A/N: Here's part 3. I hope you all enjoy. :) The image above is credit to DarkiBiscuit on DeviantArt.
Eight hours had now passed since Nate and Anti had been lured in and trapped by Dark, and Anti was growing more annoyed and anxious than ever. He'd had to stand idly by and watch his boyfriend gorge himself on all manner of sweet treats, just growing fatter and fatter, and there didn't seem to be any way to stop it. It was ridiculous how much Nate had eaten and yet he didn't seem to be getting full, despite the fact that he now had a full potbelly sitting in his lap.
Dark had given Nate enough sweet things to last the night whilst he slept. Anti on the other hand wasn't sleeping, far from it in fact. There was no way he could sleep and let Nate basically set himself up to be drained of his life essence. He had to do something about it and fast because he knew that by the next evening Dark would be getting ready to drink Nate's blood. Plus, if he didn't stop this soon Nate was going to be the size of a house.
Anti was sat in front of the fire, observing Nate as he ate. He noticed that the more Nate ate, the more of a 'zombie' he became. He knew that there must be a way of reversing the trance or breaking it, but he wasn't yet sure of how that was to be done. He decided that he'd try to talk to Nate and see just how far gone he really was.
He sat forwards and clasped his hands as he leaned on his knees. "Nate...?" He spoke softly.
The singer stopped momentarily to glance at Anti, simply grunting a, "Hm?" in response.
"How long do ye think we've been here?" He asked.
Nate seemed to think for a little while and frowned as he spoke. "Not long... An hour or so, why?"
Anti's eyes were wide. Nate had no clue of the time that had passed. "An hour?! Nate, we've been here nearly a day..." He said.
"We have? Oh..." Nate replied with quite a blasé attitude. He honestly didn't care.
"Oh... Is that all ye have to say?" Anti asked.
"Hm... What would you like me to say? Wow? Does that suffice?" Nate said, his voice almost monotone and dull. The enthusiasm and love for life was gone from him.
Anti was genuinely frightened by the change in his lover. He'd made up his mind; enough was enough. Nate couldn't go on this way. It may only be the passage of time that he had no idea of right now, but if he kept going he feared Nate might forget him altogether.
The Irish demon quickly stood from the chair and walked into the kitchen, searching for any clues as to how to stop this. He was fairly certain he had seen Dark glancing at a book whilst in his old woman form. Perhaps if he found that book it might contain the key to ending this nightmare once and for all.
Anti pulled open the cupboard doors and ripped recipe books from the shelves, and flicking through in search of that magic key. Nothing. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair before going back into the living room and searching the bookshelf in there.
As he tugged a large book from it an ancient page fell onto the ground at his feet. He frowned and picked it up. The page appeared to have been torn from another book and looked centuries old. In a flash the demon's blue and green eyes began to scan the page, reading every last scrap of information.
He was surprised when he realised it was an old method for preparing victims to be drained of energy from the demon realm. It was one he knew of from being in school, but it had been scrapped due to its slowness and demon evolution. He figured Dark to be a demon who used more modern methods, but clearly not.
As he read he stumbled upon a section to do with the ways of reversing or breaking the trance, should it ever be used on another demon. He found that if Dark were to somehow eat his own candy, accidentally or willingly, he would automatically be trapped inside a cage and the trance would break from the victims immediately.
Anti smirked to himself and sneakily inserted the page back where he found it along with the other books. All he had to do now was think of a way to get Dark to sample his own treats.
After much thought and consideration Anti had thought of one way to get him to eat it. It was risky, but it was the only way that he could think of.
He knew that Dark was very egotistical and proud as a demon. He thought that perhaps he could use his ego against him and get him to eat it in a bid to prove his treats were delicious.
The Irish demon went and waited by the fire for Dark to come down, smirking widely to himself.
_
TIME SKIP
NEXT MORNING
_
Dark came down the stairs the next day with a wide grin on his face as he saw Nate just finishing the last cookie on the plate. "He's looking nice and plump... I bet his blood will be so delicious." He said to Anti quietly.
Anti merely growled. "Shut it!"
