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"Tʜᴀɴᴋ Yᴏᴜ."

Pᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: Bᴜʀɴɪɴɢ Sᴘɪᴄᴇ Cᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ & Gᴏʟᴅᴇɴ Cʜᴇᴇsᴇ Cᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ

Sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: Gᴏʟᴅᴇɴ Cʜᴇᴇsᴇ Cᴏᴏᴋɪᴇ ɪs sᴛᴜᴄᴋ ʀᴇᴍɪɴɪsᴄɪɴɢ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇɴ'ᴛ ғᴜʟʟʏ ʜᴇʀ ᴏᴡɴ.

Tᴀɢs: Aɴɢsᴛ, Hᴜʀᴛ ɴᴏ ᴄᴏᴍғᴏʀᴛ, Sᴏᴜʟᴛɪᴇs?

Wᴏʀᴅs: 2860

Lɪɴᴋs: AO3, ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ, ᴄᴀʀʀᴅ

Iɴsᴘᴏ! Cʜᴇᴄᴋ ɪᴛ ᴏᴜᴛ! by @the-alpha-doodle-dome

Golden Cheese Cookie grimaced at the memory of frenzied screams and the sound of bones crushing. She rubbed the bright red gem between her fingers, reminding herself of its smoothness, a trait that was a stark contrast to its owner. She sat on her throne, mouth resting against her palm as she focused more on her thoughts than the cheesebirds around her, giving their regular report.

“Your Majesty?” One of the birds tapped her ankle gently, she jumped. “I apologize for startling you, Your Majesty, but you seem distracted. Should we come back another time? This week’s reports are nothing interesting, the soul-cheeses are still stable.”

She sighed before nodding. “Yes, that… yes, that would be good. Thank you for your hard work, Little One.” The image of a small Kulfi child flashed in her mind. “Please don’t take my inattentiveness as offensive.”

The little bird chirped happily, “Never, Your Majesty! But for now, we’ll be excusing ourselves. Let us know if you require our assistance anytime!” She smiled at them, nodding in acknowledgement. The three of them hopped away, and she waited till they exited the room before melting into her hands. The Soul Jam cold against her cheek.

After her final battle with Burning Spice Cookie in Beast Yeast, she thought he had been defeated. He hadn’t shown his face for some time, and his lands seemed to have become more peaceful—as peaceful as a nation obsessed with war and power could be. But one day, a cloaked figure stumbled onto her kingdom’s grounds.

He was mangled, covered in bruises and deep, untreated gashes, his arm clearly broken in several places. There was still jam dripping from his cloak and his poorly wrapped bandages. His Soul Jam was the only thing seemingly untouched.

Golden Cheese Cookie stood up from her throne, leaving to roam her empty kingdom.

“Thank you.” He held her face, smearing warm jam onto her cheek.

She stiffened, clutching the Soul Jam. She shouldn’t feel bad for such a monster; with everything he’d done, it was only what he deserved. But how he looked at her when finally he found her was… conflicting. He had that wild, sinister smile she had known him to have, but it didn’t reach his eyes. They gazed at her with affection, or familiarity, maybe even love; his brows weighed heavily on his countenance, and the dark bags under his eyes only deepened his stare. He seemed desperate to see her.

She stared down at his Soul Jam; it looked as if the light it emitted was swirling, and she found herself unable to look away. The soft sound of children giggling, followed by a deep chuckle, warmed her ears. She couldn’t help but close her eyelids, as, for some reason, tears were burning at her waterline. In that moment of darkness, she saw glimpses of small kulfi children, happily holding up bundles of flowers to her. A rarity in the Land of Spice.

There was another deep chuckle as she… or the eyes of who she watched through, reached down to take the flowers. A large, red hand took a Saffron in hand before tucking it behind one of the children’s ears. Golden Cheese Cookie shook her head and looked back at the gem. It felt warm, and it was pulsing like a heart.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw visions like that. And she knew what they were, who they belonged to. It did nothing to ease her consciousness.

With no words exchanged, they started to fight. Burning Spice Cookie had rushed to attack her almost immediately, throwing his raggedy cloak away from him, which only allowed Golden Cheese Cookie to see more of the damage she had caused in the seconds before he was upon her.

Despite his condition, he was as lively as ever. Swinging his axe wildly, tearing open his partially healed wounds, and unbinding his bandages.

“Stop! Look at yourself, you’ll kill yourself doing this!” She wasn’t sure why she even cared to say that; maybe just seeing someone so desperate to continue fighting like that confused her. Given he didn’t care to absorb her powers when he first had the chance, she knew he had been there for her. Perhaps his vengeance just burned that deeply.

He only laughed manically like before, continuing to provoke and tease her as if they were just playing a game. It wasn’t the state of someone hellbent on revenge.

It wasn’t a difficult battle; she didn’t even have to use her new powers to defeat him. After a few slashes and solid strikes to his old wounds, he slowed down tremendously. She cracked him across the jaw with the flat end of her spear, ending the fight. Pressing her heel into his stomach, she anchored the tip of her spear on his Adam’s apple.

“Why are you here, Destroyer?” He laughed, the motion causing her weapon to dip into his throat.

