Master Giedon paced down the main road of Tarthaghast towards the palace, carrying a rather large amount of books and papers for him considering his frail, failing body due to old age. It was almost midnight and the normally busy streets were almost deserted with only the occasional guard and solitary drunk passing by.

It was very windy, making it even more difficult for the old scholar to carry the stacks of paper, but his potential discovery was too important for him to worry about gaining a strained back right now. No, in fact, his discovery could be more important than everything he has so far achieved in his life as one of the most respected scholars of Arhamkar, or even any other scholar of his age for that matter. No, he must see the Emperor as fast as possible.

The Palace was visible from just about any point of the city. It was a remarkable piece of architecture lying on the top of the only hill of Tarthaghast, believed to be older than the city itself. In fact, even with todays brilliant engineers Arhamkar possessed, it would be impossible to build such a structure.

And that was because the Palace wasn't really build on top of the hill, but it was carved into the hill. With its marvelous, sixty-feet high walls and massive internal network of rooms, pathways and labyrinths, it was the most well-fortified stronghold on the entire known world.  Thus, the Palace of Tarthaghast, together with the fertile delta of the river Thebia made the city of Tarthaghast - now harboring over a million souls - the epicenter of the known world since the dawn of men.

But it was only in the last 23 years that the the world was unified for the first time in history when Arham the Great, Master Giedon's own student and only 16 at the time, swore revenge for the murder of his own father by a coalition of neighboring factions and took upon the armies of Tarthaghast to conquer the entire known world in just seven years, and in the process carve the Empire of Arkhamkar on the entire map while immortalizing himself in history as the greatest ruler that has ever lived.

As Master Giedon climbed last steps towards the palace’s entrance, he turned around one last time and looked at the clear night sky, he had a nagging feeling that this this day will be remembered in history for a long long time and that for some reason, apart from his discovery, the stars have something to do with it. After a moment, he turned and headed inside the palace. The guards knew him and allowed him to come and go as he pleased since he was the emperor's tutor, adviser and most trusted friend.

He went straight to the emperors sleeping chambers. "Arham, wake up!" he yelled, not caring whether he disturbed the sleep of the most powerful man in the world.After the emperor gave a brief snort as the only reply, he grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him.

"Arham, wake up!" he yanked at him. "Damn it Arham, this is too important!"

“What…” The emperor woke, a confused look on his face until he squinted at Giedon, the master’s face barely visible in the dim light of the candles.

"For the love of Aria, Giedon, you have to stop this. All this excitement in the middle of the night, it's getting frustrating" he said, visibly tired . "And when did you get back? Aren't you supposed to be in the ruins you found in northern mountains?"

"Yes," Geidon said, pacing back and forth now. " but I came as fast as I could, because I think I finally understand the symbols written on the door".

“The door?” The emperor frowned. "You mean the gate?"

"Yes, Arham, the gate. I think we can finally open it."

Any hint of a tired look that the emperor may have displayed faded immediately. The Gate of the Gods, as it was called, was a door deep inside one of the chambers of the palace. It was discovered centuries earlier, but any attempt to open it, whether by force or otherwise, always failed. It was build by a strange material that couldn't even be scratched by the hardest metals. Over the years, it was forgotten in the depths beneath the Palace, until Master Geidon heard about it.

The door itself was inscribed with a large number of rows of symbols made up a combination circles and upright lines grouped in eights. In the center, there was a large circle, inside of which were two rows of 16 empty spaces and at the end of each row, there were two symbols, a circle, and a line. Each could be pressed. Pressing each symbol would rotate the spaces so that they displayed either the circle, or the line. After the last symbol was displayed, they reverted back to being empty.

Most scholars thought this was some kind of code, and that the door would open if you put in the right combination, but nobody understood how it worked. They all had different ideas, all were tested over the centuries, none worked. That was, until the ruins in one of the northern mountains was discovered with a large amount of the same symbols inscribed in it's walls. Unlike the symbols inscribed on the door, those had a certain pattern.

"I finally understand the pattern, Arham, it's so unbelievably simple!" said Master Geidon with a look that betrayed the little child inside him.  "You see, most people thought the circle and the line had some kind of opposite meaning, something spiritual. But it's much more simpler, the circles and the lines are numbers."

Arham looked confused. Despite being a man who in his entire life has dealt with armies, strategies, tactics and politicians, he was a very well educated and intelligent when it came to mathematics and how the world worked, thanks to the teachings Master Giedon when he was a young boy and after the war.

But he didn't understand how those two symbols could be numbers. "How do you mean numbers?" He asked. "How can you write meaning on those walls with numbers? And with only two of them?"

"It's very simple Arham, the lines are ones, and the circles are... well, how do I put it so that you will understand, they are the number none, empty."

The Emperor was lost. "None? How is that a number?" He asked with a skeptical look on his face.

"Yes, none" answered Giedon confidently. "You see, that pattern we found in the ruins, they are numbers, from one to - by my last account - three hundred twenty and four. But I couldn't get my head around what the pattern meant before I read about how those eastern Nu'uk tribes used numbers."

The Arhamkarian system, and all other systems of the different civilized cultures before the conquests used a complex system of symbols and letters to write down numbers, it was a system that required a lot of time if you had to add, subtract and especially multiply or divide large numbers. Only the most educated and rich could afford to learn it. However, the southern desert tribes of Nu'uk used a different method.

"Instead of using all sorts of complicated manners to do calculations and write down numbers, the Nu'uk use this simple system where they use the empty number, which I now call null, as a... how should I say, a sort of placeholder!" said Giedon cheerfully.

"A place holder? What is that?" asked the emperor, looking even more confused.

"Arham, it's such a simple idea, yet is so revolutionary, it will change the world, trust me. I know it will be hard for you to get your head around it, the idea is so subtle, no wonder we didn't come up with it, we always think in such a complicated manner, our ideas are always so complex, we never thought we should think simpler, like the Nu'uk do!" answered the old Master, his eyes were clearly unfocused, trying to imagine how much mathematics will advance because of this simple idea.

"Anyway, I will teach you how it works, but right now I want to go to the door and confirm my theory" he said, focusing his eyes at the emperor. Arham simply nodded. He has trusted Master Giedon all his life, he always knew when he was right just by looking at his eyes, and this was no different.

A short while later, they both were standing deep into the palace, before the Gate of the Gods. The Emperor and Master Giedon were surrounded by guards and servants, just in case. While the Master was arranging his stacks of papers on the floor, Arham looked at the door. Will it really finally open? He thought. Is this really happening? Since he first looked upon the door as a boy, when his late father brought him here, he imagined all sorts of things behind it. From treasures, to powers, to knowledge, to gods as most others for some reason did.

"Good." said the Master, finally done arranging everything he needed. "Now Arham, I want you to know one thing" He started pointing at the rows of symbols. "Those are numbers, but not just any numbers, they have a specific pattern. It took me a while to understand, but just before was about to leave the ruins, it finally hit me" pointing at his right side of the head with his finger.

"The Nu'uk, like us, use different symbols for ten numbers, probably because of we have ten fingers, then we begin repeating those numbers. But the the Nu'uk, when they reach the number ten, they use this place holder, null. They add another when they reach one hundred, and another at one thousand etc. It's always at the number that is ten times bigger than the last one" he said, waving his hands.

"I still don't understand" Arham said.

"I know." answered Giedon. "My point is that I had to think differently when it came to those numbers in the walls. I thought, since there are only two numbers, null and one, what if you place the place holder after two numbers, then the number that is twice as big, four, then twice as big again, eight and so on" he said, still waving his hands even more in the empty air.

"It took me so long to get my head around it, but when it finally dawned on me, It was so simple. I confirmed it on the walls in the ruins and that was it. I think I was never happier in my life" said Giedon, with a visibly gleeful face.

"I don't understand, why put it that way?" asked Arham while scratching his head.

"It the most simple method of writing down numbers there is, that's why" answered the Master.

"Ah..." said Arham, pretending to understand.  "Then, I assume, you went on to convert those numbers here on this door?" he asked.

"Of course." answered Giedon. "There are seven rows of eight groups of symbols in the wall, and they are not just any numbers, but a specific set of numbers" said Giedon, while retrieving one of the documents from the floor.

"They are the numbers two, three, five, seven, ten and one, ten and three, ten and seven and so one. I think you have a pretty clear idea what those numbers are Arham. And there are only fifty and six numbers that can be written down using this system. Eight times seven"

The Emperor nodded. He knew full well about the prime numbers. Those were the numbers that could be divided only by themselves to yield an integer. He never really understood why they are so special for Giedon.

"And how will that help us?" he asked.

"I think that those numbers will not help us at all Arham. I thought long and hard about it, I don't see a connection between those numbers and the two spaces inside the circle. Then I remembered. The circle! You see, the circle has in itself a special number too. I think you remember that one too Arham."

"Yes yes, "he answered. " another one of those special numbers of yours. You spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out the exact fraction. How did that go?"

Of course, he was talking about the ratio between the diameter and the perimeter of a circle.

"Arham, don't you see?" Giedon pointed at the circle around the spaces. "Two rows, inside a circle."

He looked at it for a few moments, then he made the connection. "Oh, you mean, the first row for the integer part of that number, and the second one for the fraction?"

"Exactly!" answered Giedon with a tone that made everyone in the chamber a bit uncomfortable. Most didn't understand what the Emperor and the Master were talking about, but they sure understood that they're getting close to something.

"To put it short Arham, the top number is simple, it's three, but the bottom part was the harder part, and after a long time of calculating, I've narrowed it down to one hundred combinations, converted into the doors system." he said, while holding a letter with a lot of rows written in it. "We just have to try all of them now."

And so they did.

After some time, Master Giedon was still pressing different combinations. Most had laid down on the floor. The crowd was visibly more relaxed. Most thought it was futile and this would not lead to anything, as did all previous attempts by Master Giedon. Somehow, the Emperor started to have the same feeling after each second passed.

"You know, Arham," said Giedon, while pressing line line circle on the bottom rows. " whoever build this door, " he continued pressing, line line line this time. " they knew full well that humans would be able to open it only when there was a sufficiently advanced civilization to understand what all this means." Circle, line, circle.

The emperor thought for a moment. "You mean, we have to be ready for it".

"Exactly." Circle, line, line.

"And I think that whoever build the ruins in the mountains, they knew about this door, but I don't know if they ever opened it, or why they wrote the rows of numbers on the walls." said Giedon while pressing the last two numbers, line line, and getting ready for the next combination.

"Who knows Giedon, may-" Suddenly, the symbols started glowing. Both the Emperor and Giedon jerked back. Everyone stood up, there was a very empty silence on the chamber for a brief moment. Then the door started parting. Some panicked, others started praying, most just stood dumbfounded. The Emperor and Master Giedon just stood there in silence, looking at each other and the darkness that was unfolding in front of them. When the doors stopped, the crowd was greeted by a massive dark space beyond the door, and the smell of centuries or even millennia of trapped air.

"Fire!" Yelled Arham. After a few brief moments, several guards came forward with torches. "Let's go" he said, while taking one of the torches, and leading. Master Giedon did the same. At first, they were very cautious, you never know what can come out of the darkness. Most of the people with them were superstitious folk, they were visibly afraid. After a while it was apparent that the room was empty, except a small pole in the middle of the room holding a round structure on top at chest level.

"Well, this is disappointing" said the emperor who broke the silence, while looking at the walls. There appeared to be lines coming from the pole in the center, going to the walls and coming together at the top of the ceiling which was shaped like a dome.

Giedon was studying the round, ball shaped structure at the top of the pole. In the top, there was a shape that was strikingly similar the buttons on the door, but without a symbol. Curiosity got hold of him and he pressed it.

Suddenly, light appeared to travel from the structure towards the floor, along the lines on the ground, leading to the walls, and coming together at the ceiling. Then a crystal that was previously not visible started blinking a deep red where the lines met. A large murmur started coming from the crowd, and again some panicked while others started praying to the gods.

"Silence!" Yelled the Emperor. The crowd grew still, but nothing happened. They waited for a while, then started searching the room again and again for other buttons or clues, pressed the button at the top of the pole again, but nothing happened. Both the Emperor and and Giedon started growing disappointed again. They searched and searched the room for  answers, anything out of the ordinary. They found nothing. And the crystal at the top of the ceiling kept blinking with that deep red light.

"Centuries, perhaps millennia. An elaborate system designed so that only when we were advanced enough, we would be able to open it. And this is all there is?" The old cried. Everyone stared at him, thinking he might go mad.

But a few moments later, the lights started glowing brighter and brighter until the entire room was fully illuminated. Real panic broke out this time, most servants started fleeing the room, the guards held their spears as if at any moment, they would be required to attack somebody or something but their discipline held. Both Arham and Giedon tried to remain calm.

Then, a bright human-shaped figure made entirely out of light appeared in the middle of the room, startling everyone. It made everybody's blood shiver, mesmerized. The figure appeared to look like a woman, a woman made of light... a spirit? A Goddess perhaps? Nobody had ever seen something like this before. One of the guards panicked and started charging. He thrust his spear, but it went straight through the figure and into the empty air. It never moved.

That’s when the figure looked at the guard, dismissing his attempt and then moved her head around, regarding everyone for a few moments before she started walking in slow, weightless steps. Most went down on the floor, afraid to meet her gaze, praying. The master looked at her like an insect looking at a bright light, dozens of thoughts racing within his mind. Who was she?

"Who... who are you?" The emperor said at the same time as the master thought the words. The figure didn't respond, she still walked around the room, looking at the people at her feet who are having the most intense experience in their lives.

Clearing his throat, Arham yelled with a more serious tone "I am Arham the Great, Conqueror of the known world and Emperor of Arhamkar, I demand to know who you are!"

She grew still. That appeared to catch her attention as he looked at him, and started walking towards Arham. The Emperor took two or three steps back before she was standing right in front of him.

"A proud one, aren’t you?" she said. Arham couldn’t even muster a breath. “Enjoy it for a little while more, for your world is about to end.”

And in an instant, she vanished.

The whole room grew entirely dark, with only a glimmer of torch-light coming from outside. Complete silence reigned within, appearing to stretch for an eternity. No one said anything, no one dared, or even knew what to say. But within their minds, they all shared a deep sense of dread, most of all the old master who also felt a crushing sense of responsibility.

"Arham.” He finally broke the silence. “What have I done?”

***

A few hours after dawn, the Emperor and Master Giedon were standing on one of the balconies of the palace, overlooking most of the city and the harbor. Sleeping was impossible, and the rumors have started growing about what happened inside, as expected.

"What do you think she meant by that?" Asked the emperor. Emperor of a doomed world? Did that really just happen? Or was it just a dream? He didn't know what to think.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know Arham, but I sincerely hope she didn't mean it literally." answered Giedon.  He also didn't know what to think, except that perhaps this would explain his finding during the last two decades after Arham unified all the lands and allowed him to travel freely and have the privilege to study whatever he wanted.

Master Giedon has always had this theory that man predated known history by a long time. There were numerous ruins scattered throughout Arhamkar that appeared to have strange writings, languages that made no sense. And they all appeared to be grouped in cycles. Symbols and structures of similar shape growing more and more complex until they all stopped abruptly past a certain point where nature eroded them. Then, after some time, another set of architectural and cultural style would replace it until it too vanished. There definitely was a pattern.

Now, he suspected that there were empires long before the dawn of man. Perhaps history went on a similar path as it did in his time, where kingdoms and empires grew, discovered the door and finally cracked its mystery. What happened after that, he didn’t want to know. But he feared the worst.

Master Giedon and the Emperor spent most of the day talking to each other, trying to make sense of the experience, they never noticed the small flash of light appearing in the sky above them.

At least not until a jet of streaming white light spouted out of the heavens and hit the harbor of the city. The entire city ground to a halt, looking at the stream of light coming from the sky. It pulsed, then it grew so bright, it almost blinded everyone and forced them cover the eyes. When the light finally dimmed and then completely disappeared, they were greeted by a sight that defied common sense.

There was a woman, a naked, five-hundred feet tall woman, standing on the harbor.

She blinked rapidly for a few moments, her eyes adjusting to her surroundings before she moved her head and regarded the city below her, a faint smile forming on the corner of her lips.

Then, she took a step.

Her colossal right moved too fast for anyone to react and landed on a crowded section of the marked by the harbor, heedless in its downward plunge. It smashed down with such an unstoppable force that it completely flattened everything under it. Houses, shops, carts, people, they offered only the slightest resistance. Total mayhem unraveled in the city as people drew their breaths in unison and broke out of her spell, panicking.

Then her left foot rose from the water. It first hit a big trading ship from underneath, offering the briefest resistance as she lifted it from the water before splintering into pieces, killing most of the crew that was still onboard. It landed beside her right foot as it too smashed everything underneath into the earth and collapsing weaker structures around it. At this point she was straddling the main street leading from the harbor into the city and the palace, totally filled with masses of frightened, helpless people trying to flee from the sudden brutal violence and her imposing, god-like frame.

Both Arham and Giedon watched everything unravel in front of them in total silence, too stunned to react. They watched as she brushed her hair with her right hand while resting her left one on her hip, and then smiled at what she saw below her. Her seductive demeanor left them baffled. Both were pretty sure she caught people underneath those massive soles. Who was she? Didn’t she care about the violence she caused?

"We need to get out of here Giedon." Arham said, breaking the old master out of his stunned posture. Giedon said nothing and followed the emperor as he made his way into the palace. Was this judgement day? Has the mother of all gods come down to make us pay for our sins? Was he responsible? Those were Master Giedon’s thoughts as both he and the Emperor tried to make their way through the chaos raging inside the palace.

***

This is going to be fun! She thought. Destroying the beating heart of an advanced classical civilization is one of her favorite scenarios. She crouched as she watched the people beneath her more closely, regarding them as they struggled on the streets while trying to get away from her, many tripping and falling and then getting trampled by the crowd. Still, there were always those who just stood there, in the corners of the streets, in the roofs of the houses, either still too stunned from the initial shock, or too incapacitated by her beauty, especially the size of her sex looming high above them. And there were those who immediately after returning to their senses bowed down and started praying to her.

They were all the same to her, she was a god, a being far above them, and for the time being, they were something she wanted to simply play with. The capital of this vast empire, as with all the other empires before it, is the place and moment where there is the biggest concentration of people at the point of her appearance, and all she wanted now was to pleasure herself before she dealt with the true reason of her visit to this planet.

And nothing in the universe gives her more pleasure than simple and pure power over humans, power that is not achieved and maintained by means of wealth, technology or rank, but simply by being able to take the life of people on a whim, with your own body, while they can’t retaliate or do anything about it in any way. Simple and pure power, she thought, as she positioned and then swiftly lowered her right index finger on a particular dense spot of the crowd without remorse. The people who were caught had no chance, two of them were completely reduced to pulp while many others were only partially caught, having their arms or legs or whole torsos severed.

But no, it’s not just that. She removed her finger and briefly studied the reaction of the crowd as they dispersed in all directions from the point of impact, like little ants, while the injured either simply screamed in pain or tried to crawl away. It’s also how you do it. She lowered her hand into the crowd again, gently picking a random person from it, which happened to be a young woman, and considered her fragile form for a moment while she stood up again. She always prefered them to beg and suffer, hear their screams and feel their struggles while she took their lives with her most intimate parts.

She lowered the woman to her right nipple, and placed her on it. She loved this act. She always waited a moment for them to comprehend their situation, then she pushed them ever so gently so that they dangled from their nipple. It’s always those simple acts that assert her power over those people. Acts such as a person’s life, a life with families, hopes, dreams and everything that comes with it - being suspended and dependent on such a simple and harmless part of her body as her nipple.

She lowered her hand to her sex and gently started stroking her clitoris as her nipples began to enlarge and harden. She watched as the woman found it harder and harder to maintain her grip as the nipple got bigger and bigger, the victim’s life coming closer and closer to its end simply because she got more and more aroused... until it was too big for the helpless woman as her hands became too tired and she lost her grip, falling into her death. She gasped as her body tensed for a moment and a cold shiver passed through her spine, and then relaxed. She looked down again, at the crowd, her eyes full of pure lust. She wanted more.

She lowered her hand again, but this time she started plucking and gathering a handful of people, scooping them from the crowd without remorse, injuring and killing many in the process. She repeated this act until her right hand was full of tiny, wriggling, struggling humans. She brought her hand to her face and watched them intently as they tried to fight their way out of her it. Some were successful in their attempt, heedless to fact that they were hundreds of feet high in the air, most of them hitting and bouncing from her breasts as they fell to their deaths.

Then she lowered her hand and cupped her right breast. Immediately, all her nerves on it sparked as hundreds of hands and feet started beating against it, especially those around her areola. She concentrated, trying to feel their struggles, their screams and pleas for mercy. She then slightly shifted hand, feeling some of them yielding against her nipple, their fragile bodies unable to take even the slightest force applied to them by her. Small trickles of blood began to ooze from between her fingers, heightening the crowd’s panic as the they beat against her breast with renewed energy. Her breathing became heavier as the hundreds of small wriggling little bodies intoxicated her and she couldn’t take it anymore, forcing her to knead her breasts without remorse.

She moaned loudly, everyone in the city and the vicinity could hear it. All the little humans forced against her mountain of a breast were reduced to dark red smears against its unyielding skin, painting it with their blood. The sensation of countless little humans being reduced to pulp on her breast as they hopelessly fought against it was breathtakingly pleasurable. But after she came down from her high, she shifted her gaze back down in the city below. She wanted more, much more.

Most people had fled towards the main gate or the palace, probably seeking shelter inside its tunnels. The gate was too small to handle such a huge amount of people at the same time, and so was the palace, while another smaller crowd gathered around a structure a few hundred yards before the palace which stood out from the rest of the buildings. It made her curious, so she walked towards it. It was only a few steps from her, but each one of her steps caused massive destruction around them. Swiftly, she was straddling the structure. It was very large compared to the other buildings but still too small for her, so she crouched down to take a closer look. It became immediately apparent that this was a temple, and not just any temple, but the statue on top of it betrayed it as a temple dedicated to her.

So sweet, she thought. The building was shaped in the form of a long, narrow rectangle. Too bad it’s not going to protect you. She grabbed the roof of the building and ripped it off, revealing the main hall entirely filled with humans. She thought it was too ironic, a mass of humanity, trying to flee from a goddess by seeking shelter on the temple dedicated to her, and it was a perfect fit for one of her feet. Her grin widened. So she destroyed the entrances and stood up, lifting her right foot above the torn roof, and started slowly lowering it into the main hall.

The panic and fear inside was apparent. Most tried to flee, but there was nowhere to go. Some of the most devout fell down on their knees, raised their arms towards the descending pillar of flesh and awaiting it with prayer as some kind of holy way to die. As the foot brushed the side of the walls, releasing debris into the crowd and filling the ceiling, it suddenly got very dark inside, increasing the screams, the fear and the crying.

She lowered her foot even more and started feeling some of them. Very gently, she lowered it just a bit so that she could feel most them but not kill them. She felt their small hands beating against the underside of her foot as if they could support its weight. She tried to imagine how it must feel being trapped inside a dark prison filled with hundreds of other people, not being able to flee, just seconds away from getting crushed by a lustful goddess. Her heart raced, she breathed in deeply and released her full weight on top of them while simultaneously releasing a long deep moan.

The squishing sensation, together with the idea of taking so many lives with one step sent an electric shock-like feeling inside her body, a deep faint feeling of an orgasm started to well up inside of her. She needed more, a lot more, and there was another dark prison she needed to fill, a very moist one. She twisted and turned her foot, collapsing the temple entirely and killing everyone who might have survived her initial step, and shifted her gaze at the main gate.

It has been too long.

CHAPTER 3

Commander Marik Elias was sitting on his chair on the bridge of the Pasargadae, eyes focused beyond the main window on the planet below. His thoughts were full of the terror and grief that the unfortunate people of this planet will suffer for the foreseeable future. He rose up from his chair, folding his hands behind his back, and approached the main window.

He looked down at the planet, focusing on a particular spot, watching the smoke plumes rising from what the local population calls Tarthaghast. He could just barely see her silhouette. All this death and destruction, this genocide of an entire population, and for what? A dream? A long forgotten, thousands-of-years-old dream? He sighed.

He shifted his gaze high up above the planet. There, he could make out the defining feature of this region, the so called Tarantula Nebula, the birthplace of most of the stars in this corner of space. As he got his bearings on his position in space, he shifted his gaze to the right, beyond the planets dark side. There, spread in all it’s glory, was the Milky Way. The sight of it never failed to amaze Marik. It was breathtaking, hundreds of billions of stars spiralling out from the galactic center. And there somewhere, on one of those spirals, lies Earth, the birthplace of humanity.

He stood there, gazing at the Milky Way for minutes. “Soon.” He remembered her saying. “Soon, we will fight back for our home, for what is ours.”

Will we really? And if we win? What then? She will just give up her power? Questions and more questions plagued his mind, questions that tired him. He needed to rest.

***

The main gate stood on the western side of the city. It was a massive gate made of bronze designed to support heavy traffic for a city that was the center of the world, but also withstand any attack on it.

Right now, it’s not able to handle the amount of people trying to get away from the goddess that seems to be bent on destroying and killing everything within the city. And it was not just spreading death and destruction, but they way she does it. The dread and fear that filled them was very different than fear from being chased by a hungry animal, confronted by an enemy soldier, or even a ghost.

