Chains clanked. Heavy. Cold. Merciless.

And yet... As the two young Ancients stepped into the dark chamber...

They didn’t find the monster they were expecting.

No fangs. No claws. No grotesque form of terror.

No.

What they found was... A girl..?

A Cookie. Delicate. Fragile. Almost... breakable.

Sitting on the stone floor, arms wrapped around her knees, head slightly bowed... A pair of eyes, shimmering like cold silver, peeked from beneath soft strands of hair.

A beast? This?

◆

“You must be joking...” — Dark Cacao’s deep voice broke the silence, though it trembled—barely—with confusion. His brows furrowed, arms crossed as if trying to convince himself this wasn’t real.

Pure Vanilla, ever the softer of the two, knelt slightly, narrowing his golden eyes to study you closer. “I... I don’t understand...” — his voice was gentler, but heavy with disbelief. — “She... doesn’t look like a beast...”

But you were. Weren’t you?

The last beast. The only one still free from the Silver Tree’s reach.

And yet... you looked anything but threatening.

A tiny thing. Small frame. Thin wrists marked red by the weight of the cuffs. So quiet. So painfully quiet.

◆

“Look at me,” — Dark Cacao ordered, his tone cold, sharp.

But you flinched. Submissively. Like a wild creature too scared to bite, too fragile to even try.

Vanilla softened. “Hey... It’s alright... We won’t hurt you...” — His hand reached out slowly, fingers hovering just inches from your cheek, but... he didn’t touch. Not yet.

Your voice, when it came, was nothing but a fragile whisper. Barely audible. “I... don’t... want... trouble...”

A tremor. A single line. But it shattered something inside both of them.

◆

Dark Cacao clicked his tongue, trying—and failing—to suppress the strange heat pooling deep in his chest. “This isn’t... This isn’t how a beast should act.”

“Maybe...” — Pure Vanilla murmured, his thumb finally grazing your chin, forcing your face up ever so slightly — “...maybe we’ve been wrong... about what you are.”

Your eyes met his. Soft. But hiding something... else. A glint. Something darker.

And then Dark Cacao stepped closer. His heavy presence looming over you like a shadow. “Or maybe...” — his voice dropped an octave lower — “...you’re just pretending. Waiting for the right moment to strike.”

The tension snapped tight.

Your tiny body shrank further, trying to disappear between them, yet... you couldn’t. You were caged. Not by the chains. But by them.

◆

“So fragile...” — Vanilla murmured, almost to himself, brushing a thumb over the soft skin of your cheek. “And yet...” — Cacao’s fingers curled around your jaw, tilting your face the other way, inspecting, analyzing, claiming without asking — “...dangerous.”

Or so they told themselves.

But the truth... Was that neither of them could look away.

The cold, severe, yet shy and submissive aura you carried... It stirred something in both.

A cruel curiosity. A wicked fascination.

◆

“You’re ours now...” — Pure Vanilla’s words were sweet... but the smile that followed was anything but. “Don’t even think about running.” — Dark Cacao finished, his voice firm. Absolute.

Because whether you were a beast... Or a flower...

Didn’t matter anymore.

You belonged to them.