Chapter Text
When White Flour woke up she felt like only a few minutes had passed, maybe an hour. Her body hurt and she could taste jam in her mouth like she had bitten down on her cheek or tongue. The room was blurry as she tried to gather her thoughts. It was like a mist was covering everything.
The last thing she remembered was talking to Sea Salt as he promised to keep her safe. “don’t worry Flour. As long as I’m here and alive, I’ll be here to protect you,” He had hugged her close, reassuring that she was making the right move. That closing everything out was a good idea.
It was only Sea Salt there when White Flour went into hiding.The other Virtues had kingdoms to rule and needed to maintain their territories. Salt had a small army he ordered, yes, but he was free to travel whenever and wasn’t bound to a single location. He said he wouldn’t leave her…Then why wasn’t he here? Why wasn’t he the one waking her up with a gentle shove while saying that she was being more lazy than one of the cakehounds. White Flour could even imagine him telling her that Blueberry Milk and Powdered Spice were outside and Sweet Sugar was resting in the peach blossom trees. “You’ve been asleep for hours Flour. I thought you said you’d only be asleep for an afternoon,” That was the plan.
The attacks on her had gotten worse and worse over the past few months. White Flour had started denying requests that weren’t life threatening. No one liked the change as she denied cookies the opportunity for wealth or riches or power. She thought they could live without them and denying a handful of requests wasn’t making her a monster. White Flour couldn’t deal with the stress and the guilt of losing another innocent life because she was preoccupied with a wish that had no time limit to be fulfilled.
The attacks had started small with a few rude cookies deciding to come to the temple and just yell at her for “not fulfilling their wishes fast enough”, but it had quickly turned into attempts of murder.
One cookie had nearly killed her in front of the temple. He would have gotten away with it too if not for the fact that Powdered Spice had chosen to visit that day. White Flour normally hated bloodshed but she couldn’t fault Powdered Spice’s reaction of slicing the attacker clean in half. He had refused to let her be killed in an unfair fight. It had been the first of many assasination attempts.
It was the poison in the offerings that were left at the temple that had caused Blueberry Milk to send White Flour a letter advising her to stop accepting food. He had seen her collapse after a sweet vegetable bun had been laced with foxglove poison. It took White Flour an entire week to recover. The entire temple was cleaned of any and all food after that and Blueberry Milk started sending her food and meals prepared in his kingdom where they couldn’t be tampered with.
Sweet Sugar had even saved White Flour from being drowned in the river next to the temple. White Flour didn’t hide her fear at almost losing her life. She had cried for hours as Sweet Sugar just held her and tried to make her feel safe.
White Flour thought that hiding away and not doing anything would make those cookies go away. All it did was start more conflict as rumors of gold and riches being in her home made her a walking target. It was rare for her to not show up to one of the other Virtues’ homes with life threatening injuries and wounds that nearly crippled her.
Sea Salt had stopped traveling when he heard of the assasination attempts and stayed with White Flour. He had become her bodyguard to try and scare away the attackers but it only seemed to draw them in.
Sea Salt had actually gotten himself hurt on just the first day of protecting White Flour. An attacker in the night had caught him off guard and given him a cut to the abdomen between his armor plates. White Flour cried and apologized when she saw the damage. She couldn’t take it after that.
She had just gone into her temple and wrapped herself up in the silks crying. She didn’t want this power anymore. This chance to change others lives. They always disregarded her, hurt her and humiliated her. Why did she do this all? Was it for fame? A feeling of belonging? Trying to live up to the physical strength of the other Virtues?
She had been through so many attacks. So many injuries. But this attack…this attack she woke up to after mere hours of nightmare filled sleep, was different.
The air was different, filled with finely ground flour. It covered everything in the temple which itself seemed much older. Crumbling walls and tapestries seemed to tell stories that White Flour didn’t remember. This was her home, yet at the same time it wasn’t.
“I think you knocked the souljam off of her, Caramel!” A man called. Mystic Flour weakly looked up to see a man with a black and white wolf standing back on guard and ready to attack. Was something wrong? Has someone tried to attack her again? Mystic Flour didn’t recognize the armor the man wore at all. Suddenly a woman holding a bow pointed an arrow right at her head. “Don’t think of moving!” The woman hissed angrily.
Mystic flour felt a wave of pure fear overcome her. She wanted to scream and shout but the woman tensed when Mystic Flour opened her mouth.
Mystic Flour stared at the woman. She was a little larger than mystic flour. Her dough was a darker tan and her hair a beautiful mix of sweet brown and deep chocolate. Her bow was unlike anything Mystic Flour had seen, even from the weaponry that Powdered Spice would show off to her.
