It was a scene of unquestionable disaster. Barrels and crates full of the supplies that had been brought for the city laid in piles and clutter strewn about the area. Every square foot seemed to have either some smashed container or the broken body of someone who had been so full of life only moments ago. The despair was palpable to all the poor souls there. The final moans of pain from those who were to broken to move or just wished to be put out of their misery filled the air. Killian could not understand what most of the men were saying but he wondered if they had uttered some prayer or a final curse to their own lives that seemed so pointless compared to a being such as their tormentor. Whatever it was, Killian felt speechless at the massacre, he stood silent. Those around still standing though, felt compelled to scream their curses at the great one still present in front of them.
A cacophony of shouts from all around is what Killian heard now; it drowned out the moans of those broken on the ground. Shouts of, “Why? Just why?” and, “We are here you bitch,” or, “We’ve done nothing,” even pleas and begs like, “Just please leave us,” filled the air but went unnoticed by the Goddess. Mero and Killian said nothing but looking at them each told a different story. Mero’s face was full of a deep pain and mourning for all those who lay dead around him. A fire just beneath him was lit and his anger was rising. Killian though was barely paying attention to those around him; he stared intently as high he could up the titan’s body. Because of her proximity he could barely see part way up her leg. He still felt a strange sensation being so close to her. A connection he had no understanding of.
Like many other times, Mero had broken him out of the trance, but not intentionally. “You bitch!” Mero screamed at the top of his lungs as he took of full pace towards the massive wall before him. As hard as he tried he could not make her notice him but his charge was a move of extreme desperation and despair.
“Mero, No,” Killian called out now running after his friend. He knew Mero’s attack was folly but Killian understood his feelings. A sudden voice brought Killian down to his knees though. He could barely make it out, it was a voice he had never heard but it was somehow familiar. “Time to make breakfast,” is what he could make out, but from whom, he had no idea. It was a woman’s voice, soft and calm. He shook it off, knowing that it could wait to be solved later and went back chasing after his companion, Mero.
“It’s no use Mero,” Killian blurted as he ran; “It’ll make no difference.” His friend was in a rage that couldn’t be quelled. Lucky for him the ground started to shake once more, the Goddess was barely shifting her weight, but it was a core trembling sensation to all those nearby. Mero tripped up mid run but he still tried crawling after her, Killian fell on his back and looked up once more at the towering beauty. He couldn’t see it but he felt the deep reverberations of her other foot leaving its position and impacting many miles away. Now the veritable mountain in front of him started to move. Her whole being was pure magnificence. Killian saw and felt how the weight of her cosmic body shifted to the front half of her foot. It was such a delicate movement yet it shook the foundations of Killian’s world. The heel of her foot now lifted up followed by the front. The bottom of her titanic foot was in full view now, from the somewhat hardened heel to the outstretched toes that each grew larger as you looked up. Each canyon carved into the prints of her foot went on for what seemed to be an eternity. Killian wondered how long it take to explore those ridges but seeing them all now he knew it might be impossible.
The Goddess’ foot finally moved forward in the air. As if a whole island was ripped out of the ocean and moved across the sky, the foot was a sight to behold. Its simple movement caused another gust of wind to hit those on the ground. To all of their joy, this wind was not forceful enough to pick them up again, but it was quite strong. Killian saw how this newly lifted foot extended countless miles past her other. It was an insane thought, in two delicate steps she had traversed a distance that would take Killian many days to travel. Each time a foot lifted into the air and came down with a great thud, reverberations shook him to his bones until finally she was gone. Her mere presence was a danger to them all as they could see with the fatal results. She was an unintentional walking cataclysm, but finally she had left them, broken and bruised and humbled, but she was gone.
“You okay Killi?” inquired Mero still noticeably shaken up from what had happened.
“I’m fine,” Killian lied, forcing a smile onto his face, “not to banged up, nothing some rest won’t fix at least.” He inched closer to his friend to reassure him everything was fine but that was a lie he just couldn’t tell. Instead he gave a quick look around and curtly said, “We have a lot of mess to clean up,” he gave Mero a pat on the shoulder and continued, “Shall we get started?” Mero’s relenting nod didn’t fill Killian with much hope, but he came to help him all the same.
