie suddenly stood, hoisting the other up with him.

“Woah!”

Pure Vanilla stumbled, landing on Blueberry Milk Cookie’s chest. He caught him, wrapping a hand around his waist and grabbing his hand, twirling him along the riverbank.

“W-woah, hey, we shouldn’t-”

“My lovely witch! Come, dance with me!”

Blueberry Milk cookie laughed, pulling him closer against him.

“We shall dance like this on our wedding day in the sky…! Surrounded by other witches, their jealousy would fuel my love for you! Hehe!”

The other had lost all sense of situational awareness, twirling alongside the edge of the river, nearly slipping countless times. Pure Vanilla would do his best to ensure they would not fall, but eventually there was only so much he could do when Blueberry Milk Cookie attempted to fall backwards into the river.

“Hey!”

Thankfully, the other grabbed his hand just in time. Blueberry Milk Cookie was looking up at the sky, his hair tainting the river.

“Silly witch, I can fly…”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!!”

That scare had him up just enough to snatch him away from the bank and back onto the ground, sitting on top of him.

“You will stay here!”

“I must stay here… My husband demands it…”

Blueberry Milk Cookie leaned onto the other cookie, an adorable fit of giggles. He snuggled into the man, muttering things to himself.

“I’ll meet the other witches… I’ll best them in a duel if they dare try to take my witch from me… They’ll all be jealous he could create something so beautiful…”

Pure Vanilla sighed, running his hand through his hair and trying to enjoy the sensation he got from being tipsy.

“Witch… Hehe… I sent you a letter. Did you receive it?”

He reached up to fiddle with his hair, a dorky smile sprawled across his face.

“Ah… That letter. I did receive it, you naughty cookie… Don’t do it again.”

“Why…?”

“Your magic energy was far too much for our world… You hurt someone.”

The Fount sat there for a moment in thought.

“So I do not belong in the human realm… Fascinating. Will you take me there one day…? You must have some way of traversing through both… Hm…”

The Fount was now laying down, his head in his lap.

“If you have a cookie form, is there a way for me to have a human form as well?”

“Maybe one day I’ll take you out.”

“Oh, splendid…”

Pure Vanilla was banking on the fact that he wouldn’t remember that in the future. He had no idea if the spell would work on cookies like that, or if he would have to create a vessel for him. He looked down at his lover to find him now sound asleep in his lap. The blonde murmured before lying down as well, snuggling into him.

Only the riverbank knew how long they had been sleeping, curled up into eachothers arms, soothed to sleep by the comforting warmth of the other. Similar to this morning, the Fount was the first to awake, greeted by his lovely witch. He’d smile and pull him closer to kiss his head, before once again attempting to maneuver himself out of the grasp of a touch starved man.

When he was free, he fist pumped in celebration, turning around to go peer into the river. Of course, like last time though, it didn’t last. Blueberry Milk Cookie looked at his reflection, smiling as he saw his beautiful stars twinkling in the river. He ran his fingers through it, before pausing. What was-

“Why must you always disturb me awake…”

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the blonde hugged him from behind, pulling him in close and nuzzling into his shoulder.

“Oh… My apologies.”

The two behaved as if they had been together for centuries, grabbing each other's faces and delivering sweet kisses to the other.

“Did you rest well?”

“I did… I had the most fascinating dream. Do you remember when you told me you could take me to the human world?”

Him and his big fat mouth!

“Well, I said maybe…”

“I had a dream that I was there with you, picking these odd little fruits on bushes. You looked exactly as you did now, but a human being instead…”

Blueberry Milk Cookie frowned, prompting the following question.

“What happened next?”

“Well, once we picked the berries, we went back to your home. You told me it was time for dessert… Then you did something to me, but I don’t remember what…”

“…Oh, well, it was just a dream! Why don’t we finish our picnic?”

The blonde quickly turned and directed him back to the cloth, presenting him with a piece of cake. It had a beautifully delicate white frosting, with little crumbled pieces of… Cookie on top.

“Oh, fucking hell!”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

He snatched the cake away from him, setting it aside.

“You shouldn’t eat that, here, I can find something else…”

“Are you afraid I won’t like it?”

He reached for the plate, and Pure Vanilla grabbed his hand, intertwining his fingers and leaning in close to him. He had used this tactic before.

“You’re acting strange… Like with those books. Are you hiding something from me? Again?”

Pure Vanilla frowned, glancing down at the cake.

“No! I just don’t think you’d like it, that's all!”

“I’ll spit it out this time if it doesn’t suit my tastes…”

Blueberry Milk Cookie pulled away from him, grabbing the plate of cake and a fork nearby.

“Blueberry Milk Cookie, you really shouldn’t!”

He reached for it, but the other skillfully dodged him. He picked a piece of cake up onto his fork. Well…

In the next couple of moments, the two were on the ground. So was the cake.

“…What was the point in having it here if I could not even eat it?”

The Fount grumbled, gently pushing the other off of him.

“I’m sorry, I tripped!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie was not convinced, and went over to the picnic basket. He reached his hand inside, and ended up pulling out a round cookie.

Why must he always make things harder for himself?!

The blonde immediately rushed over, but Blueberry Milk cookie took the witch into his arms and held him there, restricting his arms.

“I will be eating this. I won’t let you stop me… I wish to try more human foods.”

“Blueberry Milk Cookie, please, that’s not what you think it is.”

“What is it, then?”

Pure Vanilla didn’t respond, frowning at him. He looked down at the basket. Enchanting it to bring whatever food they desired most was a bad idea, he’s realizing.

The harsh sound of crunching hit his ears, then the sound of the man’s delight.

“It tastes like vanilla! What is this, anyway?”

“…A pastry.”

“This doesn’t appear like a pastry at all… How interesting! It has a lovely filling, too…”

All the witch could do was watch as he got crumbs on his face, until he was licking his fingers clean of jam.

“That was lovely! To think you tried to stop me from enjoying that…”

Pure Vanilla was released from the others hold, who tried to reach back down to the basket. Pure Vanilla reached down first, snatching the basket and covering the lid.

“The magic has worn off, it’s too dangerous for you to reach for something now.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie stared at him, then down at the basket.

“I enchanted it to give you whatever food you desire most. We’ve used up all my mana… So it might give you something other than food instead.”

“Mana? What does that mean?”

“It’s my source of magical energy… It’s how I cast spells.”

“So, everytime we took something from the basket, it would take some of your mana?”

Pure Vanilla nodded. It seemed like a plausible story to the Fount, but for some reason, he just didn’t believe him.

“…Can we go back to your tower now?”

The two cleaned up their mess, heading back to the tower. They put all the picnic stuff away, and Blueberry Milk Cookie got to watch as he disenchanted the basket.

We’ve used up all my mana, he said… Hm.

Aside from that, the two ended up cuddling on Blueberry Milk Cookie’s bed, reading the last bits of that screenplay they’d started reading a while back.

“…The end.”

Pure Vanilla clapped his hands,

“That was absolutely delightful… Oh, please tell me there’s another!”

“Nope, not even a spin off… Do you not like the ending?“

“I love the ending! But—”

Ba-dump.

Pure Vanilla paused, holding his chest for a moment.

“…Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m f—”

Ba-dump.

Wake up, Pure Vanilla!

Shit. His body began to grow hot, and he clutched the spot where his heart would be.

“…Pure Vanilla?”

“Listen to me, very carefully.”

Pure Vanilla groaned, a pounding headache suddenly appearing.

“I’m being summoned to the human world.”

He felt as if his body was being torn in two.

“My soul will go to Earth. This body will stay here.”

He started trembling harshly, prompting Blueberry Milk to hold him in his arms.

Wake up!

“I promise you, I am not- Dead-”

He began to struggle to breathe, clutching onto the Fount harder.

“Protect this- Body. Until I- return!”

He took his final breath, going limp in the other's arms. All Blueberry Milk Cookie could do was watch as the light left the man's eyes. The pupils would disappear, and the eye to the Orchid would go dark. That familiar warmth left the body, and Blueberry Milk was left with the corpse of his lover in hand.

“…Pure Vanilla?”

He whispered, now beginning to tremble on his own. He said he wasn’t dying. He was just going to the human world! There was no reason to worry, right? But still, he couldn’t stop himself from shaking and pulling him closer against him. He’s not dead… If he was truly dead he would’ve crumbled… Yes. That seemed to calm him for a brief moment.

Until he heard the ear piercing sound of a zipper. He looked in the direction of the noise- It looked like a portal.

All he saw was one giant dark hand before it scooped him up into its fist.

Yet, not once did he let go of Pure Vanilla’s body.

Chapter Text

A hand.

A hand?

A human hand?!

The Fount clutched onto Pure Vanilla’s body so hard he may have crumbled, pulling him close against him. He closed his eyes, engulfed in the warm hand. It smelled like chocolate.

“Pure Vanilla, have you absolutely lost your mind? What is the matter with you?! Do you have any idea what the rest of the council will do with you if they find this out?”

“They are not going to find out! I was so careful! If… If you hadn’t visited me practically everyday you wouldn't know either!”

“Well, pardon me for checking up on somebody who is dear to me!”

The Fount peaked open his eyes in darkness, trying to look around. That voice he heard, the one being reprimanded, sounded very familiar. He kept Pure Vanilla close to his body, but began to struggle and beat at the hand. Whatever was holding him shifted, lifting up and opening its palm.