Those daring to look back at what was happening were filled with a new kind of fear. Fear of being reduced to nothing but a speck on the soil. Fear of being nothing more than a toy for a lustful god. Fear of Death by Divinity.

The scene at the gate was desperate. Thousands of people were trying to pass through it, the sheer terror that was apparent in their eyes reduced most of them to acting solely guided by their basic instincts. Those near the gate were hard-pressed by the masses behind them, many succumbing to the pressure and killed by trampling.

The people who made it through the gate spread out on the farmland behind it, some fleeing, but most were resting, waiting for their families and loved ones. Passing through the gate seemed to have filled them with a false sense of safety, as if you just escaped from a lake inhabited by a sea-monster. But the sea monster was now heading their way.

Again, each step of the goddess caused massive destruction on the streets below her. She was indifferent to where her steps landed, focusing on the mass of humanity at the gate, heedless of the fact that with one step she crushed an entire group trying to hide on the basement of a shop, never knowing what hit them, or that another step landed on the barracks of a party of soldiers who were trying to organise a formation, raising their spears on the air as some sort of defence against an unstoppable force.

Just as she arrived at the gate, she noted the rather sparse number of people outside the gate. Most looked like they stood still and weren’t fleeing. Aren’t they afraid? She wondered, clearly amused. It looked like they somehow thought the walls would hold her inside. Well, she smiled, time to demonstrate some real power. As her left foot landed near the crowd, just before the wall, she leapt.

The sight was breathtaking, everyone looked up as a the booming sounds coming from behind them were followed by an all-encompassing shadow. For the briefest moments, they admired a sight that defied reason on its most basic level, thousands of tonnes of flesh suspended on the air above them. If anyone wasn’t convinced of her divinity, they certainly were now. Then she landed with her right foot in the middle of the crowd behind the gate.

The force of the impact was literally earth-shattering. Those caught by her step were reduced to less than red smears embedded on the compressed soil beneath her foot. The shock-wave radiating from it shredded and sent everyone around the impact area flying hundreds of yards through the air into their deaths, or plastered against the city walls, not that they held up much. They broke and shattered too from the shock-wave traveling through the earth as everyone around it and inside the city walls too were flung into the air as the earth beneath them shifted.

She stood again on both feet after her leap, hands on hips, turning around and admiring her work.

***

“My Son! Where is my Son!” Yelled Arham, visibly distressed. “Kal, where are you?” He yelled again, desperately. It was total chaos inside the palace, and Arham was lost. His mind couldn’t really fathom what was happening. Yesterday he saw a ghost, today she stands there, on the city, made of flesh and bone, unimaginably huge, massacring his own people.

He was looking for his only son, the only thing that he really cared for since his wife died giving birth to him. He was just 7 years old, but so bright and talented. Arham was sure he would go on to inherit his empire, prevent it from being torn apart after Arham’s death. But now, is there going to be anything to inherit?

A strong hand grabbed his shoulder. “Your majesty, lets go!” It was Senez, his most high ranking and trusted general, and a loyal friend.

“No!” He replied as he yanked Senez’s hand away. “I must find my son!”

“He is with Giedon, your majesty! He is waiting for you outside, behind the palace.”

Arham looked visibly relieved. “Thank Ar-” He suddenly remembered. Thanking a goddess that might just be destroying your entire world might not mean much right now.“Let’s go!” He followed Senez.

Outside, behind the palace, a group of Senez’s most trusted men were waiting for the emperor, guarding his only child and the heir to the throne. Master Giedon was there, comforting Kal and still trying to make sense of what was happening. The party was about to leave for a distant northern city.

Booming sounds were heard behind the palace. He tried not to think about it. He felt painfully guilty for bringing all this down upon his people.

A loud crash was heard, shaking the earth beneath them. “Why?” he murmured to himself.

Moments later, Senez emerged from the palace, together with Arham. “Men get ready!” He shouted while Arham climbed on the chariot where Giedon and Kal stood, without speaking a single word.

“Let’s go”.

***

She was straddling the crowd that had tried to flee from the - now completely destroyed - main gate. He looked at them, pure lust shining from her eyes. She crouched down, completely dwarfing everyone beneath her. Her sex was glistening wet, radiating its smell into the crowd, looming above like a hungry monster dripping saliva from its mouth, an act she loved to do as it demonstrated true power, that those people were at the mercy of her most intimate part of her body.

Small trickles of dried blood and body parts rained down from her breast on the crowd who seemed to have just regained their composure. It looked like that it rejuvenated their strength as they started moving in all directions, but she wasn’t about to let her toys run away, no, she wanted them inside her, she needed them inside her.

So she planted her ass firmly where the main gate used to stand, stretched her legs outward  from the crowd, crushing many who had a lead from the main crowd, leaving the rest trapped between her thighs, and with a resounding voice, she commanded: “Stop!”

Her booming voice shuddered everyone to their core. It was like magic, everyone froze on their tracks, looking up at her, it was the first time she spoke. Her beautiful smiling face betrayed no remorse whatsoever, she loved the fact that despite all she had inflicted on them, on their city, they obeyed without hesitation to her voice. And she was about to test their obedience even more.

She planted her right hand behind her for support as she leaned slightly back, retracting her legs and displaying the full glory of her sex to the crowd. None of them dared to move. They watched as she lowered her left hand towards her sex, planting her index and middle finger on her labia and then spreading it open. The stench coming from it was sickening and repulsive.

“Inside.” She commanded again. Nobody moved. She expected that, and few moments later, part of the crowd started fleeing again from her. She was pleased as she wanted to use them to demonstrate the precious situation they were in. So she lifted her right hand, leaned forward and planted it right into the fleeing crowd. Her fingers dug inside the earth itself, tearing part of it from its foundation along with any survivors and crushing everything on her hand mercilessly. Unclasping it, she let all the debris fall into the gaping hole behind the main crowd from where she teared a chunk of earth just a few moments ago. Leaning back into her previous position and parting her labia for the second time, she repeated again, but this time with an ear-piercing shout: “Inside!”.

This time, they obeyed. She smiled delightfully. For her, it’s one thing using her power to crush those insignificant little people to dust or smear them against her body, but it’s an entirely other experience to watch them walk willingly and obediently into her dark chasm, knowing full well that they’re not going to find there anything but their deaths, sacrificing their lives for the sexual pleasure of their goddess, perishing within her intimate folds so she can experience an orgasm.

For her, this act defined her divinity. Those people had no reason to obey her. They could chose to run away, die fast and with dignity. Yet every time she did this, most obeyed, her power seemed to indoctrinate them completely. The goosebumps on her skin were very apparent, her heart started racing again, her breathing accelerated and she started slightly sweating. She watched as the first people climbing the cum-soaked rubble, where the main gate used to stand, reached her looming vagina. She shivered at the sight of so many people that were about to willingly fill her.

She let out a small moan as she felt the first people climb inside her sex. She had to concentrate to keep her composure. Her most basic instincts wanted to grab them all and smash them against her cunt, and it was getting harder and harder to resist. But she knew that their obedience and physical strength had a limit. Their puny pathetic little bodies will never be able to find the strength to fill her completely, so she will have to do it herself. “Deeper!” she called out lustfully, feeling those inside her fighting vigorously to get deeper and find the space for more people inside. She was nearing the limit of her endurance.

Suddenly, she felt a lot more motion inside her as it became too crowded inside, those deeper lost their composure and general panic broke out. She figured their obedience had reached that critical limit. Well, it was fun while it lasted, she thought, as she released her labia and started scooping those who hadn’t made it inside yet and forcing them inside.

Immediately, the whole crowd started fleeing away, but they had nowhere to go. Her massive thighs blocked the sides and it was a long way to her feet, which she could always use to manipulate them. Her hand mercilessly grabbed tens of people at a time and shoved them rudely inside her, indifferent to the injuries she caused, uncaring to their cries and pleas for mercy.

She was nearly full when she stopped. Any more and she would be sent over the edge, but she wanted this moment to last longer, so she grabbed a handful from what remained from the crowd, being careful not to crush them in her hand and then looked at the remaining fleeing unfortunate humans as she positioned her crotch behind them, then slowly pushed herself with the other hand. Those between her thighs never really had a chance, her legs crossed, trapping them, and behind, her crotch unyieldingly crushed everyone on its path like a giant bulldozer, compressing them to little more than red stains on her labia.

The mass of humanity inside shifted and wriggled from the pressure, their desperate battle for survival sending hundreds of tiny electrical shocks to her brain. Her breath became very heavy as her heart pounded on her chest. She laid back, eyes unfocused, as she lowered the ones she grabbed earlier to her sex and nudged them against her clitoris. Immediately, they started beating furiously against it with their puny fists and legs, adding to her already enormously aroused state as she spread legs, flattening everything around them, with her climax moments away.

She focused at the writhing mass of humanity insider her. It filled her so much better than any man could. The mass inside, unlike a penis, was composed of tiny living humans. Humans with ambitions, dreams and desires who awoke today just like any other day, navigating through their lives as each day brought new hurdles, and now find themselves struggling to survive inside her wet dark cave, their lives reduced to nothing more than fuel for her lust as each of their puny little bodies served to bring her closer and closer to a single monumental climax.

As a last act, she grabbed some people from her clitoris with her left hand and smashed them against her left nipple while with the palm of her right hand she held the rest firm against her clitoris, and pushed both her index and middle finger inside her, probing. The bodies of most of those inside pressed by her fingers yielded, as she felt bones cracking and bodies breaking all around them. The added pressure sent another wave of sheer panic and terror inside her and finally pushed her over the edge. She kneaded her breast, pressed her palm against her clitoris forcefully, flattening everyone under it against her throbbing clitoris as her vaginal muscles contracted, mercilessly crushing everyone inside, heedless to their cries as their deaths fueled their goddess with an orgasm that produced a moan that could be heard for tens of miles on all directions.

She stood before the main window of her apartment, overlooking a modern city.

What was the name? New... York?

She took a sip from her drink which she held on her hand, watching as the city unfolded like a carpet from where she stood. A penthouse overlooking most of New York, the greatest city in the world, meant she had status.

But what status?

The scene felt vaguely familiar, yet so out of touch, like a distant dream. She turned, observed the room where she stood. It was all empty. No furniture, no decor, nothing. Not just that, but everything was, in a way, blank, like her mind didn’t know how to picture the scene.

But there was something in the middle, an object... no, a code! A message! She remembered. She knew exactly what was going to happen next. She turned towards the window and watched as patches of the clouds above turned momentarily red. 

Then, something hot and bright hit the middle of the city, a jet of pure plasma rained from the sky. It devastated large sections of Manhattan in a blazing fire. She stood there, motionless. She wasn’t concerned, she knew this was just a dream. She dreamt this scene many times, yet always slightly differently. She watched as many different jets of plasma rained on different parts of the city, bringing more chaos and destruction, but everything seemed to dim, losing focus, becoming detached.

She opened her eyes, and sighed.

Leaning up, she regarded the city before her. Unlike the dream, the city was sprawled like a toy before her. The buildings were tiny, damaged and crumbled, and some smoke filled the sky. She felt a mass inside her, wriggling just slightly. She sighed, again. She parted her labia, and inserted two fingers, reaching inside. 

The wet, bloodied mass of humanity landed with a splat between her thighs. She felt revolted, disgusted and ashamed of herself. How can I do this to them? They are humans, just like me. How can I use my powers to kill them in such horrible way? She felt all kinds of dark, twisted emotions well up inside her. She has used living, breathing, conscious people as sex toys, just for her pleasure. And it wasn’t the first time, not by a long long shot.

She hated herself, she hated what she has become, but she knew that there was no way she could control that dark side of her. She looked down, watching as despite all that they went through, despite the hell that they experienced, some of them still survived. Most of those had terrible injuries and wouldn’t last long, others had body parts missing or bent at unnatural angles. 

Then, that overpowering feeling began to sip inside her. She watched as the struggling of those that survived, who were trying to get away from the carnage and pile of dead, twisted bodies, began being transformed and painted on a different light. She watched as the sickening  emotions invoked inside her by the cries of pain and pleas of mercy began transforming into pleasant, overpowering sexual lust.

Some of them reached out to her, and despite all the pain, they... prayed to her. They thought it was a test, a kind of act that would ascertain their faith. She regarded them as her dark side returned and completely overtook her. The power that she had over those people was irresistible. She could cause such a carnage with her sex, put them through such a gruesome ordeal just for her pleasure, and yet some of them would still be obedient, faithful on a false image, probably ready to walk inside her sex at her command again.

The last faints of the repulsive feelings that she felt just a few moments ago completely disappeared as she returned their prayers with an uncaring, wicked smile. She stood up, raised her foot above the dead and dying and without much thought for those that displayed such intense faith in her, she planted her foot on top of them, smearing and reducing them to unrecognizable gore.

Sweeping her hair with her hand, she strolled into the city again, heading straight for the palace this time. The streets upon which she strode were mostly empty, the city itself was mostly depopulated after her short nap. But the palace was thronged full of people. She didn’t give them much time to react though.

As she climbed the small hill upon which the palace stood, she turned around, and planted her ass firmly upon it. Her ass descended like a colossal rock from heaven, crushing the top floors of the palace and everyone in them without the slightest bulging. Most people who had fled into the cave system beneath the palace were now trapped. Some people decided to watch the event from the balconies of the palace, too stunned from her swiftness. The air pressure that came from inside the palace flung them hundreds of feet horizontally.

She regarded her surroundings. There were still people, around, in the streets leading to the palace, on the gardens, and a few that seemed to have survived her ass. She picked one up, a middle-aged man, and started rolling him idly between her fingers, reducing him to an object of playfulness, but she watched him with distant eyes. Those people don’t know what I do for them, what I do for humanity, she thought, as the tiny man in her hand began slip into unconsciousness from the constant spinning.

Just before he blacked out, she stopped, positioning him on her index finger, observing him. He was winded, but also visibly terrified. He saw her eyes, large as buildings, eyes that seemed to pierce his very soul. How would a man react to having the full attention of a god? 

Then, that deep impulse within stirred her, and she placed her thumb on top of the helpless man, applying a slight pressure. She consciously knew that what she was doing was not right, yet that impulse within her, that overwhelming emotion of power was too strong to resist. The little man started struggled between her fingers, fighting for his life as his lungs were refused air by something as small as slightly pinching him with her fingers. She knew that what she was doing was evil, incomprehensible to those people and the ones serving them on the Pasargadae, yet they have to obey, they have to accept.

I cannot control my emotions, I cannot control this darkness within me, she thought, as she released the pressure between her fingers, letting the tiny man take a few deep breaths, I am a plague that sweeps the land, bringing death and destruction wherever I visit, but I also am the only hope for humanity as a whole, the only thing that keeps them safe from total annihilation. And so, they must endure this darkness, knowingly or not. She reminded herself.

With that thought, she pressed her thumb on top of the man, hard. The tiny form burst like a grape, blood spraying all around her fingers, though too far high up to be noticed. She smiled again, feeling satisfied.

Then she started gathering everyone in the vicinity who was still alive, carefully not to injure them too badly. She was ready to leave the city and let her servants deal with the rest. Meanwhile the struggling people she was gathering would be used at the expense of her pleasure on the ship as she waited and let time pass on the planet.

She walked down to the harbor, her hands full of tiny wriggling toys, and turned around, admiring the destruction she caused one last time. She saw the hundreds and thousands of people have fled the city, spreading out in all directions. They would serve as the perfect rumour spreading tools for her. Spreading fear and dread amongst the population of this planet, marking the start of the collapse. 

“Beam me in, Marik” she called out, and after a few moments, a jet of light engulfed her, and then she was gone.

She sat on her living room couch, comfortable and naked, her legs crossed. She was watching the large glass bowl on top of the coffee table in front of her intently. It was filled with people she had gathered before she left the city. Three days had passed since then. It was the first time in three days that she really paid attention to them. She did this intentionally. She decided to play one of her favorite little games with this particular group, a game she hadn’t played in such a long time.

For the last three days since she put them in the bowl, they had watched her, fearful of what she would decide to do with them. They had all witnessed her playful destruction and killing of people back on the city and knew she would stop at nothing. But from the moment she put them in their prison, from the point of view of the trapped people, she seemingly forgot about them. Since then, they had plenty of time to get their bearings and observe their surroundings.

For the hundred-or-so little people, her living room - a temporary accommodation abroad the Pasargadae - was literally an alien world. It was completely filled with alien furniture, magical light-bringing and other - unknown to them - devices that seemingly operated at her will, thus enhancing her divinity even more to them. As she moved about the room when she was present during those three days, their fright and terror started to vaporize as she apparently ignored them completely.

She placed a camera that could record their movements and especially their voices next to the bowl. They, of course, never knew what the camera was. During night-time aboard the ship, she would retreat to her bedroom to watch and listen to them speaking through the camera. For a group of people that were randomly plucked out of a pre-modern city, they were pretty intelligent. Of course, that wasn't surprising to her since all the people of this planet have been genetically engineered by her and her servants to increase certain traits, such as overall intelligence.

She listened occasionally as they tried to make sense of what was happening, why she chose them to ‘take’ them with her. At first, they speculated that she would just use them as toys, food or something similar, just as she had done on Tarthaghast to so many people, at any moment. But as hours and days went by, they started to think that they were something more special, that she might have chosen them for a divine task. She chuckled at that thought. Then they talked about who she was, if she really was who most of them identified her as, the mother-goddess Aria. She was surprised to find her name so well preserved after all those years.

But after the first day, after their fearful emotions dissipated, their bodies started to respond to more basic urges, namely that of hunger and thirst. She withhold food and water from them for three days. From experience, she knew that three days was the limit before people started dying, turning to acts of cannibalism, paranoia and so forth. She didn’t want to let it get that far as she had plans for her toys. It would be weeks before she went back on the planet.

During those three days, she would tease them with food by eating in front of them, ignoring them as they craved for the food and water. She carefully placing a lid on top of the bowl so that bread crumbs and similar things wouldn’t accidentally feed her toys, then she would leave those crumbs and a partially drunk glass of water on the table and later watch them through the camera as they futilely attempted to climb out of the bowl to reach the them. She did this each time she ate in the last two days, and now, they had reached their breaking point, it was time to start the games.

Her attention seemed to have caused quite stir on the otherwise exhausted and worn-out crowd. They were used to being ignored despite their cries and pleas for food and water. They knew this was something out of the ordinary.

With a sudden motion, she grabbed the bowl with both hands, and placed it on her lap. The crowd inside was forcefully shuffled by her movements, but as soon as the bowl stabilized, they craned their heads and were met by an attentive face partially hidden between a pair of magnificent, mountain-sized breasts. Even though they had watched her move around the room for three days, they had never truly grasped the size of her breasts until now. They were firm, but hung preciously low, as if at any moment, they would crash upon them and crush them without mercy.

But then she leaned her head slightly forward, and with a playful tone, she asked “Are you thirsty, my little minions?” At first, the crowd seemed stupefied, not used to being addressed by the goddess, but after a short few moments, they abruptly  broke into cries and pleas, most of them kneeling with their hands raised towards her, begging, using the little strength they had left to utter a distinctive word even to her ears, water!

She answered their cries with a smile, an honest smile, but for a brief moment it betrayed the slightest wickedness. She raised the bowl again, then she stood up and walked to an unoccupied part of the floor. She placed the bowl on the floor, the straddled it, still smiling. Then she remembered, she wanted to record this, so she went back to the table, and took the camera, placing it beside the bowl again.

She then straddled them once more, and then squatted. They raised their hands over their heads instinctively, covering in fear, as if that act would offer them some measure of protection. Her thighs and crotch encompassed their entire tiny world, it was another one of those acts that she loved to play, demonstrating her power over the little insignificant toys. They were so helpless beneath her, trapped, unable to do anything. But she wasn’t done with her psychological games, she just started.

Without needing to explain, she simply positioned her vagina above the bowl, and then parted her labia slightly. At first, just a few drops of of urine fell in the middle of the bowl, immediately making the crowd cover in fear and move to the edges of the bowl, panic gripped them. Then she relaxed a little more, letting it stream just a little so that it would form a small pool inside the slightly oval shaped bottom of the glass, and then she stopped. She leaned back, sitting on the floor, crossing her legs, watching intently.

It wasn’t much, not even for the crowd. But the they had paled, for they feared that she finally had decided to dispose of them on a horrible manner. They still stood there, on the edges of the bowl, confused, as they stared at the goddess, then shifting their gaze to the small pool of urine, then back at her and the pool again. Then they seemed to relax slightly, transfixed by the small pool of urine in the middle of the bown, their shock slowly diminishing, being replaced by...

Suddenly, in a mad scramble, they dashed towards the pool of urine in the middle. It was the first time in three days that they could reach something to drink. They pushed and shoved each other aside, thoughts clouded as their primal instincts kicked in, reduced to a little more than animals. It was a fight where only the strongest of them would end up drinking her ostensibly live-giving urine.

She smiled delightfully. She loved what she could do to them, what she could reduce them to. She loved the fact that she could use something as simple and repulsive as her own piss, and make them crave for it, make them fight with their lives for it. She watched as the mass of humanity formed a small ball in the middle of the bowl, fighting with every strength they got for a few drops of her piss.

She started masturbating, slowly at first, resisting the urge to simply grab a handful of them and shove them inside her sex. She doubted they would notice before it was too late. But then the crowd stirred, it seemed that they had drank and licked every last drop of her urine in such a short time. For a brief few moments, they stood there, looking at each other as the struggling subdued, confused. Then a large portion of them, those that weren’t able to get through, the weakest of them, turned towards her, scrambling towards the glass facing her, leaning against it, desperately begging for more.

Her smile broadened and she let out a loud laugh. She looked at them, so pathetic, she thought, so easily reduced to creatures craving for her urine, begging her for it, pleading for more. Their cries sent shivers of electric passion down her spine. At this stage, she could make them do anything for her as long as she promised them her piss. She was going to exploit that fact. She leaned forward again to address them. They quieted immediately.

“If you want more, then each time I give you more, you are going to have to sacrifice one of you to me.” She emphasised the last word with a patting gesture against her sex, still smiling broadly.

They looked up at her, bewildered, but clearly, they had understood her. It didn’t take long, less than a minute, and they presented a middle-aged man to her. He struggled, tried to get back to the crowd, to blend in again, but they all pushed him away, towards the goddess, ignoring his pleading.

“Well, little man, “ she said, as she lowered her hand into the bowl and grabbed the unfortunate sacrifice. “ it seems they value my piss more than your life. Don’t you think that’s pitifully pathetic?” She asked rhetorically, not really caring what he was thinking. She moved him between to her sex and placed him on top of her clitoris. “Please your goddess”, she commanded, as he looked at her.

He immediately started vigorously licking and lapping her clitoris. The bit of hope that he still held inside of him drained every little reserve of strength that he still had on that act. She watched him intently. She felt him slightly, but not enough as to arouse any meaningful sexual pleasure just from his actions. But she was aroused, it was the act that did it. The fact that she made those people give up a life for some small bit of hope that they might survive. The fact that they were prepared to give up one of them for something as disgusting as her piss. She plunged her index and middle finger inside of her and started masturbating again, carefully avoiding his little clit-sucker.

She still watched the little pathetic figure working vigorously to please her,nearing her climax. Them she placed her thumb on top of the man, and with a slightly heavy breath, she addressed the crowd again.

“It seems your sacrifice was enough to your goddess” she said, as she pressed her thumb forcefully against her clit, squishing the little man all over it. She craned her head, heavy-lidded and let out a gasp as a small orgasm rippled through her. She then relaxed, lowered her head again towards the bowl.

“You get to survive another day” she said, smiling at the visibly horrified crowd.

It will be interesting to see how far they will go, she thought, as she moved her crotch above the bowl again. And I still have to think about what to do with their hunger...

Commander Marik Elias stood on the bridge, looking out across the main window of the ship towards the Milky Way, she presumed. He often did that lately, always looking deep in thought. She approached the old commander, her path taking her across the bridge of the ship.

The officers and crew of the Pasargadae still regarded her with awe, fear and deep rooted respect, even though she had been on board for more than a week now. They took random glances at her, but as soon as she looked at them, they immediately lowered their heads, tensing.

She smiled slightly at their behaviour. A crew that have never had her previously on board always amused her. Perhaps it was because she was so accustomed to dealing with people she knew, people who were used to her presence, people who knew she was never going to do what she did to the ‘others’.

She never saw them in that light. That darkness within her - which she has named the ‘dark passenger’ - never spurs her to do harm on her servants. She does feel the sexual excitement that is associated with people being at her whim, but she also feels like they’ve earned her protection and her trust as long as they would serve her well on fulfilling her goal.

But she also knew it was more inveterate and deeply rooted than that. In all her lifetime, she never fully understood why she could feel compassion towards them, why she could feel a certain affection and fondness for them, as if they were her children. Though they figuratively are her children, so are the ‘others’ too, but she never felt that way for the others except in some rare occasions.

She felt like she needed them, felt that they might represent the only piece of humanity left in her. This seemingly double-sided personality of hers bewildered many. But still, even for them she was - for all intents and purposes - a god. She didn’t feel the need to have the crew at her feet, inches tall, intimidating them with her impetuous presence, but still, wielding the kind of power she did was enough to attain an impeccable obedience from them. That was especially apparent when the acts she did were in question.

