“It’ll be a long journey, even for me mortals.” Megara was crouched now, looking over her little crowd of conquered warriors. She noted some were still taking their chances and leaving. She couldn’t blame them after what her sister and Kaelee had done. Megara could only imagine how horrifying it would be being stuck on the ground with the three gods towering over them; and yet many still bravely tried to attack. That’s when any chance of diplomacy crumbled and Asara felt justified in her cruelty. That didn’t matter now though, she had to get these ones back to the Shrine.
There were thousands of the men there. Megara was unsure of how she was supposed to take so many by herself. It would take her several hours to get back, but the mortals would doubtlessly take longer if left to walk on the ground. She would have to carry as many as she could. She took a moment to look at her hands. Compared to her sisters most of her body was smaller, her hands included. Even at her shorter size, her hands were massive compared to the mortals. Her palms almost two thousand feet in width, would be able to carry a good deal of them, but how would she get them there on this flat plain? She would kill many more if she simply tried to pick them up and place them on her palm. If she were to lay the back of her hand down, it would still loom above the miniscule warriors at least a few hundred feet; they were in no condition for such a climb, so again she tried to think of something. It was only a short while before she thought of it.
“Ah Ha!” Megara exclaimed, unaware of how loud her voice was in her excitement. She apologized in a softer tone when she noticed the men cower at the sound of her voice. Megara stood to her full height of a little over five miles. She took a step back and examined the deep footprints she had made in the earth, deep enough for the men to walk directly into her palms. Megara lowered her right hand first into the foot print and edged the men to march onto it. “Go on now, trust me. I’m not like the other two.” 
They were slow at first, but little by little the mortals began to walk forward and find themselves on the uneven surface of her hand. They were so small Megara could barely feel them, but they were coming. She waited for some time until her right hand had almost contained its fill of passengers, now she lowered her left and the process started once more. It was strange for Megara seeing those little dots crawl their way onto her palm. Each of them was a person all their own, but viewing them unmagnified from her scale, they seemed to be miniscule insects. Their lives so fragile in her hands, that the slightest of her actions might kill most of them. That thought of power didn’t excite Megara as it did Asara and Kaelee; she was afraid of her power. She understood that the mortals were technically much lower on the cosmic ladder than her but she pitied them. She hated the idea of taking advantage of them because of her natural superiority.
When all was said and done, Megara’s palms were filled with all the little mortals she could carry, and yet still a few thousand more were left on the ground.
“I’m sorry, but there is no room for you. If you can manage, follow my footprints. They’ll lead you to the shrine, or you could wait for my sisters to return. Again, I won’t blame you if you run. I’m truly sorry I can’t help you now.” Megara turned and began to thunder away. She hesitated a moment, thinking of those she had to leave. She knew her apologies meant little, but she had no idea what else to say. She just hoped they would be far away by the time her sister and Kaelee were done. Regardless the journey was underway as she stomped back through the farmlands that surrounded Torros. The damage they had done earlier by simply walking through here was immeasurable. Livestock, crops and even people were all crushed with the same morbid efficiency by their feet, and now Megara was gazing at the grim aftermath. She made sure to stay clear of the main roads on the way out. She noticed that many of those roads had become packed with caravans of refugees from these farmlands. Megara found herself hoping they too would get away before Asara and Kaelee would make their way back.… The air was different all the way up there, in the goddess’ hand. It seemed thinner, but Orion barely noticed it. He was mystified by the view, both above and below. Sitting near the right edge of her left palm, Orion looked out over the land, he saw clouds forming near her waist that were blown away by her simple movement of walking. Being several miles up he had a bird’s eye view of the land. At the beginning of the journey he could make out the farmlands and great roads of Torros’ outer districts. To his horror, he saw how ravaged they were. Those fields that were the lifeblood of the city had been decimated by the feet of the titans. It was hard to look at, but as consolation, Orion knew that neither he, nor Kyle would be going back there now. His fate was still uncertain. Pondering on what would happen when they reached the shrine, he began to now look out at the forest spreading out as far as the eye could see.
His mind continually took him to the worst of outcomes. He saw how the red headed one had licked her finger and dipped it into the battalions of running men. Would that happen to him and everyone else here? He had to wonder. Would he have made it this far, only to become food for these titans? It made him shudder. He quelled that notion though; if that were the case this one would not have taken the care to transport them. Orion once more looked down at the ground; they were still in the great forest. He watched the goddess’ feet miles down as they effortlessly crushed whole swaths of the sentinel trees. To her they were less than blades of grass, they didn’t even come to her toes. Now he was having flashbacks to the feet of the other two crushing so many countless lives out without a single thought.
