As the days grow darker

by ApathicAuthor

Summary:

What once was the nice and happy town of Cookiedale, is now a wasteland. The empty streets are haunted with dangerous Mutants, blood, and mutilated Corpses. A small group of survivors gathered together to help And protect each other, but how long will it take until that succumb to insanity, death and darkness, picking them off, on, by, one. Gingerbrave, the bravest of the group, hoped that his sister, Gingerbright, would be ok and safe out there with the small group she ventured out with, but he had a feeling, things weren’t going to go well.

Notes:

This story is from the POV of Gingerbrave, and is the first installment to the series “Macabre run” which is that name of this au.

Chapter 1: Nothing is Okay

"Entry #1

So, let’s start off by saying this. If you're reading this, I’m probably dead, missing, or one of those creatures lurking in this wasteland. I don’t want anybody to read this, I don’t want them to know how scared I am. I’m supposed to be the Brave one, it’s in my name, GingerBRAVE, I can’t let them know I’m not as brave as I usually am, it’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid you know? I mean, yeah, I’m a teen, and yeah, I’m probably much more mature than I was before all this happened, but I’m still a kid regardless. But, Anyways, a group was sent out to scavenge a week ago, just a few people, Fire Spirit, Devil, Angel, and Bright. They haven’t returned yet, and there has been no sight of them. They should’ve been back by now, it worries me, what if something happened? I’m going out in a bit to look for them, it’s late at night, so everyone else is asleep, and hopefully won’t hear me leaving. Well, I have to go, the more time I write here, the more time I waste not looking for them. We already lost so many cookies here, we can’t lose anymore."

I closed my journal and hid it under my pillow as I looked around, no one appeared to be awake, and the mutants weren’t as active at night, so I should be safe. I slowly stand up and slowly make my way out the door, grabbing a few things from the storage closet on the way out. A Dagger, some food, water. I know I shouldn’t, but I’m not coming back here until I find my friends.

We had set up a base in an old warehouse, it had lots of food and water, but with the number of cookies kept here, we started running low quickly. We now go out and scavenge For stuff whenever supplies run dangerously low, only small groups, so if they don’t return, we still have a lot of people to fight for us.

Before I could leave the building, I hear a monotone voice speak from behind me. "Any reason for being up this late, Brave?" I turned around to see Wind Archer staring at me sternly, his arms crossed and his posture straight. While I was the leader of the group, Wind Archer did most of the deciding, and I guess he decided to stay awake to my unfortunate findings.

"Oh, uh, uh. I was just um, gonna go outside for a breather, you know?" I nervously explained, I could feel the lies burn through my mouth, he wasn’t gonna believe that, he not stupid, heck, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t the smartest person in the base, but I couldn’t just tell him the truth, then he’d definitely be upset with me. Unfortunately, it appears he already knew my plan as he spoke.

"GingerBrave, listen, I know how worried you’ve been about Bright, But, we can’t just go out looking for every group that doesn’t come back, that’s how my..." he hesitated with continuing his sentence, shifting his hands to hug himself, before sighing and looking away “that’s how we lost Millennial Tree“ he corrected himself quickly. We all know he saw Millenial Tree as a father, but as stoic as he is, he’s never gonna admit it. "Come on, let’s go back to bed, we’ll send out—"

"No" I interrupted, looking at him with wide eyes and a stern glare. I wasn’t just gonna assume Bright was dead, she could still be alive, but not looking for her is just asking for her to die, I’m not letting that happen. "Listen, it’s dark out, the mutants are more dormant than in the morning, I got a dagger as well," I explained, trying to convince the demigod to let me leave, but he wasn’t having it.

"Brave I—" "I’ll be back before morning! I promise" I interrupted again, being more persistent, if he wanted me to go back to bed, he was gonna have to drag me back there himself. But alas, he sighed and nodded, waving his hand dismissively.

"Fine, fine, go, be back before the first break of dawn, or else," he said before turning around and wandering back to the sleeping quarters.

I smile as I leave the warehouse and stare up ya the moon. I hope moonlight is calm on new moons, I don’t think being forced into a coma would be good right now. I sigh and look ahead of me, walking through the quiet abandoned streets of The town I once knew.

Chapter 2: Scopophobia

The walk through the town was almost nostalgic for me, the quietness of the town at night almost makes it feel like nothing ever went wrong, nothing went to literal hell. It's as if, I could actually be happy again. My nostalgia was cut short, as I soon felt the intenseness of someone staring at me, not just one person though, but multiple, multiple sets of eyes watching my every move carefully.

I frantically started to look around, I could feel my heart racing as panic went through my mind, trying desperately to find whoever, or whatever, was staring at me. I just wanted them to stop staring, I couldn't handle this. I slowly pulled out my Dagger and with shaky hands and held it out in clear view, making sure whoever it was, knew I was armed.

I suddenly freeze as I notice a floating shape in the distance, I was almost motionless, save for the fact it was bobbing up and down, hovering just slightly above the ground. It had, from what I could tell, feathered wings and a dress. I couldn't really make many features out on it, but realization hit me when I saw a glint of an angel wing neckless caused by the light of the moon.

"Angel?" I muttered under my breath as I smiled, putting my dagger away. I had found someone at least, they must have been staring at me, but too afraid to approach. I slowly start to make my way over to them as I call out to them, forgetting the dangers out here in the open. They seemed so much more unresponsive than usual, and Angel was a very emotional and responsive cookie, one of the most reactive cookies I knew. I only understood why once I got close enough to see what had happened to them.

Eyes. They were covered in white, blank eyes. They had no pupil or iris, but I could tell they were all looking at me. I felt a wretched knot forming in my stomach, a pit of dread, whatever I had eaten that day coming back up to haunt me. I couldn't tear my eyes away, it was a horrific awful sight, not just the unknown amount of eyes covering their body, but the fact that this had even happened to them, it made me feel horrible. I could only imagine what had happened to the others. Devil, Fire Spirit, Bright...

I was snapped out of my thoughts as what Angel had turned into started floating towards me. I slowly backed away, before bolting down the street, running for my life. I couldn't even remember the past few minutes after that, it was just running, and running. Before being pulled into an alley way by something.

It threw me to the ground and held a hand over my mouth, earning only violent thrashing and pushing form me. I quickly reaching into my Satchel and pull out the dagger, slashing at whoever it was that was pinning me down.

“WOAH SHIT” they screamed out as they let go of me, crawling away slightly. “What are ya, crazy? I just saved your damn life!” I recognized that voice, but it took me a minute to actually realize who it was. Devil, they were alive, and they looked to be in very rough shape. They still wore their usual red footie pajamas and white boots, except they had the hood down, showing their messy Blue hair. They had scratches covering their face, and what looked to be both a black eye and missing fang.

I slowly put my dagger back into my satchel and tackle hugged Devil, only receiving a hug back. I pulled away and looked at them, almost tearing up. “I’m sorry, I’m just, shaken up” my voice was almost shaking, and I could feel the tears start to fall. Devil just gave a sympathetic look and patted my shoulder.

“Oh alright, not the worst thing to happen to me recently” Devil said, chuckling, before looking out of the alley towards the street. Angel was still floating around, looking for me probably “you probably can’t imagine what it’s like to watch someone grow a bunch of eyes, Let alone your own twin” they said, trying to find light in the moment, though I only respond by covering my mouth in horror.

“Oh no, Devil“ I felt more tears fall down my face as I sit in the alleyway, Devil sitting across from me. “So, what now? Should we go look for the others of your group, or?” I shakily ask, not really wanting to continue this dreaded search.

Devil just shrugged and looked at me “we could catch up on all the shit I’ve missed back at the warehouse, as well as stuff I’ve learn” they said, smiling at me as they Hugged their knees, yawning slightly, but seemed unwilling to sleep. I just simple nod and stare at the ground, letting my thoughts consume me.

Chapter 3: A long ways to go

Devil and me sat in silence for a bit, Devil becoming anxious, almost paranoid. All I could do was stare as I tried to gather myself, I still couldn’t understand, Angel hand mutated, turned into such a horrifying but silent creature. As I tried to understand my own thoughts, Devil broke the silence quickly, trying to cheer me up. “So, um, how have things been back at the base. Is everyone alright there?”

I thought for a moment on how to answer them, I did know how things were, I was just at a loss for words, after what just happened, I still needed to to think. I take a deep breath, and let it out, starting to explain. “Everyone is doing fine, Wind Archer is still having trouble coping with losing Millennial though, and I don’t blame him either. When you were literally manifested to protect someone, and then after so long of doing so you fail?" I look out of the alleyway, the streets still empty and quiet, “It must have been hard on him.” I look back at Devil, who was staring at me sympathetically, hugging their knees as their tail swayed calmly.

