Prologue (Part 1)

The cleaning house team from the Sweepy Sweep Company arrived at Reign Street # 129 at the scheduled time. As soon as they rang the bell, Miss Helen Gibson opened the door.

“Oh, hello, girls.” she said, letting the whole cleaning team inside the house. “OK, here’s the thing. No one has lived in this house for a long time, and we need it to look shiny and pretty for potentially new buyers. We know you’re the best, so I’ll let you girls do what you do best.”

One of the girls, the one who seemed to be in charge, approached Miss Gibson.

“Don’t worry; this place will be so nice that you’ll want to keep it as soon as you see it.” She said, smiling.

“I’m counting on it.” said Miss Gibson. “I have to go run a few errands, so the house is all yours, ladies.” And with that, she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

“OK, girls. Let’s get started already. This is a big house, so it might take a while”, the woman in charge said. And with that, they all spread around the house in order to make it much more presentable for selling.

Meanwhile, in the 1 millimeter tall people empire, Parlia, which was located in the house’s living room, the new about the suddenly arriving giants had already spread. The first one to be informed was the emperor Leon, who immediately freaked out.

“Are you completely sure?!”, he asked his messenger, who nodded.

“I’m afraid so, Your Highness.”, he answered.

“But how can this be?” The emperor was already pacing around his room, thinking. “There haven’t been any giants in here for years.”

“Well, then, if this is true, we have no other choice but to fight.”, the emperor said, stamping his foot. “Are the other kingdoms informed of this?”

“Yes, Your Highness. They’re already taking their precautions. As should we. We have to get you out of here, immediately. Before the giants attack.”

“Nonsense. This is the largest and most powerful empire in the world. Our army is invincible! Remember all those wars against the other kingdoms? They didn’t stand a chance.”

“Yes, of course I remember, Your Highness. It’s just a preventive move. Just in case.”

“Very well. I guess it has to be done. But I’m not leaving without my family.”

“The royal family is being evacuated as we speak, Your Highness. We’re supposed to meet them at the back of the castle in 5 minutes.”

“Perfect. Let’s go”

And in 5 minutes exactly, they were already gathered outside the castle, and the entire royal family was being helped to get aboard one of the castle’s trained mosquitoes. Soon enough, the emperor, his wife and his kids were ready to escape.

“I’m counting on every single one of my people to fight bravely and drive those giants off. I trust our army to get rid of this menace. I’ll come back after they’re defeated and we’ll all celebrate with a huge feast.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Now go. We’ll take care of them.”

“Farewell”, the emperor finally said, and the mosquito took off flying.

“Farewell, your majesty”, answered one of his subjects, as the huge insect flew away.

As soon as the emperor was out of danger, the rest of the empire of Parlia started to get ready for the giant invaders. Every single soldier got ready for the battle. The foot soldiers grabbed their swords, axes, spears, shields and the like, and donning their armors and helmets. The ranged soldiers took their bows, crossbows and throwing axes, while the mounted ones quickly climbed on their steeds (black ants and mosquitoes).

However, no soon were they ready to fight, the ground started shaking. They knew they were coming. The soldiers stood their ground, bravely, waiting for the giants. But as soon as the enemy appeared, they realized two things. First, that it was only one giant. And second, that she was much bigger than they imagined.

The sight, terrifying as it was, didn’t manage to scare away the soldiers. The civilians, on the other hand, couldn’t handle the sheer size of the invader, and started running in panic, screaming and scattering as fast as they could, in random directions.

“This is it, guys”, said one of the highest ranked soldiers. “If we die, we’ll do it fighting to prevent this giant from taking over our great empire. For Parlia!” The rest of the soldiers cheered back, and without losing another second, they charged towards the giant.

Alta, one of the members of the house cleaning team, walked into the living room, holding a mop in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. As soon as she got there, she noticed that the floor was crowded with diminutive bugs.

“Boy, this house is really infested. Well, I better get to work.”, she said to herself, as she placed the bucket of water on the floor and put the mop in it to moisten it. She then proceeded to take it out and put the bottom end on the floor and started mopping.

The tiny inhabitants of Parlia ran as fast as their legs let them, trying to escape from the wet monster that threatened to sweep them away. Their tiny size, however, prevented them from running fast enough to outrun the huge mop, and many of them were easily swept in a few seconds. The rest kept running, trying to either hide or escape the whole area, although both proved to be bad choices. Hiding was useless, as no house, building or the like could resist the swift motion of the mop, and trying to escape the area was almost impossible, as each step of the massive woman shook the ground so hard that they kept tripping and falling.

The army was the only one that actually faced the giantess instead of trying to flee. They charged fiercely towards her, while doing their best to avoid her lethal weapon. The ones who managed to do so, quickly approached towards her feet, intending to attack with all they got. All they got, however, wasn’t enough to even harm the giantess, as they could only hit the soles of her shoes with their limited reach. Even their arrows and thrown axes couldn’t make it all the way up to her ankle. What this attack did, though, was to get the giantess’s attention.