Commander Elias must have heard her approaching as he turned towards her. He bowed down deeply. “Mistress Aria.” He greeted her. She sighed.

“You know Marik, I’ve told you countless times, you don’t have to do that, I really don’t need you to bow down before me” She walked beside him, leaning against the glass with her shoulder.

“I know, mistress, old habits that I cannot shake away, I suspect.” He turned towards the view beyond the window again. Marik was the closest she had to a friend, although the respect she gained even from him was excessive too.

It was understandable. After all, none of them knew how it felt to have that darkness within her, none of them would ever understand how she could commit a gruesome genocide, yet still act normal around them. And her power intimidated them too much. Still, she forced her friendship with Marik, at least she could use her authority on that.

Overtime, that forced relationship had grown more ordinary. Marik had learned to behave in a more relaxing manner in her presence, he became more honest and less formal in his words and she had learned to trust his opinion more and more. He was a good man, yet lately, he looked troubled, as if something had stirred in his mind.

“Still looking at it, I see.” She gazed towards the Milky Way too.

“Yes, mistress. I don’t know what it fascinates me so much. It seems to calm me in a way.”

“It has to be done, Marik. You know that.” She saw a flicker of remorse in his face.

“I know mistress, yet I cannot help it. I feel guilty for being comfortable and safe, while the people down below fight for their lives, oblivious to the world that exists beyond the their broken sky.”

She looked at him, not bothering to fake even the slightest compassion. “They are the unlucky ones, Marik. It’s a fact of life, you shouldn’t think about it too much. Besides, all this might be over soon”

She saw the doubt in his eyes, but she didn’t really feel to explain what she meant by that. Time will make him understand. “When we are finished with this planet, Marik, you will be promoted to Admiral of the fleet.” She said, looking at him, expecting some excitement. He didn’t react, his face was expressionless.

“They say that Earth doesn’t really exist. That our origin is here in our little satellite galaxy. That you have enslaved humanity long ago, using planets like PX-301 just for your pleasure, and devised the menace just as another tool of control over us.”

His bluntness startled her, but then her surprise turned into a smile. It had been a long time since she could speak to someone on such a honest level. “Do you believe it?” She asked.

“I don’t know what to believe, mistress.” He sighed. “All i know is that we have no choice.”

She turned towards the window again, looking at at the galaxy on the horizon. “Those rumours have always been there Marik, you know that.”

“But you never seem to care!”

“Why should I? Put yourself in my position for a moment. They can do nothing about it, even if the rumours were true. They are happy, content with the life they have. They spread those rumours just for entertainment. They would never actually dare to defy me.”

Marik shivered visibly at that thought, probably imagining the chaos she could cause on his home planet, a planet a hundred times more populous than the one they were orbiting right now. He turned at her, looking her in the eyes which were focused in the distance. “But, is it really true? The menace? Does Earth really exist?”

She continued looking into the distance, concentrated on a particular point in the Milky Way. “Things are moving, Marik.” She said. “They are close to finding our about us. Within your lifetime, we will either all perish, or we will be free. And you will be the one leading our fleet, to victory or death.”

Marik looked at her goddess, frowning, dumbfounded. He then turned in shock. “It is really true then.” He said, visibly shaken. Aria didn’t respond to that, she just continued staring at that particular spot in the Milky Way.

There was a long silence afterwards, with both just standing there beside the main window, watching the scenery beyond. Soon, an officer approached Marik, handing him a report on the progress of the agents sent out into the planet below to gather information on the state of organisation of the prominent empire of this planet. Some of them are also routinely stationed on planets like PX-301, to seek individuals with certain special skills endowed on them by their genes.

The report stated that although the damage on the capital was devastating, the emperor, called Arham the Great, still maintained control over his lieges and has managed to keep his empire from totally collapsing. Uncertainty and fear amongst the population has strained the empire to the brink, but the fact that this devastation was caused by a god seems to have forestalled the eventual rebellions of the nobility who weren’t sure if that would be the right move. They seem to be gathering on the northern city of Urturu, where the emperor is now established, looking for guidance from the emperor and his staff on how to proceed now.

“This Arham seems like a very skilled and charismatic leader, seeing as he managed to actually keep his empire still standing.” Aria said, looking at the report.

“Indeed, mistress.” Marik was looking at the report carefully, noting that the the emperor was throwing a ball in three days, amongst all this chaos.

“But this ball that he is throwing, it’s silly.” He said, confused as to why an emperor would organise an event such as a ball when his people were dying.

“He is looking to strengthen his grip on the nobility by showing himself, trying to appear strong, bullying them into still accepting his rule. He needs stability, and this is the perfect opportunity to strengthen it.” replied Aria, smiling. “I like him. I might actually pay this ball a visit.”

Marik looked at her, his expression darkening. He managed to hide it well, but not well enough for Aria. “But mistress, “ he objected carefully “surely you don’t need to wreck another city, there are simpler ways to deal with this.”

She turned at Marik sharply, dark emotions wrapping her, surrounding her mind, but she managed to controlled herself, breathing in deeply. It was enough for Marik to pale completely and show embarrassment too.

“I am sorry mistress.” He said with a shaking voice. “But, “ Aria was somewhat surprised he was pressing this further. “ it is your birthday in three days, mistress. Surely you have better plans for your birthday?”

Now she was caught really surprised. My birthday... she thought, I’ve completely forgotten about that. She thought for a moment more, trying to dig up the number from her head, then she remembered “It is my thirty-thousand-three-hundred-and-sixty-first birthday Marik.” She said dismissively. “At my age, birthdays are meaningless.” She smiled slightly, imagining the number of candles and the size of the cake that would be needed to host them.

“Besides, I won’t pay them a visit like the last time. There are other ways I can entertain myself.” Marik frowned, but then he simply nodded and left with that.

***

Aria walked into her quarters feeling somewhat tired, and bored. She sat on the couch, shooting a glance at her toys. She had played with them for a week now, torturing their minds, breaking their spirits and just generally having fun at their expense. Most of them still hadn’t left their prison though, it was probably time to change that, she also felt like she needed another display of power. Just for the kicks.

So she grabbed the bowl containing her toys, still heedless of the chaos she caused inside, and went to the bathroom. At her will, without any physical interaction, the bathtub started filling with warm water. She stripped down, and as soon as the bathtub was filled, she stepped in and layed down, relaxing for a moment. She then reached for the bowl containing her toys and considered them for a moment as she held them in front of her. Their expressions were filled with pure fear. shock and uncertainty. She smiled, then she dumped the entire contents of the bowl on her.

She made sure most of them fell on her breasts which were half-covered by the water, protruding like twin islands. The stream of humanity falling from the bowl bounced like tiny balls from her breasts on all directions on the tub, filling the surface with their bodies. It felt great to have her breasts trickled with them, watching them as they got their bearings, and found themselves floating on a lake inhabited by a divine being, at the mercy of her every inch of body.

Some of them landed on her cleavage, surrounded by two massive mountains. She resisted the urge to smash her breasts together and smear them beyond recognition, she wanted to play with them more. Those that fell further away, as they regained their composure, were greeted by a sight that they would probably never see again. The water was perfectly clear, and it made them feel as if they were suspended in mid-air, having the spectacular body of the goddesses underneath them displayed on all its glory.

For the next few minutes, she just relaxed and let their imagination and fear run wild. After some time, some of the people just gathered around her breasts and her left knee that was sticking out water, leaning against them as they rested. But uncertainty filled them, fearing what might happen next. And just as they started to relax a little, she commanded the bathtub to be enclosed entirely by glass and release of harmless dye that completely filled water on the tub with a bluish hue. Panic ensured from the crowd as the body of the goddess underneath them disappeared, becoming invisible as the water lost its transparency. Then the goddess herself lowered the rest of her body underwater, taking the safety islands down with her. Only her head remained, watching them with gleeful delight. She began her games.

She let the water calm first and let her toys spread out on the surface. And then her right hand appeared out of the depths of the water in the midst of a dense group like an angry monster, throwing some of them high into the air as it gripped the rest, though not as much as to crush them, and took them along as it disappeared underneath the murky surface. The rest tried to get away, swim to safety, but there was nowhere to go. Just as those flung into the air fell back into the water, her left hand appeared just like the right one did, swallowing another group as it took them along back into the depths. Their shrill cries filled the bathtub, and she laughed wickedly.

But she wasn’t about to drown her toys just like that, so after a few brief moments she released both groups of people on her hands into the dark waters that surrounded them. letting them fight their way to the surface. Some of them probably lost all orientation as they tried to swim on the wrong direction, eventually drowning. But as the rest made it to the surface, most people had swam to the end of the tub from fear, away from her hands.

Then she raised her right leg. From their midst, it emerged as a magnificent pillar of flesh, raising high into the air, and there it hung, suspended for a few brief moments. No doubt her toys anticipated what would happen next, but their struggles were too miniscule to get them anywhere near safety, if such a thing existed inside the tub at that moment.

Her leg crashed down into the water with such an intense force from their point of view that it generated colossal waves, throwing a part of the crowd against the glass enclosures, undoubtedly injuring some fatally, as the rest were momentarily sucked into the void created by her leg, then flung high into the air like like grain seed as the water imploded. She was like force of nature.

She continued her games on a similar fashion  for some time as her sexual lust built up, draining the strength of an already tired group of people. At one moment, she didn’t wait for the water to calm down as she raised her hand again and snatchded some that managed to avoid most of the chaos. This time, her hand moved underwater towards her cunt, and she inserted them inside, one by one, and concentrated on their struggles. Imprisoned inside, deep underwater and drowning, they wouldn’t last long, but it was one of the best ways to get the most out of them, she knew from experience. She then seized another group and smashed them forcefully against her wet left breast. She kneaded it with an unstoppable force for the tinies as they filled the water with their blood.

She moaned loudly as those inside her cunt fought intensely with their last reserve of strength, sending ripples of a vibrant orgasm through her body. Another group had no chance to react as they were suddenly sucked inside the water by her hand and were smashed against her clitoris and then smeared along her sex on a repeating motion, generating an epic climax through their goddess. Her sex contracted as it mercilessly crushed the last dying struggles of those inside her and her orgasm produced an ear-piercing moan that that penetrated the very soul of those still on the surface.

Then everything calmed down. The water, her breathing, their struggles. She remained inside for a full ten more minutes, feeling incredibly satisfied. Afterwards, she submerged completely under the water, remaining there for half a minute, before she rose swiftly and stood up, taking most of the surviving ones with her into the air in another spectacular display of power. They fell into the water again but their tiny bodies endured, a small side effect of being shrunken. She then moved her hand to her sex, parting her labia and letting the heap of dead bodies fall into the water, increasing the already numbing horror that gripped the ones still alive. Less than half of them had survived her bath.

She stepped outside, letting the water drain through the sink, the filter preventing anyone from sinking along. She regarded her work, taking a fulfilling deep breath as she listened to their cries and sobs inside the death-filled bathtub for a moment, smiling widely. She left the bathroom, content that they wouldn’t be able to escape from their death-filled prison, she still had plans for the surviving ones.

The Emperor stood on a balcony of the citadel of Urturu, leaning on the railings, overlooking the city and its flickering lights of various buildings in the night. He looked exhausted and depressed. He was holding a cup of wine in his hand, something that has kept him company since the day of reckoning, as his vassals were calling the destruction of his home city.

Urturu was a modest-sized city, standing on the pathway of a channel that connected the eastern and western part of his empire, hanging on a shattered coastline of protruding cliffs. It is a heavily fortified city with many natural defences, perfect for controlling trade. It was one of the first targets Arham the Great conquered early during his reign.

Behind him, the main hall of the citadel was ablaze with light. Music filled the atmosphere as Lords and Ladies mingled about, wearing their standard clothing and beautiful gowns for such an occasion, not betraying even the slightest expression of fear or anxiety. They probably didn’t even entirely believe what had happened to the capital, the emperor thought. Not that he tried to explain it to them much.  He was astonished at how much the peasants had turned and twisted the version of what really happened in just less than two weeks, adding to the nobility’s confusion.

Arham was throwing a ball, a way to keep his grip on his vassals. He needed them to see him, to know his presence. Dark times lied ahead, and the last thing he needed was the total collapse of his empire, whether a god demanded it or not. The horrific things he witnessed that day have twisted him inside. He couldn’t believe that anything, even a god, was capable of doing what he saw that day. He has convinced himself that he had to fight that... thing.

He chuckled amusingly at that thought. The goddess would probably reduce any army he managed to gather into a sex toy again, he concluded. But he wasn’t going to give up. Even if he did, he didn’t know how. Nobody who was in Tarthaghast that day knew why all this was happening. Most of those who were in the secret chamber that day though believed the emperor was at fault, that he has incurred the wrath of Arryia, as the local population referred to the mother-goddess Aria, and the rumours of that were spreading.

He drank the last bit of wine in his cup and went back inside. Straightened his back, arms clasped behind, and with a firm posture that betrayed none of the tiredness and depression he showed earlier, he went straight to his chair at a platform on the edge of the hall, directly across the entrance. He would have to endure a lot of the small-talk and politics associated with such an event and was the person that had be the definition of etiquette of the nobility.

He often longed for the days when he was young, having those poor little bastards at his feet as he conquered city after city. But he was wise enough to know that while metal conquered, words and culture preserved. If he ever wanted to keep his empire stable and not fall apart when he would be gone, he had to mix the different cultures that existed on his empire, as he had done so for the last twenty years. Events such as this ball were necessary in that aspect.

The Emperor sat in his guard-surrounded chair. Beside him was another empty chair. It has remained empty for the last 7 years now. He missed her dearly.

It was early in the evening and there were guests still coming. The more important ones always left it for later, and he needed to be there for them.

“Lord Lineu Mandy and lady Sidete Mandy, protectors of the city of Mandynatia.” A servant announced, as another of his vassal lords entered the hall. This one in particular hated Arham, he was a proud lord and hated the fact that he had to bow down to someone. Arham couldn’t care less.

He looked around, trying to spot Master Giedon, although he doubted that he was attending this ball. The man was drowning in guilt, he blamed himself for what happened, and what might happen.

“Lord Vindou Taspin, high governor of Urturu” and lady Marbelle Taspin.” announced the servant.

Arham saw one of his vassals approach him. “Your majesty, “ Kadrian greeted him, bowing. “may I have a moment of your attention?”

Kadrian Garvell was not a particularly important lord. But Arham regarded Kadrian him highly for his military genius, he was one of his best Generals. “Of course, Kadrian.” The Emperor stood up, as Kadrian approached.

“I have some certain military reports that I might have to discuss with you, your majesty.” He said with a serious look. “It concerns some of your vassals.” he added.

“They’re mobilizing their armies, probably waiting for the moment to strike against me.” Arham said, as he looked around. He saw that a lone lady in a stunning black gown entered. She had no company with her.

Kadrian didn’t betray a look of surprise, he probably was accustomed to the emperor anticipating many things, he had was after all called ‘the great’ for a reason.

“We might be able to use that information to bully them.” Kadrian continued. Arham though, was concentrated on the lady that had entered the ball just a few moments earlier. He saw her hand a card to the announcer. The servant obviously didn’t know her, he needed something from which he could announce her name and titles.

Kadrain turned to see what the emperor was looking at. He gawked slightly. “She certainly is beautiful!” he said. In fact, she was catching the attention of a great many Lords and Ladies.

“She is indeed.” approved Arham. So beautiful... he thought. Yet somehow, he knew her. He had seen her somewhere before, but couldn’t quite place it. His gaze turned towards the servant reading the card. He first saw a confusing look in his expression that shifted between the card he held in his hand, and the unknown newcomer. The woman simply nodded at him, as if reassuring that what he was reading was correct. Then his expression turned to surprise, and then... fear. Arham frowned as he looked at her again more closely, and then he recognized her. “Oh no...” he let out a barely audible whisper.

“Her divine empress, mistress Aria. Guardian of Mankind, Goddess of the Universe.” the servant finally announced.

The room grew suddenly and very unnaturally quiet. The music stopped as everyone in the room shifted their gaze at her, taking in what the servant just said. And she smiled.

***
Mase walked through the scorching sun towards the hill on the horizon. He was very tired and has barely eaten in days. For the first time in nearly two weeks, he had the chance to escape from the capital, away from the chaos and mayhem that reigned inside its ruins. He especially wanted to escape the prying eyes of the agents and units sent out from the Pasargadae to keep an eye on the situation.

He had the dubious luck of being present on this planet at the same time Aria made one of her visits. Nevertheless, he figured that if he wanted to survive that encounter, he had to seek a secure shelter. Even if he did survive her, it would be hard to get away from her indoctrinated servants. So he blended in with the population, and went to the palace, inside its cave system.

Of course, he got trapped inside when Aria decided to sit on top of the palace. It had taken over a week to get outside again, barely alive from hunger and thirst. But he survived. And after he regained his strength, he figured he would have get the heck out of this doomed planet. He didn’t want to witness the unspeakable horrors that were yet to come.

As soon as he was sure no one suspected him, he got out of the city and went for his ship that he had hid on a large cave inside a hill, about two dozen miles outside the capital.

He reached the sun-baked hill, rounding it to a side that looked broken, cliff-like. He searched carefully until he found the spot. The cave wasn’t visible, it’s entrance was hidden by a projection of a hologram cast out from the ship. He just slipped through the projection as if he was walking through a wall of dirt and stone. He was greeted by his small ship, left untouched since he arrived here. Finally... he thought.

“Freeze!” A shout came from behind him. Mase spun, blood indeed freezing. Then he saw the source of the voice. A commando.

Mase was paralyzed from the sight of five soldiers pointing their weapons towards him, clad on their military suits, faces hidden behind their glass-covers. They approached him slowly, circling around him. And I thought I could actually get away from this, he thought amusingly. Ah well, it was worth a try I guess.

“He appears to be unarmed.” One of the commandos said. “Indeed.” Respond what appeared to be the leader of the unit. He lowered his weapon, drawing near him, taking a close look at his face. Mase thought he could see a smile forming inside.

“Well well well...” the commando leader said as he withdrew slightly, “Isn’t this a surprise. Mase, leader of the rebellion.”

Mase let out a sigh. That was fast...

***

There was a seemingly eternal silence that stretched inside the hall. Aria always loved the surprise and confusion they showed in their faces when their minds were entertained with the idea that the woman that stood before them - a slender, harmless-looking but very beautiful woman - was infact a deity.

But their expressions had an air of curiosity within them. Most of those who were attending this ball hadn’t seen her do the things she did back on the capital, they could only feed their imagination upon the stories that were told by those who had survived her rampage. Their tales were probably filled with horror, destruction on a unseen scale, a massive god that killed normal people on the most abominable ways possible.

Yet there she stood, apparently. She looked normal, just like anyone else. How could someone as harmless-looking as this woman ever be the one that the stories described? She smiled. She would let them wonder longer, let their minds play with this idea. It generated all kinds of reactions. She simply loved playing those games.

Aria looked around, and swiftly found what she was looking for. She broke the silence as she took a step forward, then started slowly walking towards the emperor. The nobility certainly seemed afraid since they parted like magic as she walked amongst them. As soon as she approached the emperor, his guards immediately surrounded her.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t have you killed right here, right now!” Arham said. She raised an eyebrow. He was visibly alarmed and tensed as evidenced by the sweat on his forehead. Of course, Arham knew her to be what she claimed very well.

“Do you honestly think, dear emperor, “ she said, as she moved her left hand to her hip. “ that your guards here would be able to do that? “ She moved her right hand towards her gowns waistline. “You saw what I did to your city, you know very well what I’m capable of.” She said nonchalantly while lowering her hand down her gown, subtly gesturing between her legs.

Arham’s expression grew disturbed at that gesture, and the guards too were apprehensive towards her. But the emperor probably acknowledged the fact that a goddess wouldn’t just come into an event like this, surrounded by guards and his military, without being able to smite everyone to oblivion.

“Stand down.” He commanded. Aria smiled. She then walked towards the chair pairing the emperor’s one, and sat down. Arham looked at her perplexedly, but Aria gestured towards his chair. He sighed, then proceeded to sit down too.

“Carry on.” He said, gesturing towards the musicians with his hand.

The music resumed again and loud chatter immediately filled the atmosphere. Lords and Ladies alike were gathering near where the emperor sat. They avoided looking at the couple directly, mingling as if they were resuming their conversations, upholding etiquette, but their ears were certainly turned towards them.

The emperor turned towards the goddess. He looked at her with a suspicious gaze. “Why?” He asked simply.

Aria smiled at him. “Ah, dear emperor. Such a simple question, yet it necessitates a very intricate answer.” She turned towards the crowd in the hall, eying them. This night might indeed turn out to be fun.

“Would you care to dance, emperor?” Aria asked.

Arham looked dumbfounded, he clearly didn’t know what to say to that. But he nodded, he didn’t know what it would mean to refuse her. He didn’t want to know.

He rose from his chair and extended his hand to the goddess. She accepted and they both made their way to the dancing floor of the hall. The nobility's attention remained unwavering as the emperor gracefully danced with a goddess.

Arham felt... strange. He wasn’t feeling any particularly unfamiliar emotion, he felt calm and content. That was what made it strange. Here I am, dancing with the goddess of the universe, he thought, I should feel afraid, shouldn’t I?

But he wasn’t afraid. In fact, he was felt slightly embarrassed because he liked dancing with her, he liked... her. By the love of Aria, how beautiful she is! Immediately, he saw the irony in his thoughts. He smiled slightly. No! He tried to shake those thoughts away from his mind, but there she was, with that haunting face of hers, he hasn’t felt those feelings since his wife died.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, dear emperor?” She asked him with her lovely voice, as they danced around the floor which was completely emptied and surrounded by the watchful eyes of the nobility.

“Why are you doing this? How are you doing this? I saw you in Tarthaghast, I saw what you did. I should feel disgusted, revolted, sickened by having to dance with you.”

“But you don’t.” She said as she made a turning move.

“No I don’t”. Arhams sighed.

“Well, “ Aria said as they made a turn “ I am not omniscient, fortunately, but if I had to guess, the very aspect of your personality that helped you become emperor of the known world is what seems to suppress those emotions, perhaps.”

Arham grumbled at that. But he didn’t say anything as they continued to dance. He thought about what she meant, but didn’t understand.

“Or maybe it’s my magical charm.” Aria added in a playful tone. They finished they dance, and made their way to their dining table.

“I still don’t understand.” Arham said as he sat opposite of her on the table.

“You see, emperor, perhaps it is the display of power on that day that that attracts you. You yourself are seen as a demigod here, perhaps your legends even have you portrayed as a son of a god, maybe my son!” She giggled at that. “Nevertheless, your status here gives you power, immense power. You could practically order anyone here to do whatever you wanted. You have come to like your position very much, you have come to enjoy the feeling that you are in control, the feeling that so many people depend on you and are at your mercy.”

Aria paused as the servants came to serve the various culinary delights of this evening, then she continued. “Yet you are limited at that, ordering around. You just are at the top of the organizational hierarchy of your empire. Your power is an illusion, something the people here have unconsciously sacrificed their freedom for so that they could gain stability. It could crumble any day, just as it has happened so many times for so many rulers in the past, I bet.”

She paused again, taking a sip from the wine. Then she leaned back on her chair, looking at Arham with her soul-piercing eyes.“ But what you saw that day, in the capital, that was pure power. Limitless power. Not an illusion. Power you cannot fight.” She smiled. “Maybe that’s why you feel so calm around me when you should feel terrified. You want to know what it feels like. You want to have the power to do anything you wanted without caring for the consequences, you want to be a god.”

Arham looked stunned. “Or as I said, perhaps its just my irresistible charm.” She giggled.

“Never!” He replied which slamming his fist on the table, Aria raised an eyebrow.

“I would never do those horrible things you did to my people!” He was visibly angry, though even he didn’t know if it was because she appeared to not care the slightest on the consequences of her actions, or because she was right.

“I don’t understand how that doesn’t move you, how you can take so many lives so easily, even if they are your creation, how you can even enjoy causing so much suffering with your... “ He shifted his gaze down her body, towards her breasts, and continued but was obscured by the table between them.

The hall fell silent again, the dancing couples stopped, but the music continued. The emperor’s outburst was heard from the entire crowd, and it made them uncomfortable. Aria remained calm, and smiled, as always.

“Perhaps the time has come for me to go, dear emperor.” She stood up, as gracefully as she could with her gown. She had to be careful not to ruin her dress, then turned towards Arham, looking at him with her soul-piercing eyes again.

“When you are a god, good and evil become meaningless. You create your own morals. You learn to appreciate certain... pleasures. One of them, is chaos.” she said as turned, stepping towards the dancing floor, eyeing the crowd. She appeared to be looking for someone, then quickly found a couple, Lineu and Sidete and moved towards them.

They were noticeably uncomfortable at having the attention of Aria, but she approached them unceremoniously and extended both her arms towards them. A bright flash of light emanating from her blinded everyone in the room momentarily, and as soon as their vision came back, they noticed that the couple had vanished.

Or so they thought, because as they took a closer look, they noticed something small in front of Aria. They couldn’t quite make it out at first, but upon closer inspection, their curious gazes turned to terror as they realized it was the Mandy couple, each only an inch tall. Loud gasps were heard in unison and wine-filled glasses broke as they fell from their hands, too shocked at what they were witnessing.

