As Soda was wrapping up explaining everything he knew to Lilo, the scenery outside the van window shifted from forest to a rocky hill.
Jawbi took a nap the entire trip, with his forehead pressed against the glass and drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Lemon was still struggling with her puzzle contraption. Pepper was continuing to be on the lookout for any straggling gluttons. Wonka was humming a tune as he drove.
The thought just occurred to Lilo.
'Who are these guys and why are they trying to help me?'
"They're tasked with rescuing and bringing in any survivors among the outer rim. Human life is a treasured commodity. Not many people survive in this world and every living being holds that much more value..." Soda looked away dejectedly, "Unless, you're a craver."
'What happens when they find out that I am a craver?'
"They'll put you in the kennel with the rest of the muzzled slaves."
'Ayo, what?'
Soda nodded somberly.
"You'll see..."
The friendly faces that were so inviting within this creepy white van, now became potential threats. Lilo analyzed each of them, thinking of ways to kill them and escape.
No. They all seemed too powerful. Pepper alone was destroying gluttons on her own with ease; firing off her weapon and one shoting GT1's like they were mere pests.
The occasional GT2's that appeared were also cleared by Pepper with ease, it would take a whole chamber of six of her ice beams but eventually they were taken care of.
Wonka was no doubt a genius. If he was the one behind that deadly weapon as well as this motorized vehicle, he was not an easy opponent by any means.
Jawbi and Lemon were a bit... uncertain. Jawbi was a shepherd just like Pepper so Lilo deduced he was of equal threat; Lemon however... was perhaps the same age as Soda.
She seemed a little larger than Soda; slightly taller and a bit more of a robust build. With Lilo's knowledge in combat, although Soda had a petite frame, he was confident that he could beat her.
"What the hell are you starting at?"
Lilo was caught analyzing Lemon again. He coughed awkwardly, snapping out of his dazed state of thinking about how to take on this powerhouse of a cohort.
"Oh... nothing I was just thinking... your puzzle seems pretty simple." Lilo commented nonchalantly.
"Simple?" Lemon sat up straighter and met Lilo's eyes with fierce doubt. "Prove it."
She extended the odd color coded contraption out to Lilo. He reached out and grabbed it but dropped it slightly as soon as Lemon let go.
It was much heavier than he thought, and Lilo's lanky arms were shaking just to keep it from falling onto Lemon's lap.
She raised a mocking eyebrow and watched closely as Lilo struggled to twist each lever.
The pattern was similar to a rubrics cube back on earth. It took several tries and a few minutes to deduce the nature of the puzzle contraption; but eventually he got the hang of it.
It did not take long for him to match each section to its color, and Lemon watched intently; struggling to hide her amazement.
"There. Once you know the formula it's not too difficult really... I can show you if-"
"Nope. I'm good. Are we there yet?" Lemon quickly took the solved contraption out of his hand and sat facing away from Lilo; tilting her head towards Wonka whom she directed the question towards.
He thought for sure he caught a glimpse of her cheeks flushing from embarrassment.
A sly grin creased his lips.
'That's right you snobby kid. I'm better.'
Soda rolled his eyes.
"What are you smiling about, creepy kid?" Jawbi yawned as he stretched out his muscular limbs, taking up most of the space between them, not paying any mind to Lilo's discomfort.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just excited to be out of the forest and into the Spire of Peace!" Lilo gave an unconvincing smile.
Jawbi chuckled, allowing his deep voice to bellow out with each laugh.
"Oh, no need to be excited little one. We're going to put you to work boy!"
'Work? Wait Soda, you weren't lying about the slave thing?'
Soda nervously pressed the tips of his pointer fingers together.
"Oh relax Jawbi, don't scare the fresh meat. He seems adequate enough, he survived a night alone out there for fat sake. I'm sure they'll enroll him into the herding program." Pepper tried to sound reassuring but all that information only added to Lilo's anxiousness.
'Jesus, why are all these things happening to me? I just want to go back home!'
"Again with the Jesus guy... who is he anyway?" Soda scratched his smooth chin.
The van rolled to a hault just outside two towering gates. The gate was an entrance through large thick towering walls that surrounded the base of the jagged mountains.
The mountain was incredulously steep enough that Lilo doubted any gluttons could climb it. Only the ones capable of flight could reach past the walls.
Atop the wall were watch tower stations adorned with weapons of lethal destruction. Giant LMG looking crossbows, canon's equipped with molten rounds, soldiers adorned in shining armor with menacing enchanted rifles; were all elements that deterred any gluttons from entering.
The rifles that they held was very primitive. Much like Pepper's projectile weapon that was similar to an old revolver, the rifles were an old technology, resembling a musket.
Along each weapon were runes etched into them that glowed differing hues; which Lilo guessed were enchantments of some kind to infuse magic into their primitive technology.
'Damn. You didn't get to tell me how vast and menacing the entrance to the spires were.'