“What the Hell…?”, Alta said to herself, noticing a big bunch of those bugs surrounding her feet. “Odd. Bugs usually don’t do this. Well, anyways, bugs are bugs.” And with that, she proceeded to lift her feet and step on the tiny specks that surrounded her.

The army by her feet barely had time to react before the massive shoes started to obliterate them by hundreds a step. Some of them dropped their weapons and tried to escape, while others stayed and fought. No matter what they did, though, they were no match for her strength or speed, and in just a few more steps, every single soldier had disappeared under her soles. Only the flying ones remained.

“Eeeek!”, Alta said, startled by the sudden group of mosquitoes flying around her. She started swatting at them with both hands, trying to scare them off. She did manage to fell a few of them with the palms or backs of her hands, but only to push them aside and not actually killing them.

The mosquito riders used bows and crossbows to attack the towering giantess, who had already wiped the entire foot army with her feet. To their dismay, not only were their arrows and bolts harmless, but they didn’t seem to even get the woman’s attention. Compared to her, the missiles were almost microscopic, so her skin nerves didn’t detect them. Their steeds, however, did manage to get her attention, as she soon tried to swat them.

To them, it was as if a pair of massive 5-legged octopuses suddenly appeared out of nowhere and rose to the skies, moving at blinding speed towards them. Being trained mosquitoes, they weren’t as skilled at dodging hands as wild ones are, so they had a much harder time dodging the attacks. Each time one of her hands touched a mosquito, it shook him violently enough to knock down all its riders, who fell thousands of feet to their deaths.

I less than a couple of minutes, every single mosquito-rider had fallen to the floor. Without them, their steeds, confused, simply flew away from the giantess, who quickly stopped the swatting motion of her arms and hands.

“Phew! What was that?”, she said to herself, seeing the mosquitoes disperse. “This place has a much more serious problem with bugs than I thought. Jeez!”

The rest of the people of the kingdom of Paria, seeing their all-powerful army swept aside with ease by the titaness in front of them, lost all hope. Some still tried to leave it all behind and escape the kingdom, but most of them simply hid in their homes, waiting for the end. All shared the same fate, though. Alta took the mop again, dipped it in the water bucket and swept the entire kingdom with it. The last thing the Parlians saw was their streets flooded briefly before a massive monster with dozens of arms brushed each building and person aside, while finally flattened under two gargantuan shoes.

The emperor Leon watched all this from above, aboard the royal mosquito. He simply couldn’t believe his eyes. The proudly self-called “most powerful army in the world”, defeated by a single giant. Not only that, but she did it fairly easily. With no place to return, he and his family decided to fly in search of one of the other kingdoms, to see if there was place for them to stay.

Krista walked into the kitchen. The table inside immediately caught her attention. It was covered with a layer of diminutive bugs. Sighing, she produced a wiping cloth from her pocket, the size of her hand, and soaked it in the sink. After that, she placed the cloth on the table and placed her open palm on top of it, covering the cloth almost completely, and started to wipe.

The people of the kingdom of Plateau stared up, startled, as a huge woman suddenly appeared in their view. They could only see the upper half of her body, but it still towered above them all. For a few seconds, the giantess disappeared from sight, just as fast as she had first appeared. However, no soon were they all sighing in relief, the giantess appeared again. This time, though, she dropped a very wide piece of rectangular cloth on them, trapping a big group of people under it. The trapped tinies just had a couple of seconds to try and escape when her massive hand landed right on the cloth, smashing every tiny under it.

This simple event was enough to introduce fear and panic in the rest of the people in the kingdom, and they all started to scatter around the table top. The problem was that the area was limited by a very long fall to the floor, so in the middle of the chaos, a few either ran off the edge accidentally or were pushed by other panicking persons.

Krista noticed the tiny bugs run in random directions as soon as she placed her hand on the table. This didn’t particularly get her attention, as she, like any other person, was used to see ants and other insects panic and scatter as soon as a human being got close to them; so she simply started wiping the table, wanting to get finished as soon as possible.

The panic in Plateau grew as the gargantuan hand started moving across the kingdom, sweeping the surface and wiping anyone and anything in its path. The tiny people ran as fast as they could from her hand, but it was simply too big and fast for them, and the hand kept catching up with them. The caught ones either got stuck to the cloth under Krista’s hand or were swept off the table.

Plateau’s army barely had time to reach to this menace.  Most soldiers didn’t even have time enough to take their weapons when they were wiped by the giantess. The few ones who managed to, though, could only watch in terror as their swords sank in the cloth or their arrows snapped in half harmlessly against the skin of her hand before they were inevitably reached by her.

