Fizzle

Lilo and Soda was able to see the entire spire, their pov changing to a much broader perspective.

The suns and moons rapidly rose and fell; indicating that time was advancing quickly.

They were experiencing a time jump within their dream.

The spire was enshrouded in chaos within the seemingly never ending war of the gluttons and the warriors of the spire.

The powerful king led the charge and relentlessly pushed back the forces under the control of the mysterious sentient glutton.

Everything was red. Blood, flames, and the rage that boiled in both human and glutton hearts.

Days turned to weeks, weeks into months, and those perilous months turned to years.

The furious battle raged on. The phenomenon of people and beasts being able to have this much staminal was simply supernatural.

The cursed devil fruit was the fuel of the gluttonous monsters, while the supernatural raw foods were what gave strength to the unyielding forces of the human army.

The war that waged was not a mere rivalry or a desire to conquer.

It was a war fueled by hunger.

The suns and moons moved with intense rapid pace; the flames of war still flickering with Lilo and Soda watching the breathtaking view of such a powerful moment.

It was simply beautiful. Not in the way of lust. Not in a natural organic way. No, this was a beauty that only true warriors could appreciate.

The beauty of war. The way souls of passionate beings intertwined with the fate of death looming in the balance of this delicate dance.

Lilo had been in many battles of his own, always emerging victorious, but he had never felt this euphoric feeling when witnessing such a brutal and savage act.

Neither side waivered.

'Where are the reinforcements? Why is this spire still fighting this war alone after all these years? It... doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't the timbers, the inner circle, or even other spires come to its rescue?'

Lilo turned to Soda, who's eyes were glued to the mesmerizing scene.

The flames of war danced in Soda's eyes, causing them to sting and leak tears of every emotion: joy, sadness, excitement, despair, triumph, devastation, faith, hope and love.

And then... after what felt like an eternity... it stopped.

All in an abrupt stillness, like the gods themselves bent down to this spire and blew it out like a candle.

An eerie still coldness caused every motion to freeze, sending chills down Lilo and Soda's spines.

Their pov shifted back to Soda's perspective.

He was now the same age as Soda, more or less indistinguishable.

Roughly seven years had passed and Soda had survived the incident of Sam coercing him to intake the cursed drink.

He was a craver, but without any side effects. The royal family had been able to keep it a secret.

Really, they had no need to. Everyone was too invested in the never ending war.

Every soul was pushed to the brink and forced to engage with every part of their being to survive the onslaught of the ferocious gluttonous monsters that invaded their territory.

The children were all living in the uppermost room of the spire alone, safe from harms way... at least from the harms of the monsters below them.

There was a monster among them who had plans of leading them into harms way... that monster was none other than Chalant himself.

With every passing day he instilled fear within all of the children, reminding them that their parents were fighting for their lives against horrors that were far more powerful than any of them.

He sung them the enchanted lullaby spell to make them fall into deep slumber but deviously modified the spell to allow himself to enter their dreams.

There, within the deep subconscious of their minds, he planted a seed of nightmares.

Making each and everyone of those kids paranoid and on edge.

As time passed, the inhabitants of the upper room of the spire were all under the spell of Chalant, being able to be manipulated into doing what he suggested.

All those children, that was, except Soda.

He was very aware of his brother's schemes and terrified on what would transpire without the supervision of his parents who had protected him all these years.

After years passed, the crippling suspense and horrifying nightmare finally came to an end.

Chalant poured out cups of the cursed sparkling drink at the dinner table. All the kids under his spell were frozen in fear, terrorized by Chalant's constant nightmares.

They were merely shells of themselves, doing whatever Chalant demanded without a second thought.

In unison they lifted the poisonous drink up for a toast and turned their hollow gaze towards the only one at the table not holding up the glass.

Young Soda was not about to partake in this suicidal act. He knew what his brother was planning to do.

Chalant was going to turn the tide of this war with the children of the warriors who had been in constant war with the gluttons.

The parents of the children would be flanked by their infected children and devoured by the very ones they protected.

How cruel. How vile. How evil. Why had his brother turned so... despicable?

"What's the matter brother? Not thirsty?" Chalant teased with his golden eyes gleaming that familiar dark sinister hue.

Soda shook his head.

"Well that's too bad. Here, we'll toast this momentous occasion to you." Chalant offered with a devious grin.

"Before I make this toast, I would like to offer a word of advise." Chalant glared at his younger brother with a sense of burning malice.

"Let this be a reminder that candy is not forbidden to those out of the Timber walls. Those rules were made by those devilish people for selfish reasons." Chalant said with a sadistic grin.

"They want us to think that what we become once we consume their precious fruit is something to be ashamed of..."

"Cravers they call us. Gluttons. Monsters. Ah, but ladies and gentlemen, they are very wrong. So, so wrong."

"What we become is our beautiful carnal self. Our true nature and desire manifesting into a free form of a terrifying creature!"

A wave of eerie cheers erupted out of the audience of entranced children, still holding up the sparkling glass of curses.

"Remember this: All rules are made by mortal men. The only devine rule, is that you shall surely die!" With those words Chalant tilted his glass upwards towards his mouth.

The rest of the kids did the same, chugging down the sparkling drink with tears brimming their eyes from the burning sensation hitting their nose; the sensation young Soda was all too familiar with.

They all consumed the deadly drink, all but Chalant and Soda.

While Chalant did tilt the drink towards his mouth, it remained closed, causing the drink to trickle down his chin, neck, and stain the front of his shirt.

It was a red soda drink, and the stain it left on Chalant's shirt created a visceral image of horrifying terror.

From that moment forward, the memories, the dream, was a blur of sporadic moments.

Lilo and Soda witnessed the most harrowing sequence of events in a short span of time.

The king's army being decimated by young mutated gluttons that rained from the ceilings of the fortress they were desperately trying to protect.

Parents being devoured by their children with disbelief and sorrow in their tired eyes.

The chaos of the war's tide being turned within minutes.

More blood. More flames. More cries. More death. More sorrow. More pain.

Nothing about this was beautifully executed.

It was a slaughter house.

The king barely escaped, narrowly escaping death with the help of his queen.

They made their way into the upper room, in search for the cause of this harrowing flood of nightmares.

There, in the vast open room, sat Chalant and Soda; unfazed and calm

Soda knew his parents would take his side.

"It was him! He turned into a craver and infected all those other kids! I was right all along dad, you should've told mom and killed him when I warned you." Chalant said with an expression of false devastation.

Soda's mom's brows furrowed. The king paused briefly, and unsheathed his sword. He marched towards his two sons with cold indifference.

Still, a single tear rolled down the majestic king's war marred face. In his ferocious eyes was the reflection of his little boy... Soda.

Soda froze in disbelief. He had not expected his father to actually side with Chalant.

"Wait, father! You know that he's lying!" Soda held his hands up in defense.

With a single, powerful slash, both of Soda's arms were cut off.

Soda's limbs fell to the floor ruthlessly and the queen's scream came out guttural and soul shattering.

In shocking horror, Soda's arms were growing back, regenerating like that of a craver's.

Soda shook his head with tears streaming his cheeks.

"No, father you have to believe me!" Young Soda turned to his father, begging for mercy.

The king closed his eyes in dejection and turned his face away.

Soda turned to his mother, hope clinging to his trembling voice.

"Mom... please!"

The queen covered her mouth, stopping her scream, and her eyes turned cold and somber immediately.

"Burry him..." was his mother's last words to him, and that was Soda's last memory before meeting the grave.