Chapter Text
The plan was simple. Pick a timeline, take control over it, wreck it, and then destroy it forever.
He had done this countless times. It's like a habit already.
He had fun playing around and crumbling the ancient heroes and the rest of the cookies over and over again, each time with a different method. He cherished the sight of helplessness and despair etched on their faces when they realised the truth that no one will be able to save them. Took delight in it even and laughed without end.
Pitiful things. Not even those so-called ancient heroes that they all looked up to can save them. Utterly meaningless. A call for help that echoes forever with no one to respond.
Of course, he could be the savior. But haha! He didn't really take a liking to this world so maybe next time.
Speaking of which, his anger also never seemed to cease every time he saw Elder Faerie Cookie or Silent Salt Cookie. The Silent Salt Cookie betrayal stung more than he'd like to admit and he very much hated Elder Faerie Cookie for having a hand in sealing him and the other Beasts inside that silver seal tree for decades.
It would end with both of them meeting their own tragic fates in every timeline. Whether it be hundreds or thousands of times, they both would be tormented in more than one way where turning to crumbs is not a choice unless Shadow Milk Cookie decides so.
So far the experiences were very pleasant. No longer a puppet, he became the master of his own fate. He wrote the script, he controlled the puppets and the choir of chaos answered him, heralding his arrival.
Everything was a stage for him to play and control, the world, the timelines...
He will find the perfect timeline. Everyone will need him, he will be revered as god and savior and he will never be cast aside ever again.
To be and create the only truth that everyone can accept.
So that's why, the moment Shadow Milk Cookie ripped open a rift and forcefully entered the timeline, he was caught off guard by what he saw. It was like doing what he is always good at but then finding it slightly off.
It only took one look but Shadow Milk Cookie could already feel the discrepancies in the sky and the Earthbread.
The time here was different. The time wasn't set in the past nor the very future he's familiar with.
He would know, he had wrecked hundreds of timelines. So naturally, the patterns were easy to understand.
"Interesting... How very interesting." He hummed which slowly transitioned into giggles, the thrill of anticipation rising at the implication of this new setting. "Looks like there's a new stage for me to play. I must prepare a new script for all the potential actors."
He must have wrecked so many timelines that he finally reached the ones where the time doesn't set in Beast-Yeast.
Maybe there's an ounce of truth in those statements.
Every time he ripped open a rift in another timeline, he would be spit out in a time where Shadow Milk Cookie was still the Fount of Knowledge. Rarely did he pop out into a world where that half-baked cookie and his friends already exist.
Well, he might have unconsciously sought the time where it all began but even so! He wouldn't mind a new change! In fact, he even welcomed it with open arms.
He's almost getting tired of everything. It was fun but the patterns started to get dull at some point and now he wants something new to play with.
He grinned, sharp razor teeth went full on display.
"Yes! Yes! It's gonna be fun!" Shadow Milk Cookie couldn't help but let the laughter burst out of him. The multiple colourful eyecings that belonged to his fellow Beasts flared out from his left eyecing and they squinted when he did.
His mismatched eyes lazily swept the unfamiliar place. "Now whereeee weree weeee?"
It definitely was not a place he would recognize, that's for sure. It was somewhere brand new, perhaps far away from Beast-Yeast. He didn't really venture that far since all the main actors and audience were flocking together in one place. Birds of a feather and all that, just makes it so easy for him.
But of course, that doesn't mean the rest of the Earthbread was spared. It simply meant that they're not exactly worth his time at the moment when he should be focusing more on his priorities.
“Well then, time to see what's going on with this place.” The colourful eyecings slowly decreased in size, flickering out of existence like a candle being blown by the gentle wind. Finally all that was left was his other eyecing, still a different shade of blue.
But the details of his eyecings weren't the same as they used to be, altered irreversibly when he stole a chunk of the Ultimate Cookie and combined its dough with his own, allowing him to absorb the souls of his fellow friends and preserve what remains of them.
He floated down from the rift in the sky which slowly closed shut. Shadow Milk Cookie saw something strange right at the ocean and approached it.
There seemed to be a crater with some of its edges raised slightly so the water would fall down into it like a waterfall.
Strangely enough, Shadow Milk Cookie spotted something that shouldn't be in the middle of that crater.
