A thick fog had fallen over the town, filling the pathways of cobblestone roads with dread and uncertainty. Church bells rang ominously from the towers, each clang guiding the footsteps of the townspeople as they left their homes to gather in crowds. Heads hung low as they murmured and whispered beneath the preaching of priests, whose voices sang far like beacons to guide the people. These were not prayers of prosperity or gifted wisdom, but a mantra for mercy and permission. The robed disciples traveled alongside armed guards, on route to a select number of households. They would announce themselves outside the doors with dozens of onlookers behind them, and a woman would step outside, surrounded by her family, to be escorted into a horse-drawn carriage. Some came willingly and quietly, while others resisted and made scenes, but all seven maidens were eventually corralled and presented atop a performance deck in the middle of the town.

For one of those maidens, it would be the last time she would see the townspeople or her home. They were offerings, and one among them would be sacrificed to the goddess, cast off into an unknown fate, though one detail was for certain: no one ever returned, ever heard from again once stolen away in the hands of that giant.

Vivian was tragically familiar with the ritual and its history, and that knowledge kept her the most withdrawn of the maidens. She sat wedged into the corner of the carriage, pushed there by the fullness of the other maidens and their sprawling, fanciful dresses. Their appearance was determined and adjusted by the church, designating them each with a separate color. Vivian’s stare was absorbed into the red of her dress, the color drenching her with a sense of blood and carnage. It was the color she had hoped for; unlike the other maidens, she did not cling to the hope of going unchosen, but was instead intent on being selected -- to be whisked away by the goddess, and taken to wherever the others before her had disappeared to.

Beside her, a woman sobbed. She had been in hysterics since the morning, much like she had been in the week leading up to the ritual. The guards had to tear her out of her home when she refused to leave with them. Vivian remembered the woman desperately hugging the door frame as two armored men ripped her away.

Eventually, she was shoved into the carriage and locked in with the others. She wept as the carriage left the town, begging not to go, terrified of what it would mean to be picked by the goddess. Vivian begrudgingly listened to her, haunted by a similar scene from five years ago that played out vividly in her eyes. Burned to memory, she recalled when the sacrifices first began, and when the goddess first bestowed the world with her appearance from the woods.

The countryside had known years of peace in its quiet corner past the rivers and towards the mountains. It was a town without much to mention, other than its location at the edge of the Deep Forest. It began as an outpost to eventually trek around the tall trees, but such a project never came to fruition. The town built itself on that foundation, distant from the heart of the kingdom but in a position to thrive. Politics did not grip the townspeople the same way as the church did, whose priests and disciples took to leading the folk in their general absence. Those ranked in the church were highly regarded within the community, but the most beloved among them was Christin, a priestess known for her charity, and respected especially by her sister, Vivian.

Vivian recalled that final day of peace and how she had squandered it. What began as a petty disagreement between two sisters had unfolded into a heated argument. The two were without parents, and so Christin raised them both with the help of the church, in exchange for working services for the church that often kept her away from Vivian -- too often for Vivian’s approval. Vivian left the home in a huff, immaturely disavowing her sister as she marched somewhere to cool off. Years later, she would still taste the bitterness of her words, as it would end up becoming the last conversation they would share together.

While outside the town, Vivian heard a commotion behind her. Then, a rumbling -- tremors that spanned through the town and beyond. She could not guess what it was to be afraid of, but as she made her return, the source of such power rose into view. Only then could the magnitude of the peril be comprehended, an image looming over the town that was simply unbelievable even as it was witnessed in the moment.

It could only be described as divine intervention: a gigantic woman, bare and naked, was upon the town. She came with nothing but the health of her body; clean blonde hair made waves down to her bountiful breasts, and lean stomach rose from the notable bush at her crotch. Lumbering footsteps cracked like thunder against the ground, shattering the cobblestone roads wherever she tread. There was no second-guessing the immenseness of her weight, as a single footfall was seen to crush a wagon and its supplies flat into the earth. Buildings quivered to their brick bases as she passed by, the inhabitants within cowering away from her shadow whenever it flooded through their windows. Her scale and nudity struck many into stillness, paralyzed by both awe and confusion, but all the same did they flee when she approached too closely.

Soldiers positioned themselves for defense, but no wall they made was any obstacle to the giant. She easily stepped over lines of guards, casting horror onto those that the sole of her foot flew above. Farther into the city, more soldiers adjoined themselves with a mob armed with pitchforks and fire. Their combined efforts were hoped to be enough to chase the monster away, but their presence did more harm than good. They charged at her ankles and attacked where they could, but her counterattack instantly overwhelmed them -- a kick into a nearby building, its collapse barreling into the men and women posed against her. When she knelt down in front of the fallen, drilling their spirits with an unabashed smile, their will to fight evaporated. The town’s defenses were null against a singular naked woman whose size made playthings out of soldiers and weapons.

Rioting crowds rushed to evacuate the town, but Vivian pushed against their flow, like trudging against the current of a river. Though she feared the explosive power of the giant like anyone else did, she could not yet run away. The naked terror was encroaching onto the heart of the town -- the church, whose bells rang worriedly as the tremors reached their towers. Vivian pleaded under her gasping breaths that her sister was safe somewhere, but she would not foolishly believe so until she had Christin back in her own arms.

Bounding up a set of stairs, Vivian turned a corner and glanced at the giant with a new perspective, an angle that saw rays of sunlight seeping past her humongous form. Despair chilled Vivian’s skin when she saw the giant ahead, crouched at the church’s walls with eyes peering through the windows. A hand broke through the roof as though it were stale bread, snapping inside and feeling around -- then, finding what she sought, she retrieved her prize. Vivian ran closer, but was stunned by what she saw: a handful of church women, tightly enwrapped by unforgiving fingers. They kicked and shrieked, but nothing could overpower the giant’s grasp, even their efforts put together.

One at a time, the church women were lifted by the other hand towards the giant’s face. Vivian could only infer what happened based on the titan’s reaction; a giggle, a glare of roused curiosity, and a shimmer of interest in her eyes. She rolled the woman around in her palm, entertained by how she grappled her fingers and crawled to the edges, vainly searching for a way down. Each of the women in their own time would realize how hopeless it was, but then, they would be dismissed -- plucked plainly by the fingers again, and set aside without comment. These fortunate few would immediately dash away to shelter, until only one priestess was left behind in the giant’s possession.

Vivian approached until she was no longer allowed; a ring of guards formed a barrier around the giant’s location, a perimeter that kept evacuees from nearing too close to the danger. Vivian, stubborn as she was, tried to squeeze past two such soldiers, but they refused to let her slip through. She could only gaze down the length of the street up to the church, down to where the giant sat in the middle of a crossroads.

A fire burned in Vivian’s eyes as she saw a flip of long black hair, just like her own, unfold over a finger. From afar, she was able to recognize the woman with just a glimpse of her face. Vivian began to weep, calling out to her sister, “Christin!!”

The giant was evidently infatuated with the priestess, prodding at her with a fingertip. Try as she might, Christin could not direct the digit away, even with both hands firmly pushed against it. It made no difference to the giant, who maneuvered around the resistance and pinched at the woman’s black robes. This spurred a second wind of strength from Christin, but all the same was she unable to defend herself. The giant’s curiosity could not be halted; it continued as she whimmed, taking the skirt of the robe and lifting it up to expose the priestess’s legs. Christin kicked and spun, but regardless, the giant took what she wanted -- rrrip! The skirt was torn away, turning the dress into tatters. A pantsless woman lay helpless in her hand, coiled into herself and on the verge of tears.

The finger curled around Christin again; she flinched from its touch, but it was tender and careful this time around. It stroked her, from the shoulder down to her hip, sending shivers over her body. Christin begged between sobs, praying that she be released and allowed to see her younger sister again. The only divinity to hear her was the giant herself, and her response was to stand and lift Christin higher, farther away from where she wished to go. The giant’s smile persisted, slowly widening with pleasure as she stood there at her full height. She was seemingly in a trance, casting a long stare around the town while Christin quaked in her palm.

Christin was sealed away, encapsulated by both hands. She yelled and pried at the digits for freedom, but without comment, the giant pivoted and left the church’s grounds. Following the trail of destruction she had made, the naked behemoth thundered off back to where she came.

The nightmare she witnessed cast Vivian into silence, but not into inaction. When the guards were dulled by the giant’s sudden leave, Vivian sprinted out of their hold, too fast to be recaptured. She ran with tears blotching her vision, chasing after the tremors, reaching desperately for her sister and the giant that stole her.

But her speed was no match for the length of the giant’s strides. As spontaneously as she had arrived into town, so too did she depart swiftly. Vivian ran to the end of town, then kept running, continuing after the sounds of huge footfalls crashing through the terrain. Powering through exhaustion, she marched up the hills towards the old temple grounds, a plateau that peeked into the Deep Forest, but she was too late. By the time she had reached that precipice, fallen to her knees with both arms stretched forward, the tremors were no more. The giant had disappeared into the trees as tall as she was, and Christin was gone along with her.

Vivian sunk into depression, but the townsfolk were grateful that the violence stopped where it had. The harm caused by the naked giant could be healed or repaired, everything except for Christin. In the days that followed, guards and volunteers from the church combed the outskirts of the Deep Forest, searching for the kidnapped priestess -- or any signs left behind by the giant. Unfortunately, no such evidence was found, and so the people were left with their confusion and sorrow. A procession was held in honor of Christin, and the church would continue to house her younger sister, but the unanswered questions were an incurable plague of suspense; when would the giant appear, and what was her purpose for coming at all to their humble territory?

No one dwelled on the mystery more deeply than Vivian. The passing of seasons was able to remedy the worry for most, but she could not move on so easily after having lost her beloved sister. Every night, she would travel to the edge of the Deep Woods, creeping through the darkness in hopes she might stumble upon Christin, or even just a clue of her whereabouts. She prayed as she did so, a ward to keep the giant at bay; the trees lurking overhead would frighten her with their reminiscence of her hugeness, their branches like a sprawl of fingers reaching for her. Yet everyday, Vivian would send herself into that darkness.

Before she had realized it, a year had passed. Vivian awoke that day from a slumber she had in the woods, nestled into the thick roots of two trees. Daylight prodded her through the canopy, gently stirring her awake -- until a tremor unsettled her, a mighty quake that made her flinch and gasp. Leaves shivered down from the trees and the native animals scurried to shelter. Then, another quake, more violent than before, a rumble that paralyzed Vivian where she stood.

Vivian lurked away from where she had slumbered, and gawked at what swept in front of her vision. She fell backwards into a bush, marveling at the height of what passed her: a long, powerful leg whose stride snapped and tore through the canopies. The flat of a foot crushed down anything in its path, catching branches and debris between its toes. As suddenly as it had stomped into view, so too did it continue out of the forest, leaving Vivian staring at the heels as they bounded away as a pair.

The giant had returned. The very same woman, exactly as nude as she was before. A blonde titan that sidestepped defenses and pushed mobs of guards aside with her presence alone. Vivian followed after her crashing footfalls, hurrying as much as she could to return to town and do something to get Christin back.

But the giant reached the town much faster than her, casually strolling through the uproar that mirrored her original arrival, and she appeared set on a goal. She peered over crowds with a keen eye, broke into lodges and halls for exact purposes. She was looking for something, like she had before, but was wasting no time in retrieving that prize.

There was a scream, and the giant smiled. Caught in her hand like an animal, a woman in white attire jerked and flailed in what little ways she could. She was a bride to be wed that noon, dressed wonderfully in a gorgeous gown, but the giant had overtaken her destiny, stealing the bride in an unforgiving fist that easily carried her away. Guards fought to keep her, piling on top of the titan’s feet and stabbing at her ankles, but their diminutive attacks were no match. They were kicked to the wayside as the giant marched away, seemingly more preoccupied with fawning over her capture than to be concerned with any of the people.

By the time Vivian had left the Deep Forest, the giant had retreated into its walls of trees. Once again did the townspeople sweep the forest, but just as the year before, there were no signs of where the giant had disappeared to. Her and the bride were gone, but a new dread engulfed the citizens; this was no longer an unexplainable happenstance, but a ritual -- this gargantuan figure, so impossible that her existence could only be defined as divine, was claiming sacrifices.