"There's a lot I haven't told you. We've only been traveling in peace for a few hours, how the hell was I supposed to tell you everything?"
Wonka rolled down his window, peaked his head out, and winked at the guard atop a watch tower. The tower must have been at least a kilometer above them, shrouded in the pastel splashed clouds.
Lilo wasn't sure how the hell they were supposed to be able to witness that wink, but then again; nobody else had a van in the world. Wonka's invention was a walking flag of "I'm definitely not a glutton!".
The giant gates slowly creaked open with a loud boom, creating an opening large enough for a whole caravan of vans to enter.
The one van entering through the vast opening felt ominous as Lilo tried to make out what was on the other side of the gate. It was shrouded in mist and the distant sounds of drums could be heard.
Chants of an unknown language reach Lilo's ear, matching the rhythm of the drums. The voices behind these chants were old, deep and ancient, radiating a majestic vibe that could be felt in Lilo's bones.
"Ah, excuse our bullshit." Jawbi says as he flops a muscular arm around Lilo's petite shoulders. "It's the Fien elder's mysticism. They're trying to ward off the bad spirits away from us before we enter the citadel."
Pepper mockingly throws up jazz hands to sell the idea that these Fien's are crazy. This gets a laugh out of Lemon but Wonka is quick to stop them.
"Hey cut it out. If they hear you being disrespectful they'll turn you into a wiper." Wonda sent a waring glance at Lemon and she shut up immediately.
'Wiper?'
Soda shrugged.
'I guess he doesn't know everything... wait, now that he's told me the basics, what good is he to me now? Can I just drop the act and treat him like the little shit he is finally?'
"I can hear your thoughts dumbass!" Soda sneered.
'I don't care, dumbass. Now that I survived that night, I'm in good hands. I don't need you anymore.'
"We'll see if you're really safe here, I'd love to see you get muzzled." Soda muttered.
'Shit, I forgot to ask about that...'
Seeing as Lilo's relationship with Soda had suddenly turned bitter due to Lilo's prickly personality; Lilo now had to keep his burning questions to himself, he was forced to discover truths about this place with his own experiences.
The mist slowly faded along with the chants and music; revealing the beautiful city carved into the cliffs of the jagged mountain.
There were huts, made from clay, each adorned with intricate carvings of limestone. The natural colors of the mountain as well as mundane stones were still unordinary to Lilo. Color schemes that simply didn't make any sense was just a natural part of what was.
Purple and dark marine hues were interwoven within stone, and shades of green was the natural tone of limestone.
Architecture so precise and clean that it felt machine printed was what made up this elevated society hidden within the mountains.
People in tunics were floating... Flying! On the very pastel color splashed clouds that was so pleasing to look at.
'Wait... those clouds... can do that?'
Soda turned his back on Lilo and ignored his question.
The huts were separated by several meters but no one needed to use bridges or walkways to connect them. They simply used clouds as floating carpets that glided them across the expanse of the sky.
The citadel was high up in the mountain, way above the clouds that shrouded the corrupted wasteland under its blanket and only showed the clear blue sky lit by the two offset suns.
Lilo looked down at the ground... only to find they were not on ground anymore... they were driving on clouds.
It was breathtaking...
Lilo immediately noticed people of different classes based on their tunics and simple attire. Bright colors were common in this world. It was etched into society and nature without a need to harness it like it was needed on earth.
Anyone with pure white, black or grey colors were considered high class; it was a rarity and stood out from the rest of nature. Lilo could distinguish them easily simply by the way they carried themselves.
They were never in a hurry, almost as if walking in slow motion, basking in their own arrogant glory. There were people wearing neon pink and yellow tunics who trailed behind these high class people, carrying their luggage, opening doors, doing any medial task.
There were also people... wearing masks. Thick heavy duty masks that wrapped around their nose and mouth aggressively. Each wore a collar with aggressive spikes protruding out of it, and a chain attached to their collar that dragged on the ground with a loud scraping sound.
They were lead by... shepherds. Lilo recognized them by their attire as well. Wonka, Pepper, and Jawbi all wore combat ready clothes. They were each unique and bizarre but upon first glance once could deduce that they were different than regular civilian clothes.
Their tunics and outfits did not hang lose; it hugged tight to their bodies. Theirs shoes were thick and heavily worn down from the rugged terrain. But most of all, they all wielded a special weapon.
Jawbi and Wonka had theirs sheathed, but they never had to reveal them because Pepper annihilated any threat before it even became of concern.
As a line of these masked rugged individuals walked past the moving van, one of them stopped in front of Lilo's window; pausing to glare at him with their dark hollow eyes.
It's eyes were completely black, a void of indescribable horror hidden within their depths. Staring at someone without their white of their eyes sent shivers down Lilo's back.
Something clicked in Lilo's mind. The ragged look. The chains. The attire. The mask... the muzzle.
'That's a craver... Something I might turn into.'