He tilted his head curiously at the grand white building, adorned by bits of blue here and there. The architecture looked quite sacred and pure, untouched by filth or any deterioration that came from being exposed to the fizzy salt water. The water that fell into the crater was like another piece of sea confined in one spot. But it was no longer the fresh cool blue of the ocean.
Rather, it was pure white, indicating that the liquid had transformed into another type of liquid.
“Is that… milk?” Shadow Milk looked utterly confused for the first time in forever.
Seeing the accumulated milk gathering in one spot to form a tiny lake reminded him of his Milk Lake of Truth in the Spire of Deceit.
Perhaps driven by curiosity and confusion, he got even closer but then he instantly halted in place.
“Huh. There's something over here.” he said to himself. His eyecings narrowed as he tried to examine the thing in front of him.
He could faintly detect some sort of magic being cast around the building. It was invisible at first but the moment he went near, the surface gleamed and distorted slightly. Just like milk, it also took a hue of white. Even the aroma resembled one and it grew stronger within this range.
His narrowed eyecings widened when he analyzed the power this barrier possessed. He giggled at this finding, his interest piqued further as his eyecing lit up in recognition. “Hahahahaha! It's a powerful barrier! They would be fools if this kind of thing can stop me.”
“Let's see if this can withstand me! I'll tear it all down!” he grinned sharply and reached out one of his hands.
His hands were no longer nubs like all cookies do. He's different now, more than a cookie but closer to a god, their creators, the witches.
Instead he had fingers. No, it's more of a claw due to their sharpness. That arm deformed easily into tendrils according to his will, ghostly blue eyecings dotted it as it twisted and enlarged before clenching to form a fist.
He's closer now, the aroma of milk was even more distinct and its scent kept reminding him of those times as the Milk of Knowledge. The Fount of Knowledge.
Unconsciously, a sense of annoyance and anger had crept in, his claws fisted tightly and fueled with strength as if he not only wanted to destroy the milky scented barrier but the whole building too.
Just as he tried to punch the invisible barrier, he realised that he had made an error.
plop!
His tendrils that formed a fist did not make contact with the barrier at all. Instead, they slipped through with a gentle sound of something small like a pebble being dropped on the surface of water. No, as a matter of fact, his whole body slipped through too without resistance.
“Huh??” The tendrils flared out and reshaped back into his normal arm. His mismatched eyecings glanced back at the barrier that temporarily showed itself before slowly becoming invisible.
He grew even more puzzled by this outcome. Out of all possibilities, he had expected it to crack under his magic power and force. Or maybe resist it for a while or longer.
But to let him pass through???
“Well what do you know, turns out this kind of barrier was flawed all this time.” He laughed in a high-pitched voice before his smile dropped into a frown of disappointment.
He huffed and said in a mocking tone, “and here I was, expecting it to be something so unusual. What a waste of my time. Why do they even make this barrier if they can't even keep someone like me away? How utterly disappointing.”
There goes this timeline's impression on him.
As compensation, he will definitely find someone who was responsible for putting up that barrier and trap that guy in his other realm or something, see if he can find his way out of there.
The thought alone made him laugh again. Honestly, why is it so easy to laugh nowadays?
Ahh, maybe it's because he's so powerful and everything is at the tip of his fingers now, everything is also so pleasant to look at? Or he's just losing his head?
Ignoring the scent of milk, he glanced at the building, now almost lazily yet contemplatively.
Then he smiled and hovered close to the stairs leading to the main entrance. His feet landed on the surface with a quiet thud, gentle enough for him not to topple over and more towards being graceful as his coattails swayed behind him.
“Lets see what you got. Hope you got something sooo entertaining in there for someone to put such a flimsy barrier hehehhehe.”
Shadow Milk Cookie didn't rush, he took his time taking everything up close. There's definitely lots of white with splashing or dripping designs, following the milk motif. But there's also a generous amount of blue accompanied by gold.
Amongst the scent of milk, there seemed to be another scent mingling in, creating some sort of a new aroma that's closer to being called ‘sterilized.’ How does he know that? Well only witches know! Hahaha!