The Fount stared in horror at such a large being, but only for a moment. The dark skin, purple eyes, long hair and one white streak…

“…You’re Dark Cacao!”

He immediately perked up, a large grin forming on his face. He nearly stood, before realizing he was still holding Pure Vanilla, so he bowed his head as deeply as he could.

“It is such a pleasure to meet you! Goodness, I’ve read so much about you! I am the Fount of Knowledge, Blueberry Milk Cookie!”

The noble witch before him, Dark Cacao, blinked. He looked confused, then his face shifted to one of annoyance.

“Oh, look at what you’ve done!”

He was suddenly scooped up again, by someone who sounded less than pleased, and brought up to the face of a man with lovely brown skin, blonde hair and a marking right on his forehead…

“Pure Vanilla?!”

He looked between the cookie and him, back and forth, it really was an exact replica of him.

“I finally get to meet you in your true form… You look absolutely beautiful.”

“You’re so small… Heh. Thank you, my dear.”

Pure Vanilla giggled so softly at him, using his finger to gently rub the side of his face. The Fount leaned into it naturally, humming in delight.

“You smell of Vanilla…”

The Fount purred, pulling away from his finger. Pure Vanilla gently nudged the vessel away from him, picking it up and placing it elsewhere for safe keeping. His loving gaze returned to the Fount for only a moment, before looking up at Cacao again, now glaring.

“I told you not to grab it! It was safe with him.”

“It was an accident… I didn’t mean to bring it along too.”

“Him. You didn't mean to bring him along.”

Cacao produced an exasperated sigh, and held his head with his hand.

“This should not— No, it cannot go on, Pure Vanilla. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?”

“How is it dangerous? All I am doing is traversing between Earth and Earthbread. I am not harming anyone— He is the only cookie I interact with!”

Pure Vanilla held Blueberry Milk Cookie closer to him, fairly defensive.

“You've harmed the balance! Travel like this was forbidden for a reason! The longer you continue to do this, the more the magic from the two realms will blend. Just like how that letter harmed that child, it will begin to harm other lesser witches. I shouldn’t even have to explain this to you!”

The Fount watched as Dark Cacao paced back and forth, clearly distressed. He then looked up at Pure Vanilla, who was avoiding eye contact and looking towards the side. A look of guilt.

“What is going on?”

The clueless cookie looked between the two of them, and Dark Cacao sighed heavily.

“I should put him back. He shouldn’t even be here in the first place.”

“Wait! Please, can I ask you some questions first? This is my dream come true… I have not one, but two witches before me!”

Pure Vanilla looked Cacao in the eyes. The man had never seen such a desperate look from him before. His heart fluttered, and he sighed, looking down towards the floor.

“Fine. But right afterwards we must put him back.”

Pure Vanilla smiled, gesturing to his common room so they could talk. Blueberry Milk Cookie was absolutely ecstatic, practically bouncing on his heels as he attempted to not fall off the witches hand. He wondered if he could fly in this form… He should probably test that when he wasn’t hundreds of feet off the ground.

“Do you have any parchment…? Oh, nevermind.”

Pure Vanilla lowered him down onto a table, and Blueberry Milk cookie jumped out of his hand and onto it. He confirmed his question from earlier— He could not fly in the human world.

The two witches sat down on a couch that was behind the table. Cacao crossed his arms, slumping down on the couch whilst Pure Vanilla sat with his hands resting on his knees.

“May I ask you both anything I’d like?”

“You have five questions.”

Cacao responded, his glare focused sharply on the cookie before him.

“Only five? Oh goodness, give me a moment to think then…”

The Fount considered his questions carefully, before turning to Dark Cacao. He could always ask Pure Vanilla more questions on his own later.

“Question one… What are your duties to the council?”

Cacao hummed, before leaning forward and answering,

“I review and deliver all the artifacts and books you’ve received from us.”

Pure Vanilla paused, looking over at him. So it was him. He had completely forgotten he was the one who sent them down. He needs to talk to him later.

“If you review and deliver, who creates them?”

“A witch named Latte.”

The Fount nodded— That was two questions down already. He wanted to inquire more about his duties, but he didn’t wish to use all of his questions just yet.

“Those cannot be your only duties…”

“Of course not… I also bake cookies, write reports, and generally take care of Earthbread. Like the rest of the council.”

The Fount smiled, pacing back and forth on the table.

“What’s the process of baking a cookie like?”

“I sent a cookbook down… It goes into immense detail there. It’s in the very last chapter.”

Pure Vanilla clutched his robe. Never in his life had he ever felt this upset. There was no way he could get the book away from him now, and he was here and couldn’t take the necessary measures to get rid of the goddamn page.

“Would you mind waiting for me so we can read it together? Then I can give you live insight…”

“Oh, of course! That would be amazing…”

He hoped that would buy him some time. Cacao looked at Pure Vanilla oddly, then back down at the cookie.

“You have two questions left, cookie. Then you’ll be put back.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie paced back and forth, two more questions. He could always pester Pure Vanilla with questions later.

“What type of magic do you both excel in?”

“I have no particular expertise… I’m fairly well rounded.”

The Fount tried not to lower his eyebrows— What a boring answer.

“Healing magic.”

“I suppose that’s where Healer Cookie came from, hm?”

The Fount stepped up to the edge of the table, gesturing for someone to pick him up. Pure Vanilla scooped him up immediately, truly at his beck and call.

“My last question… How did you two meet?”

The two witches weren’t expecting that to be his final question, looking between the two of them. Pure Vanilla giggled, trying to dig through his memory.

“Oh my, it was so long ago…”

“It wasn’t that long ago…”

“We met when we were still in school… That was a very long time ago.”

Cacao leaned back in the seat, putting his hand on his chin in thought,

“It was between 100 to 200 years ago… We went to the same magic academy.”

“100 to 200 years ago? Just how old are you both?”

Pure Vanilla chuckled awkwardly.

“I don’t remember… When we go on the council we take immortality spells. Then when we’re ready to leave… We’re taken off of them. Then we’re free to do whatever we like until we die.”

“You’re 136 and I’m 138…”

“Oh gosh, I’m that old?”

Pure Vanilla held his head, but the Fount scooted to the edge of the table.

“No need to fret.. I’m around that age as well. I think. I’ve lost count!”

Pure Vanilla picked the cookie up in his hands, bringing him up to his face. Cacao watched the two snuggle into each other's cheeks, furrowing his brows.

“It’s time for him to go back, now.”

Cacao extended his finger, preparing to draw the portal. Pure Vanilla sighed, but leaned down and whispered to his ear.

“I’ll be back later… Alright?”

The Fount nodded, leaning forward and pecking his lips with his own… Though he pulled back rather quickly. For some reason, which he couldn’t quite place, being this close to his lips in this form brought shivers down his spine.

Cacao cleared his throat, and the two separated and Pure Vanilla extended out the Fount.

“Part the barrier
Between sugary and flesh
Unheard and unseen.”

The Fount watched with fascination as a portal to his bedroom was ripped open.

“Goodbye.”

Cacao gestured for his colleague to put the cookie back where it belonged. Pure Vanilla sighed, but smiled and gently set him back inside. The Fount gave his finger one final hug before he pulled his hand out, and the portal was closed.

“Pure Vanilla?”

“Hm?”

Dark Cacao averted his eyes, looking down at the ground.

“You shouldn’t continue to go back there… It’s not safe for you. The virtues are beginning to lose their minds. It won’t be long until yours does, too.”

Pure Vanilla frowned, looking up at him. Cacao reached out to him, grabbing his hands.

“That will not happen to him. As long as I’m there with him, I’m certain he’ll be alright.”

“It’s against the rules, Pure Van-”

“I know that. Of course I know that! I helped create those rules!”

Pure Vanilla pulled away from him, holding himself and taking a step back.

“You… Wouldn’t tell the council about what I’ve been doing… Would you?”

Cacao glanced up at him, clenching his fist. He didn’t wish for anything bad to happen to him, but…

“I care about you a lot. I just want to protect you!”

“From what, a cookie!? Please, Cacao, just let me do this. I can help him, and possibly even the other virtues as well. Please.”

“…Fine. But if anything goes wrong… I will be telling the rest of the council so you may be taken care of. Do you understand?”

Pure Vanilla nodded. Nothing bad was going to happen. Nothing. Not if he had anything to do about it.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

Blueberry Milk Cookie was needless to say, absolutely ecstatic. He twirled around his room, with the council book in his arms.

“This is it! I’ve reached my peak!”

He laughed, clutching the book to his chest.

“Goodness, there is so much I must write down… That spell! I must write that down first… What was it again…”

He waved his hand about in a similar manner to how Cacao did.

“Part the barrier
Between sugary and flesh
Unheard and unseen.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie giggled, but gasped when he felt a harsh pain in his finger. A black void began to swirl at his fingertip, and he yelled out in agony. The more he waited, the longer it hurt, before he saw a drop of jam fall from his finger. He breathed heavily, trying to remember what Cacao had done…

He extended his arm the best he could whilst in such pain, and slashed it across the air in front of him. He watched as the area produced a loud ripping sound, like paper, far different from when the witch had done it. The lines were jagged and uneven, but the void from his finger disappeared and he fell to the ground, clutching his hand.

“From- Cacao, just let me- help him- other virtues-”

“Wrong… I will be telling- council so you- you understand?”

