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Chapter Text

It’s been two months since he left.

One month spent in the forest with the Spire gone, and Master Shadow Milk Cookie too weak to bother building it up again.

And another month passing between now, and when Master Shadow Milk Cookie woke us up to led us back to the grand Spire of Deceit, before promptly disappearing into his rooms, and not showing his face, not asking much of either of us besides the occasional snapping that sounds like my lord from my mic.

And I cannot lie, it’s terrifying seeing my lord like this.

So…defeated and lacking concern for any Cookie, even himself.

Not even in the rare moments the tree let me and my little Candy Apple out of it’s roots to visit our master did Master Shadow Milk Cookie look so ready to…give up. 

No, even when he was locked tight behind a milky white fork with gaps wide enough to walk through if it wasn’t for his glowing chains locking him down tight on top of the magical barrier that prevented him from leaving his cell even if he did break the chains, he still had the glint in his eyes.

The glint of trickery

The glint of scheming a plot bigger than even the Witches could predict.

But now…my lord seems most interested in locking himself tight in his room, and to let the ever illustrious Master of Deceit…mold into nothing.

I can’t let that happen.

I won’t let that happen.

Snapping my book close with a snarl, I look over to where Candy Apple is dozing off, a open book in her lap as if she fell asleep in the mist of her readings, but even in sleep, she seems…tense. Anxious, even.

“Oh, my little Candy Apple.” I sigh as I stand up, fluttering closer to her to carefully scoop her up in my arms. “You’re going to ruffle your icings if you keep that up.”

“Mhm” She yawns as she nuzzles my shirt. “Is Master Shadow Milk Cookie better yet, Saph?”

“I’m afraid not, little apple.” I say, feeling my heart break in two at failing her yet again.

“I figured,” she says with a sleepy sigh as she wraps her arms around my neck before I jump through a portal to her rooms to gently settle her into her bed, a loud snore escaping her as she turns to her side to rest against one of her apple hair accessories.

“That can’t be comfortable, little apple.” I laugh as I reach over to begin to undo the ribbon that keeps it in place, gently rolling her on to her back to undo the other one, the only complaint from her a dissatisfied grumble as she rolls back to her side. “Much better, huh?”

Carefully setting the apples down, I spend a moment to make sure her wings aren’t caught at a weird angle that I know from experience causes such awful wing cramps before I tuck her in, leaning in to kiss her forehead with a; “Love you, you little brat.”

She just snores again, even if I can see a little sleepy smile spread across her face.

Doing a double check around her room and to her, I open another portal to walk to my rooms, where I promptly sit on my bed, and let out a sigh of helplessness.

Even with our five year difference, I know she secretly sees me as a Cookie somewhere between father and older brother, a Cookie that has taken care of her the best I could, of trying to be the Cookie our lord could not, even if my lord sent me on dangerous missions before most Cookie’s finish their first year of teachings, leaving me little time to provide for her.

And once again; I failed.

Failed to provide her safety and comfort in the mist of Master Shadow Milk Cookie’s despair, his magic that supports this tower shaky and threatening to crumb again more often than not.

She will never admit it, but I know she’s scared.

Scared for our safety, of what would happen if our lord succumbs to his despair, and lets it crumble away into nothing.

I have to do something about it.

For my little Candy Apple, I will do something about it.

What, exactly, I don’t know, but I’d be damned to the oven if I stand by and do nothing as my lord wastes away day by day.

I will figure something out.

For the sake of my little apple, I have to.

…………………

It’s been a whole day of just thinking and pacing, trying to think of something, anything to drag my lord out of his despair, but coming up with nothing!

“Saph?”

I stop dead in the middle of my pacing, my ears perked at the sound of her half asleep voice as I look up to see her standing in my open doorway, her eyes hazy with sleep as she let’s out a yawn.

“What’s the matter, brat?” I say as I hover closer to her, letting out a little laugh as she rag dolls into my arms.

“I can tell you’re up to something, Saph.” She yawns as she latches on to me. “I see the same glint in your eyes as our master when he’s scheming.”

