Darkness into Light - Espresseleine

Chapter Thirty Eight ~ The Final Straw

Licorice pushed open the window he'd unlocked with his magic, struggling to pull himself onto the windowsill. At last he used his magic to boost himself, but ended up tumbling into the room and crashing into the wooden floorboards with a loud yelp. Luckily, no one seemed to be around to hear him as most of the guards were likely still out and about looking for him.

He lifted himself back onto his feet, dusting himself off and turning to close the window carefully. Licorice glanced around the room for any sign of an exit or something that just might point him in the direction of his brother or at least someone who knows where he is.

He ambled around, careful not to create any loud noises that might alert someone unexpectedly. From first glance, it looked to be a bedroom, a large wooden neatly made bed with silk sheets of black and white to the left, and an open closet to the right.

An intimidating sword rack stood next to the closet, hinting that whoever's room he'd found himself in would probably be able to chop him into tiny bits. Licorice gulped, eyes locking on a door.

"Bingo!" he smirked, hurrying over to the door and trying the handle.

His smirk faded immediately though, at the realisation that the door was in fact locked.

"Oh, for the love of-- gah!" he jumped like a startled cat when he heard a loud smash come from behind him. Licorice spun around, eyes widening at the sight of a porcelain statue of the Cacao Kingdom's emblem smashed onto the floor into small sharp pieces.

Licorice silently scolded himself for being so clumsy. He obviously must have accidentally knocked the fragile object to the edge of its perch when he'd stumbled through the window disruptively.

Moving on from that, he still needed to find a way to leave this room, or else he'd be stuck there until it's too late and Espresso would've already left the Kingdom. It would be a gigantic waste of time. His face formed a look of determination as he began to snoop around for a potential key or anything that would enable his escape.

~

"Okay, are we all packed?" Raspberry poked her head out from behind Latte, who was organising their food.

"Yep!" Madeleine gave a thumbs up while Espresso stood by him, more focused on practicing his spells.

Pure Vanilla led Custard towards them, followed by Dark Cacao. "Are you all ready to depart?" he clutched his satchel that held the map.

All of them nodded in unison, except for Custard who still seemed a little off. Suddenly, he tugged on the ends of his sleeve, catching his attention.

"Can I please come?" he pleaded. "I want to go on an adventure too!"

Pure Vanilla sighed, kneeling down so he was at his eye-level and holding his small hands in his.

"You know it's too dangerous, Custard. Stay here with papa Cacao until we get back, alright?" he turned his head to Cacao who gave a small smile in reply.

Espresso paused, overhearing their conversation.

Hearing the way he dismissed him.. he felt mostly empathetic. The mage stepped over to them, looking to Pure Vanilla with uncertainty after recent events.

"Hey, why not give the pipsqueak a chance?" he crossed his arms. Custard's eyes sparkled as he looked up at him, leaping forward to tackle his legs in a tight hug which almost sent the mage toppling over onto his backside. Espresso exhaled sharply, leaning down to tousle with his hair before averting his gaze back to their ruler.

Pure Vanilla thought for a moment before sighing in defeat, "I suppose he could take my place."

Custard gasped, letting go of Espresso and racing to Pure Vanilla to hug him, "Really? Thank you, thank you, thank you!"