“But anyways, how about you, why were you gone for so long?” I asked, leaning on my knees slightly, staring into Devil’s tired, golden eyes. They hesitated, leaning up slightly, before yawning again and rubbing their eyes.

“Things have been rough, me and Fire Spirit have been doing well out here, barely surviving, and Angel... you, you already know what happened,” they said, their voice cracking when mentioning Angel. I can only imagine what it was like to see that happen, to see the eyes sprout from their skin. I could feel the bile rising at the back of my throat. But as Devil kept talking, something caught my full attention

“And I think Bright might be at The City of Wizards, but I’m not sure”. They knew where Bright was? Before I even knew it, I was Holding Devil by the shoulders, staring at the, with a face of panic, reciting the same statement in my head. “You know where Bright is?” I almost screamed in their face, causing them to wince.

“Uh, y-yeah! Like I said, City of Wizards. I’m not even sure if she’s still there” They stuttered out, all most afraid. I smiled happily, knowing there was still a chance to see her again, to see my sister. As I zoned back in, I realized exactly how close I had gotten to Devil. Our faces were not even inches apart, and I was basically sitting on their lap, pinning them to the wall. I quickly stand up and step away, blushing profusely as I rubbed the back of my head.

“Sorry, I just, when you said... never mind, let’s go” Devil looked up at me in confusion as they stood up, tilting their head.

“Go? Go where, to,” as I stared at them, I could tell they knew where I wanted to go. “Fine. I guess if we are gonna go there, we better start now” they Said with an annoyed sigh. I let out a huff as I thought to myself.

We started to walk our way to the City of wizards, staying in the shadows and taking alleyways as short cuts, keeping close to eachother.

As we walked, I couldn’t help but think back to the alleyway, when I was so up close to Devil. If I had just, moved my face a little closer to theirs... I quickly erased the thought from my head, still feeling the heat in my face. To be honest, I had always had a crush on Devil ever sense we met, I just, didn’t know how to tell them, and now I can’t really. But, that’s not important right now, feelings aren’t important during a time like this, what’s important right now, is getting Bright back, she’s the whole reason I went out looking for the group.

So here we were, walking alone together through the nights making our long journey to the City of Wizards.

Chapter 4: A City in Shambles

The long was long and tiring, I was almost afraid the sun would rise before we got there, well, at least I feel like it will, we aren't even there yet, I just wish we were. Devil said we're almost there, and honestly, I just hope to take a quick break when we get there. Boy, I really should have slept more before coming out here, I'm just tired. as I listened to Devil quietly ramble on about stuff talking about the things he saw, who he had talked to, just to help me stay awake.

as I looked ahead of me, I noticed a dull golden shine in the distance, causing me to perk up. I reached over and tapped Devil's shoulder, before pointing at the thing ahead of use, my gaze now fixated on it. it was a gate, Golden and rusted, almost as if left for age, which to my knowledge, it was. at the top of the gate, almost to accent the stained gold, was a crescent moon surrounded my some broken stars, the words "City of Wizards" being placed underneath, we were actually here, we were at the city of Wizards.

As Devil gazed at the gate, they stopped in their tracks, almost freezing as the clutched the sachel around them. I looked back at them, their golden eyes meeting my blue ones, this time being filled with fear. I turned around fully and stood in front of them, almost feeling bad for bringing them back here, something must have happened, something bad enough to gain this reaction. "Hey, Devil, are you ok? I'm sorry for dragging you back here, but-" "I see someone through the gate". I froze at his words, trying to process them, as I twirled around to look at the gate, I noticed, there was someone on the other side of the gate.

The figure was tall and slender, and was holding onto the gate firmly, I could only assume they were looking at us, trying to make out who we were as well. it felt like we were staring for ages, before the figure let go of the gate, stumbling back, before running off, bringing to my attention that they were another living person, not a mutant, but a living cookie. When I came to this realization, I bolted towards the gate, holding back the urge to call out to them in fear that it could draw some... unwanted attention. I could hear Devil run after me as I pulled on the gate as hard as I could, opening it just enough for me to squeeze through.

I so hoped it was Bright, I prayed it was bright, but then again, bright isn't that tall, or thin, but I still kept my hopes up. As I chased down the figure, I ignored Devil calling out to me, ignoring their pleas to return to them. I caught a glance at the figure, noticing a cape flapping behind them, before they turned towards and open the door of a small house, closing it behind them, following them to it. I suddenly came to a halt in front of the door as I looked at it, noticing how broken it was, it looked like it was gonna fall off the hinges. That's when I finally took in my surroundings, broken towers and pillars laid on the ground, rotten stardust seemed to grace the floor, leaving a sickly gold color. The city was in absolute shambles.

my attention was soon drawn towards Devil, who was approaching me, trying to catch their breath "Oh dear Fire Spirit, please, next time you run off like that, please, at least warn me beforehand, or carry me," they said, looking at me as they breathed heavily. I blushed lightly at the thought of carrying them, holding them so closely in my arms... no, never mind that, wasn't important. I simply just nod before looking back at the door, a wave of nervousness washing over me. I could hear noise on the other side of the door, almost like talking, in a familiar voice, a very, familiar voice.

"C... Cinnamon?" I questioned through the door, causing the mumbling to stop. Devil and I stood there silently, almost expecting something to happen, maybe something to come up and kill us. or for a response, but what we got was the door opening slowly, being met with the face of Cinnamon Cookie, who was just as glad to see us as we were to see them, well, at least after they confirmed it was us.

"Oh, Oh my Moonlight, it's you, It's actual you, my eyes aren't playing tricks again! Oh golly it's been so long!" they said, opening the door fully and running a hand through their messy hair, that's when I noticed, their right eye was bandaged heavily, and the bandages seemed to be clotting some sort of blood flow. But their good eye held some sort of off energy, as if this was their first time seeing another living being in ages. How long were they alone here for? Could we really trust them? Their glad face quickly turned to shock as they looked behind us both, before looking back at us and stepping aside, ushering us in quickly. "Please, come in, come in, before they notice your here," Cinnamon said, their voice shaking as he spoke, taking glances out behind us. Now I'm really questioning how long they've been alone, cause when I looked behind me and devil, there was not a thing in sight, except for the hideous ruins that were once known as the beautiful City of Wizards.

Notes:

aaaah, I worked hard on this, but I feel like it's written worse than the first three chapters, oh well, here it is, I hope you enjoy until the next chapter.

Chapter 5: A Glimpse into Insanity

Notes:

I still can't believe my most-read story on here is one where I give a bunch of Cookies Trauma they don't deserve. Oh we, I'm glad people actually like this thing! :D P.S.: We very close to finding Gingerbright ;3

Cinnamon quickly shit the door behind us, sighing heavily, before moving a wardrobe in front of it with quite a struggle. Devil and I just nervously watched them, and while I probably should've helped them, I was very hesitant to. As they finished pushing the wardrobe, they leaned on it, breathing heavily before looking at us, smiling their usual sweet smile. It was a genuine smile, not sympathetic, or sad, or even a forced smile, but genuine, a type of smile I hadn't seen in ages. We stood in silence for what felt like forever before Devil finally spoke up, their voice shaking slightly, "Cinnamon, what are you doing here? and why are you alone".

Cinnamons averted their eyes- or, well, eye, as they frowned, hugging themself "I was, uh, just about to ask you the same thing," they chuckled, hesitant about saying anything more, almost waiting for our response to the questions, "But, uh, you're not, ya know, alone". The silence that followed was deafening, almost engulfing the entire room in awkwardness. I looked around the room to see a mess strewn about, books and rubble scattered on the ground, the wallpaper was peeling, the floor was covered in stains of only Millenial knows what, but the most noticeable feature was the fact that there was a target hanging on the wall, throwing knives sticking all out near the bullseye.

"Oh, yeah, uh, sorry about the mess, I didn't really expect any, uh, normal company, per se," They apologized quickly, frowning as they looked at the mess around him, "I've been busy with a lot of things, mainly magic," He said, moving on of the books with his feet, reading the cover to himself. Well, that explains most of the mess, and the rubble and stuff is probably here because of what happened to the City of Wizards in general. But that still doesn't explain the throwing knives, I never knew Cinnamon could throw knives so well, I mean, judging by his eye, he probably can't now, but still, it's surprising.

I could feel Devil grab my sleeve nervously, catching my attention. While they seemed calm, they didn't break their cautious gaze away from Cinnamon, who was just rambling at this point. I looked back at Cinnamon as well, scowling slightly as I thought to myself, Realizing they never answered Devil's question. "Why are you here alone Cinnamon?" I stated, glaring him down as they stopped talking, giving us a hesitant look.

