Power Hungry 2 (Revamped!) (Patreon)

Princess Hanako was hungry.

Her royal posterior was perched upon a stool inside of a shop, patiently waiting as a much smaller woman working behind the counter described the display of culinary confections. The Princess was making a concentrated effort to keep her eyes on the girl rather than the sugar-glazed sweets.

Hanako was a good listener. She was very tolerant of others, listened to them speak and could often give the speaker a reassuring vibe. Her tummy, however, was not so patient.

A corpulent mass of sugar-white snow, curves that looked more like overweight hills filled out every inch of her black and purple dress. Hanako’s hands rested on her wide stomach, a soft smile on her softer face, nodding at the small woman’s excitement. Meanwhile her hunger, her appetite, was almost as vast as Hanako was fat.

They were right there. So many treats, so many desserts, but more powerful than all was the smells that had pulled Hanako in. That which had caused the Princess to stop her carriage and waddle straight to the shop.

The deep, rich scent of Black Forest Cake.

The heavenly fragrance soaked through the whole city, this entire kingdom. Hundreds of cakes were prepared here, brought in and refined by the most skilled of all bakers. Vanilla frosting glazed over chocolate sponge cake, decorated with cherries as plump as a princess.

If she wasn’t several hundred pounds, Hanako would have been floating. Carried along the invisible trail until she could find the filling bounty.

She leaned back, breathing deeply and feeling the fragrance filling her lungs. Even that, a scent so familiar and comforting, was almost enough to make Hanako feel glutted. But how could she ever be satisfied by something so bare?

A vibration seemed to quiver the girl. A hunger so powerful that it might cause an earthquake with a low roar of greedy yearning. But such a noise would have rudely interrupted the vendor excitedly describing each sweet, and so Hanako refused it to happen.

And to the people around her, it never did.

The young lady stumbled in her words, her eyes going wide before her eyelashes fluttered. A spectral girl with long white hair, the woman had tied it back into some sort of self-containing braid. Hanako noticed the glaze in her eyes, an enrapturing scarlet that perfectly matched her ornate apron. She rubbed the side of her temple. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, turning back to the Princess, “I seem to have lost what I was saying.”

Princess Hanako smiled before nodding. Her fingers brushed her bangs from her right eye while she quickly glanced over the counter. In truth, the girl had been describing a pile of chocolate-dipped raspberries, but hunger guided the Princess’s favor.

A dainty white finger dabbed onto the glass “I believe you were telling me about these,” she directed, leaning forward to read a small square of paper. “The, um, ‘Chocolate Coated S’mores.’” With a voice as light as air she then added, “And were offering me a free sample.”

The white-haired girl squinted before hopping in place and ruffling the sides of her apron. Glimmering shards of multi-colored sprinkles tumbled to the floor.  “Oh! Yes, right. Sorry, here!” She reached for the lid to the glass display and jammed her fingers. “Oh, darn,” she quickly muttered before fumbling for a moment with the latch.

The Princess could see the girl’s hands shaking. The tension in her frame, the nervous excitement in her speech. A white wilting violet, reminding Hanako of how she had once been. With a glance towards the door, Hanako steadied her breath before turning back to the girl. She believed in her heart that the small girl would improve.

And so, she did.

Her hands became steadier, reaching into the glass opening and withdrawing a bundle of not one, but two of the large paper-wrapped confections. Hanako’s stomach bubbled with raised spirits. It wasn’t Black Forest Cake, little could match that, but the brick-shaped sweets were the largest and tastiest looking desserts on display.

Her tummy could be satisfied with some little snacks. It knew as well as Her Highness that the cakes would come soon.

Her gracious expression unable to hide her excitement, Princess Hanako wiggled from side to side, eliciting an ominous creak from the stool beneath her. Even as the Lady made the conscious effort to show her teeth in an amicable grin whilst receiving the treat, she quickly directed a moment of concentration to believing the stool could hold her weight.

Too many good seats had suffered destruction because she didn’t believe hard enough.

