Lily Flower

Pomegranate: Nails in the coffin

First, I have a discord. Feel free to join if you want updates on how the chapters are going or to speculate about the plot/characters. Or you can just come to hang out!: https://discord.gg/sspxK94c

Second, MAJOR WARNING: mentions of cannibalism, explicit reference to suicide and a (forced) attempt, blatant abusive behavior, vomit, and planning a murder. Sorry for the lack of fluff lately but this story is about at its climax and things are real tense now.

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The day following the rest of the cookies' departure, Pure Vanilla seemed as though he had lost most of his willpower. He meandered around the castle, not getting much of anything done, instead aimlessly looking out of their window. She knew that he wasn't waiting for her. He leaned just slightly too far out of the windowsill, flower angled downward, in a motion that screamed practiced yet distinctly out-of-place in the empty kingdom. He could be gauging how long it would take him to splatter far below or mourning all the people who used to live in his kingdom. She wouldn't permit either- it was a waste of time.

She pulled him away from the opening and he resisted the force, staying put despite putting little effort into his defiance. She managed to succeed, though not without suffering some bruises to her frame and dignity. They both tripped in the struggle and the healer landed in her lap. The urge to grab and shake him until he returned to normal surfaced and was quickly quenched under her remarkable self-discipline.

The stupid man wasn't even getting off her.

"Pure Vanilla."

No reaction.

"Pure Vanilla, detach yourself from me before you sorely regret it."

He crawled out of her personal space. The movements were still accompanied by that listless lethargy.

Pomegranate was starting to get irritated. She had no choice but to depend on this man. They needed to work together to assuage her master's anger, to craft a cover story with no contradictions and this attitude of his did not help. "What is wrong with you?"

Pure Vanilla stirred, indignation surfacing in his milky pupil. "What is wrong with me? The other cookies of darkness are gone, and I am left to wait for the Dark Enchantress with...with you! God forbid I be upset!"

The words hurt a little after their shared moment of commiseration.

"If her return is such a cause of dread, then why not leave?" she hissed. The anger shifted into something nauseatingly pitying. "What's keeping you here?"

Pity from a woman like her made his skin crawl.

"I wanted to save Dark Choco...no, the Dark Enchantress. That's why I accompanied Licorice to the castle, and that's why...why...." It was akin to watching a machine short-circuit. Reasoning seemed to escape him and he could only gesture with helpless frustration, trying to make her understand whatever ephemeral notion that he was failing to communicate. "I can't go. I just can't. I am her and she is me, too much of our identities are intertwined. It's better to forget it."

Better to forget it? From someone as intelligent enough to break a curse like Dark Choco's, someone who was once considered equal to White Lily? Her master may be susceptible to folly and was often swayed by her emotions but she remained sharp and calculative. There's no way that the thought to run simply didn't cross his mind before.

No, that was truly too out of character. There was a stark disconnect between his personality and what he was saying. Pure Vanilla would not be so passive in the face of the Dark Enchantress. When she had first tried to take from him, he fought back. She had to suspect interference at this juncture.