"So you really wanna know?" they said, only receiving a short nod from both of us, they seemed very nervous to speak, and it almost seemed like he couldn't even force the words out of his mouth. finally, he hugged himself tightly as he finally spoke, "I'm only here cause, well, someone has to keep them entertained." Entertained? who? are there mutants in the city? I was in quite a rush so I didn't see any, and it would make sense as to why Devil left in the first place, and somehow left Bright behind. I could feel the hope inside me diming at the thought that Bright was somehow caught and killed by one of those things.

"Entertain... who?" Devil asked, a hint of curiosity behind their question. I could tell they were skeptical of Cinnamon, and I have to admit, I am too, how do we know we can even trust him, its been so long sense we've seen them, are they really even the Cinnamon we once knew? I just continued glaring them down as Devil continued his question, "Are you talking about... Her?".

That caught me off guard slightly, almost shocking me before I remembered that Devil was here before, they just didn't see Cinnamon. Cinnamon hugged themself tighter as they tried to find their words, tearing up at the thought of the things they've been facing. "Three..." thye suddenly said out loud, looking down at us, letting out a heavy sigh, "Three of those things have been tormenting me, and even teased me with the cold embrace of death," they finished saying, their voice shaking as they started making gestures with their hands. "Prophet, Blueberry, and Wizard have all been toying with me, torturing me as," they suddenly went on, raising their voice slightly as they started rambling about the things the monsters done to him, and what the three had become.

Prophet looked mostly invisible, with just and empty cloak and a glowing purple orb in place of his head, Blueberry, who was still stuck in her tomb, had found a way to cause a reckoning in the old library, in the form of a magic spirit, and Wizard, it sounds like he got the worst mutation of the bunch. Wizard had turned into a melting spider monster, his head being made of molten melting ice scream, and having spider legs made of wood. Each of the creatures having their own sadistic ways of torturing Cinnamon, I truely felt bad for them. As they rambled, they seemed to sound more nervous and upset, but not able to stop themself from rambling as they fell to their knee's.

As I watched with wide eyes, I finally decided to shut them up, seeing as they'd already suffered enough. I shouted at them to shut up and calm down, but the didn't seem to hear me, still fought up in their own rambling. I charged towards CInnamon, determined to calm them down, only causing them to panic more, almost throwing a punch at me. Luckily, I was able to barely miss the hit and grabbed his shoulders shaking him slightly. "Cinnamon shut up!", I basically screamed, applying a firm smack to their cheek, causing them to look at me in shock.

As I stared into Cinnamons eyes, I could tell that they were slowly coming back to us, but still someone lost in the thoughts of his own rambling, "Listen, we'll get you somewhere safer, I promise," those words seem to bring them back, grabbing onto my arms, as if trying to find proof that I was real. He seemed to smile as he finally processed what I said, about ready to hug me. "But," I said, placing a hand on their chest, stopping them from moving any closer, Cinnamon gaining a look of confusion, before shock as he processed the next words that came out of my mouth, "You have to help us find Gingerbright first"

Chapter 6: For Nothing at All

Notes:

Warning, this chapter is longer than I thought it would be, and with that, I'm sorry. and sorry if this feels a bit rushed, or doesn't make sense.

Cinnamon stared at me with wide eyes, now realizing that they weren't the main reason me and Devil came to the city, they didn't seem upset by it, just, in shock. Maybe they were confused about why I'd still want to continue searching for Bright, even after hearing and seeing what the city had done to them, and to be honest, I was starting to question it myself. Maybe it was the hope I still held in my heart, the hope that I would be able to see my sister at least one last time, even if it drove me insane, which I prayed to Millenial Tree that it wouldn't.

Yaknow, now that I think about it, it's pretty useless to pray to any of the legendaries at this point, the only ones still... not mutated, at this point are Wind Archer and Fire Spirit, maybe the Dragons I've heard of are ok, but are they really considered gods? And then there was one other, Time Keeper I think, but you'd think being a God of Time, although an unknown one, you'd at least try to do something about this, maybe even try to prevent this from happening? So based on that, I can only assume something bad happened to them, or maybe they just, don't care.

Cinnamon took a moment before nodding, breaking free from my grasp and standing up. I backed up slightly, standing back next to Devil calmly, but not breaking my attention away from the nervous magician. They still seemed a bit shaken up from what just happened, but seemed to be back to normal, at least what could be considered normal now. "Yes, of course, I'll help you. But we need to get some things first." their voice was oddly flat, holding no emotion as they scratched their arms, almost hard enough to make them bleed, but not quite.

I watched them slowly walk over to one of the dressers in the room, one resting right under the target and throwing knives, and pull out two necklaces from out of one of the drawers, looking at them very carefully. They were purple glistening crystals, that seem to have only the slightest glow. Cinnamon didn't seem impressed by them at all, which makes sense if they've seen them before, but where did they get them?

They turned towards us and walked over, handing us the necklaces "Put these on, they protect you from Prophets... mirages, I guess you could call them. Not completely, but well enough to know what's real and what isn't". I placed the necklace around my neck and stared at the glowing crystal, almost amazed. A protection charm? I didn't know Cinnamon knew more than just magic tricks, this is actually impressive.

"Are these actual protection charms?" I heard Devil ask, and honestly, I was curious too, did these actually work? I look over at Devil to see them admiring the crystal attached to the necklace, the purple glow reflecting in their golden eyes. It went well with their outfit, strangely enough. They put their hood up and tightened the strings, I assume to keep it secure and so it couldn't be pulled off accidentally. Pieced of their blue hair still hung out of the hood, hugging their face tightly.

As I looked back at Cinnamon, I noticed he was slipping throwing knives into his cape, which had leather knife holsters I didn't quite notice before. "Uh, yeah, Wizard taught me how to make them, before all of this happened, ya know, just in case" They said, not even glancing back at me and Devil. They searched around a bit more before they grabbed a sharpened stick that I assumed used to be their wand. They finally looked back at me and Devil, sighing heavily "You both have weapons right?" they asked, standing in front of the door.

I nodded as I slowly pulled the knife out of my satchel, holding it tightly in my hands, and Devil simply just took the pitchfork strapped to their back and held it in their hands, resting it on their shoulders, "Good, keep them ready, we don't know what will happen" Cinnamon said, before opening the door and holding it for us, letting us leave the house.

The streets were still empty and in ruins, and the silence around us was deafening, almost petrifying. The three of us slowly walked through the city, holding our weapons tightly in our hands. I looked over at Devil and Cinnamon, before speaking, hesitant on my words "So, um, Devil, do you... happen to know where Bright might be?" I asked, catching their attention, almost startling them.

"Oh yeah! uh, I think the library place, so lets check their first" They said, scratching their head through their hood. Cinnamon simply nodded and held their wand tighter, chuckling slightly, "What's so funny," Devil asked, looking up at Cinnamon, startling the magician. He simply sighed and sook his head.

"Nothing just, stupid little thoughts" they said, looking around as we manuvered the city, searching for the library. When we finally found it, I was in shock to still find it thankfully in one piece, granted, it did look, terrifying, and their was cobwebs everywhere, that seemed to be made of meeting ice cream. the entrance was wide open, and the inside was pitch black, and the entrance was stained with, an unknown black liquid. "Wizards been here" I heard cinnamon say in a matter-of-fact tone as if this was normal, as if this was normal. I mean, I guess for him, it is, but still, it was freaky.

"Ah, Wizard must've been that spider thing that chased me, Firespirit, Bright, and Angel out of here, or, at least me Fire Spirit, and Angel, I never saw Bright after that" Devil said, cowering closer to me, their voice shaking as they remembered what happened here, and everything that happened after. They seemed more nervous than ever standing here at the library but still tried to put on a brave face. I shouldn't have made them come along, but they were the only one who knew where bright was.

Cinnamon stepped in front of us and whispered a spell as he flicked their wand, the tip of their wand glowing as they lit the way "Be careful, Blueberry is tamer than the others, so long as we stay quiet" They said as the started to slowly walk, stepping over the black stain on the ground and into the library. I held back a chuckle at the stereotypical 'Librarian doesn't like noise in the library' trope, and grabbed Devil's arm as I dragged them into the library.

The library was dark, and cold, and their inside was stiff and filled with dust. As we carefully walked through the halls knocked over and ruined books and bookshelves, Cinnamon stopped a few feet away from a bookshelf that had been toppled into the path, books littering the floor around it, with a large mass and red puddle sitting under it, causing my heart to sink, and my breath to hitch. as I slowly let go of Devil and stepped forward, I felt my mind race as I recognized the brown hair and tan dress of the person, and I could feel the Bile rise in the back of my throat as my eyes locked with her now dull purple ones.