“These,” the girl said with confidence in her voice as she placed them into portly hands, “are one of my best creations. I make these all myself, using mucilaginous marsh-mallow roots.”

Princess Hanako unwrapped the first dessert. Her tummy cooed and this time she let it, an amethyst glint sparkling in her wide eye. This one was even larger than the one on display, larger than Hanako’s palm and nearly twice as thick.

She’d never seen anything like it. Chocolate, yes, but some of it looked mixed with a cloudy whiteness. It felt gooey and soft, packed thoroughly with delectable sugar. The Princess’s mouth began watering and she forced herself to swallow, trying to temper her spoiled appetite. “I’m sorry,” she looked up to the baker, “it looks… delicious. Umm, you said roots though?”

The girl laughed, waving her hand. “Please, please, eat it.”

With a lick of her lips, Hanako ducked her head down for the first bite, gently shifting the tiara on the crest of her head.

Not a single moment passed before the front door of the shop clattered open, slamming into the wall with a loud Bang! followed by the menacing sound of a sword rising out from its sheath.

The girl behind the counter tumbled backwards, shrinking away like a frightened mouse with a sharp “Eeek!” while the overweight Princess remained on her overburdened seat. Her mouth could wait no longer, her hunger could not be delayed. She bit down onto the creamy confection.

Chocolate began to melt the moment it touched her tongue, followed by an explosion of sugary goop that burst around the edges of her plump lips. Freed from its chocolate imprisonment, the infusion of white fluff spread over her lips and into her mouth with the force of an eruption.

Fireworks sparkled over the left side of her body, racing outwards from her belly. Felicity that spread from the core of her royalty. Desire mixed with hunger to form a gluttonous lust so great that it sparked several sensations only The Cake could match.

A fat moan escaped before she could stop it, overwhelmed and burbling into the sticky goop. Her body swelled like a tubby creampuff before sagging all of her weight onto the poor stool. Her full figure and round bottom smothered the seat beneath her as tension was sucked out of the root of her being.

Hanako breathed and opened her eyes. She saw the baker crouching behind the counter, confused and intimidated, before Princess Hanako remembered herself.

She sat up a little straighter, pulled the fat treat away from her lips, and tried to ignore how sticky her mouth felt as she chewed before swallowing. “It’s quite good,” she said, before raising a few chunky fingers to her soft chin. They came away with white syrup. “You wouldn’t happen to have some water, would you?”

“U-umm,” the girl responded, eyes darting to Hanako, then back to the door.

The atmosphere grew sharper with the sound of a blade being pulled entirely free of its scabbard.

“Water! Yes, we’ve got water!” the girl shouted. She rabbited away towards the back, hurrying through a curtain.

Hanako turned to the entrance, raising the delicacy to her lips once more. She bit down slower this time, avoiding a second explosion of sap to spill over her lips, and turned her purple eyes upon her dark companion.

The obsidian armor never looked quite right in such warm and broad daylight. The black metal didn’t shine nor shimmer. It was as if instead of reflecting the rays of the sun it absorbed them all instead. Set into the metal, deep markings of purple were intertwined with pure silver and met in the center of the bearer’s broad chest. The engraving shined all the brighter against the dark background, a violet doe beneath a pale silver moon. The final engraving of the Ikezawan Empire.

Chainmail glittered from the gaps near their arms, beneath to obsidian wrist guards and heavy black gauntlets. In their hand was a black blade. Hewn from the same mineral as the armor, it seemed to cut through the air and drank in all the light. The Champion of the Ikezawan Empire. Hanako’s personal Knight held the large sword in both hands, lowering it to rest with the point down towards the ground.

The Princess could feel their eyes from beneath the winged helm, though any glint or gleam was hidden in shadow.

Taking another bite of her s’more, Hanako held it between her lips, using her free hand to shift the silver tiara upon her head.

She withdrew her hand before her Knight shook their head.

Hanako grunted, standing up from the seat. Her belly pinched her dress against her thighs until her thunderous legs thunked onto the floor. Without the power of her belief holding it together, the seat promptly collapsed into a shattered heap.