Eventually, he reached the top of the stairs, facing directly unto a closed door. It suddenly struck him how isolated the whole place looked, much to his liking. The location of the building, the barrier, the closed doors…
There's barely any sound here or a trace of cookies out here. It somehow made him doubt for a few seconds if there were cookies in here but ah, what harm is there if he takes a look around, right? So that's what he did.
The huge doors, despite how heavy they looked, easily swung open when he pushed and he was bombarded by a stronger scent of sterilization. His expression scrunched together but offered no comments.
Instead he looked thoughtful, his eyecings swept the whole place that can be dubbed as the living room? No, maybe a lobby? He actually had no clue what this building was supposed to be with the lack of evidence, however it actually looked quite spacious with little to almost no furniture.
“Bah! What kind of cookie lives in such an empty place? There's no aesthetic at all! Even Mystic Flour Cookie's place is better than whatever this is.” Shadow Milk ridiculed without hesitation. Mind you, she's a Beast of Apathy. Plain and simple she may be, yet even she could do better in that decorating department.
The only good grace that saves this place might be the change of scenery. Instead of a mass of white that can blind your eyecings, the floor was checkered blue and white and even the light here wasn't really that overwhelming.
He could tell that at least a generous amount of sunlight came inside based on its architecture.
Suddenly, a sound amidst the silence.
A pitter-patter of footsteps on squeaky clean tiles.
“Ah! A new patient!” A tiny cookie announced her presence with surprise. “Apologies for the delay. First Milk Cookie and Skim Milk Cookie have been quite busy to notice a new presence. You must have been waiting for a while– huh?”
The bubbly cookie whose icing seemed to be made of cotton or soft clouds halted in her tracks, an expression filled with concern and confusion crossed her face.
“this– I've never seen anything like this at all.” Her voice stammered in anxiousness, “I'm not a doctor, but a cookie with claws! Is this what ails you? You must seek First Milk Cookie and Skim Milk Cookie for their advice quickly. Come, I'll take you to them.”
Shadow Milk Cookie tilted his head at that, promptly taking note of those names that came out of her mouth, though his mind seemed to linger on a certain name a tad too long with interest.
However, Shadow Milk Cookie found an inkling of annoyance rising towards the tiny cookie when she used a certain description.
He laughed, high-pitched with something dangerous underneath the tone, daring her to say that again.
“Haha? Can you repeat that? I fear that I might have misheard you.” His form towered over her, arms distorted into tendrils. “are you calling me… flawed?”
“Eek!” The fluffy cookie stammered and suddenly sniffled. Her tiny form shook like a leaf being blown by a gust of wind. “I apologize but that's not my intention! It's just that, you must have been injured. Only sick and injured cookies can enter the barrier since we can't accept every visitor that may cause disturbance to the peace. Tending to the patients is our top priority!”
He was still angry but he was reasonable enough to think and observe. So therefore, was it just his imagination or was the cookie getting tiny?
“ah, so that's what the barrier is for…” he huffed before smiling sardonically, he leaned back and spared the poor cookie before she poofed out of existence or something. “I'll have you know I have never been better than I was before. With a piece of Ultimate Cookie in my dough, crumbling will be the last thing I'll be.”
“Ult-ultimate cookie…?”
“Whoopsie, talks too much but heh, I doubt such an ignorant cookie like you will understand what I said anyway.” He mocked her with a casual smile. “Now, tell me more about this place.”
“Um, this is the Sanctum of Healing, founded by the First Milk Cookie. It's isolated because peace is important for their recovery.” The tiny cookie shifted uncomfortably. She sniffled as she tried her best to explain to what seemed to be the most terrifying cookie she had ever met in her life. “It's far… far away from land because First Milk Cookie held attachment to the sea… so she made this place here.”
“First Milk Cookie, eh?” His interest piqued at the mention of that cookie’s name again and his grin sharpened. His attention quickly transferred unto this particular topic.
His sharp claws held his chin in a contemplative manner, a calculating look crossed through his eyecings. “so you're saying that she's the founder of this sanctum…”
“...even so, it's quite arrogant to be called the first of a certain ingredient, dontcha think so?”
He had heard all sorts of names but a ‘first’ followed by a certain ingredient? Why, it simply just aroused his curiosity. Maybe, he was slightly offended by that term.