He looked up to see a glitchy unstable portal above him. The imagery was flickering, and the audio kept cutting in and out constantly. He put his finger in his mouth to get rid of the blood, humming softly at the familiar taste. Like that pastry Pure Vanilla had given him yesterday.

“Cookbook- Very irresponsible!- You could have done-”

He cocked his head to the side as he watched the two— Pure Vanilla seemed angry at Dark Cacao now. The portal flickered and got smaller, so Blueberry Milk Cookie scooted a little closer.

“Just a cookie- assure you- be fine!”

“Other virtues- Knowledge- Downfall-”

More and more audio began to cut out as it grew more unstable, it flickered again and grew even smaller.

“Can’t read-”

“Apologize…”

Those were the last words he was able to catch, before it produced a loud crackling sound. He got just a bit closer, before it jolted right at his face before disappearing. He stumbled back, holding his eye…

Maybe this was a bad idea.

He fell to the ground, groaning— He couldn’t see out of the eye it had hit. It was so blurry, and it hurt like hell. He cried out, holding his eye, wiping tears and what appeared to be jam from his face. He tried to stand, but his legs were so incredibly shaky that he fell back down again. So instead, he floated up. He couldn’t go very high, but enough that he could make his way to the bathroom. He stumbled and grabbed the edge of the sink, hoisting himself up and trying his best to look at his eye in the mirror.

Most of his vision was fairly blurry, but he could barely make out his face… What was that? He leaned over the sink to look at himself.

His forehead… The marking on his forehead. It’s… Gone. He rubbed his hand over it, but winced and pulled away. It felt sore… His marking seemingly had moved to his eye, but he knew that wasn’t the case. It was a scar now, directly over his eye. He could hardly see out of it, and it was still leaking jam. How could he explain this to Pure Vanilla… He pulled away, holding his eye and reaching for some bandages.

“Foolish… Tsk.”

He wrapped it around his eye, hiding it under his hair the best he could, before adjusting his bangs to hide the bandaged eye.

“Stupid, stupid… Just completely moronic!”

He yelled out in frustration, but winced as it put far too much pressure on his face to be angry. He bandaged his finger too, then stumbled back to his bedroom. He laid down onto his bed, snuggling into the covers.

“I wish Pure Vanilla was here…”

He muttered. If he was here, he would’ve stopped him from doing something so foolish. Their matching markings— He had changed from the way his witch had made him. All because of his stupid thirst for knowledge. Though the moment he thought that, he immediately tried to shake it away— That’s his purpose. He cannot curse it in such a way.

He stood up from the bed, stumbling to the drawer and pulling out the cookbook.

“Maybe I can find something in here that will fix me before he returns…”

He hummed, walking to his closet to fetch himself a hat to hide the majority of one side of his face.

“This is good enough… I’m only going to the cafe.”

He really wanted something that tasted like vanilla right about now.

~

Blueberry Milk Cookie had made quite the journey to the cafe, with his eye and his hand aching he took his time getting down there, going to the same booth in the back where he had sat with Pure Vanilla the last time. He called the waiter over and ordered him a vanilla milk and a small golden cheese croissant for him to eat. He giggled at the name.

When it arrived, he seemed slightly more content with everything, beginning to read the cookbook. Pure Vanilla had said to wait for him, but… He didn’t think he’d like to see him in this state. He could just fix himself, then pretend he had never read it.

“Mr. Fount?”

He looked down to find a small child at his feet. Mentally, he groaned. He recognized him as that small child he had helped make that bracelet a while ago. He set the book down and pushed it aside.

“Hello my dear… What brings you here?”

“I wanted to give you this! As thanks for helping me… And reading to us!”

The child reached up and put a small bracelet on the table, it was a lovely blue and yellow, matching his eyes. What a painful reminder.

“Thank you…”

He lifted it and put it around his wrist.

“What happened to your finger?”

“Ah— I just closed it into my desk drawer. I’m alright.”

“And your face?”

Children were just full of questions, weren't they?

“Well, when I slammed my finger into the drawer I was in so much pain that I tripped and hit my head on the corner of the desk.”

The child gasped and winced, climbing up into the book booth beside him. The Fount scooted over with a small huff, slightly annoyed.

“I know some healing magic!”

Oh, really? He’d probably end up doing more harm to him than good. He extended out his finger, chuckling softly.

“You’re welcome to try.”

The kid gently grabbed his hand, closing his eyes and trying his best to channel his magic. It was the equivalent of a fart— He was too small and inexperienced to really do any large scale healing yet. But he pulled his hand away with a smile.

“Thank you… It feels better already.”

The child’s smile grew twice in size, and he bounced in his seat.

“You’re welcome!! I can’t wait to go back to school so I can learn more!”

The Fount reached up and pet his head… That young thirst for knowledge.

“Did you dye your hair, Mr. Fount?”

“Pardon?”

“You have a big black and blue part in your hair!”

“…What?”

The child reached for the chunk of hair, moving it aside and to his face. Blueberry Milk Cookie froze, horrified. There were eyes in that black streak, terrible little eyes that stared directly at him, then at the child, then at his harmed eye.

“Oh. Y-yes. I did. I had forgotten. Haha!”

He gripped his hair harshly, glancing over at that cookbook again.

“I must go now. I’ll see you once more at the school, yes?”

He grabbed the cookbook, lifting the child and putting him on the ground.

“You forgot your croissant!”

“That’s fine, you can have it!”

He was soon rushing out the door. What was wrong with him?! First he had his nasty scar, now his galaxy was disappearing?! He wanted to cry, he needed to hurry and fix himself before Pure Vanilla arrived. He recalled what Cacao had said… Baking cookies was the very last chapter.

As soon as he entered his tower he looked at the table of contents, flipping to the last chapter. He walked as he read, going through and hoping to find something, anything that would fix him. Frosting? Maybe he could make some frosting and fix his hair… But how would that work?! Would he have to rip out his hair?! How could he even make frosting that could match the galaxy in his hair?! He didn’t see anything anywhere about fixing his dough, and he nearly couldn’t hold back tears. He had been so stupid! Messing around with something he shouldn't have messed with! He turned to the very last pages, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Pull your lovely cookie out of the oven and then enjoy your new treat!”

Treat? He turned one more page… Was that Pure Vanilla? What was he… Eating? Is that a…

“I’m back, Bluebird!”

He flinched, immediately closing the book. He stared at the cover. It’s a cookbook. A cookbook. With recipes for things to eat! How hadn’t he realized it sooner?

“Bluebird?”

He suddenly felt arms around his waist and a head on his shoulder.

“Oh! The book… We can start reading now if you’d—“

“No. That’s fine!”

He pulled away from him, laughing awkwardly and trying his best to hide his face, holding his hair and walking to the dresser and putting it away.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine!”

He laughed again, still not facing him and clutching the desk.

“What happened to your finger? Are you okay?”

“I’M FINE!”

He snapped, turning and facing him, his breath heavy. He couldn’t back away any further, the desk was right behind him. Pure Vanilla frowned, and the Fount gasped, covering his face and turning away from him again.

“I’m sorry… You should go.”

“I’m not going to leave you in this state.”

Pure Vanilla reached out to him, gently grabbing his face and pulling him into his embrace. Blueberry Milk Cookie tried to pull away, his head was screaming at him to get away from him, but his heart disobeyed and he collapsed into his hold.

“It’s okay… I can heal you. I'm not going anywhere.”

Pure Vanilla kissed his cheek and the other flinched, his mind once again telling him to get away. He felt like he was in the arms of a fluffy cakehound… Would he really eat him in this form? He called how large he was earlier… He would easily fit into his mouth. Pure Vanilla pulled him closer, saying something he did not process as he felt magic run through him and his pain go away.

“Do you feel better now? Let's get those bandages off of you-”

“NO!”

He shoved him away as he reached for his face, holding his hands over it.

“It's hideous, I’m hideous- I did something so stupid and I ended up hurting myself!”

Pure Vanilla frowned, what had happened while he was away…? He couldn't have been gone for that long. He reached out to him and gently held his face, pinning him against the desk.

“It's okay. I promise.”

He leaned forward to kiss him on his lips. Blueberry Milk cookie tensed, taking a deep breath… For some reason, he naturally felt relaxed, moreso than he would if he had just smelled Vanilla. Pure Vanilla pulled away and unwrapped his bandages, swatting away the cookies attempt at stopping him.

“Oh, bluebird… You look lovely.”

He leaned forward to gently kiss above his eye, doing it multiple times over and over to prove his point.

“No matter what.. I'll always love you. You're always beautiful to me.”

He caressed his cheeks, the soft dough that he had made… Why hadn't he eaten him yet? Was that his goal all this time? Like luring him into a trap… Gosh. Pure Vanilla kept kissing him, licking his lips once he was done.

“So deliciously pretty.”

So delicious. So delicious.

The words brought shivers down his spine.

Chapter Text

It had been a while since he ever felt such fear. Especially towards someone he thought he could hold dear to him.

A snack. A pastry. His little treat.

The whole day, he tried his best to behave in a normal manner. He didn’t want Pure Vanilla to know what he knew, fearing the possible consequences. Everytime his lover would kiss him, then lick his lips— He would squeeze the sides of his robe and clench up. He was suppressing his fight or flight response the best he could.

Does Pure Vanilla even eat cookies? No, he does, the picture in the book said so! What if it lied? Maybe he’s a vegan! Would that be the proper word? Pacifist? He tried not to whimper.

“Pure Vanilla… What’s your favorite pastry?”

