Vinegar

Lilo had so much to process... and yet, he had all the time to do it.

The remaining two days was filled with much more banter that involved Soda educating Lilo.

Lilo tried experimenting with the foods that the gatekeepers provided and was met with many failed vomit attempts.

It could have ended far worse, but he was still determined to learn to harness the powers of the kite riders, mainly cooking, and by any means necessary.

Lilo also learned about the nature of the spires.

There were nine spires: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

These spire's purpose was to be the thorns of the rose. The flower being the cursed fruit tree in the center of the civilization.

They were to ward off the gluttons, collect data from the gluttons, and provide intel to the timbers.

They were the protective lair as well as the offensive outposts of humanity.

The spire that had fallen, the one that Chalant and Soda's father was a king of, was the spire of self control.

Each spire served the same goal, but went about it with differing cultures and rules.

Many of the occupations remained the same, and most of the power structure were similar; but where they differed was in relation to their names.

It was the core of their way of life. In Soda's spire, self control was the essence of what their morals and traditions were built on.

The spire that Lilo was currently in, was the spire of Peace.

'Nothing about this place screams peace to me...'

"Yeah well, you got into a fight with the most boisterous shepherd here." Soda answered simply.

'What's the deal with these shepherds anyways? They must be weak as fuck if I was able to clap the strongest one by simply biting him. What a pathetic bunch of soft pussy's.'

"No. Everyone calls Pop the most powerful shepherd to mock him. It is not out of truth but rather sarcasm. So stop feeling proud of yourself. You barely put up a good fight against a bitch." Soda scoffed.

Most shepherds were soft though. Wonka's crew was an exception.

The society molded shepherds to dictate the out skirts with the help of cravers, so they almost never had to encounter the gluttons themselves.

The subject of cravers interested Lilo the most.

Do they ever take their muzzles off?

Are they able to think? Speak? Are they human?

They obviously seem to have their own culture about them. They wore the skins of the gluttons they slayed.

Sure not, their eyes. It seemed... hollow. Empty... a void where a soul should be.

Lilo was certain there was something beyond their mysterious enslavement to the shepherds.

He was also confused and intrigued by his inability to be affected by the infection.

After witnessing the dream, he was sure he consumed a cursed beverage, but somehow... it did not cause him to crave it, and it did not slowly turn him into a glutton.

He still harnessed its power... but being a fighter in his past life, he knew that power was not gifted.

It had never been a free thing to obtain. There were always consequences, a side affect, a price to pay.

What was that price for him?

Chalant was another issue.

He was currently just a wiper... but Lilo was not satisfied with that fate. He wanted to cause pain and suffering to that wretched evil brother.

Soda had to deter that initial response. He understood its validity but Soda had been brewing his own tasteful revenge plot.

He needed Lilo to heed to his words, like they had discussed earlier, in order for this plan to follow through.

"If you want to get to the timbers, we need to have self control. Trust me, I'm practically an expert of that field. We'll both get what we want with just a little restraint." Soda assured Lilo.

'Wait... I know why I want to go to the timbers... but what's in it for you?'

Soda looked out of the cell window and took a moment to look at the sun setting on the beautiful pastel clouds that buried the sky-blue limestone citadel.

"My brother... Lied about my parents. They're alive... and I have a suspicion I know where they are..." Soda whispered.

Almost too quietly. If Soda had not been a being that resided in Lilo's soul, the breeze from the window would have carried his comment away; but Lilo squinted his eyes and leaned in.

'The cursed tree?'

Soda nodded with a crooked grin growing on his serene face.

'Shit. Everything about this world seems to revolve around that damn cursed tree.'

***

The hours flew by with more and more revelation and practicing of the art of cooking.

Soda was becoming... tolerable. An invaluable asset to Lilo. He was actually starting to kind of like the kid.

On the final day in his cell, he was finally able to cook something without being completely devastated.

Peanut butter. He had asked for the ingredients separately and been trying to create the perfect concoction.

There was no recipe to this, and most of it was earned through trial and error.

The trials being testing out the measurements of each ingredient, and the errors being puking his guts out.

The ingredients were: peanuts, honey, salt, and oil.

It took immense effort to grind (pause) it out, but Lilo was determined to make it work.

His mouth was starting to ache from the stomach acid that he had been constantly spewing, but he would simply heal himself with oats.

The amount of each and every ingredient could not vary to even the slightest degree if Lilo wanted to succeed.

The correct recipe of just the right amount of every ingredient was crucial for it to be a successful food that was safe to consume. If one ounce or grain was misplaced, the final product would be tainted.

It was indeed very similar to alchemy. It was like mixing magic potions to create a perfect concocted solution.

It took thousands of tries and a bit of luck but Lilo was relentless. He would face this opponent just like any other fight he picked, and remain victorious no matter what.

When he finally ingested the perfectly mixed peanut butter without the urge to puke, a sensation of gratitude washed over him.

He finally did it.

It filled his core with invigorating replenishment, and caused his senses to dial into a hyper focused state.

Lilo was familiar with recreational drugs, due to his hardened party life as a fighter... and the effects of the superfood peanut butter was akin to... meth.

His mind was laser focused and his senses were dialed to perfection.

It was as if he had concocted a magic potion. Well, It really wasn't much different than a potion.

Soda had mentioned that cooking with these supernatural foods was akin to alchemy.

Now, Lilo had harnessed that ability with his first jar of unique power up.

It was funnily ironic really... The first thing Lilo cooked was very similar to meth.

Lilo was one to watch crime shows during his limited free time in his past life.

One of his favorite shows to watch was that of a meth cooker named Malter Might.

Now, he was like his favorite tv show character.

He essentially had the perks of meth without the deadly side affects. In fact, this substance was not only harmless, but healthy.

A devious smile creased his lips as he clutched his homemade jar of peanut butter.

He was proud. His first successfully made product, that was forbidden to be tampered with, was a beautiful jar of delicious peanut butter.

'Take that kite riders. I can cook too bitch.'

With that mental victory and a new sense of awareness for how this new world worked - thanks to Soda - he was released from his cell.

He now had to prepare to enroll into the herding academy.