◇ LICORICE'S POV ◇

Dear Diary,
Sorry that I missed 2 days' worth of writing. Couldn't find an empty book anywhere. Left the old one back at the base, not like we're going back anytime soon.

It's been 3 days ever since the ambush. 2 recruits have joined the team; Sparkling and Alchemist. Well, technically Sparkling has been on the team since a month ago but, doesn't matter. Alchemist is weird kid. She's hella depressed, yea, but at the same time obsessed with locking herself up in the kingdom's lab. Would care less about what she's doing in there. Judging by her name, she's probably doing alchemy stuff.

Dark Enchantress praised me! The first one in a while! Yay! She told me that I did a good job at monitoring and reporting back!  ̶S̶̶h̶̶e̶ a̶̶l̶̶s̶̶o̶ ̶s̶a̶̶i̶̶d̶ ̶t̶̶h̶a̶̶t̶ ̶S̶̶p̶a̶̶r̶̶k̶̶l̶̶i̶̶n̶̶g̶ ̶s̶̶h̶̶o̶̶u̶̶l̶̶d̶̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶b̶̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶̶r̶̶t̶ ̶o̶̶f̶ ̶t̶̶h̶̶e̶ ̶p̶̶l̶a̶̶n̶, ̶b̶̶u̶̶t̶ ̶o̶̶h̶ ̶w̶̶e̶̶l̶̶l̶  I'm so glad that I got my praise!

As a reward, she let me participate in more activities! I can't wait to make her proud again, bombard me with more praises, and be the best mage ever! I'll be good enough in her eyes again! That's all for today!

Signed, Licorice ♡

Licorice lets out a sigh after looking over at his cringy writing one last time. He doesn't think he needs to change it. We don't wanna waste more paper than one needs, do we? Who knew finding an empty book is harder when literally everything is destroyed. Shouldn't it be way easier? You know what, never mind.

He closes the book, slips it under his pillow, and rolls himself over, his back on the warm bed. Finally, his overwhelming anxiety of missing 2 days' worth of writing is gone. He would be in an entirely new mess if he didn't write it down anytime soon, the habit becomes a stress reliever ever since he's just a small cookie.

Now, Licorice is ready to take on the world again. And by that, he means going into his cool cauldron tower and staying away from everyone else because screw them! Especially Poison Mushroom, he ain't babysitting that annoying mushroom kid today.

Of course, he jinxes himself when Poison Mushroom walks in through the door of his room, he scoffs at himself internally after seeing their weird face. Only this time, their dead eyes are now accompanied by a glint of sadness.

Naturally, Licorice is confused. The little spore baby always looks soulless, which in itself is unsettling, but today they're especially disturbed. He sits up to take a slightly closer look, making sure his eyes aren't lying to him.

As soon as he does, Poison Mushroom quickly waddles toward him. After climbing the bed with slight struggles, they attach themselves to Licorice which makes him flinch. He'll never admit that the spore baby is hugging him. But now that's out of the can, so there's no point in hiding it.

"What is wrong with you?" Licorice whispers, irritated at the annoying tugs they did to his hood. "N-New friend... doesn't want... shroomies.." Poison Mushroom sniffles, burying their face onto Licorice's shoulder.

Licorice sighs internally after hearing the annoying complaint. He has a slight idea of who the mushroom cookie is referring to, and it was probably one of the new cookies. He feels bad for them, but it's annoying when he's the only one they can vent to. What a bunch of selfish jerks, not wanting to provide comfort for the little mushroom.

"Oh, come on. Don't be so bummed out about it. They're missing out, and that's their fault. Now don't bawl your eyes out at such a simple offense." Licorice tries his best to not sound like a jerk when he's comforting the little cookie with head pats, but his suppressed annoyance, unfortunately, got to him.

Eventually, the sniffles start to fade, replaced with hiccups every once in a while. Although the comforting words were said harshly, it still works with pats and back rubs to accompany them. Poison Mushroom loosens their grip a few minutes later to reach out for their pocket.

From the gesture, Licorice lets out a sigh, knowing what they're doing next. He sticks out his right hand, and in a jiffy, the spore baby gently places a small purple mushroom on it.