Cookies are considered pastries, right? Not like he knew. He didn’t bake them. He didn’t eat them.

“Hm… Anything blueberry flavored!”

Of course. What a dumb question.

“Oh! Haha, interesting.”

What an awful feeling. His witch, right before him, declared that he was his favorite thing to eat.

“I hope that doesn’t weird you out…”

Pure Vanilla approached, and he avoided taking a step back. He gently grabbed his face, kissing over the scar multiple times.

“If it helps you feel better, you’re the only blueberry pastry I’d ever need~.”

It did not help him feel any better.

He felt so trapped. The blonde wrapped his arms around him. He wrapped his arms around him too, snuggling into him, trying so desperately to take in as much scent as possible.

If he wanted to eat you, he would’ve already. It has been decades since you were baked. Nobody would wait that long to eat a cookie. You’d only grow more stale with age… Right? Or… Jam. Jam would age perfectly in his body. Warm and gooey, with a delicious crunchy blueberry exterior.

Pure Vanilla began to notice him trembling again, sighing softly. What could he possibly have done to create this scar and scare him so badly? Well, no matter. He sneakily pulled out his wand, waving it behind the Fount and whispering.

“Safe forevermore,
Breath weighed down with dread,
Relax my sweet dear.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie flinched, but was forcibly relaxed by the magic, his fingers no longer trembling. He snuggled into his lover, it was like his flight or fight responses had been shut off. Pure Vanilla pulled away from him, guiding him to sit on the bed.

“What happened, Bluebird?”

When Pure Vanilla inquired, for some reason, this time, he didn’t feel the need to hide his answer. There was no danger. Two words kept repeating in his head: Safe forevermore.

“I spoke those words Dark Cacao spoke before I was sent back home. It created this… Ball on my finger. Then I made a portal…”

He looked down at his finger, no longer bleeding or bruised— Due to the other's magic.

“It kept getting smaller and smaller… Then eventually it exploded. Like a fool, I was very close to it when it did.”

He mentally cursed. If he successfully could cast that meant that something was very, very wrong. He casted an unstable portal to the human world, no less.

“It’s okay, dear… The magic just… Rearranged you a little bit!”

Pure Vanilla reached out to him, once more attempting to kiss his eye— But Blueberry Milk gently pushed him away, standing up from the bed.

“I’m going to get something to eat.”

Pure Vanilla stood to go with him, but Blueberry Milk shook his head, directing him to stay put. Blueberry Milk exited the room, and Pure Vanilla sighed.

“Maybe I could use some kind of truth serum… Just being hit with the portal shouldn’t make him tremble when he embraces me.”

A part of him worried that he had read the cookbook. When he arrived, he had it in his hands. It would explain his fear, but he doubts he wouldn’t have tried to escape all this time… But he did just leave the room. The moment he tried to stand, he went limp and fell backwards onto the bed.

Goddamn it! What did Cacao need now?! He began to suffocate, unable to do anything but lay on Blueberry Milk Cookie’s bed. He had even left the room, so he’d walk in to find…

His lover, “dead” on the bed.

Blueberry Milk Cookie stared at the body for a moment, setting his plate down on his desk, walking up to Pure Vanilla cookie. He grabbed his hand, feeling relief wash over him as he felt the warmth fading. He lifted him up, pulling him back to the pillows and tucking him into his bed in the very corner. He then climbed into the other side, curling up underneath the covers.

From there… He began to cry. The one person who he had met, that he sought genuine comfort from, was a threat to his life. The only person he felt that understood, and did understand, because he made him. He wished to do nothing to lay there for eternity, until his dough began to rot. The worst part was that he was still in love with him. He wanted nothing more but to cuddle up to his body and cry into it. But he was still so, so scared. What if another hand reached into his room and took him and the body again? Then those would really be his last breaths.

He cried for goodness knows how long. His dough must’ve been stained by his tears when he felt a light tapping on his side. It wasn’t Pure Vanilla, he would’ve felt the covers move.

“Blueberry Milk Cookie…?”

A sweet, sing-songy voice.

His head was aching, but he slowly rose from under his galaxy bedspread, met with a blindingly pink and white cookie. He didn’t look at her directly.

“Hello, Paradise Sugar Cookie.”

“Oh my! Blueberry Milk, what happened to you?”

She grabbed his face, smushing at his cheeks and messing with the new scar on his eye— Then she grabbed at his hair, pulling and tugging and gripping directly where the eyes were, causing him to hiss with pain.

“Your dough! Your hair… How terrible!”

He swatted her hands away, furrowing his brows.

“I’m fine. Why are you here?”

“Oh, I’m checking up on all of my fellow virtues… Especially after what happened with Fire Spice! He’s gone absolutely mental…”

Fire Spice Cookie was the last cookie he had on his mind right now. He didn’t even finish writing that letter to him like he was supposed to. He held his head. He was such a bad friend. It was his fault he had fallen—

Paradise Sugar grabbed his face, gently wiping his tears away.

“Is that why you were crying, dear? Or does it perhaps have to do with the corpse in your bed?”

Witches, right.

Once more, he pulled away from her grasp, but she leaned in further to continue wiping his tears away.

“It’s not a corpse. It’s a vessel. A witch resides in it. But he’s… Not here right now.”

Paradise Sugar Cookie stopped and stared at him like he had lost his mind.

“…Of course, dear!”

She didn’t believe him, not one bit.

“You don’t believe me... Here, I can prove it—”

“There is no need for any of that, dear…”

She held him in place when he tried to get up and fetch the cookbook. That would make her believe him! He struggled slightly, but she held him down firmly.

“Oh, Fire Spice’s condition must’ve really gotten to you… It will be alright. I can help you…”

“I am not crazy, Paradise Sugar! If you’d let me get up, I could show you the books!”

Sugar shook her head then tsked, gently shushing him and caressing his cheek.

“It’s quite alright… I can still help. How would you like to come visit my garden?”

He squinted, shaking his head and backing away from her.

“No thank you.”

“Come on, Blueberry Milk Cookie! In the garden, you will be happy! You may take your cor… Vessel along with you! I can help restore the galaxy back to your hair as well.”

That slightly stirred his interest, but he shook his head once more.

“I told you, no thank you!”

“Why do you never wish to come to my garden?”

She climbed on the bed, and he scooted back further. She crawled towards him, prompting him to continue until they were on the edge of the bed. She climbed into his lap, softly holding his face.

“It is a paradise! You will feel soooo relaxed, you will never wish to leave! I can help you through all—”

She was cut off as Blueberry Milk grabbed her face, shoving her away from him.

“For the final time, no! And for the record, I do not enjoy you touching me without asking!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie stood, crossing his arms and backing away from her.

“Please, leave. I’m going to visit Black Salt Cookie.”

“I can take you there…”

“That won’t be necessary. Please, go.”

Paradise Sugar stood, walking over to him and taking his hands, completely ignoring his request from mere moments ago.

“Don’t you wish to be free from your duties? To do nothing but lay and eat berries, soak your dough in my warm baths... If you’d prefer, I could give you someplace quiet so you may cry under your covers. Not like you’ll need to, though…”

Free from his duties…? So the witches can punish him when he is no longer useful?

“…You are so naive. When the witches come down for you, I hope they enjoy you swiftly.”

He tore himself away from her for hopefully the last time, pointing towards the skys.

“Leave. I will not ask you again!”

“So stubborn… Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me… Have fun visiting Black Salt. It’s quite terrible over there…”

She was clearly trying to initiate him for more conversation, but he kept his arm towards the sky firmly. She sighed, but reluctantly began to take flight.

“I’ll see you soon, little bluebird.”

His eye twitched.

~

It took him a moment to compose himself before he created the portal and left, after hiding Pure Vanilla somewhere he would be safe of course.

When he arrived, he saw that Black Salt’s Kingdom was nearly completely destroyed. There were crumbs and jam everywhere. He could see bodies that had been missing limbs from buildings or shrapnel. He gently floated over the rubble and towards the castle, which was untouched in its entirety. He covered his nose with his hand, the scent of jam was absolutely overwhelming. It was such a terrible sight. He didn’t feel afraid in the slightest, though.

Clunk… Clank… Clunk.

He paused and turned his head, spotting Black Salt Cookie, who was holding the body— Er, two halves of a body. Jam was dripping out of each half. He rushed over, causing Black Salt to stop.

“What happened? Are you alright?”

The other didn’t respond, continuing to walk towards what he recognized as a burial site. Blueberry Milk Cookie frowned, noticing large scrapes in his armor. Large and deep enough to be done by an axe.

“Black Salt Cookie?”

Again, no response. He just continued to walk towards the site, so he frowned. Well, the only thing he could do now is help, he supposed.

He began searching through rubble for any survivors or any cookies that had lost their lives in the battle. The sweet scent of jam filled his nose further, and he considered, just for a moment… Before feeling absolutely disgusted with himself. He shook his head, lifting the body and carrying them to where Black Salt was.

As he collected bodies, his mind wandered. Would the witches enjoy this sort of tragedy? Plenty of flavors, jam oozing out of the bodies… He frowned, once more thinking of Pure Vanilla. Would this be him one day?

He went back and forth with the bodies, carrying as much as he could and helping any survivors he could find. He tried his hardest to keep it together when he found crumbs of significantly smaller cookies in his search.

