Hours later, a glue-free Annie stood obediently on the dining room table, hands clasped in front of her. She'd been given a gentle washing by several of the other slaves, and her hair was now tied up neatly in a bun. Wearing the maid's outfit she'd been provided, May hardly recognized her prize when she saw her again.

"Isn't she precious?" Margot asked, setting places at the table. "She's agreed to be polite and compliant, which is very refreshing coming from such a headstrong young woman." The matronly woman patted her little blue head condescendingly. "Although it likely comes from a place of self-preservation, hmm?"

"Yes, ma'am," Annie responded, bristling. With a satisfied smile, Margot returned to the kitchen to finish dinner preparations, leaving May alone with the little girl.

"Are you okay?" she asked, taking her seat at the head of the table. "She didn't... do anything to you, did she?"

"No, May, your mother didn't violate me," Annie said darkly.

"You know that's not what I meant. And don't sass me, I'm on your side here. I don't give a fuck about the stupid quarrel between our families, okay?"

"Oh, good, the Lancrest heiress doesn't care, there goes generations of open hostility, right?" The little girl shook her head. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you. My father's shown me pictures of you, said to take advantage of you if I ever had the chance. Augh, I should have won!"

"But you didn't." The larger girl's tolerance for her pet's outbursts was growing thin. "You lost, and now you're mine, and you just have to deal with that. Just because I'm on your side doesn't mean you get to act like a little shit, got it?"

It was obvious Annie was not accustomed to being spoken to so sternly. Biting her tongue, she only nodded in response.

"Speak. And speak respectfully."

Another wicked glare, one that had stopped people in their tracks when she was full-size. Now it just reinforced her own weakness. "Yes, ma'am. I got it."

"Do you like calling me ma'am?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then just..." May sighed. This was one of the exact situations that gave her a distaste for owning others. "Be cool, okay? To me, if nobody else. Just be cool with me, and I'll be cool with you. Is that something we can do?"

"I guess," Annie relented, warily searching May's expression for signs of a trap. Shoulders drooping, she relaxed with a pent-up sigh. "Yeah. We can, I'm sorry."

"Me too."

A door slammed from somewhere in the house, followed by the sounds of shoes on worked stone floors. May leaped up and trotted out, catching her father in a hug just as he rounded the corner into view.

"Daddy!"

"Hey! How's my little girl?"

"I'm good, I'm good." She shot a look to Annie, then to her mother. "Uh, did mom tell you about..."

"She mentioned you might have a little surprise for me. Is that her on the table?"

Nodding, May led her father over to where Annie stood, and Margot filled in the group from the back. With the three of them looking down on her, all with wide, predatory grins, Annie began to feel more like a main course than the help.

"Welcome home, Annie Ainsley." Alan extended a finger towards her, and she hesitantly took it in her best approximation of a handshake.

"Th-thank you, Sir," she replied. He chuckled and pulled away, nearly sending Annie tumbling onto her face.

"So polite! You ladies did a good job with her, that's for sure. And hey, your mother tells me you were the one who beat her? Is that true?"

May held up her thumb. "Yeah, she didn't even see it coming." Annie could feel her blood boil as a girl her age chuckled in regard to the smaller girl's life disappearing in an instant. "Just 'boop!' and then she was like that. Some kid took her from me, but I got her back."

"We're both very proud of you, honey. And hey, you did it! You're a Winner now! That's going to open up a lot of doors for you down the road." Smirking, Alan looked down at the tiny, teenaged maid. "And I guess we have you to thank for that, don't we?"

Annie stood in stunned, furious silence. She had never been more frustrated or humiliated in her whole life. Though she had done the same to countless others, now that hers was the life being mocked, she felt a sharp sickness in her stomach. All she could do was stare at the table and pray they moved on as soon as possible.

"Hey, little girl." Margot snapped her fingers, and Annie's head instinctively rose to face her. "My husband addressed you. You will speak when spoken to."

"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am. Um, what was the question, sir?"

Alan chuckled, as if he was having to re-explain basic addition to a five-year-old. "I said, we have your foolishness to thank for paving the way to a brighter future for my daughter, don't we?"

