Darkness into Light - Espresseleine

Chapter Thirty Four ~ Redemption

Pure Vanilla greeted Dark Cacao with a warm smile and an even warmer embrace as they met at the castle gates. The guards that Cacao sent to escort the Vanilla Kingdom citizens to the castle quickly returned to their posts. Vanilla's eyes were closed but his face was painted with a deep affection for the cookie standing in front of him.

Cacao looked him up and down, taking in the entirety of his figure.

"Vanilla! You look well, and radiant as ever," he smiled.

Pure Vanilla chuckled, a hand hovering over his mouth as he did so, "You and your flattery," he teased light-heartedly.

The two had not seen eachother in a long while, since they'd been cooped up with their kingly duties, and had little-to-no time to themselves. He was lucky he could even leave his own Kingdom, since Gingerbrave volunteered to keep order while he was gone.

After their over-night journey, the whole group was feeling rather exhausted by the time they arrived in the early hours of the morning, shrill mist surrounding them as they trekked through the vast forest. Latte and Raspberry, they insisted that they needed to stop to rest. But he denied her, saying that they needed to get to the Cacao Kingdom as soon as possible, the awful feeling that settled in his gut growing larger and larger the longer they took to get there.

And Custard was the most exhausted out of all of them, almost passing out as he walked. Raspberry lifted the little king up and onto her shoulders while Custard giggled sleepily. He'd stayed awake for a little while, peering up at the tree tops and pointing out a few night birds before slumping over, burying his face in Raspberry's hair and falling sound asleep.

When they arrived at the Kingdom at last, they were welcomed with half-hearted smiles and let in immediately by the orders sent by Dark Cacao himself. Nearby, they entered a small inn, buying a room with two beds using the small amount of coins that Pure Vanilla brought with him.

Of course, Cacao insisted that they could use a spare room in the castle, but Vanilla didn't want him to go through the big hassle just for a day visit.

So it was settled, as soon as they entered their room, Latte and Raspberry flopped down on one bed and immediately passed out, snoring quietly but mostly muffled by the pillows in which they squished their faces into. Pure Vanilla chuckled at the tired cookies, laying Custard down on the other bed and tucking him in.

Now that the three were fast asleep, Vanilla only had one goal he had in mind. Find Espresso and Madeleine. He left the inn in his dust, hurrying through the busying streets and standing out like a sore thumb while doing it, since his bright yellow and white attire differed greatly from the Cacao Kingdom's usual dark and broody colour pallet.

Then he made it to the castle, standing at the grand steps and freezing as he saw Cacao emerge from the large, void-looking doors.

Pure Vanilla's joyous smile faded into one of anxious worry, Dark Cacao's smile immediately mirroring his and fading into a confused frown.

"But as you should know, I am not here simply for a visit I'm afraid." Pure Vanilla's eye in the staff flickered to the pavement and then back up to Cacao as if concerned about his reaction. But his shoulders only stiffened slightly as he shifted on his feet.

Pure Vanilla picked up on it straight away. "Cacao? ...You know where they are, don't you?" he said softly, almost a whisper. His face was sad, dreading the next wave of information that was potentially about to escape from the King's mouth.

Dark Cacao avoided eye-contact nervously. "Yes.. I do."

Pure Vanilla lit up.

"But one of them was.. injured to say the least. Affogato, you know him? He almost killed the blond one if it weren't for our expert healer."