After all…
Before he was Shadow Milk Cookie, he was the Milk of Knowledge, baked by the witches.
It can be considered that he's the first of his kind but there seems to be a cookie parading around with that kind of name? Of course, he has to see them for himself.
The gentle and wimpy tiny cookie suddenly lashed out, tears falling more and even her form seemed to look even lighter, almost hovering off the floor, causing him to raise a brow at her.
“n-no way! *Sniffle* The First Milk Cookie is the kindest, gentlest and warmest cookie I know! *Sniffle* She tried her best to cure any injuries *sniffle* and illnesses to the best of her abilities.”
Shadow Milk Cookie's expression dropped as she rambled more about said cookie being this and that, almost looking bored. Ahh, it turned out it was no one special. All it reminded him of was just that half-baked fool with compassion and so on. Ugh!
“Yada yada yada. Gee, can't I have a thought on my own?” he huffed, eyecings going half-lidded in boredom. “All this blabbering about the Sanctum of Healing or First Milk Cookie, your situation seems more fitting to be one with the patients.”
“E-ek!” The cookie finally realized that her feet didn't touch the ground anymore, letting her float a few inches away. “Oh no! I forgot to hydrate myself!”
She had forgotten to do so when he handled the strange cookie. She met a lot of cookies that came in the form of patients with various illnesses and injuries, but she had never met any cookie like the one standing before her.
His form terrified her, like he wasn't a cookie anymore but something entirely different. But First Milk Cookie said that any cookies that passed through the Milk Veil are injured and sick and they must be cured, even if they are incurable.
That was the First Milk Cookie oath.
Both First Milk Cookie and Skim Milk Cookie believed that there's a cure for everything. What restricted them was time and materials and maybe other unseen variables.
Therefore, following this logic, Shadow Milk Cookie can be cured even if it takes too long.
She scrambled to take a straw out of the big jug of milk she's been carrying, almost dropping it in the process. There's not much left so it was part of the reason why she floated in midair now.
She hastily began to drink and hoped it was enough. Under the strange cookie's watchful eyecings, she slowly grew in size and obtained the original weight. It was only when her feet finally touched the ground did she stop drinking and release a sigh of relief.
“Well now that's interesting.” Shadow Milk Cookie laughed, almost tauntingly, “I've never seen a cookie with a strange quirk like you. Makes me wonder the capability of the healers here.”
She fumed, this is the first time she had been riled up by someone. “First Milk Cookie is a gentle soul. *Sniffle* She will never turn away a cookie in need of help. *Sniffle* Not even if they were incurable. It's true that I used to be a patient here but I'm much better now.”
“Reaaaallly? Is that really true?” Shadow Milk taunted again. “heh, But you're not really cured, are you? So what's the point of feeling so grateful if you're not even perfectly cured? To be oh, so, welcoming, to never turn away a cookie with irredeemable sickness?”
His eyes curved with malicious glee, “are you giving them false hope? Aha, that must be it! Hahahahah! You must have thought that's the only way to make them feel better. I mean let's face it, it's hopeless for them.”
“no… *sniffle* that's not it.” Her voice grew weak but not because she believed him but because of how confident he was that she almost swayed if it weren't for her experience as the patient in this place and as a co-worker.
Shadow Milk Cookie stood true to his name as the Beast of Deceit, he weaves lies as easily as if it was a truth he had seen with his own eyes.
“Oh noooo, has no cookie ever told you not to lie?” He giggled in a high-pitched tone, “has it become so natural it felt like truth in your mouth? I'm sure it does, hehehehe.”
The fluffy cookie frowned in discomfort at this unstoppable force, unable to find a method to handle this kind of patient.
‘hngh… what would First Milk Cookie and Skim Milk Cookie do in this situation? I should call them but what if the cookie does something dangerous when I'm not there?’ she thought anxiously while sniffling.
She glanced at the cookie before her to check his mood. His gaze seemed to look at her with anticipation, the sharp grin that tugged the corner of his lips lifted even more, giving him a wild look.
“Cottage Cheese Cookie.” At the sound of her name, she yelped in surprise and then her mood visibly lifted at the familiar figure approaching.
“Sk-skim Milk Cookie!” She shouted his name with such relief.