Hanako ignored it.

The sensation of sugar rolling down to her belly brought a heightened awareness to the state of Hanako’s body. She could feel the rise of her stomach and breasts with every breath, knew she breathed deeper now than she used to, and that she moved far less. Fat-covered legs hugged each other in the center, jiggly thighs smothering one another while her calves were pinched by her tight purple leggings.

The Princess patted her tummy, causing ripples of fat to abundantly stir while she dusted herself from the crumbs of chocolate. Hanako straightened her dress and adjusted herself.A quick tug dragged the dress out from beneath her tummy and two plucks from her pinching love handles.

Her hands busy, she was forced to hold the dessert with her mouth, tongue lapping at the delicious white filling with insatiable wanting. She had to fight the temptation just to merely chomp down, which would surely make even more of a mess on her face.

Hanako then raised her hand and withdrew her tiara. She took special care to align the center amethyst jewel with the tip of her forehead before laying it back upon her head.

The Knight nodded, satisfied. They spun the blade with a ceremonial flourish, sheathed it, and made to leave.

Hanako cleared her throat and the Knight froze before turning and standing smartly in the center.

Hanako’s gait across the shop was slow and wide. Wider than her thighs should have forced, a powerful waddle that spoke of great power. The Princess had learned to be gradual, to step forth at her own pace rather than hurry about. It was something she could remember her mother once tell her, but only really understood from walking with Lilly during those first weeks after that first bite of Cake.

Sweet, moist, delectable Cake.

Hanako willed her mind back to where she stood. Her tongue unconsciously skated over her lips, and she felt the slightest pang of nervous tension return before she put it into its place. There would be time for Cake, but that would come later. She needn’t think about that. Her visits with Lilly made her more aware that there always would be a second serving.

“Are you well, lady?” her Knight asked.

Hanako nodded, “Yes. I am fed.”

“By one chocolate?”

Princess Hanako nodded once more, patient. “Would I lie to you?”

“No, I do not believe so,” came the immediate reply.

“Neither do I,” Hanako said. She then extended the other paper-wrapped confection. “Take this. For yourself,” she instructed. “You will need the energy, today.”

“Yes, lady.” The knight took the treat, bowed, and stepped backwards out into the town square. Hanako closed the thick wooden door behind them, cutting off the din of the heightening crowd.

Ten kingdoms, ten princess, ten hungry fat girls.

It was sure to be a busy market day.

“Um… excuse me?” asked a soft and timid voice.

Hanako turned around to see the baker girl. She was almost as tall as Hanako, but the difference in size would make most women stagger. The girl had to be in her late teens, with flawless pale skin that looked like fresh dough.

In her outstretched hand the baker held a half-filled glass of milk. The other half had, evidently, spilled down the front of her apron by jittering hands now wet with cold liquid.

Hanako sighed, closing her eyes. She felt the effort draw from her center, a touch of her will.

The Princess believed.

Then, Hanako cordially took the full glass of milk from the girl’s steady hands. “Thank you,” she said, inclining her head this time with control. Her tiara remained fixed in its place.

The girl was looking at her hands, then down to her apron. Scarlet eyes blinked, her white eyelashes fluttered. “How did you… do that?” she whispered.

“How did I do what?” Hanako smiled, then went on, “That is a lovely apron. I’ve been here before, but I don’t remember such fine cloth. Is it yours?

The girl plucked at her apron with her fingers. “O-oh, um, yeah… it’s mine. Now.”

Now. Her duties had taught Hanako to notice inflection, to observe little details. It was a nice apron. Too nice an apron for a teenage girl, and far too nice for a baker’s assistant.

“It matches your eyes,” the princess noted, before finally taking a sip of her milk. She drank deeply, allowing the liquid to flow over her lips. She could feel the marshmallow ambrosia cling to the milk as it passed down her gullet. Together, they spilled into her wide stomach.