Having picked up so many, he grew desensitized. The spell Pure Vanilla had placed earlier also contributed. His hands and dress were covered in jam and crumbs of different flavors. He stared at his hands, the bits of crumbs, the jam. Eating it crossed his mind again. What was so enticing about a cookie that the witches originally made them to eat? He looked around, spotting no one, before popping a finger into his mouth.

It tasted… So familiar. Yet so good. He instantly regretted his decision, but continued to lick the jam from his hands and nibble at the crumbs. He felt so disgusting, tainted, unfit to be a virtue— Before he finally pieced together why this tasted so familiar. That pastry Pure Vanilla had given him. From the picnic.

“Oh my stars. Oh my witches.”

He muttered, his eyes widening as he stared at his now cleaned hands.

“Am I being conditioned?”

He whispered, before giggling softly.

“He still loves me… Maybe he wants to turn me into a witch? The same way he turned himself into a cookie…“

As delusional as he knew he sounded, it helped him feel less guilty about what he had done. Pure Vanilla had fed him a cookie, clearly this is what he wanted him to do. All those times he said that blueberry was his favorite flavor, the way his kisses always seemed to satisfy some sort of hunger… He could cast spells, too. He’d make a perfect witch. A new purpose…

He heard the clanking of metal and was snapped out of his thoughts, quickly brushing off his hands on his dress. A heavy hand was placed on his shoulder, Black Salt’s of course, and he bowed his head to him as thanks.

“Are you okay?”

Again, not a word of response. Okay. He could take a hint. Black Salt turned and directed him to follow, so he did. They went to the castle, met with cookies who were being treated for minor injuries, those in mourning, or those scrambling to provide for everyone else. Blueberry Milk looked around at all the chaos, catching bits and pieces of conversation.

“I need more bandages!”

“Why would he do something like this?”

“Is anyone willing to donate some jam?”

“Where is Blueberry Frapè Cookie?!”

The sound of medics and the cries of despair…

“Oh witches, please bring us good fortune…”

“The witches aren’t going to help us! They let this happen in the first place!”

“What is the matter with you?! How could you say such a thing at a time like this?”

“I’m right! They have done nothing to help us at all! If these so called witches are so powerful, why don’t they ever help us in times of need?!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie turned his head to face them, listening intently to what they were saying.

“Witches be damned! We need to take care of this on our own. All they seem to care about is pleasing the virtues, but now they’re just letting them run about and crumble cookies!”

He looked down at the ground, humming softly. What were the witches doing? Maybe that's why Pure Vanilla was summoned again. To take care of the virtues… Take care of the virtues. He clutched his robe, that fear from earlier nearly bubbling up again. Maybe, if he were to become a witch, like how Pure Vanilla became a cookie, he could be a proper guide for cookiekind. A virtue that raised to godhood, then helped his people in need…

Yeah. That sounds lovely.

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

“What is it this time?”

Pure Vanilla was slightly irritated about having been pulled out of Earthbread yet again. He rose from his bed, glancing over at the person who had summoned him.

Cacao. Of course! He stood there wearing a rather fancy hanbok, consisting of various purples and blacks. It was nothing close to his usual witch attire, maybe something more he’d expect to see him wearing during a meeting, but even so this outfit felt a little too extravagant.

“Why are you dressed so… Fancy?”

“We have a ball to go to.”

“What?”

Pure Vanilla shook his head, he had heard absolutely nothing about a ball. Not even a witches party. He’s not sure why one would even be happening right now anyway, weren’t they approaching a crisis?

“Go get ready. I’ll meet you outside.”

“Wait—”

“It’s mandatory for all of the council to attend.”

He left before Pure Vanilla could get another word out. How troublesome. He made his way to his closet, trying to remember what fancy clothes he could possibly have to put on. He ended up finding a clean outfit, which had two parts. A white robe with large sleeves, then a dress that you put on over it. It had a lovely galaxy pattern that reminded him of a certain cookie.

He took a very quick shower, fixed his hair, sprayed just a very light vanilla fragrance, and put on his clothes and a few accessories. The last things he needed were his broom and wand, then he headed outside to meet Cacao. Let’s get this over with.

Cacao smiled, boarding his broom and taking the lead towards The Odyssey. Pure Vanilla followed behind him.

“Since when was there a ball at headquarters? I didn’t hear of this the last time I arrived.“

“It’s… Fairly last minute. An elder requested it.”

“How last minute? I would’ve already been ready.”

“They decided on it this morning.”

Pure Vanilla furrowed his brows. That was fishy— For a so-called ‘ball’ to have been organized in just a day… By an ‘elder’ no less? Pure Vanilla himself was considered an elder, so was the council, most of the previous council members were dead or had gone off to travel after immortalizing their youth.

They arrived at the Odyssey to find plenty of people already there. It was decorated accordingly, and Pure Vanilla could see plenty of witches who were already there having fun. Both of the council members used their wands to shrink their brooms and store them safely in their pockets.

Pure Vanilla had only been here for a moment and he already wished to go home. There was music blasting and people were everywhere, but he followed Cacao to where the other council members were.

For a good portion of the party, he ended up zoning out. He’d engage in light conversation and he grabbed some drinks and some snacks, mostly keeping to himself and waiting for a good opportunity to leave.

“Pure Vanilla?”

He blinked, raising his head and looking over at who summoned him.

“Would you care for a dance?”

Dark Cacao, of course. He gestured towards the dance floor, which already had plenty of witches enjoying themselves.

“I suppose…”

He gave his drink to one of his friends, then was guided off to the floor. A beautiful song began to play, sounding similar to old movies he used to watch as a child, bringing feelings of nostalgia through him. Cacao put one hand on Vanilla’s waist, and Vanilla put his arm on his shoulder. Then their free hands joined together, and they began to dance.

“Wrapped me in your arms, leaned in and whispered… “Keep me in your heart”, I’m so bewildered.”

The two twirled across the ballroom, dancing with the grace of royalty.

“What’s this new desire called? I didn’t know that much at all ‘bout love before. But now, I think I’m learning.”

Pure Vanilla listened to the music as he danced, beginning to relate it to Blueberry Milk Cookie. He giggled softly, wondering if his virtue had ever fallen in love before he met him…

“You bewitch me, every damn second you’re with me. I try to think straight, but I’m falling so badly, I’m coming apart.”

Bewitch… Heh. That was quite fitting. He recalled the letter Blueberry Milk had written to him, using that exact wording. His smile grew wide, and his dancing more energetic.

“You wrote me a note, cast a spell on my heart, and bewitched me. Bewitched me.”

Pure Vanilla closed his orchid, simply wanting to enjoy the music and the freeing sensation of dancing. As he did so, he imagined a different dance partner.

“You’re not even gone, I already miss you. What’s going on? I’ve never been through this all-consuming fire fuming, cursing at the moon and losing all control and crying cause I think I’m falling…”

The lyrics brought him back to the days where he had just met Blueberry Milk Cookie. He was so adorable and excited, he still was. His fascination with him and the witches, the way he’d snuggle into him under any circumstance…

“You bewitched me, from the first time that you kissed me. Waited all night then we ran down the street in the late london light, the world froze around us you kissed me good night.”

As the chorus played again, he felt himself be lifted up into the air. He laughed, spreading out his arms. He had no worry about falling, Blueberry Milk Cookie could fly after all. He remembered flying through the rain with him, as he fell asleep in his arms. He remembered their first proper kiss, or their cute kisses under the archway.

“You bewitch me, every damn second you’re with me. I try to think straight, but I’m falling so badly, I’m coming apart. You wrote me a note, cast a spell on my heart, and bewitched me. Bewitched me.”

As the song neared his end, he felt himself be dipped down to the ground, both hands now around his waist. He was pulled into a gentle kiss, lasting not long enough for Pure Vanilla to taste any blueberry. He put his hands on his dance partners cheeks, holding their foreheads together.

“I love you, Blueberry Milk Cookie…”

“…What?”

Pure Vanilla paused, opening his orchid once again to find… Cacao. Oh, right. Cacao lifted him back up and the blond pulled away, licking his lips, met with the bitter taste of chocolate.

“…I can explain.”

Before the two were able to speak to each other though, a scream pierced through the room. The two immediately snapped to attention, going to investigate the source.

There was a witch unconscious on the ground, one heaved over and shaking whilst coughing out a glittery substance, then one more, the witch who had screamed, had purple and blue lines akin to lightning dancing across her body.

“Oh my god… I’ll go get the rest of the council. You help them!”

Pure Vanilla rushed off to look for the other three, while also mentally cursing himself. Those were stages of mana overdose and sickness.

First, you go unconscious. It could be easily looked over if not careful. It was the perfect time to extract the mana from your body, whilst also being the safest time to do so. Unfortunately, it was often hard to detect unless you were examined by a doctor or high ranking witch.

Second, you’d begin to cough. It would be normal at first, but as the days progressed you could notice a glittery substance with the consistency of snot coming out of your mouth. This would be the time to go to the hospital, as the mana had been in your body long enough to seep into your lungs and stomach.

Third, you’d begin to hurl that same substance but in far larger quantities. By then, you’d need to go to urgent care. It was still curable at this stage, if dealt with in the next couple of days.

However, if it was ignored for some odd reason, or there was just too much mana surrounding you, you’d reach stage four. Purple bolts of lightning would suddenly appear and jolt under your skin, causing immense pain to the person afflicted. The mana at this point would’ve gotten into your bloodstream, and was only able to be removed under an intense and long treatment.

