“Hey, honey. They let you out early, huh?”

“Nah, I stepped out. I just wanted—”

“Let me guess, you just wanted to see how I’m doing. Please don’t tell me you’re missing class for that.”

“Come on, I can’t help that I miss you. I needed to hear your voice.”

Nora let out a sigh as she shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. And yet, she had a wide, toothy smile on her face. It was clear that she found her boyfriend’s behavior entertaining, no matter how ridiculous it may be.

“Well, here you have it. How are you?” Upon realizing that her boyfriend was calling just to check up, Nora’s voice became a bit more playful, despite her rather dry voice.

“I’ve been fine. Other than missing you, like I said. But how are you? Have you been sleeping better? Your prescription is helping, right? And have you been eating well? The dining hall food there isn’t too bad, is it? If it is, I’ll drive up there right now and cook you something myse—”

Even though his girlfriend was the one who asked, Sean didn’t talk about himself for more than a second. Rather, he immediately turned the focus of the conversation back to Nora, as his main priority was making sure that she was safe and healthy while she was away from him. He certainly would have gone on for longer, had Nora not interrupted him.

“Hey, hey, hey, I’m fine! Jeez, it hasn’t even been a week. I haven’t passed out again, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Nora’s smile remained even as she shut down Sean’s paranoid rant. After all, this restless personality of his is partially why she fell in love with him.

The young woman known as Nora Park was currently eighteen years old, and had just started her very first year of college. Ever since she was young, she earned a reputation as an incredibly hard worker. From kindergarten to twelfth grade, she remained at the very top of her class, receiving the highest grades she could on almost every assignment. However, Nora wasn’t one to believe in sheer talent—she put in the effort for her grades. The girl hardly had any friends throughout her school career, as she poured all of her time into her studies. Rather than going outside to frolic with her peers during recess, Nora remained in her teacher’s classroom to review her notes for the umpteenth time. Rather than attend a party with the girls, Nora stayed cooped up in her room at home to make sure that her homework was the best it could be.

In addition to her outstanding marks, Nora was a member of many student organizations that promoted resourcefulness and leadership. By her senior year, she had risen to become the president of eight out of the ten organizations she was a part of. Of course, this included her student council, of which she presided as the president for two years. Indeed, while Nora had no close friends to call her own, she was absolutely capable of being sociable and leading the rest of her peers. This all led her to gain the recognition of not only the faculty and staff of her own school, but also recruiters from colleges state-wide.

As such, it was no surprise when the most prestigious school in the country invited her to apply. And it was even less of a surprise when she was accepted.

Indeed, it seemed as if Nora had it all figured out. By the beginning of her last semester of high school, soon after her acceptance letter was delivered, she walked throughout her school’s hallways with her head held high. It wasn’t out of arrogance, but rather out of serene confidence. Indeed, nothing could knock her down, make her flinch, or throw her off of her groove.

That is, except for a fellow student named Sean Price.

Now, Nora was an extremely hard worker, which worked to her benefit in the grand scheme of things. However… she often worked so hard that she forsook food, sleep, and even water. It wasn’t uncommon for her parents to catch her in her room studying at 4:00 A.M., after she had already refused dinner that day. As such, Nora collapsing out of sheer exhaustion was an event that occurred from time to time at her high school.

It was on a certain day after she collapsed that she met Sean.

Nora didn’t even remember exactly where she fainted on that fateful day. What she knew was that she woke up in an emergency room, which wasn’t out of the ordinary. What was odd, however, was the boy that was sitting across the room from her as she woke up.

Almost immediately, the boy rushed over to her as she lay on the room’s bed. He checked her forehead for a temperature, and nervously asked her if she was alright. Nora still remembered that he became more anxious due to her initial lack of response.

However, she just found it hard to speak whilst she was captivated by his warm voice and remarkably gentle touch. She had never felt so lost for words.

The two of them had never interacted before, but he truly cared that she was alright, didn’t he?

Nora’s parents were in the room as well, and they remained completely quiet as she finally began to speak and the two students got to know each other. Although, Nora would have sworn that they had smiles on her faces the entire time. Once it was time for them to leave, they informed Nora that Sean had waited in the room for the entire forty minutes that she was out cold, refusing to leave. This also meant that he missed out on school, as he actually went out to the emergency room along with Nora.

Apparently, Sean was passing right by Nora in the hallway when she collapsed. He felt that her safety was his responsibility due to this.

Nora was certainly aware of Sean’s existence before the fainting incident, by virtue of being the leader of so many student organizations, but they had never truly interacted before. As such, it was Sean’s overwhelming sense of compassion he demonstrated that on that day that made her fall in love with him. And it was what turned her into a bumbling mess when they were first getting to know each other, too. She had never met someone other than her parents who cared so much for her, nor had she ever had to deal with the hassle of having a “crush” before. And even besides her romantic feelings for him, he was the first friend she ever had, period.