When she looked back, the girl was looking towards the door. Nervous red eyes, she played with her hands, twitchy and obviously wanting to say something more.

Hanako had faith that the girl would say what she wished.

Only a moment before the girl spoke up. “That was the Obsidian Knight, wasn’t it? The Soldier of Ikezawa Island?”

A very long, weighty sigh was followed by the Princess’s, “Yes.”

“And that would mean that… you’re Princess Hanako,” the girl connected.

Hanako smiled. She was patient. “I am.”

“You’re the Princess Hanako, who comes to visit Princess Lilly. And you’re going to be at the banquet tonight.”

Hanako nodded.

The girl bit her lip. After a moment she muttered as if speaking her thoughts, “I-I mean… I saw the tiara, but… a real Princess… I can’t tell if I should try to find my boss or if I should… umm, do you want more… samples?” she asked, still fidgeting. It reminded Hanako of a long time ago.

While the thought of more sweets was enticing, Hanako found she was more interested in this strange little baker. An idea began to take form in her mind, and she crossed her hands over her belly. “May I ask your name?”

The girl blinked. She brushed a hand over her ear and shifted her weight so she was standing straighter. “Umm, I’m Garnet, Ma’am.”

Hanako felt herself instinctively make a face. Ma’am.

Oof.

She quickly corrected herself, willing to ignore it… this time.

“I don’t remember you from the last time I was here,” she said, slowly walking to the girl’s side.

Garnet stood straighter, looking past Hanako’s shoulder, as if she was afraid the door would burst open again.

“Were you named for your eyes?” she asked.

There was a break in the nervous tension as the young woman quickly glanced into Hanako. Her mouth opened, then closed. It took another moment for her to finally respond with a soft “Yes.”

Hanako hummed. “I was named for the flowers my mother used to grow in her garden.” She moved past the girl’s eyes, looking down her figure, trying to spot what she thought she might see.

The baker stood still as Hanako circled her. Her body made it obvious that she was trying to tremble, but Hanako believed that she wouldn’t.

So she couldn’t.

The Princess ended up in front of the girl once more. She closed her eyes and remembered the truth. Remembered who Hanako was.

She was the leader of the Ikezawan Empire. Close confidant of Princess Lilly, second taster of the Black Forest Cake. Hanako was Royalty.

The purple dress grew longer, then. Pale arms became covered with black material with purple lace. Sharp, luscious purple pants covered her doughy legs and on her feet she wore a pair of black flats.

The silver headdress changed, the amethyst diverging into three separate pieces. In the center the large jewel swelled into an impressive oval. The Princess’s tiara thickened, growing alongside gems to become Hanako’s crown.

Her stomach and legs felt heavier, and inside her mouth she could taste the leftover flavor of Black Forest Cake. Her voice had become a drop deeper, husky, and heavy. “I would have thought Ruby to be a more familiar name,” she puzzled.

Garnet, red eyes dilated and deep, stood as straight and sharp as her Champion had. “M-my mom, had told me, uhh…” she swallowed, “she used to say we didn’t have enough money. For jewelry. S-so, a Garnet. Because the gemstone is cheap, and it’s warm.”

It resonated inside of Hanako. She forced herself to withhold her beliefs, withhold her suspicions, and to simply ask, “She used to?”

Garnet took a deep breath, a small tremble shaking her shoulders. She looked as if she were about to have a panic attack.

Hanako raised her right hand, laying it onto the small girl’s shoulder, steadying her with only her touch.

The baker’s red eyes had begun to sparkle with wetness, memories drifting across them from so far away. Hanako could feel them flowing out of the girl like a whisper of a distant wind. She strained to listen, strained to be sure. She had to be sure. She couldn’t believe.

“Are you an orphan?” she asked.

Slowly, softly, Garnet replied. “Mother passed…” she swallowed. “Five months ago…” A long breath followed.

It carried with it the sight of a room. Dirt for a floor, beds made of straw, a country house from outside the city. Hanako had seen many of them, usually filled with dozens of children who would tend to a farm, but this home had only two beds. Some shelves, a stove made of mud, but utensils and cookware far beyond the home’s means.

