(yah so we're basically like truthless recluse)

"Oh isn't this FUN?! We're like a familyyy now!"

C/N Cookie only gazed darkly at Shadow Milk Cookie, who, as always, had turned it all into a game where only his rules were valid.

"Shadow Milk Cookie-"

"Especially you two!" He poked your cheek with a grin, then looked over at the new figure cloaked in blue. "Go say hi!"

Truthless Recluse was watching him with equally as much distaste.

The newest 'member' of Team Deceit, and it's the very embodiment of Truth... how comical. At the very least, it was ironic, but the only ones thinking it to be funny were the Deceitful Trio.

C/N Cookie had one thing set in mind: they would try to make him feel welcome and protect him, even when he didn't know he needed it just yet. They wouldn't usually with just any Cookie caught in the shadows, but Pure Vanilla Cookie was just like them.

Once a believer of good.

Then changed by force.

It didn't have to be friendship, after all, C/N Cookie themself wasn't too much of a fan of it. It was odd, that they felt such protectiveness of a perfectly capable Cookie like Truthless Recluse. But they had to stay close when Shadow Milk Cookie was around. It didn't need to be friendship, but an understanding.

And it worked.

They weren't sure how, but in the time they spent together, they had managed to form the closest thing to a bond. Truthless Recluse was quieter and less caring than he used to be, but no less serene. He was actually a good listener if he cared enough.

C/N Cookie often thought about how different he is, but never told him. They knew the feeling, after all. There was no need to be reminded. They also wondered if he ever wondered what they were like before all of this, but if so, he never said anything. Besides, it wasn't like they still knew too much.

C/N Cookie wasn't sure what was going on.

One moment, they were checking up on the Rumor-Weavers, then walking through the (oddly quiet) halls of the spire, and in the next, they were stuck under rubble.

Their cloak would definetely be torn, and they couldn't feel their leg. They desperately tried to get away, cursing whilst the Spire of Deceit rumbled yet again. But they wouldn't, couldn't call out for help. No one would come to their aid.

They had realized the situation: the Spire of Deceit was collapsing.

And Shadow Milk Cookie and his little lackeys had left them alone. Of course.

The rush of jam in their ears made them dizzy. They couldn't get up. Everything hurt.

Was this the end?

"Over there!"

Oh, not that silly brave kid.

"C/N Cookie?!"

...And his little friends, of course.

A familiar Cookie was with them. Blonde locks. Blue and yellow eyes, but-

Different.

"...Pure Vanilla Cookie?"

Nonono, not him. Not those heroes. They should be gone. They had realized the spire was collapsing, why were they here? Especially if the only one left was a lonely Cookie consumed by lies that had deceived them.

Truly though, C/N Cookie had never hated either of them. It was just them trying to keep them out of more trouble by staying away.

Pure Vanilla Cookie looked brighter. An undeniable passion and authority in his steps, radiating from him, but he still looked kind. Like his... old self. How long they had given up the hope of acheiving that again. But they suppose only the chosen have a happy ending.

He hurried over to them, kneeling in front of them while the kids tried their best to move the debris away. "Oh my..

C/N Cookie looked at him incredulously. "What are you doing?"

Pure Vanilla Cookie furrowed his brows. "We're trying to help you!"

"Well, don't!"

"You need to leave. You are in need of-"

"Stop. I can't." They pushed his hands away. "I... can't." Their voice didn't tremble in the slightest bit, but their eyes told a different story. "I am... bound to this place. Mentally, at least. It has been so long that I was cursed that these shadows are all I know. If I leave..."

The male shook his head slightly. "You do not need redemption, because you never supported Shadow Milk Cookie's actions. It was his doing that this happened to you, not yours. Nothing will happen if you leave. I may not have been accquainted with you for long, but I know this is not your path." He smiled. "Just like you did when I was the Truthless Recluse."

C/N Cookie looked up at him, pain, yearning, they didn't know with what. "Pure Vanilla Cookie..."

"Let somebody help you. Just this once."

The kids had succeeded moving the rubble and freed them. C/N Cookie couldn't feel their leg, but heard the gasps behind them.

They took Pure Vanilla Cookie's hand.

And while it happened, their vision was dark for just a moment, before they were no longer in the spire. C/N Cookie didn't recognize the scenery, only the ink-colored sky above. Nighttime, and yet it was way brighter than the darkness they often hid in.

"Phew! That was a close one!" GingerBrave wiped his brow, Wizard Cookie nodded.

"C/N Cookie, are you okay...?" Strawberry Cookie looked down at them with worry in her eyes.

Pure Vanilla Cookie held them gently, ushering quiet assurances that they didn't need.

They were too weak to say anything, but it was obvious what they had in mind: what now?

Pure Vanilla Cookie seemed to think. "I want you to join us on our journey back to Crispia. Perhaps, I can find a way to help you heal. To turn you back into whom you used to be..." His fingers brushed over theirs. "...if you allow it."

C/N Cookie nodded, still resting their head against his shoulder.

Perhaps this could be a new start.