. Circles Without Loneliness .
Chapter 3 : “ Shattered ”
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— Var! Shadow milk x You —
⁉️: Psychological Drama, Tragic Romance, Dark Fantasy, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
...
The dream arrived without warning. There was no prelude, no warning, just that gentle transition between wakefulness and the dream world where the rules of reality blur like ink in water. A strange peace enveloped you, different from anything you had ever experienced before. It was not the peace of rest nor of forgetfulness; it was a peace heavy with omens, like the calm that precedes a storm.You felt something brush against your cheek—her eyelashes, grazing your skin with the softness of butterfly wings.
You tried to open your eyes, but your eyelids felt as if they were sealed with molten lead. Each attempt was a titanic effort. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, your eyelids lifted.
Beneath you, grass green as mint swayed with a tranquility that seemed to mock your confusion. The grass moved to the rhythm of a breeze you couldn't feel on your skin, as if the wind itself were a ghost that only existed to sway the leaves and provoke whispers in the silence. The smell of dampness infiltrated your nose without permission, mingling with something else, something you couldn't identify but that felt achingly familiar: an aroma of memories.
"Hello, [Favorite Flavor]," said the voice, and it was so soft, so sad, that you almost didn't recognize it. It was no longer the cheerful voice of jokes nor the teasing tone of mischief. It was the voice of someone who had been waiting for this moment and who, now that it had arrived, didn't know if they wanted it to end. "I knew you would come."
You approached slowly, with hesitant steps on the moss that crunched beneath your bare feet. Each step was an act of faith, a silent prayer that this was not what it seemed. But when you looked up, he was there. His blue hair, that intense color that reminded you of the deep ocean, swayed with a nostalgic softness. His eyes looked at you with an intensity that pierced your soul. He wore the white uniform shirt—wrinkled, with several buttons undone, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows—and his feet were sunk into the moss as if he wanted to cling to something he knew he was about to lose.
"Jelly Bean," you said, and your voice sounded strange, distant, as if it came from somewhere far away. "What... what's happening? Where are we?"He laughed. A short, bitter laugh that had nothing to do with the one you knew.
"We're where we've always been, [Favorite Flavor]. In a dream. In a lie. In a place that doesn't exist but that you've called home for longer than you imagine."You didn't understand. Or maybe you did, but you refused to accept it. There was something in the back of your mind—that dark corner you always ignored, where unanswered questions accumulated—that began to hum with urgency.
"I don't understand," you murmured, and it was such a transparent lie that even you noticed it. "Jelly Bean, what do you mean?"He shook his head slowly.
His hair moved with the gesture, and for an instant you saw something behind him. Something that writhed in the shadows. Something that watched you with eyes that weren't his."I don't have much time," he said, and his voice broke.
"Please listen to me".
"I don't have time to tell you everything, but in time you'll know," he replied. "He created me to be close to you. To gather information. To find out where Timekeeper Cookie had hidden you. To soften you. To make you trust someone. So that when he came for you, you wouldn't want to run."
The words fell like stones in still water. Your mind froze. Had he deceived you? Was everything you shared a farce?.
"Was everything a lie?" you asked, and your voice was barely a broken whisper. "The laughter? The study nights? When you told me I was your favorite branch?"
"No"—the denial was immediate, almost violent—"that was real. Or at least, as real as a feeling can be from a being created to lie."He brought a hand to his chest, right where his heart should be, and pressed his fingers against the fabric.
"I don't know if I can truly feel," he admitted. "I don't know if all of this is part of the program he implanted in me. But what I felt by your side... what I feel right now... that can't be false. Because it hurts too much."
His fingers began to fade. Like smoke. Like sand slipping through fingers.
"I was created from his heart," he continued. "From the heart of the Ultimate Cookie. That being... that essence... he stole it before fleeing to the past. Before fracturing the timeline. That spark of life... that possibility... he took it and molded it with his own hands, his hands of deceit and twisted truths, and from it I was born."
"You're not a tool," you interrupted. "You're Jelly Bean. You're my..."
"Your best friend," he completed, and tears glistened in his eyes. "That's what I've been to you. Maybe not truly. Maybe not in the way others would. But I've been there. And that has to count for something."
"Shadow Milk's plan was simple," he continued, and his voice became mechanical, as if reciting a report. "To create a sealed timeline, a pocket in the fabric of time where you could live in peace. Where you could trust. Where you could let your guard down. So that when he finally broke through Timekeeper Cookie's defenses and reached you, you wouldn't flee."
"But something went wrong," he whispered, and a spark of hope gleamed in his eyes. "I started to feel. I started to care. And when Shadow Milk ordered me to hand you over... I couldn't."
His hand rested on yours. Cold. So cold. And yet, warmer than ever.
"My job is done," he said, and there was a serene peace in his voice.
"Shadow Milk is already here. I no longer need to exist."
"No!" you shouted. "You promised me! You said you wouldn't abandon me!"He smiled. And for an instant, he was the Jelly Bean of old.
"I'm not abandoning you. I'm saying goodbye."His body faded slowly, dissolving into particles of light that floated toward the starry sky.
"Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for being my favorite branch. The strongest branch. The warmest branch. The branch that never breaks."
"Don't go," you begged."You won't be alone," he replied.
"I'll always be with you. In memories. In dreams. In the moments between seconds, where time bends and lies become truths."
His forehead touched yours. And the entire universe was reduced to that point of contact.
"Heh... It was a pleasure being your..." He paused. Smiled. "...best friend."
The clearing faded. The lantern flowers went out one by one. The silver-leaved tree creaked one last time and sank into darkness.You were left alone. Kneeling on moss that no longer existed, embracing the void where his body had been, crying tears that evaporated before touching the ground.
