My first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story.

Please be nice, and Happy Halloween.


The Chocolate Palace of Miscommunication.

Willy Wonka stood in front of Prince Pondicherry who was silently examining the detail of the new palace built for him and whoever the prince wanted, inwardly curious about this extravagant overindulgence. A palace of this size was going to be a tall order to eat, especially for a prince's family and he hoped the Indian family were hungry after he and the workers had spent such a long time building the palace of dark and light chocolate. But if he was honest…. Willy seriously didn't understand what on Earth had possessed the Prince to commission the building of a chocolate palace in the first place, and he hadn't wanted to ask.

He just…watched quietly as the prince walked around the throne room running his fingers gently over the ornately crafted statues, licking them and he watched as the prince's eyes lit up each and every time his tongue caught even the slightest taste of chocolate. Willy was pleased the prince seemed delighted by his new treat, and he wondered just how many people would be gorging themselves on the chocolate needed to build the palace, but that was not his problem. It was the prince's problem.

Willy had had a pleasant time in India after he had come to the famous country in answer to Pondicherry's letter, a man who had made it very clear to Willy he was a fan of the chocolatier's chocolate, asking him to come to India to build the palace made entirely of chocolate. The idea of a chocolate palace had surprised Willy, who hadn't known whether to laugh at the idea of using chocolate as a building material or be intrigued by the possibility.

In the end, he had settled for being intrigued. But truthfully the reasons he'd come out to India in the first place was because Pondicherry had offered to pay him an enormous amount of money - if there was one lesson Willy Wonka had learnt throughout his entire business career, it was never do anything for free, but the biggest temptation was an offer for Willy's chocolate empire to receive new contacts for the acquisition of spices.

That had been the clincher.

Willy, as a chocolatier, was forever coming out with new chocolates and other kinds of sweets and as a result, he needed to source dozens of different ingredients to both answer the demand and to inspire him in order to make new ones. Well, Prince Pondicherry had offered him contacts and contracts in India and this part of the world in general, giving him access to spice businesses which would provide Willy and his business empire with new sources of possibilities, possibilities he was constantly and consistently on the lookout for. And Prince Pondicherry was offering them to him on a plate while saying he wanted to enjoy the delight of having a palace made entirely from chocolate. By the time he had processed what the prince was offering him, Willy had already been hooked. At the same time, he had fallen into the trap of being intrigued by the idea of using chocolate to build a palace. It wouldn't last of course; chocolate wasn't a good building material, and it wouldn't last long in the Indian climate anyway. In the end, Willy had decided to give the prince his indulgence and he had made arrangements to travel to India, complete with enough of the chocolate graded in his factory back home which he specially despatched to warmer countries to construct the palace.

While he was supervising the construction of the palace, Willy was allowed to have a look around the country, seeing for himself the amazing Indian wildlife, such as tigers, leopards, and elephants (he had even ridden a lovely female elephant, and he had spent a great deal of time with them as a result). He had never been to India before, even when he had been younger; back then, he had been more interested and involved in the production of sweets and chocolates, and his focus had been on countries with a tradition of making chocolate and had developed their production processes to a very high standard, but as he had grown older and he realised he had wanted a newer business to go in place of the tiny shop he had opened which had resulted in the birth of his factory, Willy discovered he had missed many golden opportunities in journeying to other countries so he could enrich his life and his experience.

He had visited several towns and villages, met up and spoken to various cooks in the province and he had developed a taste for masala even if it had nearly burnt the inside of his mouth, and he had been sparked with the possibilities of making some kind of chocolate which created a kind of spice explosion. Once the idea had taken root, Willy had spent a lot of time studying the curry recipes and learning to make them, while at the same time he inspected the spices India had to offer. While many of them had…strong effects on his taste buds, but Willy had seen many possibilities, nonetheless, and he had gladly made arrangements to have them sent to his factory. Willy didn't yet see all of the different spices potential yet, but he didn't dare discount it; he still remembered how he had dismissed a few fruits because he hadn't liked them, and yet years later when he had read about their flavours in books and magazines, he had regretted his choice. It was an even bigger kick when he had later seen the product lines formed by their introduction sell out.

Willy had learnt an important lesson over the course of his business career, never judge anything by its immediate taste, and from that lesson, he had learnt to withhold his judgement until later. In any case, Willy was looking forward to spending time in the factory's inventing room so he could conduct his experiments. At the same time, he had taken a look at the confectionaries in this part of India, and he had ideas for adapting several of them and developing them into something new. At the same time, he had ideas in mind for creating an aromatic chocolate drink served piping hot, served with several spices.