“When am I not scheming something?” I say with a huff as I pick her up to make it easier for me to walk to my bed to settle ourselves down, because among that sleepy haze that is in her eyes, underneath it is a glint of terror. “You should really get some sleep, little apple.”

“I am.” She says as she buries her head into my chest, giving a little half hearted hiss to watch the horns! as they graze my chin. “I had a bad dream, Saph.”

“Want to talk?” I ask as I gently rub her back.

“Not really.” She mumbles. “I didn’t see you today. I was…worried.”

“My apologies.” I manage to choke out amidst that ball of guilt wadded in my throat.

“You’re scheming too hard.” She says. “Have you spent the last twenty-four hours pacing?”

“Indeed.” I say with a small laugh. “I was trying to figure out how to get our master out of his despair.”

“Hrmph!” She says with much more force than I thought her little body was capable of. “All over that weak, pasty, and above all boring vanilla Cookie! I should crumble that bland Cookie for what he did to my darling master!”

“Settle, settle.” I laugh as I give her a squeeze. “It’ll be alright. Pure Vanilla is unlikely to ever return, and you know our master won’t let something as insignificant as betrayal crumble him.”

She doesn’t say anything for a long while before she sighs, and says; “We both know that’s a lie, Saph.”

“I know,” I say with a frustrated sigh. “I know that in normal circumstances, this would be no more difficult than stealing candy from fresh batches of dough, but currently…”

“I don’t understand what master sees in that Cookie.” She says with an angry huff. “What curse he put on him! How this is the way that master is defeated. A master that spent thousands of years in a tree and came out better. Absurd!”

“Indeed he did,” I hum. “Even if master was resealed, he wouldn’t be so willing to roll over and crumble into nothing.”

She falls silent again, before she says cautiously; “Is the knowledge from the Beast-Binding ritual still in the library?”

Beast-Binding Ritual.

I pause, an idea forming in my head.

“I’m not sure.” I hum thoughtful, trying to recall if I seen something like it.

“You should check.” She says as she lets out a massive yawn. “It would make master so happy knowing he will never go back into that tree.”

“Happy…” I mumble, the idea forming, solidifying.

“Yep.” She says with another yawn, before it turns into a snore, her ability to go to sleep just like that is always interesting to witness.

Letting out a short laugh, I look up at the ceiling as I let the pieces of my plan click into place, of how to stop the crumbling of our master.

I know now what I must do.

Chapter Text

“Your Majesty!” I cry as Faerie Queen Lily slams into a tree, her wings flapping too much and with no sense of direction.

Well, if you don’t count the direction straight into that tree, that is.

“I’m fine, Silverbell.” She groans as she stumbles to her feet. “I got this. Just… a few more times.”

“Please, Your Majesty.” I plea as I race over to her before she can collapse again. “You’ve pushed yourself too far. Go see the healers, I heard Sugarfly managed to replicate the medicine found in the Beast of Sloth’s garden.”

“I’m fine!” She insists firmly, even as she winces as our wings brush.

“You won’t be able to use your wings if you keep pushing them, Your Majesty." I say as she gently pushes me away to support herself. “Please, we can continue this tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She says with a frustrated sigh. “Fine. It’s not like it matters anyways. I’ll never fill the role of Elder Faerie, even if I could fly.”

“You are a great ruler, Your Majesty.” I say, giving her a smile that only makes her scowl. “I’m sure His Late Majesty is proud of how you are managing-”

“Please, stop!” She says with a snap, making me flinch back as she flickers into the second image that the closest to her have been trying to hide. The Cookie with great black horns, a cruel, plotting smile as she looks upon the destruction of Earthbread…

“You should rest, Your Majesty.” I say softly as the image of Faerie Queen Lily settles. “You’re pushing yourself too hard.”

“I guess you’re right.” She says with a bitter laugh. “I’ll go see the healers now. Make sure to tell Mercurial Knight I’m okay, and that I give you permission to take the night off, okay?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” I say, quickly bowing before my sneer of pure bitterness can be seen, regretting my promise. A promise that was not my decision to honor, but was made for me, and all of the rest of the knights the moment Mercurial made that cursed promise.

I swear to be your protector from this day on, as I was for His Majesty, Elder Faerie.

