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---“