"Can't even get a coffee break..."
Almond was exhausted.
This was his daily routine; waking up and starting his day fresh, prim and proper and ending the day of never-ending cases with his hair messed up by some spell from a careless Parfaedian Institute student, his shirt dyed a random shade of the rainbow with magical stains, and his Almond Handcuffs slowly getting worn out.
He'd have to ask the local blacksmith for a repairment spell.
And yet, he kept going, for his loyalty to Parfaedia was so strong he felt as if he was eternally indebted to the city.
After all, they had given him a new chance at living; from the most powerful mages to the youngest academy students, all of them had participated in the spell one way or another, just to revive him from...something.
Even though he had visited the Main City multiple times, he had never figured out what it was that he was saved from.
Disease?
Betrayal?
His mother, Cashew, had tried to tell him, but all he heard when she mentioned it was incoherent mumbling sounds.
Perhaps it was a side effect of the spell. Either way, he had no intention to know, after so many years-
"Sir- Detective Almond!"
Almond's apprentice from Magical Emergency Handling came running to him, panting.
Clearly, he was not as fit for the job, but his passion had made Almond take him in nonetheless.
"What is it?"
The apprentice only handed him a letter.
"It's from Cashew Cookie. It read private and confidential, so I didn't open it."
Quickly, Almond ripped open the envelope and pulled the sheet of paper within it, nearly dropping the letter in the process.
"You can go, kid." he reminded the young Cookie before he started reading.
"Understood, sir."
~♤~
Dear Almond,
I know you are burdened with work in Parfaedia. I do not blame you for choosing to remain there, as I know a fraction of your memories, the ones that would have caused you to stay, are still lost in the flow of magic. But please, remember that I am here for you. As well as your daughter, Walnut.
Whose safety I deeply concern, which is why I must write to you today.
Recently, the famous painter Butter Pretzel Cookie's work has been stolen from the Hors d'Oeuvre Museum. Curator Emmental Cheese has asked me to help investigate, but my health is no longer as stable as before, and I cannot take up this case.
While I could hand this over to other detectives, I believe that you are the perfect candidate for the investigation - Walnut would jump at any chance of investigating a case, but I fear this is too much for her, as many of the initial suspects are quite...dangerous.
I know she will found out about this soon enough; she is quite intelligent.
I do not want to take the risk of losing her as well. Not everyone is as lucky as you, to be resurrected after death.
So, I hope you will take up this case. Consider this a commission, even.
It will be best if you can contact me as soon as possible, so we can make arrangements for you to return to the Main City.
I do hope you will return here, or even stay for a few days after investigations, so we can spend some time together along with Walnut face-to-face instead of virtually or on the phone.
I look forward to hearing from you, son.
Love,
Cashew.
~♤~
"There were rumours of a grand masterpiece getting ready for display, but alas, am I too late to the party? ♪ "
The three Cookies stepped back and turned to the window in surprise, Butter Pretzel nearly tripping over one of Mustard's used spray cans.
Roguefort, who had silently crept up on the windowsill of the warehouse, jumped down without a sound from where he was sitting.
Gumball and Mustard reloaded their gumball cannon and spray cans respectively, ready to protect themselves from the sudden intruder.
Which, really, wasn't necessary. Roguefort never brought much harm to others, even if he was infamously known for being a thief and burglar.
"You?! You're that famous thief, Roguefort Cookie! Are you here to steal my painting?"
Butter Pretzel, too, held up her spatula of butter in defense.
Looking at all three of the Cookies holding up their makeshift weapons in defence when he himself didn't even wield a visible weapon on the day, Roguefort only chuckled.
"That's an upsetting way to greet someone, no? I am but a simple visitor tonight. I consider this museum a trove of jewels worth admiring."
Roguefort merely looked around, remembering the conversation he overheard in the museum between the three artists.
The warehouse was filled to the brim with ladders, toolboxes, spare planks...
And a completely ruined painting sat in the middle of it all.
Deducing that the painting he intended to admire had already been destroyed by an unsatisfied artist, he simply turned to the Cookies, all on high guard.
"What...? Oh, never mind."
Butter Pretzel, lowering the spatula, simply pointed it in the direction of the painting, reduced to shreds of paper and slices of butter.
"Anyway, nothing for you to steal here. As you can see, it's ruined beyond all measure."
"I am in no rush!" Roguefort simply replied in a singsong voice.
"After all, beautiful works of art require time and patience."
Deciding to leave the three artists alone since he felt as if he was intruding, he jumped back on the windowsill of the warehouse, right where he had initially entered.
"I look forward to our next meeting!"
With a wink and a swoosh of his cape, he was gone from the windowsill.
"A bit bold for a burglar..."
