Pheoshan Chapter Six The Sweet Demon

Enchanted Lure

Pheoshan and Coalphyre and Phyredoor were still shaken. They had lost track of time, as their minds could not get what they had seen out of their minds. The burning and destruction was burnt into their minds. The dying screams were still deafening in their ears. The whole event repeated in their minds over and over. They tried to get their minds on something else, but their minds would not let them.

Pheoshan had hardly noticed the black glass slippers still were on her feet yet they had morphed into something more like clogs. Despite this they had not only become comfortable but they had seemed to help her walk better. They even adjusted to both her feet and the different grounds they walked on.

They were walking almost automatically. Especially Pheoshan, knowing that Wolfox had been inside her all her life and she knew that he had gone easy on her. Worse still she knew that she had no chance of ever fighting him nor did she have any chance of being him. In fact she doubted that anyone could ever beat him. Not truly, well not without a good plan.

How? She thought repeatedly.

She was so shocked that Coalphyre had to shout her name the times before she stopped. She turned around and looked at him. She stood there, her mind foggy and numb. She slowly walked back, unfeeling and unaware of anything else.

"Are-are you alright?"

"Not after that."

"We're all shaken, I know, but we all need to keep calm and try to move on."

"B-bit rich." She said, noticing that he too was shaking.

He noticed this too. He tried to stop himself, yet to no avail. His face was as pale as a corpse. 

He shakily signed.

"I-I think that we should go and collect some firewood. It-it will t-take our minds off things."

"And who will guard the camp?"

Pheoshan placed a hand on her.

"Thank you for volunteering!"

She then walked off followed by Coalphyre to collect the firewood. They did not need to look far for they soon found a good log. Then another and another,  each time getting further and further from the camp. All laid down in the shape of a tail. They continued further and further, fully engrossed in following the trail, to a point that they were not paying attention to where they were going or came from. They were soon lost and yet, too enchanted to know it. They did not snap back into reality until they saw no more firewood to collect.

They looked up and to their delight, they saw a house made of gingerbread. There was a wooden cover above the house to prevent rain or snow from affecting it. The moment that they smelt the ginger their mouths salivated, after being dry all day. They walked up to it and started to eat the walls. They eat more and more. The more they ate, the more they wanted. Yet as they ate they became sleepier and sleepier. They continued still nevertheless. Pheoshan was so engrossed in her eating, that she barely noticed Coalphyre collapse next to her, with gingerbread was still in need his mouth. She soon followed.

Bread Crumbs

Pheoshan and Coalphyre woke up. The sick sweet scent of sugar entered their noises. The first thing that their eyes met was a sky with pink candyfloss for clouds and a sun the size of a small island far in the sky,  yet it gave no heat, in fact it looked like it was made of sherbet lemon. As they sat up they noticed that they had been lying on a ground made of marshmallow. They looked around and saw that the trees were made of toffee and green glass-like toffee for the leaves and the fruit on them was toffee and chocolate covered apples.

"Where are we?" Coalphyre asked.

"A dream world."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then how do we wake?"

"I don't know." She said as she noticed a line of rocks. 

She crouched down to examine it. She then locked it and noticed that it tasted salty and was cold, like a real rock.

"Strange."

"What?"

"It's rock."

"Yes, I can see that but what does it mean?"

She pointed around them.

"Everything here has a sweet theme. So why is there a rock here made of rock, and not something sweet?" She asked.

He nodded and he soon understood.

"Should we follow it?"

"I think so."

They walked along the rock, which was too small to walk on. Yet they had noticed that the marshmallow was sticky so they knew that they would have to continue fast enough so that they did not get stuck. Yet they had to pull their shoes up every now and again. They kept their minds on the stones that they were following like bread crumbs. They soon came to a dead end.

"Now what?"

"We look for something else that is just as equally out of place." She said as her eyes were already darting around.

"But can we not eat something first?" He asked.

"Didn't we eat some gingerbread when we passed out?"

"Yes, but I'm still hungry, so can we eat?"

"No! We're in a dreamworld, we don't need to eat!" She said. "Not to mention the one that created this dreamworld may not be friendly, so we should only trust what we know."

He nodded as he looked aside. He then started to frown.

"Tell me, all of this is all about sweet things right?"