After just a few more minutes, there was no single Plateaunian on the table. They were all either on the floor, severely injured or death, or stuck to the cloth in Krista’s palm. The enormous woman lifted the cloth from the table and held it in front of her face. She could see hordes of diminutive bugs stuck to it.

“OK, almost done now.”, she said to herself and walked towards the sink to wash all of them off her cloth. She simply held the cloth under the water tap until all the bugs were washed off it and into the drain.  Finally, she was about to leave when she noticed a few bugs on the floor.

“Oops! I must have brushed them off the table”, she said, and simply stepped on them with just a few steps.

The tinies stuck to her cloth saw her gigantic face looming above them as she lifted it to get a closer look. One last glance at the one who vanished the kingdom of Plateau from the face of the Earth. This sight didn’t last long, as a massive waterfall suddenly appeared, washing them all off the surface they were and into a dark hole, big enough to swallow them all. The last few survivors, who were lying down on the floor, really hurt, only survived for a few more seconds, since as soon as Krista washed her cloth off, the last thing they saw was the sole of her shoe going down at them.

The emperor Leon was even more worried as he had been before, not only because the kingdom he planned to escape too was already obliterated, but because he realized that the giant who destroyed his empire wasn’t the only one there.

“Is this the end of the world?”, he said, while the mosquito turned, flying away from the kitchen and into one of the bedrooms. There they might find a place to hide from the huge invaders. Unfortunately for the whole royal family, the giants were there already.

In the bedroom, Lily, a tall woman, was dusting the shelf with a feather duster. In there, too, was Lara, another woman, who was vacuuming the floor. The two of them were mostly just getting rid of the dust accumulated in the bedroom, or so they thought.

“How long has it been since someone cleaned this place?”, asked Lily, while dusting the shelf. “There’s not only dust layers here, but also bugs.”

“I know, right?”, answered Lara. “I hope the vacuum doesn’t get jammed or something.”

The two women did their jobs while the emperor Leon watched them attack the two kingdoms in the bedroom: Juttland and Chamberia. The first one atop of the highest surfaces in the place, while the latter took most of the space on the ground. However, at the time, they both were under attack.

Juttland was assaulted by a strange artifact that seemed to brush everything in its way aside, tossing it off the edge of the surface where the kingdom was built. Juttland’s inhabitants, though, quickly found the attacking tool wielder. A gargantuan woman, whose hand and face were the only thing they could see. They were, however, the only things that the giantess needed to execute her attacks: her face to locate her targets and her hand to operate the weapon and brush people and buildings aside, into the nearby chasm.

Being a smaller kingdom, Juttland didn’t have a powerful army, but they did have a small team of soldiers, in case of an emergency. This emergency was out of their league, though. As far as they tried shooting their arrows and throwing their spears, they weren’t strong enough to manage to even reach her. That meant that all they could do was either try to run or wait for the massive woman to use her feather duster to brush every single remain of the kingdom into the abysm.

Chamberia, on the other hand, was having a somewhat different problem, but with similar results. Instead of being knocked down, they were being pulled up into the sky by an alien suction machine. Of course, they also had to deal with the giant woman’s feet, which crushed dozens of blocks with each step. But the fact that they could see the feet and at least try to escape from them made the enemy a little less scary. The suction machine used an invisible force to lift them off the ground and into an enormous dark hole in the sky.

There was nowhere to run, as they couldn’t even see the pulling force that took them off solid ground. Running or standing, random zones of the kingdom suddenly seemed to fly away from sight. Even the army didn’t have a clear enemy to attack. Some tried attacking her feet, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Most of the attacking soldiers were flattened under the gigantic shoes, while the rest were absorbed by the vacuum force. Soon enough, both kingdoms in the bedroom were no more.

Flying above the two giantesses, the royal family watched in terror as Juttland and Chamberia were vanished in a matter of minutes. Trying to stay as high as possible to avoid them, they travelled past them and flew into the bathroom, knowing that there was one last kingdom in there. But as they imagined, it was also being attacked by a giant.

Prologue (Part 2)

Nicole sighed. “Of course. I get the bathroom.” She then took out a bathroom cleaner bottle and started spraying it on the floor. This liquid alone was enough to cause serious damage in the kingdom of Latrinia. To the Latrinians, the smell alone was more than they could bear, and some even passed out. The giant waves of the cleaner washed a few buildings and people aside as Nicole sprayed it.

After a few seconds, the giantess stopped sprayed and placed the cleaner down and picked up a bathroom scrubber. She then crouched and used it to start scrubbing the bathroom floor. The tinies, still trying to recover from the cleaner attack, now faced a different attack. The giantess had produced a different weapon, and was now sweeping the kingdom with it.

The army quickly responded to the attack, although at first they wasted some time and efforts attacking the weapon itself, rather than the giantess herself. However, after the huge weapon brushed a big chunk of the army, they quickly changed their strategy and decided to attack the giantess, or rather her feet, as it was the only thing they could reach.