It had been straightforward to build the palace, really; he had brought out enough chocolate which was partially resistant to intense heat although he knew when the temperature reached a certain level, the palace would melt.

Just as the thought materialised in his mind, and with incredible timing, Prince Pondicherry turned to face Willy. "It is perfect, in every way."

Snapped out of his thoughts, Willy focused on the prince. "Yeah, but it won't last long," he advised, knowing there were some exceptionally hot days ahead, meaning the prince had little time to waste and he went on and voiced that warning, "you'd better start eating right now."

Pondicherry scoffed, but there was a flash of something Willy couldn't immediately identify in his eyes but the chocolatier did not like before he walked over to the throne itself, speaking as he walked. "Ha! Nonsense! I will not eat my palace. I intend to live in it."

For a flourish Pondicherry ran one of his fingers along the arm of the throne and licked his lips, gazing at Willy with a smug smile.

But Willy was not smiling. He was staring back at the prince with disbelief. No, there was no way he had just said that - was there?

"I beg your pardon?" The chocolatier laughed, hoping this was a joke, that he had just misheard the prince. "Did you just say you were planning on living in a chocolate palace in India?"

Pondicherry nodded, a smug smile still on his face.

Willy wasn't laughing now. "I didn't realise you wanted a palace to live in," he began.

"Why not?" The smug smile was gone now, replaced by a questioning frown. "I thought I made it clear in the letter I sent you what I wanted-."

"You said you wanted a palace to enjoy," Willy interrupted.

A flash of anger passed through the prince's face at the interruption but it faded quickly as Pondicherry's politeness drummed into his attitude by long years of royal training took hold, but Willy knew he should tread carefully since a royal could get angry. "And I did, I do. I have long since been a fan of your work, Mr Wonka," Pondicherry said, "I wanted to live in a palace literally surrounded by chocolate."

Willy fought the urge to close his eyes in order to maintain a grasp on his patience. "I'm flattered, your highness. Believe me, I am. It's always wonderful to meet someone who appreciates my life's work. But living in this palace could be dangerous."

"How can there be any danger?"

"Well, the chocolate used to make the palace isn't designed to last long; yeah, its more thermally stable than ordinary chocolates which I sell in countries like Britain, Sweden, France, and America, to name more than a few countries, but it's not stable enough. I didn't realise you had wanted the chocolate graded like my ice cream, which stays cool and doesn't go runny even in the hottest weather."

Unfortunately, Pondicherry was getting visibly bored and tired by this conversation, in any case, he was too busy running his hands back and forth along the armrests of the throne, smiling in almost childlike glee as he took in the wonders of the chocolate palace he was sitting in.

"There is no danger, Mr Wonka," Pondicherry waved a dismissive hand around. As far as he was concerned the whole discussion was moot and he wasn't going to listen to reason.

Willy was just opening his mouth for the newest round, but he quickly realised there wasn't any point. He clamped his mouth closed, breathing out a quick sigh before he did., and said something he would regret quickly decided he wasn't going to bother arguing with the prince. There wasn't much point, especially since he was clearly going to listen. Willy knew he could talk until he was blue in the face, and Pondicherry would still be sitting in that throne, stubbornly refusing to listen.

"I hope you're right, your highness," Willy replied. "Thank you for your hospitality and thank you for your assistance in helping me discover more of what your country had to offer. I hope my visit opens more possibilities for candies in the future."

"Yes, yes," the Prince continued to wave dismissively. It was obvious to Willy he'd outstayed his welcome. "Your payment is waiting for you outside."

Willy opened his mouth, prepared and determined to say just a little bit more, but then he decided not to bother. The prince was not and would not listen to reason, so why bother? In any case, sooner or later the palace would melt, and the prince would have to deal with a very very very large lake of half-melted chocolate.

With a sigh, Willy Wonka left the throne room and he picked up the payment. He had the business forms, the contracts for the wholesale of the Indian spices. Soon they would be shipped out to his factory after he'd conducted the experiments, and their demand called for them.

However, when he returned home he would discover spies had been getting at his recipes in the inventing room and taking them to the so-called chocolate makers who were incapable of making their own original chocolates because they weren't artists capable of coming up with their own ideas without stealing from someone else.

When he got back, he didn't have the time to try out any of the Indian recipes he had in mind, and he would soon fire all of his employees at the factory and go off on his own for a few years before he returned and restarted his business. When he got back, Willy didn't pay any attention to the second letter from Pondicherry, demanding a new palace. He had more important things on his mind than settling a whim for a spoilt prince.