A promise that spread to us all, a promise we are to keep to honor the Faerie Code.

And even if I know it isn’t true, I can’t help but to feel as if Her Majesty is taking advantage of that promise, knowing… knowing I have to serve her.

Something I would have no issue with, except for the fact I never get a damn break.

Day in, day out, I have to manage her, receiving no help from Mercurial Knight who is busy managing the knights.

I am exhausted, and she has to know I’m reaching my point, and yet…

I give you permission to take the night off.

“The night.” I grumble angrily as soon as Her Majesty is out of hearing range. “Two months of serving you, and my treat is a night off.”

Still grumbling angrily, I storm into the Silver Palace, ready for my break from practically running this damn Kingdom through the Faerie Queen, even if I know I will have to put back on that mask of being her willing, obedient servant in just a few short hours.

“Silverbell?” A voice calls, and, good witches, if I have to do one more damn thing…

“What?” I snarl, feeling so frustrated. I just want to be alone and not have to do anything… “Oh, Sugarfly.”

“You seemed troubled.” She says as she timidly walks closer. “Are you okay?”

“Not really.” I sigh as I wrap myself around her, both of us forming a strong bond of friendship over nights of just talking about serving a Cookie with more power than us day in, and day out. “I’m tired.”

“Want anything for it?” She asks as she gently squeezes me back before letting me go to walk alongside me.

“Just rest,” I sigh as I rub my temple. “How are your wings doing?”

“Wonderful, actually.” She says with a happy laugh. “The healers said that in a few short weeks, I may be able to try to learn to fly with them again!”

“That’s great news!” I say warmly, making her give me a feeble smile before it fades with a sigh.

“I miss Pavlova.” She says softly. “Eternal Sugar may be trying, but I wish she would trust him more. I wish I could trust her to not lock me up again.”

“Have you received any more letters?” I ask, making her shrug.

“Only the one.” She says. “I’m starting to think that she burned them up, and is making Pavlova think that while his letters are getting through, I’m not answering. That she’s making him think that I don’t want to answer, don’t want anything to do with him, and since I am the only thing he has outside the Garden, she could easily manipulate him into staying. Making him think its his choice since if I don’t want to see him, then there is no use venturing outside the Garden.”

“Do you think the Beast of Sloth is capable of change?” I ask as we turn the corner that leads to the barracks.

“If it wasn’t for Hollyberry, I don’t think so.” She sighs as she looks around, her cheeks turning a sunny yellow color as she notices where I am heading. “Oh, I do apologize, Silverbell! I thought you already checked in with Mercurial!”

“It’s fine.” I say with a wave of my hand. “He can shove it if he wants to complain about socializing on my way to clocking out. Besides, I haven’t been doing any knight duties since Her Majesty all but appointed me as her advisor. Sometimes, I wonder if I should check in with the Head Council rather than Mercurial.”

“Maybe you should ask for a patrol duty.” She says with a thoughtful hum as she timidly walks through the archway leading to the barracks when the lower knights that can’t or just don’t want to get their own housing, and instead trade their service in exchange for housing and food, all paid for by the Faerie treasury. “The healers all but have no use for me anymore now that I’ve shared the concoctions I have been learning all my time in the Garden of Paradise, I-I miss my old duties of being a knight.”

“You sure?” I ask as we walk down the long hallway towards Mercurial’s office. “A lot has changed since the Age of Birth.”

“I know,” she sighs as she hugs herself. “I know it’s going to be hard, but I overcame my adjustment period of leaving when Elder Faerie was still in his double digit age only to come back with a new ruler and all my old friends and their grandchildren long since crumbled. I think I can adjust to the new ways of Mercurial, no matter how different they are from Moonflowers lead.”

“I still can’t believe you met Moonflower.” I say with a sigh as I recount the legends of Moonflower, of how she begged the ever peaceful Elder Faerie to build an army, to not be taken by surprise or use the benevolent Virtues as crutches, a reason to remain peaceful. That even if she was scolded again and again for having such blasphemy reasons to be violent towards our providers; the Virtues it’s thanks to her that Faeries exist, for finally convincing Elder Faerie to raise an army, that even if it took three centuries, she was inevitably right, her life taken in the last stance to seal the once Virtues and now Beasts into the Holy Silver tree, that even if her life was spent in ridicule, her legacy remains a legend.