The sound of light footsteps, as Butter Pretzel walked in circles trying to think of how she could cover up her destroyed painting.
Unknown to the three Cookies, Roguefort was still outside the warehouse, listening through the opened window.
"Oh! OH!"
Gumball and Mustard looked at Butter Pretzel in confusion.
"I'll tell everyone the painting was stolen! That way, I won't have to show it to anyone."
Outside the warehouse, a smile spread on the famed thief's face.
"Then I shall assist you on your deception, glimmering artist. After all, forcefully molded gems lack value; only ones that are naturally formed may glimmer with true light."
~♤~
"So, the main suspect here is Roguefort Cookie, speculated to be the heir to the Blue Cheese manor that fell from grace."
Almond stared at the files on the desk provided to him, the feeling of deja vu surging in his mind.
It seemed all seemed so familiar to him, the name Roguefort Cookie, the files scattered in front of him, everything about this case.
Almond only took a glance at the main suspect's profile, the photo of a charming disguise on the profile he could easily see through with years of experience under his belt.
The overly friendly smile. The tense eyes. The gripped hand.
It was as if the thief was begging to be recognised by someone who knew.
"I will need someone to show me the way to the Museum." Almond requested, ignoring the thoughts momentarily.
"Understood, as you do not hail from our City."
Almond wanted to refute, as he was born here, but a sharp reminder of the curse? The blessing? That he did have no memory of a modern Main City, or whatever it looked like now.
Everything seemed so different, yet so much the same from the limited memories he had.
From outside the bustling office's window, a wide-eyed Roguefort stared from a nearby rooftop.
A figure that looked exactly like his friend, who wasn't supposed to be alive and running...at all.
He had watched him crumble in his arms, the memory still fresh in his mind even after the flowers had wilted and the ivy had grown wild.
Was it just his imagination?
Fishing out a set of binoculars from his arsenal, the masquerader inspected the familiar figure more...closely.
Suit and tie. Probably not something Almond would wear on a daily basis, only for detective work.
Visible traces of some type of kernel baked into the Cookie itself, just from the hair.
On his desk, a bunch of papers with some of his more famous disguises, and...a familiar museum.
"Guess I'll have to pay that place a visit to find out the truth..."
~♤~
A rumble of wood planks emanated through the mostly empty Hors d'Oeuvre Museum.
Immediately, the detective stood up from his crouching position, making a mental reminder to come back to the clue he was inspecting later.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
"My, my, no need to be so formal. All the cameras are disabled~"
Almond scanned his surroundings. There was nothing in sight he could see, but the faint stench of blue cheese...could it be?
Without further hesitation, he bolted towards the direction of the sound.
"Well then, let's play a game~"
Roguefort, seeing Almond frantically search for him, only smiled and started to run.
The chase was on - Almond scrambling for the perpetrator as fast as he could, while Roguefort recalled the map of the surroundings, choosing to head to a nearby alley without any surveillance.
Then, Roguefort thought, he would simply run into the dead end, and face the detective, whether he was his friend or not, head-on.
It was all part of his master plan.
Almond, on the other hand, mumbled to himself as he pursued the mysterious thief.
He knew he was wasting time running after a taunting voice, and that he would definitely be questioned when all was done, but something - something inside him, was telling him to run, that it would be the last chance.
Bolting through streets and dodging surrounding Cookies, pillars, obstacles...all alongside him, a gust of nostalgia hit Roguefort - no - that time he was called as Blueberry Cheesecake Cookie.
He had taken time to put on a disguise, remarkably similar to the one Cashew had prepared for him so many years ago.
Halting in the middle of the street, Roguefort made a sharp turn into an unsupervised alley, one that he knew lead to a dead end.
As he had planned, the detective followed suit.
Almond knew the way he was going led to a dead end.
Finally, he thought, preparing his Almond Handcuffs in his pocket.
Reaching the red brick wall, Roguefort turned to the one chasing him, ending it all with a bow before inspecting the detective once more.
"You have been-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the two made eye contact, and Almond's firm gaze dissolved as a numbing pain hit his head.
The seal was lifted, finally and fully.
"So it really is you..."
Leaning against the wall to steady himself from the sudden headache, each and every memory came flooding back to him like water flowing from a broken dam.
The initial meeting on the bus heading towards the summer camp.
The sudden news and the harsh reality of a rivalry.
The Blackberry team in the Camp, with Buttercream Choco, Salt, Pilot, Prophet...
The friendship badges they all made.
The visit to Buttercream Choco's house, where they tried to uncover the truth of it all, but failed.
The sudden escape of Roguefort, and the horror of finding him in his room completely soaked.
The good times they spent living together.
The visit to Dreamy Cookieland, where Cream Unicorn Cookie gave them a childhood they were robbed of.