“I see that there's a new patient, thank you for tending to him while I was busy, Cottage Cheese Cookie. Allow me to take over.” He walked over, his footsteps didn't make a crispy noise on the tiles seeing that he was wearing some sort of house slippers, unbefitting of a doctor.
Noticing the difference in her energy compared to previous days caused the rather exhausted-looking cookie that still radiated an aura of discipline and cleanliness, to halt in his tracks.
“What's the matter?” He asked, his icing brows furrowed out of concern. “Cottage Cheese Cookie, you look unwell and… tiny.”
As if it was a sign, Cottage Cheese Cookie sniffled as another droplet of tear fell down unwillingly.
“As expected... You are not completely cured of your ailment. Like I said before, you are in no condition to be freely running around the sanctum.” The doctor of the Sanctum of Healing sighed and fixed his glasses. It was clear that he was tired but there's no sign of annoyance in his tone or expression.
His expression remained bland, almost clinical as he spoke, “and what have I told you? No matter how much hard work you put into it, you must not neglect to look after yourself.”
“Skim Milk Cookie.” Cottage Cheese Cookie sniffled again, sounding quite aggrieved, “this… this cookie…” she trailed off, unable to find the right term to describe everything nor where she should have started.
The doctor reared his head to the new patient and blinked slowly. Shadow Milk Cookie tilted his head as a response, his starry-night wispy hair which contained 2 to 3 blue ghostly eyecings fluttering with the movement. A sharp smirk settled on his lips and the doctor was slightly taken aback by his appearance.
Sure it's a cookie. He has a strange appearance indeed so perhaps a cookie from a distant land, he wasn't the type to discriminate against cookies' appearances anyway. This Sanctum of Healing received and tended to all sorts of patients after all. But one unusual feature caught his attention.
“Claws…?” he frowned, pages of all sorts of illness and symptoms appearing in his mind, automatically trying to diagnose him.
The eyecings can be explained as part of the unique feature baked by the witches. If one looks closely, there are patterns with every cookie. Cookies can look the same or different. One of the examples of having the same appearances are those common gingerbread cookies he just tended to not long ago.
Overall, all cookies followed a theme. Whether it be berries, cream, chocolates and so on..
Claws on the other hand, are a different story.
Only ‘Beasts’ possessed such a feature.
Shadow Milk Cookie’s grin sharpened even more when he heard the word he had just uttered out loud, like a predator that managed to catch another prey.
“Why? Is there a problem with me, oh doctor?” he said in a tone that sounded awfully like he was being concerned, but vaguely filled with hidden danger, waiting to arise when the cookie fell deeper into his trap. “Never seen a cookie with claws before? Hehehe! Why, I gotta say, I must be special to garner this kind of attention!”
Skim Milk Cookie let out a low hum, fixing his glasses again as he thought of the proper words to say to the new patient.
Based on the cookie’s response, he seemed to be on the… quirky side. One that tends to lash out most likely. It's common, they do have those sorts of cookies that react as such when they hear what they didn't like. As a doctor, he experienced that much, but then again, one can never guess how it will end up.
“Well, it's a first for sure, I admit. We have never received patients with this kind of circumstance,” he began calmly, and he detected the way that strange cookie’s eyecings curved.
“Oh no, whatever shall I do, doctor?” Shadow Milk Cookie said in an exaggerated tone of someone in despair but not necessarily sincere, finding himself more and more amused. “Are you trying to heal me? Well, I hope not! I'm as perfect as I am now.”
“...Optimistic as you may be, but I, as a doctor, will not say it's fine until it's certain. That is my job after all,” the doctor said firmly. “Which is precisely why I must make a request of you. Please cooperate and let me diagnose you so that I can be certain what kind of injuries or sickness you may have and prescribe you the right treatment.”
Shadow Milk Cookie stiffened for a few seconds before he barked out a laugh. It was as if he was forcing out that laughter; his form shook with each syllable until the laughter died out with a sigh that had been dragging for too long.
‘Ahh, now they've done it.’ A voice that sounded similar to his own mocked him in his head. ‘Look at those oh so righteous cookies! They thought they understood you soooo well hehehehe!”
