The Waters of Sorrow [ Sequel Fic // Cookie Run: Kingdom AU ]

Recital IV: How Long Will You Be Able To See Your Future?

Intimidation.

That was the Vanilla Kingdom kings tactic.

It was intimidation, which he seemed to fairly good at. He struck no fear in her bones though; he was but a child in her eyes. He would always be a child to her, though not in the reminiscent way. He was immature, and reckless. Many of the kingdom found that fright settled in them when in contact with young Custard.
Pathetic.
Their king was a fool. A jester in a world of magic that could strike him dead in an instant, if she so desired.
But ah, not quite yet. She must keep watching. Watching his every move, every step he takes.
Her mirror tells all, and shows all, and she was determined to be rid of the little brat, with or without her master present
Ah, her master...
Such beauty, such grace , such power, gone to waste in the blink of an eye because of some form of sorcery Pure Vanilla Cookie had learned what should have been much to late to be able to save most around him, and yet, by some chance, White Lily had been brought back from her alter self.
Unfortunate business, really.

Queen would not leave his thoughts.
He knew it hurt her. He knew she was grieving. She was completely in the right. Her wife had died in front of her. Her other wife was missing, presumed dead. The other two were alive, perfectly healthy, coping in their own, subtle ways.
It affected each of the Queens differently. Queen Cookie was so energetic it worried the Vanilla Kingdom King. The woman he saw as an older sister was still there, but she was different. The situation she was in was hard enough to deal with, and everyone deals with problems differently, but she seemed to just...brush it off.
As for how she was doing physically, Custard noticed she was getting on just fine, though she now had a single arm and was almost partially blind. She'd gotten help from Black Raisin Cookie, who'd shown her how to get things done because of the whole, ah, arm thing.
He'd watched her dance around, and it put a smile on his face at this moment, though it faltered immediately after as he sensed he was being watched. By now, he was sure he was; he'd seen a figure disappear every so often as he walked around his kingdom.
The glint of red he saw occasionally worried him; He associated red with Chili Pepper, Red Velvet, Vampire, String Gummy even, but it was also associated with the most likely to be following him.

Pomegranate Cookie.

Pomegranate Cookie was a former follower of Dark Enchantress, or as she was known as now, his grandmother, White Lily Cookie.
"S-sir..?"
Custard looked down. A young Vanillian, possibly around six or seven, looked up at him with bright eyes.
"Are you ok? You look sad." He struck out his lip and made a pout. "My mommy says you should always think of good things when you're sad!" He then smiled.
The grin made the kings heart ache. He wanted to smile back, but the reputation he needed to uphold wouldn't let him.
Though out of impulse, he gave the child a small smile after crouching down to face him. The boy gasped, his eyes glittering. He ran back to a woman who was across the path- assumably his mother- laughing and pointing back towards Custard.
She looked up at him, and he nodded respectfully after she looked worried.
Her mouth made a small 'o,' looking back down at her child and picking him up. He turned away, making eye contact with another subject, who looked slightly shocked.
Custard grinned nervously, trying to brush off the shift in his personality towards his subjects these past couple months. Reuniting with the others changed something; he had still been himself with them, but acting harsh towards the people of his kingdom had never felt right. The feelings only worsened when he still had his duties in front of everyone else, so he softened himself when with the kingdoms citizens, and it seemed to be sticking.
The Vanillian only looked suspicious, which was understandable. He didn't really have a reason for his personality to change so suddenly.
"Custard?"
He looked to his right. White Pawn looked at him, worry fogging up her eyes. He smiled, being reminded of the earlier conversation he'd had with Pancake about their mutual friend.
He did hope there weren't any feelings there. On another note, on the topic of feelings, his feelings towards someone else may have shifted...rather unfortunately.
"Are you alright, seriously?" They pestered. Custard laughed awkwardly.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just thinking about Queen." He sighed, watching the sky. The citizens around them looked wary, waiting for him to switch back
"Well, just don't.
"Oh wow, why did I think of that?"
White Pawn punched him in the arm, and before he could react, doubled over in laughter. He looked at her in mock offense, his ears picking up a sharp breath intake several feet away. He felt the tension around him only thicken.
"You're an ass." White Pawn rolled their eyes, trying to catch their breath. "Whatcha think Pancakes up to?"
"Probs asleep." Custard snorted. "It's like, ten."
"Uh, yeah? He'd be awake? It's late in the morning. The days almost over!" White Pawn threw her arms up in frustration. Custard only laughed.
"Not really. Just because you had to get up at eight-ish your whole life doesn't mean we all did." He thought about it for a moment. "I don't actually think we had a designated time to get up. Just, had to keep fighting, y'know?"
White Pawn blinked. Custard brushed how spent most of his childhood off so casually it was concerning.
"...yeah. I know." They frowned slightly, hoping to get answers out of the King. "How did you spend most of your time? Besides the whole...fighting thing."
"Sleeping. Eating. Getting help. Y'know, regular survival stuff." He shrugged.
"And you were...how old?"
"Eight when it started."
White Pawn almost tripped over her own feet.
"What?" They hissed, her eyes piercing through him. "You were eight?"
"...so were you." He said dryly. The realization hit her, but she only glared.
"Yeah but- you were there the whole time?" She grabbed his sleeve, preventing him from taking another step. He flinched, looking back and her frowning. "You didn't, like, join along the way or anything?"
"I mean, I kinda did. I joined...maybe a couple days after everyone else met." He shrugged. He'd managed to drag her into the castle with him without her having to let go. The guards as well seemed anxious, though they struggled to hide it.
The Kingdom would simply have to get used to this.
"And you were..fine? You were ok with just...fighting?"
"I wanted to help." Something about her questions was pissing him off. He didn't want to talk about the war, or his childhood, or what little of it he'd had, he wanted to talk about the Kingdom, or Brave and the others, or Pancake.
Something in his voice must have ticked her off, because she stopped. He sighed, looking up at the portraits on the walls. In a rather stereotypical fashion, each Vanillian family had one; which really, wasn't a lot. There was Pure Vanilla, with White Lily and their children, then there was Red Velvet and Pastry with his cousins.
Another down the line, was Clover and Licorice, and his cousin Poison Mushroom.
Lastly...
A photo of him, barely a year old, and his parents. His father looked happy, nothing like the bitter man his spirit happened to be. His mother...he'd seen the picture many times, but each time she never rung a bell. He'd never met her.
He knew she was alive, but where she was, he didn't know.
"Custard? Custard!!" White Pawn waved their hand in front of his face. He shook his head, focusing on his friend. She closed her eyes and smiled- she didn't look happy though. She just look pissed.
"Would you listen?! You probably didn't even hear me. What were ya doing, looking at those pictures anyways?! That's so lame, and I was trying to talk to you too, jeez.."
"You sound like a stereotypical tsundere." He laughed. She blinked, paling.
"Oh, gods, no no no. Ew." They shook their head. "You can be reminiscent and sad about your family later, got it? For now, it's just...you and me!" Custard could've sworn her face had turn a shade darker at the last few words, but maybe he was just seeing things.