Fortunately for them, the giantess didn’t even feel the puny attacks against her feet, so she didn’t mind them and instead kept scrubbing the floor. Unfortunately for the rest of the kingdom, though, the giantess continued her attack, destroying the larger structures and the biggest crowds.

“Almost done”, she said to herself, drying the sweat in her forehead. “Now just the details.”

With that, she dropped the scrubber and grabbed a bathroom sponge. She then got down on hands and knees and started wiping the last areas on the floor. The simple position shift of her body caused enough flutter for the tinies. Her knees landing on the ground created a big tremor, while also crushing everything that was in their place. Her left hand also was placed on the floor, flattening everything that occupied the area, which was as wide as her palm. Finally, the sponge landed too, but it then started to move from one side of the kingdom to the other, in a devastating motion that cleaned the rest of Latrinia from there.

The tiny army, which was still there, watched in disbelief at the colossal woman as she ended the existence of their hometown. However, they didn’t have much time to mourn it, as the giantess stood back up to full height after finishing her job. Every single soldier craned his neck up in awe, as the woman towered above them all.

“Oh! Looks like I forgot this little spot.”, Nicole said. As soon as they heard it, the soldiers started running in random directions as fast as they could, knowing what she could easily do to all of them. Noticing their sudden movement, she yelped.

“Eeek! They’re ants!”, she said, and without losing a second, she lifted her foot and stamped on them all. Their tiny legs weren’t fast enough to let them spread in a wider area, and one step alone was enough to get them all. Tiny as they were, the sole of her shoe covered much more ground than they all did together. That’s how small they were compared to her.

“Stupid ants.”, was the last thing the emperor Leon heard before the royal mosquito left the bathroom, while Nicole just cleaned the flattened army with her sponge.

“This place isn’t safe anymore. We need to get out of here!”, he said, and the mosquito rider directed the flying insect towards an open window, leading them right into the back garden, which also had a pool in the center.

“Those giants may have conquered the inside areas, but they can’t possibly have reached the outside kingdoms. There we will be safe.”, and with that, they got out of the house and into the garden, just to find yet another giant doing what they did best.

“This is just disgusting”, said Iris, as she stood next to the large pool. “This pool looks more like a swamp to me. But, oh well, I’m not swimming, anyway.”

She then grabbed the pool net and introduced it into the water, and using both hands she moved it across the surface, picking up as many tiny bugs, leaves and twigs as possible. Considering the size of the pool, she had to walk around its border to be able to reach every corner.

The kingdom of Lagoonia’s queen, Isabella, couldn’t believe her eyes. A gigantic woman was walking right towards her palace. Before she could order her army to attack, or even try to hide, the enormous giantess stopped in her tracks, right in front of Lagoonia. Ready for the worst, Isabella saw in relief that the invader turned towards the Great Sea, giving her kingdom the back while she used a strange item to poke the surface of the water.

“Oh, no!”, the queen shouted, worried. “She’s attacking our fleet!”

Lagoonia’s fleet had already noticed this, and every single ship was doing its best to try and escape from the huge net. Of course, they weren’t nearly as fast as their captor, and one by one they were easily caught by the net. The battle ships attacked the strange item, firing arrows and cannon balls at it. Naturally, it didn’t work, and more ships were captured.

Desperately, many ship crew members jumped off the deck and tried to swim away. But the net was too big, and they were just trapped in it like the rest. Some even drowned, as the fast movement of the net made it very difficult for them to swim and stay on the surface.

The queen Isabella was about to command her armed forces to counter attack the giantess, but she decided against it. The enemy seemed too powerful for them, and it was better to just avoid confrontation. The giantess had already faced them, and she didn’t seem to notice they were right there, by her feet. This meant that somehow they were almost invisible to her, as long as they remained in the grass area, without moving.

“Everyone just stay calm! No one move!”, she ordered, feeling bad for the fleet she was leaving at the giant’s mercy, but she had no other choice. She had to make this sacrifice to save the rest of Lagoonia, and so she did. In just a few more minutes, every single sailor and ship in the Great Sea had disappeared into her net, helplessly trapped in it.

“Phew! At last.”, said Iris, looking down at the net in her hand. “The pool is finally clean of these things. Now I just have to get rid of them.”

And saying that, she reached into the net with a gloved hand to avoid touching the icky bugs. She then grabbed a handful of them and dropped them into a plastic bag. The tiny people trapped in her net stared up in terror and screamed while her massive hand descended towards them. Her grip alone was enough to crush most ships in her hand and squish the sailors in them. The few survivors found themselves trapped in a plastic bag with no chance of escape.

The emperor Leon couldn’t endure the sight anymore, and the royal steed turned around, leaving the Great Sea and Lagoonia behind. Iris simply finished placing the rest of the ships and people into the plastic bag and walked back into the house, leaving the kingdom alone. Queen Isabella couldn’t believe her and her kingdom’s luck, as she saw the giantess leave the area.

