.+. [ᴏʟᴅ] || ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ .+.

.+. ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 27 .+.

.+. ESPRESSO'S POV .+.

It has been a few days ever since Dark Enchantress and her crew had captured me and Madeleine. Ever since she has forced me back into the group, she held Madeleine captive.

Even after all the things I do for her, she still wouldn't let me see Madeleine. I had missed him so much and hoped he was doing okay.

I sat in the corner of my old room in the castle, reading an old book about the Dark Flour War, until I heard knocking at my door. I looked up to see Pomegranate standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" I asked in a cold tone. "Mother asked me to come get you out of your room. She would like to see you." I opened my mouth to respond but she had already left.

I sighed and stood up, dusting off my clothes. I left my room and went to Dark Enchantress' throne room. "You wanted to see me, Mother?" I crossed my arms.

"Hello, my dear. I would just like to inform you that you have been a very good boy." She let out an evil giggle. "I have a surprise for you today once you finish all of your missions. If you don't do them, I shall not let you see your light magic boy-toy."

I heated up at the nickname for Madeleine. "Yes, mother. What's the task for today?" Like she'll ever allow me to see him anyways.

...

.+. LATTE'S POV .+.

...

Me and Almond have been looking around the kingdom for about a day. The first place we went to was Espresso's house.

I unlocked the door and opened it, allowing us to enter. I looked around his lab, room and bathroom while Almond searched the kitchen and the living room.

We had found nothing so far. Then, we went to Madeleine's house. I knocked on the door and a little girl with the same, long hair as Madeleine opened it.

"Professor Latte, Detective Almond? What are you doing here?" Cream Puff asked. "Do you perhaps know where your brother is, Puffy?" She shook her head and sighed. "It's been two days since he's been home."

"May I speak to your mother for a bit?" She nodded and let me and Almond inside. I saw Cream Puff's mom sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you mind if we search your son, Madeleine's room?" She looked over to us, confused. "Is there something wrong? Has my son done something? Where is he?" I shook my head.

"We just want to look for something that might lead us to where Madeleine is. We're trying our best to find him." She gave us consent to look through his room, hoping that we would be able to find something.

"Have you found anything yet, Latte?" Almond asked, taking a sip of his coffee as we looked around. "No.. I don't think there's anything here. Let's go check some place else."

We checked many other places like the café they liked going to, Madeleine's favorite bakery, the hill, the park, and even the river.

I had almost given up. Until I had finally found something.

As I parted ways with Almond, walking back to my house, I saw a small object on the ground. I picked up the object, which turned out to be a brown phone.

It has the same exact design on the cover that Espresso had. I turned on the screen and it displayed a picture of the younger him and his childhood best friend, Butter, now known as Madeleine.

I gasped and ran back towards Almond. "Almond, Almond! Look what I found! It's Espresso's phone! And it seems to be pointing in the direction of..

The forest...?"

...

.+. ESPRESSO'S POV .+.

...

I finished fighting off the last few groups of monsters and snuck out of the secret library in the kingdom. I made my way back to the dark castle with an injured leg, carrying a big book and map.

 The book was titled, "The History of The Ancient Soul Jams." I honestly didn't understand why she wanted this book so badly, but it seemed to be really important, as it was locked away in a hidden place.

I made my way to Dark Enchantress' throne once I had made it back to the castle. "Have you found the book, my dear?" Dark Enchantress asked. I nodded and handed her the book.

"When will I be allowed to see Madeleine?" She looked at me and smiled, sending a chill down my back. She got off her throne and walked past me, signaling for me to follow her.

As soon as I stepped foot into the prison's area, I immediately felt a sick, twisted feeling in my stomach. Something felt wrong and I hated it. I was worried about Madeleine and just wanted to see if he was alright.

Dark Enchantress led me through the rows of cages and brought me to Madeleine's. I peeked in through the bars of the cage.

My eyes widened in horror.

There in the cage, I saw Madeleine laying on his side in the corner, hugging his knees to his chest. Fresh cuts were visible on his neck, blood staining his shirt.

Dark Enchantress unlocked the cage and allowed me inside. I immediately ran to Madeleine, tears forming in my eyes. "Why.. Why would you do this to him?!" I shouted, not facing the figure who stood outside of the cage.

Madeleine laid unconscious, his skin paler than usual. I began shaking slightly, afraid he wouldn't wake up. I noticed his eyes fluttering and hoped he would wake up. I knew I needed to take him to a healer again.

Sometimes I wished it was me who took his place. He dealt with enough already. I caressed his cheek, feeling his coldness against my skin.

Suddenly, the door to the prisoner's area burst open.

"ESPRESSO!!"

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what is going through my head

988 Words.