It was Bright, we had found her, but, something wasn't right. I fell to my knees and placed a hand on her neck, earning no response from her, her skin was cold and stale, and she had no pulse. I felt all emotion and sense drain from my body as I stared at Bright, my breath shaking as I could feel tears start to fall down my face. Why was I crying? I don't need to cry. there's no reason to.

"Brave, I'm, I'm so sorry" I could hear the pain in Devil's voice as they crouched down next to me, patting my back slightly. Why was he sorry, there was no reason to be sorry, we found Bright, she's fine, right? yeah, she's fine. she's fine. she's fine she's fine she's fine she's fine. She has to be fine, she has to.

I slowly reached to her body and again and tugged on one of her arms, still getting no reaction anymore "Come on, we need to help her, she's hurt" I said, my voice holding no emotion, as I continued to try and pull her out from under the bookshelf. It can't be comfortable under there, I need to get her out. I felt my gaze become hazy as my vision when slightly fuzzy, a purple glow enwrapping me. I could hear her calling out for help as I began to panic. her voice was echoing in my head, but something was wrong with it, that didn't matter though, I just, needed to help her.

"Brave? Brave what are you talking about?" I heard Cinnamon say confused, stepping closer to me and Devil, and I felt Devil recoil slightly in confusion, sitting on their knees. "Brave, You do know that she's..." Cinnamon stopped his sentence but I didn't care, she was alive and here, she wasn't dead. I laid my hands on the bookshelf and tied to lift it, beginning to panic as I struggled to lift the shelf. I had to help her I had to help her I had to help her, I had to.

I could barely remember anything as my vision continued to blur, my mind becoming hazy, I could barely hear what the others were saying, and see who was pulling on my hoodie. I could feel my breathe quickening as the room filled with pained screaming and clutter noise. I Could feel my body be dragged away from brights as tears ran down my face, unable to hear anything as my limbs flailed, trying to get back tot her. we can't leave her. we can't just leave her here. I came all the way to save her and I can't leave her.

The only thing I could hear was someone muttering a quick apology, before I felt a shock of pain course through my head and everything went black.

Notes:

this lowkey pained me to write, like, I am so sorry. #JusticeforGingerbright. On a (very fuck up) side note, I'm already having idea's for how I'm gonna fuck with the Cake Pops, I just gotta figure out when and how that's gonna happen, but be prepared cause its pretty fucked, and I might need to update the tags for the book when I write it cause oh boy. :)

Edit: I keep thinking about it, and just,,,,,,, What if I made What I wanna do with with Cake Pops like, it’s own installment. The installment would be from Choco Banana Cookie’s POV, and like, idk I like that idea, cause the. You’d get a better idea of what’s going on there (even though I’ve said nothing of what’s going on with the Cake Pops).

I was gonna finish this installment before making others, but I just think it’s be neat. I just wanna get others people’s input on this. Should I make a new Installment to Macabre run with the Cake Pops now, or wait until I finish this Installment in the series (which note, it might be awhile until I finish this installment cause I want there to be a lot of chapters). I’m just asking cause well, other people are gonna be reading it and I wanna know what the reader would prefer.

Chapter 7: Nightmares and Grief

I opened my eyes in shock, my head still spinning from what happened. I could barely remember what happened, or where I was, as I looked around, I heard a sweet, familiar voice, speak from in front of me.

"Gingerbrave? Are you ok? You spaced out for a bit there!", I looked ahead of me to see someone I know I'd never forget, someone who I'd always recognize, even if we never saw each other again. Gingerbright, it was Gingerbright, she was here, and alive. In fact, it was almost like the apocalypse-like event never happened, and the kingdom was ok, everyone doing their own thing peacefully, without a care in the world.

I looked at Bright in shock, a smile growing onto my face as I felt like I could cry. I was so overwhelmed with happiness, I didn't care to know whether what had just happened was real or not, or if this was real or not, I was glad to have her back, I sat there for a moment, trying to calm myself before speaking, "Yeah, yeah, I'm ok Bright, It's just-" I tried to think of what to say, try to explain the thoughts and memories that were already fading from my head, as I tried to calm myself, Gingerbright said something that made my heart sink.

"is it because I died?" I stared at her with wide eyes, her voice beginning to echo as I processed what she had just said, my breath began to quicken as I remembered what happened, the city of wizards, Cinnamon Cookie, The library, Bright... as these memories raced through my head, my surroundings began to flash around me, quickly flashing between what started this disaster. Screaming, the buildings collapsing, cookies around my dying. As my head spun, I suddenly saw Bright standing in front of me, surrounded by the destruction. I began to run to her, trying to save her, but i felt something grab my limbs, pulling me back. Vines, dark green vines covered in thorns and blood, pulling me back, scratching at my skin.

I screamed out to Bright to do anything to save me, but she did nothing, she just stood there, motionless, as I was pulled away from her into the darkness.

My eyes shot open as I took a deep gulp of air, shooting up from my bed as I look around in a panic, the chilly air shocking my skin. I was back at the warehouse, safe and sound, well, safe as I can be. I rub my head slightly feeling a bandage tightly wrapped around it, a shock of pain hitting my head. I put both my hands to my head as I curled into a ball, squeezing my eyes shut as I hissing in pain, breathing heavily.

Once the pain started to fade away, I opened my eyes and pulled my hands away I heard someone speak to me, in an almost worried tone, no not almost worried, a very worried tone. "Brave! your awake! are you ok?" I looked over to see Princess wandering over quickly, and Pomegranate right behind her. Usually, Pomegranate Cookie would be off plotting to bring her master back or something evil, but apparently, even she's lost hope. She never explains what she means by that, but she never carries that mirror around with her anymore, and even seems to avoid them every chance she gets. I would ask her, but I feel that it may be a touchy subject.

I watch as they sit down next to me, well, Princess doesn't, Pomegranate simply stands behind Princess. They've been following each other around sense Pomegranate came to the base, some even joke that they are dating, and well, they don't deny it but they don't confirm it either. It takes me a moment to get words out of my mouth, but I finally do, almost choking on them. "I... I'm, I think I'm alright, but i-", I could barely make sentences as I tried to understand the hellish nightmare I just had, putting a hand to my head.

"It appears he may have been hit over the head harder than we thought," I hear pomegranate say, confusing me a bit, trying to understand what she meant. Hit over the head? I don't remember that, though to be honest, I don't remember much that happened before blacking out, my head still felt light, but too heavy for me to hold up at the same time. Princess put a hand to my forehead, causing me to jerk away in shock, looking at her through fuzzy vision.

"Hit, Hit over the head?" I said, yawning afterward as I finally started to calm down, my breath starting to slow down. I still didn't understand what she meant by 'Hit over the head', which, I assume she would explain it to me the best she could.

"You we're becoming violent towards Cinnamon and Devil while they were trying to get you out of The City of Wizards safely, so Devil had to hit you over the head once or twice to knock you out" Princess explained instead, leaving Pomegranate to nod calmly, staring down at me. That's right, the City of Wizards, I had went there with Devil to find Bright, and Coincidentally found Cinnamon there was well. Wait, if I'm back at the warehouse, then bright must be...

"Bright..." I said under my breathe, before trying to stand up "Wheres, wheres bright, is she ok?" I said, looking at them as I stood, Princess standing with me and Pomegranate helped me balance, a headache shocking me and I stood. Oh holy Millennial Tree, how long was I out in order for my body to react like this? Both Princess and Pomegranate looked at me in worry, before Princess spoke again, putting a hand on my shoulder softly.

"Gingerbrave... Dont you remember? Bright, she's..." she tried to find the right words as I looked at her with pleading eyes, already knowing what she was gonna say next. Dead. Bright's dead. But... she's lying, she has to be lying, Bright's not dead, I saw her there.

"No... No she's not, she can't be, I went through all that trouble, I found her, she..." I began to feel tears fall from my eyes again as I tried to deny it, but no matter how hard I tried, even I knew it was true. Bright was gone, I wasn't gonna get her back.

I began to sob as I fell back down to my knees, a waterfall of tears streaming down my face as I faced the truth I didn't want to face, my chest heaving as my thoughts raced my mind, how I felt so foolish for thinking that she was alive, how I had almost risked Devil and Cinnamon's life trying to save what was most likely just her dead corpse. I felt awful inside for multiple reasons, grief filling my body as Princess wrapped her arms around me and a tight hug, Pomegranate hesitant, but following after her, trying her best to comfort me.

"It's ok Brave, you tried your best, and you did bring back 2 people alive," Princess said in a soft voice, resting her head on top of mine as I cried heavily, most likely staining her dress with my tears. I felt bad that they had to see me like this, but I couldn't help but cry my eyes out as I forced myself to accept that my sister was dead, that a part of me has been torn away, that now, no matter how many Cookies I was surrounded by, or no matter how many cookies cared about me, I would forever feel alone.