“We still have one last chance.”, he said to his family, as they flew towards the front of the house. “The kingdom of Sward. Connor, their king, is a good friend of mine. We can stay there while all this ends.”

With the hope that their last option was still safe, they flew towards the front lawn, where Sward was. But, as fate would have it, it was also being attacked by one of the giants. This made the royal family’s hopes all disappear, as they watched the last hiding spot being assaulted.

Molly was standing right in the middle of the lawn with her hands on her hips.

“I don’t think I can mow the lawn as it is. There’s a lot of weed in it. I don’t want the mower to get jammed.”, and saying that, she crouched, reaching for the closer weeds and tearing them off with her bare hands.

Connor, the king of Sward, stared in awe as the giantess used her hands to tear some of the largest plants in the area. Of course, many small towns and villages were built under or nearby these plants, so each time the giantess tore a weed off the soil, she also took several villages  (along with the villagers) in her hand. Closing her fist, she crushed everything inside her palm and then dropped it in one of those big, trash black bags.

Knowing what was coming, the king Connor immediately ordered his people to retreat into the bushes. Every single one of the kingdom’s inhabitants, even the soldiers, obeyed his kind, and ran as fast as they could towards the small bushes surrounding the lawn. But, obviously, it was very hard for them to get there fast, as walking around the huge blades of grass didn’t make it any easier. Plus, considering her tiny size, they couldn’t run very fast, which made it even more difficult.

Molly keeps tearing weed, snatching the closest towns and the slowest villagers as well, crushing them all casually into her fist and dropping them in the garbage bag. After a few minutes, the lawn was free of weed, although a big percent of the kingdom of Sward’s citizens have already disappeared into the mysterious, dark bag. The rest of them, though, are now safe and hiding in the deep bushes surrounding Sward, hoping the giantess wouldn’t find them there.

And they were right. Molly stands back up and grabs the mower, and starts mowing the overgrown lawn. The villages and towns remaining are too tiny to be reached by the blades of the mower, but Molly’s feet crush a few dozens of them every now and then as she walks around the lawn.

The tiny people hiding in the bushes watch, powerless, at how this enormous woman flattens chunks of their kingdom. They’re still very grateful to have made it alive out of there, but they can’t help but think about the amount of work it will take to rebuild the areas she destroyed.

Molly finally finishes mowing, and just as everyone thought she’d leave them alone, she instead started walking towards the bushes. No one knew why she was doing it, but they all expected the end. To their relief, though, the giantess produced a pair of huge scissors and started trimming the bush. Huge leaves started falling around them, but other than that, nothing major happened.

After that, the giantess finally left, leaving the tinies still alive in peace.  The emperor Leon, though, was flying to high above the lawn to notice the hiding people, so he thought everyone was gone.

“This is it. There’s nowhere else to go”, he says, sadly, looking at his family. They all look down, wondering what to do next. Suddenly, something comes up in Leon’s mind.

“Wait…there’s still places to go!”, he says, smiling again. “The north and the south kingdoms! The giants can’t possibly have found them!”

And with that last sparkle of hope, they fly towards the house’s main door, which is still open, as Molly just walked inside. Just then, Helen Gibson, the house shower, walks into the house.

“Hi again, girls. How did everything go? Is the house as good as new?”, she asks, smiling.

“Well, almost.”, says the one in charge. “The house is shiny now, except for the attic and the basement. They were locked, so we couldn’t get inside.”

“Oh! No, no, no.”, says Helen, worried. “Well, I have the keys here, so maybe---”
“Sorry, madame. But we’re not allowed to work overtime.”

“But then what do I do?”

“Just don’t show them those places. People never care about them, anyway.”

“I guess I have no choice, do I?”, says Helen, sighing, when she suddenly spots a mosquito flying in front of her eyes.

“Hey, you missed this one.”, she says, squinting at it.

Leon and his family don’t notice this quite yet. They simply fly as fast as their steed can, trying to get to the attic as soon as possible.

“Hurry! I just heard them say that they couldn’t get to Attica! We’ll be safe there!”, he shouts, as the mosquito flies. Out of nowhere, though, a massive palm appears in their way, blocking their path.

“Oh, no! They spotted us! Turn around!”, Leon commands, and the rider makes the mosquito turn 180°, only to find another palm blocking the other way.

“God helps us…”, Leon manages to say before the two walls close in together at blinding speed, swatting them all in between.

“Hey, I got it!”, says Hilda, looking down at her right hand, seeing a tiny mosquito flattened against her open palm. What she doesn’t quite notice is the diminutive royal family, all flattened too against her skin.

“Ew…”, she then blows all the corpses off her hand into oblivion, before letting the women out of the house and locking the door after getting our herself.