So began a new age for the townspeople. A myth perpetuated by the church dominated their lives now. The giant was deemed not to be a monster, but an icon of a goddess, an avatar for the bountiful season that followed her yearly visits. Having discovered a pattern, the church organized a ruthless ritual in her honor, to keep her content and ward her from devastating their home. As the goddess had claimed two of the most beautiful women in the land, it was decided that every year, they would offer her a selection to choose from, presented to her at the old temple facing the Deep Forest.

As they had expected, when the season came and the tremors announced the regular arrival of the giant, she stood before what was brought to her. That third year, seven women were arranged for presentation; their struggles against this oppressive ritual were punished with bindings that trapped them to stone plates, and armed guards ensured no offering could escape too far. The goddess studied this development, her faraway expression difficult to judge, until a hand swept from her side down onto one particular woman. Her choice was made. The townspeople heard screams from the sacrifice, begging her neighbors to help her and to prevent her being taken away, but the giant left in peace, just as they had all prayed for.

Vivian was in the audience of that sacrifice, unflinching as she watched the goddess return and pick out a woman to steal. While the townspeople celebrated their safety and rushed to free the remaining women, Vivian continued to stare into the Deep Forest’s entrance, a hand held over her heavy heart. As rain encroached to wash away the darkness of that day, she swore she would learn of her sister’s whereabouts, to solve the mystery of the missing women. Without an attachment to this world, she decided then she would become a sacrifice and learn the truth for only herself -- she would reunite with her sister in whatever plane of existence she had ascended to.

Crows cawed in chorus with one another as the carriage was pulled up a pathway of stone bricks. They watched from the aged remains of the old temple’s architecture, their noises like laughter towards the women that had been chosen. The fog was heavier towards the Deep Forest, and a drizzle had begun to shower the scene, just as guards began unloading the women one at a time. Vivian was in the middle of the group, and though she complied with every order, all the same was she snatched by a priest and pulled forward along with the others. An audience of townspeople followed them only so far before guards ushered them back, allowing the ritual to be concluded in peace.

Vivian’s hand again clenched at her heart, twisting her cloak by the collar as her eyes glazed over the familiar surroundings. The stage had been set: atop the plateau that pointed into the Deep Forest, seven circles of stone were prepared, heavy bed-sized tablets that were propped at an upwards angle with wooden supports dug underneath them. Strategically designed slots allowed for wrists and ankles to be tied down, and priests were at the ready with chains for that very purpose. Any sympathy for the women they were about to strap down was veiled by the plain white masks they wore, their humanity disguised as mere tools for the goddess.

The women were directed to the tablets, one designated for each of them. Vivian watched as the first of the offerings was held down, how the guards overpowered her futile efforts of resistance long enough for the priests to bind her. As she watched, a guard pushed her from behind, tripping her to the ground; she was brutally picked up and tossed onto a plate, despite showing no resistance. Even as her arms and legs were spread apart to be tied down, a guard pinned her by the throat, preventing any last-minute possibilities of escape. But Vivian closed her eyes and breathed, her worry molded into a dark and steady calm.

As the others were bound in similarly rough fashions, an audience built up behind them, recognized for their murmuring over the event about to unfold. A priest stood in front of them all, at the very precipice of the cliff, his arms spread wide in the air as he declared the offerings to be suitable for the goddess. He ranted according to script, dipping in and out of prayers, but Vivian was dulled to what she had listened to in the years past. She thought only of her mission, emotions spiralling around that persistent worry: What if I’m not chosen…?

Then, in an instant, that concern was dispelled. All thoughts were blown away like dust in the wind when the first sign of the goddess’s approach was felt. It shushed the restless crowds, a movement that traveled fast through the ground. The trees of the forest rustled with activity, shaking just as much as the mortals awaiting her entrance. Tremors grew louder and more powerful, an impact for every suspenseful second that counted by, a different series of cracks and breaks echoing from the labyrinthian growth of trees. The most panicked of the offerings began to scream and worm about in her bindings, even as two guards wrestled with her to submit; those adjacent to her caught the same bug of fear, piping up with their own wails, but Vivian bit her tongue. Her heart froze over, only to thaw when she saw the first glimpse of movement far within the border of the Deep Forest.

She had arrived. Graceful movements like a dance wove her through the many trees, her footfalls flattening whatever hurdles would otherwise obstruct a mortal’s path. She circumvented it all, a naked body that appeared as natural as the terrain itself, something that could not be questioned by human logic. Branches broke against that bareness, decorating her fields of skin with sap and leaves that meant nothing to her. A face pierced through the canopy, highlighted with blonde hair that bounced to her movements, an expression that was undeterminable until it rose from its hunchward angle. Soft lips lay flat with neutrality, and warm eyes narrowed onto the jet of earth that the old temple was established on, a stage that rose only as high as her waist.

The priests were the first to bow, followed by the guards and then the audience of townspeople. They cheered for her -- the arrival of the goddess.

But from Vivian’s throat was a croak of a gasp. As those demanding footfalls thundered up to a standstill, Vivian felt lighter and smaller, her anxious body wanting to coil up and hide, if it was able to. Bound as she was like the other offerings, Vivian could only struggle to move her arms and legs, her stomach sick with regret for letting herself come to this. It suddenly became apparent to her that there was no guarantee any of this would function as planned -- beneath this behemoth of a woman, Vivian lost sight of everything, her ambitions eclipsed by the significance of the goddess.

The leading priest turned to the goddess, his arms raised in respect of the unabashed glory looming above. Him and his underlings gestured wide and slow towards the seven plates, presenting them in an appetizing fashion. They could only imagine the goddess’s perspective and hope it would satisfy her; they envisioned the women, squirming under her shadow, dressed in the richest and finest gowns. One among the selection, at least, had to be worthy for the goddess’s choosing, lest the town were to suffer greatly.

Vivian, however, cared nothing about the town or its people. The bonds she had with anyone had burned away to ash, and so too had any concern for their fates melted from her mind. All that mattered was the giant above her and the choice she would make, a decision she dwelled on for some time. Vivian flinched when that massive face leaned close, too intimidated to look back into those piercing eyes or those pillowy lips, but in glimpses did she study the giant, catching sights of her bosom pressed between her arms, blonde flips of hair dropping from her shoulders, the plushness of her cheeks as they reddened with delight. As an offering, she had the most unique and advantageous angle of this amazing creature, yet it was as if she was staring into the sun, blinded by the glow of her holiness.

That great gravity was relieved from Vivian. The goddess had lifted away, risen back to her impressive height with her crotch level with the cliff. Vivian could breathe again, but each heave pushed more panic through her veins. That had been just the first glance of the goddess’s interests, the beginning of her inspection; a lick of her lips spoke down to the townspeople that these selections were appealing.

A hand hovered over the presentation of plates, its shadow scanning the sacrifices once over before settling on the most leftward to grab. The heavy stone that could weigh down any warrior was casually uplifted from the ground, so delicately handled in the goddess’s grip that observers could be convinced it had always been so light. The woman strapped to that plate choked on her scream, forcing herself to be quiet while the huge pair of eyes examined her shivering form. She winced when a finger then reached for her, curling around the plate and stroking her side with just the pad. The goddess tilted the plate, viewing the offering from a few different angles, before setting the choice back down where it had been -- and so, she moved onto the neighboring sacrifice, lifting up their stone just the same as the first.

Suspense froze the crowds, but Vivian and the other sacrifices trembled endlessly in their chains as they awaited their turn to be analyzed individually. When the goddess had someone in her possession, only the underside of the stone could be seen, and only the wails of their reactions could be heard. The slightest grin or raise of her brow threw any observer into wonder of her judgement, everyone trying to predict who she would decide on. Vivian tried to infer for herself how the other maidens fared, but the goddess always seemed to react the same, performing the same tests of touches and stares -- what was she looking for, when choosing which woman to steal away?

Vivian was worrying if she had that mysterious quality the goddess searched for, when the sacrificial plate beside her was drawn up from the earth. There was a terrible screech of a reaction from the woman being plucked, a harsh noise that shook the unexpecting members of the audience -- it did not phase the goddess at all, nor how she struggled so desperately against the chains. Vivian remembered her by the shrill pitch of her voice, the same manic woman that had resisted the ritual all day.

Where the others had thus far been awestruck into stunned silence, this particular maiden screamed in protest the entire time, wildly yelling at the goddess. She begged to be placed down, trying hopelessly to explain the value of her life, why it was important she be left alive. The goddess turned and tilted her just like the others, but there was a glare steepening in her expression. The maiden’s boldness earned a direct response from the goddess: “Shush,” the giant urged, a quiet word that yet pushed down on the maiden with its immenseness.

The crowd was cast into a tense spell, for rarely had a word been spoken by the goddess. They worried what fury the maiden might summon if she continued to resist, and continued she did, her energy barely wounded by the goddess’s hush. She roared at the lengthy finger as it approached her, petting her waist down to her leg while she was powerless to stop it. The goddess giggled, maybe enthused with how she had de-willed the maiden--

“Ah!” the goddess piped suddenly, a wince that made the townspeople gasp and clutch their hearts. Her finger was quickly withdrawn; the maiden had bitten it, taking the chance to do so when the pad of the digit neared her face just close enough. It was an incredible offense, spurring flustered murmuring in the crowds -- some fretted back preemptively, expecting divine retribution to strike them immediately.

But the goddess was still after coiling her finger away. There was silence, not even the cries of the maiden. Then, after a flash of disgust appeared on the goddess’s face, she executed her punishment: a glob of split launched from her lips and slapped the maiden’s entirety. Observers flinched at this standard of justice, but then, there was relief, an exhale of understanding that the town would not have to pay for the one maiden’s crime. It was enough, so it seemed, that her body be drenched in saliva, struck so hard by the viscous fluid that it nearly knocked her unconscious. She was made into an example that would burn into the townspeople’s memories, the image of a beautiful woman sputtering from a blanket of spit, weakly shivering as the warmth rapidly turned cold.

Vivian had her head turned completely to the right side, her eyes wide open to the agony set back beside her. She heard so vividly the coughing of that punished maiden, how she gasped for air writhing in the ooze of spit. It was a painful thought to accept that this humiliation was a mercy compared to what else the goddess could do -- a list of so many possibilities, Vivian imagined, what with the absolute power her size provided her over any mortal.

And then, the shadow was upon her. Vivian held her breath, blinking as the last image in her vision was that of the giant, naked and proud in how she loomed over her. She felt the platform against her back shake as it was gripped into fingers. Following that was the jump off the ground, the stone plate lifted into the air, a sensation of weightlessness as the goddess applied her power in this casual fashion.

Breathing again, Vivian opened her eyes, met with the chilling stare of the goddess’s. There was nothing else to gaze into but that massive face. The townspeople seemingly disappeared, so far below Vivian that she could no longer hear their whispering or shuffling -- no priests chanting, no maidens whimpering. It felt like a different world where only her and the goddess existed; for at least that moment, Vivian understood what it was like to be chosen.

She remembered still that this was just an inspection, and only just the middle of it. Vivian’s body clenched as the plate was rotated in the goddess’s grasp, occasionally tilted in such a way that she was hanging off the stone, held only by the strength of the chains. It was uncomfortable and disorienting, but most dizzying of all were her attempts at reading the goddess’s thoughts. Vivian studied the littlest details in her curious expression, just as every other maiden had, though by then, she was unsure what outcome she was praying for: was it still her desire to be selected, or did she wish to remain in the mortal realm she knew?

The nose, so pointed and big, came close to Vivian -- it prodded her, then sniffed at her, a huff that tugged at the sparse looseness of her red gown and pulled at any loose hairs. It stole her breath as well as her train of thought: she had been smelled by the goddess, for a purpose she did not comprehend. Had the others been tested in such a way? Was there a special quality to her scent, or was it another offense to the goddess?

“Hmm… You…” The goddess spoke in a whisper, a soft tone that danced into Vivian’s hearing. If the townspeople also heard her, Vivian had no way of knowing, so warped into the world of the goddess’s possession. She leaned forward anxiously into the next of the goddess’s words: “You seem… familiar… Almost…”

Vivian mouthed the speech back, desperate to hear more spoken from the goddess, but all that rang afterwards was a giggle. Without further explanation, the goddess was finished with her inspection, and the plate was placed back into the center. Vivian gasped when the stone hit the earth, flat again on the ground; all at once, she felt rocked back into reality, as if woken from blacking out. Once again, the giant loomed high and far above, turning towards the next maiden in the queue.

