Secret of the Sugar Flare

Chapter 7: Return of the Lost Princess

Back in the Vanilla castle, the team was trying to make their way through. They had just gotten past a three-headed Cakeberus and his master and were just trying to reach Dark Enchantress Cookie. However, their reason for why was about to be confronted. "So can someone remind me why we're still HERE?" Chili Pepper Cookie asked the group. "There's NO kingdom, NO reinforcements, and most importantly, NO TREASURES!"

GingerBrave didn't want to give up hope just yet. "We're...We're here to stop Dark Enchantress Cookie," he said hesitantly. "If we can't get help from the Vanilla Kingdom like we hoped, that's okay. We've gotten stronger since leaving Sugar Hollow. I think we can-"

"I thought we were staying because we promised Meringue Cookie we'd help her find out about herself," Custard Cookie III put in. "Are we actually going to fight Dark Enchantress Cookie?"

"Oh, just DROP that already!" Chili Pepper Cookie was annoyed at the mention of the blind Cookie. "We brought her all that way and she left us last-second! What do we owe her anyway?!!"

"We're all Cookies, Chili Pepper Cookie," GingerBrave reminded his friend. "It's our job to help each other, regardless who or where they're from."

Chili Pepper Cookie looked around and finally noticed their group was a Cookie short. "Huh? Speaking of helping...has anyone seen Pure Vanilla Cookie?"

"Hm..." Strawberry Cookie also peered amongst the team and saw it was true. "I haven't seen him in a while."

"Well, the castle IS huge," Custard Cookie III pointed out. "It's easy to get lost."

"Pure Vanilla Cookie?" GingerBrave called out. "Where are you? Pure Vanilla Cookieeeeee!"

"I'm sorry, old friend. But I'm not going to let my son risk his life over one bad egg,"

"Look!" Custard Cookie III exclaimed, pointing behind the group. "There he is! He's with that big armored Cookie!"

Everyone turned and saw two figures, Dark Cacao Cookie and Pure Vanilla Cookie, walking down the hallway. They ended up phasing right through the whole gang. "No, it's another echo..." GingerBrave groaned. "But what are they talking about?"

"You're letting your emotions cloud your judgment, Pure Vanilla Cookie," the bigger Cookie told his friend. "With what we saw from that girl, many of your Cookies are injured. Some could even be dead!"

"Don't blow things out of proportion," Pure Vanilla Cookie's echo warned him. "We don't know if this is the full extent of her power yet."

"So what do you expect me to do? Train her?" Dark Cacao Cookie's echo replied. "Teach her how to control something none of us have ever seen? It's not possible!"

"And what of YOUR solution? You're asking me to forbid her from seeing her only friend ever again,"

"Asking?? I'm BEGGING you! You forget, her friend is my SON! The prince of my kingdom! It was only by the Witches' grace he wasn't killed in that blast!"

"Blast??" Wizard Cookie cocked his head. "Is he talking about...the Sugar Flare? But these echoes are at the start of the war..."

"That means Meringue Cookie's unleashed it before..." Strawberry Cookie said. "But why?"

"This is no time to be sympathetic!" Dark Cacao Cookie's echo was raising his voice. "The war has already begun, and we need you in it!"

Pure Vanilla Cookie's echo narrowed his eyes. "What good is a war if we can't live with ourselves afterwards?"

"We're supposed to be friends, Pure Vanilla Cookie! She's a MONSTER! What do you see in her?!"

Pure Vanilla Cookie's echo did not answer. Instead, he turned around to leave, but not before saying one last word. "...Hope."