The couple itself was too stunned and disoriented to understand what had happened. They looked around on their level at first, but Aria’s gown was blocking most of their sight. It felt unnatural to them, they looked behind but the landscape was unrecognizable to their eyes. Then they shifted their gaze higher up, and as their eyes focused, they saw them. Hundreds of people with their terror-filled stares. As realization dawned upon them, they turned back again, and were met with the ever smiling Aria.

Without giving them a chance to react, she raised her right foot while lifting her skirt, and stepped mercilessly on the couple. A jet of blood exploded outward from her sole as the couple was reduced to nothing more than a red stain on the dance floor. Aria looked up and watched as the crowd’s dread-filled gaze shifted slowly from where she stepped, to her face. They were met with a you’re-next look.

Loud screams preceded the total panic that broke out inside as noble lords and ladies pushed and shoved themselves while trying to get away from her. Arham remained in his seat, watching, chin rested on his hands as Aria stood there, hands raised slightly and breathing deeply, apparently reveling on the chaos she has caused with that simple act. He wasn’t feeling afraid, he somehow knew she wouldn’t do any harm to him.

He continued staring at her, trying to figure her out. But his train of thoughts was cut as she turned towards him again and approached amidst the chaos inside.

“You asked me why, earlier in the evening.” She said. Arham frowned at her, then simply nodded, he knew he should listen very carefully. She sat down on her chair again.

“Thousands of years ago, I was just like you, a simple human. I lived on Earth, mankind’s origin, during a time when we learned how to reach for the stars. We traveled to them, discovered different worlds, prospered. At first, we thought we were alone, all the riches of the universe for us. But then we met... something. An unstoppable force, and it was hostile. We couldn’t resist, it destroyed world after world, until it finally destroyed everything on Earth too.” Aria’s eyes lowered, unfocused, perhaps remembering something.

Arham didn’t know what to make of this. There he stood, being lectured from by a god on the origins and history of mankind apparently. He didn’t know how to feel.

“But before Earth fell too, there was a... miracle. Something that I’ve been trying to understand ever since. It granted me the power that I posses now. And it allowed me to save mankind.”

“Save?” Arham asked her, confused. He stood, pointing his finger at her angrily. “You’re a monster, how can you claim to be our saviour?” Aria’s eyes still remained unfocused. There was a moment of silence, then she fixed her eyes on Arham again.

“That day, when you activated the beacon, you proved something to me. You proved that you were close to achieving a milestone in your development. You proved that at any moment, you could explode in technology. It could take millennia, but it could even happen in just a few centuries or even decades. You could achieve the same thing we did in my time, reach for the stars.” She said.

“I cannot allow that. I cannot allow you to go out there unrestrained and meet the same fate we once did. That’s why I’ve come here. I destroyed your capital, and I will come for many more of your cities because you need to be reset, I need to induce a dark age on this world. Just like I did so many times in the past to so many worlds...” She drifted in thoughts there for a moment, again.

Arham was speechless. It was too much to take in. It was too much to understand. “But-”

“There’s no but there. There are hundreds of worlds, just like this one, where I preserve mankind so that one day we may return to our home worlds safely. I allow you to remain independent for some time, allow you to organize, prosper, live normally for centuries and thousands of years. But each and every world will someday meet the same fate that you world is experiencing right now.” She stood up.

“Oh and one more thing. I will take your pretty little nobles with me to play with. Let’s see how well you can keep everything together without them.” She smiled. Then, with a bright flash of light, just like in the capital where she was hundreds of feet tall, she was gone. But the flashes of light didn’t stop, they continued as they struck the lords and ladies that were trying to run away. Soon, everyone was gone except Arham and the servants.

The emperor himself just stood there, motionless. “But...”

***

Feuna lay curled up on the glass, staring at the goddes high above them who was straddling their bowl-prison, looking down upon the remaining group of people that had survived everything so far. Her piss, her sacrifices, her bath, everything. She looked at the goddess’s eyes, perhaps trying to figure out what horrible fate she had in store for them now. Would she smear them on her breasts, smother them inside her cunt? Perhaps something new, like eating them? Feuna didn’t think the goddess had limits to her cruelty.

Her sister, Mana, lay beside her, holding her arms around her. Feuna could see the fear in her eyes. She could somehow handle everything that was happening to her, but she dreaded the thought of losing her sister to that monster. She was everything Feuna had left in her life. It was a miracle that after all they had to endure, both were still alive.

But she had a bad feeling about this. Feuna saw something in her goddess’s eyes, something different from the usual. Then she jolted out of her’s sisters embrace as the goddess lowered her hand, gripping the side of the bowl. The glass surface offered nothing to hold on too as everyone tried to prepare as best as they could for the inevitable vertigo that would follow as the goddess lifted the bowl into the air.

Feuna and her sister held each other as tightly as possible. They didn’t want to be separated yet again, and if they had to die they wanted to die together. They managed to hold on to each other as they were glued to the surface from the sudden acceleration as the goddess lifted the bowl. Their bodies were strangely more robust than on their world and could handle something which normally should have rendered them unconscious, of course they didn’t understand why.

But then, with a sudden motion of the bowl, everything changed. They were lifted in the air and then... nothing. Feuna didn’t understand what was happening, she felt weightless. She was in heaven. It happened too fast. She could see tens of other people around her, suspended in the air as the horizon changed it’s shape too fast to be recognizable. She instinctively turned her head upward, and for the briefest moments, she understood what was happening. They were falling. Numbing fear encompassed her as she saw the ground coming down on her too fast. She held on tightly to her sister as she mentally prepared for the inevitable pain.

---

Aria straddled the glass bowl containing her tormented toys. She thought about what she should do with them. They had endured so much, maybe they deserved a quick death. But the overpowering sensation she gained from making them suffer so much while they weren’t able to do anything about it was too much.

She had ordered the nobility to be put in the room. It was a special room in which Aria liked to play her games with her playthings. The nobility were a certain group of people that she loved to torment the most since they had a certain mentality installed on their psyche by being on top of most of the world. So she decided she would play one last time with the group that remained on the bowl. She decided to do it in her bedroom, so she grabbed the bowl on it’s edge and lifted it.

But even gods were prone to making mistakes. Such was the case, when her hand slipped and  made the bowl spin as she was lifting it. The poor tinies were thrown into the air as the bowl reached into the air, then the artificial gravity of the ship mercilessly pulled it to the ground. Fortunately, the glass didn’t break. But the unfortunate shrunken people were sprawled on the ground from the impact. Even their bodies couldn’t endure such a fall without breaking.

“Fuck!” She crouched and observed them. Most had terrible injuries, some were dead while a few lucky ones remained unscathered, it seemed. They were in no condition to play with, Aria didn’t like her toys to be distracted from mental obstacles like massive pain while she played her games with them. Aria sighed. She decide to give them a quick death after all. So she rose, and lifted her foot above a group of dead and dying people.

---

Feuna woke suddenly, her body ached everywhere. She looked up, and held her breath for a moment as her eyes were greeted by the all-encompassing body of the goddess. What... then she remembered. Mana! She quickly stood up, surprised to have survived that fall with bruises only and perhaps a few cracked ribs. She tried to ignore the pain as she looked around, trying to find her sister. People were screaming painfully all around her, and the goddess was apparently watching them. Was it intentional? She thought, but didn’t have time to think about it too much.

She ran around, looking at the people, blood splattered everywhere, bones sticking out of various body parts. She didn’t have to look around too much, she quickly found Mana. She was dead. Her body lay motionless amongst the dead and dying. Her skull had cracked.

Feuna’s legs trembled as approached her sister’s body. She ignored the moving shadow around her as she fell to her knees and held Mana’s body on her arms. Tears rolled on her cheeks as she cried quietly. Why? She asked to no one in particular. She had forcefully forgotten her habit of praying to Aria. She looked to her right while still holding her sister’s body in her arms, and watched as a massive foot descended upon a group of people, obliterating their bodies. It twitched and turned, smearing them in the ground, then lifted up again.

Feuna wasn’t afraid to die, she was afraid that she would join her sister while never having the force to fight back, to avenge her. Anger welled up inside her, deep rooted anger. She had survived on the goddess’s piss for so long, had to witness the most macabre acts possible, all that for what? To end like this? The anger surrounded her as the pillar of flesh descended yet again from the sky, very close to her. The ground shook as a dozen or so bodies were rendered to smears, joining the others.

She let Mana’s body rest as she stood up, the pain had disappeared. I’m not going to die just like that. She felt a massive feeling of power surround her as her anger turned into a force, giving her unimaginable strength. It felt strangely familiar to her, as if she was used to it. She looked up as she saw the foot raise for a third time, and position above her. She looked at the goddess’s face, looking at her uncaring expression. She was so angry at her unconcerning attitude. Feuna released her pool of power instinctively and screamed at Aria as her foot descended upon the Feuna.

---

Aria stepped on the group of people nearest to the bowl. What a shame. She thought. I could have had so much more fun with you. She lifted her foot and stepped on another group, their bodies bursting pleasurably under her sole. Most were oblivious to what was happening. She lifted her foot yet again, and was about to crush another group, when she felt it. She her foot stopped in mid-air.

It was tiny, barely distinguishable to her, but nevertheless she felt it. It was a push, a resisting sensation, but her foot hadn’t touched the ground yet. She removed her foot, looking at the group she was about to crush. She crouched down, and there, in their midst, was a woman, standing and defyingly looking up at her.

Could it really be? Aria thought excitingly.

Mase sat on a simple metal chair inside an interrogation room of the Pasargadae, trying to scratch his itching nose on his shoulder. His hands were bound by two metal rings on his wrists, contained by a magnetic field. They wouldn’t let him reach for his nose.

A moment later, Commander Marik Elias entered the room, carrying a briefing pad on his hand. The old man hadn’t changed a bit from the last time he saw him, Mase noted.

Elias sat on a chair across Mase, laying his pad on the desk. He leaned back, hands crossed, and watched Mase intently without saying anything. Mase just sat there too, watching him, trying to decipher his thoughts. He thought he saw shame on his eyes.

“What the heck were you doing on the planet?” Marik asked suddenly.

“Oh, just passing by.” Mase wasn’t tensed at all.

“Passing by...” repeated Marik, scowling.

“I guess I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” continued Mase. “It seems fate wanted me to witness that genocidal maniac firsthand.”

“Do not speak of her that way! Mase!”

“Or what? You’re gonna torture me? Father?”

Marik leaned forward and slammed his fist on the desk. “You are not my son! Not after you betrayed our goddess!” he was turning red from anger, or shame, Mase couldn’t really tell..

“Hah! Sure. Goddess.” Mase rolled his eyes. “You believe everything she spoon feeds you. That she is divine, that she is our protector, inventing some bullshit excuse for you to believe.” he laughed at that last sentence.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. You taught me that very well father. You should know better that she is just a normal human being who happens to have invented or obtained some kind of very advanced technology. And through it, she has enslaved us, for thousands of years, playing us to her wicked games.”

Marik said nothing. He leaned back again, calming himself. He then breathed in deeply, and gently spoke again. “You sure seem to be convinced that is true. More so than a person who would believe such things out of foolishness. I can see it in you. You have seen something, something that has convinced you entirely. Tell me, Mase.”

It was Mase who said nothing this time. He looked at his father contemptuously. He passively noted the flickering lights in the room. He then saw his father’s eyes widening, looking up behind him.

A sudden voice came from behind. “Indeed, Mase. Tell us.”

Mase jumped, and would have fallen off his chair if it wasn’t for the restrains. As soon as he regained his composure, he looked behind, and saw her.

“Fuck!” he yelled, shocked at her sudden appearance. Aria laughed.

“How long has it been? Mase?” asked Aria. She started walking around the table, not looking at Mase.

“Five years I think?” she asked again. “Such a pity. With only 21, you were so bright, one of the best young men I’ve seen completing the academy. Your father was so proud of you.” With that last sentence, she leaned her hand on Marik’s shoulder who was openly ashamed by that point.

“But instead, you decided to join that pathetic band of incompetent fools you call a rebellion.” She turned her head at Mase, and looked him right in the eyes. “I wonder why.” She smiled. Mase frowned, he thought that was odd. As if she... no, it can’t be, he thought.

“You wouldn’t know why.” he replied.

Aria raised an eyebrow. “Marik, could you please leave us alone for a moment?”

Marik was confused, but he said nothing and simply nodded. He stood up and walked out of the room immediately. Aria’s focus never left Mase, her ever-smiling face was both beautiful and frightening at the same time. He felt uneasy, he had a hard time of containing his emotions. It has been five years since he last saw her, well at least the first time if you don’t count her appearance on Tarthaghast.

“I wasn’t surprised you managed to organize that band of misfits so quickly. Soon after you left, we were hearing reports of you becoming famous, even their leader.” She started walking around the room again.

“It pained your father very much, you know.”

“I couldn’t care less about my father. And you. Killing all those innocent people. Heck, using them so despicably for your... “ he paused, looking very distraught. “I couldn’t just stand there, do nothing other than watch you murder so many people over and over again. I had to do something.”

Aria smiled. “You know that’s not the reason you left. At least not entirely.”

Mase frowned. “Tell me why then? Your omniscient divine empress.” he said mockingly.

Aria stopped, looking at him directly. “Mase. Even if I was  a common woman, I could see straight through you. Do you honestly think I didn’t notice?”

She leaned forward a bit. “You left, because you loved me. And you still do.” Her smile broadened, as if she relished that fact. Mase was caught off guard. He said nothing and gawked stupidly. You idiot, he thought to himself. How can you be so stupid.

Aria leaned forward even closer. “You left, because you couldn’t help but want me. You hated the fact that you loved someone who could do the horrible things you saw. You were ashamed for actually wanting to see me do them.”

Mase felt naked, as if she had just cut him open and could see every inch of his body, every little piece of his soul, every thought and every secret he has ever had. Aria moved closer, and then sat on his lap. She wrapped her left hand around him and leaner her right one on his chest. She then moved her head inches close to his and whispered.

“You left because you desired me with every fiber of your body. You wanted to kiss those lips that have tasted so much blood. Play with those breasts that claimed so many souls.” She moved her hand down, grabbing his engorged manhood through his clothes. Mase gasped. “You left because you wanted to fuck me, fuck me desperately, fuck my cunt where millions of people have died wretchedly just for my pleasure.” she paused for a moment. “Probably even billions.” she laughed.

At this point, Mase was sweating immensely, his breathing was quick and shallow as his heart was beating furiously. Her nearness was too much to handle for him. She had been right, right in every word she said. He lost control of his composure, his emotions. He hadn’t seen her in five years, yet he felt as if hadn’t matured even the tiniest bit, he felt just the same as he had felt the first day she saw her on a genocidal rampage.

Aria suddenly stood up, releasing his manhood and giving him space to breath. He tried to calm himself. He closed his eyes and started breathing deeply. He hated himself. Hated the fact that she managed to see through him so easily. Hated the fact that he still loved her madly.

“So you ran, ran away from those conflicting emotions of yours.” she continued exposing every one of his emotions. “You searched, looking for an answer. Looking for a way to fight your feelings.”

Mase opened his eyes again, looking at hers. “That’s when you met her.” She emphasised the last word.

Mase suddenly grew stiff, paralyzed. What? How?

Aria smiled broadly again, his reaction was enough as a confirmation for her apparently, he didn’t even bother to hide it anymore, he couldn’t. “How do you know about her?” he asked, hopelessly trying to calm himself.

“I’m omniscient, remember?” she giggled. “You found someone like me. Someone who has the ability. You thought you could find comfort in her, channel your conflicting emotions on her. You hoped she could save you.” Aria moved behind Mase, leaning her hands on his shoulders.

“But she is a gentle soul. She wouldn’t hurt a fly, would she? She isn’t cruel, like me. She doesn’t use her power indiscriminately, like me. She would never kill for pleasure, like me. That’s why you will never love her.”

Mase didn’t bother. He looked down on the floor, eyes unfocused. “She will beat you.” He said. “She will kill you, she will be rid of you. When she is ready, she will save us from you.“

Aria said nothing. She moved again, walked in front of him. Mase raised his head and met her eyes. “She is better that you.”

Aria’s face was expressionless this time. Mase didn’t like it. He wasn’t used to see her out of her usual playful nature.

“You know, those people down in the planet. They are still hanging in there. So many vast cities still going on about their business as if nothing happened. Maybe it’s time I paid them another visit, isn’t it?”

Mase’s eyes suddenly widened.“What? No! Plea-”

“I’m sure you would like a front seat, Mase.” she cut him off.  Then the lights in the room suddenly turned off and the room grew pitch black. Mase started experiencing the familiar vertigo feeling.

“Wait! Aria! Please!”

---

For the standards of the empire, Talmin was a huge city. Close to a million people harbored inside. It was swelled from homeless immigrants, running away from the collapsing domino effect of losing their leadership and the gaping hole that has formed from the destruction of the hierarchy empire-wide.

In the wake of all troubles, Talmin stood out as a safe city. It offered hope and shelter, stability for the near future. Not so much because its strategic location, but because of the hundred-thousand strong army camped outside the city walls.

The people went by their daily business inside the city. In those harsh times, food was scarce and the streets were packed. So activity was high. The local pretender had organized the masses well, everyone had a job to do, or was forced to it.

 It was a clear day sunny day, windless. The city shone in the heat as the sun baked the fields upon which Talmin stood. It was located on the western plains, sprawled on the banks of a major river. It was the jumping board for whoever wished to trade between the east and the west.

None gave much concern to the breeze that swept the city suddenly. They would have found it odd if they had known that it wasn’t flowing in one direction, but was rather coming from all sides of the city, centering at a certain point inside it.

The breeze then grew stronger as rugs started flapping furiously, blowing dust in the air. The sky grew darker as the breeze - now turned to a gusting wind - grew stronger and stronger. People started noticing. In the market, some of them suddenly screamed. “It’s her! It’s her! The goddess is coming to Talmin!” Others laughed hysterically. “Beware, sinners! She is coming. It is time to for us to pay!”

Then there was a loud cracking noise in the sky, as if it had just broken. A blinding light suddenly fell from the heavens into the city, burning everyone in the ground where it touched and turning everything into ash. When the light finally faded away, Aria, the vengeful goddess that everyone spoke about in the last few months, stood there, hundreds of feet tall. And she was smiling down at them.

Mase was bound to a platform on a hill, a few miles away from the city. He indeed had a front row view of what Aria was going to do to the city. He was silent, not bothering to control his feelings. He watched as she took her first step. Mase sighed. Here we go.

Ceth couldn’t believe his eyes. Not again! He thought. He couldn’t believe his luck either. After all he had gone through back in Tarthaghast, after surviving all the destruction the goddess caused at the gate, after surviving her own damn cunt, he thought he was the luckiest man in the world. Well apparently not. Even traveling as far as possible from the hell he had experienced, fate seems to have caught up on him because there she stood, again, looking down with her ice-cold eyes.

He was paralyzed, both out of fear and out of amazement. But when she raised her right foot in the air, he suddenly broke out of the trance. His basic instincts kicked in as adrenaline filled his veins. Run! His primal instincts commanded him.

And so he turned to run away from her, but as soon as he did, he stepped on something slippery and fell on the cold stone ground head-first, breaking his nose. He screamed from the pain but his voice was lost amidst the panic that surrounded him as hundreds of people tried to desperately flee from the congested market street.

Ceth immediately spun out of fear of trampled to death. He absentmindedly noted that he had slipped on one of the vegetables he had carried on a basked earlier. He must have dropped the basket when the goddess appeared... he suddenly remembered, the goddess! Her foot! He looked up, and saw he right foot coming down hard.

Fortunately for Ceth, she was about to step a few hundred yards in front of him, but Ceth still gritted his teeth, put his arms around his head and braced for the impact. He knew what even one of her footfalls meant. The force with which it hit the ground would shake everyone, every building and every stone to their core. And this time it was no different.

Her foot descended in the middle of the river that went through Talmin and was about to hit the main bridge that connected both sides of the city. It was filled with people who traveled from one end to the other since it connected the two main roads that went along the river banks that served as the main market streets.

For the briefest moments before the impact, as his heart pumped his adrenaline-filled blood furiously through his body, Ceth could see the tens of people that had just jumped off the bridge as a desperate means of survival. He could see them falling, slowly, as if time had slowed down to a crawl. The bridge wasn’t particularly tall, they would hit the water in moments, but even the ground couldn’t pull them down fast enough as the goddess’s foot crashed through the bridge without mercy and obliterated their puny bodies to oblivion without giving them a chance to reach the water.

The shockwave was so massive that the water around her foot simply receded for a few moments, revealing the bare floor of the riverbed and cutting the river in half, sending part of it flowing upstream. The roads on the river’s banks were hit by massive waves which crashed upon the fleeing masses, killing many but mostly throwing them around the streets, cutting their escape efforts short.

Ceth too was violently thrown at a nearby building by the water, hitting its wall. He lost all orientation and was completely confused. He was sure he was going to drown, but at the last moment, the water receded. He found himself simply sprawled on the streets among many other injured, struggling to get up. Many of his ribs had broken, his head hurt badly and he almost couldn’t hear anything.

But he sure felt the other massive shaking sensation that came from behind him, throwing him and all others momentarily in the air again. Afterwards, it took all his strength to ignore the pain and turn around to look at where it came from. He focused on the street before him. His vision was blurry, but he could still see hundreds of people picking themselves up and trying to get away again while hundreds of others still lay there, mostly injured but many appeared to be transfixed like... then he saw it, her left foot on the horizon. He had to focus his eyes because even in the backdrop of the scenery, it was so massive. And it was moving.

The goddess had stepped on a part of the street sideways, and now she was dragging her left foot along the street like a massive wall, destroying and crushing everything and everyone on its path. Ceth watched as her foot moved towards him, probably very slowly from her perspective but it was too fast for anyone to escape. Its unstoppable grind completely engulfed the helpless people on the street, sucking them beneath the flesh and embedding their bodies on the wet ground, soaking it even more with their blood.

Some tried to get away along the buildings but they were too slow, the structures offered no resistance at all, they toppled, destroyed and got crushed like toys made of sand, burying everyone who tried to get away forever under the now compressed rubble.

Fear and panic gave the people around Ceth new strengths to run, but he just laid there, unmoving. He accepted his fate, and simply waited, not bothering to struggle at all. He still couldn’t hear much, but the tremors began to shake the ground violently as the goddess's left foot came closer. Ceth looked up, past the massive pillar of flesh. He admired the goddess, she was more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen. He was sure he could fall in love even after all the things he saw her doing.

Ceth closed his eyes, it would be over in moments. He started praying, but didn’t know who to pray to, the one he was taught all his life to be the loving mother of all gods was apparently about to crush him, but nevertheless, he continued, praying to Aria.

He held his breath as even with closed eyes, he saw the shadow that engulfed him. Then the violent shaking suddenly stopped. Ceth was confused. He opened his eyes, and saw that she had stopped her grind. The goddess raised her foot again, planting it somewhere far away along with the thundering sounds that accompanied the destruction it caused. He looked up, and started laughing madly. She must have simply got bored he thought, his luck still hasn’t abandoned him!

Ceth laughed a bit too much as painful coughs seized him, he closed his eyes again, trying to calm himself with deep breaths. His broken ribs hurt a lot. But when the pain finally subdued a little, he opened his eyes again, and they were met with a red carpet of dead, unrecognizable bodies that stretched for hundreds of feet in front of him. Their blood had completely soaked the ground and dyed it on its eye-piercing color. Ceth suddenly felt sick and dizzy, blackness surrounded him as he fell on his back again, wondering if surviving was a good thing before finally fainting.

---

Aria admired her work. Causing so much death in such simple ways, she couldn’t help but smile. She closed her eyes, sensing the deep, faint feeling of absolute power overcome her slowly. She concentrated more. This could be it. She thought. She opened her eyes again, looking down at the different fleeing masses all around her, she then looked up ahead, spotting the large army gathering in formation beyond the city walls. This could definitely be it. She thought again. She took a deep breath, and smiled even more.

“Enjoying the show? Mase?” She said out loud. She knew her voice would need a few seconds to reach him, so she looked down meanwhile, thinking about what she should do to her playthings. “Hmmm...” she let out a low humming, low from her perspective. I definitely haven’t tasted you for such a long time, she thought.

She lowered down, scooping up a few dozen people from the other still intact market street. She hadn’t been particularly gentle, so many laid there in her hand, injured. Aria looked down at them like a hunter admiring its prey. She wondered if she should swallow them alive, or simply crush them with her molars. She definitely felt the impulse to kill them instantly, heck she restrained herself from simply crushing them in her hand then and there.

No, she thought. I want them to suffer, I want them to be able to comprehend their fate. It’s the only way. She decided she would swallow them whole, slowly.She then turned slightly, facing the hill where Mase stood. She wanted him to see what she was doing first hand. She tried to spot him, but he was too small, but she was confident he could see everything crystal clear from his vantage point.

Aria suddenly felt a slight tingle on her right breast. She looked down and immediately saw that somebody had jumped from her hand and bounced off her breast. She barely caught the the tiny person with her eye before his or her body splattered on the ground below, just beyond the river. She wondered if the tiny would have survived a fall on the water. She giggled slightly. Although she admired their courage, that feeling of power consumed her even more when she witnessed such pitiful desperation that she caused on her victims so easily.