“This is too much Orion,” Kyle said, cutting Orion’s thoughts off, “I mean look at where we are.” Kyle pointed towards the massive pinky finger hundreds of feet in front of them, it was aligned somewhat curved upwards with her other fingers, ever looming over the mortals. The intricate detail of the fingerprints was impressive so close. “What do you think will happen to all of us?”
Orion didn’t know how to answer, he could make something up but he was just as uneasy and unknowing on the subject as Kyle was. “I’m not sure, but whatever happens, we look after each other.” Kyle didn’t seem to be pleased with the answer, but to Orion’s relief he didn’t raise a response other than a wince at his leg’s pain. “You should try and get some rest, it’ll ease the pain.”
“Easy for you to say Orion. This constant shaking from her steps is sending a jolt into my leg every few seconds.”
“I already wrapped it Kyle, there’s nothing else I can tell you other than fight through the pain.” Kyle laid back with an annoyed look on his face and did as he was asked. Now Orion looked above. The bosom of the goddess was not far away. The only thing comparable to breasts of those size were mountains. Orion’s eyes lingered there, a few moments as he noticed the jiggle they gave with each of her reverberating steps. Now he moved his eyes up to her face. It was a kind face, one full of warmth. To his surprise she looked down as he was looking up. Not looking directly at him, she scanned her palms making sure everything was in order. Those deep brown eyes of hers carried a certain warmth to them as well, a warmth not present in that of the two others. There was nothing but contempt in theirs.
The toll of the battle was beginning to be felt by Orion as he finally decided to try and rest. He laid down on the soft flesh of the goddess’ palm and quickly found himself in a deep sleep. To his chagrin his sleep was filled with visions of what had transpired earlier in the day. Thousands of men crushed in an instant by uncaring deities, craters filled with their bodies, and the mangled corpses still stuck to the goddess’ soles. The horrifying sights would likely keep him up for years to come, if he lived that long.
When Orion awoke, he was unsure of how much time had passed but it appeared to be at least a couple hours to him. He looked back down off the edge of the palm and saw they had entered a land he had never known. It was an idyllic field of green grass that spread out for quite some distance. The hills that were all over the valley were unnoticeably crushed whenever they dared to appear in the goddess’ path. He saw a small river completely stopped as she stepped into it. The water would probably well up into the footprint left, creating a lake for those who lived here. That was unsettling. Without care or notice, this seemingly young girl had changed the landscape forever. Orion looked now to a mountain not far from where they were.
He marveled at how the peak of that colossal rock could most likely be easily reached by this girl, if not dwarfed by her. His thoughts were interrupted by a new sound. The goddess began to hum a soft tune to herself. It was lazily cheerful and calming despite its overwhelming amplitude. Orion had never heard the song before, but it made him think of a simpler time in his youthful years. Even if he was relatively young at twenty one, he had to grow up fast living in one of Torros’ more violent districts. The song sounded like something his mother would hum to herself while preparing a meal or walking to the market. It soothed Orion immensely and allowed him to stop thinking of the battle for at least a little while.… A few hours had passed since the beginning of the journey and Megara was beginning to become thirsty. When she saw the great lake coming closer with each of her steps she knew it was time to rest.
Walking up to the body of water she stopped and addressed the men in her hands. “If you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna have a drink.” She noticed many of them winced at her voice. She chastised herself for being so uncaring. She repeated the process of earlier only in reverse. She stomped her foot into the ground making an extremely impressive crater and lowered her hand into it so the men could simply walk off. Some ran to the water as fast as they could while others stayed behind to help the injured off the plain that was her palm. When all of them were off she went to observe the water.
“If you would please, wait a few moments for me to get a drink, I don’t want to accidently hurt anyone.” Megara knelt beside the great lake and scanned it over quickly and carelessly thinking only of her thirst. It seemed to be perfectly fine so hurriedly, she lowered her olive hands, thousands of feet wide into the body of water and scooped up countless gallons into her great mouth. It was extremely refreshing, Megara gluttonously took two more scoops until she gave the okay to the men still waiting by the lakeside.… The goddess was finally stopping, Orion was excited to be on firm ground again, and especially happy to grab drink at the lake. Her massive foot pressed deeply into the ground and fissured the earth around the print. A strange feeling of nausea entered Orion’s head as the goddess’ hand rocketed downwards to let them off. As slow as she was lowering them, it was still a terrifying experience. Orion looked to Kyle who held his head in his hands trying not to get sick from the sudden movement. Finally they stopped.
It took time again to get used to being back on the ground but Orion was quickly regaining his composure. Helping Kyle, he slowly made his way through the ever growing crowd of soldiers. All around him the men were conversing, sharing their woes and fears as well as their high hopes that all would be well. It was insane to think that the thousands of people on the ground now were sitting in the palm of the goddess’ hand and that she had thousands more in her other palm.
