Espresso watched as Pure Vanilla dug through a pile of old books on a bench, fully distracted as his mind unwillingly played their argument over and over.
He should be happy right? He did what Dark Enchantress would have wanted, what she would have expected. He drove the paladin away, ensuring that nothing would get in the way of his victory. He should be feeling amazing, a cookie-shaped problem lifted from his shoulders. Shouldn't he feel free?
But he feels emotions far from those that should be felt after a successful victory. Guilt was all he felt. Guilt and misery. Emotions that he wasn't familiar with, at least not in this form. It made him feel nauseous even. Espresso clutched his stomach, letting out a shaky sigh. Pure Vanilla turned his head, "Are you feeling alright? I won't be too much longer,"
The mage cringed, suddenly feeling faint. "Yes, I'm fine."
Pure Vanilla nodded and got back to his search. Espresso returned to the wild battle of his thoughts. It was confusing, really. One minute he's a dark mage feared by the residents of the Vanilla Kingdom, the child sculpted into the image of Dark Enchantress, a heartless monster with no mercy, and the next he actually cares about whether he hurt some stupid blond cookie's feelings or not.
He had a right to be confused of course, all of his life teachings, all of his morals and the rules set at a young age that ultimately shaped his mindset, these feelings totally abolished all of them. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Dark Enchantress taught him so. But with every set of beliefs there are the doubts.
Who knows, maybe the world isn't as cruel as he'd been taught. Maybe he really does need to rely on others at times. After all, he'd lived his whole life relying on himself. He wanted to protect himself, keep himself safe from the hurt of reality. But when you spend so long trying to shut yourself away, you lose the ability to grow. When a flower blooms, it doesn't solely rely on itself to survive, it needs the sun. The one thing that the flower is unable to provide for itself. And when you hide the flower away and allow it no sun, it dies. And just like a newly bloomed flower, the mage simply had to find his sun and allow himself the opportunity to grow again.
This went against the will of Dark Enchantress, he knew the least. But maybe he could forget about her for a little while, and focus on himself for a change.
"Ah, I've got it!" Pure Vanilla pulled out a thin piece of paper which at first resembled a map. Of course, Espresso was correct at this observation. "I found a way to restore your magic, something that isn't a hoax this time, don't worry."
The mage's eyes widened, immediately standing and making his way over to him to snatch the map, analysing it, "What? How on earthbread..?"
His eyes landed on a faded picture of a glowing light brown coloured flower. The petals looks delicate, sprinkled with dark brown spots and flecks. Espresso scoffed, "What is this?"
"That is the Caffeinated Orchid, a flower that only thrives on the outskirts of the Cacao Kingdom. Luckily that isn't too far away, a day's journey at most." Pure Vanilla answered.
"I... But Dark Enchantress... she told me.." Espresso struggled to form a sentence, still staring helplessly at the dull photo.
"She is manipulative," Pure Vanilla muttered, "If she told you this didn't exist, she'd be able to control you easier."
The blond leader walked circles around the mage, arms folded behind his back. Even if his staff was discarded to the side, he could still sense where he was stepping.
"You see, the coffee magic in this plant is different to yours. She thinks if you consume it then your magic would be altered and be less useful to her." He informed him. Espresso was frozen, eyes wide in devastation.
"Will it?" The mage asked quietly, turning to stare at the king.
Pure Vanilla stared at him blankly, his eyes squeezed shut. Then he bursted into a chuckling fit.
"Gods no! She probably got that information from the Cacao Kingdom. And I know Dark Cacao cookie's games. He puts those lies in their heads to drive them away from the plant in order to protect it."
Dark Cacao cookie..?
Isn't that...
"Dark Cacao cookie.. I've only heard brief mention of him. Who is he?" Espresso inquired.
Pure Vanilla stiffened. "Ah, well.. we are allies, you could say. It's good for trade." He added, as if making up an excuse.
"No I mean... does he have a son?"
The blond lit up, "Oh! Dark Choco cookie! Cacao has introduced me to him, he is quite a calm and collected cookie despite his troubled past I must say."
Oh. So he's a good guy now.
I wonder..
If Dark Choco was able to change... then what if I can too?
Espresso frowned, shaking his head.
These cookies really have made me soft.
"Now enough about Cacao," he waved his hand, "When you obtain the plant, bring it back to me and I'll grind it into an elixir."
"Potion magic? I didn't know it involved potion magic," Espresso smiled.
"Hmm, might need to get help from Alchemist cookie.." Pure Vanilla murmured to himself, a hand rested on his chin in thought. Then he lit up.
"Oh! One more thing," he placed a hand on the mage's shoulder, "I'm.. going to assign Madeleine to accompany you.. is that alright?"
