Chapter 3

I ripped a page from the tome and used it to conjure up a croissant, it smelled wonderful, I brought it near my mouth, I hesitated about eating my own fattening conjurations for a small moment but the knowledge that all the excess calories I would gain from this would go towards Amelia’s body made me pull through. I finally took a bite… It tasted wonderful, I took another bite, then another, then began to conjure another pastry.

A week or two went by, and I ate like I never had before, I would take big meals on lunch break, I would go for seconds, and I’d join Heather in eating many muffins, cupcakes, and other pastries. It was wonderful, I never thought food could taste this good, this tome was a lot more useful than I thought it’d be, however, not soon after there was trouble in paradise…
It was morning, I had woken up and was doing my morning routine, I was about to head to class, but something was stopping me…
“Come on!” I exclaimed “Just a little more!”
I was instinctively making small hops thinking it would help me
“Is something the matter?” Lilith asked
“It’s nothing, don’t look at me while I dress” I replied
“Have you tried… sucking in?” she suggested
“What do you mean?” I asked
“Well… don’t you think you have… gained a bit of weight?” she asked
“Don’t tell me…” I gasped
“Why don’t you give the tome a look?” she mentioned
I grabbed the tome and opened it to the listing page, I haven’t looked at it in a while, and I figured a large shift in numbers would be more exciting than the drip feed option. I scoured through the names, they seem to be doing well, about a dozen new names from a couple of ‘Welcome Cupcakes', it was then that I found Amelia’s name, and alongside there was written ‘Initial weight: 112 pounds – Current weight: 112 pounds – Gain 0 pounds
Oh no, please don’t tell me… At the bottom of the page next to the “Total weight gained all across” there was a new measurement “Personal weight gained: 16 pounds”
Fuck.

I rushed to the mirror and saw my reflection, I looked closer at my ears and inspected the earring, it was purple, which must mean that it was working but it didn’t tell me which one it was, I removed it from my ear, it felt warm to the touch, as it cooled down its color began to shift… I waited patiently and observed it… it was the red one… Urgh, I must have mixed them up when we first met, I slipped on the way to Amelia’s table.
My gaze then began to lower, I don’t know how I didn’t notice it earlier but in front of me, I could see the changes in my body. My thighs seemed to have thickened, my ass was certainly rounder apparent from my slightly harder time pulling my pants over them, my chest was about the same b cups sadly, if anything had to change I was hoping that at least it would be that, my arms seemed to have a bit more circumference to them, and last but not least there was my lower torso, I was no longer flat but now had the beginnings of a tummy sticking out of my lower torso, I sat down at my bed and pulled my shirt up to verify and yep, a roll showed itself. I was defeated.
“Aww, feeling bummed out?” Lilith teased
“Lilith! You knew, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me I had the wrong one!? I exclaimed
“Calm down there girl! You have no one to blame but yourself! Besides, I have a very good reason” Lilith said
“Well, then you better start talking before I bring that tome to– oh shit I’m late!” I exclaimed
I took the tome and saved it on my backpack, I then put on a loose sweater to hide my new features and my ill-fitting pants then headed out

Class and lunch went by as normal but I was in a bad mood, my plan had backfired on me and I made three big mistakes. The first and most obvious one was giving the wrong earring, I would now have to go get it back, my second mistake was that I got greedy, not checking the tome daily just for the sake of a bigger ‘hit’ when I did, that was nonsense from my part, and my third mistake was that I had used the earrings wrong in another way, I am (or was) small and thin, I couldn’t eat much in one sitting and I had to dedicate a lot of my time on it, this meant that any calories I could have sent to Amelia were relatively minor and the earrings weren’t used to their full potential.

Classes had ended, and I had finished studying in my dorm, it took me particularly long this evening, it was getting late, and I now had to go request the earrings from Amelia, but first, I had to drop off some food at Heather’s dorm room. I grabbed a box of pastries ‘my mother had sent me’, and headed out, before that, I noticed a letter on the floor next to my door, someone must have slipped it in just now, I opened it up and began to read… ‘Jonathan Ashford and Jane, you both share a dark secret –DD’
Interesting, very interesting, I went to my secret hiding spot, the same one I’m using for my portable hard drive containing my collection and left the note there. After I gave Heather the pastries and got back the blue earring, I would think in detail about the implications of this cryptic note.

I closed the door behind me and headed in the direction of Heather’s dorm, the hallways were empty, few people wander the halls this late, most were in their dorm rooms passing the time until they had to go to sleep, some still hung in the library, a handful of students were at the round tables outside. I walked on and when I turned the corner I was ambushed by a handful of students, a black bag was put on my head, I tried resisting but there were far too many and I was overpowered, there must have been five or six by the voices I heard, the began to drag me away.

