Chapter 25 Sweet Point Plateau
Stella sat back down in her chair, holding a huge cake that she began to devour with zero shame.
Stress-eating giants was the least surprising thing I'd seen today, so I didn't comment on it.
"We call them Lefts," she finally said in between obnoxious bites.
"They come from the sky, as you saw. They don't just randomly manifest, though. Just a little into the ocean, there's a cloud. Atop that cloud is him—Maximus Good. Or just Good, for short.
"It's a long story, but he used to be a giant of the royal family here on the beach who for some reason unknown to me burned for 100 years in the volcano. And when he got out—oh boy was he all kinds of messed up.
"Since then, we've dealt with the Lefts. They follow Good and stand for all he stands for. And if what you saw wasn't a clear enough indication—what he stands for is never good."
She continued talking, still devouring the massive cake.
"Oh!" she suddenly said, turning red. "I'm a terrible host!"
She cut a huge slice from the part she hadn't bitten into and placed it on a humongous plate on the coffee table we were standing on.
"Have some. It's good," she said with a proud smile.
We grabbed a crumb of the cake in our two hands. The piece she'd given us could feed generations of humans, realistically.
"So no one's gonna ask why this place is made of food, huh?" Mel said, shoving a huge piece into her mouth.
Stella giggled, then took another bite. "Oh yeah, that would seem strange to a lot of foreign people, huh? This is my ability. It's called Sweet Point."
"Ohh, that's a unique ability, hehehe," El said, biting into her cake.
"It works through my punches. If I can punch past the breaking point of an object, I can turn it into any sweet food I can imagine."
I looked around the room and sighed. "So basically, you vandalized this poor house."
"Err—well, if you put it that way, it sounds way more uncivilized than it really is…" she mumbled, embarrassed.
The ground groaned and shook. A explosion reverberated through the house.
"Not him again…" Stella said dryly. "God damn it, Stello."
"I must say though, Miss Stella," Mel said, just as dryly, "for someone with the ability to make a kingdom of sweetness….y'all are lazy."
"Whaaaaaat??" Stella said, shocked.
"Well, look—it's nice and all, but really? A few cabins made of jellybeans? That's it?"
"What the hell are you doing, Mel?! Hehehe, they could eat us!" I said, nervously.
"Heheh. Just telling the truth," she replied in that same dry, condescending tone.
"Why, you little—well, you know what? I decide I like you ," Stella said, her voice full of annoyance, her face even more so.
"Are you sure that's what you meant to say?" El said, unconvinced.
Stella turned, walked to the back of the room, and pulled open a trapdoor.
"Great. Mel, now we're gonna be put in a dungeon and turned into gingerbread men," I shouted.
"No no no," Stella said, laughing. "Follow me."
We landed in a dark cave system. Stella smiled.
"So… a hole?" Mel said again.
"Mel, shut up, please," I said, panicking.
"Mhhhhh—I am STELLA!" she shouted. And from the darkness, a milky beam of light shot across the cave. It was intense and bright. I could make out some blurry images, objects in it.
"Please, follow me," she said—and jumped into the beam.
It felt warm and tingly. When my eyes adjusted—my jaw hit the floor.
We stood at the precipice of the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.
I saw it. I could not believe my eyes.
A snowy, frosted field. Soft, pillowy white frosting dunes you could literally sink into. Ice cream mountains, gigantic, as far as the eye could see concaving around the land and splitting the ocean bank from this jaw-dropping sight. Swirled peaks of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, with white lava flowing from them.
Cotton candy clouds floated low to the ground, carrying smaller giants—still large compared to us, but reasonably so.
Rivers of syrup and chocolate, sticky and sweet, ran through candy cane forests in the distance.
Marshmallow meadows with soft and bouncy ground, all covered in powdered sugar snow.
Stella stood at the front, proud, an arrogant smirk plastered on her face as our jaws hit the floor.
The buildings were gingerbread houses reinforced with sugar glass windows and icing trimmings.
Cake spires—tall, tiered cakes rising like towers with jelly centers and cream fillings.
Candy cane bridges stretched from high buildings and meadows, red and white striped walkways connected by cupcake cliffs.
Literal crystallized sugar castles—shimmering, decadent fortresses sparkling under the moonlight.
The lazily dressed giant we'd seen earlier was night and day compared to the people here in the kingdom.
We saw sentinels armored in hard candy shells, wielding licorice whips and lollipop hammers.
Giant mages wore capes and trench coats that sparkled with powdered sugar.
And if it wasn't already a fairytale land come to life…
Gummy beasts—gigantic, semi-transparent animals. Guardians made of gummy flesh with cute but serious expressions on their faces.
Along with the giants lived a civilization of cake citizens soft, spongy bodies with frosting hair.
The land was split into four sectors, each with a huge sign made of crackers, frosted letters glittering in the light:
The Velvet Frost a plain made of red velvet cake and thin layers of glazed ice.
The Jellybean Mines – colorful, glowing food-stones mined for what I assumed was magical energy.
Frosting Falls waves of whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles falling into fondue pools.
Even the rainbow that hovers over was made of colored sugar particles Wait… did this mean Stella punched through a damn rainbow? I thought to myself.
And finally:
The Sugar Spires crystal formations of natural rock candy pillars that hummed with a sweet, soft sound.
The giants' clothes depended on their roles. Some wore cracker-armored suits, others wore soft cotton candy-reinforced tunics, skilled dresses, or robes.
The nightlife was so energetic.
"I stand corrected. This is soooooooooo awesome!" Melody said, jumping with excitement, her eyes beaming as she took in the landscape—even if it was out of spite. Stella's land, as she'd shown us, was unbelievably beautiful.
"This is the pinnacle of my Sweet Point powers," Stella said, laughing. "Welcome to my kingdom….
Sweet Point Plateau."