Chapter Text
The silver tree was in sight now. If it weren’t for the destruction of everything, Pure Vanilla was sure he’d be blown away be the sheer majesty of it. It truly was silver, and its branches outstretched far above the kingdom. Unfortunately, a large crack was split right in the middle and darkness seeped out of it. Elder Faerie clenched his fists before walking forward.
“The beast could appear from anywhere,” Elder Faerie said, “he could even be watching us right now. Stay on your toes.”
Pure Vanilla clutched his staff close to his chest, praying that Shadow Milk wouldn’t try anything again. Not now.
“I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary,” Silverbell said, “er, besides the…giant hole in the tree.”
Pure Vanilla stared at the swirling eyes that stared at them from the cracked silver bark. He felt his chest twisting with nerves as his little friends looked around cautiously.
“I’m not seeing anything!” Gingerbrave said.
“It’s not like we really know what Shadow Milk looks like,” Wizard said, “but I’m sure it would be obvious.”
Pure Vanilla approached the split in the tree. The swirling black abyss inside it was hypnotizing to look at and it made his head spin around.
“Don’t get too close,” Elder Faerie said as he pulled Pure Vanilla back, “We don’t know what it can do.”
Pure Vanilla couldn’t pull his eyes away. It felt like it was calling to him, and it made him feel uneasy.
As he stared deeper, it felt like someone else was staring at him. A staring contest? What fun…wait.
How ridiculous! Where were these thoughts coming from? Pure Vanilla peeled his eyes away and looked at his friends, concern pressing his brow.
“Where could he be hiding…” Elder Faerie mumbled.
Gingerbrave boldly stepped forward and yelled, “Come out you stinking beast!”
“Maybe he’s playing with us,” Wizard tried, “you never know…”
“What’s this?” Silverbell asked, kneeling down beside a flower that seemed to be coughing. The slightest touch made the flower shake, then cough out a blue powder. Mercurial Knight pulled Silverbell away, scowling at the plant.
“Disgusting…” the silver knight spat, though his posture began to wane.
“I’m suddenly tired…” Strawberry yawned. Elder Faerie grunted, covering his mouth with his hand.
“Some sort of sleeping spell, don’t…inhale i…t…”
Pure Vanilla knelt down with a grunt. His staff’s eye fluttered shut, causing his world to become dark as he himself fell into slumber.
***
Elder Faeire awoke to the morning light pooling in through a cone-shaped pane of glass. Sitting up, he looked down to see arms with dough that was not his. Another dream of White Lily, he assumed. His assumption was proven correct when he approached a mirror and saw her face staring back.
“White Lily! Good morning!” Elder Faerie turned to see Pure Vanilla walking in with a soft smile on his face. “Was your sleep good? I tried my best to make it feel homely for you…”
“It was lovely, but…” Elder Faerie couldn’t control the words that came out of his mouth. That was probably for the best.
“But what?” His expression turned concerned, clutching his staff as he stared at Elder Faerie—or, White Lily. This was all a dream anyways, Elder Faerie would just have to play along until he could force himself awake.
“It’s just that I didn’t see you when I woke up!” He felt White Lily’s giggles wiggle their way out. Pure Vanilla paused, then giggled along.
“Oh, you’re so funny Lily.” He mused. “Come, the others are waiting for us.”
The two walked down the vanillian halls, chattering of all kinds of cookies coming from all corners the castle. It was peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Elder Faerie knew that this had to be the work of Shadow Milk again. He knew that something was bound to go wrong like last time. He knew he had to be prepared, so he stiffened his back and kept following Pure Vanilla as he walked into a large dining hall. The other three ancients sat backs towards them. Elder Faerie walked up, and White Lily’s voice said, “Hello, friends-“
The three looked at them, but as they turned, Elder Faerie saw that their bodies were mangled with vines, jam pouring out of wounds in the gallons.
“Why did you let her do this?” He turned and saw Pure Vanilla staring at him, wide eyed.
“What-“ Elder Faerie coughed.
“You told us everything would work out if White Lily woke up, but it was all a trick. She killed everyone, and you just let her.”
Elder Faerie fell to his knees and coughed more. He felt jam coming from his mouth, so much he gagged on it. He looked at Pure Vanilla and saw darkness forming around him, grabbing his arms and pulling him back.
Elder Faerie forced himself awake. He coughed some more, but this time it was because of the hazy blue mist that was forming. He could sense the magic coming from that flower Silverbell had touched, so covering his mouth, he crawled his way towards it, too weak to even stand up.
He knew this spell. It was a sleeping spell, a very simple one to preform but incredibly effective if placed just so, and just by looking at the amount of blue smoke that was produced, he knew that it must of worked very well for the beast.
Elder Faerie found the coughing flower, producing smoke still. Grabbing it tightly, he ripped it from the ground. The flower screamed, then wilted and died. The blue fog dipped away, just as Elder Faerie’s head fell to the ground with a soft thud.
“Ugh…what happened?” Strawberry mumbled.
“I was dreaming about being chased by a big monster!” Gingerbrave said, holding his hands up to demonstrate.
“My dream was about all my scrolls and books being ruined!” Wizard said. “It was a nightmare!!”
“It seems we all had nightmares,” Silverbell said timidly, “is everyone ok?”
“Pure Vanilla?” Elder Faerie called.
“I’m still here,” Pure Vanilla said, though he sounded out of breath, “but..”
His soul jam was being touched by the black smoke once again. While Elder Faerie hated the thought of it, he knew that the final shard of White Lily’s soul jam would most likely appear like last time. They would be able to complete the soul jam and wake her up, and destroy Shadow Milk once and for all.
“Stay strong, my friend,” Elder Faerie said, “this may mean the last shard of White Lily’s soul jam will appear.”
Pure Vanilla smiled slightly, “Just what we need…I will stay strong, for…her.”
“Woah, woah! We aren’t gonna help him?” Gingerbrave yelled. “But it hurts him!”
“Calm down, my friend.” Pure Vanilla said. “A little more pain will be worth it…if I never have to feel this way ever again.”
The little cookies all looked wary but nodded, giving smiles of scared encouragement.
“Once the last shard appears, then we can face Shadow Milk and seal him back away.” Elder Faerie said. “Once you awaken again, be prepared.”
Pure Vanilla nodded and rested his body, placing his hand near his soul jam.
***
Pure Vanilla awoke in the void again, though this time it felt strangely…empty. The many blue eyes still stared at him, but he felt alone. There was no immediate grab for him, no voice to greet his arrival. He walked forward, looking around for any indication at anyone else.
Almost immediately, he saw a bright light. It was a shard of White Lily’s soul jam, but it didn’t call his name like it usually did.
“Run,” it said instead, “run, run, run.”
Then it blinked out.