A few days had passed since the incident with the male giant and the heartfelt conversation that occurred afterwards, and so far Nephila had shown significant improvement in her mood, and outlook on life. Michael was confident that within a week he would be able to start the mission on the planet’s surface.

         Of course there were a few questions he needed answered before he began. Why were Nephila’s parents killed? How can she stand in earth level gravity without issue? And possibly the most important of all, will he even have the luxury of time to get the
answers to these questions.

          “… And so that brings the total number of planets that have joined the rebellion today up to 50. It seems that in no time the tyrannical Atlantian senate and their armies will soon face defeat,” Said an eager looking newscaster whose face had been blown up to almost comically unrealistic proportions by Nephila’s oversized image broadcast system.

            A tremendous rustling noise followed by a strong gust of stale air came from the right of him; it seemed Nephila was tossing in her sleep again. Looking to his right he could see her enormous body strewn about the mountainous bed, one leg hanging over the side and a river of drool large enough to fill a bathtub making its way down across her face. He chuckled to himself wondering what she would say if she could see herself now.

             “Is it true commander that the Xandro and Gorugu have joined the senatorial forces?” asked the anchorman to a man who he recognized as the rebel leader Mars Tyrannius.

             “Yes, but this is nothing to worry about. Keep in mind that the Xandro and Gorugu have been client species of the Atlantian Union for almost ten millennia. They no longer have a formal army by which to actually fight us with; this is merely an attempt to convince the other client races to join the senate.” Said the rebel leader with unnecessary chauvinism.

              Michael turned the broadcast station off; he was sick and tired of hearing about a war that he could do nothing about at the moment.

               Another gust of wind hit him from the side followed by a half-hearted good morning from the now awake giantess.

               “Sleep well?” he asked routinely as he laid back on the enormous yet soft cloth floor that was Nephila’s couch.

               “Move over please.” She murmured half-awake as she stumbled across the room accompanied by the unnatural sound of her bare feet slapping hard against the metal floor.

               Michael didn’t need to be told twice. If there was one thing he had learned over these past few days it was that getting even remotely close to in her way was a bad
idea. Quickly he took off running across the patterned cloth to the other cushion.

               “*Yawn* Too late.” She said with a mischievous smile before leaning over the couch and allowing her entire mass to drop onto the sofa.

               Fortunately for Michael, he had reached a safe distance, thus the shockwaves created from no less than 300 tons impacting the foam stuffed cushions had only thrown him 10 feet in the air. Moments later he landed softly against the cloth and rolled unceremoniously to a stop next to her head.

               “How many times did I tell you not to do that?” he said as he attempted to hold his bearings in the face of the miniature earthquakes caused by her slight movements. “And besides, you just got up. What’s the point of lying back down again?”

               “There wasn’t one, I sort of felt like being a nuisance. Consider this payback  for making me get up early,” She whispered and stuck her tongue out at a now red faced man standing a few inches from her face.

               Michael was not amused; many years of soldiering had dulled his sense of humor. “I don’t care how big you are, I want you ready to go in 45 minutes.” He barked at the slightly amused girl.

                Nephila rolled her eyes at the diminutive man giving her orders. She briefly wondered if he had always been this uptight before thrusting herself into an upright position, and walking towards the bathroom portion of her perfectly square room.

               Michael sighed as the cyclopean mass of flesh he had learned to call Nephila stomped across the room to her shower. Since her mood had improved she had developed a slight taste for mischief, most likely a consequence of Nephila being forced to behave formally for so long.

               “Don’t forget to eat something as well.” He chided her as he slowly descended the couch and began his journey to the kitchen.

               “Is today a special day Michael?” she inquired calmly as she discarded her soiled clothing into the large metallic hamper next to the sink.

               “Today were going to go down to the planet’s surface.” He said as he levitated to the top of the table and briskly walked over to the miniature table set that had been set up in his honor in the center of the table.

               “The surface? Why are we going there?” Shouted Nephila over the hurricane-like sound of her shower as Michael activated the bimolecular replicator centered on the table.

               “Training, from what I heard you haven’t experienced your home world’s gravity in years. It will likely be a difficult adjustment, but I think you can manage.” He said while he programed the machine to replicate a container of Atlantian army preserves.

               “Will Athena be there? How long will I get to be down there? Please tell me I don’t have to interact with other giants? ” she questioned excitedly as she exited the shower and proceeded to wipe herself dry with a towel large enough to cover a spaceship.

               Michael briefly glanced over at his nude roommate, who’s tremendous attenuated physique shimmered from what seemed like hundreds of gallons of water flowing down and across the ever shifting curves of her body.

               It was strange, Nephila’s people had no concept of modesty whatsoever; she wore clothes simply because she had been told to. However this didn’t change the fact that he did have a sense of modesty, and before his eyes lingered where they shouldn’t he redirected his attention back onto his meal.

               “Alright, I’m ready to go. Shoulders or hands?” She said a few minutes later with an unusual amount of cheer in her voice.

               “I’m thinking shoulders today," He replied as Nephila’s warm hand gripped him softly from the waist before lifting his fragile body into the air and onto her shoulder.