By then, if you were not treated, your entire body would be overtaken by the mana, and you would die. Stage five. Your skin would be purple with hints of glitter. It was quite the painful, yet beautiful, death.

Pure Vanilla found the three girls, who had been on high alert from the scream. He informed them on what was happening, so Hollyberry and Lily ran to help Cacao with the three major afflicted, whilst Golden flew off to the medical wing.

Pure Vanilla followed the two back after Golden had left. Hollyberry was helping pull the mana out of the one who was unconscious, as it was the most easily fixable. The other two were doing their best to regulate what they could from the witch on stage four. He joined in of course, giving them a proper area to relocate the mana.

The three focused until medics arrived, able to decrease how far into stage four the witch was in. Pure Vanilla held his head, feeling just the slightest headache from how much mana he had. He could handle it though, after two or three spells he’d be good as new.

“Are you okay? You have a lot of mana… Here, let me take some from you!”

Hollyberry grabbed his hand, followed by Lily. They all took a collective breath as a mana was equalized between the three of them.

“Thank you… I’m alright now. I just hope those other witches are okay.”

“How did this happen…? Two of them were already in the late stages… How did the first one even collapse?”

White Lily spoke up, looking between her fellow witches.

“From being so close to the late stagers. Mana frequency pours out of them.”

Golden Cheese crossed her arms. Hollyberry hummed,

“That still doesn’t explain why they had the sickness. Nobody was casting any spells, right? Was the punch spiked?”

White Lily shook her head in response.

“No, my cup was perfectly fine…”

As the three discussed the possible reasons, Dark Cacao and Pure Vanilla locked eyes with each other. The two of them knew exactly why this was happening.

“Pure Vanilla, what do you think?”

“…I think we should evacuate for now. This space has already shown to have excess sources of mana.”

Golden Cheese nodded, flying off to the directors of the party to let them know to shut it down.

“I’m going to look for anybody else who could’ve possibly been afflicted.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Hollyberry and White Lily went off, leaving Cacao and Vanilla alone. Cacao grabbed Vanilla’s wrist, tugging him outside into a garden area of the venue.

“Pure—”

“I already know what you’re going to say. I can fix this, I swear. He made a portal last night after we put him back, I just need to find out where that mana is flowing out from so I can close them and stitch the world back together!”

“…It’s coming from you, Pure Vanilla.”

“No? No it’s not, how could it possibly come from me?”

Dark Cacao looked around, getting closer to him and dropping his voice to a whisper.

“Every single time you manipulate your soul, you release large amounts of mana. You even do such in your sleep. I felt it when I came to wake you. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was doing the same for your vessel, as well.”

Ccao grabbed his shoulders, furrowing his eyebrows.

“He could make that portal due to overexposure from you. Cookies are affected by our magic differently, since they’re naturally magical beings.”

He pulled away now, taking another look around him.

“You must stop this. We’ll be holding an emergency meeting tomorrow. You are putting the lives of other witches in danger. I will tell the council about what you’ve been doing.”

Pure Vanilla gasped, suddenly clutching his robes and clinging to him.

“No— Please don’t do that. Please, just let me fix this, please don’t tell them. Do you know what they will do to me?”

“Yes! You knew as well. You knew this when you started! You’ve had your chances to fix things!”

He removed his hands from him, going back inside the venue. Pure Vanilla stood there for a moment, before grabbing his broom and enlarging it.

“Fuck, goddamn it! You are such an idiot! I need to get home...”

He took off into the sky, heading back to his cottage.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

After Blueberry Milk Cookie had returned home, he took off his jam soaked clothes and changed into something far more comfortable. He went to the spot where he had hidden the vessel, frowning when he realized it was still there. He lifted Pure Vanilla’s body back to his bedroom, no longer afraid to cuddle up to it again. He was so exhausted, starting to pick at bits of Pure Vanilla’s dough and eating whatever crumbs fell off.

He laid there and hoped that the dough would grow warm and begin to move again, embrace him and kiss over his scar once more.

“Where are you, Pure Vanilla…?”

He sighed, nuzzling into his neck and promptly falling asleep, a frown settled onto his face. That night, he was plagued with nightmares of him getting eaten, over and over again.

Chapter Text

Crap. Shit. Fuck! He had been so careless. He was zooming through the skies— If this area had a speed limit he would’ve been going far over it. He nearly hit about five birds on his way back, before skidding to a stop as he arrived at his home. He haphazardly tossed his broom to the side, muttering a quick yet sloppy spell to keep his door locked. He hurriedly rushed to his vessel, reaching for it before pausing.

What was he doing? After he just witnessed the effects of him going back and forth like this?

He pulled back, clutching his fist.

But he can’t just leave Blueberry Milk Cookie… But he also couldn’t just go back. He had already allowed so much magic to flow through the worlds, to the point that people were getting terribly sick. If he went back in now, that would only elevate how much mana was being exposed to the lesser witches.

He frowned, sighing and exiting his kitchen, walking to his bedroom and lying on his bed. He couldn’t even watch him, everything was a potential risk. He tossed and turned, unable to get truly comfortable in his bed of guilt.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Where was he? Where was he? Laying beside this ‘corpse’ was worsening his mental state. Every shuffle, creak, or cry— He’d immediately check the body.

Only to find it… Cold.

Lifeless.

He would grumble angrily to himself, but he couldn’t yet bring himself to leave his side just yet. But it didn’t seem like he intended on coming back to him, so he eventually dragged himself out of bed. He was hungry and needed to go to work… He thought maybe getting some fresh air would help him feel better.

It did not.

He never noticed just how many… Couples ventured the streets. Everywhere he turned, there was a new one. He saw cookies holding hands, kissing, dare even make out along the pathway. At first it was fine, but the more he saw it, it felt like the witches were mocking him.

Blueberry Milk stopped in front of the cafe, considering going inside. He stared at the entrance, watching as two people left the cafe… And the smell of vanilla hit his nose.

In an instant, he looked around to see if it was him.

“This vanilla milk is soo good!”

“Let me get a sip!”

“No way!”

Haha. Right. He turned on his heel and quickly left from the front of the cafe.

The school would be better, right?

What a fool he was. The students and the staff were so aggravating and loud, and he kicked himself everytime he perked up at the sound of his door opening, hoping for him to come through that door. He had never noticed just how many of his students seemed… Extra close and touchy until now.

He couldn’t do this. He’s going home.

“Class is canceled for today. Let your classmates know.”

He announced, standing from his desk and grabbing his things, making his way towards the door.

“Are you alright, professor? Are you sick?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie ignored them, continuing his walk.

“Do you think it’s because of his hair?”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that… It’s really scary.”

Whispers.

“I liked the galaxy better… Why did he change it? It’s kind of ugly now.”

He furrowed his brows, quickening his pace. Was his classroom always this big?

“Those eyes are so creepy! I swear I saw a pupil move!”

He slammed the door to his classroom shut the moment he exited, groaning. He’d stop by the teachers lounge, maybe steal a snack or two. He was not going to that cafe again. It should be empty around this time of day, they should be teaching their classes.

But for some reason, when he entered, he was met with three of his colleagues. He groaned audibly, pushing past them to grab some snacks.

“Blueberry Milk Cookie? What happened to your hair?”

We’re getting straight into it, huh?

“Did you dye it? How’d you get that eye pattern?”

“It just happened.”

He replied, snatching up a bag or two.

“Was it because of that vanilla cookie? Did he make you change it?”

The cookie nudged one of his friends. Blueberry Milk Cookie squeezed the bag of jellies he had grabbed. He took a deep breath and turned around to leave, but they got in his way. Were they really going to play this game?

“Move.”

“You seem a little upset… Is that a bad topic? Did something happen?”

“Did he reject you?”

“You know, I haven’t seen him recently…”

“Did he di—”

“MOVE!”

He snapped, forcefully throwing the cookies towards a nearby table, not caring for their cries of agony and leaving the room. Why were people incapable of reading the room? Or his mood, for that matter.

As he made his way towards the entrance, he was held up by a large group of cookies— children no less— blocking the pathway. He grumbled, and began pushing past the little tots.

“Alright children, please get into your groups…”

“I can’t wait to meet the witches!”

“Me too! Do you think they’re going to grant me a wish?”

He stopped, turning his head towards the conversation.

“Maybe… I’m going to ask the witches to bake me taller!”

“I want my hair to be pink!”

He clicked his tongue. What idiotic children. He thought this was an established institution, why was the teacher allowing them to go on with such nonsense?

“I’m going to ask if I can be a witch! Then I can make allllll the cookies I want!”

He rolled his eyes, continuing to push past the children.

“The witches are so dumb! I don’t want to go on this trip! They don’t even do anything!”

“Why are you so mean?!”

“My dad told me the witches aren’t even real, and my dad never lies! My dad even said they eat cookies!”

“I’m telling Ms. Mango Cookie that you’re being mean!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie examined the child, before clicking his tongue. He shoved past the rest of them, rather harshly at that.

“If he isn’t here tomorrow…”

But he wasn’t there tomorrow.

Or the day after that.

Or after that.

Every day that past brought him closer to his breaking point.

⋆⁺₊⋆ 𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

Pure Vanilla did nothing but lay in his bed for what felt like weeks. Had it been days? He had no idea how long it had been. He rolled over after hearing a knock on his door. Then a bang. He didn’t move though, only flinching when he heard his door open.

Go away…

“Pure Vanilla Cookie? Are you alright? Hey!”

…Golden Cheese?