"Yeah, have you found anything?"

"See for yourself!" He said as he pointed a tail of off white dots.

She crouched and licked it.

"Breadcrumbs!"

"Do you think that that qualifies?"

"Yes. It is savoury food after all!"

They then followed the breadcrumbs. Yet after they had gone so far a crow zoomed down and quickly ate the breadcrumb in front of them. They looked back to see that the path that they had come from was gone, including the rocks! They looked back to see another eat another. They ran to the next one must as another ate that one. They ran and ran until their hearts were racing so fast yet they dared not to slow down for a second. Knowing that if they had missed even one then they would not wake up. They only stopped when they came to the end. The crow then landed on her shoulder.

They then looked at the crow.

"Cross the bridge."

They frowned as they could not believe what they had just heard.

"Follow me!" She said and flew off her shoulder.

Knowing that they had no other option, they followed the crow. They started to walk at first, but then as the crow started to fly faster they had to break out into a light jog. When they had been jogging for a while then the crow sped up slightly causing them to break out into a run. They soon broke out into a sweat. Then the crow stopped and landed on a pillar of a chocolate bridge. Underneath was a liquid river that was made from melted sugar.

"Walk over and eat none." She said, walking ahead.

They started to walk over the bridge, yet the tempting scent of chocolate entered their nostrils. As they walked on, the scent became stronger and stronger. Their months started to salivate and they had to gulp it all down as their mouths became filled with their saliva. Before they knew it, they were across.

"Now what?"

"Eat the muffin that is growing on the tree before you." 

They saw the tree which was made of chocolate and had pink leaves that were marshmallows, that had pink flowers growing from it. They walked up to it and picked a flower. They opened the flower and picked a muffin from the centre. They took a bite and their eyes opened.

When they woke, they noticed that they were in the gingerbread house. They saw that they were in a steel cage littered with human bones of all ages.

"Hello dearies!" Came a sickly sweet voice.

They looked up to see an old woman with scales instead of skin. Her green eyes were reptilian like that of a lizard and deep purple lips that were like that of a lizard too. Her tying was forked and was a deep shade of purple that appeared black. Her sharp teeth were curved inwards like that of a snake.

"Did you have a sweet dream?"

The Sweet Demon's Sweet Home

"What do you want with us?" Coalphyre snapped.

"Never mind that! Where are we and who are you?"

She walked up to him, leaned in and sniffed. She smirked and her head turned like that of a serpent to Pheoshan. Her eyes looked at her in alarm, however she soon covered it up and as soon as possible. Yet she had to sniff up again and again. This made her wonder if she smelt bad. Then, upon another sniff she could see her eyes dilate. This told her that she liked her smell. 

"So… You're the Demon Princess are you? My King is interested in you." She sang.

Her voice was like the sound of a creaking door.

"Do you think that I don't know that?" She snapped. "Now answer our questions and let us out!"

She smirked and shook her head. She let out a light chuckle as she stroked her temple.

"No. I can not do that. After all, if his Majesty is interested in you then that makes me interested in you." She said. "After all, why would he be interested in a human like you? After all, we hate humans!"

"Well I was his host for most of my life."

Her eyebrow raised.

"He's had other hosts before you."

"He has? How many?"

"I may tell you. But that's all for later." She said. "Now it's time for me to bake you something to eat, dearies!"

They looked at the bottom and suddenly felt slightly afraid. She looked at them and then let out a strange giggle. She shook her head.

"Don't fear dearies. I loathe poisoned food because it is a big waste. Also I love food and I hate to waste a single crumb!"

"Poisoned?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You will find out at the right time." She sang as she came to the table. 

There, they watched her carefully as she baked. She started humming and looked over to them in a mocking way while she was mixing the doe.

"Are we amusing to you or what?" She snapped.

"Maybe." She sang as she put it in the oven.

"What are you baking?" 

"Hmmm… My very special sweet bread." She laughed. "I hope that you like sugar!"

They looked at each other knowing that they ought to be getting out of there and not to trust the demon. Then the sweet scent overpowered their sceptical minds.

"How about a bar of chocolate,  just to pass the time." She said as she passed them two bars wrapped in silver foil.

Coalphyre was the first to eat it. 