“I missed you, Birdie. You left with such haste that we didn’t even get to our encore.” She glared at him, eying him with both suspicion and interest. He laid there, still smiling widely, staring at her almost expectantly. His eyes kept wandering over her form, going back and forth between looking her in the eyes and taking in the rest of her glory.

His grin slightly faltered when she pulled the spear away. “What are you playing at, Burning Spice Cookie?”

Golden Cheese Cookie sighed. She didn’t know what came over her in that moment, but she had decided to spare him. He was too weak to be of any real threat, so long as she kept her eye on him, and she couldn’t bring herself to kill anyone in such a pathetic state. No matter how much they deserved it.

She kept him locked up beneath the castle, routinely giving him food and water, which only grew into piles in the corner of his cell. He refused her help in every way, not even letting her close enough to examine his wounds. By now, they would’ve been heavily infected if it weren’t for the Soul Jam still lodged in his chest.

“Why is it there?” Golden Cheese Cookie asked out of nowhere, staring at him through the bars. His eyes glinted in the dark as he looked over his shoulder at her.

“Why is what?” He growled.

She gestured towards her chest, tapping it. “Your Soul Jam. Every one of us, even those other Beasts, has it embedded into something. But yours is baked into your dough.”

“What does it matter?” He grinned at her. “Why? Are you planning on taking it for yourself? Are you trying to figure out how to take it out of me without my death? Sorry to break it to you, but that simply isn’t possible. You’re welcome to take it, though, if you grant me another battle.” She rolled her eyes at his sadistic enthusiasm.

“That’s not it.” His smile turned to a scowl, and he turned away from her once again. “Why are you so intent on fighting? Surely, you must be bored with it by now.”

He let out a boisterous laugh. Burning Spice sighed, sitting there silently before groaning, “You understand nothing.”

“No, I don’t. For someone so callous, you speak only in riddles and expect me to be able to decipher them. I’m not an anthologist and you’re no poet, so what is it I don’t understand?”

He huffed a laugh, shooing her away like she was his servant. “I would think you’d know... leave me be.”

“No, you are going to talk.”

He sat there, his back still turned to her. She stood there, quietly waiting for a response or a shift in the thickness of the air. But the uncomfortable awkwardness only seemed to matter to her, as he continued to lie there breathing slowly and steadily.

“Answer me!” She smacked the cell, releasing an unrhythmic tune into the air.

“Don’t get too violent now, else you’ll resemble me too much.” He chuckled.

She gripped the bars, shaking them from the sudden weight of her body. “I am nothing like you! You are a disgusting tyrant and enthusiastically psychopathic! You’ve turned over kingdoms, nations that you made, entire lineages of cookies whose names are only remembered by those who aren’t yet dust! And even the dead have no rest from your wrath, their remains only fuel for your frenzy. So no, what is it that I’m supposed to understand from you?” She screamed at him.

Burning Spice sat up, fully looking her in the eyes. “I remember when I got upset about such menial things.”

Golden Cheese Cookie sat upon her perch overlooking the colosseum. Even the air itself was heavy with emptiness as the smell of the wind, slowly scraping away at the bricks, surrounded her. She wondered if one of Burning Spice Cookie’s kingdoms had an arena, maybe several of them did. She wondered if he sat like she was now, just looking at the memory of what was meant to be a lively place.

“I’m nothing like him.” Abruptly standing from her spot, she quickly exited the building.

She wasn’t sure how long she kept him down there. It might’ve been days or months, even. But time was always something she let slip by, even before all this. After the war, there was no reason to worry about what day or year it was when there were no more cookies left to live it.

His Soul Jam pulsed in her hand, drawing her attention. It was beating rapidly and was on the verge of burning her fingers.

“My Lord, what happened to the Paprika Isle?” A small child’s voice spoke up.

“Hmm?” She… he looked down at them.

“Paprika Isle. I haven’t heard from my friend there in a little while, and when I went to look for them, it was like the whole village up and vanished. Is… my friend okay?” The child squeezed Burning Spice’s hand as they walked through his Saffron reserve.

Flashes of screams and raging fires flashed within her mind, as she saw memories of the village being ravaged. An onslaught brought on by another tribe.

He sighed. “They have moved on, there was no longer any water for their crops, and they’ve been going through some troubling harvests. So, they have moved further out for more fertile lands.” He spoke measuredly.

“Oh.” The child looked down. “Will I see my friend again?”

Burning Spice Cookie squeezed his hand. “I’m sure you will, Little One.”

The child smiled up at him, a face that distorted into a gruesome image as he stood above him, axe in hand.

Abruptly sitting up in bed, Golden Cheese Cookie held her silk sheets, trying to catch her breath. She looked over to their Soul Jams, lying next to one another. Whipping it off her bedside counter, she grabbed Burning Spice’s Jam and held it in the air. She heaved; she could feel the trembling of her arm in her ribs with every breath she stole.

She sighed. Dropping her arm. Golden Cheese stared at it lying in her lap, as it pulsed rapidly.