"I... I guess so, sir," Annie said, unsure what was expected of her. She threw out a few more guesses: "Yes sir, you're welcome sir."

The Lancrest family laughed together at Annie, who bowed her head in red-faced shame. While Margot retreated once more into the kitchen, Alan and his daughter sat around the table. May took Annie in her hands, cradling and stroking her like a beloved pet, while she talked with her father about her life, school, and a host of other things the shrunken girl would never again have.

"Dinner's ready!" Margot announced, carrying out a huge tray bearing a roasted turkey. She came out a second time with some sides, then sat down at the table. Glancing at her daughter's hands, she clicked her tongue, "May, you know better than to touch the help at the table. Put her down, she could be filthy."

Bemused, May did as she was told, placing Annie roughly in the middle of the three Lancrests. "Mom, the other servants, like, just washed her."

Margot shook her head dismissively. "That's not the point. It's nasty to touch slaves around food."

"You have slaves bring you food all the time."

"Not the point." Margot's voice was stern. "You will not touch that thing until the dishes are cleared, do you understand me?"

"Excuse me?" All three giants looked at Annie in surprise. The little girl took a defiant step towards Margot. "I may be a slave, and you can assume I'm dirty all you like, but I'm not a fucking thing."

May looked at her blue-haired pet in wide-eyed concern, telepathically willing her to get on her knees and apologize immediately. Despite her feelings for most servants - and the apathetic disdain she'd had for Annie pre-shrink - she was growing fond of the little woman, and didn't want to see her head dashed to bits against a salt shaker.

Her mother's reaction, then, was a bit of a shock. Margot simply took a sip of wine, setting the glass directly beside Annie. "That's nice, dear." Despite her calm tone, she stared daggers into the little girl, as if daring her to backtalk again. "Fetch me the pepper."

It was obvious Annie was shaking. Her little limbs quivered, her hands were balled into fists, and the glints of tears in her eyes were plain as day. When the servant girl spoke, it was in a strained, staggered tone. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good thing."

Annie had already turned to obey, but stopped dead in her tracks at Margot's goading. The matron continued, chuckling. "Oh, you didn't think you'd be allowed to dictate what you were called, did you? Don't be stupid. You're my property, I'll refer to you as I like, and I like calling you a thing."

"Mom, she gets it."

"I'm not certain she does, dear. You have to be stern with these things when you're first breaking them in. Things like this one have a tendency to try bucking their yoke, disobeying orders from their owners. And all you can do is make sure that there's no room for the thing to think of anything other than obedience."

May's mother grinned wider as Annie lost the strength to stand, collapsing to her knees. Pathetic, stifled sobs came from the poor girl, and May stared down at her own plate, having lost her appetite.

"But I'm not a cruel woman," Margot continued, unfinished with her debasement of the miniature teen. "I can understand how it would get upset. After all, it still very much resembles a girl, so why don't we do what we can to change that?"

Finally Annie turned to face her tormentor again, still weeping on her knees. She didn't have the strength to ask her to stop, and couldn't make herself stomach more begging.

"First is that hair. It's utterly ridiculous for a slave; what, you want an identity? Start by not being a Loser, hmm?" Margot raised an eyebrow, meeting Annie's gaze pointedly. "We'll shave it bald and it'll grow a nice, natural, boring color."

"What is she really, anyway?" Alan asked through a bite of turkey. "I should know, but it's been blue for so long."

"It is just a dumb old brunette like the rest of us. We'll keep its hair short and plain. What do you think?"

"I don't deserve this," Annie said through her teeth.

"Next is the name," Margot ignored her comment, relentlessly breaking the girl down. "'Annie' is too feminine, and carries too much baggage of its past life. No, it simply won't do. Thankfully, it's already come up with a wonderful alternative, haven't you, Thing?"

"I like that," Alan remarked. "Thing Ainsley. What do you think, sweetheart?"

Sympathetic as she was to the little girl's plight, she knew there wasn't much she could do to intervene. "It's nice, daddy," she said as noncommittally as she could. "Can we talk about something else?"