The rumble of the goddess’s movements rolled like thunder, an ambience that lulled Vivian into a trance. She thought nothing more of the other maidens, just as she had abandoned the townspeople in her mind. The singular idea captivated her as her head replayed those earlier sensations: the goddess truly was supreme in this world. The goddess, gifted with that impossible size, was inarguable. The earth rightfully quivered to her footsteps, and they had all been correct in sacrificing to her whatever and whoever she whimmed for. An all new respect for the goddess had been formed, but that respect was dense and dreadful to bear.

The peak moment had arrived, and with its arrival was a chilling wind. The goddess stepped back and marveled over her choices, her smile bubbling with excitement with a finger curled close to it. The priests gestured for her to bless them with her decision, but she still took her time, leaning low again for another sweep of appraisal.

Vivian shimmied up her sacrificial plate as best she could, positioning herself to gawk at the goddess -- it could very well be her final opportunity to see the holy figure so close, a perspective so few would ever appreciate. Her gaze dove into the features of the giant; how her hand caressed her thigh to support her towering posture, how her bosom hung and swayed with the weight of houses. A nervous sigh escaped Vivian as she shakily laid her head back against the stone, strangled by the goddess’s suspense.

Finally, the goddess rose again, and from that high angle, she reached down into the row of stone plates. A sprawl of fingers claimed a circle, just as it had when inspecting each option, but when her choice was uprooted, it was carried level with her heart, distanced farther as the goddess stepped back from the cliffside -- never to be set down alongside the others again.

The goddess’s farewell was silent, just as it historically had been. Her head turned to the townspeople, her glance flashed at the array of priests, and with no other act, she pivoted towards the Deep Forest. A hymn was conducted for her departure, a ceremonious song that healed the uneasy spirits of the crowds, but was a fading laughter to the maiden carried away from the life she once knew.

Vivian unthawed. Her heart began to beat again, thumping in her chest, accelerating like a drum. She blinked hard, feeling the wind blow fast around her like never before. There was a constant movement, a rhythm like a ship sailing into waves. With every bounce, her chains shook unforgivingly against her wrists and ankles, her body too heavy to move -- yet, like she experienced earlier, she felt weightless like a feather.

The realization took that long to dawn on Vivian, resonating in her throat as she reckoned with her destiny: the goddess had chosen her. Years of praying for this fate had finally woven her into that wish, a thin thread that she hoped would lead her to her beloved sister. A long, winding thread that stretched into the unknown of the Deep Forest, the shadows slowly consuming her like a manifestation of the truth she sought.

Branches broke against the unstoppable body of the goddess as she carved a path between the countless trees. It was a cacophony of snapping wood and quivering leaves, the debris of which powdered Vivian; she was spared from the worst of it, shielded by the goddess’s other arm held steady in front of her. The hundreds of whipping obstacles did not impede the giant at all as she stomped through the tangled terrain; her smile persisted even to this point, her pace notably faster than when she had debuted. Vivian could assume as much that the goddess, for whatever reasons were ahead, was excited to have claimed her prize.

There was no turning back, a fact that sunk into Vivian’s core. No maiden sacrificed to the goddess had ever returned, never heard from again. The darkest theories popped into her mind like crackles in a fire, the very likely truths that this was a road to death. What else could occur to those picked by this titan, whose size alone is so overpowering that a single step could end a mortal’s life? What could make a mortal so special as to be kept alive? It was obvious, Vivian thought, what destiny her sister was victim to -- and she was foolishly following in those tragic footsteps, having flung herself into that same destiny.

Vivian screamed. “Nooo!! Take me back!! Take me back!!” she yelled, her begging paced between the smashing of footfalls. She stopped and panted, expecting the goddess to respond in some way, but the walking continued without pause. Vivian wailed, “Please! Please, Goddess! Reconsider!! I-I’m not worthy!! I’m not ready…!! Goddess-- Hhaaiiihh!!”

She squealed as she was careened upward, the sudden jolt in movement sentencing her into radical spasms. The goddess’s face dominated what she saw, lifted close to those eyes like she had been before. Vivian squirmed, far less stable now than when the goddess scanned her; she looked not into those pools of eyes, but into that wide entrance that were her lips, which curled at her cheeks with an unabashed amusement.

The goddess inhaled, interrupting a chance for Vivian to shriek again and enthralling the maiden into her upcoming words. “You don’t have to worry,” she promised, her pillowy lips dancing uncannily to form her speech. “You’ll be safe. But I want you to be quiet. No more screaming. I don’t care for it. Understand?”

Vivian blinked and gasped madly, shivering as the breaths of the goddess washed over her with warnings. She had not expected such a command, nor anything to be said by her captor. Rather than reply to her, she started to sob, pulling vainly at her chains. “I-I can’t go…! No, no, not like this…! Sister, no--”

“Please?” the goddess interjected -- sharp enough to make Vivian flinch and look away. “It’s a long walk, so you should save your energy. Screaming won’t help you.”

Vivian shook her head in despair. The goddess’s warning was clear and straightforward, but her heart pulsed with determination. How could she simply roll over and accept this demise? Even if asked to by divinity itself, Vivian growled in retaliation to the order, still tugging at her restraints regardless of how they pinched back at her skin.

The goddess slowed into a halt, her shielding arm leaned against a mighty tree as she stared at her choice. Vivian persisted with her shouts and barks, refusing to be taken quietly. It left the goddess with no other option; with a sigh, she stomped forward as she had been, but with the sacrificial plate nestled into the depths of her breasts. Held steady against her center, the goddess could smile again, only able to hear the most-muffled cries from her newly acquired maiden spouting from her cleavage.

Vivian roared into the flesh that surrounded her, despite her understanding that she would go ignored. Swamped in sweaty skin that pushed in from all directions, she was suffocated by the distinct aroma attached to the goddess, more claimed by her than she had been before. Bound like she was, Vivian could do nothing to suppress the fat from flooding around her, helpless to how the plush masses bobbed relentlessly. It was soon after that her will diminished; no longer did she shout for the goddess, but all the same was she trapped between the breasts, sentenced there for the length of the voyage.

It’s a long walk, Vivian recalled the goddess having said so. For that length of time, the goddess’s bosom would be her captivity. Accompanying her would be the noises outside the walls of flesh leaking in, the destruction of nature as a massive body trampled over it; heard just as clearly was the rhythm of a deep heartbeat, reliably beating regardless of the chaos. Vivian meditated on these sounds as she wondered how far this venture would take her -- how far it had taken the others before her.

The snapping of tree branches eventually slowed, then ceased entirely. In its place was the racking of stone and soil, the earth giving way as the goddess’s unyielding feet stormed through hillsides. Vivian concluded that they must have exitted the Deep Forest, if that was even possible. The townspeople were always wary of the depths of the forest, knowing only that somewhere past the expansive growth was a range of low mountains lost in a perpetual fog. Seemingly, the giant’s strides had achieved such a feat, brewing within Vivian more concern of what place this godly figure heralded from.

The movement ended, stirring Vivian from her weariness. Light flowed around her as she was removed from the cleavage and back into the open air; a mist had appeared, dotting Vivian’s vision as she strained herself to scope her surroundings. She gasped when she was plummeting to the ground, lowered there by the goddess to be placed down at her feet. Still trapped by the chains, Vivian whipped into restlessness, calling out to the goddess, “Wh-What’s happening?! What are we doing here?!”

The goddess giggled as she craned away from Vivian, posing before her at full height. Slowly, she brought a finger to her lips: “Hush. Just wait.” The gentleness of her tone was able to soothe Vivian into stillness, but the maiden’s mind yet raced with worry, watching as the giant turned towards something peculiar.

It looked like the tower to a castle or fortress, but its walls were sleek with an impossible amount of steel, propped up by four bladed legs that impaled the rocky mountain ground. At its peak, most unusually, was a bulbous head of a haunting green color, which illuminated when the giant apparently made contact with it. Tall as it might have been, that strange head only went as high as the goddess’s stomach, the scale of some sort of tool or, as Vivian worried, a weapon.

Vivian then detected a buzz in the atmosphere, as if something was rumbling in the sky. The goddess looked at her with a casual expression, implying that this was normal, but that did little to ease Vivian. More questions rushed at her as she watched the goddess commit to other preparations, walking to the other side of the clearing and bending low to retrieve something else. It was scaled to her, a garment of some kind that she unrolled in front of her -- gray and bleak like the rain clouds, it was a full-body suit the goddess stepped into, first kicking in her legs before pulling the sleeves up over her arms. Once zipped, the outfit -- the uniform -- appeared seamless on her body, free of wrinkles and bumps, and tightly warping to her shape for an absolutely perfect fit. Upon the otherwise blank attire was a notable sigil, a circular design foreign to Vivian, but that this divine figure wore proudly above her heart, whatever it meant.

The mysteries that plagued her were left unanswered as the goddess thundered back towards the sacrificial plate. Vivian vocalized her confusion in sputtered, aimless remarks that were too mumbled for the giant to hear, continuing to stammer over herself even as she was picked up again, carried in both hands and cradled in front of the gigantic person. There was a cold calm created by the goddess’s assured grin, that hint of giddiness detected in her attitude.

“Now, what’s about to happen, will happen very quickly,” the goddess announced, glancing at the weird tower that hummed more actively. “It will look like you’re blinking, but it will feel like going through a wall. Just be ready, and don’t panic.”

Vivian quaked. “T-Tell me what’s happening!” she pleaded. “I need to know! Explain!”

The goddess laughed. “You’re the most curious yet,” she whispered, then winked. “I’ll tell you everything on the other side.”

The air buzzed more intensely with that unusual energy, which Vivian could now undeniably source to that giant-sized device. It was responsible for the electric tingle in the air, a sensation that spread to every corner of her body as though being washed in the feeling. The dread of being overwhelmed drained her into submission; no squirming, no screaming, only the long, anxious breaths that were drowned by the increasing volume of that droning noise.

Vivian’s eyes flashed open, her pupils burned by the sudden strike of lightning she witnessed at that very moment. If she had made a noise, it went unheard, either blown away by some incredibly loud crash, or perhaps never spoken at all, disappearing before it could escape her throat.

In that clearing within the mountains, many miles from where civilization had not yet developed, stood only that beacon, taller than the clusters of pine trees. There was no goddess, and there was no maiden. What was left of their presence was a faint glow as the bulb’s light faded, an eerie green streak shot upwards into the sky -- past the clouds, out of the atmosphere, and beyond the orbit of the moon.

In a pulse that took her through a complete void of darkness, Vivian underwent a harsh sensation that vibrated all over her body. Like being thrown fast through the air, she was destined to where she was propelled, unable to alter her trajectory. There was no noise, not even her own scream; perhaps she was deaf, or perhaps this voyage was so incredible that all was mute in that moment it took to warp between worlds.

A moment was really all it was, despite burning a deep impression into Vivian that had her reeling long after it was over. More than just her stomach swirled agonizingly as there was a sudden stop in all of that motion. She gasped for air, her limbs twitching but still bound by chains to the unforgiving slate of stone. What filled her lungs was something starkly different from what she was accustomed to breathing, far cooler and cleaner than what the winds whipped up from the forest into her hometown. She felt it along her skin too, an atmosphere unlike her own, but as intensely as she wished to see where she was, her eyes were still adjusting, only able to view her world as a bobbing blur. All she could understand was that she was still held by the goddess, rocked back into that identifiable rhythm of huge footsteps.

Sharp, metallic sounds buzzed randomly from faraway corners. A slight echo rang through what must have been a corridor, but Vivian had no clue where they could be, a location enclosed on all sides yet arced wide enough for a giant to pass. With spots of her vision returning, Vivian blinked furiously to scope out her surroundings, suddenly struck with a realization that put a panic to her breathing. It could only be the case that this was a realm fitted for the goddess -- this was the domain of the divine, the great Heaven the church claimed she heralded from.

But this was not like any description of Heaven she was taught. Wide open fields that radiated with warmth, rivers that never ran dry, everything illuminated by a golden grace; none of that was to be found as Vivian looked side to side in a furor. All was chill and stale, the world a droning gray and black, illuminated by dozens of dim suns arranged in the sky. The air itself buzzed with a nonstop noise, like an ever present growl, suggesting there was an expansive lifeform among them -- something greater than the goddess herself.