Then it hit her. Where was Sea Salt? He said he’d stay at the temple till she woke up. Did he…? No! White Flour refused to believe her best friend and ally had died protecting her. Had these two guards killed her knightly friend.
No, Sea Salt had been in countless battles, coming out with mere scratches. Even when the Virtues would battle for practice Salt could easily parry any attack and even handle multiple enemies at once. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be!
“Caramel Arrow! Crunchy Chip! What’s going on in here?!” Another man, definitely more powerful and definitely in charge, shouted. “My king! We have her!” The woman said,”good…” the king growled angrily.
A king? White flour didn’t know of any king that sounded like this man. And why would a king attack her? Doesn’t he have enough power? White Flour tried to back up and hide in the scattered silky ropes that still cover the floor. She screamed out when a force hit her leg with a sickening snapping sound.
White Flour looked up to reveal the tall, muscular and powerful king she had referred to. White Flour started begging, she was too scared and in pain to care how desperate she sounded. “Please! Let me go! Who are you?! Why are you in my temple?! Where’s Salt?! What did you do to him?!” White Flour shouted in pure panic and desperation. She needed answers. Nothing was the same. Everything was different. She wanted her friends.
“Don’t play dumb!” The king yelled at her as he felt something around his waist. White Flour instinctively moved her hands to cover her vital organs. She could see the glint of a sword beneath the cloak of the king. She wasn’t about to fall for that. Powdered Spice had always told White Flour to never try and grab for the sword when being attacked. He said White Flour would just cut herself and give the enemy a chance to slash into her again. It had been a charming brunch till he mentioned that. At least it was helpful knowledge.
“Don’t pretend you don’t remember trying to kill us and our kingdom, Beast!” The woman from before shouted. “Caramel Arrow Stay out of this!” The king ordered. At least White Flour now knew the name of the woman. Caramel Arrow had moved to an executioner's position, ready to shoot if White Flour moved wrong.
“I don’t know what you're talking about. I’d never hurt anyone. My temple is a place of safety and it’s to be kept as such,” White Flour said as she stared up at the king. He was much larger than her, with dark dough that matched the black hair with two misplaced streaks of white. His dark armor and cloak made him even more imposing with dragon-like designs on it.
The king got closer. “Stand up! You're coming with us,” He growled. White Flour had no choice as Caramel Arrow had started to draw her bow. “Can I please know who you all are?” White Flour asked. She didn’t fully care who was about to kill her but she needed information.
The king looked confused for a moment. Had White Flour met him already? Had she granted him a wish years ago? “I guess the beast of apathy doesn’t care enough to learn names,” The king said coldly. White Flour didn’t know who the Beast of Apathy was but that wasn’t her. “You don’t deserve my answer or my support. The less you know the better. We will put you on trial when we get to the kingdom. Then you may beg for mercy and explain yourself Mystic Flour,”
White Flour looked at him confused. That wasn’t her name. They had the wrong cookie. “My name is White Flour! Not Mystic Flour! You have the wrong cookie!” She shouted. It was a last ditch attempt to get free and run away. Maybe go to one of the other Kingdoms where her friends were and ask for help. Then again, it was very clear her leg was broken from the king stomping onto it. White Flour knew she wouldn’t make it far..
“What did you say?” The king asked as he knelt down to White Flour’s level. White Flour decided to just pray and spill everything and anything so she’d live. “My name is White Flour. Guardian of the Ivory Temple. Holder of the virtue of Volition. I am one of the five Virtues including Blueberry Milk, Powdered Spice, Sweet Sugar and Sea Salt. Now answer my simple question. Who are you?” White Flour said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
The king looked at her for a while. He looked like he had heard something he shouldn’t have. He looked around at the old tapestry in the room then back at White Flour. “What year is it?” the King questioned. “It’s currently the third quarter of the year two hundred and sixty eight,” White Flour answered, thinking it was a dumb question. The king shook his head. “My dear it’s the first quarter of the year is one thousand five hundred and thirty six”
White Flour froze. She had been asleep for over a thousand years?! But how? Why? Did something go wrong? What happened to her friends? “You’re lying…” she muttered, eyes starting to water a little. The king turned from confused to slightly concerned, though he was still firm and on guard. “You are still coming with us. I have someone who may be able backup your story,” He said, hesitating for a moment. “My name is Dark Cacao by the way. I feel you deserve that knowledge,”
The king walked away as White Flour was hoisted up by Caramel Arrow and carried out of the temple. “Don’t…try anything,” She murmured to White Flour, but it didn’t matter. In a matter of moments White Flour was completely stunned by what she had just heard.
She had to be dead. Only death would create a tournament like this to haunt her. This was a breaking point. One that White Flour couldn’t handle.