“Yeah,” she whispers smally. “I wish I could have been there, but Eternal Sugar managed to ensnare me in her web of Happiness that in just a few short years turned to Sloth, my closeness to her a reason to trap me in the tree with her.”

I don’t say anything, not knowing what to do as she shivers and retreats into herself.

She nevers talks about her status in Moonflowers army, or her entrapment, and I have a feeling that the reasons why are so entangled with each other, that its unlikely she ever will.

“I’ll be back.” I say softly as I stop in front of Mercurial’s office door. “We can talk more if you like?”

“Maybe tomorrow,” she whispers, making me feel sick at making her think further about her old role, of my star struck expression that must have been on my face as I recounted the legends of Moonflower when for her, it’s just a bad memory of her past vices and the consequences of letting them take hold of her. 

“Alright.” I say as I give her a hug. “You know where to find me if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Silverbell.” She says as she gives a feeble squeeze back, before she breaks away, and trudges off in such a way that reminds me of when she first came back.

Of having to face the scrutiny and mistrust of Faeries, not many bothering to hide the fact they hated her for being so interwoven with one of the Beasts that threatened our mostly peaceful kingdom.

I feel so helpless and I don’t know what to do, but…I don’t even know if that is within my powers.

With a long sigh and my heart heavy, I knock on Mercurial’s door, and begin to wind down for the night.

…………………

Hours later after what feels like no sleep, I am trying my best to not look so drowsy as I trail after Her Majesty, her mouth moving with words I know I should be hearing, but I can’t, because it's just too damn early…

“Silverbell?” She says as she frowns at me, making my cheeks heat, not sure if I missed anything important. “You okay?”

“Perfectly fine, Your Majesty!” I say with a laugh to stifle my yawn. “Do not worry about me. Just…keep talking about, um, that.”

“Right,” she says as she clears her throat. “Mercurial said that a Faerie stumbled into the Kingdom late into the night. His name is Blackberry, and he is currently with the healers to make sure he has no fatal wounds.”

“A Faerie in the Kingdom?” I say, my face burning hotter as I realize how stupid that sounds,  instantly on high alert as I summon my bow before adding. “I mean, a new Faerie. A Faerie with no records of ever residing here like Green Apple?”

“As well as Sugarfly.” She counters gently as she waves her hands in a stand down motion. “He is still a Faerie, that must have gotten lost a long time ago, just like Sugarfly. Maybe this is all just the same as Sugarfly’s situation. With the Silver Tree broken, and old civilizations awakening after countless millennia of slumber, is it such a stretch that Faeries who lost their way, and got trapped by the freshly corrupted Virtues are finding their way back? I am aware that Blackberry could be another Green Apple, but with no hard proof, he will be treated and protected as Sugarfly has. That is my order, Silverbell, do you understand?”

“I-” I say as I shift my bow, my ears flattening in conflict of needing to protect my home, but with a direct order… 

“Yes, Your Majesty.” I whisper, dismissing my bow before giving her a bow. “I understand your orders.”

“Thank you, Silverbell.” She says softly as we walk out into the brisk air, tainted with the scent of spores, a scent that Her Majesty still hasn’t used to as her face scrunches up, before she relaxes her face. “I have sent for Sugarfly as well to get her opinion, to add credibility to Blackberry’s story of residing here in the Silver Kingdom. Not to mention a patrol found him stumbling towards the border mumbling about His Majesty and Moonflower. This lines up with the time that Sugarfly would have been here, maybe…maybe she knows this Faerie. It would make sense why no one remembers her or him, for they both are from times of when the Virtues still blessed this land.”

“I see you are reading our history books, Your Majesty.” I say, forcing myself to smile at her, even if my body is so tense, my hands itching to grab my bow and protect my home from this threat, because something is off.

Something is wrong. 

Green Apple, Sugarfly, and now Blackberry?

One traitor, one friend, and one unknown.