She, the giant cradling Vivian’s slate in one hand, had approached a gate sized for her. It responded to her presence, folding out of her way as though it were dismissed from existing. With so much having astonished her, Vivian remained her palest as she was brought into another chamber, a place tighter and more compact than the area before. It was brighter, and a particular scent was immediately noticed, an aroma that made Vivian want to sneeze and gag as the gate closed them both in.

Before Vivian could even wonder the purpose of the room, it was upon her. From every direction, a spray was unleashed, instantly filling the room with a distinct moisture that coated the occupants. Vivian squealed and stuttered as a shower of chemicals washed over her, seeping into every layer of her crimson dress as she begged for the ordeal to end. That hint of an aroma from before now had its explanation flooded over the wailing woman; though the exact scent was unfamiliar, the acidic, tangy odor must have been a cleaner of some sort; was this a trial of cleansing? Vivian could only imagine it was as much, as a seemingly endless amount of the chemical was covered over her, and the goddess just as well.

As the shower continued and Vivian endured, the slate she was strapped to was maneuvered to be almost flat in both of the goddess’s palms. The rain that should have poured over Vivian was shielded by the giant’s loom of interest over her, though plenty more sprayed on her from all other directions. Angled this way from the goddess’s waist, Vivian was forced to gawk upwards at the divine, aimed to witness how the mist bounced off her unwavering form to no effect -- other than curling her lips into a comfortable smile, warmed by the cleansing shower and the spread of a woman in her grasp. Through the vapor between them, their eyes met, complete confusion dwarfed by a smug, knowing grin.

The spray of water weakened to an end, and with its absence of noise, it was revealed how loudly Vivian had been whimpering and coughing. Restrained from wiping her vision clear, she saw the giant as a massive blur, unable to make sense of how she was being lifted and turned until she heard the shiver of a giggle just above her. The goddess was amused and cherishing the prize in her possession, perhaps taking pity on what Vivian had gone through, but not enough to free her from the slate. When the subsequent gate opened just the same as the one before it, the goddess exited with her smile still shining, navigating into the next room with a keen eye on how her captive would react.

“Now that we’ve been decontaminated,” the goddess said, her voice still so unusual for Vivian to hear, “I can finally welcome you to your new home.” A gentle but pointed fingertip drew near to the little woman and dabbed at her face; though Vivian resisted and twisted away from the touch, it was intended to dry her eyes, priming her to be introduced to a new world -- a world that was terrifyingly advanced, well beyond Vivian’s comprehension.

The view opened up to her as the goddess rotated the slate, aiming the woman’s body around the wide room they had entered. Vivian blinked and gasped, expecting this surreal image to clarify itself, but nothing she saw was recognizable to her. By distancing her understanding of her perspective and thinking more like the giant that held her, she could make out only the most basic features; bench-like seats surrounding a circular table, counters along the walls that displayed a variety of items, and windows that looked out into a night sky -- or was it? The endless pitch black and the shimmering stars were familiar in that way, earning most of Vivian’s focus as the wide view stretched from one wall to another, with a large seat situated in the middle for viewing outside. It truly was a setting that could only be described as otherworldly, so beyond mortal understanding that no religious scholar had ever imagined this cold, steely reality.

A sickness sank within Vivian’s stomach, overwhelmed with everything she saw, scared of how huge it all was. It was a relief to finally be aimed at something else, even if it was her captor’s coy expression, her eyes narrowed in delight, the fullness of her lashes fanning Vivian with their fluttery blinks. The goddess continued inward, freely grabbing a towel from off a shelf that she used to gently dry off the moisture from decontaminating. It was a distinct sensation that Vivian suffered, that she felt humiliated to be carried around like a mere object while so many mysteries went unexplained.

It cast her into a bubble of rage, enough to spit and shout, “Where am I?! What is all of this?!” She panted, finally letting out the fluster that had been suspended to its limits. She strained her neck to look up at the goddess, but it was too demoralizing to maintain, her head slumping forward with a grunt. “Please… I beg of you, Goddess, pl-please… I only wish to know…!”

Vivian’s pleas had been heard, but she shuddered to be addressed, locked again beneath that giant stare of blue eyes that scanned her entirety in an instant. The little woman expected silence, or maybe just another ring of giggles, but she froze and listened carefully when she saw those pink lips curl and move to speak.

“Do you really want to know? Do you want to know everything?” the goddess asked, her volume controlled but always momentous. Even the small sigh that escaped her felt significant with its gust of strength. “I’ve already explained it to the others, too. It’s a boring story, and none of you ever really grasp what’s going on~ You might be better off simply… guessing. Knowing isn’t always better.”

Vivian found her throat hollow when she tried to reply, her voice having cowered within her -- it would be too easy, otherwise, for her to be speaking to a goddess so proudly. It was a convincing suggestion from the goddess that she merely close her eyes to the unknown, but the goddess’s mention of the others had Vivian inspired. She choked up the courage to seek out the answers she sacrificed herself for; “I-I want to know… I came here so I could know wh-what happened… to those that were taken… I h-have to know…!” A sob forced itself into her begging as weary, heavy eyes craned back up towards the goddess. “My sister… Wh-Where is she…?”

“Mmm…” The goddess reared her head away, her expression shifting after hearing Vivian out. She gently nodded, finding herself scanning the tiny body once again; it was coming together in her head just what about this woman as an offering had attracted her. “Well… There’s more to unpack here than usual. Your sister, was she taken away? Like you were?”

“Err, y-yes…” Vivian lurked into silence, weighed down by the memories of Christin’s kidnapping. Suddenly, it itched at her how dangerous it was to be so vulnerable in that same giant’s hand. “She was… taken. You took her. She was the first maiden you ever took…”

The goddess nodded more obviously, inhaling the information as her smile crept wider. “Of course… It makes sense now.” Her guideless walk in the central room turned to a countertop, where she laid the slate flat on its back with the red-dressed woman facing up at her. She hovered high and away for a moment, belittling Vivian with just her posture, before taking a finger to the tiny woman’s sides, brushing the tip and just the edge of a nail along her waist and down an immobilized leg. “You look so much like her, heh… Aww~ You might even be just a little cuter.”

Vivian held her breath tightly as the finger groped her side, tickled by its tenderness. Wherever she was touched felt like that part of her then belonged to the goddess, but she held strong to who she was and the commitment she had vowed. “I want to see her…” Vivian whimpered. “I-It’s been five years… So much has changed, I-I’m afraid I may not… recognize her…” She lifted her head, then twitched with desperation, “What did you do to her…?!”

The goddess giggled, a ringing melody that descended onto Vivian as the giant leaned forward onto the countertop, her smug expression propped up by an arm while the other semi-circled around the sacrificial plate. Her amusement settled on a sharp grin, bringing her finger close again to Vivian -- to a chained hand, connecting with it as gently as possible. “You really want to know, hm? But… it’s so fun watching you struggle like this,” she admitted in a laugh. “Something you should learn first about being here… is that I like to draw things out. I like to see you all squirm and scratch. Get riled up. Hehe…”

What was announced haunted Vivian with a hint as to what the dynamic between her and the goddess would be -- presumably, the same as it was for the other maidens that had been whisked away. But the goddess continued, and she offered relief, “But I’m not really that mean. Not all the time~ I just like to have fun. That’s what this is all about. Me, enjoying life, as much as it can be enjoyed while stationed out here…”

More questions were choking Vivian’s thoughts, but her attention snapped to the huge thumb and its long nail that angled at her with razor intent. Vivian spasmed in her restraints as the digit came rushing down, expecting to have an arm severed, or to be impaled outright; there was the startling clash of the goddess’s nail meeting the chain instead, and after a second’s worth of pressure exerted onto it, there was a metallic snap. Vivian flinched just as harsh as before, hitting herself with her newly freed hand -- the excess chain still bound to her wrist whipped her in the cheek, souring the otherwise enlightening sensation of having precious movement again.

“Damn things…” the goddess chuckled. “I wish they’d stop tying you ladies up like this… Literally no one asked for this.” Her tone was chill and smooth, stepped back from the oozing confidence she normally aired. That casual attitude persisted as she took her thumbnail to the other arm’s chain, breaking the restraint apart as if she were cracking a nut. “I guess I shouldn’t complain… Bringing me women to pick from does make things easier. On the other hand, stepping around those little buildings was pretty exciting…”

Using both thumbs, the final two chains were broken simultaneously, releasing Vivian’s legs so that all her limbs were freed. Immediately, she cloistered into herself, hugging the parts of her that had been pinned, but she could only cherish so much while under the shadow of the goddess. An instinct told her to flee, and another told her to beg; between the two, she sat frozen and afraid, unsure if she should be fearing the goddess herself, or the alien world she inhabited.

The goddess allowed her to quiver as she did, delighted enough by what she saw to smile in the silence. She loomed knowingly, that it would dawn on Vivian eventually that there was no place to go -- they were tethered, whether Vivian wanted to be or not. It was proven true when the goddess leaned away to take a seat, reeling a castle-sized barstool into position behind her. By stepping aside, Vivian had every chance to bolt off, and she naturally considered it, but to where she would go, it made no difference, as the ground -- polished smooth and sleek, comparable only to the frozen lakes of winter  -- only led to unforgiving edges, steep drops to a distant floor. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere that the goddess could not reach, and so she kept herself balanced on the slate, the pathetic island that was the only other thing from her world.

Vivian understood the meaning of the test, and her resolve to stay there and steady her breathing was the answer the goddess desired. At least, she was assumed to be pleased; Vivian could only make so much sense of the goddess’s emotions from her perspective at her chest. Though the gigantic woman had sunken into a seat, what Vivian witnessed was still monumental, and sickeningly mesmerizing. Staring up at her body, bare like it was and glistening from the shower, it was easy to fall into a trance over such beauty, so quick to forget the purpose of her being here.

“... Thank you for freeing me,” Vivian said, coughing out of a sore throat. She shuddered the moment the goddess’s body shifted with a giggle, afraid she had spoken out of turn -- already was that class of respect established, that she could only speak when allowed. Her voice itched to be heard while she had the chance, but the question she was compelled to ask was not what she thought to prioritize: “... Who are you? What are you? A… A huma-?”

“Ohh, you’re smart,” the goddess chimed, cutting down Vivian’s boldless volume. The question had struck a chord, so Vivian could tell, as it drew the goddess to fix at her hair and cast a look elsewhere -- nervous habits that were eerily mundane. “Human… That’s a good guess. That’s the best guess any of you ladies have made. You’re sort of right, but, hehe… Look at us, hm?” She relaxed again, now with her composure. She cradled her head into a palm, the other arm perched onto the ledge in front of Vivian’s slate. These movements, the way she repositioned herself to be comfortable, were all so significant to the mortal woman, putting light to the point the goddess was making. “Like you said, I am just a human. But if that’s what I am, then you are a bug. And I’m not even joking. That’s what they classified you as~”

Select words stung to hear. Vivian stammered over her attempts to reply, a feebleness that amused the goddess, until she settled on a single word of mystery: “They…?”

The goddess chuckled and rolled her eyes. “The Galactic Protection Force. The government of the galaxy -- exactly what the galaxy didn’t need,” she scoffed, though she figured her humor was well beyond Vivian’s reach. She slouched more onto the counter as though genuinely burdened to have to explain, “They monitor all the civilizations throughout space and make sure nothing troublesome goes interplanetary. But whenever the GPF scanned your planet, they didn’t detect any signs of civilization. Only these little, itty-bitty organisms~ No one even thought to come down and take a look! After all, on the computers, it just looked like a world full of bugs crawling everywhere… Are you keeping up?”

Vivian had turned to stone listening to the goddess. When scholars of the church spoke of the divine as being incomprehensible, she now understood what they must have meant. The goddess spoke of forces so beyond her grasp -- the grasp of all her people, supposedly -- that they were defined as insects. Vivian’s heart drummed painfully in her hollow body; she dreaded the unimportance of her own heartbeat, the insignificance of everything she had lived to know.

“Aw, don’t worry,” the goddess cooed, continuing to speak down on Vivian with a persistent motherly tone. “No one else ever gets it on their first day. I’m surprised you know as much as you do. Heh, if I saw a woman as big as I am to you… obviously I don’t believe in god, but hell, I’d believe she was it. Who would I be to say no?”