A few hours had passed and they were finally done organizing the mess and getting it safely in the city. While walking to the gates Killian and Mero were stopped by one of the owners of the great shipping companies of the city and pulled aside to be questioned. Killian barely knew the man but his reputation was less than well from what he had heard from Mero. The man’s name was Jorik Laufy. He had a sizable stomach with quite an impressive girth. I wonder how much this man keeps for himself, thought Killian as he gave a feigned smile and greetings.
“Welcome to the city my dear boys. I hope these recent events that I heard of haven’t shaken you up too much.” The insincerity and overall disinterest in Laufy’s voice was apparent, he continued to inquire on the situation. “I here you have suffered some losses. You have my sincerest condolences for all those who lost their life, now how many was it?”
Mero gritted his teeth, he obviously possessed no love for this man whatsoever, but he was able to grunt out, “Fifty-six by our counts. Good men all of them.”
“Well, I thought it would be much worse, much worse indeed. Terrible as it may be, and good men as you say they were, we could have lost many more. Yes sir, many more.” Laufy was obviously uncaring of this subject and now asked of the supplies. “They are all intact though, yes?”
Killian stepped forward to answer. “Anything that could be salvaged, was sir, we were thorough. The food and supplies are all being transported into the city as we speak.”
“Splendid, but what is that?” asked Laufy as he pointed to the crumb still sitting where it had impacted. That was what obviously piqued his interest the most; he couldn’t keep his eyes off of it.
Killian answered the rotund man, “That was a piece of food the Great one accidently dropped. It tastes sweet from what some of the men tell me.” The gluttonous eyes of Laufy scanned the great boulder of food and he smiled quite satisfied.
“Well, well! I said it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and it seems I was right. Look at this great thing!” The portly man showed greater enthusiasm for the food than he did for the stories of the lives lost. “I thought we had lost much, but look at this. This more than makes up for any losses. A rare delicacy this is. It could be much worse indeed, this is more than acceptable!”
Mero abrubtly broke his silence, “Much worse? Much worse? Please, tell me what could be much worse. We may lose people everyday but that doesn’t make it acceptable.” Mero cared nothing for who he was speaking to and said whatever he felt. “Anything could be much worse, that doesn’t mean this was an acceptable thing.” Laufy was noticeably taken aback by Mero’s tirade, but said nothing to stop it. “You didn’t hear their screams like I did, or see them all disfigured after the big bitch stepped by us. That thing you are salivating over killed ten men and all you care about is how much food the city gets” Before Mero could say anything else Killian was there to hold him back.
“Please, Mr. Jorik, forgive my friend as he is just shaken up at the recent events.” Killian tried to sound as courteous as possible despite how much he loathed the man he was talking to. Killian knew Jorik Laufy was a powerful man in the city and didn’t want to have to deal with the repercussions of angering him. “I think that you will find all to be in order and that you have more than you could hope for.”
“Yes well, I will let your friend’s outburst be forgiven as I understand his anger, but next time, remember who you are speaking too.”
“Yes, we will. One last thing though. If it could be possible, we gathered our dead and have wrapped their bodies in the proper burial wear. If you could please be as generous as to send some of your own men to take them back to their homes, we would be indebted to you.”
Laufy gave an uncaring look but relented to the request, “Yes, I don’t see any trouble in that. I’ll send some out as soon as we are done with sorting all the supplies here. Good day gentleman.”
“Thank you sir,” responded Killian feigning the courtesy. As soon as Laufy had waddled off content, he turned over to Mero to talk to him. “Look, I understand how you feel and trust me I feel awful to, but you of all people should know you don’t anger a man like him.”
“I’m sorry Killi, anger just gets the better of me sometimes. But you know that man is a right prick.” Killian nodded in agreement.
“Yes, he may be one, but he is still a powerful man, let’s just stay away from him alright?”
“Alright.”
Killian finally felt at ease, “Now, it’s been a long day. What do you propose we do friend?”
Mero’s face seemed to actually regain some happiness. “I don’t know about you but I’m gonna get me a nice woman to ease my mind off its troubles. But first, how ‘bout some drinks?”