Something churned in him, causing him to double over in pain. Shadow Milk Cookie hissed at this familiar ache and gritted his teeth.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
“You of all cookies dared to say that to me?”
He scowled, but the ultimate dough he had absorbed smiled with his own face in mind, mockingly, tauntingly.
“Was I lying?”
Uncontrollable fury had taken over, and his form distorted once more. He could feel the power from various sources exploding from inside, clashing with each other, threatening to break free out of his dough.
The piece of ultimate dough in him twisted, laughing. His own arms transformed into tendrils, and they flared out like sentient malformed branches. Blue eyecings formed across their surfaces, looking directly at those cookies who had stepped back out of caution.
Even those eyecings from his fellow Beasts revealed themselves, taking over half of his face that was now split with a wide maniacal grin. A sense of dissonance and instability was created just by looking at him.
A shrill laughter erupted, and it echoed sinisterly as it hit the wall, creating an illusion that he was everywhere.
“As expected, you foolish gnats. Can't even understand words properly. But I suppose all healers are like that, trying to understand and attempting to fix what's not broken in the first place. How very original, but very well, perhaps I'm not really that clear, but I will tell you once more, I don't need help from the likes of you, you crumbs-for-brains cookies!”
“Skim Milk Cookie!” Cottage Cheese Cookie hung onto the doctor with a cry of fear.
Skim Milk Cookie was tense, brows furrowed deeply as he shielded the cookie that used to be his patient protectively while facing an unexpectedly powerful and unstable cookie before them. Shadow Milk Cookie’s power leaked with such a degree that it instilled an impending sense of doom in them both, horrified by the strange raw and bizarre power radiating out of him.
“I do not mean to insult you,” Skim Milk Cookie began cautiously, body and voice tense. “It is simply out of my duty that I must do it.”
“Duty? Hehehehe, you'll do it because it's your duty, you say? Oh how funny!”
His nerve was struck unknowingly, and Shadow Milk Cookie exploded even more. His laughs got awfully deranged, but then he composed himself even more although his pupils were still constricted with a maniacal look.
“You must be tired, hm? I'm sure you are, I mean look at you~. Poor thing, those are huge eyecing bags you got there. It must be sooo tiring tending to the patients hehehehe!” His smile was cruel and full of mirth as he mimicked Skim Milk Cookie’s voice awfully with a slight lilt in tone. “I bet you're thinking, ‘I wish all these cookies went to crumbs already. No one will suffer, you don't have to work hard, no sleepless nights, and everything will be peaceful.’ That's whatcha think, right? No need to lie to yourself, hahahhaha!”
“Urgh!” Skim Milk Cookie was baffled by the assumptions that came out of his mouth. His expression, which usually could be described as bland, cracked with disbelief and anger. “How preposterous! I would never think like that!”
“Oooh, sounds like someone is in denial, but lucky for you, I shall help you out, ehe!”
“Wh-what do you mean by that?” Cottage Cheese Cookie sniffled while the doctor was immediately alarmed by that statement.
“Surely you don't mean that?” he said with a trembling voice, the implication instantly clicking in his head.
This is a Sanctum of Healing, as the name suggests, it's a place where injured cookies seek help. There are hundreds of patients here, young and old, resting and trying to recover.
That ‘Beast’ was trying to turn them into crumbs.
“Oh, but I am.”
Another series of laughter reverberated. Those two cookies that barely went out since they're busy doing their job were horrified at the ‘Beast’s’ declaration. The exposure to malice rendered them speechless, unsure what the next steps were.
They weren't the type of cookies that were active on the front lines after all. They were just healer and cleaner, humble roles in this place, meant to assist in tending to the injured and the ill and help maintain the peace of the place.
Skim Milk Cookie quickly gathered himself and shouted in anger, “No, I won't allow you to do that! To wreck a place where the weak reside, what kind of cookie are you!? Leave at once, you disruptive nuisance.”
Skim Milk Cookie held himself in high regard for being able to assist the revered healer, First Milk Cookie. But to do nothing to prevent the impending demise without a fight and watch as he turned their patients into crumbs right before his eyes? That was simply absurd and against his honour and oath!
“Oooh, feisty, but it's all bark and no bite.” A grin curved wider like a crescent moon. “But all this talk is going nowhere! Allow me to show you a tragic play meant for you, starting with introducing the actors and audience on the stage!”
