Through the Crowd - Espresseleine Story

Ancients

This palace is massive, and very pink indeed. The floors are a rosy blush, with a long deep magenta carpet that runs along it starting at the entrance until it reaches the two sets of light golden stairs on the opposite side of the room, which lead up to a high balcony that looks down on the open-area ballroom. The rug, along with the painting frames on the walls and cushioned dark teal loveseats scattered in a perfectly symmetrical way on either sides of the room, is lined with a beautifully outstanding golden color.

The walls just above the white border following the floors are dark teal as well, and decorated with a slightly darker wallpaper pattern along with the paintings and lush berry displays that have very likely been alive long before myself.

And as if it weren't already extravagant enough, there is majesty stained glass windows depicting multiple grand images of Hollyberry Cookie that lead out to look onto the thick jungle surrounding the castle, and large cylindrical pillars lining the walls that have white bases and tops, and that same color of dark pink in the entire middles of them.

The area is a bit crowded. It seems as though most of the cookies here are near the entrance, although I don't blame them. If it weren't for everyone being so close together, it would feel as though the ballroom is almost empty with how much space there is. I look around for a familiar face, but the only cookies I can recognize are Madeleine and Latte Cookie, who are already talking. Although it looks like Madeleine isn't talking to Latte; she's standing behind him. He's talking to a cookie I recognize. Could it be..?

Suddenly, someone pokes me on my shoulder from behind. I turn around, readying myself to have an unfortunate interaction with a stranger, but it's only Prune Juice Cookie.

I'm not very well acquainted with Prune Juice Cookie. I only know him through Madeleine (who Latte had never told me was going to be here, by the way) because he's friends with Kouign-Amann Cookie, which I know even less about.

"Espresso Cookie. I'm surprised you're here." He greets a little coldly. I know it is off topic, but I severely dislike his hair. It looks too choppy, and I have told him multiple times that I believe him to be the only cookie on Earthbread that could pull such a horrendous style off without getting mentally beaten into the ground by every group of teenagers he passes by.

He's wearing light colored clothes, which surprises me, until I see Capsaicin Cookie walking up behind him wearing an outfit with almost perfectly contrasting colors to his.

"And I'm surprised you haven't yet figured out a way to create a potion that isn't awfully distasteful." I remark. Prune Juice Cookie's face still holds a judgemental stare, not reacting at all to the rude comment. "Yeah, funny." He pauses, glancing behind me. "Almost as funny as the fact that the only reason you were invited here is because your 'friend' over there-" He motions to Madeleine standing a ways away. "-begged Queen Hollyberry for it." He snickers to himself, tilting his face down ever so slightly so that the light purple mage hat he wears casts his face in shadow.

"I thought you two were friends?" Capsaicin's loud voice cuts in just as I am about to say something that I most likely would have regretted later on through the night. He's wearing a black suit with bright red marks along the bottom that look like magma sticking out from the cracks of rocks, and a cape to match.

Prune Juice shakes his head, looking up at Capsaicin, who is now standing beside him.

Those chains. They look awfully heavy, horrible to drag around all the time. I hear he keeps trying to get them off, but Prune Juice and Kouign-Amann just won't let him. At least they aren't attached to anything, I suppose. But then what's the point of carrying around such large arm braces with broken chains attached?