"Hurry up! take a left and keep going!" a male voice urged.
“Stop flailing your legs, it’s pointless” a girl's voice scolded
"W-what if someone sees us?" a soft-spoken male voice stammered.
"Shut up and be quiet. Fox, Blue, cover her mouth," a stern female voice commanded.
"Yes, V!" several voices chimed in unison.

“We’re here. Let us in!” V’s voice called out from outside the door. I heard the lock click and the door opened as they dragged me into the room and placed me on the ground. My heart raced as I struggled, fear and confusion gripping me.
“Good, you made it,” a commanding female voice boomed, sending shivers down my spine. “Brothers and sisters, the day has come! Our devotion and loyalty have finally been rewarded!”
The room erupted into cheers, and through the black bag, I could faintly see the lights flicker.
“V, check her backpack. Bravo, hand me the dagger. Tom, *** with the light switch.”
My heart skipped a beat, I could feel myself start to sweat, and I started to struggle. Please don’t tell me they’re about to do what I think they’re going to do.
“Huh? What do you mean? I’m nowhere near the light switch Witch!” A male voice spoke
“Whatever. V, what does she have?” The imposing voice questioned, I’m guessing her codename is Witch?
“Some books, a fancy notebook, a box with pastries, a pencil case, nothing really interesting here Witch” V reported
“I see, share the pastries around. Bravo, hurry it up!” Witch ordered before the lights cut out “Tom, turn the light on this fucking instant!” Witch spoke angrily
“I told you, I’m nowhere near the lightswi– wait, is that a glowstick or something?” Tom asked
The hands holding my arms suddenly let go, and I swiftly took the bag off my head. I looked around, trying to make sense of the scene in the darkness. It wasn't until I saw Lilith, floating above the glowing tome, that it all started to click.
“Hear me, mortals! The day has indeed finally come! But this isn’t the day of your reward, no, the real task is just beginning! The chosen one has arrived!” Lilith's voice echoed in the darkness.

“I’m so sorry about that, my codename is Witch but you can call me by my real name, Madison Blaire” She apologized and explained,
“So, you are a cult…” I let out
“Yes, we are The Cult of Gluttony, and I’m their leader, come look at this” Madison said and showed me what looked like a crystal ball
“This is the Orb of Communication, it allows me to receive messages from the demonic powers, it’s mostly one way but it occasionally lets me send a message. I have the latest message here, here, read it” Madison explained
The message reads as follows ‘Individual dorm room N°6-D. JANE. Bring her to Classroom 101. The time of action is now, you’ll be greatly rewarded.’
As I finished reading the message, Madison continued to speak. “You see, we received this message just a few hours ago. It was clear to us that you were the chosen one. You possess the qualities that our deity, the Great Glutton, seeks in a champion. And now, here you are. It’s no coincidence.”
“I still don’t understand,” Jane said. “Why me? Why am I the chosen one?”
Madison smiled. “It’s simple, really, not only do you have a demoness of gluttony by your side, but you also have a natural inclination towards indulgence. Your figure suggests that you have a certain…appreciation for the pleasures of the flesh, if you will.”
I blushed at the remark.“That was an accident!” I let out

So the people that dragged me away turned out to be a cult with goals that aligned with mine, Madison and I spoke while the rest were admiring Lilith and partying with soda, snacks, and my muffins, I would have told them about the nature of these pastries but I wasn’t feeling friendly towards them. Madison sat down with me and began to explain the strange circumstances of their cult's origins:
"I found the crystal ball at a backyard sale a few years back," Madison began. "When I took it back to my room and observed it, the surface began to shimmer and I could see the first message: 'Madison Blaire, you have chosen well. Show us loyalty and you'll be greatly rewarded.' I was shocked and skeptical at first, but then it showed me a $20 Steam code. I tried it out and sure enough, it worked. Since then, it's earned my unwavering loyalty." It gave messages from time to time, but when I first entered College it really got going, it told me to start the Cult of Gluttony, and it was easy enough as the Orb was very kind to us, Steam codes, rumors, answers to the tests, it was quite an effective tool to recruit people as you can see from the troop I have gathered with us. It has never asked us to do something like this before though, in fact, it’s been fairly quiet recently, the message before was a month and a half ago.” She thoroughly explained
“So, the DD message, was that your doing as well?” I asked
“DD? No, we didn’t message you, that name doesn’t ring any bells either” She explained
“I see, something is going on here…”

Author's notes: In this chapter, we see some intriguing developments, including the introduction of The Cult of Gluttony the story is named after, but contrary to their name, they don’t really care about gaining or making others gain weight, they’re only here for the sweet rewards that come from the Orb of Communication. Expect some shenanigans to occur with them in the future.