And the Halls Echo with Your Silence || A Cookie Run Kingdom Fanfiction

3- Dark Cacao

TW- Pomegranate is an asshole
Spoilers of Cookies of Darkness, Episode 6

Sugar sand scattered everywhere on the floor.

Cacao sighed. He would clean it up later. When he was done.

And he began again, slashing and spinning and defending and jabbing gracefully, moving so quickly his sword was nothing but a silvery black blur, his Soul Jam glinting in the center of the hilt.

The sounds of metal scraping against metal, blade grinding against blade, sword clashing against sword was beautiful. It was comforting. It was home.

It was terrifying.

Memories, memories. Memories that cut deeper wounds,  deeper than a broadsword ever could. Perhaps it would be better to never remember at all. To forget. To let go. To be free of the torment.

But you can't, the voices teased him. You know you can't, you weak coward, who are you to forget your own son?

So tragic, so tragic!

"Do me a favor and shut up..."

    He knew they wouldn't actually listen to him. They never did. He would never be able to lose himself peacefully into slashing blades ever again. Too many voices. Too many memories. Too much, all too much.

    Dark Cacao hated feeling trapped.

Trapped inside his kingdom. Trapped inside his castle. Trapped inside this armor that encased him, 'protected' him, that he now never took off.

Trapped inside his mind.

    He had spent the entire day, barricading himself- protecting himself, and others from their failed ruler- into his own weapons training room. Reserved for him and only him. Where he could stab and jab and poke and prod at the air, at the walls, at the various racks and dummies set near the entrance and opposite side to his heart's content.

Where he could finally be alone. Or as close to alone as he could get, with the voices that followed him everywhere he went.

    Cacao fiercely struck down a wooden stand, cleanly splitting it right into two.

    Couldn't have just done that when you needed to, eh? Because you're so sentimental and useless, you coward! The voices laughed.

    "Go... AWAY!"

    He almost shook, shoving his sword against a metal pole and scraping it with an overly vigorous force. He felt almost burnt out and tired. He had spent his days fighting with the very air around him and his own mind (like he could ever win), his nights running his broken kingdom once again. It felt so odd, so... lonely, without his son, heir to the throne, beside him. He was half convinced the advisors didn't trust him too much anymore, thinking he was out of his head. And perhaps he was.

Perhaps he was.

    The silence of the room was interrupted by only clangs and clashes. The silence of his whirring, ticking mind was longed for, yet nonexistent.

    Emotion. How much Cacao hated it, something that he could not fight, despite being so strong and controlled. He was supposed to be balanced, he was black and white, he was mighty and agile and ready for anything. Yet stupid emotions threw the most balanced man off-center. It made the most prepared, most elusive Cookie in all of Earthbread into its prisoner.

    Cacao hated feeling like a prisoner.

~~~

    "Father, stop telling the servants to clean my room."