She then raised her human-filled hand slightly above her head and started slowly turning it, making the people slide and tumble slowly towards her waiting maw. She could see them desperately trying to hold on to something on her hand. But there would be no mercy for them. One by one, they fell on her mouth, filling it with their desperate struggling.

She then closed her mouth, forever sealing those inside and robbing them of the last light they would ever see. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on their struggles, on the tiny sensations each individual caused. Unlike inside her cunt, in her mouth she had the benefit of causing even more panic and fear with her tongue. It was like they were sealed inside a cave inhabited by a huge monster.

And she used it, moving like a snake, making them dance and play by her whims. She could feel each individual with the tip of her tongue, smacking them against her teeth or her mouth roof, completely at the mercy of her taste organ. And they tasted great indeed. Aria was pretty sure it their fear she tasted more rather than their actual taste, but she didn’t care, she continued playing.

But their struggling slowly faded, wrestling against her tongue took a heavy toll in her victims, she knew from experience. She also knew they would drown on her salvia pretty fast after that, so she gathered them all on the back of her mouth, and simply swallowed them in a lump.

Aria put a hand against her stomach, trying to feel them. They were too small though, but she knew that what they were experiencing right now is one of the slowest, most painful and horrible way to die. She opened her eyes and started laughing loudly. Her sexual excitement started to heighten rapidly, so she looked down, barely keeping herself from rampaging heedlessly. No! She thought, closing her eyes again and taking deep breaths. Control is the key. It’s the only way I have a chance of understanding my inner darkness.

She was able to maintain her composure.

Step after step.

As always, when Aria decided to take a walk through a city, she wasn’t particularly concerned where her steps landed. What was important for her was building up her sexual lust the right way, at the right pace. The days when she cared about the destruction and suffering she caused while doing so were long gone. She could kill her tiny minions beneath their feet, smear them against her body, feed them to her cunt or whatever games she decided to play with them because in the end, they owed their lives to her, just as their legends taught them.

Aria took another earth-shattering step, slowly walking towards the army camped outside the city. Not so long ago, she toyed with the mathematics of how the masses of fleeing people dispersed from her foot’s impact area. There was always a pattern. She studied it absent-mindedly while destroying different cities. She managed to work out a model one day, put it in a computer simulation which then would predict their movements and in turn would let Aria know where to step next if she desired a certain outcome, like grouping them all on a town square or something similar.

The lengths that I go to achieve sexual stimulation, she thought while she took another step, pulverizing a tower of some kind along with a small group of fleeing patrols behind it.

The physics of that worked on such a scale never ceased to amaze her. Unlike when she shrank them, where the tinies would display increased durability on their bodies, when Aria herself grew, they were softer than grapes. It was a simple physical law of a universe with three spatial dimensions. If you double the size of an object, it gains eight times its original weight, two to the power of three. Aria’s massive scale meant she was incredibly heavy, thus each of her steps carried massive amounts of energy with them.

And it wasn’t just the way the her minions died beneath her feet that amazed her. Even the way she would cause buildings to collapse was astonishingly beautiful to her. She loved how she caused the air the rush violently around her body even with the slightest movements, how she shook the ground with massive tremors after each step, how she caused shockwaves that pulverized everything around them when she applied force on her steps. All this wasn’t possible when she shrank them. She thought about it, trying to recall the last time when she visited a modern world, a world with tall buildings that would reach thousands of feet in height. They were her favorite thing to play with and destroy. So much time has passed, she thought, a sense of nostalgia welling up inside her. She bit her lip as she took another havoc-causing step.

Of course, theoretically, her body on such a scale should simply collapse on itself and rendered a huge, unrecognizable pile of flesh and bones, resembling nothing even remotely human. It was simple physics again. While her weight increases, the strength of the electromagnetic force, which keeps each and every atom on her body bound together with all the others, doesn’t. At some point, her bones shouldn’t be able to handle their own weight, let alone that of her flesh. The secret which kept her body stable was beyond even those she kept as close servants. It was afterall the very reason she ruled over them. Not that they would be able to use it anyway, she reminded herself.

Aria suddenly stopped, noticing a rather large concentration of people on what appeared to be some kind of a large public square. It looked like they simply couldn’t advance much more since the streets leading out of it were totally congested. She smiled while straddling the square, those situations always amused her.

In the past millennia, she has had the opportunity to study the evolution of civilizations first hand, something that would have envied every historian, anthropologist, archaeologist and so many other types of scientists back when she was a normal person on Earth. Civilizations like this one, she noted, would always build their villages and towns with narrow roads, and when those towns grew to become major cities because of trade, the roads wouldn’t grow with them and simply wouldn’t be able to handle the amount of people on the city. It was always the same, from the ancient city of Rome on Earth, up to all the bronze and iron age cities in the last thousands of years that have risen through, and fallen because of her.

She looked up, surveying the city itself for the first time, appreciating its architecture. There was a time, she remembered, when she would visit her worlds purely because of her curiosity. She would study the people, their language and customs. She would go on and live for years amongst them and their simple ways. Travel to distant places on their caravans, fight as a soldier in their armies, play a simple beggar on the streets. She would watch empires rise and fall, and in some occasions become a empress herself and lead empires to glory. She even had her share lovers during that time. Once she did all this simply to understand humanity.

Now though, her visits meant death. Horrible, miserable death for her people. And too often as mere sex toys, their lives sacrificed for a singular burst of pleasure from her nerve-ends.

Aria reached down, plucking an unlucky person from the crowd between her feet. She regarded the tiny figure between her fingers, she had to be as gently as possible with them. Aria couldn’t make out his or her features well, she didn’t know if it was a male or a female, she didn’t really care. She lowered her hand behind her back, towards her ass while parting her butt cheeks with the other. Unceremoniously, she pushed her unwilling playmate against her anus. She held the tiny mortified person there for a moment, enjoying the struggles he would produce from being forced against her asshole. She then tried to force the tiny person in, but his tiny form simply yielded against her anus without much effort.

Aria sighed, she wanted somebody to suffer on her rectum, and she didn’t feel like giving them the pleasure of being gently inserted inside, she wanted them to be stuffed in forcefully, suffer the ordeal but survive until fully inside. So she reached down and carelessly grabbed a bunch of tiny people on her hand, crippling almost half of her catch. She reached with her fingers and grabbed one that looked ok, a young man in this case, bent slightly over and tried to force him inside. His mortal screams were cut off has his head was forced against Aria’s gore-covered anus from her previous victim and without even offering the slightest resistance, his body burst against it too.

Aria grumbled slightly, she was getting annoyed. This is so much easier when they’re shrunk, she thought. She grabbed another and again he burst into an unrecognizable goo against her asshole, then she hastily tried another without success either, killing the unlucky fellow with her fingers before he even had a chance to taste her orifice, which by now looked like she was suffering from some horrible hemorrhage. Aria’s frustration peaked and in a fit of rage, she threw everyone from her hand high into the air, scattering their bodies for miles around.

She hissed in anger, but then closed her eyes, breathing in slowly in and deeply, calming herself. She tried to remember when she became such a monster. Why she became such a monster. She tried to understand why she could kill in such a horrible way just to prove a point, why she could discard their lives in frustration like a little child not getting her way and showing her rage against the helpless people as if they were ants. She tried to remember when she became a god that would punish her minions just because their bodies weren’t able to survive an entrance into her asshole.

She went back in her memories, back to the beginning. She remembered the relatively small ship on which she carried thousands of shrunken people here on the Large Magellanic Cloud, fleeing from the destruction of the human civilization from a terrible evil. It took years of planning and all of her resources, watching as world after world fell while she prepared to flee and live to fight another day. She had the means to fight the enemy, a gift which was bestowed on her through ridiculous means, the very same thing she still uses to rule over her minions, but didn’t have the time to learn and understand how to use it properly.

On the very last days, she remembered as she took various people from all nations, ages, cultures and races against their will and loaded them on a ship, fleeing to the furthest place possible, to a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

It took years to find a suitable planet while the shrunken people hibernated, nearly a thousand years for them to grow their small community into a respectable world when they found one, with her help of course. And then they spread, scouting the LMC for various other habitable planets. Another few centuries would pass before those were terraformed enough for them to prosper and grow to a point where Aria’s civilization would rival that of Earth, entirely unsuspecting from the enemy.

Aria would keep a close watch on them during that time. Her power granted her a certain kind of immortality, and she used it to guide them, help them, but never interfere. She let them develop naturally because she would need them eventually if she ever felt ready to try and fight back for Earth. During those first centuries, she finally understood every aspect of the power bestowed on her and knew that alone, she would never be able to defeat the enemy.

But just as it had happened to the original human civilizations, that was when they started running wild and she struggled to control them. Aria tried to remain in the background, never using her power to force them on a certain path, only acting as a guide, but as civil wars broke out and different worlds waged war against each other, she grew desperate. She managed to regain the peace and persuade them to work towards a common goal so that with her help, they could retake Earth and her colonies back one day. But she knew, sooner or later they would disobey her and her efforts would be in vain when the enemy would discover them.

She didn’t remember the details, and no records of that period exist, she destroyed them all out of shame, but somewhere along the line, when another civil war broke out, she knew, she took the first step towards what she became today. She had blurred memories of that time, when she came down upon her civilization like an angry, vengeful god, killing billions in the process and stripping them of all the technology they had, sending her people back to the stone age again, erasing all memory of her as a common person and creating the system that she has in place today.

Thousands of years passed before the first worlds redeveloped after her galactic-wide genocide. She spent those years amongst them, living many different lives for hundreds and thousands of years, slowly planning, creating an infrastructure for when the worlds would reach the space age again, an infrastructure that she would be able to control in its entirety. She changed during that time, but too slow for her to notice, she now knew.

Somewhere along the line, she thought as she raised her right foot above the mass of people on the square, I became someone who enjoyed this. With that last thought, she smashed her foot in the middle of public square full of people, spraying jets of blood in all directions as she killed them mercilessly and cracking the pavement all around the area.

Aria consciously knew that what she did was an act of terrible, unforgivable, inexcusable evil. But she simply didn’t feel that way. She never felt that way anymore except in certain moments, when she experienced an afterglow of a powerful orgasm. But that kind orgasm was rare for her nowadays because it required a certain level of sexual excitement. Not too much or fast because it would feel rushed, not to slow because she would grow bored. It had to be done the right way.

Thus, entire cities would have to suffer and thousands would have to play to her whims and die for her so that she could experience that moment of clarity.

Aria breathed in deeply, thinking about what the people at her feet had to suffer, oblivious to the threads of history that have webbed their collective lives together to wind their destiny into a path that would lead them to become a simple smear somewhere on her body.

Have I lost focus? She desperately wanted to know. Is my mind clouded? Have I become blinded somehow? Doubt filled her veins, but another set of deep dark emotions engulfed her immediately, too strong to resist. She sighed again, and crouched down. She looked at the tiny people beneath her, closely, soaking in their fear and terror. It somehow filled her pleasantly, as always. Their frailty made her feel incredibly powerful and turned on.

From somewhere deep down inside her mind, she made a last conscious effort to acknowledge that her nature wasn’t right, that somehow, she was broken.  “I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.” She said before she finallu succumbed to her desires and her characteristic smile returned upon her face.

Aria reached down with her hand, planting it in the middle of the street, trapping a few dozen people beneath. She concentrated on the feeling each individual gave off as they tried to fight it desperately. She applied a tiny little bit more pressure, and immediately those tingling sensations turned into wet, squishy ones. She giggled, regarding the carpet of buildings that intertwined together and forced the roads into short alleyways, narrow and full of twists and turns. And they were totally filled with people, those that have managed to get away from the square.

It was like Aria was a was an extra-dimensional being looking down upon a primitive race of flatlanders that could only perceive two dimensions, forwards and backwards, left and right. And they were entirely at her mercy, never being able to anticipate where she might strike next.

But Aria simply shifted her hand forwards, her fingers crawling through the buildings like giant snakes, crushing everything on their path. The twisting roads meant that her fingers would suddenly burst from buildings into the streets out of nowhere without giving the crowds even a chance to react or scream as their bodies would be pushed mercilessly on the other side and crushed against the walls, not that they offered much resistance either to the unstoppable onslaught of her hand.

Suddenly, the narrow roads gave Aria an idea and her smile gained a certain wicked quality. She raised her hand, looking down at the carpet of buildings and locating a suitable alley. When she found a long but straight one, she moved her hands on either side, crushing all the roads leading out of it, effectively trapping everyone in the alley.

She then leaned forward, looming above them and casting a huge shadow upon the trapped, panic-stricken people. They froze on their tracks, turning and looking above, watching as Aria planted her hands on either side and slowly lowered down.

But Aria wasn’t about to crush them just like that. She simply lowered her right breast towards the alley and slowly placed her nipple inside. Her smile broadened delightfully as her nipple fit perfectly on the alley.

She moved forward, very slowly, watching as people desperately tried to flee through the buildings, but they were too many. Her nipple moved forward like an unstoppable pillar protruding from the titanic mountain filling the sky that was Aria’s right breast. Their bodies were too fragile to resist it, but it was soft enough so that it left many just terribly injured, but not entirely dead as her it rolled over them or crushed their bodies against the buildings and each other.

When she finally reached the end of the alley, crushing a rather large group against the sides, she raised her breast to survey the damage. Most simply laid there, bloodied and screaming from pain. They tried to desperately crawl away, howling, but they had nowhere to go.

Aria’s lust reached new heights from the sight of so much pain and horror caused by such simple ways, yet again. She was ready. She lowered her torso abruptly and crushed the tiny people beneath her breast, dragging it backwards like a giant wrecking ball and putting them out of their misery. She then rose up and headed straight for the army.

Over one hundred thousand men had gathered outside the city walls. They have left their camps to join together and form a coherent formation. Aria wasn’t surprised. If there’s one thing she liked most in the aspect of military warfare, it was commanding ancient or medieval armies. She has commanded a fair share of them during her time on various planets, has learnt how to win battles, how to use the terrain to gain advantage, how to organise them properly, how to deal when outnumbered, how to never underestimate the enemy. Her mistakes have taught her a lot.

But if there’s one thing armies needed the most, that was discipline and morale. You needed to train them to hold their lines no matter what and keep them spirited even if everything seemed lost and no matter how desperate the situation appeared, the men needed to be taught to never give up. You don’t win battles by killing every man from the enemy, you win battles by simply shattering their morale.

The army protecting Talmin seemed to be a very well trained army, judging by the fact that they still stood there in formation even though a massive, unstoppable god was heading straight at them. Aria smiled at them, a perfect opportunity to display her power, again. Aria quickly reached the outskirts of the city, and just like in Tarthaghast, she jumped.

The soldiers had no time to react, Aria landed with both feet in the middle of them. The amount of energy that her body’s inertia carried when her feet landed ensured that the very earth upon which the army stood momentarily rippled like waves of water from a stone being thrown into it and then violently shatter, breaking their ranks, crushing the army’s morale and instilling a general state of sheer panic on the soldiers with a single stroke.

“Another battle won.” She said with a mocking tone.

Those near her feet were most probably dead, she noted, torn to pieces by the colossal shockwave she had generated. The surviving soldiers further away already got to their feet, dropping whatever weapon they had on their hands and were fleeing in massive waves.

Aria bit her lower lip, she was getting terribly aroused. She dropped to her knees, causing another small earthquake in the process, and started crawling slowly towards them. Even with her slow pace, she was upon the fleeing masses in seconds like a lion standing upon its prey.

She looked around, and finally spotted what she was looking for. She lowered her hands, collecting a group out of fleeing people. They were heavy infantry, fully clad in shining armor. Aria raised her hand level with her head, regarding the tiny beings on it, watching as they got their bearings and found out what had happened to them.

As soon as they realized, Aria started closing her fingers around them like massive tentacles, stripping all the space from them. A few jumped, as they always did, but most tried to desperately fight her fingers, fight the pressure. It always amused her in some ways.

Moments later, she felt the clunky, grinding sensation from their armor. She was compressing the unfortunate soldiers like tin cans, squeezing the souls out of them, their armor offering only the slightest resistance before turning their bodies into mush.

Aria rolled the lifeless mass of squashed bodies and armor on her hand, forming a bloodied little ball of metal. She then opened her arms and regarded it for a moment, smiling. Afterwards, she motioned her hand over a particular dense spot of fleeing people, and dropped it like a cannon ball.

She watched as pure horror engulfed those that survived her work around the area where she dropped the ball from witnessing what she had done to a group of heavy infantry. Aria laughed loudly, basic carnal desires surrounding her mind.

She was unable to resist anymore, so she started grabbing group after group heedlessly, smashing their bodies against her skin, dyeing it with their blood. One group was crushed against her breast, another swiftly followed against her thighs. Another one she smashed against her cunt, then the other was pushed inside. She left that particular group there for a few moments as she crushed others against her other body parts.

The lust drove her mad, she couldn’t resist, it was too much. She quickly collected whoever was near her and forced them against the other group inside her cunt, but even as she was inserting them, her orgasm came. Her cunt tightened abruptly and crushed most her victims mercilessly. She screamed very loudly and was audible everywhere for tens of miles. And her scream contained a simple word “Fuck!”

She had rushed it.

As fast as it came, her orgasm faded just as quickly. She lowered her head as frustration welled up inside her. Motioning her hand inside her cunt, she collected everyone and everything inside, dropping dozens of dead and dying bodies beneath her as they formed a dreadful scene between Aria’s thighs. She couldn’t be bothered with them at the moment.

She managed to control her frustration, and simply laid back on the ground, tired. She just wanted to sleep at that moment, let her consciousness drift. It was hard to ignore the muffled sounds of screams all around her, it would take time until they would calm down. But Aria also couldn’t quite sleep because something was bothering her. She couldn’t place what exactly, as if mist was clouding it inside her thoughts, she could only see the silhouette.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on that stinging sensation inside her head. A sudden rhythmic feeling accompanied the strange sensation, but very faint. She listened to it, trying to place what it was. It felt like her heartbeat, but slightly different, as if it was made up of two distinct but very similar sensations. And they were getting stronger. Aria frowned, she wasn’t sure what she was feeling. Wait a moment, she thought, this isn’t inside my... she suddenly opened her eyes and quickly stood up, looking around. And then she saw her, a woman, just as big as Aria, walking towards her. It was her footsteps that Aria had felt.

“Ah, look who we have her!” Aria said, her usual smile forming on her lips. “If this isn’t Mase’s girlfriend!”

---

Mase was still bound on his platform, a few miles away from the city, watching as Mae, his only hope of ever upsetting Aria’s balance, confronted the goddess, a standoff of ridiculous proportions.

He ignored Aria’s remark about Mae being her girlfriend. She had seen right through him on the Pasargadae and knew that she didn’t desire Mae. But he ignored his emotions because deep down, he knew that he has chosen the right path, the path of freedom.

But he couldn’t believe Mae was actually doing this. She isn’t ready, she is too young and she doesn’t have Aria’s experience.

“Foolish girl!” He said to nobody in particular. “You should have stayed put! Damn it Mae!”

But he knew this was going to happen. She had been with him back in Tarthaghast when Aria attacked the city, and nearly confronted her right then and there. But he had held her back, calming her, telling her that she needed to live to fight another day.

They had made plans to escape separately, Mase with his ship and Mae would stay in this planet until Mase found a way to get back here without being detected. He knew Mae, despite her young age, was very resourceful and would survive without a problem, they couldn’t risk being together under the watchful eyes of Aria’s navy. But somehow she must have found out Mase was captured, and he just knew Mae would do a stupid thing like this. She loved him too much.

He watched both giantesses in the distance. Aria was supremely confident, as always, but he saw that she was slightly surprised that another person who could use the power was willing to confront her so openly. Mae on the other hand was extremely nervous, he could easily tell, her posture was as plain to read as the sky.

He wondered though, what Aria would do to her. He knew the stories, how other people in the past had risen against Aria, only to be utterly crushed by her. But those stories never had any believable detail on them, just stupid superstition like how she was a true god and not a simple pretender like the others, how she could summon the elements of nature at her will, control the weather and whatnot.

He watched on, and saw Aria was about to say something. Sound would need a few moments to travel to him. But she never got to say anything as she frowned, watching as Mae suddenly charged forward.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” said Mase, watching the spectacle unfold before his eyes.

            The earth shook thunderously. Mae’s steps ripped everything out of their foundations on her path. Houses and other buildings were flattened as if made of dust or literally blown away by the colossal winds generated by her steps, trees and other flora never offered any resistance, while the unlucky few who decided to escape from the city on this particular direction were never offered any mercy.

            Mae didn’t care. And that’s what baffled Mase the most. It was so unlike Mae, she would never harm a soul, or so he thought, which apparently wasn’t true. She darted towards Aria with such ferocious determination that he thought this was an entirely different person in those brief few moments.

            Mase didn’t know what to expect when she would reached Aria. Would she be able to injure her? Even kill her? He half expected both of their bodies to simply explode for some reason. It was a scene that was very difficult to comprehend, the human brain was not made to handle such a large scale conflict of divine forces.

            But instead, Mase watched as Aria expertly drew her body to the right at exactly the moment Mae reached her with her fist, and with her left hand she grabbed Mae’s left arm while anchoring her left foot on the ground just in front of Mae. The young giantess looked plainly startled as Aria moved her right hand on her back, and tripped her forcefully against her leg towards the city behind Aria.

            Mase had seen Aria having her way with the city from his vantage point, the sheer violence she would cause in simple ways was astonishing, and excited him a lot, much to his shame. But that was nothing compared to what Mae’s body did to the poor city of Talmin. Her body hit the ground with such primal force that absolutely nothing survived the devastation. She fell at the edge of where Aria emerged earlier and her body simply slid from the momentum it had carried towards the center, bulldozing and pulverizing everything in its path, leaving a barren stretch of compressed land behind it.

            “Holy fuck!” Was all Mase could say to the scene that had just unfolded.

Smoke and dust rose from the destruction, covering Mae’s laying body for a few moments, hiding her from Mase’s vantage point. Above it all, he could see Aria, he could see her expression. It was a mix of pride and confidence but mostly bewilderment. He could read it plainly in her face: What the fuck is she thinking?

At that moment, the dust moved, gliding along the curves of Mae’s rising body and dissipating rapidly. Mase could see her reach for her face, wiping the blood from her nose. That fall must have certainly hurt, but she still looked determined to end this. He looked down at her dirt covered body, he couldn’t see a single scratch though, still making it difficult for Mase to comprehend how they could be so durable. Then he noticed some movement on her left breast.

            Mase squinted, attempting to see more clearly. Is that... no way. It was a real person, clinging her left nipple. “Holy crap!” he thought aloud. Somebody actually survived all that violence, just to find himself on such a pitiful situation. Immediately after he made out the tiny human form on her nipple, Mae brushed him away just like that, probably without even noticing while she attempted to brush the dust from her body.

            Mase gasped, trying to understand what had happened. The tiny human, which Mase couldn’t make out as a Man or Woman, survived all the destruction when Mae’s body hit the city, and managed to hold onto her nipple, just to be treated like a speck of dirt and consequently brushed away as one. It was so depressing to see another human being treated this way, yet to Mase it was very arousing at the same time, making him hate himself even more. And worst of all, because of this unaware action on Mae’s part, he started feeling something for her, the tiniest bit of attraction.

            “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” He said for the second time today while raising his head towards the sky. “Why!” He screamed.

            “You really think you have a chance?” Mase suddenly lowered his head as he heard Aria’s booming voice.            “Stop being so foolish, girl.”

            “You must be defeated. You must be eradicated, destroyed.” he heard Mae say. “For the good of humanity.”

            Aria raised an eyebrow. “Really? You are that naive?” She giggled. “But you know what? I can actually be merciful.” She said with an arrogant smirk. “If you bow down, and kiss my feet, that is.”

            “Never.” Mae replied.

            “I figured.” Aria’s expression grew more serious. “But actually, I really could use someone of your... talents. And we can leave the kissing of my feet out too!”

            Mae didn’t reply and just darted forward again, surprising Aria yet again.

            This time the goddess didn’t try to avoid her charge, she simply stood there, relaxed, and let Mae’s fist punch her hard in the face. Mase eyes widened, surprised at Mae’s apparent success. He could even see it on Mae’s face, the confusion and amazement at the easiness of her strike, and then... pain. Mase couldn’t see it from his vantage point at first, but then Mae moved backwards, and he saw Aria’s right hand on her throat, pushing her backwards forcefully.

            Mase shivered when he saw the look on Aria’s face. He never saw her that dark look on her, never that serious. Suddenly, Aria pushed with such a force that amazed him, throwing Mae backwards, making her tumble into the city yet again, and causing even more devastation.

            Aria, moved her hand to her face, checking on where Mae’s punch landed, grunting. Mae didn’t leave a single mark on her, and somehow Mase wasn’t surprised at all.

            “You really are a blunt one, aren’t you.” she said. “But as I said, I could use your talents, and I’m giving you one more chance to do so willingly.”

            Mae said nothing, reeling from her second humiliation today. She slowly stood up, and Mase could clearly see her determination waning. But she still didn’t look like giving up.

            “I’d rather die, than serve you, monster.”

            Aria simply rolled her eyes. “Yes, you actually are that naive.”

            And Mae charged, for the third time today, and this time, she screamed fiercely.