The oven was baking over a small tender flame while the small white Garnet held the hand of a woman far her senior. Long white hair tied back in a braid, the woman pet the hair of her daughter. “It smells wonderful,” the image said. “I can’t wait to taste it. You’ve got talent, my gemstone. More than I ever had.”

Garnet whispered something in return before the woman’s soft blue eyes turned up into the watching amethysts.

The image faded as Queen Hanako settled her will. She didn’t believe she was making the right choice. She knew it.

“Garnet, would you like to come with me to the castle tonight?” she asked. “I’d like to hear how you make your delectable treats. And I’d like to know what else you can do.”

Garnet took in a breath, eyes still straight forwards. “U-uhh… Madam Crêpesly, I mean, my boss… she asked me to… to…”

She was interrupted by a small, quiet voice.

“Y-you… you’re an orphan too… Aren’t you?”

Garnet turned.

Standing at her side was a small and slender girl, one just younger than herself. Fifteen at most, the girl wore little more than rags, singed and smudged and covered in soot. Through several tears, Garnet could see the impression of emaciated skin pulled tight against bone.

Hanako’s purple hair was in tatters, a matted mess with the fringes blackened or, in some places, drastically shortened. Down the entirety of her right side ran fresh, angry, red and purple scars. Dark creases of sleepless nights beneath her deep purple eye, and her expression was stained with grief and pain.

Her crown was nowhere in sight.

The front door crashed open, splintering the frame and coming free of its hinges. The obsidian blade flashed through the air, clearing the upturned dust with a single swipe.

Garnet shrank in terror before the Knight, the Soldier, of the Ikezawan Empire.

“Ah, good,” Princess Hanako said, squeezing Garnet’s shoulder and moving forwards to her Champion. Her dress was light, and Garnet could see her abundant flesh bulging over the tops of her stockings that rubbed together as she walked. “I was hoping you’d come in soon, I would like you to help Miss Garnet with her things. They shall be moved to our carriage, and then she will be joining us at the palace.”

The knight sheathed their sword and bowed their head without question.

The Princess then turned to Garnet, tilting her head. “Would you like that?”

Garnet swallowed. The palace? She’d never been to the palace. The Madam personally handled deliveries, whereas Garnet had only seen tall white stone topped by the castle’s pink turrets. But why would they need her things? What would happen to the-

Then she stopped thinking. She was looking at the Princess, at her large purple eyes and soft royal dress. She could still see the crown on her head where the tiara was now, beautiful gems that fit perfectly in their place.

She nodded.

“Where are you staying?” the Obsidian Knight asked, and Garnet was shocked by the clear feminine voice.

She turned up to the night, marveling at the perfect darkness of the helmet and armor. Suddenly she could see the slight swell in the breastplate, the width near the hips. The Obsidian Knight was a woman.

Garnet could barely manage to studder, “U-upstairs. Madam Crêpesly is… letting me use… pay rent…”

The Knight approached. The barer of the armor and the blade stood more than a head taller than her. Her face was entirely obscured by the imposing helmet, though Garnet thought she could see a hint of a gleam from the eye inside.

“You’re the Obsidian Knight…” Garnet whispered.

“My Knight,” Princess Hanako beamed. “My one, and my only.”

******************************************************************************

Garnet had her things packed away quickly. She hadn’t much to bring. A couple of shirts, only two pairs of pants, her Mother’s apron, a small number of books, and three boxes of cookware.

Hanako leant the her one of her traveling cases and, with the Knight mashing the door back into its frame and Hanako promising she’d find Madam Crêpesly at the banquet to refund her for the door, as well as the few armfuls of extra sweets, they were off to the Hanako’s carriage, and then to the palace.

Strangely enough, when they arrived at the carriage, the Princess just had the Obsidian Knight pack Garnet’s belongings into the cabin and then instructed the driver to follow them. Nobody seemed alarmed by this, so Garnet continued to follow along in the Princess’s wake.

