Chapter Text
Affogato rushed up to the throne room as quickly as he could, as fast as his lungs could allow him, ignoring their cries for a break. It was but a rumor, but a rumor this extreme had to be taken seriously. He had never tried running from the edge of the walls to the throne room before but this was making him thankful he never had.
Finally he shoved open the large doors and walked up to the throne. It was fittingly dark and eerie, being lit by only a few candles on the wall and maybe some natural light but no more. Huffing and collapsing as soon as he got a few feet away, this was how Affogato could present himself to the king at that moment. Dark Cacao looked at him startled and stood up.
“Affogato, what’s going on?” he demanded.
He took one final deep breath before looking up towards the king. “My-... My liege there’s a rumor going around, a very serious one-!”
“You rushed all the way up here for a rumor? What have I told you about that?!”
“Well, yes sir I know I should take them with a grain of salt, of course. But- but this one we really should be careful of, I swear to you! After all we both know how dangerous the Licorice Sea is and-”
“If it’s as serious as you’re making it out to be, quit wasting both of our time and spit it out!”
“Right of course…” he sighed as he got up, finally realizing how absurd what he was about to say was. “There are rumors going around that a cookie was born from the Licorice Sea, sir…”
“A cookie? Born of the Licorice Sea ?”
Affogato nodded his head. “Saying it allowed… I suppose it… does sound-”
“Impossible, I can’t believe this… Do not come to me with such foolish rumors again, do you understand? Unless it’s rumors about serious danger, everything else wastes all of our time!”
“Yes sir, my sincerest apologies, I acted without thinking…” He bowed towards Dark Cacao who gave a deep sigh of annoyance as he sat back on his throne. Affogato then left, the halls just as dark and gloomy as the throne room.
Why did he think that was so important? One who is quick to believe everything they hear is only doomed to fall of course. Rumors, he often had to remind himself, while intriguing, were but unlikely bits of talk. Unimportant and time wasters. He couldn’t help himself from looking out the window, seeing nothing but a large chocolate wall that protected the castle from the treacherous dark sea that lurked on the other side. He could hear the splashing of the unsteady waves against the wall with ease. Other than the construction going on nearly all the time, the castle was relatively quiet.
Affogato shook his head. Rumors are a fool’s fact, and he was almost a court jester.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
Dark Choco huffed as he set his bag down and slumped onto a log nearby, the fire in front of him crackling, filling the cold air with a little warmth, and the condensation from his breath mixing with the smoke. Even with being miles away from home, he could still hear the incoherent screams of the Licorice Sea. It had been doing that a lot more and much louder than he could remember, especially since the Cookies of Darkness had left. Or maybe since he left…
He could hear the cries as he left the castle, the cries that pierced his ears and the ones he couldn’t understand nor help with.
“The sea,” he laughed to himself. “Always a mystery…”
It made him think back to a rumor that always sprung up every now and then in the kingdom, but it had reached its peak when he was around five years old. The idea of a cookie coming from the sea itself and wielding its powers. The rumor had always annoyed his father whenever he dared bring it up, the quickest way to get under his skin.
The loud roars quieted down as Dark Choco thought for a moment, about what he had done.
Left.
He left the Cookies of Darkness, he left that dreadful sword behind, and he left his father, being forced to wonder what happened after he stepped outside of those giant chocolate walls. There will forever be blood stained on his hands but those stains he might just be able to figure out how to fade. He wasn’t going to be the hero he always dreamed of being but no longer would he be the villain he had become either.
Then as he continued to think he realized how quiet his mind was. It wasn’t filled with the horrid demands the sword had been screaming at him, it was just his thoughts. And that was a nice feeling.
The sea continued to roar as the wind picked up dramatically, blowing out his fire. He sighed.
“Can’t expect everything to go well out here, but it’s certainly better…”
His mind went to the Cookies of Darkness, he wondered how they were doing without him.