Shadow Milk Cookie giggled as his tendrils shot out and started to wreck the area, intending to cause destruction to drive the cookies out of their place.
“NO!” Skim Milk Cookie gasped at the devastating view, and he could already imagine the patients’ restless atmosphere and how First Milk Cookie would be full of guilt and heartbreak to see what became of this place.
What used to be a clean and peaceful setting now had rubble everywhere. Cookie screams could be heard from somewhere, young and old alike, though none had yet to show their faces. It did not deter Shadow Milk Cookie from damaging the place further until the building shook.
“Come out, come out wherever you are~!” Shadow Milk Cookie said in a singsong voice, followed by the destructive noise of the walls being torn apart. “Or shall I come to you instead?”
“Skim Milk Cookie, what do we do!?” The tiny cookie cried out helplessly, yelping as she avoided the falling rubble from the ceiling, only to hover midair from the lack of moisture in herself. “Where is First Milk Cookie? What about our patients!?”
The milk veil could be seen trembling from the cracked windows, threatening to shatter.
Skim Milk Cookie caught her by the hand and held her carefully and protectively.
“First Milk Cookie must have handled them first, so she should be here soon. All this disturbance can't possibly escape her attention!" he replied, narrowly avoiding the incoming rubble, but one of his glasses was unfortunate enough to be struck by a tiny shard of rock.
The good news was that the force wasn't too much, so it managed to crack instead. Otherwise, he would be rendered crippled if the glass shards got into his eyecing.
“Wanna bet?” Shadow Milk Cookie said, glancing over his shoulder to look at them both.
His smile never seemed to fade, but it faltered. He felt a sudden annoyance creeping up on him, and the ultimate dough that kept whispering of his personal issues wasn't helping at all. “I bet she ran away first. I mean, I have been here for a looong time now, but I can't see her~ Poor, poor cookies. You were abandoned by the very cookie you looked up to.”
“Don't you dare speak ill of First Milk Cookie,” the doctor retorted sharply.
Shadow Milk Cookie rolled his eyecing. “Bleh! I've heard this before, so don't even start! You'll bore me to crumbs soon enough.”
He deliberately hit one of the crumbling columns nearby and made it so their broken pieces dropped right at their area.
The cookies that had rubble all over the broken floor, restricting their movement, could only gasp in fear at the approaching demise.
‘No good! We can’t avoid it!’ Skim Milk Cookie looked up with a horrified look on his face.
Perhaps it's futile to resist. The weight of those broken pieces of a column would no doubt send them crumbling to pieces, but Skim Milk Cookie instinctively curled over Cottage Cheese Cookie in an attempt to protect her. Their eyes shut tightly as they awaited their fated end.
“Skim Milk Cookie! Cottage Cheese Cookie!” A voice that would feel as warm and soothing as milk and soft as a blanket if the owner weren't shouting in fear cut in through the chaos.
A sphere veil made of white formed around the cookies like a shield just a few seconds before impact. The shield absorbed all the impact of those projectiles before it exploded like milk splashes when the projectiles dropped uselessly to the ground.
“Are you injured!? Please let me take a look!”
The owner of that voice entered the stage and into the spotlight.
A cookie clad more in white than blue, like the very personification of milk or maybe a pure untainted angel. She wore a wide-brim hat with appendages in the form of wings attached at the back, spread open wide as though they would embrace everything.
Her dress was white, and her sleeves, which were like gloves, covered her whole arms, leaving not even a trace of dough to be seen except for the face.
Set upon that ivory face were a pair of big and gentle white eyes with slight bluish pupils. A single teardrop jewel with a shade of blue that reminded one of the sea and sky adorned the middle of her chest like a brooch.
“Huh?” Unknowingly, Shadow Milk Cookie had ceased his destructive acts. His form had changed into a calmer version, and his eyecings widened at her sudden appearance.
Such a gentle-looking cookie, almost holy-looking in a way, but there was something awfully strange about her that struck Shadow Milk Cookie in an odd way.
Not because of her identity as the ‘First’ Milk Cookie nor the founder of this sanctum of healing that had fools for workers.
Her whole appearance…
She felt— and looked familiar.