Yet Pheoshan looked at it, her gut was screaming at her not to eat it, to a point that she felt slightly ill. Then the scent of the sweet bread entered her nose and she bit into it. To her surprise it was the best chocolate that she had ever tasted! Soon she took another bit and chewed, savouring all of the sweet and complicated taste before she took another bite. Before she knew it she had finished the bar. Yet the aftertaste made them long for more.

Suddenly the demon smiled,  yet it was more like a patent and trusting.

"Did you like that?"

"Yes we did thank you!"

"Do you want more?"

"Yes please!"

"Well maybe late, if you're good, for now the bread is done!" Her voice became more sugary and trustworthy.

She took it out and cut it into the pieces and put them into a bowl each. She then poured a great amount of custard on the sweet bread. She then sprinkled some chocolate chips onto them and then put it onto the table. She looked at them with a look as if deciding if she was dividing what to do. Yet she relaxed her face as she came to whatever conclusion she had decided on.

"Alright dearies, I will let you out and be good children and sit at this ramble will you?"

They looked at each other excitedly. They were more than happy to do this.

"Thank you!"

Her smile widened as she opened the cage. They then almost rushed to the table and rushed to their bowls. They took the spoon and ate all that was there. They had never tasted anything as sweet and delicious in their lives! They ate and then ate, taking breaks only to breathe. They wanted to get the sweet taste in their mouths and they wanted more of that taste. She looked at them like a predator as she ate silently until they had polished their bowls with their tongues.

"That was the best thing that I have ever tasted!" Pheoshan said with a sticky mouth.

She bowed her head as she blushed humbly.

"Thank you. You're very sweet. Here, have some more chocolate!"

They then took the chocolate.

"Thank you!" They said as they ate them.

She left out a warm giggle.

She then put them back into the cage. They looked out of the window, their minds were dulled as their memories slipped away. The sugar had taken them and they no longer saw what they once did. They started to wonder what was out there and how it was that they ended up in this sweet, sweet home, living with a sweet, sweet old woman. An old woman that they were liking more and more.

Then, their eyelids started to feel heavy and underneath them became sticky. Soon their eyes closed and Coalphyre fell asleep. He was shortly followed by Pheoshan. They dreamt about sweet bread and all kinds of cakes, chocolates, icecreams and sweets, some of which, they knew, had not even been invented yet. They both wanted to eat every single one!

When they woke the next morning they could think of nothing more than sweet things. They wondered how much of these sweet things that they could eat that they were going to have and how much they could eat. They could think of nothing else for nothing else mattered to them. They had no memories of anything or anyone before they came into the house.

Then the demon came in, with her, to their delight was two bats of chocolate. She smiled as she gave it to them. They took it without question and dug in like a wolf eating its prey. She smiled and walked to the door. She picked up some weights and placed them in front of them.

"Step on them  dearies."

They walked on them revealing what they had put on since the day before, for Coalphyre it was a pound, for Pheoshan it was half a pound. The demon frowned, yet all they saw was an old woman that looked completely harmless.

"Come, time for breakfast."

The Vain Escape

They could not tell how long that they had spent there for everything had become a blur. Coalphyre had put on more and more weight yet Pheoshan was putting on weight slowly, slower as each day wore on. She had even started to get headaches too. She had been tasked with the job of cleaning the strange bowls and cutlery, yet she was watched by the sweet demon. With the waste going into the fire that she would give the ashes to the sweet demon. 

She saw an old woman with snow white hair and crystal blue eyes. She no longer saw the scales or the reptilian eyes. She did not even see those serpentine teeth, but now she saw a normal set of teeth.

She had an increase of these strange headaches as she decreased in her weight gain. Eventually, she started to see the teeth. She would look at her in a moment of fear, yet in the next moment she would see the normal teeth. Yet these moments became more frequent and what she would see and the headaches would only end by the sugar that she would give and things would be normal again.

"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down!" She would sing.

But after a while, her headaches became more frequent and worse. Soon the sugar stopped working and made the aching worse and flashes of her memory would come to her. Soon the sweet demon had to increase the sugar and the amount of food she had. This worked better yet she kept a closer eye on her. 

Then came the day when nothing worked. She felt her memories start to return to her. Not to mention she was not putting on any weight. She was soon seeing things the way that they truly were. This, she knew, she would have to keep secret. Yet she became concerned with Coalphyre, and how much weight he had put on!