He and Kyle watched as the goddess’ left hand lifted up and out of her massive footprint, getting rid of the shadow that was casted over them. Now her right hand descended from miles above them and enveloped them once more in blackness as the men on that hand began to disembark.
“Orion,” Kyle interjected the scene they were watching, “How about some water, huh?”
“Of course, Kyle.” They set off towards the lake and noticed that many others had the same idea. The other men quickly passed up Orion because of the assistance he was giving Kyle. They slowly trudged along while many others simply ran past. Kyle had a look of shame on his face, feeling awful being such a burden to his best friend. Orion on the other hand had no qualms helping him. He wasn’t lying when he told Kyle that they would look after each other no matter what. They closed in on the lake’s shore, the men who got there before them were lapping up as much water as they could. Orion noticed that they were not the only ones here. A few local fishing boats were a ways offshore, smaller vessels holding at most five people. They didn’t seem to be fishing though. They were too busy staring, mouth agape at the goddess still waiting for the other men to disembark.
It was an idyllic scene by the lake until she spoke. It seemed all the men had finally gotten off her hand as she was now addressing them. Even as soft as the goddess managed to make her voice, it still startled all the men. “If you would please, wait a few moments for me to get a drink, I don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone.” She rose slowly so as not to hurt anyone. Orion watched as her leg’s muscles started to push her body into the sky as she reached her impressive height of five miles. She looked down on them, a warm smile on her face, Orion still found himself uneasy. Even with her gorgeous olive complexion and dark warm eyes, she was something he couldn’t comprehend. Quite simply, he still wasn’t used to how absolutely massive she was, and he probably never would be. Her sole lifted into the air ceasing all his ponderings as it soared to the right of the thousands of onlookers. Pieces of earth stuck to its ridges began to rain down crushing a good chunk of the plant life far below her foot. Mounds of dirt were left after the shadow of her thousands of feet long sole had passed over the area.
Finally the foot found its place on the lake shore. Slowly and carefully the monolithic sole lowered until it thudded into the earth. Even this careful placement shook all of the men on ground, Orion was barely able to stay on his feet; somehow he did and managed to hold Kyle up as well. Kyle winced, the large reverberations were likely not a very pleasant feeling for his injured leg. Her foot finally seemed to shift the ground more, accommodating her full weight. The earth itself cracked around her divine bare foot, fissures forming as she began to take her next step. Much like the last one, the impact was staggering, but that was not the end of it. Now completely standing over the thousands of men, the Goddess lowered herself to one knee. Unreal was the only word Orion had to describe the scene as he looked up and saw her full thighs near bursting out of the tight garb she was wearing. It held though and one final impact was created as the goddess’ knee collided with the earth.
Orion looked out into the lake in horror, the small fishing boats had barely made any distance from where they previously were. He saw that they were clearly straining to row out, away from the goddess but they were too late. She must have been extremely thirsty as it felt no time had passed from her knee impacting with the ground and her gargantuan hands lowering into the body of water. Time slowed for a bit. Kyle looked on, sharing the same look of horror Orion had adorned. They couldn’t hear screaming but they saw the fishermen feebly waving their arms, jumping up and down in a last pathetic attempt to get the goddess’ attention. Of course she didn’t see them, their pleas for life completely unnoticed. The goddess’ hands were both cupped, each of them entering the water to either side of the fishermen’s boats.
The men on the boats could do nothing, they simply watched as those massive hands crashed into the water sending some of them overboard. Those sent into the waters foolishly tried to swim only to be with the sight with the edges of the goddess’ palms surrounding their entire view. Suddenly the world begin to become fuzzy as they all tried to fight the effects of gravity, trying to remain conscious. Only the men that remained still able to function had seen what was going on. Those same men had also wished they too would have been knocked unconscious by the trip up. The goddess’ beautiful, innocent face filled their view, those features that would normally be so lovely to behold were now the most terrifying thing any of those men had ever witnessed. Her mouth opened wide as she positioned her hands in front of it. With her hands cupped and angled, the water could only flow in one direction. Down.