Will he be a traitor? A threat? 

Or will he be a friend? A Faerie that found his way again?

Even if it can be a good quality of a queen to be so trusting, she is…too trusting. 

Too confident that Blackberry is truly a Faerie long lost, leaning more towards the case of Sugarfly than towards Green Apple.

But…an order is an order, I-I should not be so paranoid towards someone that very well could be a fellow faerie, to not let one bad experience convince me that there is no way this Faerie is who he says he is.

 Even if…even if it’s because every time I look around, I can still see the scars that the Kingdom is trying to mend, marks left by The Great Tricker’s attack…

“Your Majesty! Silverbell!” 

Both of us turn around to see Sugarfly racing towards us, with a slight pant, pant, pant. “Do forgive me for being so late, Your Majesty.”

“It’s all forgiven, Sugarfly.” Her Majesty says as she stops to give Sugarfly a chance to catch up, allowing her a moment to fold over herself with a gasp, gasp for air. “It is not too urgent. Blackberry has posed no threat to the safety of the Kingdom and to its denizens. I just want to square his story away, and welcome him back.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” She says as she takes a big gulp of air, before straightening up. “Lead the way, Your Highness.”

Her Majesty does nothing for a few seconds, just anxiously scans Sugarfly’s body, before she looks away, and continues to walk with me and now Sugarfly in tow.

After a few moments of walking in silence, Her Majesty stops in front of a door that is quickly opened for her, a Faerie in creamy white robes, mostly clean except the stray crumb and spattering of jam on them greeting us with a curtsy.

“The Faerie is right over here, Your Majesty.” She says as she straightens up before beckoning to deeper in the infirmary. “No sign of memory loss. Just confusion.”

“Any major wounds?” Her Majesty asks as we follow the healer.

“Just minor starvation and shallow cuts.” She says as she summons a clip board that she flips through. “Wings slightly torn, but nothing we haven’t seen. I see no reason to keep him here for longer than a night, and to watch out for signs of his body shutting down due to dehydration, but he has been keeping down fluids and the little jellies he did eat, so that isn’t a concern as of now. Other than that, he is perfectly healthy, just needs rest from his journey back.”

“Perfect.” Her Majesty says as we stop in front of a cot covered with a curtain so thick, I can barely see the silhouette of this Blackberry. “Silverbell, can you ask Mercurial if there are any spare rooms in the barracks that Blackberry can stay in until he settles in?”

“Yes, Your…Majesty?” I say as the healer draws the curtain, and oh, I’m afraid I was right.

So right that this Faerie is dangerous.

But not in ways I could have ever imagined, never could imagine that the threat this Faerie poses could get so personal.

Much more personal than threatening my home.

This Faerie is a threat to me.

Witches, if he isn’t the most perfect Faerie, no, the most perfect Cookie I’ve ever seen, then I am terrified to know who is.

His dough, such a lovely and rich lilac, delicately arched ears lowered slightly due to the weight of those earrings, a whole bushel of metallic blackberries hanging from the chain made to look like a vine, ensnared slightly in his hair that goes from a purple matching his dough to purple roots more closely matching those deep purple, almost black earrings.

Hair that even tousled, is still covering half his face, such a simple mercy, and yet I want to drop to my knees and thank, thank the Witches for halving the intensity of those deep, dangerous violet  eyes, so thankful only one is looking at me, genuine fear coursing through me at the thought of what would happen if he looked at me with both eyes if just one is enough to feel such confusion.

Such confusion of wanting to run away from that dangerous curiosity in his eyes, at the same time I want to run straight at it to so self destructively dive straight into its dangerous depths.

“Silverbell?” Someone says, my ears ringing so badly, my dough so hot. “Are you okay? Silverbell?”

“Hum, um.” I say woozily, unable to look away from him and that dangerous smile spreading across his lips. “I, um… Excuse me.”

Suddenly gaining control of my body, I make my choice.

I turn around, and flee out of the infirmary, and away from that Cookie that puts such dangerous thoughts in my head.

As well as tangled them up, I say as I continue to run, not sure why I am ashamed of myself for running, but I don’t care.