               “So where are we headed to?” she asked as Michael unsealed the re-enforced bulkhead that acted as the door for her room.

               “Central axis. We’re taking the space elevator down to the planet’s surface.” He directed to his gigantic companion who ran at full speed to the nearest access hallway.

               Michael’s body was blown backward by the force of her initial step, in order to
compensate he gripped into the thick fabric of her shirt. He had reminded her multiple times not to run when he was on her, but once again she completely ignored his pleas.

               By the time they had arrived at the central axis Nephila was sweating up a rainstorm much to his displeasure as the air along with her clothing was saturated with sweat.

               “Ok! We’re here. Now what?” she panted with an innocent smile and peeking over her shoulder to inspect her tiny companion.

               Michael rubbed his neck; she had given him whiplash for the 5th time this week. “Head over to docking port three.” He responded meekly.

               “So this…thing is going to take us down right?” asked Nephila curiously as she entered what from her perspective appeared to be a small walk in closet. 

               “Yeah, but you may want to hold onto something. The planets gravity is about 1/5th the amount of this station.” Warned Michael as he stepped off of her shoulder and onto a platform obviously designed for someone his size.

               “Two down to the surface please.” He shouted to the onboard computer.

               “Acknowledged. Now initiating. transport for. Two humans. And. One giant.” The computer spoke robotically.

            “Ugh, I guess we got the broken one. Anyways Nephila listen to me very closely. This is just a training mission, got it.” Warned Michael as the elevator began to move down towards the planet’s surface.

              “I understand.” She replied.

               “Good. Now understand that while we’re on the surface I won’t be able to use any of my abilities, so I’m relying on you to look after me.”

               Nephila looked down at her tiny companion who over the past few weeks she had learned to call a friend. Within Michael’s small beady eyes she saw his trust in her was absolute; he had no doubts that if it came down to it she would protect him. Then looking down at her hand, it occurred to her that if she truly wanted too she could kill him; and he wouldn’t even be able to resist her.

               She squeezed her hand into a fist, and for a moment imagined that Michael’s body was trapped within her hand. She figured it would be quite painful for him, to be betrayed and watch helplessly as the person who betrayed him broke his body in half like a toothpick.

               “Nephila are you ok? You seem tense.” Said Michael.

                Michael was her friend, but at the same time he was an Atlantian, the same as those who murdered everyone she cared about. However at the same time he never once treated her differently, he accepted her despite how large she was, or that she was of a different species, and most importantly despite the fact that she could annihilate him with the slightest flick of a finger or misstep. Perhaps just as he had learned to accept her, she could learn to do the same for him and perhaps even all of his kind.

               She released the pressure in her hand and felt ashamed that such an idea even occurred to her. “It’s nothing.” She responded nonchalantly. “Well, truthfully it was something.”

               Michael cocked his eyebrow somewhat confused “Ok…”

               Nephila turned to face him; inside her mind she made a promise to never so much as think of hurting him ever again.

               The elevator lurched to a stop and in an instant natural light flooded into the enclosed room as the massive metallic doors opened up to what from Nephila’s perspective appeared to be the largest garden she had seen.

               There were swaying meadows of blue and green grass occasionally interrupted by large twisting plant structures at least three times the height of Nephila’s entire body. Around the base of these twisting trees were smaller multi-colored bushes about half her height adorned in large spiked fruit. For her it was almost like she was with her family again, except for the enormous grey steel and concrete wall that encircled the entire facility and prevented her from seeing any further out.

               “Is this my planet?” She said completely in awe as her eyes carefully scanned every rolling hill and reed covered patch of land.

               “I guess it is.” said Michael as he observed the land for any signs of hostile life.

               From Michael’s perspective the planet seemed quite arid. Most of the ground was not covered in any form of plant life. In fact the only thing that sat between the oases of twisting trees and patches of green and blue grass were plains of jagged rocks occasionally interspaced by small eroded channels due to rainfall. In a sense it looked like a savanna; minus most of the grass.

               Time to get started I suppose, he thought as he leaped from Nephila’s shoulder to the rocky soil below.

               “Michael, this is amazing. I can see everything around Me.” she said eagerly before taking her first step onto the surface of her home world in years.

               Michael surveyed the land intently; there was very little cover other than the boulders that were scattered about the place. I could use them for cover or hide behind them, he thought before an earth shattering thud emanated from his left.

               Confused and curious he turned his head just in time to see Nephila’s multi-ton foot smash into the ground next to him before swinging forward and off the ground into the distance where it landed with a soft booming noise that made the ground tremor slightly.

               He looked back at the location of her first step; she had stepped on a rock about the size of cabinet and hadn’t even noticed. Looking for remainders of the boulder he quickly realized that the sheer force of her initial step had pulverized the rock into dust. Along the ground were also 5 large gashes caused by her toes mercilessly digging into the surface. It seemed that the rocks would not offer him any sort of protection after all.