The sudden attempt by Mozzarella - where was she now? - and the chaos in the Main City, with Cashew swooping in just in time to save them.
The visit to the City Of Wizards, where Blueberry Pie finally revealed the true villain behind the rivalry.
The successful attack by Mozzarella, where he had watched the mages fight and Roguefort being captured by his family once more.
The reunion, and all the clues, and the promise.
The Blue Cheese Manor, and the final fight with Mozzarella that-
"Almond...it's been so long...but how?"
Roguefort still remembered; the scene had never faded from his mind, the gruesome garden, what he thought was Almond's final words before he crumbled in front of him...
So how was he standing in front of him, alive and running?
As the pain subsided, Almond slowly steadied himself, all the memories still processing in his mind.
How could he have forgotten?
He had crumbled to protect his friend, which was how he ended up like that in the first place!
"I- Roguefort, no, Blueberry Cheesecake, I know I have some explaining to do. But please don't be mad at me, okay?"
Almond fully expected Roguefort to ask where he had been all these years, how he was alive, and lash out his anger.
What Almond didn't expect, however, were two arms that flung towards him, and Roguefort embracing him in a warm hug.
"How could I be? You're alive!"
~♤~
"The mages in Parfaedia resurrected me. Somehow, they found me from the Blue Cheese manor and brought me back to life through the magic of the entire city."
"I don't know which guest or which mage found me, since they never mentioned it, but I owe them my life, and I mean that literally."
"They quickly found out that a side effect of the resurrection spell was amnesia. Showing me pictures of the people in my life helped me remember - helped me regain said lost memories of them."
"I'd assume they couldn't find a single undisguised picture of you. I kept trying to find it with technology, but it never worked. You never wore the same disguises, never had the same eye colour or hair colour."
"I could never bring myself to wear the same disguise I did with you, Almond. It was too much..."
"...It must have been."
Seeing that Almond didn't continue any further, Roguefort decided to explain his whereabouts to his old friend.
"When I heard through the grapevine about a certain Almond Cookie investigating the very case I was involved in, I had to see for myself. It couldn't have just been a coincidence."
"So I did. I put on a similar disguise, and headed over to the Hors d'Oeuvre museum. And you were there, with such a striking resemblance to the Almond Cookie I had known before."
"Everything, from the hair, eyes, physique, though it changed with age, it was all so similar."
"So you taunted me." Almond concluded.
"I did. I needed to lead you to somewhere without eyes looking at us, to actually question whether or not you were the one I actually knew; or just a coincidental resemblance."
"Well, that won't be needed anymore."
A small laugh.
"Thankfully."
"You've regained your memories, so...are you going to stay in the Main City now? I know Walnut really needs your attention, I've been telling her tales of our adventures while keeping her busy with some games."
"You mean playing the detective game while you go off and make complex puzzles for her?"
"You know me too well."
"To answer your question, the truth is...I do not know."
"I really want to stay here, to finally act as a responsible father and all, but you are already taking care of her so well, and it's not like me and Walnut don't communicate with each other with phones. On the other hand, Parfaedia... I feel too indebted to the place. It needs me; Magical Emergency Handling needs me, and I feel I cannot simply return to my old life."
Roguefort knew something like this was bound to happen, but he couldn't stop himself from showing a bit of disappointment.
Almond was alive and running, and they had just reunited, finally without the looming threat of his family, yet Almond had taken on a different path than the one seemingly destined for him in the Main City.
Almond had work, work that made him so busy that he couldn't even get a drink. Almond had connections, even if they were all in the faraway Parfaedia. Almond had debts to repay, even if he feared he could never fully repay them.
This time, it was inevitably different, and Roguefort would be foolish to think Almond would give it all up for him again.
"I will respect your decision, whatever decision you may make, to stay or to leave. You'll be staying here for a while, after all, with your investigations."
Roguefort held up his hands in a surrendering position.
"Oh, and, if you want to arrest me, go for it, I guess. It wasn't me who stole the painting anyways, and I'm sure your darling Walnut will be able to tell."
Almond only smiled, knowing that his daughter was in safe, albeit deceiving, hands.
"So, you're making it a game for her now?"
"Hasn't it always been a game all this time?"
~♤~
And that's the epilogue!
Thank you all so, so much for reading the book. (As of writing this, the book has over 10k reads. What??? How???)
(Also, a sudden surge of new readers - don't know where you all came from, but hello!)
I will definitely be either rewriting some of the chapters, or releasing a bonus chapter with deleted scenes very, very soon. Sooner than you think, actually.
Once again, thank you all so much for all the votes, all the comments (I swear stop making deez nuts jokes oh my goodness-) and, well, giving this book a read :D
Please, tell me your thoughts in the comments!
I'll see you all soon!
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