Fragments - A Cookie Run Fanfiction

Chapter Fifty-Four: Commemorate

(("You have three wishes. There are three rules. No causing death, no falling in love, no extra wishes." - "I wish spiders had wings." - ". . . There are four rules."))

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Despite the overwhelming heat, the scene was as clear as it would be. The lone child sitting up with a slight peeling sound as some of his skin from his legs didn't want to leave the cookie sheet. It seemed he was underdone, despite still being burnt in many areas.

Holding a damaged arm, and a frantic look in the boys face, he peered around as he called out names of the other GingerChildren. However, every name that the memory called out to started out with 'Ginger' then when the other half of the name would be called, it fell to rough static.

"What's up with the static... some something wrong in this memory, other what what is happening?" Licorice looked around, bringing his scythe to himself as he tried to hide his unnerved expression.

"Perhaps we are losing connection to his mind?" Pomegranate offered, her red eyes were hiding hints of disturbance, occasionally looking back to the child near Dark Enchantress. He looked like he was on the verge of collapsing, not even noticing anything else around himself. "He looks worked up.. maybe he is trying to push us out of this memory and wake up?"

"I don't think that is it." Dark Enchantress sighs, before looking around a bit more. "My magic has not faultered. If he was trying to take us out of here, we would have had to struggle to stay in the first place."

"If that is the case, then what do you think the problem may be?" Red velvet asked as he brought his sword up over his shoulder. His eyes were narrowed, not liking the sight of all these dead children near his feet. Another thing he noticed is that, save for the faces that belonged to the dead ones- their faces were all blurry.

Unable to be seen.

"I think I understand." Dark Choco sighs, before he oped his eyes, and looked around at the children lying at his feet. Able to see them, but them unable to see and feel the darksides looking down at them. Because they were no longer real.

They were mere figments.

Fractals of a whole, pieces of a puzzle, long since left in the past, but still dwelled on, even to this day. They were fragments of a nightmarish memory.

"What do you think it is then?" Dark Enchantress sighs as she tapped her staff on the ground with a small exhale as she tried to resume her train of thought.

"I think that the names we heard called had static at the end of them, because he doensn't remember what those names are. He can't remember, and his psyche is trying to remind him that the names are still there, even if they are unknown. It's something I think I have felt before." the bulky man explained with a small tinge of contemplation on his tongue. "Some of these childrens faces are blurry. He probably doesn't remember their faces either..."

Within the memory- Gingerbrave started to wobble around, his feet burning as he teared up, fearful of what was happening. With a small cough, the child went to shake one of the blurry-faced chidren, being as gentle as he could.

"H-Hey. Come on, get up. We need to get out of here...!" The memory version of the child prompted, attempting to hold the hand of the cookie he was talking to. In response, the other child turned their weary head toward Gingerbrave, and started tearing up more.

"I can't move... my legs and tummy hurt too much..." the other child sounded a bit feminine, but the darksides observing the memory couldln't tell for sure if they were or not. A small squeaky sob escpaed the smaller child, though as they looked right over to Gingerbrave. "Please hold my hand... I'm scared..." they pleaded to him.

Despite his pain, the memory of Gingerbrave nodded, coughing from the sizzing heat and strenuous movements. Bending down to sit on his knees, he hissed in pain, but bit it back, before gently placing his hands on top of the hands of the child that lie there- surely dying from the heat, and bodily damage.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I can't do more..." mere moments in the crazy world that they had just come to, and there was nothing but suffering, confusion, and death already. Because, in the end, that was what cookies were made to endure.

"I'm sorry too... I can't stand..." the younger sounding cookie started to lightly sob- the burning of the liquid that made his tears was sealing his eyes shut due to the tears starting to sizzle on his face. "Please don't leave me here all alone. It's dark... everything hurts...." the weak sobbing continued, the ailing child too weak to move more.

The memory of the younger Gingerbrave started to get anxious, desperate to find a way to calm his unknown, crying kin down. Instinctively, 'Brave started to hum- before painfully sliding forward, and cupping both of his hands over the smaller boys damage hand, to let him know that he was there. The tune was unknown, and due to the memory around it, some of the tune also fell to the circumstances of static.

A memory vivid, yet plagued by loss.

All of the darksides watched as the unknown cookie child stopped moving, and crying- their tightened, frightened lips eventually losing all of the muscle power behind them.

The child's face fell slightly eased, but blank, as the sizzled shut eyes and now-sealed mouth would forever now hold it's silence among the hellscape that consumed it.

Barely even alive for mere minutes, and already their life was cut short.

Because the world is cruel.

GingerBrave's brotherly instincts and caring nature was always a part of him. Even in this screwed up situation that, despite the cause, the darksides regret seeing.

Dark Enchantress felt herself pulled from the memory, or concentration of the scene playing in front of her, and she looked down to the same child, standing by her right now. Tears were overflowing as he watched the scene with the haunted, somewhat blank expression.

His hands still trembled, and he seemed to be bitting his lip to keep from making any noises. Whether or not that was intentional, she would not know. The only thing she did know that the moment was that- despite her pride- she wasn't going to avoid what she was going to do next.

With a small, gentle movement of her arm, she turned the child around, before kneeling in front of him, and pulling him into a hug. The child did not return it, because he was still in shock. However, he subconsciously leaned into it, leaning his face down and closing his eyes, because he didn't want to see it anymore.

His whole body shook with unheard sobs, and the sadness poured off of him like waterfalls. It would't stop.

All of the Darksides took a moment of silence, closing their own eyes and bowing their heads as they acknowledged the dead and dying children in the memory. Because that is all they were now, a cruel, heart-breaking memory.

It wouldn't fix anything, or help GIngerbrave. Even so, it gave all of the darksides some sort of inner comfort- because.. they were likely going to be the only ones who truly know what happened. At least for now.

They had a lot more of the memory to go. It would be better to take comfort in the silence, and not mourn, but commemorate the fallen.

Time waits for no one, after all.

((To Be Continued))