Characters: Countess Olivia, Kadaj, Gena, Roxanne, Narsis, Frankie
“Miss Olivia, are you okay?” Kadaj said, putting his hands against the warm skin of her pinky. She continued to stare off into the nothing.
“There are no clouds today,” she whispered. “I want there to be clouds. I feel so lost without them.”
“I can’t control the weather, Miss Olivia.”
“I would never ask you to. It’s all too big for the both of us.”
He looked up at her, but she was lost in her dreams. There was something gone, again in her eyes, and her long curls of hair did nothing for her fading complexion. Gently, he wrapped his ten small fingers around her long one and squeezed. “…You should come back down here. The tournament is about to begin.”
“Of course,” she said with a smile that was gone before it began. She turned to Isabella and nodded. “Please, cousin, don’t worry about me. I’m ready to begin.”
But Isabella had left three minutes ago to announce the start of the tournament. Only Gena and Roxanne remained at the table, their eyes locked on Olivia in awkward stares.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Roxanne asked. “You look really sick.”
But Olivia just smiled, like a ghost at peace. “I’ve just been asleep for too long. I’ll wake soon.”
“O…kay…” She leaned over to Gena. “What a freak. How can she be second in command to the throne?”
Gena grinned as she sank her teeth into a fresh green apple. Warm sour juice washed over her lips. “Look at her. She can barely sit up in her chair. I don’t think she has any clue what she’s on.”
“Maybe she’s high? You act like that sometimes after you hit the weed.”
“I don’t think so. It’s something else…” Her smirk grew as her mind began to wander. “You know, this might work out in our favor. If some unfortunate accident were to befall Isabella, this whole kingdom would go under in less than a day.”
“You aren’t really suggesting that we kill the Queen, are you?” Roxanne gasped. She had to keep her voice down because the Paladins in the back of the room, despite their statue-like appearance, had ears made for hearing.
“We were already going to do that anyway,” Gena said. “She has to die.”
“But…”
“What?”
Roxanne slumped back into her chair. “I don’t know. I was beginning to like her. She hates Men as much as us. I thought maybe we could become her loyal bodyguards or something.”
“Loyal servants, you mean. You forget, Roxy—it’s all a matter of power. There can only be one person on top. If it’s not us, then it’s her.”
“But is it really so bad? Isabella’s not like our parents. She’s a ruthless and mean-spirited tyrant, who…okay, so she is like our parents. But she’s on our side!”
“Until when, Roxy!?” Gena slammed her fist on the table and the apple core fell from her grasp. “How long until she turns on us!? I’m not going to settle for second best this time! We deserve so much more. Damn it, Roxy, you know we do!”
“I guess…”
Slowly, Gena relaxed her fingers and took on a gentler tone. “Look, baby, I don’t mean to yell like that. I just get angry sometimes because I feel you don’t want the best for us. What’s so bad at being the greatest?”
“Nothing,” Roxanne said. “I love to torture and humiliate people with every ounce and every part of my body. It’s my life. But what you’re asking me to do…to kill them…to deny them of the life I love to torment… I don’t know if I can live with that blood on my hands.”
“We can wash them when we’re done and begin again. Oh, Roxy, we can’t let something like the well-being and lives of others get in the way of our dreams.”
“But I thought this was just a game,” Frankie yelled from where he lay on Gena’s cold breast.
“It is,” Narsis hissed from his place on the floor. “They’ve forgotten. Look, kid, you have to get out of here and get help. We’re all in a lot of danger.”
“Shaddup!” Gena barked, stuffing her foot into Narsis’ mouth and slamming his head into the floor. She then proceeded to use his body as a mop, rubbing him back and forth against the floorboards. “Little Frankie, don’t listen to that nasty imp. Imps only lie and deceive you.”
“But it is a game,” Frankie said, trying to stand on Gena’s breast. He couldn’t get a decent foothold, though. “Don’t you remember? I came here with Siarra and Grandpa. We were in Siarra’s room and we put on the game helmets and…and…” His voice trailed off.
“And what?” Roxanne asked.
“…I don’t remember.”
“You hit your head,” Gena said. “When we came to save you from your evil sister, you hit your head against the ground really hard. You poor thing, your memory’s been altered.”
“Mmphf mpphf!” Narsis said, with a mouthful of Gena’s foot. He dug his back claws into the floorboards and pried himself away from her. “You bloody fools, it’s your mind that is being altered! Don’t you see what’s happening!? The virus is taking over our minds. Every second we spend here, every time we forget that this is all fantasy, we become one pixel closer to being part of this virtual reality forever. Idiots, don’t you see!? God, I was a fool. Why…oh, God, why…”
“I think he’s right,” Frankie said. He looked up at Gena and Roxanne with the pleading eyes of a child in need of help. “I remember my other life. We haven’t always been here. You used to babysit me, Gena. You used to come over when Mommy and Daddy were gone and Siarra was locked in her room. And…you used to put the laundry basket over my head and sit on it to watch TV!”
“TV?” Roxanne echoed.
“TV! The big box with little people inside!”
“Little Men like you?”
“Well, yeah… Men and women!”
“Women have never been small enough to fit in a box,” Gena said calmly. “Frankie, you’ve been hanging around that imp and Countess Spaced-Out too much.”
“But I remember!” he cried. “I remember it. Why can’t you?”
“It’s too late, kid,” Narsis said. “Their minds are gone. Not that they had any worth speaking of in the first place.”
“How would you like my steel boots to turn you into a Nar-pancake?” Roxanne growled.
Frankie finally managed to grab hold of Gena’s robe and pulled himself up to the soft, pale skin of her neck. “Please, I do remember and I know you do too. If you just try…”
Sighing, Gena closed her eyes. For a moment, it looked like there was some recollection in the supple folds of her face. Then she stood up, causing Frankie to tumble towards the floor (luckily the necklace chain prevented him from going splat) and kicked Narsis so hard that his whole body went spiraling around the leg of the chair like a tetherball until he was tied against it.
“I’ve heard enough,” she said. “I won’t be deceived by you, imp. And you shouldn’t be fooled either, Frankie.”
But Frankie had no strength to respond. He dangled, facedown and arms limp, from Gena’s necklace like a puppet on strings.
“Hear me out, imp,” Gena warned, sticking her foot under Narsis’ chin and lifting his head up. “The next time I hear nonsense come from your lips, it will be the last time you speak again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes…” he squeaked.
“Good. Now, kiss my foot for sparing your life.”
“Kiss your foot?”
“Kiss my foot! Or eat it.”
Narsis leaned forward and slowly pressed his scaly lips against Gena’s slipper. It was pulled back, however, and then sent flying into his snout at a speed so fast and hard that whole chair tumbled backwards. Narsis went with it, kicking.
“Next time you’ll eat it,” Gena said.
Giantess World