Licorice can visualize the purple fumes that'll form into a skull fog, screaming 'poisonous' in his ears. His head grows lighter every time he smells that deadly grape scent, somehow. It used to be way worse, but maybe after sticking around this cookie for who knows how long, he got used to it.

"For now, don't bother Sparkling Cookie and Alchemist Cookie yet! They may be new friends, but they need some time to... adjust." Licorice sternly states, to which the little mushroom cookie nods. He has a feeling that they're not gonna listen to him, but he shrugs it off as he looks at the shroomie once more.

"Licorice!" the yell of a feminine voice shocks Licorice to the point of accidentally throwing the shroomie across the room, making it explode into a cloud of poisonous smoke. Luckily, it didn't reach any of them and it quickly dissipates, blending with the air.

This makes Licorice's jam boil as he glares at the one by the door, revealing it to be Pomegranate. "You- Don't SCARE me like that!" Licorice points accusingly at Pomegranate, only to see her roll her eyes and hear Poison Mushroom giggle.

"I need you to plant some pomegranate seeds around the kingdom. Night Raven Cookie will help you, so get to it!" Pomegranate commands assertively, to which Licorice let out a long groan.

"Do I have to? Why can't he just do it by himself?!" Licorice whines as he flops himself over to bury his face into the pillow, letting out the anger fumes.

"Our master is kind enough to let you have more opportunities for tasks. This is one of them. Besides, the work will be done way better with his assistance." Pomegranate's eyes narrow, as if belittling him. That bitch!

"What I meant is doing big tasks be in charge of them! Can you not underestimate me for ONE SECOND?! What will this team be without me, the one who solely helped lead everyone else to take over this pathetic kingdom in the first place?" Licorice boasts as he stands up from the bed, leaving the mushroom cookie on the bed.

"You only managed to do it because our master permitted you. And she wouldn't have permitted you had I not brought you to her when I caught you sneaking out!" Pomegranate scoffs.

Licorice turns speechless after the rant. In a way, Pomegranate's right. But, the real reason he snuck out of the base every day was that he could meet Clover. Obviously, no one knew that thanks to his ability to tell a convincing lie. It cost him more chores, but he'll take any chance to get out of the base once in a while. He cannot stand these cookies and their bossy attitudes.

Licorice snaps out of his thoughts after a forceful drag on his arm from the priestess. He watches as Pomegranate reaches out to her pockets and drops a small pouch on his hand, pushing his hand back to him afterward.

"Pick up the opportunity while it's available. I don't think you can carry a heavy burden if you can't handle even the simplest of tasks." Pomegranate scoffs as she walks out of the room, Licorice quietly returning a scoff as well.

Licorice looks over at the mushroom cookie who just sat there watching the event earlier unfold. He sees a glint of concern coming from those soulless eyes, what an idiot to leave a clueless child to hear a pointless argument. He sighs as he walks towards Poison Mushroom to pick him up from bed and gently place them down on the floor.

"Go on. You can wander around the castle while I'm gone. I have to do more boring chores. You can... hang around when you find me again, okay?" Licorice assures, to which Poison Mushroom slowly nods and waddles out of the room.

With no one else in the room, Licorice wears his hood and picks up his scythe from the corner of his room. Time to do some more repetitive chores. Surely it wouldn't take him that long.

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                       TIMESKIP (TWO HOURS LATER)...

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He was so wrong. Even with the help of a bird's eye view from Night Raven and a few more licorice servants, he's extremely exhausted. The kingdom is HUGE, no wonder that lazy-ass priestess didn't want to do it. And worst of all, that emo bird cookie didn't even help him out with actually planting the pomegranate seeds.

After finally planting the last seed, Licorice slumps to the ground. He can hear the licorice servant fading away and the bird cookie landing. He rolls to the side and slowly hoists himself up to sit, he's too tired to stand up any longer.

"I know you took part in... some of the work, but can't you at least HELP on the planting part?!" Licorice points aggressively at Night Raven, who seems like he's just staring at him indifferently, which pisses him off more.