            Aria sighed. “As you wish.”

            Mase saw her raise her right arm, holding it outstretched at Mae’s direction. He was confused, it didn’t look like some kind of reasonable defence pose or something similar, it just looked weird. What came next frightened Mase to his very core.

---

            “Concentrate!” The instructor said. “You need to concentrate, to feel it deep within you, to tap that power and use it at your will!”

            Feuna tried, but the small ball of metal didn’t move. “I can’t!” She screamed, then dropped to her knees, sighing. “I simply can’t.”

            The instructor looked down at her, disapprovingly. “Stand up and try again.” She commanded.

            “Please!” Feuna begged. “I’ve tried the whole day, I can’t, it isn’t true!”

            The instructor said nothing at first, and then approached her, leaning down and looking directly into Feuna’s tearful eyes. “Watch.” she said simply. Without even looking at the small metal ball a few yards away, the female instructor stretched her hand towards it, and the ball suddenly flew away, moving through the air magically, and landing on the ground several tens of yards away.

            Feuna’s gasped, eyes widening. “I... “ she was lost for words.

            “Now stand up and do it.” the instructor commanded. Feuna nodded, and stood up, taking one of the balls from a basket nearby and throwing it on the ground in front of her. She breathed in, concentrating.

            “For Mana.” she mumbled to herself, and closed her eyes. The hot atmosphere of the desert world in which she stood now faded away, slowly being replaced by the room in which she lost her sister to the goddess.

            Tears welled up again on her eyes as painful emotions emerged from some deep corner of her mind. She remembered all the gruesome and torturous things the goddess did to them, the hunger, the pain, the humiliating experience of drinking her piss with desperation. The people trapped with her, dying in the most horrible acts she had ever witnessed. And most of all, her sister Mana dying like an ant because of the goddess’s carelessness. And then she remembered the anger, the inexplicable force that drove her, the release when she seemingly stopped the goddess’s foot from crashing down on her and her sisters corpse all by herself.

            Feuna opened her eyes, screaming, and the ball of metal moved. It moved so fast that the air screeched and when the ball hit the small dune some distance away, it buried itself feet deep, turning the outside of the hole into melting glass.

            The instructor looked astonished, and somewhat fearful. She turned at Feuna, who too looked amazed at what she had just done.

            “You have potential, child. A lot of potential.” the instructor said. “Your power is raw, unpolished, but by the time I’m finished with you, you will be one of the best Kinetiks.”

            “Best what?” Feuna didn’t understand.

            “Kinetiks. That’s what we call people who have the power of moving objects at their will.” The instructor clarified. “Once you reach your potential, you will become one of the goddess’s best soldiers, I’ll promise you that.”

            Never! Feuna almost said, but she composed herself. If she would ever avenge her sister, this wasn’t the moment. Someday, she thought, I will kill her, I promise you that, sister!.

---

            Mase could feel it for a few brief moments. An intense feeling of being sucked from the inside, even though he was fine. He felt the air around him stir, whirled towards the battling goddesses, or towards Aria to be more precise.

            Far on the horizon, Mase watched Mae’s relentless charge towards Aria, feeling the shaking sensations all the way to his platform. He felt a deep disturbing sensation, something didn’t feel right to him, if anything of this made sense anyway.

            Then, just as Mae reached Aria, she slowed down unnaturally. Mase held his breath, watching as the air between Aria’s outstretched arm and Mae’s inexplicably slowing momentum visibly compressed and then shattered the whole ground beneath, blowing the dust away immediately.

            Then Mae’s body simply ground to a halt, mid-air, and in that blink of an eye, Mase could see the alarming expression or Mae’s face, watching Aria as she smiled with the corner of her lips, and then pushed with an invisible force.   Mae’s body started moving backwards, levitating and rapidly gaining pace.

            “What...” was all she could manage to say before Mae was forcefully flung into the air.

            Mase was still holding his breath, watching the incomprehensible scene unfolding, the gigantic body seemingly floating in the air, and rapidly falling in the midst of the devastated city.

            It hit with such an obliterating force that the earth itself shattered everywhere around Talmin, destroying every part of the city that was still intact and putting everything that had happened to Tarthaghast to shame. A massive pillar of dust rose, covering the whole area and moving towards Mase alarmingly.

            Thankfully it didn’t engulf Mase’s platform, he was still too far away, but he needed to wait a few minutes before the dust settled, revealing the completely devastated area around where Mae’s body lay on the ground. She seemed unresponsive, not moving at all. Mase suddenly regretted ever coming to this planet, regretted ever knowing Mae, or even joining the rebellion.

            “What have I done...” he said to himself. “How could I ever believe we had a chance against her, against this force of nature.” He started crying. “Please, let her be alive!” He screamed.

            He looked at Aria, plainly standing there, regarding her emotionally blank expression. Mase felt angry, furious at how she simply toyed with them. It is all a game to her, he thought. Our rebellion is just something with which she can amuse herself with, nothing more. He lowered his head defeatingly, the sudden revelation numbing his entire body.

            Then he heard and felt footsteps, and looked up to see Aria approach Mae’s body. She reached Mae’s laying form quickly and just stood on above her, arms folded, regarding it with a curious expression.

            “I told you.” She said. “I hope you understand the hopelessness of your situation now.”

            Mase suddenly saw Mae’s head turn just a bit, looking at Aria. Mase thought she tried to say something, but she just coughed. He didn’t understand what the implications would be when such a massive body fell on the ground so forcefully, but he was glad Mae was still alive, feeling a terrible burden lifted from him.

            “Never!” Mae finally spoke.

            “You idiot!” Mase screamed. “Give up you foolish, stubborn, naive idiot! Give up before she truly kills you!” But he knew she could never hear him.

            Aria on the other hand just smiled. “It’s a shame, really.” she said. “There aren’t many size-shifters around. But I guess I have to force you to it.”

            There was a brief moment of silence, and then Mase heard Mae laugh loudly.

            “What the fuck!?” Mase grew confused, and Aria too frowned.

            “You know nothing, Ariadne Cooper.” Mae said.

            “What!?” Mase grew even more confused. But then he saw the shocking expression on Aria’s face.

            “What did you just say?” She demanded furiously.

            “And you call me naive.” Mae said while continuing to laugh.

            Aria suddenly reached for her, but she never had a chance as Mae’s body suddenly turned incredibly luminous, blinding the whole area in a stream of white light, making even Aria cover her face. When the light was gone, so was Mae.

            “What the fuck is going on!?” Mase said, watching fearfully as fury engulfed Aria.

“You will tell me everything you know about her. Everything!”

Mase was sitting on the commander's seat - his father’s seat- on the bridge of the Pasargadae, devoid of anyone but him and Aria who’s just ambushed him with the inevitable questions that he expected about Mae. She had beamed him here and left him alone for a while, giving him some time to think through what he had seen down below, before returning, bearing the most serious demeanor he had ever witnessed on her.

It was strange to see her... fully clothed, Mase thought. She had always carried that air of lewdness around her, always playful, proud, arrogant, uncaring of trivial stuff happening around her. This, Mase thought, was an entirely different person. Her determination truly frightened Mase, revealing one side of her that he sincerely thought she was incapable of showing, because she lacked it in the first place. He had always thought of Aria as a spoiled child that has been given one magnificent toy, and every other human was just a victim of that. But now he wasn’t so sure anymore. Still, he tried to remain calm.

“So, uh... your name is Ariadne Cooper?” he wanted to know more, why it bothered Aria so much. “You actually have a real name? Like a normal person’s name?”

Aria sighed. “Mase, this is not the time to play games.”

“I’m not trying to. Really. Why did it shock you so much? Why is your name so important?”

Aria looked at him briefly without saying anything, reading Mase’s expression. But he truly was sincere about it, he wasn’t playing any games, he just wanted to put this all into a context that would make sense to him.

“Fine. We’ll have it your way.” she said. “I’m Ariadne Cooper, yes, born on the 18th of December 2089 in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. I graduated from MIT with a degree in Astrophysics by age 17. Soon after, I founded Sense, a small company which, thanks to me, would eventually become the biggest corporation humanity had ever witnessed.”

Mase tried to make sense of what she had just said, things, dates and places he has never heard of. “Nope. I have no idea what you just said.”

Aria turned, facing the window on the main bridge and looking beyond it with eyes unfocused. “Of course you don’t.” She said, pausing.

Deep down, Mase knew she was being honest, even though he didn’t know why. He wondered how one person could bear the memories of thousands of years, wondering what she could be thinking right now. But it was impossible to judge the thoughts of a person so drastically different from him.

“Nobody knows.” She continued. “I have erased everything of my life back on Earth. Of the time before I became... what I am now. And Earth’s history itself too. I’m the only person who knows and still keeps it. That’s why most don’t even believe Earth even existed, as you do.” She sighed again, bearing a sense of responsibility that Mase could tell.

            “But to me it doesn’t matter. It never mattered. I became Aria simply because I rose above the realm of simple people with normal names and titles.” she said. “As a god, you view the universe with an entirely different perspective. I had no need of my mortal name, and the shortened one simply stuck. I never used my old name anymore, none of you ever needed to know it, and so it was lost, forgotten, existing only somewhere in the back of my mind.”

            “I... “ she closed her eyes, remembering. “I haven’t heard it spoken in thousands of years.” She opened her eyes again, turning towards Mase. “Thousands of years.” She emphasized. “Until now.”

“That’s why you, Mase, will tell me everything about her!” She demanded. “What my mortal name is isn’t important, I couldn’t care less about that.” She waved her hand. “But someone who pretends to be only twenty-something years old to know it...” She leaned close to Mase, looking him straight in the eyes. “She is not what she appears to be.”

She leaned back up again. “I’m fond of you, Mase.” she said, causing a small wave shyness to engulf him. “You might not know it, but I am. I let you join the rebellion because I knew you needed that experience, the means to quell that rebellious nature inside of you. You needed to grow up, a place where your charisma and talents could be applied.” She smiled at him.

“No way.” He blurted. “Why should I believe you?”

“You have no reason to, really.” she said. “I guess you just have to take my word for it. But I’ve always planned to pardon you and take you back in, when you were mature enough.”

Mase didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to believe it, but it all made sense now. The easy escape, the sense that the navy didn’t do enough to completely destroy the rebellion, and the things he had experienced while with them. And if Aria truly was thousands of years old, she must have surely done this many times before. Then a sudden revelation hit him.

“Marik... my father, you did this to him too, didn’t you?”

Aria didn’t respond, just smiled ever so slightly.

“No way...” His eyes unfocused, thinking about the lie that were the past five years. But he understood now. One simple girl, who looked so innocent, came to know something from a very distant past that no one else knew.

“So,” Aria interrupted his thoughts. “ don’t make me pry everything out of you by force, Mase. Please don’t.”

Mase felt slightly uncomfortable at her caring nature, it felt so unfamiliar with her. “But, can’t it be that she simply stumbled upon your name somewhere, and now she’s playing games with you?” he asked.

“No.” she said immediately. “I made sure of that.”

Mase didn’t understand.

“Mase.” she said. “Think about how your gentle little sweetheart behaved down there. Did she look like the girl you knew?”

She was right, Mase knew it. That was not the Mae he had known. She was too uncaring to her surroundings, and too determined. Her personality had changed too much. He remembered when he saw her once using her power, the way she was frightened, the way she made every step with a conscious effort of being as gentle and careful as possible not to hurt anyone. The constant fear from the thoughts of failing to best Aria. She almost couldn’t handle the responsibility, she never wanted it. Mase had tried to carry a lot of that responsibility, but not enough of it.

The difference was too big, he knew. So he tried to remember. He thought about all the time he had spent with her, but nothing came to mind, nothing except...

“... that one time.” he said. Aria listened, folding her arms. “I remember her disappearing all of a sudden. She was just gone from our camp. Three days she was missing. We were in the brink of giving up, thinking that you might have captured her somehow. But then she came back, found her way to us, but the missing days were just blank on her memory, she didn’t remember a thing.”

Mase raised his head, looking at Aria. “That wasn’t you?”

“No.” she responded.

Mase sighed. “Really, that’s the only odd thing I remember about her, nothing else. I could try to tell you everything, but it’s just ordinary stuff, nothing different from what your intelligence must have gathered.”

            “Go.” she said. “Take a sleep. You need it. Then think again.”

            Mase didn’t say anything.

            “I need to think.” Aria said, leaving the bridge, deep in thoughts.

---

The poor little thing lay curled up like a ball on the sheets of Aria’s bed. The goddess regarded the unfortunate girl she had randomly plucked up from the room full of nobles as she cried, judging her to be no more than seventeen or eighteen years old.

Aria lay on her right side, her naked body half covered by a blanket, thinking about all the things she could do to such a naive, innocent being, enticing her between her legs. She moved her left hand towards the little thing that she had grown a bit to about five inches. She was fully naked and exposed to Aria’s whims, and the goddess was pretty sure she had never tasted the experience of love, let alone same-gender sex, and that with a god.

Her left index finger moved to the back of the little girl, touching it and provoking a shiver on her little body. The girl arched her back, trying to avoid Aria’s finger like two magnets would repel each other from their identically-charged poles. The girl suddenly tried to get up, probably just to run away Aria thought, annoyed. So she applied force on her finger, pinning her down on the bed by her back.

The little girl stopped moving, probably paralyzed out of fear. Good, Aria thought, satisfied by her surrender. She relieved the pressure from her finger, and started stroking her by her back, triggering further shivers that even Aria’s giant finger could feel. But the goddess continued, gradually getting the girl more relaxed.

She moved down with her finger, feeling her young, plush buttocks. Then she moved further down, stroking her thighs, and moving her finger in the middle, splitting them apart. She stroked them further, then moved up a little, feeling her crotch and the never-handled lips protecting her sex and her virginity.

Aria could clearly feel the enormous uncomfortableness and shame that the tiny girl’s body displayed, it was exactly what Aria wanted. She then moved her finger to the girl’s side and forcefully turned her around, displaying her front. The girl moved her head to the side, crying with eyes closed, letting Aria freely invade her body without resistance.

She was clearly very beautiful, her father could have gained a very strong alliance if her world hadn’t met the fate it did, Aria thought. She moved her fingers towards her plum and exposed breasts, feeling their warmth and softness, playing with them for some time. She would have so much fun with this one, she knew.

Aria then leaned on her back, and turned the little girl around again. She grabbed her by her ankle, and then gently started to pull her towards Aria’s own body. The tiny young woman tried desperately to hold on on to the sheets, but her strength was miniscule compared to Aria’s hand that was pulling her. Slowly, Aria pulled her up from her side onto her belly, dragging her above her belly-button, then moving forward towards her breasts. The little girl couldn’t do anything but be forced to be handled like a toy, massaging Aria’s magnificent breasts with her entire body.

Aria then motioned her in between her breasts, head pointed towards Aria’s. She left her there for a few moments, still holding her ankle, feeling her rapid breaths. The girl didn’t move at all at first and her crying had stopped for some time, but then she started slowly moving her head, trying to understand why she’s not being handled anymore. Seeing as the goddess still hadn't made any moves, very slowly, she dared to crane her head up, fearfully meeting Aria’s gaze.

Aria watched the girl, gazing into her terror-filled eyes, trying to imagine what she must be feeling. Yesterday, she must have been just a sweet little girl living on a castle, probably betrothed to some powerful Lord on Arhams empire, never having lived or gone through the daily hardships of the poor, never seen brutal violence or killings. And now she was here, with Aria, gently being raped by a god. Aria thought she needed to step it up a little, so she smiled at her broadly, inciting an expression of confusion on the poor little thing, and then started pulling again, dragging her across her body, towards the blanket-covered part or Aria’s body.

As soon as the girl recognized where she was heading, she suddenly became alive, trying again to desperately fight off Aria’s finger and hold on to something. She tried to dig her nails on Aria’s skin but it was impossible. Aria’s belly-button didn’t offer any means to hold on ether as she passed over it.

“Please!” she cried for the first time. “I’ll do anything! Please goddess, just not that!”

Aria ignored her pleas and still dragged her down her body. She soon reached the blanket-covered part, moving her hand and the little girl beneath. She stopped just as the blanket was about to fully cover the girl, holding her for a few moments there.

Aria breathed in, trying to imagine what it must feel like to her, being forcefully drawn into a pitch-black world where a tight, humid, awfully-smelling cave awaited her. She remembered the same situation, hundreds of years ago, having once willingly submitted herself to a very beautiful woman who was unaware of that fact and assumed she had magical powers. She had done similar things to Aria, who wanted to experience the feeling of being powerless. But it was impossible. Aria never had the ignorance of those who she tortured, she never had the innocence, the naivety that was needed to inspire pure fear on her. And most importantly, she couldn’t ignore her powers.

But this girl had it all, young, ignorant, naive, powerless. And so Aria continued, still ignoring her shrill cries. She had to do this, she needed to break the girl first. Her struggles intensified as she was dragged fully underneath the blanket, terrorizing her to her core.

Aria then spread her legs and moved the little girl against her sex, positioning her head-first. She felt her hands on either side of her entrance, making Aria gasp. She then pushed, and inserted her young body inside, easily ignoring every attempt she made to resist.

Aria moaned loudly as she pushed the girl until she was fully inside, and simply let go, closing her legs. At that moment, Aria started counting. Thirty seconds was all she needed. The struggles inside her sex fired intense pulses of pleasure all over her body, struggling to contain them, struggling to contain her urge to simply crush the little harmless being inside her. But Aria resisted, resisted until the struggles fainted and just before they died out entirely, Aria’s count reached zero, and then she swiftly moved her fingers and expertly found the little girls leg, pulling her out immediately.

The girl breathed in heavily and with sudden urgence, as if she was pulled from a underneath a deep ocean on which she was drowning. She coughed violently, trying not to swallow Aria’s sticky juices that covered every inch of her skin. Aria moved her dangling form towards her breasts and laid her down between them again. Then she moved both her hands behind her head, folding them, and regarded the little sticky ball of flesh that had gone through the first part of her game.

Aria waited for her to recover from her experience and get her bearings. Sha laid there for quite some time, curled up again and crying, all wet from her first love experience. As soon as she seemed somewhat better, Aria moved her hand and started stroking her back again.

Aria’s touch suddenly lived her up again. “Please!” she screamed. “Please! No no no no!” Her cries continued.

“Calm down, my pet.” Aria said, provoking a fearful but also a confusing reaction from her. She stopped moving about, and lifted her head up towards Aria, regarding her with a curious expression for a few moments, still crying. Then Aria saw something surprising in her, anger.

“I’m not your pet!” she blurted out. “I’m a human being! I don’t deserve to be treated like this!”

Aria chuckled. She like her, the defiance in her. “As you wish, my little darling.” She continued stroking her back again, noting that she had slowly stopped crying.

“But remember,” Aria said. “As my pet, you’re not some ordinary little creature like a dog or a cat. You are far greater than that. You are bigger than an ordinary human, greater than some Lord of your world. You raise even higher than a King or a Queen, or even an Emperor or Empress. You not just some pet, but you are my pet.” she said with a wink.

Aria watched the little girl’s widening eyes as she contemplated Aria’s words, loving the reaction she had generated on her. But the girl said nothing.

“Do you understand, my dear?” she said.

The little girl just nodded quickly.

“Good.” Aria acknowledged. “Now, as I said, you’re not like an ordinary pet. You are a special pet. As a girl, you surely know what big girls want, don’t you?”

The girl was confused, but Aria said nothing and waited for her to realize. And it came quickly, the girl’s eyes widened and tears started flowing again.

“No! Please don’t!” she cried. “I beg you, my goddess!”

            Aria simply smiled. “Shhhhhh, my darling!” she tried to comfort her. “Now, go on!” she said while gesturing towards her blanket-covered part of her body.

            The little girl moved her head back, regarding the landscape beyond, and then turning her head back again towards Aria, with tears still flowing from her eyes which screamed not to be forced to do it.

            “Remember what it means to be my pet, dear!” she said with a calm tone. “You should use this opportunity! I don’t give it often.”

            The little girl was visibly distressed and nervous. But she made every effort to stop crying, closing her eyes and focusing on regaining her strength. She calmed herself down, slowly, and then opened her eyes again, turning them at Aria’s and then nodding.

            Aria smiled, and watched as the little girl turned around, and started walking slowly down her body. Aria felt her nervousness, and it was plain on her body gestures, but she didn’t stop and soon reached the blanket. Then she turned around, looking Aria, expecting something. But Aria made no move, and the girl grew disappointed and somewhat humiliated.

            It took all her strength to lift the blanket and slide underneath. It was very heavy on her, but Aria watched as the clump slowly moved on, towards her crotch. She slid down after she reached it, falling between Arias legs.

            For a few brief moments, Aria didn’t feel her, she didn’t feel anything. She wondered if she had any regrets, if she had come so far only to give up. But then she felt her strike her folds, caressing them.

Aria gasped, her breath became heavy. And then the little girl climbed somewhat to reach Aria’s clit, lavishing it with her kisses, sending ecstatic waves of pleasure through her goddesses body.

Aria moaned loudly, feeling her little plaything working furiously on her sex, anticipating a great night ahead.

It was morning on the city of Imrith, its inhabitants having just woken up, ready to start their daily activities. It was quiet nowadays on the large trading hub, its port sparsely filled with trading ships, its merchants barely managing to sell their wares on the streets that usually are bustling with activity and the air filled with various foreign tongues. It was quiet, too quiet.

Though no one admitted it since Imrith’s citizens were too proud to do so, but the city was beginning to fall apart. Poverty was raging rampant on the city which usually had a large middle-class, and along with it came hunger and sickness, slowly choking it.

The sudden loss of the trade that made it the most important city in the region was devastating. Nobody knew what to do, nobody knew why. Everything had ground to a halt in the last few months. Information that was usually brought by foreign merchants was now very scarce. Reports of evil and darkness, of gods come down to punish them for their deeds, of the end of the world filled the desperate atmosphere of the city. It didn’t matter to them. You didn’t gods to suffocate the city, whatever was happening in the far east that lead to trade grinding to a halt in Imrith was enough.

Nevertheless its proud citizens tried to carry on, waking up on the early hours and doing everything just to get enough food on the platter for the evening. It was hard, but there was nothing else they could do, they didn’t know a different way of life on Imrith, trade was everything they had lived on for centuries.

But this morning wasn’t destined to be like any other. The fate of the rest of the world has finally caught up with them, fate that was beyond their understanding has conspired against them and their city to be destined as part of a game for the amusement of gods, or rather, one god in particular, and another unwilling one.

Soon enough, the inhabitants of the city noticed the rotating winds that gusted through the roads and alleys of the city, the ghastly chill that filled it, the sense that something was wrong, terribly wrong. And soon enough the tension was answered with a blinding light that filled the city and all its surroundings, causing everyone in the area to instinctively protect their eyes with their hands.

Just like in Tarthaghast and Talmin, when the blinding light and its effects finally faded, the citizens of Imrith were greeted with an awe-inspiring sight of colossal proportions.

Her body was very difficult to take in on its full glory from anyone’s vantage point in the city. Only those that were sailing out on their fishing boats could somewhat wrap their heads around what they were seeing.

Her presence was paralyzing, filling the streets with an eerie, unnatural silence, halting every activity. The gaping expressions of everyone in the vicinity made their confusion and fear apparent as a certain level of understanding slowly creeped on the back of their minds. Everyone thought of the same thing. Can it be really true?

The goddess lowered her head, regarding the city that spread out in front of her. As usual, her ever so small movements broke the captivating stares and sent the city down below into sheer panic. But she wasn’t going to go on a rampage today. No, she had other plans in mind.

“Hmmm, this will do. I think.” She said with a booming voice.

Her hand moved, slowly, down along her crotch to her sex, planting her fingers on either side of it. She slowly split her sex open, parting her pink flesh to reveal the dark cave behind. Suddenly, motion could be seen inside of it, something moving down, out of her sex, as if she was giving birth, but it was too small, at least compared to her.

It was difficult to comprehend for anyone who dared to look back, their minds not trained to logically have the sight make sense. The thing fell out of her and crashed down on some buildings beneath. Then it moved, standing up, revealing itself as another human being, another woman. Her wet body turned and she arched her head up, looking at the gigantic goddess that straddled her form.

“I think this will do, my pet.” The huge goddess said. “Let’s see what you can do.” She smiled.

The smaller one nodded and moved her head back down, regarding the city in which she has been born into, at least from the perspective of the citizens. Her form was puny compared to the presence of the huge goddess and even though she had just fallen out of the sex of the bigger one, she still was at least ten times bigger than any normal human being.

“I have to go now.” The giant goddess boomed. “I’ll be back in a few days to see your progress.” Then she vanished just as she had appeared, blinding everyone for a second time.

---

On the other side of the world it was still the middle of the night. And in the middle of the night, the emperor of an already lost empire sat on a bench atop a lonely hill just outside of a castle at the edge of his former empire, looking at the clear and cloudless sky, regarding the stars in some profound way.

“Do you suppose there are other worlds out there, master Giedon?” Arham asked.

The old, tired scholar sat next to him, looking at the sky too, but with distant, unfocused eyes.

“I don’t know, emperor.” he answered with a worn out voice. “I don’t know anything at all anymore.”

Arham moved his head, looking at him. He felt sorry for the old master. He still couldn’t forgive himself for all that was happening. He still felt it was his fault, his fault alone. Arham knew otherwise, but it was difficult to convey it to the old master. He wasn’t himself anymore.

