Chapter Text
--pv pov--
Pure Vanilla took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Currently the Conference Hall was empty, leaving him alone to simmer with his thoughts. The windows were made of beautiful works of art, glass meticulously cut and shaped into the items each of his friends wielded. A shield of bright pink glass, a radiant golden spear, a glittering purple sword, a shining green flower-staff, and of course his orchid-eye staff made of soft blue panes.
The windows in the hall were pretty, but they did not compare to the intricate stained glass works in the Solarium of Unity made in their likeness. He considered leaving the hall and admiring the solarium, after all, it would be a while before the others arrived. As he was more than two hours early. But maybe he really did need time to calm himself.
Earlier, he had discussed about his situation more with Black Raisin. She suggested that he should tell each of his friends seperately, since it would be more geniune if he revealed his sins to each individualy. They had decided a good time would be right after the meeting, so the ancient heroes could remain focused on their main threat of Dark Enchantress during discussions. But maybe arriving too long wasn't actually helping to ease his stress, as the longer he sat, the more he realised he was overthinking. Or maybe he wasn't overthinking and everything that could go wrong would go wrong.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Pure Vanilla Cookie!" A familiar voice said.
"Gingerbrave, Wizard Cookie! Why are you running so fast." Another voice huffed.
"I was only following... Gingerbrave..." Somone else panted. The healer rushed to the door, opening it to be greeted by his friends.
"Ah! Gingerbrave, Strawberry Cookie and Wizard Cookie! A surprise to see you here so early!" He smiled.
"We're only twenty minutes early." Strawberry Cookie replied, "It's more of a surprise to see you here before us!"
Pure Vanilla let out a soft chuckle, realising over an hour and a half had passed since he arrived at the hall.
"Whoa! The Solarium of Unity It's been forever since we were last here!" Gingerbrave exclaimed.
"Are the other Ancient Heroes coming here, too?" Wizard Cookie asked.
"Yes. We agreed to gather here today, after confronting the Beast Cookies." Pure Vanilla replied.
"Why are you here so early then?" The pink cookie asked.
Pure Vanilla debated whether to tell them or not for a moment in his head.
"Well..." He winced, "You know about... My peculiar diet." The three cookies in front of him nodded.
"It's just... My other friends don't know yet and I wish to tell them after this meeting." He said, earning a slightly confused look from Wizard Cookie.
"That still doesn't explain why you were that early though. I for one, can confidently say that we simply wanted to be on time! But came a bit too on time." Wizard Cookie sighed.
"I simply needed some time to sort out my thoughts." The healer smiled.
"That's understandable." Strawberry Cookie murmered. Wizard Cookie nodded as well.
Gingerbrave however, upon hearing what Pure Vanilla Cookie said smiled so wide it seemed that he was practically waiting for the moment.
"Black Raisin said she knew you would feel uneasy! She told me to give you this!" Gingerbrave beamed, in his hand was a mug which the ancient hadn't noticed until he showed him.
"Thank you." Pure Vanilla smiled, taking the cup.
Inside was a steaming liquid, it warmed his hands and was almost too hot to hold. The liquid was opaque, coloured an extremely pale blue. At the surface bobbed, what after a few seconds of staring he deduced, was a pitiful chunk of star candy that was not crushed up small enough to dissolve. He turned to thank Gingerbrave for giving it to him, though he had still yet to know what it was, but he and his friends had already gone to their seats and were happily chattering away about how scary the spire had been. Quite contradictory to the horrors they were talking about, they chatted quite joyfully.
Pure Vanilla stared inside the cup again, deciding Black Raisin had only put it in a cup if it was for him to drink. Tentatively, he took a sip. It was dissolved star candies, like he had expected. But they weren't as... Bland as they usually were. But despite that, they were not repulsive either. In fact, he noticed that they had been dissolved in milk, and only after the second sip could he tell why it was tinted slightly blue. There was a faint taste of blueberries to the drink as well.
Black Raisin really had listened to all his blabbering... It was a simple drink, which he assumed was made to mimic the flavours of Shadow Milk's dough, blueberries and milk. Of course, it could not compare to the real thing. It had neither the crisp yet slightly stale texture of his real dough, nor the sourness of the berries. He could only assume she used very little jam to prevent the beverage from curdling, fruit acids cause milk to clump up, after all. And yet since Shadow Milk was a cookie, he could taste tart and milky all at once while having the delectable texture of dough (and not the gloopy consistency of curdled milk).
He never thought much of what the beast tasted like while in the spire, but now... Now that he had escaped... Now that it was the only thing he craved... He could almost imagine biting into his dough once again. To feel his teeth dig into flesh, to tear skin off dough, and dough off bone. To indulge his tongue in sweet jam that was neither cloying nor unpleasant, but rather... Perfect. Tragically though, it was likely he wouldn't be able to ever again.
Pure Vanilla only snapped out of his thoughts when he realised he had finished the cup. He placed the cup on the table, settling on one of the floating cone seats beneath the stained glass window modelled after his staff. He turned his head to look out of the window, the sun was high in the sky and shining though the window, almost too brightly. It seemed that the others would arrive any minute now.