Dark scoffed and went into the kitchen to make more. Within moments he was back with a fresh plate. "Would you care for some more? You look like you're wasting away." He said to Nate.
Nate nodded eagerly, looking at the plate with large, doughy eyes.
Dark grinned and laid the plate on the table before going back into the kitchen to start the next batch.
Anti saw this as the perfect opportunity to call Dark out. He got up and sauntered into the kitchen, whistling slightly.
Dark tuned and rose a brow at him. "Oh, it's you... What do you want?" He asked suspiciously.
Anti shrugged and looked around. "Oh nothing much." He said nonchalantly. "I was just curious about something..."
The other demon tilted his head. "And what would that be then?" He asked.
"Well, in the whole time we've been here ye've been running back and forth handing plates of food to Nate, but I've not once seen ye take anything yerself. I'm just wondering, why don't ye eat yer own stuff if it's so good?" Anti questioned, looking Dark in the eye.
Dark chuckled. "Why would I need to when I have Nathan to eat it all for me? Surely he proves that it's delicious enough..."
"Well to be honest Dark, no, he doesn't... At the moment I think he'd eat a lump o' coal if ye gave it him."
"Perhaps he would, but that doesn't mean my food isn't delicious. You did eat some too, remember?"
"Oh, so I did..." Anti nodded. "It just occurs to me that most cooks sample their own food to at least check that it's good before sending it to their guests, so why don't ye?"
"Because I know for a fact my food is perfect." Dark said confidently.
"But how can ye know if ye never taste it?" Anti then smirked. "Oh, I get it... Do ye secretly know yer food's bad and ye can't bear to taste it?"
"As I said, it's perfect and I know it!"
Anti crossed his arms. "Prove it. Eat some of it... Or are ye a chicken as well as a bad cook?"
"I am many things, but a chicken is not one!" Dark spat. Before he could even comprehend what he was doing he grabbed one of his cookies and bit into it. "See? It's delicious!" He said as he swallowed.
"Mhm... And ye just fooked up big time." Anti laughed.
Dark frowned. "What on earth are you-?" He suddenly realised his mistake as a large iron cage materialised around him. His eyes widened in anger. "You little! You did tricked me!" He yelled.
The Irish demon laughed deeply. "Ye tricked yerself Dark... So naïve and stupid... Blinded by yer own ego. Now ye have the whole of eternity to think about what ye've done." He said and walked out of the kitchen, slamming the large door behind him, leaving Dark to yell out muffled curses.
Anti stopped when he looked at Nate. He'd almost forgotten about the trance. He hoped it had been broken. He cautiously approached the chair where the singer was sat. "Natey?"
Nate looked round and instantly perked up. "Anti?! Oh my god, I'm so glad to see you..."
Anti rushed over and gave his boyfriend a huge kiss, followed by an enormous hug. "I'm so happy to have ye back baby."
Nate kissed him back, but groaned as he was hugged.
The Irish demon pulled back and looked at him. "What's wrong?"
"My stomach hurts... Really badly." The singer whined softly, holding his protruding stomach.
Anti glanced at it and nodded. "That'd be all the cakes and cookies ye ate..."
"It huuuurts!" Nate whimpered again.
Anti gave it a gentle rub. "I know baby, but I can fix it." He said and used his powers to return Nate to normal in a matter of moments. "Better?"
"Much!" Nate replied and threw his arms around Anti, returning the hug happily. He nuzzled his face into Anti's chest and mumbled. "Let us never get lost in the woods again..."
"I promise that after this we won't ever, ever get lost here again..." Anti said reassuringly, rubbing Nate's back. "Now, let's go..."
Nate nodded and kissed Anti passionately. "I love you Anti."
"I love ye too Natey." The demon replied as they left the candy house.
The pair never visited that part of the woods again, and Dark learned the error of his ways...
A/N: So, that's the end of that fluff. What did you all think of it? Let me know down below.
I really liked writing this one. Again, it was fun to do my take on a classic fairy tale like this. Hopefully you all like what I did with it.
Please keep sending your requests.
Thanks guys.
~Yazooloo ;) <3