He moved his head back towards the sky. “There have to be.” He said. “It would only make sense. What do you think, Kal?”

The emperor’s son was with them too, the small energetic boy would never pass the chance to go outside with his father, losing sleep didn’t bother him for some reason. He looked back towards Arham, smiling childishly.

“I hope so, father.” he said. Arham too smiled.

The emperor was in a good mood. He may have lost everything he has build during his entire life, but the fact that the world he knew was barely just the tip of the iceberg fascinated him. And the goddess... Aria, she was incredibly captivating to him. Somehow he felt that all this wasn’t in vain.

Then his thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the whole world turned as bright as a thousand lightnings striking at the same time. For a split of a second, he saw light materialise into a form, a familiar form, right above him. And then it all faded away.

Everyone was startled, most still having their hands protecting their eyes, but Arham looked up, into the darkness above him that obscured all the stars. You wouldn’t be able to see it unless you knew what you were looking for. He suddenly felt so puny, so insignificant, helpless. She was there, right above them, straddling them, towering above them like a true god, but nobody seemed else seemed to notice, they all just looked around as if expecting something.

And then the world turned into day again, revealing her form for just enough time so that Arham’s eyes could take it in, leaving him in pure awe. And then she was gone.

“What was that!?” Somebody screamed as other people finally noticed what was happening, one of the few guards that accompanied him, Arham judged.

The emperor himself suddenly lowered his head, looking for Giedon, looking for his son. He could see anything in the darkness. His eyes hurt from the blinding flashes of light.

“Kal, are you alright?” He shouted.

“I’m fine, father! I’m right here.” the boy answered, calming Arham.

The emperor sighed, clearly relieved that nothing had happened. But what had just happened? He was confused. He knew it was her, but why did she come and go like that?

“I’m sorry about that.” A feminine voice suddenly spoke. A very familiar one. Arham shivered, hearing steps coming from behind, he turned around, trying to make her out in the darkness, his eyes still not used to the darkness. Then he saw it, the barely recognizable form slowly walking towards them.

“I forgot to adjust to my normal size before beaming here.” she said, giggling.

Arham’s eyes finally focused just as she reached him, standing in front of him. Everyone stood there, stunned, not daring to move. One of the guards then lowered his spear, followed by a few others. Arham turned at them, angered.

“Stand down you fools!” he said.

“But emp-”

“I said stand down!” he shouted, silencing them. “As a matter of fact, get out of here, now!” The guards didn’t dare defy his orders, and they were swiftly off to the castle. Only master Giedon remained together with Kal. The little boy hid behind the master, clinging to his robes, looking frightened. Master Giedon himself stood firmly, looking defyingly at Aria. But Arham said nothing to him and turned towards her, and bent down.

“Mother goddess.” he said.

Aria laughed. “Stand up, emperor. I’m way past needing such formalities.”

Arham obeyed, and stood up, facing her directly. He regarded her body for a moment, transfixed by her beauty. Aria seemed to notice, and lingered in the moment, letting Arham dream for a bit.

“So, what are you doing up here, dear emperor?” She asked, breaking Arham’s gaze.

“I...” Arham didn’t really know how to respond to that for a moment. “I’ve been watching the stars, thinking about our last conversation.”

Aria raised an eyebrow. “Wondering what’s out there? Aren’t we?”

Arham didn’t respond to that. “Why have you come?” He asked instead.

Aria just smiled, and moved forward, towards the now empty bench and sat on it, crossing her legs. “Can’t I just come for a visit?” She asked, looking innocently and teasing Arham.

She moved her head towards master Giedon, and caught a glimpse of the young boy hiding behind him who was watching her fearfully.

“Is that your son?” she asked Arham.

“Yes. That’s Kal, my only son.”

“He’s cute.” she winked at Kal, who then hid entirely behind the master’s frame. Aria giggled.

Then she moved her gaze at the master itself. “And this is...?”

“Master Giedon, goddess. This is the one who solved your riddle.” Arham said.

“The one who unleashed destruction and evil upon our world.” master Giedon added, still looking at Aria with a spiteful expression.

“Ah. That must be a heavy burden you’re carrying there, old master.” she said. “But don’t worry, this world has met its fate long before you were even born.” she waved her hand at him. But the anger inside the master blinded him too much for him to understand.

“Forgive me, goddess.” Arham moved in to take her attention away from the old master. “But I must honestly ask why you are honoring us with your presence.” he bowed down again.

“Well, dear emperor, if you insist.” she said. “This world has quickly become a very interesting one. Usually I’m quickly bored of playing with my typical worlds. Exciting things are happening in a very consistent basis. And I’m here to investigate something.” she looked at the emperor directly.

Her gaze always had a very powerful effect on him, stirring every inch of his body. And words like playing with worlds sent another wave of shivers down his spine. But he was curious too, what could she possibly want to investigate here? Surely there’s nothing interesting for a goddess to turn her attention to such a remote part of the world, so she is probably interested in him.

Then she suddenly stood up, moving towards Arham. “Yes, it has something to do with you.” she smiled.

“What...?” Arham was confused, and Aria burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry emperor, I can’t read minds, I’m just a good judge of character.” she said.

She quickly reached him, and moved her right hand on his chest. It startled Arham a little but he did not dare move.

“You see, “ she said. “I’ve noticed something the last time I visited you at that ball. I never really gave it my full attention, but recently some things have been happening that made me think a little more. But first, I must show you something.”

She turned her head around towards master Giedon. “Wait here, we will come back soon.”

Suddenly Arham felt a tingling sensation all over his body. “What is ha-” he tried to say, but he couldn’t finish his sentence as he lost voice.

His entire surrounding suddenly changed, and he found himself inside a room, a very unfamiliar one with strange shapes lining the walls and magical lights shining out of the ceiling. Aria was still there and moved her hand back.

“Where are we?” he asked, his imagination running wild.

“Look behind you.” she said.

Arham turned, and was immediately wonderstruck. He was looking at a large window, beyond of which was a majestic sight of a curving landscape, but too far away to be real. He could see land, water, and most importantly, clouds. He couldn’t see it all because the window was simply too small, but somehow he could understand what he was seeing, he was just lost for words.

“That’s your right. Arham. That is your world” Aria moved her hand in a waving gesture, and the whole room started to magically fade away. Arham watched, gaping, as the walls around the window simply retreated, becoming invisible. They moved too quick for him to react as they reached his feet. He expected to simply fall and held his breath, but he didn’t, he could still feel the ground, although its sight was replaced by what was beyond.

Arham exhaled slowly, trying to comprehend the sight. He was standing on an invisible platform and looking down at his world as if he could hold it in his hand. He regarded every detail of it, the slowly shifting clouds, the darkness that engulfed part of it which he concluded to be night, and somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that Giedon had been right, it was round.

“This is just...” he was still lost for words.

“Beautiful.” Aria completed the sentence, watching his expression. “How I would love to feel the way you do, dear emperor.” She shifted her gaze at the planet below. “But alas, I’ve seen this sight and so many others too often to be excited about it.”

“But goddes, “ he turned at her. “why have you brought me here?”

“Ah. Right.” She moved her hand on Arham’s face, and leaned forward, kissing him.

Arham was lost. The kiss felt like eternal bliss to him. He closed his eyes, trying not to melt from the inside. It felt like all the frustration, all the pain, all the desire that he had locked inside him suddenly burst out, freeing his soul. And just like that, it was over.

Aria moved back, smiling broadly.

“I-, wha-, why?” he babbled, “I don’t understand!”

            The philosophers always say that dreams are the proof that the senses we trust to distinguish reality from illusion should not be fully trusted, that you should always be careful when your senses are all that you have at your disposal to distinguish something as real or not.

            But Arham always had that thought that while your mind might be oblivious to reality when dreaming, it knows for certain when it is not doing so. You accept the most ridiculous things, ideas and notions when dreaming as normal, but when you’re awake, you know for certain that you aren’t dreaming.

            But here he was, being pushed by a goddess to lay back on the invisible floor that was floating somewhere in the heavens. He watched on as she ripped the clothes off his upper body, revealing his very fit and muscular frame for a 39 year old. Arham felt it all, it felt more than just real to him, but still he deeply feared he was dreaming.

            He feared for he was about to have sex with a true goddess.

            He laid there on the floor, holding his breath as Aria sat on top of him, pressuring his raging erection down teasingly through the only remaining clothing on his body. His eyes met her gaze as Aria moved her right index finger on her lips, striking a very seductive pose while she moved her left hand down, caressing her body and sliding it through her strange tight clothing that displayed her immensely sexy curves.

            “How long are you going to make me wait?” she asked Arham while he felt paralyzed to her whims. But that was all he needed as a cue.

            He rose up and kneaded the strange cloth that she wore, and used all his force to tear it apart from her. It was easier than he thought it would be, and to his delight, it revealed her perfect naked upper body to him. Aria didn’t move, and simply let Arham have his way for the time being.

            But he was hesitant, he moved his hands slowly, as if what he was about to touch was the most precious thing in the world, and for him right now, it probably was. His hands slowly approached her perfectly-shaped breasts where his eyes were fixated, and just as he touched them, he closed his eyes, reveling on the magnificent feeling of pure sexual lust creaking out slowly, threatening to break like a torrent inside him. He cupped them and kneaded them with the uttermost care in the world.

            Then he felt her hands move around him in a sudden motion and felt her pull his head towards her breasts, burying him between them.

            “Don’t be shy.” She whispered, giggling.

            He didn’t hesitate this time. He moved his hands around her back and pulled her too while he kissed and worshiped her breasts the way they deserved. His heart raced as he worked her body, and his mind was lost in the thought of having him granted the permission to experience the most beautiful act in the universe with the most powerful being in the universe.

            After the bliss that felt like an eternity, he felt her hand move between her breasts and his face, and then push him back on the ground again. “You are good.” she said with her ever-present and haunting smile. “But it’s time to move this to a different level.”

            She stood up, still straddling his body, and removed the torn pieces left from earlier that still hid her crotch and legs. After she did, she stood still for a few moments, letting Arham’s desire build a little more while he watched her magnificent nude form from his vantage point.

            But it was all too familiar as for a few moments, Arham was transported to the day she appeared in Tarthaghast. He remembered this body causing the unstoppable devastation, and he remembered how she killed so many people so effortlessly and without any remorse whatsoever. It finally dawned on him what he has gotten himself really into.

            Reminiscent feelings of pure fear, terror and at the same time, all inspiring awe welled up inside of him, causing him to tense all over. Aria noticed, and swiftly lowered herself on top of him and grabbed his engorged sex through the cloth, causing Arham to gasp. And at the same time, he felt all the fear and terror recede, fade away as if by magic. He found it strange, but that thought was quickly buried by all the other firework of signals inside his head.

            “You won’t go all lost on me that easy, emperor.” she grinned, and stripped him of the last remaining protection of his intimate parts.

            “Ah, pretty well endowed down there, I’m impressed!” she said while she grabbed Arhams cock, stroking it slowly.

            “Tha-, Tha-, Tha-aaaaahhh!”

            Arham grabbed Aria’s thighs while she positioned herself, guiding his cock towards her sex. He was having a very difficult time controlling the desire that had build up inside him so much that it threatened to prematurely evolve into a full blown explosion.

She slid his rock-hard cock inside her, and Arham screamed of release.

            “No, no, no! Please don’t! Not so fast”. He was coming. He closed his eyes as his fear came back, but for a different reason. He was embarrassed. He felt he would let her down, and feared what that would mean. But he felt powerless to stop it.

            And then he felt it. First her hand pressed against his chest, and then the powerful numbing sensation that struck him inside, calming him down and controlling the chaos of emotions inside him, controlling the powerful urge that demanded release.

            “Not so fast!” she said with a low voice. “You’re not finishing before I even began.”

            Arham opened his eyes and looked into hers. “What was that?” he asked, finally feeling somewhat able to control his urges. But Aria said nothing and simply moved slightly up, and then down, and repeated the motion rhythmically.

            The emperor quickly forgot about it as he concentrated in the wonderful sensations coming from that act, and returned the favor by pumping his lower body against her in unison.

            He moved his hands at the same time, caressing every inch of her marvelous divine body, feeling every curve and losing himself in the softness of her skin. It was almost unbelievable for him that this beautiful body could be the most deadly force in the universe. If he hadn’t seen her with his own eyes, he would have called anyone mad at the notion.

            He leaned forward, embracing her again and kissed her while still pumping his erection in and out of her, feeling the burning tension build up, but this time slowly, the right way. He didn’t know how or why, but he didn’t care right now, he let himself having the time of his life.

            Then he pushed her, leaning her down on her back and taking the lead. He balanced himself with his left hand and kneaded her breasts with his right one. Aria put her legs around him and let him have his way while Arham started pumping faster and faster, heightening his lust and burning desire, nearing his climax.

            Then Aria moved her hands around him, gripping him tightly while he was still pumping, and whispered in his ear.

“Keep going! “ Moaning in between. “But hold on tight!”

            Arham was confused for a moment, but continued, not wanting to get distracted. And then Aria spoke loudly.

            “Eve, disable artificial Gravity!”

            “Yes, Aria.” A strange feminine voice came from out of nowhere. “Artificial Gravity, disabled.”

            And suddenly, Arham was falling!

            “Wha-” he managed to say before Aria, put a finger on his lips.

             “Shhhh.” she hushed. Arham was about to de-track for a moment before that feeling of control came back. But at the same time, he felt weightless! Their bodies were floating!

             “What is this!” he asked with eyes wide open, still pumping.

             Aria smiled. “Just something to make this more special.”

             Arham focused his eyes around him, watching their passionate embrace locked in between the world, the heavens and the stars. It was the most glorious sight and feeling he had ever experienced at the same time or that he would probably ever experience in the future.

             “Ready?” she asked with a low voice, panting.

             Arham just nodded. And then he felt the passion inside him suddenly build up tremendously fast, reaching his climax almost instantly. He pumped furiously while their bodies floated away and he buried his fingers into her back, unable to hold it back. Aria gasped, and Arham screamed at the most spectacular orgasm he had ever experienced.

---

             Minutes later, Arham laid on the ground, with gravity returned back to normal, and holding Aria on his arms while she laid on top of him, relaxing. He played with her hair, thinking about the confusing torrent of mixed emotions that he had felt during the sex, especially the way he suddenly got hold of them just before he was about to release, the control he felt. And he wanted to know something else, something that he felt a bit embarrassed to ask her, but he did anyway.

             “Was I good?” he blushed.

             Aria giggled. “Yes, you were. Don’t worry.” she breathed in deeply, keeping quiet for a few moments. “But it’s always the same with the likes of you.”

             “What do you mean?” Arham asked.

             “You men go all crazy when you know who I am. You are always about to come before the fun even starts.”

             “Us?” Arham felt a stab of jealousy.

             Aria raised her head and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Really? You think I never did this before?” And then laughed. Arham felt stupid and deeply embarrassed.

             Aria lowered her head back down on his chest, cuddling again. “The sex is never that good on my end when you know that I’m that all powerful goddess that can end your life with a flick of my finger. The best sex I always have is when I pretend to be some slave girl, someone unimportant, someone who is disposable. You men are like that, you perform better when you think you’re in control, when you think you have total power over me.”

            Arham’s eyes widened. “You? A slave girl? Really?”

            “Yes.” she said with a determined tone. “A slave girl, an empress, the wife of a trader or a powerful king, a pirate, a farmer girl, a princess, an all-conquering mighty female general and so many others. And of course, a god. I’ve played all these roles at some point. All of them are very enlightening.”

            Arham couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to be able to play your life over and over again, always being able to chose what role you’d want to play. He felt jealous again, but this time at her. She was immortal, she had worlds in her hands, and incomparable power at her disposal. He felt so tiny, so vulnerable.

            “Why?” he asked. “Why me?”

            “Because, “ she said. “I wanted to show you how it felt, I wanted you to understand first.”

            Arham was confused. “To understand? What? What it was like to have sex with a goddess?”

            “No.” she said while raising up, putting both arms on Arham’s chest and supporting herself while she looked him directly in the eyes. “Not that, but this.”

            Suddenly, Arham felt dread, terrible, awful dread and fear out of nowhere.

“What…” he said as his breath was taken away ”What is this!?” he screamed, feeling his heart starting to race again, and he sweat pouring all over his body from the terrible unease that he felt. And then it all faded away as quickly as it came. He stood motionless for a few brief moments afterwards, paralyzed from the horrible experience he just had and scared to his core.

            “This is a taste of what you can do with this… dark magic.” she said. “This is how it feels when somebody taps into your emotions.”

            “Tap into my emotions? You can control my emotions?” He asked, feeling even more powerless.

            “As can you.” she said.

            “What?Me?” Arham didn’t know what she meant. “No I can’t!”

            “Think about it, emperor. How did you become the powerful man that you were? Before I came that is.” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer.

            “Think about it. Why was it so easy to persuade men to your cause? Was it because you are such a charismatic leader? Because you were good at talking, using words? Because you were a master of politics?”

            Arham thought about it. But he knew he didn’t have any powers. “How else could it be?”

            “It’s because every time you got emotional, you used your ability to tap into their emotions.” she said. “You did it unknowingly of course, but every time you did it, you reflected whatever feeling you felt inside of you onto them, flaring their emotions, persuading them with ease.”

            “Think about it.” she continued. “All those battles you fought, no doubt you encountered situations where the odds were stacked overwhelmingly against you, yet you prevailed. Why is that?”

            “Because the men trusted in me!” he said immediately. “They knew they could rely on me! They knew we would always pull through!”

            “Exactly, but why did they trust you?” she said. “It was because you reflected that trust in them. You trusted them, and they did so in turn. Every time you ran in front of them with your horse, encouraging them, you did that literally. Every time you needed that last bit of strength in them to lead that crucial charge, you gave it to them. Every time that flank was about to break, you inspired them. It was always you.”

            Arham didn’t know what to say. But he trusted her in this, obviously. And he had noticed it countless times, but always thought it was just natural.

            “I have magical powers?” he asked her with a wonderstruck expression.

            “Something like that.” she said, smiling. “That’s why I brought you here, to test you. Those times when you were about to come, I numbed your emotions, giving you control. And in turn, you were like a firework there, shining all kinds of emotions from you.”

            It all made sense to Arham now. He held his hands up and looking at them, contemplating the revelation that Aria told him. He felt a surge of power at the thought, but then it occurred to him, he didn’t know how to use it.

            “Will you teach me?” he begged her.

            Aria laughed. “Of course I will. That’s why I brought you here. People like you who have this ability are the rarest kind of those with powers, I have great use for you.”

            “You mean there are others with other powers?”

            “Yeah.” she said.”For example, there are those who can push or pull objects, manipulating them with their minds, and others can transport themselves from one place to another in a blink of an eye.”

            “Like you can!” Arham noted.

            “Me… well, I am different from them.” she said. “People like you only have one those powers. I on the other hand can use all of them.”

            “Ah.” Arham started to understand. “It’s what makes you special.”

            “Partly.” she said, and stood up, leaving him laid down on the invisible floor. “There’s a lot more to me than you can imagine, really. You’ll understand everything in time.”

            “Really?” he wondered. “What other powers are there?”

            She smiled teasingly. “I am who I am not because of my powers. As I’ve said, you’ll understand in time. But since you want a taste of them, how about I use the most obvious one on you?”

            “The most obvious one?” he thought for the briefest moment before it hit him. He looked her in the eyes while his widened with fear. “No! Please goddess!”

            But it was too late. He immediately felt a pulling sensation all over his body, as if he was being torn to pieces from every side. He felt the relentless force that sucked him from the inside, slowly chewing on his mass, draining him of his body. And then there was the pain, unimaginable pain, pain that he had never ever felt at this intensity before. At that moment, he sincerely wished he would die, but it all ended abruptly.

            He quickly opened his eyes and raised his head, regarding his surrounding. And he found what he was looking for immediately. He gulped down while craning his head up, following the titanic pillars of flesh that were her legs up towards her crotch, stopping briefly at her sex that he had fucked a few moments ago, and then continued past her belly, behind the folded arms around it, towards her perfect breasts that party hid her beautiful face that was staring down at him.

            WIthout hesitation, he raised his hands towards her, striking a most humiliating pose for an emperor, and begging.

             “Please! Aria!” he cried. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this, I beg you, please!”

             But Aria said nothing and didn’t even flinch. She just watched down, regarding him with her icy stare.

             When he didn’t receive any reaction, Arham tried again. “Please goddess! I love you! I worship you! I would do anything for you!”

             Aria looked like she would remain unresponsive again, but then she smiled.

             “Anything?” her booming voice came.

             “Anything!” Arham felt a sense of relief.

             “Would you even die for me?”

             Arham hesitated for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. “I would gladly give my life for you.”

             “Then so it be.” she answered while raising her right foot above him, hovering it for a few moments to let Arham contemplate.

             He was stunned, he didn’t understand. “Why!?” he screamed. “After all that you’ve given me! After all that you’ve showed me! Why goddess!?” he started crying.

             “Just because.” she answered coldly. “I accept your sacrifice.”

             Arham felt a painful stab of betrayal hit him, as if fate had abandoned him forever to the darkest corner of the universe. He wanted to scream again, to say something, but his voice failed him. And then he saw her foot lower down. He breathed in deeply, and closed his eyes, trying to think of anything that would be appropriate at this moment. But that failed him too as blackness overtook him.

             And then he felt a breeze of wind hit his skin.

             He opened his eyes immediately, and they were greeted by shining stars on the night sky. He stared at them for some time, trying to comprehend what had happened. Then he lowered his head down, looking around him, but she was nowhere to be seen. He felt the ground with his hand, and the grass that covered it, but he still didn’t understand.

             “Is this afterlife?” He asked to nobody in particular. But it was answered by a pat on his pack.

             Arham jumped out of fear, turning around scurrying backwards away from where the pat came. And then he saw her.

             Aria burst out laughing and pointing a finger at him. “You should see the look on your face!” she said while still laughing out loudly, childlike glee filling her face. “Scared you! Didn’t I!” she said after calming down.

            Arham just looked on, dumbfounded. “I don’t understand.”

             “Of course you don’t, silly.” she said. “I was just playing around with you. Don’t worry, this is not the afterlife, we’re back at your shining castle.”

             Arham noticed the castle in the distance, looking with affirmation. “You mean, you just scared the shit out of me just for fun? You didn’t really try to snuff me out?”

             “It worked brilliantly, didn’t it!” she smiled broadly.

             Arham just let himself fall on his back, sighing, but glad that he was still alive and in her good graces.

“I’ll come back to visit you soon.” Aria said while waving one hand before her body went from a slight glimmer to turn into a full blown and mesmerizing beam of light that lit up the entire area again.

Arham had to protect his eyes not to be blinded, and after the light had faded away, she was gone, as expected. He stood on there on the open for a few moments, letting the cold of the night, the wind and the darkness that surrounded him return him to the very ordinary of his normal life compared to what he had experienced in the past few hours.

He noted that Master Giedon and Kal probably went back to the castle before he disappeared with Aria, and so he started walking towards it, feeling extremely happy again for the first time in a long long while. He strode confidently, even though he recognized that he was walking alone in the darkness, failing to remember when the last time was when he was truly alone outside a room, without guards looking over him.

He didn’t care. With him being on Aria’s side, he felt powerful, invincible, unstoppable. Who would even dare to challenge him now? And with the prospect of ascending from this life of ignorance and plainness, he didn’t even care what would happen to his once precious empire. There was only one thing he truly cared for right now, and that was his son, Kal. So he strode towards the castle, robes fluttering in the wind which somewhere on the back of his mind reminded him that he was naked when he was still in the heavens, but guessed that if a goddess like Aria can transport him anywhere instantly, adding a few robes to his body while doing so shouldn’t be that hard.

As he was nearing the old and formerly-abandoned castle, he noted that there were too few guards stationed around the walls on which the torches burned, and he hadn’t met any patrols so far. Security was not of uttermost importance nowadays, but he still got worried a bit. He approached the two guards that were posted at the entrance and was about to speak to them, since he knew most of the guards by name, before he saw their totally unknown faces.

“Who are you?” He managed to say before they lowered their spears. He looked down at their sharp edges, wondering why the guards would do that. And then he heard footsteps from behind. He turned around to see a few more guards or soldiers that he didn’t recognize approaching, spears lowered too.

“Emperor Arham.” One of them said. “You need to come with us.”

“What is this!” Arham demanded. “What are you doing?”

“It would be wise not to resist, emperor.”

Arham considered screaming for a moment, but he thought that if those people could have ambushed him at the front entrance, he didn’t think he could get any help from inside.

“Fine.” he said. “Take me to whomever is instigating this betrayal.”

The group of armed men surrounding Arham entered the main hall of the castle, revealing a sight of dozens of Arham’s own trusted men on their knees, bound on their wrists and ankles by another group of heavily armed and bannerless soldiers who Arham didn’t recognize.

“Ah!” A familiar voice came from their midst. “The emperor has finally returned from his hiding place!”

Arham turned his head, looking at the direction from where the voice came, and sure enough it was him: Kalamar. He was one of his best, and yet most arrogant generals. Arham had sent him on a mission to pacify one of the outermost provinces to teach him humility but before he could return, Aria had appeared and Arham hadn’t heard from him since.

