“I’m a firestarter?” Anne asked the large giant she called her father now. Anne never forgot her true parents as she never will. It’s just that Sven and the human known as Jane opened their arms to her. Anne loved her new family but memories of her old one still lingered. Anne felt unwanted after the accident. She knew that her aunts and uncles didn’t know that she was still alive and nor will they ever. She also knew that her parents committed suicide because of her. That’s what really made Anne feel unwanted. That act alone made Anne feel like a monster. She was afraid to tell Sven what had happened because of his reaction. Anne couldn’t handle anymore rejection. It surprised her when Sven didn’t yell at her or raised he hand instead he seemed happy, almost pleased.
“That’s what you are Annie. I knew you had something extraordinary in you,” Sven said as he patted the young giantess on the shoulder. Sven, like the other giants worried that Gaea House didn’t have enough aggressives if a war with the humans were to break out so he was pleased to have a budding one living under the roof of his hangar.
Sven went to the computer and spoke to the Goliath system in Swedish. Anne knew what he was doing but couldn’t understand what he was saying. He gives Anne a warm smile. “I am recoding this for the records. Every detail about every giant is recorded. There are fifty other known firestarters, you just made that number fifty-one, Annie. I’ll tell Vin and make you an appointment for the rumble room. We need see how well you can control this,” Sven tells his daughter.
“The rumble room?” Anne said, amazed she merited time in the rumble room. Only scary powerful giants spent time in the rumble room. Unlike the other giants, Anne was a child. She was excited and scared at the same time.
“Yes, the rumble room. Ally can show you how to fight,” Sven said, knowing that his days as a fighter are through. A giant like Sven would have to stay back if a war broke out. He would be needed to heal the injured.
“Why do I need to learn how to fight? I thought we were peaceful people? “
“We need a few warriors at the ready, just in case the humans decide to change their minds about us.”
“The Goliath Law protects us,” Anne said, unsure of what her new father was telling her.
“Annie, it will only take one bad giant to ruin it for us all. We want to make sure that never happens. Hopefully we can stop that giant before the humans decide to change their minds. It’s going to be agressives like you and Cody that’s going to have the power to stop the evil out there. I cannot, I must stay and heal the hurt,” Sven tells Anne.
“I thought all giants were good? I thought we all grew out of who we once were?”
“There is one. He wants to shut us down and use us to start a new world order. Right now he is bitter because he isn’t growing as fast as the others. His heart is so black that I don’t think he can grow. His name is Calvin Harper,” Sven spat out the name like it was a bad word. Sven used to have nightmares about the man. When Calvin was much bigger than Sven, he would beat on him till bones were broken. He nearly killed Sven’s good friend, Roderick. Sven had no love in his heart for Calvin Harper.
“He’s the man who nearly killed Uncle Roddy?” Anne asked, knowing she heard the name before.
“Yes but Roddy was saved with the same stuff that saved you from dying,” Sven tells her. The memory of the hospital bed filled Anne’s thoughts. She remembered being pulled away for a serene light. She wanted to stay in the light but she also wanted to go as well. Anne remembered making the decision to leave the light. She never regretted it.
“I will fight anybody who hurts us,” Anne said as she clenched her fist. The same hot sensation formed from her hands. Sven eyes widened when he saw the power coming from Anne. Anne realized what her adopted father was looking at and envisioned her hand being dipped in ice water like she did earlier. The small fires abruptly extinguished itself and Anne breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s my girl, now go wash your hands while I make your appointment for the rumble room,” Sven said, giving Anne a kind smile and a pat on the shoulder as the girl went to go clean herself. Anne never thought she would ever be strong enough to be a warrior and now she is going to train to be one…
Sven left Jane’s side long enough that when he came back she now stood thirteen feet tall and the twins were as big as the nurses caring for them. Sven admired her new growth as she drank one of many shakes. Her ever growing body required all the nutrients Jane could give it. The potato sack dress that went down to her ankles earlier now went midway to her calf. Jane was now roughly the size of a toddler to Sven.
