Chapter 26 Saveryspire Plateau
"I take it all back you are so, so, sooo awesome!!!!!" Mel said. "Now this is what you call a kingdom made of candy."
"Why thank you," Stella replied proudly.
"Oh, so you're back here already?" a voice interrupted.
Stella let out a long, annoyed sigh as we all turned to see who was speaking.
"Stello, what are you doing here?" she said flatly.
"Oh no, your words wound me, sweet sister. I'd think you'd be happy to see your big brother," the stranger said dramatically.
"Big brother is pushing it. You're two minutes older than me," she replied, even more exhausted.
Stello looked a lot like Stella, just the male version. He wore a long gray coat and a matching scarf wrapped around his neck.
"We're at war, Stello. I should have my people lob off your stupid head."
"So cold, sister. How could you utter such hurtful words? They strike deep into my heart," he said with exaggerated flair.
"What do you want, Stello?"
"Danny told me you found some interesting individuals who fell from the sky. I just had to see them," he said, stepping in closer and squinting at us.
"Go home, Stello," Stella snapped.
"Ah, little ones—do you find this land beautiful? Then you must see the far superior and criminally underrated land on the other side of the stump!" he declared proudly.
"Don't you start, Stello. We both know Sweet Point Plateau is the pinnacle of beauty. So get lost and stop feeding the poor tiny giants lies."
"Ha! You wish, sister. I reign supreme in that department."
Mel, El, and I exchanged confused, awkward glances.
"Come on,"stello said . "This is why nothing gets done. End this dumb rivalry already. You could be close again if you just dropped this illogical feud."
"Then you end it. Admit I have a better kingdom, Mister 'Bigger Man,' and we can be close again," Stella challenged, voice rising.
"I won't admit to something that's not true, you dumbass little brat," Stello shot back.
"Neither will I. Guards! We have an intruder.;....execute him now!" Stella shouted.
"Wait—what?" I said, completely dry.
"Little giants, please," Stella begged, turning to us. "Tell this dimwit that this is the best kingdom you've ever seen, so he can die in shame."
"We both know that's not fair, Stella," Stello interjected. "They haven't seen my land yet, so how could they make a sound decision?"
"That's like choosing your favorite feast after only tasting the bread—meanwhile, the roast boar's still turning on the spit," El added.
"The boar's still turning???...shut up, Mr. Wordy MacDee over here!" Stella snapped. "My kingdom is the whole meal and dessert, you stupid child!"
They both turned to us, puffing their noses up in search of validation.
El chuckled softly, breaking the tension. "I'd like to see your land, Stello," she said.
"Ha! Take us there immediately!" Stello beamed.
"Ughhhh, fine," Stella groaned, raising her hands. "I am Stella!"
The white beam materialized once again—and just like before, we landed.
As my eyes adjusted, I was hit with a tsunami of beauty—unreal and brain-shattering.
At first, my nostrils were filled with warm, smoky air. It felt like standing next to a grill or smoker. Roaming mists of steam from bubbling broths and boiling pots wafted around us, producing a mouthwatering aroma.
Mountains of bread—crusty garlic bread peaks and sourdough cliffs stood on the horizon. Valleys of cheese spread wide: molten cheddar rivers and floating parmesan. Fields of meat stretched into the distance—rows of crispy bacon grew from the earth alongside sausage trees and rice patty shrubs.
The buildings were brick ovens—red-bricked homes that smelled of roasting pizza. Walls of jerky and pretzels lined the roads, tough, dried, and salty. Spice towers stood tall, made from stacks of curry, cumin, and pepper. Castles were built from meatloaf bricks and held together with gravy mortar.
The people wore armor made of layered meats and toasted buns, wielding skewers like swords.
And the golems—oh, the golems! Living broth-creatures encased in hardened bread-bowl shells, walking tanks of flavor. Domesticated beasts wandered the land: slow-moving mounts like cows made of brisket or lamb shank.
As in Stella's kingdom, signs marked the regions—this time made of toasted bread and written in sauce. They glistened under steam clouds as we passed them.
The Gravy Geysers — eruptions of hot, brown gravy. It looked delicious, but I personally would not get within a hundred feet.
The Skillet Swamps iron pools of bubbling stew, filled with floating onions and dumplings.
The Umami Forge a volcanic region where flavors were forged into literal spice-weapons. They were actually crafting weapons out of spices.
"This is so insanely delicious," Eliza said, her mouth watering. "I love this place—it's soooo cool!" she shouted, her eyes glowing as she took in the savory kingdom.
"Exactly, young tiny giant! This is the epitome of flavor! Welcome to my home, my kingdom Saveryspire Plateau!" Stello announced with pride.