I mean, I had lived my whole live with Bright, we were basically attached by the hip, how else was I suppose to feel but alone?

Notes:

yaknow i wasn't gonna add a note to this cause i feel like I've been adding notes to each chapter but like,,,, I genuinely cried while writing this chapter I am so sorry I didn't anticipate to make this as sad as this is ;<;

also I just realized its been over a year sense I posted the first chapter of this. so um, horray I guess

Chapter 8: Harmful Thoughts and Painful Apologies

I sat at my bed for a while, even after Princess and Pomegranate left to their own thing. While I was crying pretty loud, no one seemed to question it or find it weird. I mean, I assume they all know, even if it took me a bit to accept the truth. I couldn't help but still feel awful though, that Bright was gone and I wasn't able to save her. I also can't but feel bad for Devil and Cinnamon. Horrible and guilty thoughts seemed to plague my mind, I couldn't get them away, as I thought of ways to help, I remembered about my journal, and quickly pulled it out, quickly writing a new entry.

"Entry #2

I'm finally back at the base, safe with a mild head injury, and I brought two more cookies back with me, well, more or less they brought me back. Apparently while the effect of the gem I was wearing worked, the hallucinations brought on by Prophet still had a strong enough hold of me because of how distraught I was. Gingerbright I, couldn't save her, I feel so bad that I couldn't save her, I can't help but feel angry, upset, any sort of negative emotion you could think of. And as much as I don't want to, I feel as if the ones that went out with her are the ones to blame, Devil, Firespirit, Angel, heck, even Cinnamon, who was in the City of Wizards before they all arrived there, didn't do a thing to help them. I know I shouldn't place all the blame on them, but none of them saved her, and the rage I feel is so, inhumane, it's their fault that Brights dead."

As I finished the entry, I feel anger fuming inside of me, making my head pound as my hands began to shake. I shouldn't be feeling like this, I shouldn't be feeling like this, it's not their fault. As I close the notebook and place it back under my pillow, I hear a familiar voice call out to me from another part of the room. "Yo, Brave! You doing any better?"

Devil slowly approached me with their pitchfork still on their back, sitting on my bed in front of me, putting their hands on their knees as they looked at me. They weren't smiling though, instead, they seemed, almost sad, sympathetic even. I said nothing as I looked at them before sighing and looking away, curling my knees up to my chest. They seemed to have caught onto my sour mood, as they soon responded with "Ah, yeah, I assumed you still weren't doing well..."

We sat there for what seemed for ages in silence, as we both thought to ourselves. I didn't want to say anything until I got the rotten thoughts out of my head, I didn't want to hurt Devil, they'd already been hurt a lot, with losing their own sibling at all, I didn't want them to think I hated them, I didn't hate them, at least I didn't want to, I was just, mad. As I sat there in silence, Devil spoke up, catching my attention quickly.

"Yaknow, I can't help but blame myself for Brights death," great, they already blamed themself enough for Brights death, that only made me feel worse about my feelings. I looked over at them listening to their words as they explained themself. "It was my idea to go into the library in the first place, and everyone agreed, but..." they seemed to have trouble grasping at words that seemed right, I could see in their eyes the guilt they carried with themself over this.

"But, something happened, the books started flying around, and the bookshelves were basically collapsing, I would've been crushed by one if it wasn't for Bright. She, she saved me." Those words seem to catch in their throat, hugging themself as they seemed to be remembering what happened in that moment. As I reached over to comfort them, they continued to speak, spewing out their words in almost a panic. "I... I tried to save her, but, she just kept screaming at me to get out and save myself, and eventually, Firespirit had to drag me out, just like me a Cinnamon did with you, and I..."

I flinched back as they looked over at me with wide eyes, they looked to be holding back tears as they tackled me in a hug, squeezing me tightly in their arms. I hesitantly hugged them back as they started repeating apology over and over to me, making me feel bad for them, but at the same time better. Was this why they didn't come back to the base by themself, cause they didn't want to explain what had happened to Bright? I would never know, and it didn't matter, cause it already hurt them too much in the first place. As I shushed them quiet, attempting to comfort them by rubbing their back, I finally let out words that I should've told them before they even started talking.

"I forgive you."

Notes:

Ngl I just felt the need to write a chapter of Devil Cookie and Gingerbrave having a sentimental moment idk why.

Chapter 9: Troublesome Visit

Notes:

I MEANT TO UPDATE THIS SO LONG AGO GOD DAMN IT. Any ways, sorry for not updating in so long, I promise this won’t happen again.

It had been a few days since I had returned to the base, things had been relatively calm, well, as calm as you could get when your actively in danger when your not in the base. I had gained another but sympathy from everyone. I haven't really felt like myself the past days ever since what happened, as if I'm missing a piece of me, well I mean, by all means, Gingerbright was technically my other half, she meant the world to me, and yet I wasn't able to... I shouldn't get so held up on this, there are more important things right now.

I've been thinking recently, during my trip, Devil kept mentioning Fire Spirit, as if he was still with them, but I hadn't seen him anywhere, and they still talk like that. Others have started to believe that whatever happened to them out there, whatever happened to Fire Spirit, might've messed up Devil bad, really bad. I shouldn't be making assumptions though, I have no idea what could've happened to them, for all I know, it could be just a coping mechanism, maybe, I should ask them about it.

As I approached Devil Cookie, I noticed they seemed to be talking to themself, holding a small red and orange orb, something very similar to what Fire spirit has, which only made em more concerned. I tapped them in the shoulder, startling them as they held the orb close to their chest, before calming down and smiling at me. “Jeez, you scared me, don’t you know it’s rude to Interrupt someone when they’re in the middle of a conversation?” They teased, pushing me slightly in the shoulder as the held the orb in one arm. Having a conversation… with the orb. That raised even more concerns for me, but I reminded myself that I shouldn’t make any assumptions, and continued onto my question.

“So, um, you kept mentioning that Fire Spirit was with you, so um… where is he exactly?” I asked, earning a confused look from Devil, they seemed to think for a moment, a pool of thoughts behind their golden eyes. Not long after did they smile and chuckle slightly, patting the orb gently as they held it up for me to see.

”He’s right here! See? I mean, he’s currently still hiding in the orb, but he’ll come out once it’s safe again, right?” Devil said with a hopeful tone in they’re voice as they looked down at it, a tinge of pain in my chest as I looked at it, but simply forced a smile and nodded my head. I didn’t want to break they’re heart, but, how could we even know Fire Spirit would ever be “reborn”, based on what happened to Millenial, Moonlight, Sea Fairy…

I watched them stuff the orb into their satchel and pat it happily, before looking at me, crossing they’re arms slightly, “So, how you holding up?” They added, trying to start conversation, which worked slightly. We started talking about how the past few days have been for the both of us, how we’ve been recovering, and about how the others have been handling everything. We were starting to lose topics to talk about when we heard a lot of commotion near the entrance to the base, rushing over to see everyone crowded around two cookies, they looked oddly familiar, I just couldn’t out my finger one it.

They seemed to be out of breathe, and oddly enough, seemed to have the need to get out of there, with at least anyone, I approached them I started to hear what the green haired one was saying “Listen, I’m sure Choco Banana is still there and alive, We just, we just need someone to come and help us get him, and-“ “What’s going on here…” I interrupted, crossing my arms as I tried to calm the two cookies, who looked at me, almost startled and confused that I was the one to interrupt them. That’s when I remembered, it was two members of a pretty popular band, the Cakepops, Bright would’ve loved to meet them… but that’s not the point. I needed to know why they were here, I mean, as I’ve said before, I am the leader here, so if they had a problem, they should speak to me… ok I think the powers getting to my head.

The green haired one, who I think was named Spearmint Cookie, cleared their voice, and tried to speak calmly, though their voice was still shaking, “We, we need help… Choco Banana Cookie is being held hostage and, me and Coffee Berry need help to save him and just-“ He started to stutter, almost breaking down as the other Cookie, who was Coffee Berry Cookie, patting his friends back before looking back at us crossing his arms.

”It may not sound that bad, but, it really is hard to talk about, we just, need some help,”. I thought for a moment as I looked at them, I understood that they really wanted to save their friend, but I wasn’t sure if we should, for all we know, they could be tricking us into helping them. I stepped back a moment, putting a hand up to my mouth as I looked around at the scene, sighing heavily.

”Stay here, I need to go find someone…” I said, realizing that one person had been missing from the crowd that had formed around the two boys, Wind Archer Cookie, he was usually here first, and yet he was nowhere to be scene, and I knew that he’d be infuriated if I made a decision like this without him, and dear millennial did I not want to upset a Demi-god, especially when the world is in this state. I quickly wandered off before anyone else could say anything, wandering around the large warehouse until I stumbled upon my target.