I just need away from that threat that I know is not so easily taken care of with my bow, a fact that is almost as terrifying as the Cookie himself.

Chapter Text

I got to say, whatever that was and is currently racing out of the infirmary was not a variable I considered in my plan.

Hell, I even accounted for the possibility that Sugarfly managed to escape the Garden and went back to her old home, and even that impossibility was true.

I thought I accounted for everything, no matter how unlikely it would come to pass, but that?

By the grace of my lord, I was not aware that I had such an effect on Cookies, not to mention so quickly given a source so close to the heart of the Faeries to exploit if his alert position next to the next gnat Queen was any indication.

But not yet.

I will have to explore that little fact later. A fact that I carefully label Silverbell before filing it away because right now, things could go south fast if Sugarfly decides to be loyal to her new peers over the eons of late night talks we had in the roots of that silver tree, so many secrets and worries and thoughts shared that I hope if our friendship has deteriorated over the little time we have been freed from the Silver Tree, she stays silent knowing full well that while she may be able to share some of my secrets to a few Cookies that might believe her, I got the resources and talent to spread all of her secrets to the entire Cookieworld, and they would believe me.

I seriously hope I don’t have to though, because despite the Cookie I serve, the role I play in his plans, I really do, and still do value her friendship that we fostered in the Silver Tree, that as much as I tell myself otherwise, it would really hurt to be forced to betray her like that.

“Sugarfly, do you know him?” The gnat queen says softly, alerting me to snap out of my thoughts to stare at her yellow eyes widened in shock, silent messages passing between us in a language we have developed for eons, a silent standoff going through us, conflict going through her eyes, and shit, I can tell I’m losing.

She knows damn well who I am, who I serve, and why its dangerous that I have showed up here in the Silver Kingdom, knowing that my loyalty to my sire is strong, and if she gets a hint that I am here on his orders, she’s going to reveal me before I can even get a chance to root the plan she thinks I am planting for Master Shadow Milk Cookie, that she will choose the safety of her old home over the friendship we harbored.

And I can tell, she’s starting to lean more heavily towards stopping a plan she believes I was sent to carry out under my lords demands, her gaze getting more and more conflicted, and I know, I have to stop this by any means necessary.

“Sugarfly?” I whisper as I widen my eyes in shock, making myself look like I snapped out of my confusion. “Sugarfly? Is that really you?”

Your move, I silently convey to her as I lower my ears, relaxing my body as I push my hair out of my left eye, letting her see into the depths off my soul, even if my dough is starting to feel a little uncomfortable for my own body, forcing myself to not look away as I let her stare into both of my eyes, my mind screaming at me to halve the intensity, to make it just a bit more…bearable.

And it seems to be working, every second I don’t make a move to cover my eye another inch of ground I gain, before…

There we are.

“Blackberry!” She exclaims as her hands fly to my hand that is closest to her. “Oh, oh you escaped Eternal Sugar too?”

“You bet I did!” I laugh as I use my free hand to cover my eye again. “Eternal Sugar never told me what happened to you when Hollyberry left. I-I was wondering if something…happened to you.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” She exclaims as she hugs me tight, so tight as she quickly breathes in my ear; “Don’t make me regret this, Saph.” before letting go with a laugh.

“I see you know each other quite well.” The gnat queen laughs, before she sighs. “Would you mind if I put you in charge of Blackberry? I’m sure he has a lot of questions.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” She says with a bow as I make myself look confused as I look up at her crown, my mouth opening in shock as I stare at her Soul Jam.

“‘Your Majesty’?” I gasp as I look around as if deeply bewildered. “Where’s…where’s Elder Faerie? And…and why does she have the Soul Jam of Solidarity?”

“It’s been a long time, Blackberry.” Sugarfly says softly, my heart warming at the evidence of eons of small lessons of Deceit I taught her, glad to see that our friendship hasn’t fully degraded. “I have a lot to tell you. There is just so much to say.”

“I’m White Lily; the new Faerie Queen,” the gnat says softly as she floats closer. “Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. Elder Faerie crumbled so recently, I’m still learning the ropes of being a ruler of this Kingdom.”

a