Then nightfall came, she waited at the bottom of the cage, pretending to be asleep. She waited until she knew that the sweet demon was asleep before she shook Coalphyre awake. He grumbled under his breath before she shook him harder before she woke him up.

"What?" He moaned.

"Shhhh!"

"Why? It's far too early! Get back to sleep!"

"No. And don't you dare get back to sleep!" She said, slapping him.

"Aw! What was that for?"

"We need to get out of here."

"Why? What is there out there that we can't have here?"

"How about our lives?"

"What? What are you talking about? We've always been here."

"No, it's the sugar, it dulled us in some way. For a while we have forgotten the outside world. But I have woken up."

"Okay fine!"

"Shhh!"

She looked at the bedroom that the sweet demon was sleeping in, after that he had woken her up. She listened until she heard the snoring, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, if everything here is made of that sugar, so must be the bars."

"So, you wanna eat through the bars?"

"Yes, yes we are!"

"After you!"

"Shhh!"'

She tilted her head and took a bite. To her shock, it seemed that the bats were the sweetest and the most tasty thing in the entire house! She and Coalphyre ate and ate, yet as she did Pheoshan had to ignore the headache and pushed on eating. As she ate, her headache intensified and it almost became unbearable, yet she had to continue. To stop meant death. She continued until the bars were gone.

"Right, come on."

He nodded as they then stood on their feet. It took longer for them to get to the door as their weight slowed them down. Yet they tried to move as silently as she could keeping Coalphyre close by just in case the sweet food around them was booby trapped. They walked through the door and took in the first fresh air that they had in a long time.

"Come on." Pheoshan said as she knew that they could not enjoy it.

She then pulled him as they ran as fast as they could; they almost made it to the forest when suddenly their feet changed direction. They made a complete u turn and ran in the direction of the gingerbread house!

Of course! I should have known that it would not have been that easy. She thought bitterly.

She then tried to get her feet away from the house, yet she could not stop herself. They both ran into the house then they were back in the cage. None of them were able to prevent themselves from doing so. That was when she heard, to her heart's sinking, the laughing.

"Thought you were awake!"

She looked back at the door to see the sweet demon looking at them, the way she truly was. She looked down with frustration that she tried to hide. She felt her heart being held by something and her neck felt like it was being strangled by an invisible hand.

"It's a good job that all my sweet sugar is enchanted."

"What?" She snapped with a strangled voice.

"You can't escape no matter how much you want to. Not as long as part of you wants my sugar."

The Shocking Escape

They were locked seaway in a steel cage and were force fed all the sweets, cakes and puddings until they were sick. After which they were fed even more sweet foods. It was so bad that they almost could not breathe! Sometimes when they were being force fed they would come on the food with nothing to relieve the coughing fit. The only relief was during small breaks where they would be panting on the ground.

At night Pheoshan and Coalphyre were separated and she was taken to the sweet demon's bedroom. There she would be cleaned and chained to the wall. Once she was, the sweet demon would open her mouth and drip some sweet venom that tasted like a foul honey that seemed not to have been made right.

This would cause her to become paralysed and she would become helpless as she watched her sloppy falling asleep. There she would sleep knowing that she could do nothing to stop her or defend herself from whatever she did in order to wall her up and her mouth would be filled with nothing but sugar and a cut into her arm.

She could not tell how long this went on but as time went on she looked painfully at Coalphyre add he became fatter and fatter, which she could do nothing about. Knowing that once he was fat enough, his life would end with nothing to stop it. Not even her. This was what tortured her the most.

However as time went on she noticed that the venom of the sweet demon was taking longer and longer to take its nasty effect on her. She soon found that it took her longer to drown in sleep too. Soon she was not drowning in sleep at all! 

Knowing this she forced herself to pretend to be asleep. After all, she knew that if the sweet demon were to find out then she would increase the dose. This would only decrease the time that Coaslphyre would have to get out. She forced herself not to react as the sweet demon held her face and opened her mouth. It took everything within her, to control her facial muscles as she forced a spoonful of sugar into her mouth and she had to let her close her mouth and pinch her nose which forced her to swallow. She had to ensure this several times. Almost until she could no longer take it. She knew that she would be soon cracking.