Pure Vanilla sat up slowly, turning his head towards the door.

“Are you alive? Heeyyy?”

He could hear her voice getting closer to his bedroom door, before it suddenly swung open and her cheesy majesty appeared before him.

“Oh, there you are! Are you okay? Why haven’t you been responding to our letters? Jeez, it smells like death in here…”

Pure Vanilla stared at her, cocking his head to the side.

“Letters…?”

Pure Vanilla held his head, grabbing his staff and rising from his bed.

“I haven’t… Left my room in a while.”

“…I can tell! You smell awful. We have a meeting!”

“We do…?”

Golden cheese groaned, turning on the light to his room.

“Just get changed! It’s concerning the virtues and all the excess mana.”

“…Right.”

Golden Cheese then left him to his own devices. Pure Vanilla stood there for a moment before processing what happened, getting dressed and performing a quick perfume spell so he wouldn’t smell so awful, before meeting up with his colleague. She immediately put him on her broom and off they went to headquarters.

When they arrived, he noticed it was far emptier than usual. They had probably gotten sick. Even he felt a little queasy, but he couldn’t tell if it was from mana or his own guilt. They both opened the door to the council room, and everyone there sighed in relief.

Pure Vanilla locked eyes with Dark Cacao, who seemed to be the most relieved out of all of the bunch, with a hand over his chest and a smile on his face. Pure Vanilla went to sit, staring silently down at the table.

“Okay, now that we’re all here… We need to talk about the virtues.”

Hollyberry spoke up first, looking around at all the others.

“We spoke about this briefly when Pure Vanilla wasn’t here, but I assume you already know what’s going on?”

Pure Vanilla looked around at his council members with a confused look.

“Ah. Well, to put it shortly… They’ve all gone haywire. They’re destroying things, crumbling cookies, it’s a whole mess!”

“…All the virtues? Even mine?”

“Have you really not been keeping up with anything?”

Pure Vanilla clutched his robes beneath the table, clenching his teeth.

“...But yeah. Even yours.”

He could’ve prevented that if he had just gone back! Or if he had just never left at all! He was such an idiot, he didn’t deserve his title.

“Any suggestions?”

“We could lock them away in the silver tree…”

White Lily suggested, looking around at her fellow colleagues. Golden Cheese leaned forward with a rebuttal,

“Yeah, but then we’d have to make the faeries watch over it for eternity… That seems a bit unfair, doesn’t it? Plus, what if they get out?”

“I guess you make a good point…”

The room stayed silent for a while, before Hollyberry spoke up.

“What if we made a separate world for them to reside in?”

Cacao shook his head.

“That’s far too much work. It’s extremely impractical and a waste of resources.”

Hollyberry shrugged,

“Nobody else seems to have any ideas…”

“…Hey. What if we just ate them? They’re cookies.”

White Lily spoke up.

Cacao furrowed his eyebrows, glancing over at Pure Vanilla. His face was one of shock, still staring down at the table.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. They’re still living beings.”

“You have no problem eating your test creations… Why is this different? We need to take care of these virtues before they destroy what we’ve worked so hard to create…”

Cacao tsked,

“What about ones that wouldn’t taste good? Like Fire Spice, or Paradise Sugar? I cannot imagine those would be very appetizing. Mine is made fully from flour, for crying out loud.”

“Well, we don’t have to eat them… Just… Execute. You know what I mean.”

The fourth began to talk back with each other, contemplating if it was a good idea or not. Pure Vanilla didn’t move. Not a blink, not a twitch, not a breath.

Eat him?

He couldn’t do that.

Not in a million years, right?

“We should come back to that later… we have a more pressing matter at hand… The mana sickness.”

Pure Vanilla clutched his robe harder, visibly distressed. He was going to be detained… Cacao had said he’d turn him in. It was the only correct thing to do.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, It was a foolish decision and I’m ready to face the consequences!”

He suddenly stood up in his chair.

“Just please, don’t hurt him. That’s all I ask.”

He clenched his eyes shut, anticipating being yelled at— But nothing came. In his confusion, he opened his orchid and glanced around… The council seemed confused. Yet Dark Cacao had his hands covering his face.

“Huh? Pure Vanilla, is this because of you?”

“…Did… Did Cacao not…?”

Pure Vanilla stared at his friends blankly.

“…Oh. Hah…”

He avoided eye contact. It was too late now, he had blew the cover he didn’t know he had.

“…I sought out an ancient forbidden spellbook, which contained a spell titled Sugar Soul Configuration. I… Created a vessel for myself and have been going through the worlds freely. With no magical protection…”

He fiddled with his fingers, listening as the gasps of the council filled the room. They began to bicker back and forth, but he wasn’t listening. He was far too busy imagining how Blueberry Milk Cookie felt right now. It had been days since he had seen him, right? That’s what it felt like.

He was a terrible partner… And an even worse witch. So many witches and cookies were hurt because of him. He managed to damage both of the worlds at once. He couldn’t help but sigh to himself.

“Please fetch me when it is time for me to be prosecuted. There is no excuse for my actions. I will take full responsibility…”

“Fetch you? Pure Vanilla, according to the rules, we’ll… Have to detain you.”

“Right… I’ll go to the holding room myself. I do not wish to be here whilst you all decide how I’ll be disposed of.“

He began to exit the room, before he heard shuffling and a fair scraping as if someone had suddenly stood in their seat.

“I’ll take him there.”

Cacao…. Oh, Cacao.

The two walked to the holding room, in an uncomfortable silence, the guilt plaguing the both of them.

“Do you…”

“No thank you.”

Dark Cacao hadn’t even finished his sentence, but Pure Vanilla opened the door to the holding room, going inside and shutting it behind him. Cacao took a deep breath before sealing the room properly, staring silently at the door.

Pure Vanilla got comfortable in his new home. This was where he belonged, after all. It was a perfect fit.

Chapter Text

The minute had been… A blur. Just… Laying there staring at the ceiling, falling in and out of consciousness. He didn’t even move when someone entered the holding room, his eyes locked in one place.

“…I’ve brought food for the night. You’ll be in here for just a little while longer, while we decide what your punishment will be.”

Pure Vanilla gave a weak groan, shifting and turning his back to them. He heard the tray of food clink against a table.

“If you need me, I… Nevermind.”

He heard the door close, curling up onto the bed. Dark Cacao clutched the doorknob, locking it back with a frustrated sigh. He made his way back to the councilroom, which had grown silent. He entered and took his seat, the four looking around at each other and at the empty seat in worry. Finally, White Lily broke the silence.

“What are we… Going to do? The rules for something like this calls for…”

She trailed off, looking to the side. Hollyberry shook her head, crossing her arms.

“We can’t send our friend off to his death! It’s just not right! Why did he even go to Earthbread anyway?”

“That isn’t important. Can’t we just let him go scott free?”

Cacao spoke up, trying to get his fellow council mates to agree. Golden Cheese shook her head, banging her fist against the table.

“No, of course not! That would be corrupt! We have to follow the rules!”

“Funny of you to mention following rules…”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

White Lily stood from her chair, looking between the two.

“Now is not the time to be fighting! We all agree we don’t want to kill him.”

Everyone gave a verbal agreement, so Lily moved onto her next idea.

“What if we imprison him instead? Then he could eventually… Be free?”

“Prisons are… Cruel. Besides, we’d need to figure out how long his sentence would be. We’d probably have bias.”

“You’re right, uhm…”

She sat back down in frustration, rubbing her tremble with her hand. Golden Cheese suddenly perked up out of her chair.

“Wait! I got it!”

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆

“Pure Vanilla… Pure Vanilla…!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie growled, shaking the vessel back and forth by it’s shoulders over and over and over again— So much it’s hair had begun to stray out of place and the clothes gained more wrinkles.

He finally threw the vessel down when he realized that wasn’t going to work, holding his head and pulling his hair in frustration.

“How could he just leave me… How dare he leave me! After everything— He just decides to leave? After what he’s done to me? Argh!”

He pulled at his hair so hard he began to grow a headache, finally releasing himself and rising from the bed.

“I bet he’s watching from a portal right now.. Haha… I'll be sure to give him a show!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie furrowed his brows, getting up off his bed and making his way to the entrance, tripping over his long dress.

“Why must I wear such frivolous clothing?!”

He exclaimed, before deciding he simply wouldn’t! He lifted up his clothes and shuffled to his closet, digging through his many clothes before he found a black bodysuit with blue diamonds on it. He remembered this costume— It was for some sort of blue jester for a play a while back.

Well… He was putting on a show, right? He needed Pure Vanilla to come back… He was going to get him to come back.

The cookies of this land had no idea what was coming to them. What do they do when a large shadowy cloud with eyes appears over the academy, blocking the light and bringing darkness to their world. What do they do when buildings and the terrain begin to form twisted buildings, crushing and crumbling any cookies that dared get into its path.

They couldn’t run.

They couldn’t hide.

Pure Vanilla couldn’t ignore it.

He would be here… And he did arrive. But it took hours. Hours of agonizing waiting for Shadow Milk Cookie, hours of torture for those poor cookies.

Instead of arriving from his tower, he arrived from… The sky. A large hand descended down from the sky, and in the distance of the portal he could see Pure Vanilla’s face.

“Pure Vanilla!”

He yelled, his grin as wide as it could ever be. But why was he in this form? He didn't care. He happily flew up and into his awaiting hand. He gently gripped him, lifting him up and through the portal. Blueberry Milk Cookie shivered as he entered the human world, gripping onto his hand in delight.