"See! I told you, my ignorant sister—this is true perfection," Stello said proudly.
"No, it's not, you dumb baboon!" Stella snapped. "Food should be sweet—energetic—putting you in a good mood with every bite. It should put a smile on your face and make you crave more! But you wouldn't know that with your gross, broken palate."
"No, you hairy raccoon," Stello shot back. "Food should be savory—something that puts you at peace after a long day. It should warm your heart, make you cozy and content. Food should relax you and make you feel at home. But your fourth-grader taste buds could never appreciate a perfectly scrumptious and delectable dish like mine."
"Tiny giants, tell this fool who is right!" they both demanded, turning to us.
"Well, of course, it would have to be—"
"Sweet is obviously the way to go. Only an idiot would turn down such a delicacy," Mel said arrogantly.
"Savory is far superior in every way. Only a five-year-old would think otherwise," El said proudly.
"Oh…. lord," I said with a nervous laugh. "Are you two seriously doing this?"
"What are you talking about, Maddox ? Didn't you taste that cake? It was incredible!" Mel argued.
"While it was good," El countered, "I couldn't imagine eating that every day. And honestly, it was a little too sweet for me."
"Too sweet!? That doesn't exist!" Mel and Stella shouted in unison, completely shocked.
"Are we not looking at the same place? This land is ten times better. Just smelling the air makes me hungry!" El exclaimed.
"What about you, Maddox? Tell her that sweet—or savory—is better!" they all shouted.
"Well... personally, having seen both, I'd say—"
"Yesssss?" They all leaned in, eyes locked on me, their gazes sharp as knives.
"I'd have to say..."
"Keep going!" they said, stepping even closer, pressure mounting.
"...I think I'll keep it to myself," I said, retreating. I was not going to hear the end of it from one side or the other. "I'm not walking into that minefield."
They collapsed, gasping, having held their breath waiting for my answer.
"You're no fun," they all groaned.
"Anyway," I said, trying to change the subject, "we have way bigger problems we need to figure out right now."
"Ah, yes, that reminds me," Stella said. She waved her hand, and in an instant, we appeared back inside the small ice cream hut. Dawn was just beginning to break as we looked out the windows.
"Stello," she said sternly, "I heard loud explosions coming from your side of the Fray."
"Well, I told you, Stella—I will not go down without a fight. We're being extorted, and I won't have it. With or without you, I'll kill them. I'll fight with everything I've got."
"That's so dumb, Stello! We built the Fray as a decoy base so the Lefts wouldn't attack the main kingdoms. What you're doing is endangering our people!"
"No—not fighting back is what's killing them!" Stello shouted. "Every month they come down and steal the joy we produce, and you want us to just... keep giving it to them? For how long, sis?"
Stella let out a tired, defeated sigh.
"What would you have me do? We can't attack Good. He's in a floating fortress in the sky—he can come down whenever he wants, while we can only sit here and take it."
"If I may," I interrupted gently, "what exactly is... Joy? I'm trying to understand what's really going on."
"'Joy' is the dumb name the Lefts—and Good—use for magically condensed energy," Stella explained. "It's all around us. It fuels the spells we cast. It's the fundamental catalyst for magic."
"Ah... so it's Spark," I muttered to myself. Magnus had mentioned how our generation couldn't see Spark anymore. But it seemed the giants could.
"If it's all around you, then why is he extorting it from you?" I asked.
"That's a story that started over a hundred years ago," Stello said, his voice darkening. "Good did something unforgivable and was sentenced to burn in the volcanoes for a hundred years. A bad giant went into those flames that day... but something else came out. Something different. A demon. A monster."
"Thats what we were told as kids but to be honest we dont know the full truth." stella added.
"He lives in the floating plains now," Stella added. "That's where his castle is."
"As for your question," she continued, "we don't know what he uses the concentrated Spark—or Joy for. His fixation on it is disturbing. But what he does with it stays locked up in that floating castle."
"Wait," El said, scratching her head. "You said you can't get up to him... but he can come down to you? How does that work?"
"There used to be a portal on the beach," Stella explained. "It could send someone to the floating plains. But it's been long destroyed. Good, however, still has ways to send his kin down and bring them back up."
"So the only way now would be to build up to it?"
"Yes, but Good doesn't let anyone get close," she said bitterly.
"Which brings us to the present dilemma," they both said at once, suddenly embarrassed.
"This dumbass won't admit that my nation is better," Stella said, pointing at Stello, "so we can move past all this animosity and actually start working on a plan to get up there!"
"...Whaaaaaaaaat!?" Mel, El, and I shouted in total disbelief.
That's the dilemma!?
Notes~
Who's gonna tell Stello that raccoons have fur? lmao