"That sounds lovely, but I'm not sure Thing understands its place yet. I can think of one last little aid, something to really seal the deal and make sure it never forgets what it is. Can you guess what it is, Thing?"

"Why are you doing this to me!? Do you think I personally screwed your family over? Is that it?" The tiny servant was on her feet, screaming at the top of her lungs. "It was generations ago! Holy fuck, what sort of psycho tortures a teenager like this over the sins of her... her great-great-great-great-great-grandfather or something?"

She panted heavily, staring daggers at the titanic woman who simply watched her rant with a soft, slightly-bored expression. Biting her lip so hard she tasted blood, Annie sank to her knees and lowered her eyes to the table. "I'm not stupid. I know my place: I'm a Loser. Your daughter owns me, and I'll serve her because there's no alternative for me. But I don't... I don't deserve this. When I fought her, I didn't even know who she was. I have no stakes in the dumb shit between our families." She chanced glancing up into Margot's eyes again. "Please forgive me, ma'am."

Almost immediately, Margot was smiling. "Well honey, that's all you had to say." She reached out and patted the little girl's head. "I'm glad to hear you understand your place. And you're right, it's unfair to judge you for something you had no hand in, even if you did throw in a few too many 'great's. But you need to be punished for speaking out of turn, don't you?"

"Yes ma'am," Annie responded obediently.

"Why don't I do that?" The youngest Lancrest said. "I'll punish her tonight, she'll never act out again and then she can get on with serving us. I actually had to get my own roll, mother," she added in a joking manner. Margot eyed the tiny thing, but eventually nodded.

"You're right, of course. She's your pet, and you're of the age that you can handle your own pets."

"Thanks, mom." May held the tip of her index finger out to Annie. "Kiss and say thanks, girl."

A knot formed in the servant girl's throat at the change in May's tone of voice. She lifted her head and pressed her lips to May's fingertip. "Thank you."

"Thank you what, pet?" May prompted. The gazes of her parents were on them, and she would not be seen as weak now. Annie stared up at her, trying to remind her of the promise they'd made to one another. She was met only with May's hard, expectant stare.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Very good. Now fetch my mother the pepper, and if you have any further complaints, you may direct them towards my ass."

"May!" Margot chided playfully, slapping the back of her daughter's hand. Alan just chuckled and shook his head, shooting another look at the little blue-haired girl who burned red with humiliation.

"Yes ma'am," she repeated before doing as she was told.

-----------------

The dinner passed by without further incident. Annie kept her mouth shut, even as the giant family talked about her directly overhead. She suffered their jabs and remarks silently, only verbally acknowledging direct commands and then carrying out her orders. It was what she had to look forward to in her life.

Back in May's room, Annie was gently set down on the giant girl's bedside table, before her owner made herself comfortable in bed, throwing the blanket over herself and propping her head up on a few pillows. She turned to look at her pet. "That went well, don't you think?"

"Yes, ma'am," Annie responded, letting the negative emotions of the past few hours slip into her tone. Sheepishly, May smiled.

"Yeah, about that," she began.

"There's nothing to explain. I get it. You're the owner and I'm the slave. You need to seem powerful in front of your parents."

"Come on, don't be-"

"That whole 'be cool with me and I'll be cool with you' speech, that was just for you, wasn't it?" the tiny girl continued. "That wasn't a promise, that was just you wanting a way to tell yourself that you're something you're not."

"Hey, don't get indignant with me. Everyone knows the shit you did to your servants."

"Yeah, but I didn't lie about it. I didn't try to make them feel equal, just to strip them of that comfort in public so the embarrassment would burn instead of sting. You're a fucking sicko."

"Hey, I'm not the o-"

"'-one who challenged me!'" Annie finished, her voice as vitriolic as her expression. "'I'm just an innocent, I never wanted this, me, me, me, me, me, me, ME!'"

Affecting the same hard look as she had at the dinner, May sat straighter in bed, looming even higher above the surly servant. "Watch how you speak to me," she warned.

"Or you'll what? Fucking kill me, because that's just something you do? I mean holy shit, May, if being a good person is really as important to you as you make it out to be, maybe you should look into a serial killer support group."