“Who are you?!” Vivian gasped, taken over by the horror of her situation. “I-If you’re human, wh-why…?”

“Why?” the giant repeated, leaning in yet closer to hear. Every inch of approach pushed Vivian to crawl away as little as she could on the stone, her eyes always flickering to the behemoth breasts that were pooling onto the countertop. The huff exhaled by the goddess was close enough to swirl around Vivian in a breeze. “Because I’m bigger, and I get bored on this route. I’m just a recruit in the GFP-- as in, I’m just a lackey. A nobody named Shelby.”

“Sh… Shelby…?” Vivian said aloud, daring her lips to form the name. It was unusual, but not very celestial. It was nothing like what the priests predicted the language of angels to be.

Shelby giggled, but waved a finger scoldingly at Vivian for having said it. “I much prefer the ring of goddess, though. No matter who I am in my world… to you, I’m the beginning and the end. I should only have to warn you once just how powerless you are. You’re very small, and very far from home~ So I expect you to be respectful, and listen well to anything I tell you.”

Vivian nodded obediently, but when Shelby’s hand then posed to grab at her, she flinched and scrambled off the stone, hiding behind its ledge. Despite agreeing to do as told, the instinct to flee from something so huge lunging at her was irresistible. It did not matter in the end how she reacted, as she was plucked all the same, the puff of her gown pinched by the pads of fingers and pulled into the air. Vivian squealed as she was suspended upside-down, kicking blindly as she was held in her humiliation.

The motion became more wild when Shelby stood up from the bar and traveled elsewhere around the cabin of her starglider -- a model of spaceship popular with the GFP, renown for its speed and accommodations. Though the inside of the starglider was towering and sprawling from Vivian’s perspective, the dimensions of the quarters were only so spacious to anyone of Shelby's size, allowing only as much room as a camper vehicle. The advanced design was especially space efficient, every feature situated only a few steps away at most. Indeed, Vivian was carried a relatively short distance before she was dropped onto a different surface, that of a low-rise table in the center-side of the cabin.

Vivian staggered up onto her feet, only to become unbalanced again when she turned to witness the goddess standing above her. Placed so low onto the furniture, Vivian only came as high as Shelby’s knees and thus craned her neck back to gawk at the rest of her; so much flesh, seemingly soft and welcoming, the slight excess shivering in response to any movement -- as if it were all about to come undone like a snowcap facing to avalanche. The sight was beheld for only a moment before that collapse appeared to happen, albeit away from Vivian and onto the humble sofa seat behind her. The shockwave of her impact into the cushions was felt from that distance, however, enough to make the little woman flinch towards the middle of the table.

The goddess situated herself comfortably on the couch, displaying the truth of her divinity. That truth was that she was lacking in the grace that the church spoke so highly of; she spread her legs remorselessly, scratched at her bush and propped her feet on top of the table, the obelisks that they were to Vivian pounding the ledge like the loads of catapults striking their target. Vivian looked to each of them with their own deserved amount of fear, only to see between them at that faraway stare perched atop a mountainside of a woman. The feet writhed -- they beckoned to her.

“Come to the edge,” Shelby said. It was hardly a demand, for she did not need to make it one. Vivian was proving loyal already, slowly but responsively doing as told and standing between the house-sized soles. The goddess grinned, “Now, take that off. As cute as that dress is, let me see you.” She twirled a finger in Vivian’s direction, as if casting her with the whim to strip. It was nearly that effortless, for Vivian, lacking in any way to refuse, gradually succumbed to the command and began undoing the complex fashion she had been wrangled into. Initially, she thought herself to have no connection with the clothes, and thought of the relief to shed them aside and be free of its tightness -- but as the garments all loosened, eventually spilling off of her with each undone binding, her fingers pinched the fabric wantingly, appreciating what few things of her world there still were to latch onto. They were suddenly so precious, the dress she had never before worn, and the stocking and garters to go with it; she held them in both her arms, hesitant to let them away from her naked body.

“Lovely… What beautiful skin~” Shelby remarked, one arm crossed beneath her chest as she slouched deeper into the cushions. A playful finger had hooked at her lip as she watched the miserable woman undress, and once the performance was complete, she reached forward and stole the red dress away. It was no longer needed, and so it was ripped out of Vivian’s grasp and quickly discarded onto an unoccupied part of the couch. Vivian’s gasp of despair was a chime that made Shelby giggle, “You’re not going to wear antique rags like that anymore~ I have a whole assortment of cute things that I have you all wear, but until I pick something out, you should get used to being naked. It’s how I like to be~ mm, most of the time...”

Without even the disrobed dress to conceal herself, Vivian shuddered under her own exposure, twisting away from the vision that pierced her like a lance. She sheltered her nudity behind crossed arms and legs, clenching tighter in her own embrace when the massive woman lurked inwards. Fingers hovered onto her, a single hand prodding at her from different angles, each pad finding a part of her to caress. Vivian squeaked in protest, kicking away from the touches until they gave up -- Shelby, bent the way she was with her feet on the table, could only hold the position for so long.

“Aww~ Sorry, I couldn’t hold back any longer,” Shelby giggled, gently nestling her heels together along the tableside. They were posed in front of Vivian like a giant V, now held more still than before. “So, I’m sure you want answers. Keep rubbing my feet, and I’ll be happy to talk.”

Vivian scanned just one of the feet being discussed, overwhelmed by the detail she could see of the sole; every wrinkle, the little spaces between each toe, the hardened skin circling the heel. “R-Rubbing them…” she scoffed quietly, glancing a fast glare up at the goddess. She spoke louder, “I-Is this a ruse? How could I possibly…?”

A heel bounced onto the surface, followed by the other -- two ground-quaking thumps, drummed all around Vivian in an instant. She thought she had misspoken to the goddess to earn such an intimidating gesture, and thus reactively pushed herself into the sole, reaching as high up as she could; truly, Shelby had not heard her little comments, only rushing Vivian when she hesitated for too long. After one foot was chosen to be tended to, Shelby relaxed the other onto the floor so that she could sit well to speak; it tickled her to think of the subject matters ahead, and how she would explain it all to her latest addition.

“It feels so long ago now,” Shelby reminisced, “but when I think about it, it’s only been about six months of patrolling this route. That’s probably more like years on your planet. You see, one day, my bath wouldn’t run water. I could’ve just gone a few days without washing, but your planet was right there, with plenty of clean water. I thought I’d just take a quick dip… but I realized that the little pool I was in was actually a lake. I found little homes nearby, full of little people…! Before I realized it, hehe, I was wandering right into a city~ Everyone was so flustered and scared, running around my feet… and I wasn’t even doing anything. Just walking around. Naked.

“It felt like a dream… so I had to prove it wasn’t, and take something home with me. Something that could only come from a planet with a micro-civilization, hehe~ I looked into this church-place, and found such a pretty woman staring up at me. I wondered what she had to be thinking -- maybe she wondered the same thing about me. When I got close to her, she didn’t run, or scream, not like everyone else. So I picked her up. She was so light, like I was picking up a blot of ink that could drip free. She rolled into the palm of my hand, began freaking out a bit… so I just left. She was mine now. It felt like stealing, heh, something a recruit like me could never get away with… but no one was going to stop me. I was kidnapping a beautiful woman like I was shoplifting something. Ah~” Shelby laid a hand over her heart, while her toes flexed tightly up above Vivian’s head. “God, such a rush… If you knew what it was like, you’d do it over and over, too. Anyone would.

“Hey, are you done already?” Shelby asked, tilting her foot to the side so that she could spy down at Vivian. The tiny woman had fallen still, no longer pressing her arms and elbows into the sole. She had been absorbed into the explanation, to see events from the goddess’s perspective and glimpses of her sister’s fate -- but Shelby only cared about her massage. “If you’re going to stop, I can stop, too.”

“N-No, please! I’m tr-trying…!” Vivian reached hungrily for the foot when it began to drift away, grabbing the heel and pulling herself into its blunt roundness. Her palms ran around the bumps of wrinkles in wide circles; afraid that may not be convincing enough, she also dug her knee into the skin, and then the entire left side of her body, leaning hard into the wall-like foot. She grunted with desperation, “Please, th-that’s my sister…! What happened to her…?”

Shelby’s grin stretched wider with amusement over Vivian’s pleading. “You really must be related,” she teased. “You both worry in the same ways. So feisty. It’s really adorable. But I think you’ll lose that edge, just like she did. She learned.” With a sigh, Shelby drew her foot away from Vivian, only to replace it with the other foot, resting it on its side with the balls of her toes brought close to her tiny captive. It took Vivian only a blink to assert herself there between those stubby digits, stroking their lengths with both hands while she urged her head as far as it could be. “When I brought her here, she wanted so many answers, and I couldn’t even talk yet. She was getting upset, but the moment I told her to stop… she stopped. Instantly~

“I didn’t know what to do, so I put her away in a cabinet. I… did some thinking,” she chuckled and twirled a finger in her hair, “and when I came back to her… she acted very differently. She was bowing to me. When I lifted a finger, she didn’t flinch or pull away. She let me touch her, like a pet learning its place~ And she called me the goddess -- the goddess. She said she had a vision that explained everything to her. I still hadn’t said much, but I never needed to. She knew.

“So for a while, I kept her. In return, she was obedient. Quiet. I didn’t know what to really do with her, until one day, I gave her a task. I was bored again, so I told her that I would crush her if she couldn’t get me off.” Shelby scoffed at her own story, “So mean, wasn’t I? But she took it very seriously -- of course she did, pfft, she thought a goddess had just given her some kind of, I dunno, godly command. Oh, she tried so hard~ Climbing around my pussy, trying to figure out what she could even do, knowing that her life was on the line. She got so worked up, so sweaty, so squeaky, hehe~ You just don’t find lovers quite like that at your own size. It took her a long while… but luckily, I’m a patient goddess. And I admire perseverance.”

The details put Vivian into a chokehold, though it did undermine her commitment to massaging the goddess’s foot with nearly her whole body. What was described to her was difficult to comprehend, like only able to see shadows acting out a scene; to think of such intimacy burned her skin with redness, even more so to visualize her own sister’s involvement, the shame that must have burdened her. When she blinked and returned to the present, Vivian looked at the placement of her hands, how they squished into the sole of a giant foot -- such a task was strikingly daunting, yet Christin was seemingly put through so much worse.

“She deserved a reward,” Shelby continued; her toes tenderly curled around Vivian’s frame, though the little woman herself was too absorbed into the story to notice. “She wasn’t nearly as difficult to please~ Mm, one long lick… and she melted like chocolate. Like I licked the life out of her, haha~ She just laid there, agasp… covered in my spit… Mmm…” Her tongue lashed her lips, a sight Vivian glimpsed from a window between two toes. “She looked at me differently from then on. More responsive. I might have awakened something in your sister. And that makes me wonder if the same could happen to you~”

Vivian paused her movements into the foot, opting instead to lean away and reflect on what she had submitted to. She huffed, the lowly scent of the foot now attached to her, the sense of disgust only then rising up in her stomach. Left hanging on Shelby’s words, Vivian trembled backwards, shielding herself and bunkering down when that huge body moved closer to her. She assumed wrongly that she would have a chance to resist being grabbed and possibly squirm free, severely underestimating how inarguable the goddess’s grasp was; in an instant, she was off the table, encased in a ball of fingers that refused to budge, no matter how Vivian kicked against them.

The fist uncurled, exposing Vivian flipped on her front, clutching the base of Shelby’s middle finger. A fearful expression twisted up at the goddess, a face that was pale with the realization that she was defenseless. The other hand rose into view and neared close with a pointed finger; Vivian readied to be jabbed, but the touch was surprisingly soft on her shivering body. It stroked her side, finding a ticklish nook around Vivian’s hips -- Shelby giggled alongside her, pleased to find these secrets, but she had other intentions. The pad of her finger, after swirling once up to Vivian’s hair, turned down the slope of her back and up the peak of her ass. The touch immediately earned a sour answer, with Vivian contorting quickly onto her back, a foot kicked against the fingernail to push it away; a useless response that Shelby thwarted to the tune of a giggle, pinching the ankle and holding it tight up above Vivian. Posed embarrassingly, Vivian roared with fluster, stomping with her other foot against the fingers that bound her, all while attempting to hide her upside-down nudity.