"I'm sure your licorice servants are enough. You don't need my assistance." Night Raven responds with a monotone voice, inspecting one of his sharp dark arrows. Irritated, Licorice grips his scythe to help him stand up. He's immediately out of breath after doing it, but he manages to pull himself together and wears an annoyed expression.

"Wow, are you deaf?! I've asked AND demanded you for help on FOUR separate occasions! My mana is just a drop left and that takes a LOT from me!" Licorice scoffs, extremely irritated.

"I take orders from no one." Night Raven sternly states, which confuses Licorice. "But you're Dark Enchantress' minion and YOU followed her orders. How ironic is that?" Licorice teases the emo bird. That'll teach him to shut up.

"I... have a request." Licorice perks up after hearing Night Raven's sudden voice after a decently long silence. The emo bird lets out a sigh and places his arrow away into thin air, at least that's what it seems like.

"I heard and saw that you kept another legendary cookie here..." Night Raven's voice trails off. Licorice raises his eyebrow, confused at what this emo bird is trying to say. He knows that he's talking about that idiot Fire Spirit, but he asks, "Why are you suddenly so curious?"

Night Raven scoffs at the attempt to pry from Licorice, which makes him even more confused. "You don't need to know why other than what you deem 'curious'."

"Alright, fine, whatever. Apparently from schedule, Crepe is tinkering with the wafflebots to make a foolproof prison for fire grandpa. Dunno where on Earthbread they are, so-" Licorice gets cut off when he feels a tug on his robe, feeling airy and light.

"PUT ME DOWN, EMO BIRD!" Licorice screams in fear, looking down at the ground that his feet are barely able to reach. "One thing you know is that they're inside the castle. So we'll just go there." Night Raven says before taking off towards the castle.

It's a fast trip, and Licorice despises the ride. Dust from the residual smoke blinds his eyes multiple times thanks to the cold draft. And of course, he screams the whole way through, which may or may not disturb the cakes down there. Red Velvet is so gonna kick his ass when he accidentally wakes the sleeping hounds.

They eventually reach the castle's second-floor balcony, Licorice is still screaming his lungs out. And it grows louder when Night Raven suddenly drops him to the floor, sending Licorice tumbling. Luckily he manages to stop himself when he has a chance to kneel, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

As soon as he turns his head to see Night Raven land gracefully on the floor, Licorice grips his scythe and swings it at the emo bird, filled with rage. Night Raven manages to dodge the dangerous weapon with no signs of flinching and Licorice puts down his scythe to the ground. He's not here to kill the bird, he's his 'ally'.

"YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME, YOU ASSHOLE!" Licorice's rage doesn't seem to faze Night Raven at all. He just struts towards the door, leaving Licorice confused and angrier.

"At least you're still alive. You would've taken hours to get here had you not taken the flight offer." Night Raven mocks monotonously, perking his head up in the direction of the castle.

Words cannot describe how enraged Licorice is after hearing that. But weirdly, the anger just slowly dissipates and is now replaced with emptiness and fatigue. He's tired of dealing with this team's attitude and he doesn't even have the strength or the words to lash at them.

He wishes so bad to hit something or better yet, cry. At this rate, he's not sure that writing in diaries helps anymore. He knows where to run to, but that's before the ambush. How he wishes he knows where Clover is right now.

"Don't just stand there. I found out where they are. Come." Night Raven's stern words snap Licorice back to reality. Both cookies set off down the hallway after a nod from Licorice.

It's very confusing to find directions at first, considering how big the castle is. The only clue they have is that Strawberry Crepe is somewhere on the ground level. Licorice isn't sure where exactly they're going, but he'll just follow the emo bird anyway.

Something about Night Raven perking his head up to hear something reminds him of Clover's behavior when he's looking for something with his ears. Is Clover idolizing the behavior of the former archer?

Eventually, the running around in circles part leads them to a dim staircase leading to the underground. Of course, why hasn't he thought of that? Dungeons are usually underground, that's literally where they keep prisoners.

Licorice holds on to the wall as he descends the stairs after Night Raven. He can feel the sugar brick pattern on the way down and see the sugar wax candles lighting the room up ever so slightly. Nothing is heard other than his scythe tapping to guide his way down and faint machinery sounds that eventually grow louder as they went deeper.