               Meanwhile, Nephila was having the time of her life. The extremely light gravity made her feel like she could almost fly and it had been years since she was allowed to move around freely in a space this open. For her this was an opportunity that could not be wasted.

               With one powerful swinging motion she slammed her leg into the soft ground before propelling herself high into the air. As she glided gently back to the ground she noticed a small figure moving between rocks. At first she thought it was Michael, but upon closer inspection this individual bore no resemblance.

               As her feet touched the ground she dug into the soil to come to a full stop. “Who are you?” she inquired picking up a large rock in case things got ugly.

               “Catch me, and I’ll tell you.” The voice taunted.

****

               Michael surveyed the horizon for as far as his eyes would let him; Nephila was nowhere to be found and with limited use of his abilities it was impossible for him to simply fly around and find her.

               “She probably ran off again,” he sighed and continued to pace back and forth along the side of the massive concrete platform that formed the base of the space elevator confident that he would eventually run into her.

               As he paced around he got the distinct impression he was being watched by something; or rather hunted by someone. He heard the soil crackle behind him as if something very large was walking near him, but when he turned to inspect he saw nothing.

               Remember your training, the fear of the unknown is just an illusion of the mind, he reminded himself as he increased his pace and looked carefully for the soundest plan of action.

               As he moved further away from the platform he spotted a flat plain of land next to one of the oases of twisting multi-colored plants. There was a large deposit of jagged rocks that he knew would give him a tactical advantage if he was in fact being followed.

               He looked back, and over the curve of a small incline he saw a hand with fingers the size of men retreat behind the bend of the hill.

               “I know your there, it’s pointless to hide yourself.” He shouted.

               There was no verbal response, rather the figure appeared over the hill and just as Michael feared it was a giant whom he did not recognize.

               She appeared slightly younger than Nephila and thus was a bit shorter; nonetheless she was equally intimidating. This was made only worse by the fact that she was almost entirely nude and elaborately decorated with dark blue body paint.

               “Apparently this one hasn’t heard of clothing either” he muttered to himself before the towering warrioress swung at him.

               Michael was taken by surprise; he didn't expect her to strike so soon, but he had good reflexes and so was able to dodge her strike.

               The girl’s hand slammed into the terrain instantaneously obliterating the ground, and throwing both shattered rock and soil hundreds of feet away. Afterwards she inspected her hand as if to see if his remains were stuck to it; her mouth widened into an amused smile twice the length of his body when she realized that she had not killed him.

               The monumental girl stood back up at full height and patiently began smashed each individual boulder and rocky deposit with her foot all the while her ample chest bouncing with every punishing stomp.

               Michael peeked out from behind his hiding spot; there had to be a way out of this, but as he stared up at the cheerful looking giant who was gleefully destroying his chances to survive he realized that this was just a game to her. He was merely her prey, nothing more.

               “You come out, we end this.” She declared in broken Atlantian as she slammed her foot on the boulder he was hiding next to.

               Michael looked up only to see an immense wall of wrinkled flesh move towards him, quickly he dove out of the way as the unstoppable mass of muscle slammed into the boulder. Looking back up he saw 5 prodigious blue painted toes carelessly curling around the rubble that was his hiding spot; the undersides of each one thoroughly soiled with dirt and pulverized stone.

               His cover was gone and she was too large to escape from on foot, all he could do now was stare into the gigantic blood red saucers that were her eyes and hope that she showed mercy.

****

               Nephila threw the rock she had picked up at the location of the voice, it had been taunting her for some time and it was beginning to get on her nerves.

               “You’re not very good at this are you?” the voice mocked from behind her.

               “I’ll show you just how good I am if you show yourself!” She shouted while walking in a circle still unsure of where the voice was coming from.

               “And you have a temper too; I guess I’m going to have to do something about that.” The voice said aloofly from further away to her right.

               Nephila didn’t respond; the voice was obviously trying to bait her into responding with anger again.

               “It is said that you think yourself better than the others of your species, but guess what. If it was any other giant that was in your position they would have found me by now.” The voice jeered.

               “I’m not a hunter, and I’m not a fighter. I can’t be blamed for not finding you.” She reasoned.

               “True. Very true. So… do you give up yet?” the voice asked calmly from directly in front of her.

               Nephila sat down on the ground exhausted from contending with whoever was taunting her, “I give up, please stop.”

               “Very well,” Said a voice from directly between her thighs.

               Nephila looked down to see a young man dressed in what appeared to be an armored suit. In his hand was a decorative staff entwined with two decorative snakes. She quickly realized that he had been right under her nose the entire time. “I guess I really am bad at this” she said putting her head in her hands.

               The man smiled at the towering women, “It’s funny how the one place you didn’t expect me to be was where I was the whole time.”

               Nephila stared deep into his puny eyes; his miniscule face showing no signs of fear whatsoever. “The idea never even occurred to me… but regardless of that who are you?” she inquired.

               “My name is Hermes and I am your survival training instructor, and an associate of Athena.” He said as he struggled to climb the smooth surface of Nephila’s lower calf muscle.

               “Now if you would kindly pick me up, so we can find your associate before something else does.” He said urgently.