“Mhmm, relax~” Shelby cooed, but her soothing tone could not calm the tiny woman twisting in her grasp. “You did as I asked, so you get a reward, too. Hehe, you’re so touchy~” Her middle finger snaked between the two legs, slithering along the two thighs and spreading them apart. She felt Vivian try hard to close her legs, and just as well did she feel her tiny heart pounding like a storm, her ceaseless breaths sharpening with each inhale -- it was surely dawning on her. “This will feel good-- are you a virgin? I figure you must be. Hah, don’t be so worried, and just let it happen~”

Vivian growled, continuing to kick at the fingers with the fleeting stamina she had left, but the finger could not be refused. Writhing for escape was hopeless, as even if she did wrestle free from the pinch on her ankle, she was limited to only the width of the goddess’s hand -- she was her possession, something like a doll, and her purpose as such was to be used. After one final bout of frustrated resistance, Vivian’s body fell limp in the way it was held, and Shelby’s finger immediately moved in, taking a position where the pad was placed atop her mound. Its subtle weight had tremendous effect on how it quieted Vivian, as though she had been gagged or held at knifepoint; she bit her tongue, her stare switching between the goddess’s touch, and her smug expression hovering overhead.

“Sshhh… Good girl,” Shelby whispered. Gently, her middle finger took motion, swirling back and forth in a restricted way. Though minimal in how it moved, it proved effective in producing the wildest squirm from Vivian, her limbs flailing unexpectedly in a surge. Her ankle nearly kicked free, but Shelby asserted her grip and pulled on the leg, forcing Vivian’s hips tighter against her fingertip. The response choked the little woman mid-gasp, and she dug her nails into the finger as a meek defense, failing to change anything. When she could breathe again, her chest pumped madly, her whole body boiling into a pink color dotted in beads of sweat. Shelby giggled and advised her captive, “Loosen up, and this will feel a lot better. Trust me… I want you to enjoy this…~”

Generously, the momentum of the situation was held steady. Vivian swallowed and caught her breath to some degree, given the chance to stabilize her rushing mind and think clearly. The fingertip yet remained there on her crotch, in the center of her vision, strong and unmoving compared to how she quivered frightfully beneath its point. Shelby’s words haunted her head, unsure how far she could trust the goddess -- or how disobedient she was permitted to be. In this pause, her arms returned to her side, curling into the plushness of the goddess’s palm; she was eventually able to retrieve her ankle, no longer restrained, allowed to rest it around the long, elegant finger. Vivian blinked, and with a sigh, her demeanor had softened, that despite her hesitation, she had been coaxed into releasing some of her tension.

It felt as though some divine ability had convinced her to accept the goddess’s will, but Shelby had only the power of her own charm. Her giggling chimed on as she felt Vivian relax into her palm, that drum-like breathing steadying into a less panicked rhythm. Then, with a pop of motion in her finger, all that tension and more returned. She felt the jitter of Vivian’s body stiffening, reacting harshly to the fingertip that was entering her; her hips were paralyzed, her legs itched but would not kick, and more tightly did she claw into the finger’s skin. Shelby was rewarded with this reaction, finding pleasure in her own electric effect and eager to induce more.

Without warning, she pushed farther inside Vivian. Vivian made the motions of gasping, but her lungs had little air to spare, leaving her in near-silent spasms. She could only muster a whine as she was filled, her cunt widened far beyond than it ever had -- than she ever thought it could. Sweat drenched her body as she found herself caplessly hot, drained of any energy she could have used to resist. On every level, it was easier to collapse and submit; the fingertip, when allowed to penetrate her, did so more smoothly and at a speed she could handle, and no longer did her muscles ache from being clenched at the ready. Indeed, as the finger pulled free and then lightly pushed back in, there was a relief to be found, if only after enduring the strain it caused -- her body felt opened, and in that space was a fresh, wild sensation, as if her spirit was being teased into unnesting.

Somewhere in the hazy moment, Vivian’s voice returned, and she gasped a different pitch. With a surge of strength, she began curling upwards of the finger, that barrel of mass shoved inside of her and pinning her down. Her core pulsated with a warmth that soothed the pain of being entered and more, the pleasure she was rushed into oozing between her legs. It was an embarrassing puddle of her wetness, viscous and clinging to her skin as it did that of the fingertip’s. When she overcame the choke of her throat, Vivian whined meekishly as she comprehended the sensation spelled onto her, that physical release that was like her body being unlocked.

In search of such answers, a messy expression turned upwards at the giant eyes that watched her. Vivian stuttered; tears dotted her eyes from the stress inflicted upon her, blinked away as she gazed up at the goddess seeking her approval – a subconscious desire, to be validated and assured of what she had done. Unable to speak, too afraid to say something before the goddess, she sat struck in her slanted posture, her hips and legs latched to the roundness of the finger like stone. Suspense froze her, until eventually she deciphered the long curve of the goddess’s lips as a satisfied smile, a realization that loosened the awkward tightness.

And when loose enough, Vivian flipped forward, bounced into the tumble by a jump of the finger. Shelby rolled her into the palm of her other hand, amused by the little woman’s quick squeal of surprise after her bubble of bliss had popped. The attitude of how she held Vivian had shifted; though still tender in how she touched her, her handling was playful and less cautious, suddenly more familiar with the weight and shape of a miniature person. Confined in the trust of Shelby’s grasp, Vivian was blindly taken elsewhere by the goddess, her virginity abandoned in that distance – without commemoration, Vivian was from then on initiated.

Shelby entered a different room, effectively taking her captive across ecosystems. Vivian was acutely aware of the change in pressure, but she could only be so prepared for a new world to open around her; the fingers uncurled under brighter lights and whiter walls, imposing upon Vivian’s diminutive comprehension of where she was as everything appeared so distantly huge and wide. She noticed one feature below, a stretch of landscape like a forest or wavy hills, but was actually a maze of wrinkles to an untidy bedspread. A bedroom, Vivian learned, but she corrected herself– The goddess’s… bedroom…

Yet her bewilderment leaped again when something new was brought into view. Shelby had reached for a thing that was alien to Vivian, an orb of dark glass that fitted into a saucer, huge to her like a fortress, yet could be moved by just the whim of the goddess’s gestures. It levitated in the air despite its massiveness, drifted close as if it were a paper lantern hovering along a breeze. The glass displayed a warped reflection all around it like protective chrome, but in an instant – to the command of Shelby’s one tap – the shield vanished, seemingly melting into the saucer, revealing the place that was inside, a location of green grass and a lonely brick building in the middle.

Shelby’s fingers connected to the rim of the saucer, becoming a bridge onto the island’s edge. “It’s time that you’re introduced to your new home~” she explained to her petrified captive. “I want you to get situated as soon as possible. You’ll be living in this from now on– when you’re not keeping me company, I mean. A Sanctuary, modeled like the little temples on your planet. Cute, isn’t it?” Vivian still hesitated, unphased by the excitement behind Shelby’s tone, and unaware of her knowing smile looming above. The goddess whispered to her the most motivating detail: “I’m sure the other girls are just as excited to meet you.”

Compelled by the remark, Vivian bounced forward with a second wind of stamina, uplifted by the promise that she was within reach of her desires. She stuttered with doubt, but Shelby urged her onto the island with a push of motion underneath her. The hand left after shaking her onto the yard, where an overwhelmed Vivian stood only on her knees, trembling in front of the unknown that was the multi-story temple, nowhere to turn back to except the goddess’s gaze of interest.

Anxious, confused, cold, and exhausted; the ailments all melted from Vivian as soon as one image appeared from the archway entrance, just half of a woman peering around its corner to see outside. Her eyes met with Vivian’s, locking their stares together as if they belonged united, colored the same as each other. Almost like a reflection, but painted onto a stranger; awestruck silence gripped both women as they grappled with the reality between them. The robed figure stepped forward, revealing the full state of shock she was in, her lips and tongue visibly struggling to shape the name she remembered:

“... Vivian…?”

A tight embrace brought Vivian back into her own body. She blinked, snapped out of a trance, suddenly finding herself thrusted upon and nearly tackled to the grass. Her balance was maintained only because she was hugged so strictly, a grasp that refused to let her falter out of reach – not again. A head was pressed into her shoulder, her own name repeated into her throat; she felt a body dressed in sleek silk against her bare skin, a pale-pink colored robe lined with gold cuffs that shifted very loosely on the shape of the woman that held her.

It was no stranger, Vivian knew by instinct, but her tongue hesitated to recite the name that made it tremble, afraid it might misuse her sister’s name – afraid to trust she had found her. But the woman that had dashed into her, launched into a skip moments after their eyes met, was much more confident in the discovery. She chanted Vivian’s name like it was the sound of her sobbing, her voice muffled into the neck but still recognizable for its high, chorus-practiced pitch. The touch drew Vivian into another moment, swept into the past where hugs such as that were more common, and regretfully underappreciated.

Vivian’s hands trembled, afflicted by shivering nerves and the lock of arms that bound her own, but they traveled to the woman’s back, remembering where they would rest and steadying there. “Christin… Christin…”

“V-Vivian! Please, please,” her sister sniffled, “don’t… don’t be a dream, Vivian… I-I am terrified t-to even look at your eyes again…!” Vivian, too choked to speak, could only gradually usher for them to part, if only as far as arms-reach. They studied each other, visibly beginning to believe the reality they were granted – a smile bloomed on Christin and her legs buckled with excess energy. “Ahh! It is you, Vivian! My sister!”

“Christin… Y-You…” Vivian shook her head, shivering with adrenaline that outright collided with her exhaustion. She was on the verge of fainting, but the image of their reunion inspired her to stay standing. “You’re here… You’re truly here, i-in this… heaven…”

“Of course I would be here, Vivi! I was chosen by the goddess,” Christin laughed. “For you to be here is truly amazing – you were selected! Sh-She chose you– deemed you worthy, oh, Vivian!” Overjoyed, Christin lunged into another embrace, twisting her sister into a spiral of affection that flung Vivian stumbling out from her stiffness. Contagiously, Vivian felt her own lips wanting to grin, her happiness restored to hear Christin’s voice; “The goddess has reunited us~! Her will has blessed us so generously, so, so– the goddess!”

Like an electric shock, Christin flinched into a different attitude. She stopped where her excitement had danced her to, then pivoted towards where the grass ended – the edge of the floating island, that which Vivian had almost forgotten where she and her sister stood. She dropped to her hands and knees, so quickly that it surely hurt, posed in a bow where her chin was flat with the ground and her rear was posed upright. Her face was angled upwards, and her eyes driven even higher; the embarrassing posture was performed with an absolute lack of shame, even as the silk robe risked slipping completely past her rear. The image disturbed Vivian, rekindling her own awareness that she herself was naked, before her attention shifted to what loomed and breathed over them, that which Christin promptly kneeled to.

“Thank you, Goddess! This kindness is an unforgettable blessing!” Christin bellowed, speaking as loud as her posture permitted. Tears welled in her eyes, though she refused to blink, not while she gazed into divinity, manifested before the Sanctuary in proud, mountainous nudity. She bowed to the goddess, that gigantic woman who Vivian still knew the name of as Shelby, yet her sister referred to her as her title alone – all that was necessary, it seemed, when spurred into worship. “Thank you, Goddess! We are unworthy of these gifts you create! Thank you, Goddess!”

Vivian was in another trance until the vibration of Shelby’s low-toned chuckle buzzed the alien atmosphere. Her amusement from Christin’s pitiful worshiping was all the response she offered in return; otherwise quiet, she stood grand and proud above her subject, towering high even despite how the Sanctuary hovered level with her chest. Vivian shuddered beneath such confidence, how Shelby was poised with an arm under her bosom and a hand held close to her smirk. She willed the scene to play out, certainly entertained by Christin, but not without observing Vivian as well, curious of how her little mind was processing the rules of a new world – a new order.

Shelby finally breathed, and in doing so, she wordlessly commanded Christin to cease her mantra. A slight lean closer intensified her intimidating aura. “You’re such a sweet little servant, Chrissy-Chrissy~” the goddess cooed, each word drawn out to belittling effect; she was speaking to a pet. “I’ve decided that you deserve this, as a reward for your obedience. It was my godhood that allowed this to happen, so I expect you to meditate on this blessing.” She approached even closer, casting the sister under a daunting shade; “Your gratitude will be tested later. Pray that you have the will to express it~”

“Thank you, Goddess! Thank you, Goddess!”