When they eventually reach the bottom, the clink and clanks sound clearer. It didn't take long for Night Raven to follow where the sound is coming from. He's so lucky that gem on Night Raven's forehead is glowing, he can use it to guide him, eventually leading them to a door with an orange glow emitting from the other side.

As they enter the room, the clink-clanks get obnoxiously loud, looking over to see Strawberry Crepe tinkering with a wafflebot hanging on the ceiling, the little engineer hovering beside it to hammer a nail down so it'll stay in place.

Licorice looks down to see an unconscious Fire Spirit, chained down to the floor with what he assumes to be rock candy and waffles cuffs. He isn't sure if that's going to hold him down long enough when he's awake, but he knows that Strawberry Crepe's smart enough to actually think it through.

He glances at the emo bird, who seems to also be looking at Fire Spirit. Licorice scoffs at the discovery, turns out he just wants to see the unconscious fire cookie. What a waste of his time.

"Crepe! You know that when he's awake, he can just free himself no problem, right?" Licorice raises his voice so that the little engineer can hear him, he's mostly asking just to see if his assumption is right. They turn their head when they hear his voice and floats over to the two cookies on the viewing deck, taking off the engineering gear on their face.

"I HAVE thought of that! Don't take me as an idiot. I already executed two solutions on the top of my head." Strawberry Crepe scoffs in annoyance, putting their gear to the side. As they turn around, Licorice stops them with a poke on the shoulder.

"And that is?" Licorice curiously asks, maybe a sprinkle of sass is in the mix. Strawberry Crepe glances over at the necromancer in surprise, which is understandable since Licorice would usually care less about things that he doesn't understand.

They didn't answer him though, as they descend to the ground. Licorice raises his brow and looks down at the ground to observe what this kid's doing. By the time he does look down, Strawberry Crepe already ascends back up with a hose in hand.

"What's a flame's weakness? Water. He can't escape when he's surrounded by a wall of liquid that's actively flowing to extinguish him." Strawberry Crepe rambles as they ascend higher to reach the robot on the ceiling, attaching the hose in its designated place.

"And what about the cuffs? You'll let him melt that?" Licorice teases, Strawberry Crepe responding by rolling their eyes. "Obviously, not! They are perfectly good cuffs, and I'm not letting him melt my gadgets!" Strawberry Crepe scoffs as they descend to the viewing deck and jump off their hovering bot to continue their ramble.

"I designed it so that every time the cuffs almost reach the melting point, he gets a squirt of water on his arm. Keeps him completely locked up at all times. Haven't finished that part yet, and I'm lucky that Alchemist girl is easily convinced to make potions to keep him asleep."

Licorice didn't show it on his face, but deep down, he was very impressed. Dark Enchantress makes wise decisions with her allies, albeit she made a mistake with Dark Choco, but most of the time she's right. This raises his motivation to continue and impress her, proving that he's viable to the team.

"Now out! I still need some more things to test out." Strawberry Crepe sternly commands as they lightly push Licorice and Night Raven by the legs towards the exit. The emo bird is agile enough to avoid their push, but Licorice is not so lucky.

By the door, Strawberry Crepe shuts it on their faces when the two cookies are on the opposite side. This leaves an awkward silence between the boys, clink-clank noises in the background are the only thing filling it in.

Night Raven let out a sigh before walking toward the dark hallway, Licorice following him so that he can get out sooner. Ascending the long stairs, Licorice has time to think about saying something, merely just for the sake of teasing. So, he decided to do it, even if the consequences will be something he'll regret.

"So, you're just there to look at his fiery self?" Licorice asks mischievously. The emo bird doesn't let out a word or even a grumble, which Licorice can understand. He's always silent like that, which in itself is relieving yet frustrating at the same time.

"Wow, what a waste of time for me to come with you. You're probably just staring at that dumb flaming spirit in hopes that he can wake up and save your cursed ass." Licorice giggles mockingly, big mistake.

As soon as they get through the door leading back to the ground-level hallway, Night Raven swiftly points his dark glowing