Beasts in a Castle au: Gingerbrave just wanted to call his mom, Gingerdozer is happy to see his brother again, Silent salt is… confused but he has the spirit, First Cream Cookie needs a vacation, Gingerbright is there.
"Don't worry, she's going to love you!"
"Gingerbrave, you've said that a hundred times…"
"And I'll keep saying it until you believe it!"
His other half sighed, the shadows of her cloak shifting and letting out soft giggles. "Well, if you keep doing that, we're never going to make that call before something happens."
"Right, right, fair point." It had been a really busy year for Gingerbrave and Ultimate.
Just a year ago, the Beasts had been killed.
They had reached an agreement, an arrangement with the Ancients, and helped them to awaken Gingerbrave and Ultimate and defeat Dark Enchantress.
Except, the final battle had gone terribly. Neither was exactly sure what had happened, but it had sounded like one last desperate attack had happened. When the smoke had cleared, Dark Enchantress was dead… and the Beasts were gone. Not a trace of their soul jams remained, the connection between them and the Ancients cut and silent.
The Ancients had not reacted… well.
They tried their best to be present, to be here, but the only one who was actually doing the best at that, ironically, was Dark Cacao. And his silence had gotten worse, darker and stormier. The others…
Pure Vanilla and White Lily had both retreated inside their homes. Hollyberry was back to traveling around. Golden Cheese had taken control of the Wild Spices and gripped Burning Spice's kingdom tight. What made it worse was how some of their minions had died as well, leaving the others to follow the Ancients like silent ghosts.
It had been an exhausting year.
Even when the Beasts had been sealed away, Earthbread had always had complete soul jams. Now, Gingerbrave and Ultimate were left as the only complete duo. There had been a… fair amount of running around, trying to keep things stable.
Right now was the only real bit of free time Gingerbrave could remember happening in a while.
"Okay, okay, fair point." He pulled out the crystal ball his mother had given him and focused, reaching out.
First Cream's presence had a slight chill to it. But it wasn't a bad chill, no. It reminded him of the pleasant chill you got when you walked into air conditioning from a hot summer's day. The sweet smell of cream filled his nose and, when he opened his eyes, the crystal ball was full of her smile.
She laughed, the sound light as her namesake. "Hello, Gingerbrave. How have you been?"
"I've been really tired, but I'm good! I wanna introduce you to someone!" Ultimate yelped as he grabbed her shoulder and dragged her into frame, trying for a smile. It was weak, but hey, she was still a little shy. "This is Ultimate, and we share a soul jam!"
"Yeah! The Soul Jam of Life!" Gingerbrave held up his other hand, which had gained a glove. On the back of it, a skull-shaped gem, gleaming with all the colors of the rainbow, winked at First Cream. In color, it matched the gem that rested upon the back of Ultimate's head, the starburst hairpiece gleaming in her white curls.
"We've been doing a pretty good job at taking care at Earthbread, especially since the other soul jams got split in half!"
"Oh, yeah, you probably don't know what I'm talking about! So, there was this evil cookie called Dark Enchantress who wanted to stop the Witches Banquets…"
Only Ultimate noticed First Cream look off to the side with a "That explains Gingerdozer's little guest…"