Espresso's jaw dropped. "With all do respect, are you insane?"
Vanilla chuckled nervously, "I just figured it might give you two the time you need to mend the broken patches in your ship, that is your relationship."
"Don't say it like that."
"It's poetic." Pure Vanilla replied.
The brunette sighed, adjusting his glasses. He folded the map and the photo, stuffing it into his pocket carefully.
"Thank you." Espresso tried a smile. He succeeded but it seemed more sad than thankful. Pure Vanilla nodded in reply as he watched the mage make his exit.
~
Madeleine stood impatiently at the post office receptionist's desk. The woman who worked there typed on her computer with the blankest face possible, not taking her eyes off the screen for even a split-second.
"Name?" she asked, still click-clacking on her keyboard like her life depended on it.
"Madeleine Cookie," he replied, "Vanilla Madeleine cookie."
The paladin fidgeted with the small letter in his hand that he'd written as a spur-of-the-moment thing. Now all he had to do was send it and wait.
"Where are you sending this?" she flicked her eyes towards the letter then quickly returned to staring mindlessly at her screen.
Madeleine had his head bowed, staring at the letter he held in his hands.
"The Crème Republic."
The woman nodded slowly, typing something on her keyboard. "Whereabouts?"
"Madeleine Family Residence."
The woman appeared to be reading something on her screen as her eyes darted from left to right to left to right. But then she stopped. She clicked her mouse a few times, and typed a few letters until she turned her full attention to him.
"I'm sorry sir, no one has occupied that estate for years it seems. Track records were completely erased, it's like they just disappeared." The women said to him.
Madeleine clenched his fists, making the fragile paper scrunch up and create creases.
They ran away.
"When was this?" Madeleine asked, his voice full of venom.
"Hmm, I dunno dear, maybe around two or three years? The information I'm being given is very unclear I'm afraid."
The paladin chuckled bitterly.
He knew the game his family was trying to play with him. Now he had to decide whether he'll waste his time playing it.
"Send it anyway." The blond slid the letter across the desk towards the receptionist. She blinked at him a few times before raising an eyebrow and picking up the letter.
Madeleine left the post office, a bitter taste still lingering, his mind still whirring.
~
"Are you sure I don't need anything?" Espresso sipped on his coffee, one knee thrown over the other as he sat elegantly on one of Latte's office chairs. Latte was furiously writing down notes on the map that Pure Vanilla had given to him, as well as marking out different routes that would be 'safer'.
"According to this map, it's only a day trip. I wouldn't bring anything, it'll just end up slowing you down." Latte chirped happily.
Even from recent events, Latte had gone totally back to normal with him. All friendly and chatty. Which surprised the mage since she'd seemed so angry when she left the room after the argument. Perhaps she thinks she should get out of the way of the two, let them solve the dilemma on their own terms.
"Thanks for helping Latte," Espresso smiled.
"Hey, what are friends for, right?" she held up her hand which was balled into a fist. Espresso only stared at it, puzzled.
"It's a fist bump buddy. See you just go like this," She sighed, grabbing Espresso's hand and bumping them together, "See? It's a friendship thing."
"It's stupid," The mage raised an eyebrow.
"Shhh, hush Es, never question the rituals of friendship," Latte cooed, shushing him with her finger.
Espresso chuckled, shaking his head fondly.
Friendship.
Huh.
~
Pomegranate glared at him from the mirror, arms crossed.
"You what?" she snarled.
"Pure Vanilla! He.... found a way to properly restore my magic! Can you believe it? It's through this flower that grows somewhere around the Cacao Kingdom, it's supposed to fully heal my magic back—"
"No. You are not going."
Espresso's eyes widened, "That's not your decision to make." he replied coldly.
"But I can influence the decision. Are you really going to put blind faith into an old healer cookie? Remember what Dark Enchantress told you, Espresso. What she told all of us." Pomegranate snapped back.
"Dark Enchantress is a liar!" Espresso shouted at her. Pomegranate stepped back in shock, hand over her chest as she gaped at him like a fish.
"How dare you.."
"She's been telling me my whole life that there's no way to restore my magic! But there is! And I'm going there whether she likes it or not!" He spat.
Pomegranate stared at him silently.
"I suspected this would happen. You've grown too attached to these cookies. They're changing you. Changing the way you think, how you act. I see everything Espresso. I have the power to travel through mirrors, did you think I wouldn't notice?" she said.
Espresso gritted his teeth, "What are you saying?"
"Forget the mission. Dark Enchantress will assign it to Licorice instead. Since he is more suited for this. You weren't ready for this Espresso. You will never be ready to leave the castle."
The mage's eyes widened as he started to tremble a little, "What..?"
"It's time to come home. To your real family."
~
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