“Finally… Where have you been?! How could you leave me for so long?!”

He exclaimed, before looking up at Pure Vanilla. He was averting his eyes, and Blueberry Milk Cookie looked around at his surroundings… This wasn’t his cottage. Where… Was he? He could see the other witches, looking down at him with disdain.

“What’s… What's going on?”

Blueberry Milk Cookie watched as Pure Vanilla raised his other hand, which contained the other virtues— All trapped in separate cages and handed off to their respective baker. Pure Vanilla then turned around and entered a door, shutting it behind him to an empty white room with a desk and a bed.

“Where are we?”

“My final resting place…”

“What?”

Pure Vanilla chuckled half heartedly, sitting down on the bed as he held him in the palms of his hands.

“I suppose that’s a bit dramatic…”

“What is going on?! Where are we, why did you leave, what—”

“I’m sorry… I truly am. I… couldn’t come back.”

“Why?! Why couldn’t you? Don’t you love me?”

Pure Vanilla looked away from him, a frown set deeply on his face.

“Of course I do! But there were consequences for my actions… Us witches are not meant to inhabit the cookie world.”

“Okay?! So what?”

“So… I… Won’t be able to go back there. Neither will you.”

Blueberry Milk Cookie seemed to smile, scooting forward in his palm.

“So I’ll be able to live here with you? Become a human? A witch!?”

“…What?”

Pure Vanilla seemed confused, gently tilting his head to the side.

“That’s why you had me eat the cookies… You got me used to the taste of jam. That’s why you allowed my friends to run amuck… That’s why you chose me to be your partner!”

Pure Vanilla stared at him for a moment. Had he gone mad?

“No, no, Blueberry Milk Cookie… None of that is going to happen.”

“Then… Then why am I here?”

He fell to his knees, looking up at him. Pure Vanilla bit his bottom lip gently, trying to muster up the words.

“I… I left because I was hurting my people. The other council members found out what I was doing, and going between the lands like such is forbidden…”

“Why??”

“It brings too much magic between the worlds—”

“Why couldn’t you just stay with me then?!”

“They wouldn’t let me—”

“You’re head witch! Why do you have to listen to them? Why do they mean more to you than I do?”

He furrowed his eyebrows, beginning to cry out of his own frustration.

“Oh, Blueberry Milk Cookie…”

“Do not pity me— Do not treat me like I’m just some cookie for you to eat! We are partners!”

Blueberry Milk Cookie tried to wipe the tears from his face,

“What happens now? I just… Never see you again?”

Pure Vanilla couldn’t say a word, staring down at the cookie. He simply brought him close to his chest, gently hugging him.

“You… You’re going to finally fulfill your true purpose.”

Pure Vanilla pulled him up towards his mouth, and Blueberry Milk Cookie looked at him strangely before gasping and scooting to the edge of his fingertips.

“You— You can’t be serious?! What did I do? This isn’t fair!”

Pure Vanilla shut his eyes and his orchid tightly, not wishing to look him in the eyes.

“The council has deemed you… Unworthy to be a virtue any longer. You have been crumbling your own subjects…”

Pure Vanilla’s voice grew dull, void of any further emotion.

“But— But that’s your fault!”

Pure Vanilla knew. But he continued.

“Eaten your own kind…”

“You— You gave me the cookie first! This isn’t fair!”

Shadow Milk Cookie began to search around the room for a possible escape. He was sitting upon a bed… He could jump down and survive that.

“So your fate has already been decided…”

Pure Vanilla suddenly closed his hands around him, holding him firmly in place.

“You can’t do this to me. You CAN’T do this to me!”

Pure Vanilla felt him struggle in his hold, and his hands began to gently shake as he brought him to his mouth.

“No— No! You can’t… You can’t! Healer Cookie— Pure Vanilla!”

He screamed, banging and kicking the hardest he could against his hand.

“You can’t! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!”

Oh, but he can… And he did. The sound of his screams were soon replaced with the sound of a harsh crunching sound.

Gosh… It’s the best thing he’s ever tasted. He couldn’t help but to continue chewing, the blueberry flavors bursting out from the jam and frosting… He brought his hand closer, devouring the rest of his body.

Tears began to fall from his eyes as he swallowed, savouring the rest of the delicious flavors his lover had provided him. He sat there in his shame, licking his fingers and the jam from off his lips.

Pure Vanilla sat there and stared for a while once all of his lover was gone. His mouth watered from the taste, craving more of what he had lost. He hardly even processed when his body was being moved, carried, to another location. What he did kept repeating in his mind, that taste kept replaying in his mind.

He was laid onto the ground, and he didn’t move, ready to accept what fate had decided for him. He took a deep breath and sighed, opening his eyes and taking in whatever he could see with his limited vision. He could hear his fellow witches speaking, but he didn’t care enough to process what it was.

He was just happy he got to spend his final moments, even if in pain, with him.

Chapter Text

The blonde had awoken from a truly harrowing dream. Tears had trickled down his face as he slept, he couldn't imagine doing something so terrible. He turned on his side to find his cookie lover still sound asleep in his small makeshift bed. He sighed in relief, gently running his hand over his blueberry lover. As he watched him sleep, he remembered the dream he had… Devouring his beloved without a single thought… With no longer a care, not even attempting to save him. His world completely shattered… The idea itself brought shivers down his spine, and he cleaned his face from his tears, taking a deep breath. He was fine… Blueberry

…

Pure Vanilla huffed softly, leaning back in his seat. What exactly could he name this cookie? He twirled the feather pen in his hand. The main flavor was blueberry, of course, but what else could he add to his name? He simply couldn't name him blueberry cookie…

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his timer ring. His cookies were ready! He quickly got up and rushed to his oven, not wanting them to burn… He grabbed some oven mitts and pulled out a tray of three cookies, setting it on the mantle in front of the window, above the oven. He leaned over and sighed softly, the smell of blueberry truly was so comforting to him. Before he could enjoy himself further, he heard a knock at the door.

“Who could that be…?”

Pure Vanilla stood up and walked to the door, engaging his chain lock— You can’t be too careful. He peered through his door… And saw a tall dark skinned man holding a pie.

“Hello… Can I help you?”

“I just came by to drop off this pie… To welcome you to the neighborhood.”

Pure Vanilla looked at him suspiciously, but shut the door and undid the lock, opening it fully. He watched as the man ended and removed his shoes, walking into his kitchen as if he was familiar with the place. He shut his door, but kept it unlocked. He walked back into the kitchen, looking as the man placed the pie down onto a nearby table and directing his attention to the cookies he had freshly baked.

“You bake?”

“Oh… Yes! I do. Just in my spare time though, I don’t do as much baking as the witches on the council…”

He chuckled softly, and the other man crossed his arms and hummed, biting his lip.

“Though, I only really bake blueberry treats!”

He chuckled softly, clasping his hands together.

“Right… Is that your favorite flavor?”

Pure Vanilla nodded almost frantically,

“It’s my cherished flavor!”

The two of them chuckled briefly,

“Say, I never caught your name…”

“My name is Dark Cacao… What about yours?”

Pure Vanilla stared at him for a moment, almost as if he was trying to remember his name.

“…Healer. My name is… Healer?”

Dark Cacao looked at him for a moment, waiting patiently.

“No, Sorry— Pure Vanilla. My name is Pure Vanilla. Healer is my middle name.”

Dark Cacao seemed relieved that he remembered. Pure Vanilla hummed, directing his attention to the pie.

“Do you want a slice?”

“No, no… That’s quite alright. I must take my leave soon anyway… There are matters I must attend to at the council.”

“The council?”

“Yes… I’m on the council of head witches. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of me.”

Pure Vanilla seemed to gasp, covering his mouth.

“Well I had my suspicions, but I didn’t think a council witch would be visiting me! Or the fact that we lived so close to one another!”

Cacao’s chuckle was deep, but instead of amused he seemed more hurt than anything.

“Haha, yes indeed… But I really must be on my way now. I’ll see you another time, yes?”

“Of course! Come visit anytime you’d like!”

He bowed briefly to show his respect, before guiding him to the door, but he took the lead and left the house.

“See you soon.”

Cacao sighed once he had flown out of sight of the man, which wasn’t very far considering he was blind. It seems the spell had worked… Maybe it had even worked a little too well in some areas, but not well enough in others.

Cacao flew back to headquarters with a slight hesitancy, reconvening with his fellow witches. He stared at the empty seat for the head witch with a frown. Hollyberry reached over to grab his shoulder gently.

“Don’t worry… We’ll get him back as soon as possible.”

“Yeah! This isn’t our first rodeo!”

Golden Cheese laughed, propping her feet up on the table. Dark Cacao sighed, looking at the table in his hands. Hollyberry spoke up again, attempting to reassure him.

“We’ve all gone through it before… We can go through it again.”

Cacao held his head,

“At what point do we allow fate to simply run its course? Why must we punish ourselves for these actions we can’t seem to control?”

Hollyberry didn’t have much of a reaction to his little speech, just smiling at him softly.

“…You’ve heard me say this before, haven’t you?”

He sighed, sitting back down at his chair.

“These memories will fade away from us soon… Then everything will go back to normal.”

The only thing Dark Cacao could do was wait for the second spell to kick in, and for Pure Vanilla to return to the council… Then, history would repeat itself. On and on, for eternity, until someone met their untimely demise.