***

Later that night, the rulers of Attica, Lagoonia, Sward and Nadir gathered together to talk about the future of the world. The first one to speak was Isabella, queen of Lagoonia.

“OK, considering the recent events, we have to decide a course of action from now on to ensure the best outcome of this situation.”

“I agree. And the most important issue at the moment is the annihilation of Parlia, which was the central empire in the world.”, said Charlotte, empress of Attica.

“Parlia was the link between our four kingdoms, so we need to find a way to restore those links, for the good of said kingdoms and the rest of the smaller towns and villages left.”, said Connor, king of Sward.

“And to restore those links, I suggest we establish a new central empire, and Nadir is the best option for that purpose.”, said Edward, emperor or Nadir.

“Wait, hold on a second.”, interrupted Isabella. “Why Nadir, exactly?”

“Let’s face it. After the giants attack, Sward and Lagoonia are no longer in position to be in control.”, answered Edward. “You already have to deal with the destruction they caused to your kingdoms.”

“In that case, Attica is just as qualified to play the same role.”, replied Charlotte.

“Well, then, if you want, we could fight for the position.”, threatened Edward.

“Now, hold on a second, you two.”, interrupted Isabella. “This is no time to fight. We have a big problem now, and we must work together to solve it.”

“Actually, you are the ones who have a problem.”, said Edward, looking at Isabella and Connor. “Nadir is in perfect conditions right now.”

“Well, not for long.”, added Isabella. “Good luck finding reliable water sources if we don’t trade with you, as we did before.”

“Are you threatening me?!”, Edward raised his voice.

“I might as well be!”, answered Isabella, raising her voice too.

“OK, enough of this!”, stopped them Charlotte. “No one’s going to take over. We’ll work together, understood?”

“And you’re going to stop us if we do?”, taunted Edward.

“Well, if we have no other choice, then yes.”, said Charlotte, seriously. “We already have enough problems with giants to be fighting among ourselves.”

“Then, by all means, try to.”, said Edward. “This is the beginning of a new era. The Post-Parlia era, and if you three are too weak or too foolish to accept it, then you’ll suffer the consequences. Nadir is now the most powerful kingdom in the world, and your three kingdoms, along with every other town and village, will soon realize it. The easy or the hard way.”

And with that, Edward left. The three other rulers stayed there a little longer.

“What should we do?”, asked Connor. “Join forces and attack Nadir to prevent a bigger war?”

“Not yet.”, answered Charlotte. “For now, let’s just be wary to Nadir’s actions and see how things go.  Let’s not just rush into battle.”

“Fine.”, said Isabella. “But let’s at least stop trading with them, to weaken them as much as possible without actually attacking them. That’ll make it less likely for them to start a war.”

“Very well.”, said Charlotte. “Let’s hope things don’t get any worse than they already are. See you two soon and good luck.”

And each one of them returned to their respective kingdom, hoping for the best in the close future.

The Beginning of a New World

“125…127…129! This is it!”, Kate said to herself, and parked her car at the side of the street, next to a big house. As she got out of the car, she noticed there was a formally dressed woman standing by the house’s door. She walked across the lawn to shake the woman’s hand.

“Helen Gibson”, said the woman. “You’re here to look at the house, right?”

“Yes, yes. Kate Adams.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Adams. Shall we?”

“Yes, thank you.”, Kate said, and both women walked into the house.

Two watching Sward habitants looked at each other, just as the giantesses passed by.

“Do you think more giants will be coming the next days?”

“It seems so. If they decide to stay, we’re going to need a radical change in our living style so far.”

Kate and Helen walked into the house, closing the door behind them. Helen then led the way into the main bedroom, and both women walked around it.

“If I actually get this house, this is definitely going to be my bedroom”, said Kate, giggling. Helen giggled too, just to be friendly.

“Of course. This is the main bedroom. It’s only natural that the head of the family takes it.”, said Helen, smiling at Kate.

As the two of them talked, a scouting team from Attica, aboard one of their trained ladybugs, flew into the room, immediately noticing the couple of giantesses.

“They’re back! Look!”, said one of them. “We need to tell the queen!”

“Wait!”, another one said. “They don’t seem to be attacking or even threatening. They’re just…there.”

“Yeah, what are they up to?”

“No idea, but we should go tell the queen first. She’ll know what to do.”

“You’re right. Let’s go, then.”

The ladybug turned and started flying towards the door, when the two giantesses started heading the same direction.

“Let me show you the kitchen, then”, said Helen, walking out of the room. Kate, who was giving the bedroom one last glance, hurried towards the door.

The tiny ladybug riders saw a massive women swiftly appear in their way, blocking their whole view.

“Eeek! Turn, turn, turn!”

“I can’t! We’re too close! We’re going to…!”