“Why won’t you answer me!” She shouted, hitting the bars. “You were so eager to speak when we first met, and now here you are, battered and pathetic—and silent! Why aren’t you speaking?” It was driving her crazy. He shows up after how long, seeking her out, trying to kill her, yet he won’t even talk if it isn’t in the heat of battle.

“Does it make you feel better to ignore me?” She snarled. “You can’t beat me in battle, so instead you choose to behave like a child! Your people fear you. Fear for their lives, their people. And yet, you are nothing but an overgrown child throwing tantrums because you’re bored.” Her words did nothing to make him face her.

“They needed you! You were their god; you created everything they knew, everything they could ever need or want. But you couldn’t stand to look your own failure in the eyes. They needed you and you abandoned them!” Golden Cheese Cookie gripped the bars, heaving. Her heartbeat was so loud in her ears, it was like an earthquake in her skull.

“As did you.” She looked up at him, expecting some sinister smile that wasn’t there. He was sitting there, staring at her, watching her in this moment of weakness with not a single ounce of joy or sadistic satisfaction. “I was made first, alongside my Soul Jam.”

“What?”

“I am answering your question… from before,” his eyes wandered from hers, “I was made to embody my Soul Jam. At any moment, you or any of the other holders could abandon your power. But I am my Soul Jam, I am nothing without it.”

“You don’t even deserve it.” She pushed herself away from the cell.

“Hmm.” He subconsciously nodded. “I know.”

That was the night before he broke out of his cell. She was in her study, looking over the reports her cheesebirds had gathered from Wizard Cookie, trying to familiarize herself with his extensive notes, when Burning Spice Cookie broke in. Dragging her by the wings, he threw her outside, where they once again fought.

He had the upper hand at first, having taken her by surprise. And of course, he was sure to egg her on. Taunting her with her failures, burning away some of the notes he had swiped from her desk when he pulled her away.

“You think you can bring them back with this? They’re gone! They are dead.” He smiled at her, pulling his axe from thin air, “You should be thankful, though, for if they were still in this crumbling tomb, I would’ve made you watch me tear each and every one of them apart.”

Golden Cheese Cookie snarled, aiming her spear forward. “It’s time for you to stop talking.”

Their battle was gruesome, more so than their first when he disfigured her. She was sure to break every bone she came in contact with, and he tore every inch of flesh he touched. With his axe, his claws, and his teeth. Buildings around them collapsed to the ground as they crashed into them, something that she would have to grieve later.

Once again, they found themselves where it started. Him on the ground and her spear to his throat. But this time she was seizing, his knuckles ghost-white as they gripped the staff of her spear. She thought her eyes might burst out of her skull from the pressure building in her ears.

He was smiling up at her, but it wasn’t the wide, sinister grin he usually carried. It was like he was just happy to see her.

“Nothing to say?” Golden Cheese Cookie growled, pressing the tip into his neck, drawing his jam. “How many times are we going to go back and forth like this?”

“We don’t have to. You know that.” He said.

“You—why?” Her weapon trembled in her hands as she looked him in the eye. Despite having more than enough time to counter her, he did nothing but continue to lie there. “Why can’t I—rrgh, you deserve to die! You’re a plight to this world, you’re worth nothing!” She spat at him.

“I know.” She gasped as he swiped upwards, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward.

“What are—”

Crrr—the crunch was loud as her blade cut into his throat. Gurling on his own jam, he still laughed. His heavy hand weighed hers down as they fell to his Soul Jam. Slowly; he brought his other hand up to cup her face. An action she was too stunned to reject.

“Thank you.” He held her cheek tenderly, a gesture she couldn’t imagine would come from him despite the warmth smearing her face.

She sat there for a long time. Next to his lifeless body. Her hand still on his Soul Jam. That was when his memories flashed in her mind for the first time. Of him gripping the fiery sands to grab any bit of his crumbled people, to hold them close to him. Her mind flipped between her delicate fingers and his monstrous claws; the crumbs of their treasures were dry in her hands. Of him running to rush children away from floods, and earthquakes, and erupting volcanoes. Images of hordes of monsters spun around in her psyche, rushing in, destroying homes, and tearing apart her people. Of the first time he struck his axe against his own. The jam warm on his hands.

Her screams echoed into the night as the visions tormented her, even after moving away from his body.

Golden Cheese Cookie shuddered, as again she sat in her throne listening to her cheesebirds give their report. She buried him in the garden. He didn’t deserve it, but it seemed like the only appropriate place to put his body. His Soul Jam sat in her palm, as always. Now the memory of him and of all those he carried fell solely onto her to remember.

ᴀ/ɴ. Lᴏᴡᴋᴇʏ, I'ᴍ ᴛʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ᴏғ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs ᴀ ᴍᴜʟᴛɪ-ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғɪᴄ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜ I sᴛɪʟʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʜᴏᴡ ᴛʜɪs ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ, I ғᴇᴇʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ I ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ'ᴠᴇ ᴘᴜᴛ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪs. Aʟsᴏ I ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴜɪɴ ʏ'ᴀʟʟ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ sᴀᴅ ᴀss sʟᴏᴡ-ʙᴜʀɴ :)))