“Now then,” Shelby began, ascending to her full height with a roll of her shoulder, “why don’t you take your sister and show her how things are at the Sanctuary? Introduce her to the rest of the collection.” She bit her lip and her hips rocked; “I’m going to get prepared, as should all of my mortals.”

The sky of bedroom features blurred into movement, but it was actually the Sanctuary being taken elsewhere, directed by the goddess’s palm held beneath the land. The device was levitated into a corner window, a divet in the wall that the saucer would stay nicely positioned in. Shelby then pulled away, continuing to cast her smile over her shoulder and to the temple that faced her; though too far and too huge to infer, Vivian was convinced that the goddess was staring at her specifically, ever burdened by that pressure even after she exited the room.

It was only then when the goddess was out of sight that Christin allowed herself to bow no longer. She unfolded uncomfortably, the pose obviously having strained her back just so she could be presented in an adequately miserable fashion. Vivian offered a hand to help her sister, but she was sooner up than expected and sporting a smile that had never left – it was Christin that directed her, clasping her outreached hand into both of her own, and tugging her towards the temple.

“Welcome to your new home, Vivi!” Christin celebrated, giggling the entire way towards the front-facing entrance – a tall, open-air archway that was mirrored on each of the four sides. Breezes would certainly tear through the inside, if there was any wind to speak of in the highly-controlled environment. “The Sanctuary is a home given to us by the goddess,” Christin explained happily, “and we are all so grateful for her benevolence. All that we do here, we do in worship of the goddess~”

Vivian was increasingly becoming concerned about the we she was now a part of; Christin spoke of them as if they were family, but Shelby had referred to them all as the collection. As much was stated in front of Christin, yet that phrasing did not phase her, seemingly accepting of that objectifying title. Were the other sacrifices similar in that regard? Were they content with being servants to an ordinary, powerless woman – her huge scale notwithstanding? Vivian wondered such questions until she saw the eyes of those others waiting for her, peering from around the archway’s corner. Just like Christin, they wore long, loose robes colored separately from one another, reminding Vivian once more that she was the odd one out without any clothes.

The three at the entrance appeared hesitant, but the tallest among them proved bold when she stepped out front to meet Vivian. She stretched her arms invitingly wide, the sleeves of her leaf-green robe spread like wings. “Ah, what a beautiful woman~” she hummed laughingly, revealing a low-toned voice. “Yet another to join us, chosen by the goddess. I hope that you will fastly feel at home here in our Sanctuary.” The light-haired woman motioned to the two behind her, then to Christin as she pulled Vivian to her. “The four of us have developed a special bond together, entirely dedicated to the goddess. You may call me Ant, for that is what the goddess has named me.”

Vivian stumbled when Christin released her wrist, so overwhelmed by everything – and now, everyone – that her faintness had returned. She had heard Ant introduce herself, but was delayed to respond, caught in thought about the woman’s image. She noted her long, curly hair and how it framed her angular facial features; it was strangely familiar, made only more uncanny by the physique revealed by the robe’s silk. Ant, unlike Christin or Vivian herself, had the refined build of an athlete or soldier, made even more impressive by a tallness very unusual for the women back home. That was the clue that opened Vivian’s memory and caused her to fall further silent.

Then, she was grabbed – “Welcome!” Ant said, suddenly embracing Vivian. Yet more surprising was the kiss that followed, so spontaneous of a gesture that Vivian flinched and squirmed in her arms. Ant chuckled and released her back into Christin’s reach, who had watched the intimacy nonchalantly. “I should have considered how much this all is to comprehend at once,” she said apologetically, affixing her posture straight and orderly. “Here in the goddess’s domain, gestures such as these are commonplace. It is the love and compassion that the goddess demands we cultivate. But, it is no excuse for being rude~ Please, forgive me.”

“Zanitha?” Vivian finally gasped, saying a name that she again had to mold in her mouth. “Zanitha the Steeled? I-I remember you. N-No, your name is not Ant. You were a knight– a town guard, th-the only one the children did not run from… Everyone knew you– they revered you.”

The woman breathed, her smile having melted into a pale, flattened expression. “I remember that… earthly name,” she replied, “but I serve a divine order now. I am of the goddess’s collection, and I am thankful for her naming me Ant.” She sighed, hoping to exhale the discussion to a quiet end.

Ant continued with a grin, “I just as well remember your name, Vivian… You look as vibrant as you did two years ago. Mm, perhaps one of the last faces I saw that day, heh…”

Vivian was gently led forward, but she was dazed by her first introduction. The details flooded her like rapids, the memories of Zanitha at odds with the present reality. She knew Zanitha as a strong, moral knight – a storybook character, a statuesque woman in shining armor. In the Sanctuary, she had been morphed into something else: her military-cut hair was uncharacteristically grown out, and the years had waned away her musculature, as impressive as her physique still was. Most staggeringly different of all, however, was the total abolishment of her pride. Zanitha the Steeled was a responsible hero, and to that extent she willingly offered herself as a sacrificial maiden in the place of another – two years after that decision, she was now just Ant, a pathetic plaything for a perverted woman.

Vivian was brought into the temple proper, but before she could properly meet with the other two servants, she first marveled at her surroundings. The inside was an open chamber with no walls separating the crossway of entrances, a theme that would be followed for the rest of the building; it was a design that encouraged openness between the women. In the center was a spiral staircase that fed into the upper floor and the rooftop, each of which boasted fanciful balconies that overlooked the Sanctuary’s gardens. Paintings and potted plants decorated the walls and corners, though one area was specifically a kitchen with stocks of foodstuffs. Otherwise, there were only various ways to lounge and relax within the chamber: cushions and quilts of all sizes and qualities were strewn about between various couches, seats, and hammocks, with only one table to formally sit down at. Atop that table was a golden harp, and burning beside it was a bowl of incense, the source behind a fruity aroma that Vivian found almost chokingly pungent as soon as she entered.

The moment her glaze of curiosity turned towards the other two women, the pair were upon her proximity, enthused in different manners but equally interested in the naked newcomer. They neared her like dogs presented with something uncommon, neither one immediately speaking up to introduce themselves. Likewise did Vivian shudder wordlessly, examining the two just as they did her; one wore sky-blue robes and had straight black hair that was free to cascade down to her hips, while the other was a freckled, messy brunette, more recognizable for her plump features emphasized by a crimson-colored robe. It was that latter woman to be most forward, slowly developing a sultry smile before engaging.

“Greetings, newcomer~” the woman said as she approached Vivian, who was privy to the smoky scent that followed her. Held lightly in her fingers, afterall, was a long, thin pipe that she presumably had taken a draw from recently – or perhaps it was a constant, as the servant bore half-open eyes dragged lower by heavy bags beneath them, as if eternally exhausted. She neared closer still when Vivian remained silent, but instead of pushing in to kiss, she gently took her palm and massaged it with a thumb, snickering about something. “My name is Lizeth. Your hands, hah, they’re so tender… and your fingers are so skinny, hehe…”

“Err, um… It’s…” Vivian blanked on how to respond or even react. Lizeth’s face was vague and unfamiliar, not like how she found Zanitha’s. She was definitely older than her and Christin, yet slightly shorter than either of them. In trying to remember who this sacrifice had been before, Vivian looked at her remarkable figure, sure that she would recall a bosom so outward or hips so wide.

Her arm was then pulled into Lizeth’s body, consumed into her cleavage as it was exposed by the robe’s opening. Her latch onto Vivian was tight and wanting, and when she had the chance, she caught her hand between her thighs, turning any resistance into its own squeezes of pleasure. Vivian stuttered, but was too surprised to quickly remove herself, taken back by Lizeth’s craving that she fell into her embrace, her nose nestled into her neck.

“Ohh, you barely weigh a thing~” Lizeth cooed. “And your body is so cold~ We need to get you warmer, right…? We should lay down~”

Vivian flinched into refusal, eventually slipping out of Lizeth’s possession – largely because Lizeth was too lazy to try for long. Even when escaped, Vivian still felt the allure of being pulled towards the woman barely in her red robes; it was then, when she heard that longing voice, that she began to remember who Lizeth is – who she was back home. Instead of a name being stuttered on her lips, Vivian struggled to say a title: “... A prostitute…”

Lizeth scowled and turned her shoulder against the comment. When she looked away, her eyes rolled over and she took a draw from her pipe. “You definitely are a priestess’s sister, mm,” she complained as she took to one of the hammocks, lounging into it and letting her robe fly open even wider. Vivian watched every movement, hypnotized by how Lizeth naturally swayed her features. “Besides,” Lizeth chuckled, “we’re all equal here~ in the eyes of the goddess. Haah~! Very, very equal~”

Vivian fretted to respond, wanting to apologize but still processing Lizeth’s personality. The eccentric woman was certainly a category Vivian avoided, one of many sex workers that earned their livelihoods throughout her hometown. She remembered Lizeth calling out to customers of every class, always lingering outside one tavern or another, and she remembered when that voice left the community. Lizeth had a criminal history and debts to repay, and when the annual sacrifice neared, she was made a deal to clear her name, to take the place of another maiden offering – if Lizeth was untaken by the goddess, she would be let free. She confidently accepted, and thus miraculously found herself in heaven, freed from all earthly toils in a realm where carnal pleasures were encouraged.

“I hope you might not be offended by our Lizeth. Her abrasiveness fades in time and you will find her then to be lovely company,” the last of the maidens explained, gently approaching Vivian with both hands peacefully joined at her waist. She held her head steady and high, as if meaning to perfectly balance her long black hair. A warm smile was shared with Vivian after having her attention. “You might remember me as well, Vivian,” she giggled. “It is I, Ebony. You have grown so much since we were just children~”

Vivian sensed a fair, normal radiance from Ebony compared to Lizeth or Ant, but even she encroached close into her personal space. Her shoulders shuddered as Ebony’s hands caressed them; one hand trailed down an arm and into Vivian’s grasp, the other traveled into her hair, exploring her ear and then brushing her cheek with a thumb. These hands discovered Vivian’s shivering shape, just as her eyes scanned her naked form up and down, until an image was fully pressed into mind. Ebony stepped back, smiled, and gently released any touches on Vivian.

It was an eerily different Ebony than the sharp-tongued socialite Vivian remembered. They shared a childhood together, but from very different circumstances. Where Vivian and Christin grew up as orphans serving the church, Ebony was the heiress to a wealthy family, once fated to have wide influence across the kingdom. Whenever her family would visit the church, Ebony would torment the young girls with belittling remarks and by taking away what few things they had. As adults, their lives diverged, until the goddess reunited them: a year after Christin was taken, the goddess returned to the church and claimed her second ever victim. In the years since, Ebony’s edge had evidently softened, her snootiness replaced with sincerity and sympathy – an effect of being a woman’s pet.

“I am sure your presence will brighten up the Sanctuary,” Ebony said. “The goddess has chosen you because you belong here. It will feel very strange initially, but I trust all of us here will welcome you as well as we can into our home~ Ah, in fact…” She turned towards one of the couches, retrieving from its seat an item she meant to give Vivian earlier. It was offered to her then: a set of silk robes to call her own, designated with the color violet. Vivian held the folded square of fabric to her chest, still drawn into Ebony’s eyes. “This should make you feel more comfortable around us, I imagine.”

Pressure came inwards from all four of the women looking to Vivian, expecting her to adorn the robes and join them in uniform. She eventually began fitting the garment onto her body, preferring to be covered but otherwise still skeptical of what it meant to wear the robe. If nothing else, she had to admit that the material was luxurious on her skin, despite how it always wanted to slide off her shoulders or part open – an intentional design to always expose slithers of the women’s bodies. Vivian chose to bind hers with a fist coiling the two halves, preemptively defending herself as she turned back to the others.

“It looks wonderful on you,” Christin complimented, approaching her sister and taking her into another hug, despite how stiff she was. She giggled, “You’ve truly become part of the collection, Vivi. It is as Ebony said: you belong here with all of us. In time, you will discover your own routine and habits here at the Sanctuary, as well will you discover ours~ Each of us have our own routines, our own ways of expressing our dedication to the goddess, but we all also converge and share in our love for the blessings granted us.”