The same as with other insects, the trained ladybug didn’t have nearly as much flying maneuverability as a wild one would, so it couldn’t turn in time and crashed right into the woman’s palm. The riders fell off the bug’s back, landing on a vast and fleshy surface.

“Huh?”, said Kate, and immediately lifted her hand to face level, after feeling a strange bump against her palm. The ladybug riders stared up at her in terror, as her huge face loomed above them. Her brown eyes were fixed right on them, or so they thought. Not knowing what to do, they simply stayed there, laying on her palm, staring up at her.

“Awww….a ladybug!”, said Kate, smiling. “Look, Miss Gibson!”, she said, holding her palm a bit away from her face. The tinies, realizing they weren’t noticed, immediately jumped onto their feet and proceeded to climb up the ladybug’s legs, back onto its back. They immediately hid under its wings, hoping to remain unnoticed.

“What?”, asked Helen, confused, and walked back towards Kate, staring down at her palm.

“Oh, indeed. A ladybug. How cute.”, said Helen, faking a smile.

“They say it’s good luck to find one.”, said Kate, as she watched the diminutive insect walk across her palm and onto her index finger.

“Maybe this is a sign, and I should buy this house.”, Kate continued, giggling.

Helen just giggled too, hoping this woman was as superstitious as she seemed.

Watching all this was a Nadir exploring team, riding one of their signature steeds, a fruit fly.

“Look! What’s going on there?”, one of them said.

“It looks like they’re…somehow bonding with the giantess.”, another one answered.

 “But how? That’s impossible!”

“Well, maybe this giantess is different than the other giants. Maybe she’s willing to help. Look, she actually seems pleased to see them.”

“Oh! In that case, we can’t let them! She might bond with Attica, and it’d be a huge disadvantage for Nadir! Literally!”

“Let’s go get closer too, so she can see that they’re not the only people our size around here!”

The fruit fly then flew towards Kate. Its riders were nervous, but they knew they’d be greatly rewarded if they managed to get this giant’s friendship for Nadir. They flew right towards her face, flitting there, trying to get her attention. Her huge eyes soon noticed the tiny fly in front of her face.

“What’s that? A fruit fly?”, asked Kate, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, those aren’t cute at all.”, she said, swiftly reaching for it with her free hand. The fruit fly riders couldn’t even react as the vast palm of Kate’s hand quickly took their whole view. Before the flying insect could turn, the huge hand closed into a fist, squeezing it into oblivion. She then opened her hand again, lifting it to eye level in order to see if she had got it. That’s when she saw the flat corpse of the fruit fly, although the riders were too tiny to be discern from the insect’s remains.

“I got it!”, said Kate, cheerfully.

“Well, done, Mrs. Adams!”, Helen said, a little annoyed now by all the bug playing. “Let’s go to the kitchen, then.”

“Of course.”, said Kate, lifting the ladybug to her face again, which now stood right on the tip of her index finger.

“I have to go now, little cutie. Wish me luck!”, she said, smiling down at it before blowing at it. The ladybug span a few times before getting control of its flight, and flew away from the huge woman. Its riders sighed in relief, considering themselves lucky to be alive, especially after seeing what the giantess did to the Nadir explorers.

Next, the two women walked into the kitchen. Kate roamed the room while Helen simply waited for her possible buyer to see the area before taking her to the next. However, while Kate still took a look around, Helen noticed something on the kitchen counter. Bending down, she lowered her face to the counter level, only to notice a bunch of what seemed to be ants, gathered on the surface.

On the counter, the residents of a small and newly formed village noticed the couple of giantesses suddenly appearing. This, obviously, spooked them, but their fear grew considerably when one of them brought her face closer to them, looming above menacingly. Having no army at all, the villagers simply ran, terrified, around the town, while the giantess’s huge eyes focused down on them.

“Oh, shit…”, thought Helen, noticing that Kate had no clue about the bunch of ants in the kitchen, but was heading that direction. Swiftly, Helen stood straight again and turned around, giving her back to the ants and covering them from sight with her back.

“The kitchen is great, actually.”, said Kate, walking towards Helen. “Since I’m the one doing most of the cooking, I really needed a nice one.

“Well, good to know!”, said Helen, nervously, doing her best to block the counter from sight.

The tiny villagers calmed down a little when they saw the giant face back away from them and turn around. The giant woman stood right there, though, and they knew the danger was far from gone, but having nothing else to do, they stayed there, staring up at her and hoping for the best.

“Oh, what a nice counter!”, Kate said, walking towards it.

“Th…the counter?”, asked Helen, trying to think about what to do.

“Yes, of course.”, said Kate, trying to look pass Helen without seeming rude. “No kitchen is complete without a nice, fitting counter.”

“The…the counter, of course.”, replied Helen, thinking fast for a solution. Then, without giving it a second thought, she turned around and discretely leaned against the counter, supporting her weight on her hand. She made sure that her hand got every single ant on the surface, hiding them from Kate.

