The cursed gem

Unfamiliar light

If you'd ask Alchemist Cookie after everything that happened, she'd tell you that one thing she was very thankful that she either didn't have a dream when she passed out or that she couldn't remember it.

When she woke up, she found herself in a very unfamiliar place. It was a huge bedroom with a bed for two standing by the back wall. Soft, yellow glow was coming from a big window with open, white curtains. In front of her stood a big door.

By her bed, there were 2 nightstands. Looking from the door, one the left one there was glass vase, in which there were a couple of white lilies and a candle right by it. The other nightstand was empty.

She saw her brother, sitting on the bed. He was asleep. That must've been the only thing that didn't surprise her.

She rubbed her eyes. What time was it? From the light coming out of the window she could tell that it was early in the morning. Was she in a hospital?
But it didn't look like a hospital. She had never seen such a room before. Maybe she was in afterlife? No, that couldn't have been it either. After all, Vampire Cookie was there.

She kept wondering before she heard the door open. She quickly turned to it. She saw... Pure Vanilla Cookie?? Alright, now she was pretty sure that her body was six feet under.

At the sound of the door open, Vampire woke up. He looked both at this sister and then and Pure Vanilla Cookie. He repeated the process at least 2 times before deciding to focus on the ancient. Alchemist could feel her hunger catching up after her sleep.

-'Hello, Alchemist Cookie, right?' he spoke. She nodded quickly.
-'How are you feeling?'
-'I... Don't know?'
-'Have you been awake for long?'
-'No...'

They heard footsteps, coming closer. Soon enough, two more cookies could be seen in the doorframe. Almond Cookie and one of the villagers. The villager was holding a covered platter.

-'Oh, right!' Pure Vanilla Cookie said.
-'You must be hungry!'

He gently pushed the villager forward. They awkwardly ran up to Alchemist's bed and placed the platter on the empty nightstand and quickly sprinted off. They went out the room, turned left and disappeared out of her view.

-'Please, excuse them. They're a bit shy.' Pure Vanilla giggled.

Alchemist Cookie looked at her brother, who was still looking at the ancient. She then turned her head to the nightstand. She looked at the platter with hunger in her eyes, but she didn't dare to touch it. She looked back at, now 2, cookies standing in the door. Noticing her hesitation, Pure Vanilla Cookie slowly walked up to the bed. Vampire Cookie quickly got up, giving him a place to sit. The ancient nodded thankfully, as he sat down. He gently grabbed her hand into his own.

-'You've been out for quite some time. The food's all yours!'
-'How long..?'

He hesitated.

-'3 days...'

Alchemist's eyes widened. She looked at Vampire.

His expression was... Something. Something she couldn't possibly imagine on her brother's face. His lazy smile disappeared. The frown wasn't careless either. He looked more... Interested..? She wasn't sure how to describe it.

Everything was so off to her. A room she had never seen, a literal ancient holding her hand and now her brother's strange expression? She turned to Pure Vanilla Cookie again. She was hoping to find comfort in her brother's usual face, but it seemed to make things even worse.

-'Where am I?' she asked.
-'You're in my castle.'
-'Wha... But how?'
-'I can answer this question.' she heard Almond Cookie's voice.

He stepped forward as she turned to look at him.

-'After you passed out, me and your brother took you to the hospital. I've noticed that the crystal you were carrying with you radiated strong magic off of it so I've sent it to the Vanilla Kingdom to sir Espresso Cookie for observation. Upon hearing about this, his majesty Pure Vanilla Cookie offered to let you stay in the kingdom, in order for you to heal well and tell us more about the gem.'

-'But, of course, you don't need to tell us anything now. Now, you should rest. That magic had such a strong impact on you, it's understandable that you're exhausted.' Pure Vanilla added.

Suddenly, Vampire Cookie threw himself onto the bed, right beside his sister.

-'Ugh, I haven't napped for 5 days. Sis, you're killing me.'

And with that, he drifted off to slumber.