A hacking cough clashed with the tender moment; Lizeth giggled with smoke escaping her lips. “It’s all love and harmony here~” she sang. “Relax, and breathe in… It helps, hah-hah~ It helps a lot…”

Vivian watched Lizeth as she inhaled deeply, curling her head backwards to emphasize the breath she took. The smoke in the air swirled around her as she swayed idly in her hammock, enthralled with more than just her pipe. Vivian’s nostrils twitched as she became particularly aware about that aroma wafting throughout the Sanctuary, a scent like fruits and peppers that initially pulled at her hunger, but gradually developed a different appetite. When she exhaled after holding her breath for a beat, she felt notably looser and warmer, instilled with a want to breathe more and fill herself – inflicted, she perceived, with a desire that was not genuinely her own. Vivian groaned as her head swirled, feeling a gravitational pull towards Lizeth then, an attraction towards her luscious body that was dreamily displayed–

“Vivi? Vivian…?” Christin spoke to her, having to touch her shoulder to distract her from Lizeth’s image. Lizeth, for her part, had enjoyed the staring with an expecting grin, but Christin disapproved – “The incense,” she explained, “i-it might be strong for someone new…”

“I-Incense…” Vivian mumbled, resting her forehead into a palm for steadiness. With one eye, she glanced at the table and the wick that was burning over a plate of many ashes. She had her explanation, but the dizziness had already claimed her – when she wanted to look away to Christin and lean on her, she still felt that pull towards Lizeth. “I-Is that what this is…?”

Lizeth giggled teasingly, twisting in the hammock to lay on her front. “The incense opens our hearts,” she hummed. “It invites us to follow the goddess’s way~ Unchains us from earthly limits~” She turned a coy expression behind her, kicking her feet up in a playful pattern of swings. “Mhm, come to me, Vivian~ Sit down with me, and I’ll give you a much better tour of our little world…”

“Perhaps there is too much burning at the moment,” Ebony suggested, casting looks elsewhere around the Sanctuary. On windowsills and shelves were other incense candles, perpetuating the cloudy atmosphere around the lowest floor. She looked worriedly to Vivian, whose daze brought her more into Christin’s support. Ebony fidgeted nervously with her robe, “We may be acclimated to the effects, but for someone new, this amount must be suffocating…”

“Ah, I-I didn’t even consider…” Christin fretted, keeping her sister close and stable. “In all my excitement, I forgot entirely…”

Ant’s fingers grazed Christin’s shoulders, spelling a calming effect as she passed by the siblings with a reassuring smile. “You should get her some air, Chrstin,” the older woman said, continuing towards Ebony; to ease Ebony’s nerves, she went beyond a mere touch, electing to engage with Ebony with a spirited kiss on the lips that shed the worry away. “You two should enjoy the gardens, and in the meantime, we will put away the incense – Lizeth really does prepare too much these days.”

“It’s the goddess’s way~” Lizeth laughed, lost in another puff of smoke.

Christin nodded and moved to one of the exits, guiding Vivian under her arm. “Bless you, Ant. We’ll return soon,” she said gratefully. Then, to Ebony and Lizeth, she added on her way out, “Please, reserve your strength for the celebration tonight! We mustn’t exert ourselves before honoring her!”

The personalities of the three maidens continued to bounce in Vivian’s head, even as she was led outside in her sister’s protection. Out or in, her dizziness persisted; beyond the thick incense in her system, she was overwhelmed by a long list of factors, troubled by questions she was unsure if any answer would truly remedy. Her mind ached with thoughts about Ant, Lizeth, and Ebony; about Shelby and her larger world; about Christin and the ordeals she had faced. If it were not for her sister’s shoulder, Vivian would have collapsed from stress, only able to walk with her head pointed down to the floor.

Escaped from the incense, a softer aroma surrounded Vivian, enriching her with the clarity to perk her head up and realize the setting she had been taken to. Christin smiled as she watched the awe paint itself on her sister’s face; Vivian’s eyes reflected the sparkles of a fantastical view, that which was far away from the Sanctuary and its floating island – far, far away from Shelby’s starglider, but so huge that it appeared deceptively in reach. She marveled at the planet she had once lived upon, a slow-turning orb that carried the existence of everything she had known. The oceans were wide stretches of blue and countries were dashes of brown and green. Sprawling clouds drifted over countless communities and hundreds of miles of land. Mountains and rivers and canyons alike had no depth to them, everything seeming flat from the height at which Vivian scanned it all. She struggled, not to comprehend what she saw, but to believe that humanity was as small as it seemed: a circle of life, adrift in an infinite ink with only distant stars as its company.

That celestial observation overtook any chance the garden had to shine, though the array of flowers still earned Christin’s admiration. She brought a palm beneath a purple blossom, caring for it while her sister gazed out into space. Though their home was far away, the gardens flourished with life from their earth, a reminder of what they had left behind. It was why Christin tended to the flowers so often before, immersing herself around their beautiful colors, daydreaming about the past. For years, she wished to know that her sister was safe without her, but the goddess granted her a better wish, reuniting them in her realm – when she looked to the faraway earth, she no longer felt any tether of regret, now that she had everything.

The sisters took seats beside each other on a brick ledge that looked over rose bushes. Under the tranquil sky of space, they were able to reconnect across the time they had been away from one another. It was insisted by Christin to learn about the happenings of their home world, as she noticed how it eased Vivian to speak about her earthly life; Vivian recalled the growth of their fellow orphans and priestesses, the movements of townspeople and their politics, the few events that occurred in their daily life between those yearly sacrifices to the goddess. When it was Vivian asking the questions, Christin was quizzed on what to expect as a newcomer, asked about how to act and how to live. Though Christin had some answers, gradually teaching Vivian the ways of their world, she was never able to relieve all of her sister’s worries. There was always another chilling concern, another fear, and while Christin provided as much comfort as she could with her experience, she was eventually stalled by Vivian’s darkest inquiry.

“... There’s… only four of you,” Vivian began, her fingers curling around the fabric that was still fresh to feel on her skin. She stared into the red flowers, but when she glanced at Christin, she found her sister to have fallen pale about the topic. “I-I was the sixth sacrifice, so… there’s another, isn’t there?”

Christin opened her mouth, but had to pause and start again, chuckling nervously. “There’s only us five now,” she said meekly. “Ant, Lizeth, and Ebony are the only other women in the collection.”

Vivian was almost able to swallow that response and accept the fact as what it was, but the implied truth was terrifying to keep unspoken. “Before me… it was Sasha,” she pressed. “The bookkeeper – you should remember her, Christin. D-Don’t you?” But Christin was stiff, her unwavering eyes suggesting that she knew nothing of a Sasha. Vivian glared at her, “Wh-What happened to her? She was the fifth, I-I remember last year so clearly.”

“Maybe you’re mistaken, Vivian,” Christin said, unusually impatient and shaken. She stroked her sister’s shoulder, hoping she could touch the topic away. “How about we return to the others? Th-The incense has likely thinned, and–”

“You remember her, Christin!” Vivian argued. She huffed, “I remember her. I remember how violent she was on the day she was taken.”

“Vivi…” Christin sighed, but was defeated to keep resisting.

“She never wanted to go. When the church chose her, sh-she clawed and kicked at them. All the way, to the final moment we saw her… she yelled and begged for us to help. No one expected her to be chosen, a-acting so wildly, but… the goddess took her. The fifth.” Vivian looked back at the Sanctuary, then scanned the field around it, as if checking for a mirage. She focused on Christin with an intense look, and she asked hushedly, “... What was done to her? Wh-What did she do?”

Christin bit her lip, failing to find an excuse to avoid the question. “Th-The goddess does not like us… discussing her,” she said, even quieter than she was before. She hunched lower, and so did Vivian to hear her whisper. Christin took her sister’s hand as her eyes stared still and far into nothing. “But… you are my sister. I will tell you, but it musn’t be mentioned – not around the collection, and certainly not to her. It is a forbidden topic.

“Sasha… did not belong with us. How you described her just now was how she was here in the goddess’s domain. She was restless, furious, and always spoke her mind. More than anything, she wanted to return home – she despised the goddess for taking her. For only a short time, she submitted to the goddess and kept quiet… but she would express her anger to me and the others, once we were alone. She did not paint or sing or tend to the gardens… and she certainly did not love us in the collection, not as the goddess wished. She fought with us and resisted our ways – she refused to be owned by the goddess.

“And so… when the goddess took me alone one day… she asked about Sasha.” Christin’s fingers slowed to a still, no longer petting her sister’s hand for comfort. “I told the goddess the truth about her. Th-There was no other choice, I-I couldn’t lie to her. I prayed to the goddess that she might be merciful with Sasha, I-I hoped she might forgive Sasha… but when the goddess next took us away for a ritual…

“... she executed justice.” Christin was especially cold when she explained as much, a chill that spread to Vivian. “Sasha was foulmouthed about an order– the goddess had been singling her out, and demeaning her, for hours… The goddess broke into a rage so quickly. She flipped the table that we were on,” Christin shuddered, “a-and we fell to the floor of her domain… where we’d never been. We were all so scared, e-even Zanitha… The goddess found Sasha on the floor, a-and… brought her foot down. So quickly, s-so hard… like a bolt of lightning. A-All of us were there. I remember… blinking, and when I opened my eyes, r-red was everywhere. On me and everyone… the goddess’s toes… sh-she kept pressing down on that spot… stomping again, and again… shouting so loudly about how no one listens to her…

“The goddess made us… cl-cleanse her foot afterwards,” Christin sighed. “She was disgusted to have any remains of Sasha stuck to her, and so she threatened to k-kill another if we disappointed her. Never before had the goddess exposed us to such violence, or threatened us so terribly… We were told to never mention Sasha again, but also not to forget her – never forget what happens to disobedience…”

Vivian’s expression soured with each detail she was told. Beyond just reacting to Shelby’s gigantic tantrum, she was horrified by Christin’s involvement. She pitied her sister for what trauma she suffered, but simultaneously scrutinized her for her part in Sasha’s demise – revealing that damning truth to the so-called goddess. The complexities of the situation, however, were not above Vivian’s sympathy; what sickened her was the entirety of their circumstance, that they were playthings to an ordinary woman, at risk of being crushed to death if they resisted. Words failed her, but when she looked into Christin's eyes, the message could be read in her glare: This is no heaven, Vivian asserted, this is hell!

Silent as that thought was, Christin nonetheless inferred the emotion. She broke from her stillness shaking her head and regrasping Vivian’s hand. “No, Vivi, no,” she said, “you cannot be darkened by this! Pl-Please, understand that this story was a warning of consequences. This life we have here i-is paradise! You will see,” she assured her, “you will soon witness it yourself! Th-The goddess is never like that– but you must also be careful. Vivi, you must– I-I can’t bear to be separated from you again, and not like Sasha. Please, b-be patient, Vivi.”

Vivian withdrew her hand from Christin. She stood up, shivering in pulses while processing everything that had been said. Christin rose after her, approaching her sister even when she shied away. Worry swirled in Vivian’s stomach as she tried to comprehend the lowly position her and the others were in, and regretful glances up at the planet outside only tore her further into despair. Her mind was lost as it returned to that world she knew, before being shaken back into reality – the rumble of the goddess’s approach towards the hovering Sanctuary.

“Oh, girls~” Shelby’s voice rang like the bell of a church tower, and appropriately did it earn the attention of her collection; Christin was quietly tickled into a smile to sense that divine presence, but her sister was closed and tepid. A string of Shelby’s giggles continued, “Are we all ready for a little fun? All warmed up for tonight’s ritual…? Hehe, I’ve got everything ready for us~”

“Ah, she’s ready so soon,” Christin commented anxiously. “She must be… eager to begin. Ah, Vivi…?” She maintained a smile, hiding her unnerverdness as she gently angled Vivian by her shoulders to face her. “W-We musn’t keep the goddess waiting, of course.”

Vivian weakly nodded, unenthused to be in sincere agreement with her sister. Indeed, she was a slave to Shelby’s whims, just as any other in the collection; if she were to break Shelby’s patience, what punishment would be bestowed upon them all? In a shiver of that imagination, Vivian flinched into movement ahead of Christin, headed into the Sanctuary to group with the others. Ant and Ebony remarked to her, but she did not understand their words, everything becoming a blur around her as she was guided outside, to where that monumental woman was waiting.