Still desperately and against all hope those fishermen still conscious tried to swim away, but only accomplished tiring themselves out. They were simply too weak to fight the current. It was time to meet the end. A hot gust of air hit all of them at once as they got close to her mouth, the row of teeth larger than any building they had ever seen was an ominous sight as they flowed past. The heat became unbearable for many. Those in the water were beginning to be thrashed around as her eager tongue accepted the cool refreshment of the lake’s water. Many drowned now, trying to fight the thrashing currents caused by this divine beings tongue. They slowly went farther and farther back, seeing the giant uvula hanging at the back of this great one’s throat, it stood guard over the black pit leading down her esophagus. Those still conscious were treated to one last horrid sight as the light coming from the outside world into the Goddess’ mouth began to diminish. They watched her mouth slowly close, her full lips blocking any possible light. The only way they knew what was happening was by sensation. The water formed all around them capsizing the boats still upright and drowning those who had not yet met the horrible fate. The last thing many of them heard was the overwhelming noise of her gulp, immediately sending the water down her cavernous throat.
Orion didn’t know what to say, one second the fishing boats were there, the next they were gone. The goddess had unknowingly swallowed down the lot of them. She even helped herself to two more handfuls of water, countless gallons flowing down her throat. She didn’t even see them. Dozens of more lives gone forever because they couldn’t be noticed. This goddess was the nice one too from what Orion had seen. It was clear to him already, but this scene verified it, every single one of these goddesses was dangerous. She may have been caring and gentle with all of them but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a threat. Orion was becoming increasingly unsettled in going to wherever she was tacking them.
The goddess quickly stood to her full height once more, towering over them all. With an innocent, caring look, she urged them on, thundering, “Alright, get as much water as you want now, we’ll be leaving soon.” All of the men nervously walked forward, this lake was just recently the sight of a great disaster.… Several more hours passed on the journey, but nothing eventful had happened since the lake incident. The goddess had simply walked on with all of the men in her massive hands, filling their world with music as she happily hummed. Orion was actually beginning to become calmed by her melodic tune when suddenly it stopped. The goddess was standing directly in front of a strange circle jutting out of the ground. It was made of what appeared to be onyx, but it was massive. It looked big enough to support the goddess and it did. She stepped forward onto the platform. Suddenly a pillar of light shot down from the sky, enveloping all of them in its radiance. It was beautiful to behold but Orion was unsure of exactly what was going on. The light began to grow in intensity until it became unbearable to gaze upon. Orion quickly closed and shielded his eyes as the wind began to pick up. The gale reached a deafening cry and dissipated almost as fast as it had picked up. The light appeared to be gone as well.
When Orion removed his head from out of the shield of his arms and finally opened his eyes, he was greeted with an absolutely breathtaking site. The Pantheon’s domain was visible all around him. The largest door he had ever seen, miles tall, made of solid gold was not far from where they were located. That’s not where they were going though.
The goddess walked them over to a platform jutting out from one of the great walls. Orion could barely make him out, but there appeared to be a man standing there. As the goddess’ hand lowered closer to the platform Orion saw that there was indeed a man. His garb was not unlike what a nobleman in Torros would wear. A fine black robe and a gold sash was his simple but dignified garb. One piece of his attire that instantly drew the attention of Orion was the amulet he wore. It shone with an intense blue light.
“Hello Lanius, I hope your day has been treating you well.” She was speaking to him. He seemed like he was responding, his amulet’s light pulsing with each word. They were communicating. Orion had so many questions but there was no time to ask any of them now. “Off you go,” the voice of the goddess compelled them forward.
“Line up in columns please. We just need to make sure we have everyone here.” They obeyed not uttering a word. Orion knew this man must be extremely important to be able to communicate with the goddess.
“Is there anything you need Lanius, or do you have this from here? I’m rather tired.”
“Oh magnificent and radiant Megara, I am but a speck compared to your greatness. There is nothing more I shall need. If I have your leave, I will continue the initiation on my own,” the man apparently named Lanius said, with a certain affectation to his voice, almost playful.
“Please, Lanius, you know I don’t like those formalities, go on and do the initiation.” The goddess Megara sauntered off threw the great golden doors. Orion felt almost sad to her go, despite the awful incident at the lake.
“Alright you lot,” Lanius’ voice was loud and authoritative, instantly causing all of them to listen, “I assume you’ve seen what happens to the disobedient ones?” Orion instantly thought of the horror of the fields in front of Torros until his thoughts were cut off once more. “Well, that’s why I stress all of you do what you are told, when you are told. I’ll be honest, not all of you will make it. But as slaves of the Pantheon, it is our job to fulfill the every whim of our goddesses. We’ll go over the minutia of that soon. Right now, all I want all of you to do is to orderly follow me to the slave quarters. You’ll be assigned a room there and will figure out your best placement.”
Orion was anxious to see what this new life entailed, the uncertainty eating away at him. Would this be his lot forever in life? Servitude to these higher beings until one day he died. His mind was racing as his feet carried him ever forward. They had been marching for a minute until Lanius stopped them, “One more thing lads. Pray you’re never assigned to Asara or Kaelee.”