Chapter Text
Witches, everything hurts. What happened? He can’t…all he can remember is the Soul Jam…
THE SOUL JAM. Is it shattered? Did his last ditch plan work? Are the children…?
…
It’s dark. He can’t see anything. Feel anything, except for a burning pain in his chest and head. This must be some kind of punishment. To be expected for what he did. There’s no way that would slide…
Witches…at least…may he be merciful……
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The Sage of Truth doesn’t get students bursting into their office too often. The last time a cookie almost kicked his door down was when a section of the town had caught fire, and even that was a few years back. And the last time it was a group like this? Probably even longer! Something interesting must’ve happened. How exciting!
“Sage! Help! There’s a strange cookie passed out in one of the sheep fields. They appear badly injured.” One student panted. They must’ve run the whole way here. The fields weren’t exactly close to the academy.
Now he was really interested. Sage leaned forward at his desk, now at complete attention, “Did you check to see if they were crumbled at all? What can you tell me?”
“Well…” One of the taller students in the back fidgeted with their fingers, “We can’t approach them, sir. There’s a kind of magic energy — maybe a barrier of some type — that prevents anyone from getting too close. Rhubarb Cookie attempted to dismantle it, but it was too complicated for her.”
“Really? And I can assume she told you all to reach me as soon as possible?” They nodded collectively. “Well, alright then! Take me to this mystery magic cookie!”
The group dashed (Sage floated as usual) back to the sheep fields, where Rhubarb was waiting for them. She clearly had kept trying to undo the magic on her own since she looked half dead on her feet from mana overuse.
“Teacher! Oh there you are, I’ve never seen this magic before. It reminds me of yours slightly,” Sage perked immediately at this observation, “but it’s…different. Darker. Considering how the supposed caster is passed out in the middle there, this may not be intentional.”
Sage smiled, “Great job, my dear! I’ll take it from here. Now, go get some rest. You have some rhubarb in your bag, correct? I believe I’ve told you about the dangers of magic overuse before.”
Rhubarb Cookie looked slightly embarrassed at the criticism, but thanked him and walked towards their nearby schoolbag.
Well, let’s see exactly what we’re dealing with here.
Sage lifted his blueberry staff and tried to pick apart the magic energy bit by bit. And boy, they weren’t kidding when they said it was powerful. Almost enough to rival his own raw magic power. They would absolutely love to study it for days on end, but he was on a bit of a time crunch here. Judging by the radius of scorched grass around the darkly dressed cookie, this was something he needed to handle quickly.
Focusing on specific aspects that did strangely resemble something close to his own, Sage carefully dismantled the barrier before relaxing and attempting to approach this mystery on his own. If he were sure on what the situation was, Sage would’ve taken some of the upperclassmen along as a mini lesson, but he didn’t want to risk any injuries.
Ignoring the murmuring of impressed students behind him, Sage slowly drifted toward the darkly dressed cookie in front of him. Their blonde icing was dirtied and spread out over the grass, and a pointed hat could be spotted a few feet away. They were passed out on their side, so Sage couldn’t get a good look at their features quite yet. The cookie wore a dark robe with a golden trim and gold sparkles decorated across it. Also, they did seem to be breathing, which was good!
In order to get a better look, Sage went around their sleeping body to try and identify them in any way. And what they were met with was an upside down image of their own Soul Jam. And not only that, but their Soul Jam resonated with the stranger in front of them!
Fascinating!
The other had tan dough with a blue 4-point star on their forehead and was indeed injured as his students had previously stated. There was dried jam on their face and small crumbs were coming off their arm. Nothing deadly per say, but still something that would have to be attended to quickly. There were most likely more, but Sage couldn’t tell because of their outfit.
Might as well take care of that while he was here.
Willing the warmth of White Magic to embrace the cookie before him, Sage allowed it to spread over the worst of the injuries and heal them enough so they could be transported back to his area within the academy.
As soon as he did so, the cookie began to stir. Most likely from the warm of the healing spell along with some other things. Swiftly, Sage crouched down to meet the stranger at eye level, waiting for them to fully wake up. The closer proximity made his Soul Jam hum even more, but he suppressed it so he could keep his focus to the matter at hand.
Sitting themselves up slightly, the stranger rubbed at their eyes and tried to blindly search for something with their hand. Curious, Sage peered around and spotted an orchid staff behind him. He reached for it and offered it to the cookie, speaking gently so as not to startle them.
“Are you looking for this?”
The stranger froze and slowly turned to look at him. Their (cloudy?) eyes instantly filled with terror as they snatched the staff away from Sage, breath becoming rapid and unsteady. They made an effort to stand with the aid of the orchid before backing away as much as their legs would allow them to.
Sage reached out to support them in case they stumbled, but his hand was harshly smacked away.
“Don’t touch me, Beast.” they hissed.
That’s a new one. Haven’t heard that before.
“Are you alright my friend? You were passed out in the grass.”
“What game are you playing with me?” the cookie snapped, anger apparent despite their trembling and tight grip on the staff. “Enough of these illusions, Shadow Milk. Have you not already tormented me enough? Just take my Soul Jam and get it over with!”
Hold on, their Soul Jam? Sure, Sage saw the design on the front of their shawl which was strange enough, but they possess a Soul Jam themselves? He assumed it must be the same shape as his Soul Jam of truth, only flipped horizontally. That may also explain why it began to hum as it did. The resonance of the stranger’s Soul Jam must’ve also awoken them as their injuries were healed.
Sage was making plenty of new discoveries today, but they didn’t have time to ruminate on it any longer. The cookie lifted his staff and a Dark Moon sigil began to shimmer from the Orchid. Wait wha— don’t have time for that either!
Sage braced himself, preparing some of his own Light Magic to counter it. He created Dark Moon Magic as his time as the Fount, and sealed and prohibited it’s use as the Fount centuries ago. If this cookie truly was able to use it, he should be able to counter it.
Just as Sage’s thoughts were racing, the Dark Moon sigil began to flicker as it’s caster could barely stand on their own feet. They wavered for a moment before collapsing to the ground. Or, they would’ve if Sage hadn’t dropped his magic and caught them just before they hit the ground.