Wind Archer was quickly sitting in a far back room of the building, seemingly looking at nothing, only to suddenly be startled by my sudden appearance, staying silent for a moment, before standing up and crossing his arms, staring down at me as he spoke in his usual monotone voice. “What do you need, Brave.”

Chapter 10: A forest of Horror

“What were you doing just now?” I asked, still absolutely confused as to why he was staring out at nothing, the thought of the Crisis with the cake pops completely leaving my mind as I looked up at the cookie in front of me. He stared back at me without a changing emotion, and sighed, putting a hand to his head before looking at me, hesitantly responding.

”I was… Meditating, now, answer my question, what do you need, Brave…” he stated, his voice even colder than before, as if I was bothering him during something important, which to my knowledge, it didn’t look too important, he was just sitting there, spaced out, thinking, just, sitting there. I quickly remembered why I had came to bother him, and explained to him the problem, in which he sighed heavily, gritting his teeth. “No, absolutely not, how do they know they aren’t tricking us? We can’t risk that,” He explained, gesturing with his hands slightly, scowling down at me as if I was stupid for np even bringing up the situation.

I understood where he was coming from to be honest, but we also couldn’t risk another cookie dying when we could’ve down something to save them, I just can’t risk it. “Please, Wind Archer sir, I understand your concern, but just this one time, please, we can go out in a large group just incase! What if, what if…” I pleaded, losing my words as I tried to think of something to help us, scratching at my arm as I tried to think of something to convince him, an idea slowly popping into my head, “What if you came along with us? I mean, you’re a demigod, you could easily protect us, right?”

Wind archer looked ever so slightly startled by the suggestion, tensing up slightly as he stared down at me, his expression almost unreadable, you’d never be able to tell what he was thinking. And honestly, I really wasn’t able to, I thought he would just shut me down again, and tell me to go send the two boys off to find someone else. But to my surprise, he didn’t, he simply sighed and nodded, crossing his arms. “Ok, sure, go and… go and get some people you want to bring, I’ll tell the cakepops or whatever and wait by the exit with them.” I smiled up at him and nearly went to hug him, but stopped myself as he walked past me, heading off to the entrance of the warehouse.

I simply followed behind him, knowing that everyone was probably still near the exit with the cakepops, including Devil, who I wanted to bring along. I know we had both just gotten back from a, very traumatizing experience to say that least, and probably shouldn’t get ourselves in another one, but they are a demon, they could be of use with intimidation of sorts. I made my way through the small crowd and gathered the people I wanted to bring with us, Pomegranate, Devil, and Sparkling Cookie. An odd selection, but a selection I thought would work.

As I approached wind archer with the small group, all of us armed with something to defend ourselves. Wind archer looked at us and sighed before simply waving for us to follow him without a word, leaving the warehouse.

Sun was still high in the sky as we walked down alleyways and roads, slowly being lead by Spearmint to a thick forest, slowly pointing into it as we stopped. “Down there, in the forest, we were hiding out in a mostly abandoned studio there, so they should still be there!” He exclaimed, looking back at us as we we stood there, staring at the forest. I looked up at Wind Archer who almost looked frozen in place, before clearing his throat and crossing his arms, holding his bow in his hand.

”Are, are you sure it’s safe?” Wind Archer said, his voice shaking slightly as he looked into the forest, the tall trees towering over us, any light barely peaking through the leaves, only enough for us to see the ground, covered in dead plants, mushrooms, and twigs, but, oddly enough, nothing too bad. Spearmint nodded as he looked back into the forest, Coffee Berry nodding as well.

“I mean, it was safe when we went through earlier!” Coffee Berry said, crossing his arms as he spoke, “Plus, we probably shouldn’t be out in the open for too long, yaknow?” He continued, rubbing the back of his head nervously as he looked around. That was true, there were multiple things out here that could just sneak up and kill us, the forest could conceal us really well.

Before anyone could say anything, Spearmint squeezed right through the trees, Coffee Berry anxiously following after to keep up with him, everyone else slowly doing so one by one. I started having a bad feeling about this, the trees, something about them just, didn’t sit right with me, but regardless, I put on a brave face and kept moving forward, finally entering the forest after everyone.

Chapter 11: Dendrophobia

Notes:

The title of this chapter is currently a place holder, and I might eventually change it when I think of something better, but besides that, please enjoy

Upon entering the forest, I could feel the sense of someone following us, almost the same with when I encountered Angel. I could feel Devil grab my hand, squeezing it tightly in theirs as we walked, almost calming me a bit. It did help my nerves having them here, as for everyone else, they were definitely on edge, not saying anything as we walked in silence, looking around us carefully as to not disturb anything.

"So… who’s holding Choco Banana Hostage?" I heard Sparkling say, trying to ease the tension between us as we walked. I was honestly curious too? And why only Choco Banana? It was strange just to hold one of them hostage, unless the others were… no, I shouldn’t give myself such negative thoughts, especially when I’m already on edge.

"Oh um, Popping Candy Cookie and Shining Glimmer Cookie, they… really took a dark turn after the fall…" Spearmint explained, his voice slowly faltering as he explained, hugging himself. So wait, Popping Candy was holding one of his own friends hostage? Why would he ever do that? I mean, even in the state the world was currently in, I’d never hold any of my friends hostage.

"Well, how bad are things. Shouldn’t you tell us so we can prepare ourselves?" Pomegranate asked, pestering them both for an answer after they hesitated, only causing them to speed up in their walk. Pomegranate stopped pestering after that as Wind Archer put a hand on her shoulder. I couldn’t hear what he said, but it was enough to make her stop.

We continued walking for a while, almost what seemed like forever, when I heard a twig snap somewhere nearby, causing me to jump slightly and stop in my tracks, looking around slightly as I tried to look for something. It was just trees though, trees, leaves, and rotting wood. Everyone looked at me concerned as I continued to look around, before spotting something else that hadn’t been there the last time I looked.

It was almost towering, branches, grew out of its face and eye sockets, wrapping tightly around its body and neck, tightly strangling it. It was almost covered in blood and this black thick ooze that appeared to be coming from its mouth, which appeared to be full of sharp teeth, forming a twisted smile. And even though it didn’t have eyes, I knew it stared back at me. And Devil seemed to notice it too, holding my hand tightly as they bolted past the crowd, not even alerting them of what we had seen.

Granted, I didn’t think we needed to, cause as soon as we moved, the creature lunged at us at, almost hanging from the tree’s as it continued to root into the ground, sharp branches piercing through the ground as it chased us all down, everyone running and screaming for their lives as it chased us down.

We stopped in our tracks as Spearmint screamed out in pain, a sharp branch basically snapping his leg right off at the knee, causing him to fall down. The creature came to a halt in front of us, staring down at us as it seemed to become rooted into the ground, just staring.

That is, until, I felt something hard wrapping around my leg, grounding me in place as it moved, I looked down and screamed as rough and sharp branches seemed to wrap around my legs, locking me in place as I tried to rip my feet from the ground. Then I heard Pomegrante screaming, then Sparkling, almost everyone was now screaming as the tree roots began to wrap around us, strangling us. As I watched everyone struggle I noticed one person who wasn’t, Winder Archer.

He just stared at the creature in horror, already giving up as he finally got a look at what the creature was, who the creature used to be, horror striking his face. That’s when I finally realized, this thing, was Millennial Tree, or whatever he had become, and despite what he had turned into, Wind Archer didn’t have it in his heart to hurt him, he had accepted failure as it stared him right in the face.

We all screamed at him to snap out of it, trying to get him to do something, I could feel it getting hard to breathe as the roots wrapped around my chest, constricting my lungs as they slowly froze my arms, I heard Devil scream out next to me, but I couldn’t move my head to look at them as tears started to stream down my face.

This was it, we were all going to die here, and… it was all my fault, I had suggested helping Spearmint and Coffee Berry, and now, we were all going to get strangled by this thing, whatever it was Millennial had become.

But death never came, in fact, the roots stopped covering my body, and I heard an Inhuman screech from somewhere around me as the sharp roots retreated into the ground, letting me fall. I take in a sharp breath as I held my chest and face, feeling the small splinters and scratches that now covered my neck and body, causing it to sting. But I was alive and that was what mattered right now.

I slowly looked around at everyone, all of us laying or sitting in the ground crying as trying to catch our breathe, Wind Archer simply laid there staring at the sky, his eyes, it was the first hint of fear I’ve ever seen in his face, and I can tell why, he did almost just die basically, at the hands of someone who he used to call a father as well, it must’ve been awful for him to even see Millennial like that. I looked over at Devil and slowly reached to them, wrapping an arm around them before noticing their mangled and broken wing, barely hanging onto his back by a thread, nothing but a sack of bones and muscle at this point. I hugged them closely, trying not to touch their wing too much as they gagged in pain.