“You fool!” Arham cursed. “What do you think you’re doing!”

“What am I doing?” Kalamar laughed, walking slowly towards Arham. “You really have the nerve to question my actions, don’t you?”

Arham frowned, trying to understand what he meant, why he was doing this. “It doesn’t make sense. What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Kalamar’s expression grew serious. “What do you think I want? I want to oust you as our leader, you pathetic fool! Don’t you see what you have done?”

Arham was truly confused. Why would Kalamar want to become emperor now? Why would he even care about Arham. It didn’t make sense, unless…

“... unless,” he said, realization dawning on him. “ of course. You don’t know what is actually happening. You have been away too long.” Arham started laughing before powerful blow to his face stopped him.

“I know well enough what is happening.” Kalamar said, clearly angered. “You’ve destroyed everything you have build! I killed every rebell you sent me to kill on that forsaken place just for me to return to a Tarthaghast crumbled and laying in ashes!”

“People speak of gods coming down to punish them,” he continued. “ but the more I look, the more I see that you’ve simply gone crazy. It’s the only explanation. Cities burning or destroyed by rebellion and chaos, most of the noblemen missing which you’ve probably gathered just to decapitate, hundreds of thousands of people dead or fleeing on the countryside. Why?”

“You truly are a fool.” said Arham.

“Of course I am, crazy old man!” said Kalamar. “You’ve probably just become jealous or something like that, and now want to destroy everything just so no one can match your achievements. Well that’s enough. Now that I’ve finally found you, I will end this!”

“And you need my head to parade around I guess.”

“Of course.” Kalamar said. Arham laughed out loudly again, which made Kalamar uneasy.

“Thank you for proving me you truly are crazy.” the general said. “Take him to the others.” He commanded his soldiers, which reminded Arham of his son.

“Where is Kal!” he shouted, coming out of his trance.

“He is alright, for now.” Kalamar said.

“Father! Father!” a childish voice came from somewhere in the back of the room. The soldiers didn’t need to push and shove him since Arham gladly followed them to where the they led him. He finally saw his son, hands held tight around and master Giedon’s robes as they were held captive on the corner of the room along with a few important officers, surrounded by soldiers with spears held down pointed at them. Arham was quickly made to join them.

“Are you hurt?” he asked Kal as he held his seven year old son on his arms. The boy only shook his head as a response and then proceeded to tightly hug Arham.

“I tried to explain it to them, Arham!” said master Giedon. “But they really are as thick as soldiers can be.”

“Well, master Giedon, “ said Arham. “ I think if I were in their place, I wouldn’t have believed you either, to be honest. But don’t worry, she will come.”

“Are you sure?” he asked skeptically.

“I am sure.” a confident expression grew in Arham’s face.

“Who will come?” asked Kalamar as while he arrived to where they were held captive. “I’ve got the entire area surrounded and I’m pretty confident you don’t have an army, emperor.”

“Don’t you worry about that.” Arham said, grinning.

Kalamar shook his head. “Old fool. Anyway, bring me the master.”

Arham frowned. “What are you doing?”.

“What do you think?” said Kalamar. “Since I’ve got everyone here who is remotely loyal to you, and of course, you heir, I don’t need them alive anymore.”

Arham froze. No! he thought. “NO!” he screamed. But it only made Kalamar laugh.

“You can’t do this!”

“And who’s to stop me?”

Arham clenched his fists, rage and desperation building inside of him. Then Kalamars guards came to get Giedon whose face had completely paled. He wasn’t ready for this.

“Aria, where are you?” Arham muttered under his breath, but no sign of her was to be seen.

The guards seized Master Giedon by his wrists, and dragged him forward. He tried to resists, but he received the but of a spear on his guts as a response. The guards swiftly brought him to Kalamar and held him with arms outstretched.

“Finally, the day has come.” said Kalamar while he took a spear from one of his guards, regarding it for a moment.”

“Don’t do this Kalamar!” Arham begged. “Come to your senses, how could have I done all the destruction to Tarthaghast, or anyone else for that matter? You weren’t there, you haven’t seen her do the things she did. Don’t do this!”

Kalamar ignored him. “This is the day Kalamaria will be born!”

“Don’t do this!” Arham screamed. “Your lust for power is blinding you! Try to look at it again and you’ll see that everyone is speaking the truth! Even your soldiers believe it, Kalamar! Don’t do something you are going to regret”

But Kalamar still ignored him as he lowered the spear against master Giedon’s chest while the master closed his eyes and started muttering something to himself.

“Please, Kalamar I beg you.” Arham said with desperation. “If you-”

“I’m sorry, Arham” Master Giedon interrupted him. “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.”

Arham suddenly shoved forward, trying to do something, but was quickly surrounded and held back. “Let me go!” he screamed, still holding Kal on his hands as the boy started crying.

“Please Father, make them stop.” said Kal, but Arham was powerless to do anything.

Then the general swiftly thrust the spear with great power and precision, piercing master Giedon right through his heart, killing him instantly. Arham watched as the limp body fell to the ground, and with it his oldest and most dear friend was gone, just like that.

He was silent for a long moment, trying to control the rage building inside of him that threatened to consume him. It was evident as it reflected on the whole room, stirring the whole crowd of people and making them visibly uneasy.

Then Kalamar turned towards Arham, looking him straight in the eyes. Arham swore he saw coldness inside of them, something that suddenly made him afraid. At that moment, he knew it has been futile all along to try and talk him out of this, he wanted this desperately, he must have for a long time, and he was enjoying this immensely

“Now, bring me the heir.” he said with a flat, emotionless tone.

“No! Not my son you cold-hearted bastard!” Arham suddenly gripped Kal rightly. “He is only seven years old!”

But Kalamar still ignored him, and the guards quickly surrounded Arham to take Kal from him.

“NO!” He screamed as he tried to fight of the guards with every ounce of strength he had. “Aria please, I need you help!” he shouted as loudly as he could.

Then he felt a powerful blow on his neck, knocking out his entire composure out of his body and letting Kal fall into the ground, rolling, while he it hard with his head.

“Demented old fool.” Arham heard Kalamar say as the guards dragged his crying son from the floor towards the his betrayer.

Arham raised his head and stretched his arm up with the last bit of strength he had towards Kalamar who proceeded unsheathed his short blade out and pointed it at the fear-stricken boy. He tried to plead to him for one last time, but his voice failed him, tears were his body’s only response to the events unfolding before his eyes.

He lost hope at that moment. Not even trying to emanate every possible emotion he could muster was enough to make Aria appear. After all the things he had experienced, this was happening. He lost all faith on her at that moment, she was no god to him anymore, or else she wouldn't let this happen. So he looked directly at Kalamar, and mustered all the concentration he had and tried to do what Aria told him he could to at him. He tried to reflect the despair that he felt, the pain and helplessness that filled him completely at the sight of being powerless to stop the death of his son.

And he thought it worked, because he saw Kalamar’s eyes flinch and unfocus, making him blink in rapidly. The general turned his eyes towards Arham, and looked at him for a long moment.

“You know what?” He said. “Maybe I’ll show a little mercy. Perhaps I should kill you before I kill your son.”

“No!” Arham said weakly. “Don-, don’t.” he coughed. “Please! Do whatever you want to me but please spare my son!”

Kalamar took the spear with which he had killed master Giedon and walked towards the prone-laying emperor, shoving his foot underneath his body and pushing him over on his back, resting the point of the spear on top of his chest.

“You know I won’t do that, Arham.” he said with a bitter and cold tone.

Kalamar raised his spear and held it like that for a moment. Arham closed his eyes as his last thoughts of his son and his complete failure to protect him consumed him.

“Father!” Arham heard his son scream the most intense scream he had ever heard from him, and with it came the most sickening feeling he had ever felt. He opened his eyes immediately, and looked around. He saw that almost everyone had felt the wave of intense feelings that he had, they all looked as if they had seen a ghost.

“What the heck was that!” Kalamar demanded, but everyone was just looked at each other, startled.

Kalamar grunted heavily. “I have no time for this!” he held his spear up again and prepared to shove it into Arham’s chest.

Before Arham could even react, a bright flash of light filled the room for a split of a second before a powerful blow of wind knocked everyone around. Arham heard spears and armor rattle, people screaming and general panic as everyone including him were thrown violently around like rag dolls by the powerful gusts of wind. But even through the pain of being hit and shoved against the hard stone-floor, he smiled, for she was finally here.

He immediately raised his head up and looked around the room full of people that had lost their balance, trying to get their bearings and looking around with complete confusion and fear. In the midst of them stood a lone figure, looking very underwhelming, but Arham recognized her form instantly.

“Goddess!” he shouted with he slowly returning voice.

He saw Aria survey the room slowly, shifting her gaze towards Arham, stopping at him and nodding slightly before she moved on, as if looking for something. Her gaze shifted on and on around the room until it met Kal.

The young boy had fallen somewhere in the midst of the soldiers that had held him in place but was the first one of the bunch to get up. His tear-filled face was that one of fear and relief at the same time, gazing directly at Aria.

“You.” she said, pointing at him. “It was you. Come here.”

Kal didn’t hesitate. He immediately ran towards her and jumped in her arms, surprising Aria who barely managed to react at the sudden affection the boy showed. She held him up, confused as Kal hugged her tightly.

“Thank you for saving my father!” he said to her.

“Saving your father? From whom?” she asked.

“From the bad people.” he said, still hugging her tightly.

“The bad people? Why were they trying to kill your father?”

“Because they are bad.” Kal said with his childish voice “Greed is in their hearts and all they want is to be above everyone else, and kill everyone. Thank you!”

Aria was left bewildered. She moved to lower Kal down on the ground and then crouched, looking him in the eyes.

“Which ones are they?” she asked. Kal immediately pointed the finger at Kalamar who had just regained his composure and looked straight at them with a perplexed look, just as everyone else in the room was.

“What kind of sorcery is this, you fucking witch?” he shouted. “Soldiers! Grab her immediately!”

Nobody dared to move. They all looked on with terror at her, all except Kalamar, whose expression had turned into pure rage. “Fine, I’ll do it myself!” He suddenly rose up and held his spear forward, charging.

“Witch?” said Aria, while raising a hand up at him. Kal immediately moved behind her, and held her tight around her waist. Aria turned her head behind at Kal who had shut his eyes closed from fear. She looked on for a moment and then she smiled, moving her other hand gently through his hair.

Without even looking, Aria never let Kalamar get anywhere near them. His spear rapidly stopped in mid air as his body seemed to have hit some kind of a invisible wall. But that was just an illusion because the blow of Aria’s push was so powerful that it seemed like he had stopped dead-on. But that wasn’t the end of it as Kalamar’s body started to rapidly move backwards, fly even, and rush at the opposite side of the room like a stone being thrown away. Everyone on the direction jumped out of the way as his screaming form hit the wall with a powerful blow.

“Insolent little bug.” she said as she turned towards Kalamar again, and then turned her hand around, making a ‘come here’ gesture. Kalamar’s pain-filled body was suddenly dragged along the floor as if pulled by an invisible rope, collecting the dust from it all along until it stopped right in front of Aria.

“Wh-, who are you?” he said, looking fearfully at her.

“I am your god!” she said with a distasteful tone. “You pathetic fool. Calling me a fucking witch was the gravest mistake you’ve ever made.” And then mortal screams erupted from Kalamar as he thrashed around from the pain that filled every fibre of his body, sucking him from the inside. Kal moved around her and watched with wide eyes as Kalamar’s body started shrinking.

Aria reached around Kal’s arms and held him up again as Kalamar’s body finally stopped shrinking at around three inches tall. His screams faded away entirely, and Aria moved Kal’s head on her shoulder whispering: “You’re safe now.”

And with that, she raised her right leg, and stepped forcefully at the confused little figure beneath her. Kalamar exploded all around her foot, spraying jets of blood in every direction, ending his life immediately.

For a brief few moments, complete silence filled the entire room. Nobody dared to even flinch before their trance was broken from Aria’s movement who started walking towards Arham. The entire room grew into a full blown mess of panic stricken soldiers trying to run away, tripping against each other and screaming incomprehensible words. Aria simply ignored them.

“Eve.” she said. “Beam everyone who isn’t closely associated with the emperor onto the ship. One inch tall. Trap them somewhere on my bedroom.”

Flashes of familiar bright light erupted all around Aria who strode along without care, holding an awe-filled Kal on her arms. She quickly reached Arham who still laid on the floor, watching around the room with a bright smile. Soon enough, the flashes of light stopped as most of those who had ambushed the castle had simply vanished into a place they couldn’t even imagine it exists, with their fates already sealed.

“Big, strong, muscular men.” she said at Arham. “I think I’ll have lots of fun with them.”

Arham managed to reach forward, and plant a kiss on Aria’s right foot, making her laugh.

“Thank you.” he said. “I was never more glad to see you than right now.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank your son here.” she said while lowering Kal on the ground who proceeded to rush towards the Arham and then hugged him tightly again, making him gasp in pain from his bruised body.

“He managed to emit such a powerful emotional wave that even I could feel it, hundreds of miles away” she said, looking at Kal. “He seems to be a lot more powerful than you are, emperor.”

“Heh. I guess he does take after his father, doesn’t he?”

“No, that can’t be it.” Aria said with a serious expression. “The powers are not inheritable, parent’s don’t pass them on to their children. But instead, every time a person is born, no matter where, what gender, what status, their skin color or things like that, there’s a slight chance that he gains one of the abilities.”

“This is just a lucky coincidence.” she continued. “One hell of a coincidence at that, since your son is one of the most powerful people I’ve ever encountered with his kind of power.”

“Are you sure it’s not inheritable?” Arham said. “I mean, now that I’ve had time to think about it, I remember those pushes and pulls on my emotions from his mother. I always thought it was just natural that you felt those things from somebody that you love. But now I’m not so sure.”

“Hmmm.” Aria thought for a moment. “Where is his mother now?”

Arhams face grew slightly sorrowful. “She is dead. Seven years now. While giving birth to Kal.”

“I see.” she said, without the slightest care on her tone. “It doesn’t matter anyway. It’s just dumb luck. Now, Kal, come here.” she crouched down while Kal parted from his father’s embrace and slowly approached her.

“Earlier.” she said. “You said they were bad people. But you have seen what I have done, why did you expect me to help you? Don’t you think I’m a bad person too?”

“No.” he said immediately, and raised his arm up, planting his hand on her chest above her breasts. “I have felt it before, you are not a bad person, but you have something inside of you that is strange.”

“Really?” Aria said, raising an eyebrow and looking at his arm, and then back up at him. Before she could say anything further, Kal closed his eyes and then Aria felt a sharp, penetrating pain that went right through her chest, and spread out into her mind as if probing all around it. She grabbed his arm, but fought her every every urge that told her to swing it away. She held her breath, knowing full well what Kal was doing, giving him time. And then it was over.

Aria exhaled immediately, catching her breath. “So, what did you see.” she asked, panting.

“Emptiness.” the boy said as he opened his eyes out wide. “A big part of you was missing. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like there’s a giant hole inside of you.”

“Huh?” Aria was confused. Then her eyes unfocused as her mind grew distant, deep in thought.

Arham stood still, letting her think while he contemplated something in the back of his mind. And then he remembered. “Right, I know what this is.”

Aria flickered back from her trance, and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Mae once did this to me too.” he said. “She looked right through me, deep inside, as if she was probing my every emotion. It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever felt.”

“What?” Aria’s expression grew into one of pure astonishment.

Arham didn’t expect it to have such an impact on her. “I mean, this thing Kal did, it was-”

“No! I mean, who’s Mae?” she interrupted him.

“Uhm, my wife.”

“Mae? That was her name?”

“Errrm, yes?” Arham was totally confused now.

Aria frowned.

“What?” he asked her. “I don’t understand. What’s so strange about it?”

Aria let out a laugh. “This can’t be. It has to be a giant coincidence, there’s no other way.”

“What do you mean?” Arham asked.

“Ok, take a look at this.” Aria moved her right hand infront of both and held her palm wide open. Suddenly, a shimmering blueish figure started to form on top of it, strangely familiar to the first time Arham had seen Aria back on the room beneath his palace. Then, when the figure finally fully formed, Arham’s eyes widened as his expression filled with pure shock.

“What… how?”

That was all that Aria needed. The giantess she had encountered at Talmin and the Arham’s wife that had supposedly died seven years ago were one and the same person. She sighed, standing up.

“What the fuck is going on here?” she cursed.

The bridge of the Pasargadae lit up in a sudden furore of blinding light, startling everyone in it.

Commander Marik Elias spun his head around as he jumped out of his chair, seeing what he expected, but a deep, disturbing feeling of something being out of place engulfing him. Aria didn’t usually teleport herself right into the bridge, she never really had a reason to, she was a person who really took her time, understandably.

“Marik.” She said as her eyes met his, her gloomy mood frightening him. “What is the latest report on her?”

“Uh, nothing new, mistress.” He said with a shaky voice. “We are simply monitoring the planet for any activity that would concern you, just as you ordered. We are almost certain that the subject has teleported herself on the opposite side of the planet judging by a spike of radiation on that side at the time of her teleportation, but since we did not expect something like that to happen at that time, we weren’t able to locate her spawning point with precision.”

She nodded, turning towards the planet beyond the main window. “Eve.”

Her trusted artificial companion sprung to life within the bridge of the ship. “Yes, Aria?”

“Find her. Now. Use any discrete means necessary. Do not show yourself.”

“Yes, Aria.”

Marik knew the protocol. Flickering lights on the screens and subtle sounds throughout the hull announced the imminent departure of drones that would swarm around the planet now. They would scan the planet on all spectrums, gather data, monitor activity of humans below, especially the far less civilized side of the planet where the woman known as Mae hid herself. Anything out of the ordinary, the drones will know about it and by extension, so will Aria. But it would take a few hours until they find her.

“And Eve, where is Mase?”

Marik’s heart skipped a beat. What has my son done now?

“Cell room 3B.” The AI responded.

Aria then turned and walked towards the interior of the ship. She could easily beam herself right on the cell, but her slow steps and posture indicated a state of deep thought to Marik. It was unlike anytime he ever seen her, and it disturbed him deeply.

---

The hissing sound of the cell’s panel door woke Mase up immediately. It was Aria.

He crouched up with heavy eyelids, watching as she slowly entered his comfortable cell before the door panel shut back closed. That’s when he noticed the way she looked at him, the dark expression she bore on her face, it worried him. And she was holding something on her hand.

“What is-”

“Be silent.” She commanded. “Just watch, first.”

She extended her arm and opened her palm, revealing a tiny figure on it. Mase had to squint to make out the features of the human she held on her palm, eyes still sore from having been woken out of deep sleep. But even the most remote sense of tiredness disappeared without a trace when he made the figure out to be Ken, his first lieutenant and best friend during the rebellion.

Then she turned her hand and dropped him.

Mase watched almost in slow-motion, mouth gaping, as Ken’s flailing body fell and hit the floor with a smack. His mind scrambled to make sense of the situation, having been woken up by Aria just to see his old friend’s twitching body screaming in pain at her feet. Why?

And then her foot smashed on top of the little body.

Mase jerked backwards, leaning against the metallic walls. Did he just witness his best friend get crushed under her foot? No… it can’t be. It was just a dream, just a little nightmare he needed to wake up from.

But tricking his mind didn’t work, and only when the alarming need of breathing rang on his mind was he finally able to accept this to be reality. He raised his eyes from the pool of blood on the floor, following the the long, slender leg up until his gaze passed her body and met her eyes.

“You will tell me everything.” She said. “Every little detail you remember.”

“You are mad.” This wasn’t her. Something was wrong. Mase felt like he was freezing up.

“Don’t make me physically torture you, Mase. I won’t do it. You don’t deserve that kind of pain. But I can very well torture you by other means.”

Mase was truly frightened. He had never seen Aria like this, not even when he had witnessed her killing thousands under her feet. She always held an arrogant demeanor in her pose, always being playful, unregretful, uncaring of the consequences of her actions. It’s why she hated her, but somehow he knew, deep down that in the end, it was an act. Only her lust was real.

That, and the darkness she displayed in her expression right now.

“This, “ she said as she smeared the bloody remains of his former best friend along the floor while she dragged her foot back in its original position, “was just an example that I mean it. Next in line is your father, then your brother and sister. Then your whole home planet. And I will make you witness it all. If you don’t want to know what true despair means, talk. Now.”

He believed her without a second thought, and he talked.

---

She sat on her knees in the middle of the bed, surrounded by battle-hardened soldiers.

Puny and weak, each of them barely an inch tall, incomparable to the might of her body. She didn’t need to be this big, they were no match for her even at their normal size, but the additional dimension the size difference provided was exhilarating, always has been.

Thirtyfive-thousand years, and still she tensed the same way. Her breathing quickened, her heart-beat grew stronger and her skin flushed red. Thirty-five thousand years, and her twisted primal urges still felt the same, the rush of power that coursed through her veins grabbing hold of her emotions, a vice she couldn’t shake off.

No, she didn’t want to. She was tired, and it was the only thing that kept her in touch with reality. For all her intellect, all that she has built, all that she has seen and all that she has experienced, nothing felt more real than this urge, this need for release, especially at the expense of their lives.

She looked them in their faces, the terror they betrayed. Those were men that had killed, that knew what it meant to take a life. Most people are not able to bear the weight of such power, but those soldiers do. Most people break in the face of extinguishing a life, but those soldiers relish it. They feed upon that power, that control.

And she wielded so much more of it than they did.

Control, that is what she wanted right now. She left like her grip was loosening, she needed to reaffirm her control over her dominion. She knew it was just that, a feeling and nothing more for she still was unstoppable, unkillable, unbreakable, but she needed to shake it off, and there was no better way than doing so by depriving cold-hearted killers of what they valued most: their pride.

They still wore their armor, still wielded their weapons. Hundreds of them trapped on her bed, canopied and enclosed by impenetrable curtains, having nowhere to hide but the folds of her sheets. And they were all at the mercy of her body.

She leaned back a bit, as if trying to lay on her back but stopping while everyone beneath it scurried away in panic. She didn’t want to break those idiots there, not yet at least. Instead she leaned forward again and then rose up on her feet. She studied her toy soldiers a little from her vantage point, a slight smile forming on the corners of her lips, then closed her eyes and let her body freefall into the bed.

Of course, the bed rippled. And of course, her soldiers were thrown up in the air like rag dolls. She really loved the feeling of countless bodies striking against various parts of her body while they bounced around, especially the cold armor that felt like rain drops against her skin. Then she laid still for a few moments, enjoying their faint cries of pain and terror as they regained their bearings.

When she reopened her eyes, they immediately wandered to one who landed on her left breast right beside her nipple, looking entirely confused. A spear, presumably his, rolled down the slope of her breast and she moved to catch it with her fingers, less than half the size of a toothpick. The shadow cast by her hand caused the soldier to scurry backwards until he was backed up against the fleshy nub.

Then the gigantic hand presented the spear to the soldier who became even more confused. He looked back at Aria’s face who gestured him to take the spear on his hand. He did, and stood up on the wobbly surface. Aria then moved her finger and stroked her nipple with it once while her eyes stayed fixed on the little soldier.

“Charge it.” She commanded him. “Shove your spear in it.”

The soldier, barely able to stand and hold the spear on his shaking hands, looked at her face with astonishment, then shifted his gaze back and forth between it and the nipple.

“Now!” She broke his hesitance.

He charged the nub, barely able to keep himself from falling over, and drove his spear in it.  Aria felt the sharp, darting pain, but the soldier didn’t pierce the flesh, and it only turned her on. Not that he couldn’t do it, the spear was sharp enough, but he was too weak.

“Again, until I tell you to stop.”

He did. But every shove of his spear only served to engorge her nipple in size. It was utterly futile. At first he held a little back, but then he grew frustrated and humiliated that he couldn’t beat a woman’s nipple anymore, so he put all his strength into the effort.

Aria watched his pathetic efforts while biting her lower lip. She made him so helpless, and she loved it. Her breast, despite its easily perceptible appearance, comprised only one hundredth her entire body mass. And her nipple in turn was just as small compared to the breast itself, yet the little soldier struggled against that. Very soon, he grew tired by his efforts though, so she grabbed his body, perched it atop the nipple, and concentrated.

It was difficult to shrink and keep them so, and the difficulty grew exponentially the more you wanted to. But she was Aria, not some average size-shifter. Pain gripped the little soldiers body as she held him in place while he slowly shrank. She let go when he became smaller that the surface of her nipple, but didn’t stop with the shrinking until she could barely make him out.

When he finally regained his bearings, he found himself on an unrecognizable landscape made up of wavy, protruding skin. She had reduced him to a size smaller compared to her nipple than the size he was previously compared to her whole body. She moved her index finger, and gently touched the top of her nipple, trapping the soldier. The most sensitive nerve ends of her whole body were barely enough to percept the faintest signals coming from his struggling body.

She had reduced him to almost nothing. Once, he might have been a fearless soldier, he might have killed, pillaged and raped with the army, but she had taken it all away. His humanity, his dignity, his pride, everything.

Now, she thought as she pressed hard and dragged her finger across the surface, you are nothing more than an worthless, unrecognizable streak of blood on my nipple.

Her eyes then shifted to the soldiers surrounding her and the fearful gazes their faces betrayed.