“I can’t leave you for a minute and you keep getting more and more beautiful,” Sven said as he admired Jane who was holding their daughter. Sven noticed that Jane’s blond tips have been cut from her hair revealing a shiny red mass of wavy curls. Jane’s hair was the shade of blood and shined. Jane noticed Sven looking.
“You like the red? I always hated my red hair. It makes me feel like The Little Mermaid,” Jane said as she kept feeding Elisabeth her bottle. “The giants are going to start taking care of our babies. The twins are getting too big for the nurses to handle. Emma and Melinda have volunteered their time for our babies.”
“I love the red hair and that is very kind of Emma and Melinda considering they have children of their own,” Sven said as he carefully picked up Tomas who fit in the palm of his hand.
“We have to take care of our own,” Jane answered and Sven nodded in agreement as he carefully picked up the small bottle between his index finger and thumb. He began feeding Baby Tomas. The baby recognized Sven and smiled. Sven smiled back. Little Tomas cooed and giggled at his gargantuan father while Sven made faces. Just like Jane, Sven felt connected to the twins. He knew that their hunger seemed endless as their tiny body grew. Sven couldn’t wait for the day he could pick up his son like a normal baby but for now, Baby Tomas and Baby Elisabeth will have to settle for his palm.
“Did I tell you our Annie found her talent?” Sven said as he looked down at Jane. He didn’t have to look down as far as he noticed the dress hemline moved closer to Jane’s knees.
“She did! That’s great! What can she do?” Jane asked, excited for her adopted daughter.
“She’s a pyro. She burnt the rose bush to cinders by accident but she seems to have control over it a bit. I caught her visualizing her hands in ice water,” Sven said.
“She’s an aggressive! That’s great! We need more aggressives,” Jane said, fully aware of the giants’ talents and their categories. Jane had to go through all the paperwork shortly after she was aware enough. The paperwork explained everything that could happen during what the Gaea House is calling the cocoon stage of evolving. Anne’s case was slightly different because she is still naturally growing up on top of evolving. All the Titan children were automatically put in the cocoon stage despite the fact that their evolving growth ended. The staff at Gaea House carefully charted the Titan children because it was going to help in deciding the development of future growing giants.
“She’s seems excited about going to the rumble room. So much for our mousy little girl,” Sven said and Jane smiled. She finished feeding Elisabeth one bottle and went on to the next. Sam came in with a fresh cart full of bottles. Sven put Tomas down long enough to fill Jane’s bucket and resumed to feeding his son another bottle.
“I hear we have our first pyro, Mr. Lindquist. You must be proud of our Annie,” Sam said as he looked up at the blond giant. Sven knew that Sam was part of the elite staff and that Sam was privy to the Goliath system record. Sven also knew that Sam was a giant sympathizer and that Sam would fight tooth and nail to protect Gaea House and its inhabitants. “Ms. Hayes and Mr. Hester can’t wait to train their first pyro.”
“Yes Sam, I am very proud of my little girl. We have never had a pyro at this Gaea House before. I think Annie will make a good little warrior,” Sven tells the small human. Sven looked at Sam and then he looked to his wife, Sam stood as tall as to her upper thigh. The human is getting smaller and smaller to her.
“We need more like her to fight for what’s right. It’s not right how you guys get treated. You’re not second class citizens.” Sam said and Jane nodded in approval. “Speaking of which, I hate to treat you like one Mrs. Lindquist but it’s time for the babies to go back to the nursery and also time for your IV.”
“Alright Sam, I trust my babies won’t be a problem,” Jane said as she put Elisabeth down and Sven did the same with Tomas. A couple of strong young male nurses came in to get the babies while Jane sat on the floor in front of Sam so that he may administer the IV. The needle was twice as long as the one given to her yesterday. Jane even put on a different dress. Sven then laid her on top of him. Jane curled up into a ball and listened for his heartbeat. The sound seemed fainter but still as soothing. Sven didn’t mind Jane’s extra weight on his chest as they both fell fast asleep.