”Let’s get you all to my Cottage, Me and Birthday Cake will get you all patched up…” I jumped slightly at the person who was speaking staring up at them, through blurry vision. They were dressed in a black gown, their Licorice dreads nearly reaching their shoulders,  almost covering their entire face as their pale yellow eyes stared down at us, a Scythe made of bones held in their hands, slightly dripping with the black ooze that was coming out of that creature. I almost didn’t recognize them, their rough voice speaking again as he looked at us, sighing slightly.

“Here, let’s just, rest a bit, then we can head off to my cottage.” They slowly sat on the ground in front of us, still gripping the scythe tightly smiling at us. “I’m Licorice by the way, sorry I came so late, I was… doing things…” So, that’s where I recognized them from.

Chapter 12: Pain

I held Devil close as I tried to catch my breath, occasionally glancing around at everyone to make sure we were all still breathing. I could feel Devil shaking in my arms, trying my best to comfort them as their broken wing continued to bleed, staining their already reddish-orange clothing.

I averted my eyes other towards Licorice as he slowly crept towards Spearmint, looking closely at the place where his leg used to be. "Hm... that's such a surprisingly clean-cut, especially on a cookie. Dendro' must be getting better at hunting... but regardless I'm sure we can get it cleaned up, but I doubt I can reattach the leg. You can even stay in Birthday and I's cabin until you're all better." he said, gently lifting the nub slightly as he inspected it, Spearmint hissing in pain as he did.

"Dendro'... You mean, Millenial Tree, yes?" Pomegranate questioned as just picked she picked splinters and wood out of her dress and skin, trying to steady her breath as she did so. Licorice seemed to perk up slightly as set Spearmint's leg down carefully, looking at Pomegranate in shock, he sat there for a moment in silence, almost as if trying to process what Pomegranate had asked.

"It... it has an actual name?!" Licorice said, his voice filled with shock as it raised above the whisper it had been at before, almost as if he hadn't known this information. Pomegranate looked at him in confusion, freezing slightly as he spoke. Before she could say anything, Wind Archer butted in, finally sitting up.

"Of course he does, he wasn't always like that, don't you know that?" Wind Archers voice was cold again, now back to his emotionless facade as he spoke to Licorice, who seemed almost shocked, even embarrassed/ Licorice began stuttering over his words, before swallowing and looking towards Devil and me, his expression softening as he spoke, "A, Anyways, you two, are you both ok?"

Devil looked at him cautiously, glancing at me before clearing his voice, trying to sound tough, I assume. "Um, y-yeah, I'm fine, just a broken wing, nothing too major..." Devil said, their voice falling as they looked down, rubbing their shoulder before looking back at their broken wing, still hanging limp. Admittedly, I could hear the worry in their voice, laced with what could be a hint of hopelessness. Licorice only sighed in response before standing up, scythe in hand, he stared at Devil, before looking back and Spearmint, resting his scythe on his shoulder.

"Alright, come on, let's go, we can't have your friend here losing too much blood!" Licorices exclaimed, becoming cheerful as he waited for everyone to stand up, Coffee Berry having to Carry Spearmint, before walking off in what seemed to be a random direction.

We all nervously followed him, Devil still sticking close to me as I tried to hold up his wing a bit, wanting to relieve the weight it probably caused with him not being able to hold it up himself anymore. The walk was oddly peaceful, bits of light peeking out in between the leaves, and almost a path seemed to be forming as we followed Licoice further into the woods. Soon enough, we arrived at a clearing in the woods, with a small cottage in the middle. Out front was a sight that read "Welcome to the home of Licorice and Birthday Cake" with the latter name seemingly being painted on much later than the former. around the house was a small hand-built fence, with a garden out front, as well as... a grave.

Well, it was more like a cross, but what other reason would it be there? It stuck like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the clearing, which was odd. For someone like Licorice Cookie, you'd think he'd be living somewhere much more gloomy, but then again, Birthday Cake apparently lived with him, so, I guess this is what they settled on.

Licorice Cookie quickly opened the door, resting his scythe right next to it as he called out into the house, "Birthday Sweety? We have company! Grab me the medkit please, they're injured,", He then quickly turned towards us, a bright smile on his face "Come in come in, make yourself at home, and um, place your friend down on the couch, Birthday Cake should be out with the medkit any time now!". We all entered the house and honestly, it was just how I expect, the first floor consisted of two rooms, The kitchen, which from what I could see through the doorway, looked very clean and cozy, and the living room, littered with dolls, bottles, notepaper, and books. Fortunately, the couch was completely cleaned off, leaving enough space for Spearmint to rest with Licorice sitting next to him.

Soon enough we heard Birthday Cake thump down the stairs, carrying a medkit in her arms. She looked the same as the day I met her, back before all of this started, so bright and cheerful, and her hair in neat pigtails, only one thing was different though. From what I could see, her stomach seemed to be much larger than usual, stretching her stomach out slightly, her free hand resting on top of it as she handed the medkit to Licorice. "Do you need any help with all this dear? You know I don't mind!" She asked, smiling softly and Licorice took the medkit from her, shaking his head.

"No no, you should be resting dear, we can't have you getting stressed, I'll take care of the guests," Licorice protested, Birthday Cake simply sighing and nodding, waving at us before traveling back upstairs, presumably to her room. I was still almost in shock, this wasn't anything I expected, the pet names between those two, Licorices kindness, and Birthday Cake, I didn't want to assume anything, but...

"Hey Licorice?" I blurted out almost instinctively, being filled with childish curiosity about all of this. Licorice didn't look up as he began cleaning up Spearmint's nub, Spearmint hissing in response at the contact, trying not to flinch away.

"Yeah, kiddo?" He said, shocking me again, last time I encountered Licorice, he was much ruder than this, and was usually out to get me, so the fact that he was being nice and even helping us was just, weird. I looked around at everyone else, who seemed as equally awkward in this situation, before looking back at Licorice, trying to find what I should ask first.

"So like, Birthday Cake Cookie... is she, ya know..." I tried to ask the question, but only felt my face heat up from embarrassment, the silence seeming deafening. I could hear Devil Cookie snickering at my awkwardness as I continued to struggle with my question. Licorice glanced up at me and I could hear him chuckle as he he reached for the bandaged, carefully wrapping up Spearmints nub as he spoke. "She's around 5 or 6 months in I'm pretty sure, only a few more months until I'm a dad, never thought I'd see the day!".

I could sense everyone's shock in the room at what Licorice said, Pomegranates especially, she had known him the most out of anyone here, and I guess even she didn't think he could ever be like this. "Wait, are, are you serious?" Sparkling said, gesturing to him slightly, a hint of amazement behind his voice. Licorice simply nodded as he finished wrapping up Spearmints leg, sighing heavily before responding, "I know I know, not the safest place to raise a kid, but hey, don't worry, just as long as they don't wander away I'm sure they'll grow up just fine...", Licorice said, tying up the bandages on Spearmints leg before, smiling calmly.

"There we go, someone please take him up to the guest bedroom, it should be labeled, you can all stay there," Licorice said, not even taking note to our shock in the situation. Coffee Berry quickly nodded and picked up Spearmint, taking themselves up to the guest bedroom to escape the award atmosphere, something I wish I could do right now. "Now, about your devilish friend, broken wing, yes?" Licorice continued, pointing at Devil calmly.

Devil froze up as they stepped towards me a bit nodding as they looked at licorice, "Mhm" They seemed reluctant with going near Licorice, stepping away slightly, so I simply rolled my eyes and Dragged them over to him, sitting him down on the couch. "Huh, I assume you are the stubborn one," Licorice chuckled, turning Devil slightly to look at their back. Almost immediately, Licorice's face twisted into a grimace of second-hand pain, hesitant to even touch Devil's broken wing.

"Well, it's um... I think I can bandage it up, but I might need to crack some bones back into place... somehow," Licorice stuttered out, trying to speak carefully. Devil turned his head toward Licorice in a panic eyes widening slightly as he scooted away closer to me, chuckling slightly.

"Nonononono I'm fine, I'm, I'm a demon, it can heal all by itself, I promise." Devil protested, turning his head over his shoulder to look at Licorice, only to look back at me when I pushed him back towards Licorice. I don't understand what the big deal was, the sooner we fix their wing, the less pain they'll be in.

"Come on Dev, let's just, get this over with, and then your wing should be fine..." I said, attempting to persuade them to let Licorice do whatever they needed to do to help them, only receiving a glare in response, which soon softened into a frustrated expression.

