Characters: Kendira, Rachelle, Roxanne, Jinx
Location: The Tournament of Champions
Day 4 - 2:00 PM
“I hope they’re okay,” Kendira said uneasily as she leaned against the stadium walls. “If anything happens to them, I don’t know how I’ll forgive myself. I let them go. What was I thinking?”
“You couldn’t stop them,” Rachelle shrugged. “Men never listen and Aisha doesn’t think these things through. She’s the one who put both of us in a terrible position. No matter what she tells herself, we have a moral code to follow as citizens of Ellewyn.”
But the distance in Kendira’s eyes said something different. She stared off in space, lost in her thoughts of obscurity. “…Master Luna has always taught me that morality is life unspoken. The more you live, the stronger your sense of morality. It grows with you. That’s why goddesses like Dai Celesta are so well respected. They’ve seen so much. Can you imagine? Can you realize? The things they must know…”
Rachelle plopped herself on the wall next to Kendira, with her back to the arena, and let her legs dangle over the side. She wasn’t worried about missing any action because there hadn’t been a fight since Gena and Roxanne completely dominated the competition.
“Dai Celesta has a lot to offer our people,” she said, swinging her feet lightly while the flip-flopping of her sandals thumped against her soles. “Someday, I hope the Arcane Order will acknowledge her the way the Apostles do. I really do think Ellewyn would be a better place for everybody.”
“For everybody except Men. Did you forget them?”
Rachelle sighed. “Whether you want to believe it or not, Lady Kendira, there is one thing that the Apostles and the Arcane Order agree on—Men are slaves to us. They always were and always will be, regardless of what your Master Luna likes to think. That’s straight from the pages of Dai Celesta’s teachings.”
“And regardless of what you may think, Sister Rachelle, my master is a truly brilliant Mage and evoker of the arcane arts. Even the Apostles will admit to that.”
“I know you have a lot of respect for Master Luna. So do I. She has done more things for the School of Light than we can thank her for, and I am forever indebted to her guidance along my chosen path. She has paved the way for scholars like you and me.” She smiled. “But Kendira, she is no goddess.”
“She’s closer to one than any other mortal,” Kendira snapped, a bit steamed.
“Yes, and in the process of reaching that position, she has angered both goddesses and mortals alike. You know that Dai Celesta has forsaken her as the second fallen angel, do you not? The Apostles will not admit her in the Temple of Life any longer. Even the Arcane Order is shunning her. In the most basic sense, Lady Kendira, you’re standing in the middle of a doorway that will soon be closed. Your association with her will destroy you. You’ve already admitted that.”
Kendira was silent.
“Why not come to the Temple of Life? The Apostles have watched you grow with admiration and promise. I’ve heard them speak your name many times. Maybe it’d be for the best. Your life is not set in stone, right? Why should you go down with Master Luna? Why should you take that fall? You’ve done nothing wrong. If anything, you’ve done it all right. Never have your convictions been questioned. Never have you disobeyed your superiors. You’re not like Aisha. You have hope.” She put her hand on Kendira’s shoulder. “…Look, I’m not asking you to become an advocate of the Light, but I believe you have the ability to unite the Orders once more. Ellewyn needs that to happen. Sorena is coming. A kingdom cannot stand alone.”
“And we can’t stand without Master Luna! Sister Rachelle, I’m sorry to say this, but Dai Celesta will not come riding in on a white horse to save the day. She may be good to pray to in times of trouble, but her answers lie in hope, not action. If we wish to defeat Sorena once and for all, we will need Master Luna on our side. If you truly want to reunite the Orders, it will have to be through Master Luna. I cannot do it alone. I’m only an apprentice. Look at me, Rachelle. I’m only a kid. So are you!”
“And we both know that ages are worthless numbers, measurable only by time.”
“I don’t know…”
Rachelle cupped her hands under her chin. “What is it, Kendira?”
“What is what?”
“Your connection to Men. What do you see in them? What is it that you and Master Luna find so promising about them? Why won’t you just believe in Dai Celesta and history?”
“You know I believe in Dai Celesta.”
“I fail to see it.”
“Sister Rachelle,” Kendira narrowed her eyes. “Just because I serve under somebody doesn’t mean I have to believe in everything they stand for.”
“Then what about Master Luna!? You serve her, don’t you? And you believe whatever she says, even if it’s a damn lie! She’s poisoned your mind. She’s taught you a false religion. Men are scum. You can’t change the facts.”