--gc (golden cheese) pov--
The sunlight glittered on the vanilla wafer streets, making the modest tiles appear almost golden. Her aureate wings delicately brushed the ground. She glanced at the statue of Pure Vanilla in the middle of the plaza. It was quite a humble statue, not gilded like the statues of herself often were, but carved from the same stone everything else was made of. Yet something about the precision of the carving made it seem so much more grand than what it was made of.
At the base were bundles of blooming flowers, vibrant primroses, and above those grew vanilla orchids, flowers she could only recognise because of how Pure Vanilla had fondly blabbered on about them on their journeys from when they were younger. His favourite flowers had always been vanilla orchids and white lilies, she could remember way too much about those two flowers in particular, due to the sheer amount the healer had talked about them. Vanilla orchids could be dried and used to brew a fragrant tea, good for calming the mind, and white lilies were fatally toxic to cats.
Personally, she didn't care much for flowers. Sensitive, fragile and die easily. Not ideal for growing in the arid desert either. Maybe her dislike was perpetuated by one of her old... Friends. A cookie who carried a strong, sweet and intoxicatingly floral scent with her, it was almost too pungent. But the way she reeked of lillies only solidified her connection to flowers. Maybe in another world, where she never crossed her cruel fate, then maybe Golden Cheese would have liked flowers.
But she doesn't. And Pure Vanilla probably liked them for the same reason she didn't.
Snapping out of her thoughts, she realised she had arrived at the kingdom earlier than planned. However, she still had a short walk ahead of her to reach the conference hall. Stretching out her wings (though careful not to hit any passerby nearby) she left the quaint little plaza, heading towards the Vanilla Castle.
--hb (hollyberry) pov--
The gardens in the Vanilla Kingdom were once renowned before the Dark Flour War. Though obviously not as famous as their stained glass, most cookies with a fondness for plants would have the Vanilla Kingdom listed on where they want to travel. Though not as rich in flora as the Hollyberry Kingdom, the softness of wafer tiles, flower petals and even the charming fountain before her made everything undeniably more pleasant.
Looking up, Hollyberry realised it would only be a moment before the meeting started. But she didn't wish to rush, not when the meeting could rewrite the fate of Earthbread. Taking a seat in one of the vanilla wafer chairs, she sighed. Taking a moment to sort out her thoughts before she actually had to talk to the other ancients would certainly be beneficial.
The sun was warm on her face, the flowers carrying a delicately sweet smell and the trees teeming with chirping blueberry birds. It was quite nice to breathe for a moment, to rest without ay pressure. The garden was what she could only describe as mild, in a pleasing way. Nothing was too loud, nor too sweet. Everything carried a gentle feel, from the plants, which were never cloying, to the birds, which simply felt so alive.
It was far nicer here than another garden she had been to, where everything was sickly sweet and nothing really felt alive, only smothered by syrup. Hollyberry didn't think she would ever look at eyes, jars or vines the same again. Or especially fruits. But overpowering pains was something she was quite proud of.
Pain... Something that seemed inevitable with what was to come. Another war... Could she really come out unscathed? Could her passion protect her and those she holds dear? Hollyberry shook her head slightly. Yes... Doubting herself has never helped her before, so this time, she would have to place more trust in herself. It was her passion that defeated a beast, helped defeat Dark Enchantress and a dragon, twice. If she had anything to fear, it wasn't pain, but the loss of her loved ones, and she needed to be strong to protect them.
It only took Hollyberry a little while to sort her thoughts. As she got up, she realised it was already almost the time for the meeting. She should head off before she was late.
--dc (dark cacao) pov--
Dark Cacao stood at the entrance of the Conference Hall. He had remembered hearing that arriving early was impolite, but maybe because he had rushed to get to the Vanilla Kingdom, he was in fact, ten minutes early. He awkwardly stood at the door, considering whether to enter or not. He was sure Pure Vanilla wuldn't care when he got there, he could be two hours late and his friend probably wouldn't mind, but then again, Pure Vanilla might still be preparing, or not even at the conference hall yet.
Just before he decided to enter, he felt a familiar hand grasp his shoulder.
"Dark Cacao!" Hollyberry grinned, bubbly as usual, "Why are you loitering around here?"
"Just... Thinking." He replied.
"Well, it sure has been a while since I've seen you all." She smiled even wider, "Haha! I guess we will have a lot of catching up to do."
"Let us wait until the others arrive." Dark Cacao said.
"No need! It's already time, seeing how Pure Vanilla is probably already inside, and Golden Cheese had just arrived!" The pink cookie beamed.
And just like she had said, another voice chimed into their conversation.
"Well, what are you both atanding around the door for, hurry up. Let's not keep Pure Vanilla waiting." Golden Cheese grinned, shining golden, as always.
"Of course!" Hollyberry replied, stepping past Dark Cacao and entering.
He followed, with Golden Cheese entering closely behind him.