Just as they thought they might be safe, the giantess turned around again. This time, instead of lowering her face closer to them, it was her hand that approached. The whole sky being blocked, all they could see as they stared up was a very vast palm that got closer and closer to the village. Most of the villagers ran as fast as they could, trying to escape their inevitable fate. A few others simply stood there, staring up at the gargantuan palm that seemed to get bigger every second. As the palm got close enough for them to reach, they raised their hands up to the sky in a last desperate attempt to stop the gigantic hand. Hundreds of diminutive hands pushed against Helen’s palm a fraction of a second before the entire village was obliterated under her hand. She didn’t even realize their futile attempt to stop her.

“The counter, yes. Take a look at it.”, said Helen, confident, now that the group of ants was crushed under her hand and completely concealed from Kate’s sight.

“Well, so far, so good”, said Kate, smiling at Helen. “The kitchen passed the test, hehe. Let’s go see the back garden with the pool.”

“Of course.”, said Helen, letting Kate go before her. She then quickly lifted her hand from the counter, taking a brief look at the remaining of the group of insects before brushing them off her palm with her other hand. She then followed Kate into the back garden.

There, Kate started walking around the pool, looking down at it.

“I always wanted to have a house with a pool.”, she said, clapping a few times, like a little, excited girl. But then something caught the corner of her eye. It was a tiny thing floating on the surface of the pool.

“Hey, what’s that thing there?”, she asked, pointing down at it.

The first ship after the giant invasion day had just sailed from Lagoonia. The sea felt a little empty after the giantess destroyed every single one of the former fleet. Still, everyone in Lagoonia was very happy and excited to be sending ships back into the sea. The crew was particularly excited, since they were the first ones to explore the seas after that terrible day. Excited, that is, until a booming voice from above got their attention. Staring up, they noticed that a giant woman was pointing directly at them.

Worried about an event similar to the first giant invasion, they tried to get away from her as fast as possible. Of course, they had to move in the opposite direction, so it took much longer than they would have wished, and before they knew it, an enormous shadow had already covered them.

“What’s what?”, asked Helen, worried, and walked straight towards the strange object.

“Oh, that!”, she said, smiling and reaching down for it. “It’s just a twig. Nothing to worry about. Being in the middle of the garden, a few twigs will eventually fall in.”

Helen then picked the tiny “twig” out of the pool between her index and thumb fingers, crushing it between her tips and then discarding it onto the grass. Kate just shrugged and kept looking around the pool and the garden.

The tiny crew had no way to outrun the huge hand. A few ones jumped into the sea, but the rest were snatched up along with the ship between the two digits of the giant fingers. Terrified, some others jumped down in panic. The ones who didn’t ended up crushed between her fingertips, trapped in their flattened ship, as it was tossed down onto the grass.

“Oh, look at that!”, said Kate, pointing at one of the bushes. “It looks like a little turtle!”

“That. Yes, yes, it’s a turtle. It has lived here for many years.”, said Helen, smiling. “It doesn’t have an owner, so we just let it roam freely. The former owners said it was of good luck to see it walking by.”

“Really?”, asked Kate, looking at the turtle as it disappeared into the bushes. “Then I’m twice as lucky today! The ladybug and now the turtle. I think this house is the one, for sure.”

Smiling, thinking the sale was inevitable, Helen lead Kate back into the house, and both sat in the living room.

“So, I’m guessing the price and all that stuff won’t be discussed right now.”, said Kate, crossing her leg.

“Exactly”, said Helen. “Today was just for seeing the house. If you really are interested, we’ll make a second appointment to discuss that.”

Just then, Helen noticed another group of ants, this one smaller, moving next to her shoe.

“No, no, no!”, she thought. “Not now. I’m so close!”

The exploring team of Nadir was in the living room when both giantesses appeared. Having no time to hide, they ran as fast as they could towards the couch, trying to get under it for safety. However, they weren’t nearly fast enough to get there on time, and one of the giantess had already seen them.

“OK, then.”, said Kate, standing up. “I’ll call you in the next few days.”

With a swift movement, Helen stood up too, dragging her foot towards the group of ants and brushing them all under the couch, hiding them from sight.

The tiny citizens of Nadir barely had time to react as they were all swept aside, most of them either dying because of the force of the shoe or at least injured. The last thing they saw was the side of a massive shoe, before they found themselves either under the couch or dead.

“Take care, Mrs. Adams.”, said Helen, shaking Kate’s hand.

“You too. Thanks for the tour.”

“Any time!”

Both women walked out of the house, and Helen locked it behind them.

The same couple of Sward guards saw the giantesses get out of the house.

“Look! They’re back!”, one of them said.

“What do you think they did in there?”

“No idea, but it can’t be anything good, I bet.”

“Ummm…isn’t that one coming right towards us…?”

“What, oh! It is!”

“Quickly, let’s get back to---“