“…Even between all your holy prayers and your honeyed speeches and your white-laced piety, Sister Rachelle, I will not be told to believe otherwise. There is more to this than what we both know. There is a certain truth that must be realized before the end.”
“And you think you can create this truth?”
“I think we can find it, if we open our eyes.”
“And I think you’re been sniffing the incense for too long,” Rachelle scoffed. “Master Luna has clouded your vision of what’s so obvious. Men are slaves. Sometimes food, sometimes pets, but always slaves. Even the Arcane Order has used them for experimentations for centauries. They’re essential for our culture, our social hierarchy, our food chain—but they’re not at the top with us. We belong there, Lady Kendira. It’s our birthright. Why won’t you embrace it?”
Before she could answer, the whole audience began to chant: “Jinx! Jinx! Jinx! Jinx! Jinx!” Their voices only got louder and louder and then it began to thunder with under a sea of clapping and hooting as the audience rose to their feet as one.
Rachelle glanced over her shoulder and watched a modest-sized but brawny Man step into the arena under a shower of roses and confetti. He had no shirt on, revealing his bulging upper chest and six-pack, and the biceps that at he carried so elegantly at his side were larger and more solid than chestnuts. He flexed for his audience. Some of the girls whistled at him between bursts of giggles, but most just kept on cheering. The Man’s hair was long and green, pulled up into a high ponytail, and he wore a scarlet cape that bowed when he did. More confetti began to fall.
“I hate that guy,” Rachelle said, turning back to Kendira. “I hope he gets crushed this year.”
“Don’t say that. If he loses, then that means Gena or Roxanne will win.”
“So what? First prize is just some silly trophy. It’s not like they can use their victory to take over the kingdom.” She laughed at the thought, but Kendira didn’t share in her humor.
“You’re beautiful!” Jinx shouted to the audience, blowing air kisses all around. A few of the girls caught his smooches in the air and fainted in their seats. Unfortunately, Rachelle wasn’t one of them.
Sweating under her clunky black armor, Roxanne entered the arena and stared down at her competition. She had to stifle her own laughter as the audience began to take their seats again. This was it? This was the infamous Jinx?
“You have to be kidding,” she said aloud. “You have to be a joke—because you sure look like one.”
“You judge me too quickly,” Jinx jeered, flexing his left bicep. At least three girls in the audience collapsed to the ground. “Jinx says the bigger she is, the harder she falls.”
“Well, Roxanne says the smaller he is, the better he goes squish-squish. And looking at you, methinks you’ll go squish very nicely.”
Jinx stuck up his middle finger, taunting her to come closer with a wiggle or two.
She didn’t need to, though. Lifting her foot, she slammed it down, crushing Jinx so hard that a cloud of dust blasted her boot up to her knee.
“Ha!” she laughed, twisting her heel. “That was so anti-climatic. Typical of a Man.”
But when she went to peel his remains off her sole, he was gone. She scowled, spinning around to find Jinx squatting down behind her with his butt waving in the air like a naked flag. The audience rolled over in their seats in laughter and Jinx laughed along, shaking his hips like a demented Elvis impersonator.
“I’m going to put my boot so far up that ass…” Roxanne growled, rearing back her leg. She hurled it forward, but Jinx quickly pulled up his pants, sidestepped to avoid her foot, and grabbed her heel on the rebound. His tiny hands somehow managed to rip into her metal armor. Pivoting on his heels, with Roxanne’s boot still in his impossibly strong grip, he began swinging her around in circles. She screamed. Around and around she went, watching the faces of the audience turn to a blur and the sky to turn to a creamy blue milkshake.
“Lemme go, you little bastard!” she screamed, but her voice was sick and green and gargled in her throat like foam.
“It ain’t easy being green, is it?” Jinx laughed as he continued to twirl about. Like a human drill, he was now about waist-deep in the sand, but he soon released his grip on Roxanne and the whirling stopped.
That is, it stopped for everybody but Roxanne. She soared through the air like a rock from a catapult, puking somewhere along the way, and crashed through the window of the royal box section, where the sound of shattering armor and bones echoed through the air. Chunks of metal shoulder pads spilled onto the arena floor.
Dusting off his brawny hands, Jinx bowed to his hundreds of whistling fans, who erupted in acts of merriment and loose clothes-throwing. “You’re beautiful, ladies. You’re all so beautiful. Thank you, thank you! No, no, you’re beautiful. Thank you.”
Rachelle and Kendira exchanged looks.
Giantess World