"I... wait, I only killed that kid because-"

"Only? I count two - today." Annie paused. "And, wait, what happened to the kid who challenged you first, the one you put in your bra?"

"Oh, I just... well, I mean, he was kind of a nobody, so I just flushed him," May said, frowning.

Annie tried to take a step back, but fell to her knees instead. A harsh laugh devoid of humor escaped her throat. "Oh my god," she said to herself. "You're a monster. I'm the slave of a monster."

"How dare you? You ungrateful cunt, how dare you say that? I saved you from Morty."

"And now he's dead." The tiny girl's breathing was quickly picking up pace. "He got in your way and you killed him. And the other boy, he got in your way and you drowned him, a-and... and that other one, the butler or whatever, he died just so you could... what, prove a point?" Looking up incredulously at the giantess, she shook her head. "What's keeping me alive?"

A thick, cruel sneer spread across May's lips. "Why, my infinite patience, of course," she said mockingly. "I mean, how could I ever dream of killing someone who dared to question my generosity, who would throw my hospitality in my face just because some people she didn't even know disappeared?" May lifted her hand and flicked Annie hard in the side. The servant girl shrieked and flew through the air, tumbling end-over-end as she crashed into the ground. When she had her bearings again, May was standing over her, each foot no more than a few inches from her tiny form. "I didn't realize you were so stupid, Annie. After all, if I'm really the monster you say I am, you'd think you'd capitulate just a bit more to me, hmm?"

Fear gripped Annie. She couldn't make herself move - she could barely even breathe for fear of upsetting the unstable girl towering above.

"I owned each of those people fair and square, Annie. They were mine to do with as I saw fit." May's bare foot slid across the floor, her big toe coming to a stop directly in front of Annie's face. "And now you will apologize by licking my toe."

Before she knew what she was doing, Annie's tongue was dragging against the uneven surface of May's toe, bottom to top, over and over. She whimpered while she licked, and even raised her hand to the side of the toe for support.

From above, May chuckled. "Good girl," she praised. "This is how you show gratitude. Not by questioning every move I make, trying to be some annoying, blue-haired Jiminy Cricket. No, from now on you'll show gratitude through mindless, bestial submission. Does that sound doable to you?"

"Mmhmm," Annie said, terrified to remove her tongue from the toe for longer than it took to begin another lick.

"Speak, dog."

"Yes ma'am, I can do that, I swear."

"Hmm," May said, putting a finger to her lips. "'Ma'am'. It doesn't really have the right ring to it anymore, does it? I mean, it was fine when we were mostly-equals, and you were just politely observing our roles in society. But now... now it's more than that - now I'm more than that - and I deserve a title fitting that, don't you think?"

"W-whatever you think is best," Annie said hurriedly.

"How about... Lady Lancrest? Try it out."

"Yes, Lady Lancrest."

Giggling, May crouched down and lifted her subject to her face. "That was good! I like the name a lot, don't you?"

"I do, Lady Lancrest."

"Then it stays." May nodded and placed Annie back on the nightstand. "Earlier you asked what's keeping you alive," the giantess said as she once more slipped under her covers and pulled her laptop up off the floor. "The answer used to be your father; my parents would kill me if you died before we had the chance to rub my victory in his face. But now the answer is you."

"M-me?"

"Stay good, and you live." May opened the laptop, doing a few things before continuing her thought with a shrug. "But if you ever insult me again, I'll break all your limbs and leave you in the backyard." She turned to face her slave, beaming. "'Kay?"

Annie had never considered herself a bad person. She had treated people poorly, and kept slaves, but it was the nature of society to do so. She had only done as she was raised to do, but she had good in her too. She stayed true to her family and friends, she worked hard to keep herself sharp physically and mentally. Where others allowed their affluence to make them lazy or cruel, Annie had challenged herself with a set of morals to which she stuck, no matter what. And now all the work she had put in to be good, all the times she went out of her way for others or suffered to make herself someone she could be proud of, every bit of it was meaningless. May had seemed kind and sweet, and Annie had let herself hope she would be allowed to keep a shred of her dignity, of her identity.

Such was not the case.

"Of course, Lady Lancrest."