Almost three months after the start of the two students’ friendship, Nora learned that he reciprocated her feelings, and they officially started dating. It would be easy to assume that Sean only cared for Nora because he loved her all along, but she believed that he would dote on her even without romantic intentions. It was a perfect match—a girl who neglected herself and a boy who obviously cared a lot for health.

However, their relationship did not stop her pursuit of academic greatness at all. She would still pull all-nighters and isolate herself from others. But now, Sean would be at her side, making sure she ate and drank when she absolutely needed to. In fact, her capabilities only increased when Sean was there to take care of her.

Alas, the two lovers only had two months to date before it was time for them to graduate and go off to college. Of course, Sean came nowhere close to Nora’s academic brilliance, and as such, was attending a simple liberal arts college in their home state. It certainly wasn’t ideal for them to attend different schools, but fortunately, Nora’s university was just a state over. Nonetheless, they tearfully promised each other that they would call each other every single day while Nora was gone. And of course, Nora promised Sean that she would take better care of herself; a promise that she kept. She maintained herself at her high-brow college even better than she did at school.

This brings us to now. Nora and Sean were both currently nineteen years old, their second years of college just beginning. And yet, even though it was over a year since they graduated and Nora moved away, the couple was still in love.

And Sean tended to treat every second they were away like it was their first.

“Alright, good. But sti—”

“I said I’m fine.” Nora cut Sean off. “Now go back to class, I don’t want you missing out on your first week for my sake.” She has become notably more confident while speaking to him, as opposed to the nervous wreck she once was. Her voice was monotone, but Sean could feel the love that lay behind her words.

“Okay, maybe you have a point… Just make you eat today, okay? I don’t wanna turn on the news later tonight and learn that you didn’t.”

They both chuckled. “Alright, I’ll eat.” Nora relented. “See you, babe.”

“Hey, Nora.”

“Yeah?”

“I love y—”

Suddenly, Sean’s phone cut out. Nora looked at her own phone in bewilderment as she saw a screen notifying her that Sean disconnected from their call. That was odd—Sean would never hang up on her like that. Maybe he just dropped his phone, or his professor stormed out of their classroom to tell him to stop speaking right outside of their door. Nora broke out into a smile thinking about this possibility. Anyways, Sean would probably call her right back, in no more than a couple of seco—

However, it was Nora who dropped her phone as she heard a massive explosion sound off in the distance.

Nora was currently on her way to her own class, which was coming up in a few minutes. As such, she had a full view of the open air as she walked down her prestigious college’s vast walkways.

This granted her the view of the woman that now filled the sky.

Wait, what?

Nora was painstakingly realistic and practical. This led her to lower her head, rub her eyes, and blink multiple times before she looked back up. And yet, the woman was still there.

This woman looked remarkably young, most likely around Nora and Sean’s age. Nora had to tilt her head as far back as it would go in order to fully capture the woman’s head in her vision. And yet, it was clear that she was merely sitting down, with her legs pulled up to her chest. Additionally, despite the fact that she currently took up more than half of Nora’s vision, his woman appeared to be behind the countless buildings and trees of her campus’s skyline, rather than standing right in front of her.

Far more odd than this was the fact that the young woman was bathed in a pale blue tint. This was more characteristic of the skyscrapers, airplanes, and other far-off items that Nora saw from time to time. Nora could also see clouds in front of the woman, rather than behind her. But not a single cloud seemed to surpass her rear, even as she was sitting down. The woman seemed to be wearing basic black jeans, and the highest cloud in sight only rose up to her waistband.

So then, what exactly was she looking at here? This woman certainly couldn’t be—

It was about a minute after the initial appearance of the woman in the sky and loud explosion that Nora felt the ground shudder underneath her. She was knocked down to the ground as she found it impossible to maintain her balance, still struggling to keep herself up on all fours. While the explosion earlier was loud but dull, the groan that shot through the ground was deafening. This was largely due to the proximity of this sound, whilst the prior noise was further away. Indeed, Nora was right in the midst of an earthquake.

Nora wanted nothing more than to believe that this quake was naturally occurring, a direct result of seismic movements underneath the earth’s crust. But, that wasn’t the case, was it? Nora was realistic, but she was also a smart girl.

The extraordinarily loud boom from earlier, this earthquake, and the appearance of the woman who looked like she was a part of the skyline itself… it was all connected, wasn’t it?

Nora finally came to terms with the fact that she was looking at the largest living being in recorded human history.

Nora might have come to this conclusion a bit later if she weren’t suddenly hit with a dreadful sense of urgency. She scrambled to pick up her phone amidst the earthquake—it took her nearly twenty seconds to finally pick up the device, and her mood worsened with every passing moment. Sean disconnected right when the massive woman appeared; was he alright? Surely he was just caught up in the quake, right? And not…

After many failed attempts to call Sean, Nora finally managed to click his name in her contact’s list. She waited for him to answer… but nothing.

It was then that tears began to swell in Nora’s eyes as her face became red. It was also then that Nora’s attention turned to her surroundings. If she couldn’t contact him through his phone, then she could ask others around her what was currently happening outside of their campus.