"ugh, Fine, but... I don't want anybody in the room while it happens, they can like, go outside or something..." Devil said, gesturing at the few other people in the room, not breaking eye contact with me. I looked around a bit at everyone, who didn't seem to be moving before scowling slightly, "Come one, you heard them, go upstairs or something, ya know, just to a different room, out of sight out of mind!" I Nagged, shooing everyone away with my hand, as they slowly sighed and began walking upstairs, I would've followed after them if it hadn't been for Devil grabbing my hand.

"You, you can stay here Brave. Not because I want you around, but, because sense you're making me go through this, you're suffering with me," I was almost in shock at his word, feeling a lump grow in the back of my throat, shaking slightly as I sat back down next to him. That didn't exactly make sense, I wasn't exactly making them go through this, it was something he had to go through either way.

"Al, alright... this, this may hurt a bit, do you, want something to bite down on? I can grab you like a-" "They can bite down on my cane!" I interrupted, holding it up slightly. It wasn't the most sturdy thing to bite, but at least it tastes like mint, so that's fine at least. Licorice nodded as Devil took the candy cane from me, before biting down on it, growling slightly as he averted his gaze away from both of us, still holding onto my hand.

"You ready? I'll try to make it quick, I promise," Licorice said, not even giving Devil time to respond before I heard a sickening crack from behind Devil, Devil tightening their grip on my hand as they clenched their eyes shut, not making a sound. A few more cracks later and Licorices had finally started bandaging Devils wing up, bandaging the wing so it was pressed up against their back. I tried not to acknowledge the pain that was coursing through my entire arm, or the fact that I could already see that Devil had bitten down so hard on my Cane that it had cracked a bit.

Licorice stood up as he sighed, finally having finished wrapping up their wing, "Well, that should be good enough... If you need me, I'll be washing up," He said, before muttering something under his breath and trudging off upstairs. Devil and I sat there for a moment, Devil still frozen with his jaws locked around my cane, and his hand still squeezing my hand, which had gone numb at this point.

"Devil? Are you ok?" I asked, lifting my hands to their face as they finally opened their eyes, a few tears streaming down their face as they looked at me, finally releasing their grip on my hand and taking my cane out of their mouth, looking down at it.

"Uh, yeah, I'm, I'm fine now... sorry about your cane, ya know I could've just used my pitchfork, right?" They said, handing it to me calmly, thats right, I forgot they had that with them, gosh I'm so stupid. As I went to grab it, I noticed my hand, it was red, and it hurt too much to move it. Devil seemed to notice it too as they dropped the cane and grabbed my hand again, causing me to hiss in pain. "Jeez did I do this? I'm so sorry, it's not broken, is it?" they asked, looking at it closely, My hand didn't feel broken though, just sore and a bit numb.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine, I'm more concerned about you though," I responded, pulling my hand away from them and picking up my cane, holding it in my non-injured hand. I looked out the window of the cottage to see the sun setting in the distance, a full moon slowly becoming clear in the sky. "Shit..." I mutter under my breath, rubbing my face, "That's a full moon I think, higher risk of Moonlight knocking us unconscious in the middle of the damn woods," I said, turning back to Devil.

"Well, then let's just go to bed, we can sleep, and then head back out in the morning," Devil said, smiling as they trotted off upstairs, and then I myself following along shortly after. I hope we can get an early start in the morning, but something about all of this made me feel uneasy, it was all so familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time, but then again, maybe I did just need to 'sleep on it', and then I'll be just fine.

Notes:

I think I accidentally gave Devil Cookie attachment Issues and/or DPD, I'm fucking 💀. Not me fucking projecting myself onto my favorite cookie, let alone in a fucking grimdark fic.

anyways, sorry this took so long I just didn't feel like writing tbh

Chapter 13: Curiosity

Notes:

heeeeey.

well this is awkward... its been awhile hasn't it?

please forgive me-

It felt silly of me to think, but sleeping on the concrete floor back at the base was somehow more comfy than sleeping on the wooden floor of this house. I mean, the bed would probably be comfier, but it was only so big, and I'm pretty sure the one missing their leg needed it more than someone who just had a few splinters. We would've also had Devil sleep on the bed as well, but they insisted on sleeping on the floor for some reason, probably wants to be seen as tough for some reason. I never really understand their thought process, though I guess it would be similar to how I am with bravery. I was probably the only one still awake, and seeing as I wasn't gonna be sleeping anytime soon, might as well snoop around and see what the hell is wrong with Licorice, Cause he clearly wasn't acting like himself.

As I slowly stood up from my spot on the floor, I also noticed that two other people were missing from the room, Devil, and Pomegranate. I was too surprised though, Pomegranate, being an ex-associate with Licorice, probably also wanted to know what was up with his change of behavior, and Devil, I'm sure sleeping with a broken wing couldn't possibly be comfortable, no matter what position you sleep in.

I carefully crept out of the guest bedroom and into the cold hall, shivering slightly, the weird magic stuff Licroce had sending chills down my spine. I've never seen where Licorice lived before, I just assumed he lived where all the other cookies of darkness did, it only made sense. But I guess someone as weird as him even needed some time to himself, heck, I'm sure he spent most of the time by himself. As I wandered down the hall, I heard voices coming from downstairs, barely leaning down the staircase as I tried to listen to the conversation.

"I just, don't understand... The league of darkness was so important to you, and you say you don't remember anything?" Pomegranate's voice said, an unusually distressed tone to it as she spoke, Licorice responding soon after.

"I'm  sorry, but I really don't know anything about that, yes some of these books and stuff have weird scrawlings in them, but-" Licorice seemed calm in his explanation, unlike how he used to be, over dramatic, and somehow confident in his reasoning "-All I could read from those were, the writings of a madman! I mean, raising the dead? That just doesn't sound possible!" Licorice let out a chuckle, before sighing.

I slowly wandered further downstairs, catching the attention of Devil, who was nearby the doorway to the kitchen, listening in on the conversation. Before I could say anything, they put a finger to their mouth and quickly gestured for me to rush over. I guess Devil also seems to be pretty invested in the two cookie's conversations. I stood on the other side of the doorway, barely peering into the kitchen as the two cookies continued.

Pomegranate sat at the kitchen table while Licorice seemed to be making tea for them both, standing by the stove calmly. "But, but you have." Pomegranate put her face in her hands, letting out a shakey sigh as she did, "I've seen you raise the dead, or at least, conjure undead minions to do your bidding...". Licorice walked over a placed a hand on Pomegranate's shoulder, startling her slightly.

"Pomegranate, I understand you must be confused, but our mother agree's with me that-" "Our Mother?" Pomegranate seemed to perk up slightly, confusion lacing her voice as she looked up at Licorice.

"Yes, I mean, I kinda assumed you were my sister, because I found this weird doll of you and I just assumed I made dolls of people close to me, and a relative was the only thing I could-" "No, No I-" Pomegranate interrupted Licorice again, rubbing her eyes as she tried to stutter a response, Licorice flinching away slightly, before turning to take the teapot off the stove. "Our... Do... Do you mind telling me about this 'mother' of ours?"

Licorice poured two cups of tea for the both of them, grabbing a small jar of sugar and placing on the kitchen table. "Has it been that long sense you've seen her?" Licorice chuckled slightly as he sat down, his smile faltering as Pomegranate stayed silent, hands still clasped in front of her face. "... Mother is very nice if I remember correct, she's got amnesia like me, but you really wouldn't be able to tell... As for appearance, she could be considered a bit 'creepy' looking. Very Gothic, weird looking staff, she's even got horns, but she's super nice, She should be stopping by in a few days, just to check in on me and Birthday Cake."

That, that sounded like he was describing Dark Enchantress Cookie, well, at least for the appearance, as for personality, that sounded a bit to nice for what Dark Enchantress was all about. Where'd he even get the idea that she was his mother, or that Pomegranate was his sister? Though, I'm guessing developing amnesia and, and having to gather pieces of your life all by yourself, I guess that was the most sense he could make out of everything here.

I tried to step closer to try and hear them better, but I only ended up tripping over a lose floorboard, falling down onto the ground. I looked up at them as they looked at me, visibly startled. "Gingerbrave? what are you doing up?" Pomegranate asked, almost upset, as if she already knew i had been eaves dropping.

"He, uh, came down looking for me" Devil Cookie stepped out into view, their unbandaged wing wrapping around them slightly as if trying to hide them. "I couldn't sleep because of my wing, so I came down here. Brave followed me not long after," Man, Devil was quick to cover for me. They helped me up off the ground and Licorice waved us over to the table, smiling softly.

"Well, I'm sure you two wouldn't mind joining me and my sister for tea, right?" Pomegranate closed her eyes as Licorice called her his sister, seemingly stressed by the term. I glanced at Devil slightly, who only nodded in response and dragged me over to the table.

Looks like sleeping will just have to wait.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Macabre Run