Then, to her relief, she pulled away and stopped. She knew that she could not allow herself to show this either. She thought that this would be the end and she would leave her alone, yet she remembered the cut on her arm. She knew that the worst was yet to come. She gritted her teeth as she felt the pain as she reopened the wound. She felt her mouth on the wound. She tried her best not to moan as she felt her suck.

She then let out a groan. She then felt the sweet demon pull away, for a moment she looked at the girl. She leaned in to examine her like a cat about to pounce. She then felt her also. She did nothing to react, she could not even let out a sound. Not even when she hit her head on the wood book below. 

She heard her sigh.

"Just an ordinary human. See? She's nothing but a normal human girl! Sure she does smell tasty but she is just a normal human girl!." She said. "Still the Demon King is interested in her so I should remember not to let my guard down too much."

This, to her dismay, would lead her to increase her dose.

"Ahh!" She screamed. "Why am I even entertaining these foolish thoughts? She's just a human must like any other! The Demon King is just getting senile, that's all!"

She was quiet for an uncomfortable amount of tinge as she thought.

"But she did break my sugar spell and only the Demon King could ever do that! Unless-"

She looked at the girl as if she was afraid of her for a moment.

"She had his power!" She concluded, at this she laughed. "Yeah right! As if His Majesty would ever allow a human of all creatures to have his power!"

She then returned to her drinking.

"See,  there! That's the blood of a human, an ordinary human being!" She reassured herself.

If only you knew!

She had to put up with this for a few more nights before she knew she would or could be no longer paralysed. However, she knew that she would have to be patient. After all, if she acted now then she would know that her venom was endearing off which would cost Coalphyre. So, for the next two nights she pretended that it was working.

Then on that third night, that was when she knew that would be the time to strike. She let the venom enter her mouth. This gave her the advantage as she drew near.

So,  how did I tap into that power again? How did I trigger it?

She thought about all the times that she had her blackouts. When she summoned that power.

I was in deep ditches and in a great emotional state. She thought and she forced herself to get into that emotional state. 

That was when she felt it. The weapon in her hand and with a flick of her wrist, the blade and spikes pierced her heart. The last thing that the sweet demon saw was the human's eyes, looking at her, with the eyes of Wolfox. This told her that she did have his power. Her dying mind could not comprehend it, the very idea that a human had the power of her king. A human, the natural and most hated enemy of the demons. 

Her last thought was simply, How?

Pheoshan took her keys and freed herself and got to her feet. She spat out the venom. She walked out of the room and went to the ovan and turned it on. That, she knew would make the sugar melt and would burn the place down. 

She smiled and turned to the steel cage where Coalphyre was. It pained her to see how much weight he had put on. She knew that it would take a long time for him to lose all that weight. Yet she had no time to think about it. She took out the keys and unlocked the cage. She soon took his hand that was just as sticky as hers and pulled him out of the cage. They ran out and as she looked back, she knew that the heart of the ovan was not burning the house down, not as fast as she wanted.

Hold on, Wolfox has the power to burn a city down. She remembered as she thought about her time as Cinder Umbrella. Yes, and if it is true that I do have his power, regardless of how weak it is compared to his, then I should be able to do that too.

She raised her head and remembered how he set that kingdom alight. She then summoned her power and raised her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Acting on a hunch." She said as a small fireball appeared in her hand which had a dark tint. 

She then threw it at the house and it hit the door. She looked at it with a moment of shock. It not only obeyed her but as her eyes turned to her hand she realised that it had not burnt her either. It confirmed to her that she did have his power and it was hers to command.

She soon saw that the house was on fire. She summoned another fireball at the house and the fire rose higher and higher. Soon the house was engulfed in flames and the wood above started to set on fire. She felt a sense of satisfaction as it collapsed and the house was crushed.

"Pheoshan… You're… What are you?"

"I don't know…" she said. "We need to get out of here."

"How?"

"How about I tell you once we find Phyredoor? That way I don't have to explain twice. Now come on!"

They soon left and after a day of searching they were reunited with Phyredoor.

"Where the Demon Realm have you two been?"

"How long have we been missing?" Pheoshan asked.

"A month. Now, tell me, where have you been?"

"Sit down. We have a lot to talk about."