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"Are the cookies talking to you?"

Laodica had actually come out here in hopes of meeting the eternal senshi to get advice and information, but her approach had been slower than usual due to how lost in thought she had been over the last few days, and so she had noticed Elpis talking to... something she couldn't see. Surely there wasn't anything out there, but - but maybe it was just something invisible. Or it could be the cookies.

"If the cookies are talking to you, you've probably been eating too many of them lately," she said, and offered a little wave of greeting. "Unless... they're magic cookies? Are there magic cookies? Do they like to talk? What do they want to talk about?"

She... did have some important things to ask, though, so as interesting as talking cookies may be, Laodica forced herself to stop thinking about them and focus on the task at hand, instead. "Um... could I talk to you for a little while? If the cookies don't mind, anyway?"

"What a rude cookie," Laodica said, accepting a cookie and squinting at it to make sure that it wasn't the offender. "Of course we can't catch it if we can't find it. There's no point in being mean and taunting when it has an unfair advantage." Cookie thoroughly inspected, she took a bite out of it and nodded.

"Sure, I can help! It's... probably better to have something more fun to do while we talk, anyway." Because somehow she doubted that this was going to be a very pleasant conversation. Not with everything she had to think about, and everything she had to do.

"...If I purify, what will happen to me? Will I still be me?"

"Here, cookie cookie..." Was it right to call a runaway magic cookie like you would a cat? Maybe not, but Laodica didn't think it could hurt to try at least. It wasn't like either of them had any better ideas, after all! And who knew, maybe the runaway cookie just wanted some milk? ... or maybe it was afraid of milk. Hm... that was tough to judge. "Do you think the cookie likes or is afraid of milk?" She asked the order senshi, frowning. "Because if it likes it, we could bait it with some, but if it doesn't..."

Then she frowned, considering the other girl's words, and sighed. "Oh. But I just got someone from my family back... I don't want to lose her again..." Though, with all this fighting, might she lose her anyway? "Can - if I purify... can you help me get back to her? Even if - even if I have to be someone else? I don't..." She swallowed and looked away, suddenly both very serious and very sad.

"I don't want to be alone again. But I don't think I want to be a bad person, either, and if I stay corrupt then... then it seems like it'll just get harder to stay good..."

Laodica jumped when she heard the giggle, then frowned and tried to see where it come from. She couldn't see anything, but that really just meant the cookie was sneaky, not hat it wasn't there at all. "We will catch you, you naughty thing," she said, frowning. "Just as soon as we can see where you are!"

Then she sighed and nodded. "I don't know how you can find out, but. Maybe... maybe if - if I remember her once I have, I could find a way to stay with her again?" She didn't think he could tell order people of her sister, not now. Not when they were on opposite sides and that could be used to identify her; magic probably would go No somehow and it'd just make a big mess bigger. But... she sighed and nodded. "Maybe... maybe if I'm lucky, if I do - I could still remember her..."

Not that she thought her sister would want to take in some random 'stranger', if the way Elpis was describing things was true. But she didn't want to be a monster, either!

"... I'm scared," she admitted slowly, looking away from the eternal and biting her lip. "And - I try to Forget things anyway, so I don't think forgetting what's bad is a bad thing. I just..." She didn't want to end up alone. Not again, not so soon.

"That cookie," Laodica said, sniffing and leaning into the older girl's hug, soaking up the affection as much as she could despite the overpowering presence of an eternal-strength order signature. "Is rude and needs to go away." She lifted a hand to wipe her eyes, aware now that she was trembling ever so slightly.

"...Promise? Being alone is.. one of the worst things ever..."

"You have to catch it, first," Laodica pointed out, having to fight a tiny giggle at her own statement. Sad or not, there were some things it seemed like the cookie wasn't going to let them forget, and bringing it up was kind of amusing.

"... I hope I remember my sister," she said softly. "We lost each other a long time ago, and I don't want her to be sad so soon after meeting again. Is - is there a way to pick something to hold onto? Or... or is it random? Is there a way to know what can stay?"

"...But if I forget I made it," Laodica said, frowning, How would I know how to find it, afterward?" Was the cookie's voice fading? Maybe it was going away? "... I guess we won't be catching that cookie after all, but if it ever shows up again someone should make it apologize for being so mean." She paused, then blinked as an idea crossed her mind. "If sunflowers stop zombies maybe snapdragons would stop runaway gingerbread! It's kind of like ginger snaps, after all..."