It wasn’t too far from the town square to the palace for Garnet, but… well, the baker had certainly never seen Princess Lilly walk such a distance. She’d been under the impression that the Princesses almost never walked, they were just carried everywhere while eating the Black Forest Cake.

The young girl’s eyes suddenly fluttered as she realized. She might actually see what the Black Forest Cake looked like. She’d heard rumors and seen growths, but Madam Crêpesly had been very harsh to the staff concerning refinement. A true Black Forest Cake, one that was good enough for only the Princesses…

Garnet did wonder what it tasted like. She didn’t even know how the Cake was baked, only just hints of what it contained.

They left the market, the carriage slowly following behind, and finally reached the bridge to the palace. All the roads seemed to connect to this point, from the town’s central market all the way down to its spiraling port. The bridge wasn’t long, but it was high in the air, and Garnet felt herself tense up when she realized that she was going to walk across it.

The long stretch of cobblestoned path had been suspended over a brief gap in the bay, the high cliffs of the island domesticized into a massive palace. High towers topped with pink-painted turrets, guards in pink armor standing at each corner. The palace watched over the port and the city. The large seat of power from which Princess Lilly now ruled.

The bridge was packed with people and moving carts, traffic slowly moving in and out of the palace grounds. There was far more than Garnet had expected, but it made Madam Crêpesly’s agitation much more understandable. Upper-class folks dressed in fancy clothing mixed with working class folk pulling heavy work-carts.

One savvy business owner seemed intent on abusing the free-flowing space. A lanky man, who reminded Garnet of a forest shrew, was hastily erecting a wooden stand near the entrance. No product yet, but the man was painting what appeared to be a vanilla-frosted cake, topped with juicy cherries. Garnet hadn’t had cherries before.

But there were so many people! Men and women of all types, all sizes and dress. And, in the center of them all, a real Princess! Lumbering along in her fat woman’s gait, slow yet captivating as she wobbled onto the bridge.

Garnet was surprised they weren’t being swarmed by the crowd. It was as if they hadn’t even noticed the Princess, her nose in the air and a smile on her face. They just kept moving along to set up for the feast.

Princess Hanako looked so much larger amongst normal people. Somehow bigger than the fat woman who’d come into her store. Luscious purple hair that reached down to her bottom, jiggling pudge that made her look so weighty and soft, but Garnet couldn’t help but look at the marks that trailed down Hanako’s right side.

Burn marks and scars. The young little girl who’d asked if she was an orphan.

The Princess was magic. She just had to be, there was no other way. She was chosen by God, a divine right to rule. A divine right to feast on the Black Forest Cake.

It took some effort, but Garnet pulled her eyes from Princess Hanako. She looked over the bay, busy with ships being guided into long piers, and found herself drawn to one ship in particular. A very large craft that was some distance out in the bay, a seafoam green flag flying high in its mast.

As they grew closer to the palace walls and the large open gate, Garnet could see a change coming over Princess Hanako. The tubby Princess was as wide as three separate bakers, each hip fuller than her armored Knight, but with every breath she seemed to grow even rounder and to walk even slower. Garnet was desperately trying to think of another reason for it than, ‘Well she is really fat’ when Hanako stopped and took in a deep, long, breath.

“Do you smell it?” she asked the Obsidian Knight. “It’s the Black Forest Cakes. She’s having them prepared in her very own kitchen.”

“I smell them,” her Knight affirmed.

It only seemed to entice the fat Princess. “I do hope she remembers the Cheesecakes…” she trailed off, before looking back to Garnet and sharing her wide smile. “You may have noticed,” she said, patting her tummy, “but I have a fondness for cakes.”

“It may have come up,” replied the Obsidian Knight.

Hanako giggled into her hand. She swung one of her thick legs up behind her other and tapped her toes to the ground, holding up a hushing finger. “Come now, the wind is changing,” she said, and the smell of sweet flowers began filling the air. “I’m starting to feel rather hungry.”