"... "
"JELLY BEAN!"You screamed his name as you woke. The sheets were soaked in sweat and tears. The lavender comforter was tangled between your legs. The white voile curtain moved with the night breeze, indifferent to your pain. But your room was empty.Without him.You jumped to your feet, staggering. Your bare feet hit the cold floor. You ran to the door and flung it open.
The hallway was dark, lit only by the pale moonlight.
"JELLY BEAN!" you shouted. "THIS ISN'T FUNNY! COME OUT FROM WHEREVER YOU'RE HIDING!"No one answered. No one clung to your back saying they were a koala and you were their favorite branch. Only you. Alone.You began to walk without direction.
Your feet carried you through the maze of empty hallways. You passed the classrooms, the library, the dining hall. And in every corner you expected to see him appear with his mischievous smile, saying it had all been a joke.
But he didn't appear.
Because it wasn't a joke. Because it never had been.
That was when you heard it. Two voices.They came from an old, forgotten section of the academy, where the stone walls were covered in moss and the windows were boarded up. You approached stealthily, hiding in the shadow of a pillar.
"...I don't understand why you insist on this," said the first voice. It was deep, profound, coated in velvet and venom.You recognized it. The Fount of Knowledge. Shadow Milk Cookie. Or rather, the version of him that Timekeeper Cookie had brought to this timeline to protect you.
The one who hadn't yet been fully corrupted.
"It's not insistence," replied the second voice, sharper and more tense.
"It's an order. Directly from him. I have no choice."
Ash Salt Cookie.
You peered around the edge of the column. You could see them now.
The Fount of Knowledge stood with his blueberry eye staff, his black cape moving without wind. Before him, Ash Salt Cookie held a parchment envelope.
"The letter," said Ash Salt, raising the envelope. "You must deliver it. It's the only way."
"No," replied the Fount. "I won't be complicit in his plans. I won't allow the Serpent of Lies to sink its claws into her."
Your mind worked quickly. The letter was a trap. The Serpent of Lies. Something that, if it fell into your hands, would put you to sleep or paralyze you or make you an easy target for Shadow Milk Cookie to capture you.
"Don't make me do this," said Ash Salt, barely a whisper.
"But you will," the Fount interrupted her. "Because you have no choice. Because he left you none."
Ash Salt Cookie closed her eyes. Her hand went to the hilt of the giant fork on her back.And then the Fount of Knowledge turned his head. Slowly. Deliberately. His eyes settled on your hiding spot.
"Not now," he murmured, so low you could barely hear him. "Not here."
Ash Salt Cookie frowned."What?" she asked, turning to follow his gaze. "What are you..."
But the Fount was already stepping back."Go," he said, his eyes fixed on you. "Go now."
Ash Salt Cookie hesitated. Her fingers trembled on the fork. But she didn't attack. She pocketed the letter and disappeared into the portal the Fount had opened.The Fount of Knowledge stayed where he was.
"You can come out," he said finally. "I know you're there. I know you've been listening to me."
You stepped out of the shadows."Who is she?" you asked.
"What did she want?"
"Ash Salt Cookie is a tool," he replied. "She serves my other self. Shadow Milk Cookie. The one who fell."
"Your other self?"
"The Fount of Knowledge, yes," he confirmed. "The original. Who I was before lies became sweeter than truths."He explained that Timekeeper Cookie had brought him from another timeline. That she had searched for him—the version that still remembered what it meant to spread truth.
"Why?" you asked.
"Because she knew he would come," he replied. "She knew that Shadow Milk Cookie, the Beast of Deceit, the master of lies and twisted truths, would not rest until he found you. Until he possessed you. And because she knew you would need someone who could face him. Someone who knew his tricks."
"Someone like you?" you whispered.He nodded.
"Someone like me."
He warned you that Shadow Milk Cookie is patient, that Ash Salt Cookie and the letter are only the beginning. That he is testing your defenses, looking for cracks, waiting for the moment you let your guard down.
"And Jelly Bean?" you asked. "Was he part of the plan too?"
"Yes," he replied. "A fragment of the Ultimate Cookie's heart, molded to earn your trust."
"But he said something went wrong..."
"Because he loved you," completed the Fount. "Because at some point, the creation surpassed the creator. The fragment of the Ultimate Cookie was stronger than Shadow Milk imagined."
When you returned to your room, the sun was beginning to peek over the hills, painting the sky pink and orange and gold. You sat on the bed, knees pulled to your chest. The sunrise light bathed your face, and for a moment you could almost imagine Jelly Bean was still there.
But he wasn't. And he never would be.Because he wasn't real. Because he never had been.
Because it was a lie.
A beautiful and painful lie.
"... "
Somewhere in the temporal void, Timekeeper Cookie watched.
"Interesting," she murmured. "Very interesting."
Beside her, a figure appeared. Starry hair grew brighter. His staff changed. Suddenly, a monocle gleamed in his eye. It was no longer the Fount of Knowledge. It was the Sage of Truth. The pre-corrupted version of Shadow Milk Cookie. The one Timekeeper had brought from another timeline to protect you. An eccentric scholar who described himself as "complex" and who, though polite, admitted he would have done the same under the same circumstances.
"Do you think she'll survive?" asked the Sage, adjusting his monocle.
Timekeeper shrugged."Who knows?" she replied, with a lightness that pretended to hide something deeper, something darker. "The future isn't written, [Fount of Knowledge] or rather~ Sage of Truth. That's what makes it fun."
"It's not fun," he countered, his serenity turning somewhat serious. "It's terrifying."
"They're the same thing," said Timekeeper, and her smile widened. "It's just a matter of perspective."
And then, with a snap of her fingers, she vanished. Leaving behind only the echo of her laughter. And the bittersweet taste of a lie that, perhaps, someday would become truth.