As expected, pandemonium had broken out around her. Of course, her fellow Ivy League college students and professors were usually calm and collected, if not obnoxiously high-strung and haughty. However, the sight before Nora didn’t match this at all. Students and staff alike were either crumpled down to the concrete and grass cried out, or they were awkwardly squirming across the ground in an attempt to get who-knows-where. There were a few lucky ones who were standing new to a large enough object when the quake broke out, giving them an item to support themselves on.

Nora decided to join the rank of the crawlers, and made herself over to a fellow student who was clinging onto a bench. She was already holding a phone up to her ear with her free hand, meaning that there was a chance that she'd be a good source of information during this moment.

But as she made her way to the girl, Nora grit her teeth together and tears streamed down her face. This girl would tell her that everything was okay, right?

She would assure her that this enormous woman didn’t just spawn in the city that her boyfriend was currently in, right?

After another excruciatingly long couple of minutes—due to her low crawl speed—Nora made herself over to the young woman. As the other student saw that Nora was within a foot of her, she put away her phone, and reached out to Nora.

“W-Where is she right now?!” Nora asked as the young woman pulled her up, allowing her to grab on to the same bench for support. She spoke bluntly, skipping any and all formalities.

“She just appeared right over South City, in the state over. But practically anything in a fourteen mile radius of her was destroyed too…” The student answered.

Nora stopped listening right after she said South City.

That’s where Sean’s college was located.

For some odd reason, Nora stopped crying. Instead, a dull ringing filled her ears as she simply stared forward. She didn’t even hear the girl tell her that she was sorry, she realized that she was the one who just broke the bad news.

What just happened? Just a few minutes ago, everything was fine.

Just a few minutes ago, her most favorite person in the world was alive.

Nora had no way of processing what just happened to her. It wasn’t just the fact that he was dead, it was the sheer absurdity of it. Something realistic like a car crash would have been easier to work through.

Why did a giant woman suddenly appear out of nowhere? And why did she appear right over her boyfriend?

Did the universe want him dead that badly?

Luckily for her mental state, Nora was snapped out of her stupor right when she started pondering the will of the cosmos. Rather than the ringing in her ears, a new sound filled her head.

“I-I’m sorry!”

Both Nora and the other student covered their ears as quickly as they possibly could as they heard a deafening voice rip through the air. It was clear that this voice belonged to a woman—even though it was just slightly pitched-down due to its sheer volume, it certainly couldn’t have been a male’s voice. And as Nora looked back up to the sky, the massive woman’s mouth was moving. This could only mean that it was her that was speaking.

“I didn’t mean to, um, you know…” The young, enormous woman spoke in a shaky voice. “I was just startled, and then I just… It’s the first time this has ever happened…”

The giantess truly did seem regretful for what she had apparently done. But this didn’t register with Nora at all. She took note of only one thing as the massive woman apologized:

That was just how casually she was speaking.

The giantess was speaking as if this was just another day in the park. She might have been sorry, but she was in the same vein as someone who had just stepped on someone’s shoe, or put sugar in their coffee when they asked for none. The thousands, if not millions, of lives that she had snuffed out just by existing… did they merely amount to a simple “sorry”?

Is that all that Sean’s life amounted to?

And it wasn’t just him. Her parents worked thirteen miles away from South City—just narrowly in the giantess’s radius. Given that they were most likely at work, they died at the same time as Sean. That’s not to mention their house; the house that Nora grew up in. It was likely crushed beyond recognition underneath the woman’s jeans.

Her school, the teachers and few students she held fond memories of, all gone. There went the site of her most precious accolades, as well as the people who remembered those accolades. What had she spent the last nineteen years of her life doing, then? Working so she can get shipped off to the next state over while everyone and everything she knew passed on and left her behind?

Nora sure as hell wanted to cry right now. But she just couldn’t do so for some reason. Probably because there was no one to cry to—not to Sean, and not to her parents.

With a completely blank expression, Nora let go of the bench she was holding on to and stood up straight. That familiar ringing in her ears returned once more. Somehow, the young woman found the strength to walk on her two legs during the severe earthquake. The other college student looked on in shock and horror as Nora walked right in the direction of the titanic woman, with no signs of stopping.

However, the giantess wasn’t done speaking just yet.

“So, uh, I’ll just… move. Again, I’m really sorry, everyone!”

With this, the giantess lowered her hands down on either side of her in order to push herself up from her seated position.

The quakes that resulted from her two hands touching down onto the earth was no less severe than the first one.

As Nora walked towards the massive woman in her rage-filled daze, she didn’t even  care about the fact that she was truly over a hundred miles away, meaning that there was no way that she would reach her anytime soon.

She also didn’t care about the fact that she had walked right underneath a campus pavilion.

Due to the brand-new earthquake, a piece of rubble dislodged itself from the pavilion and fell right on top of Nora’s head.

She didn’t even get the chance to think about Sean for one last time before she lost consciousness.