Jessica once attached the vine on the two statues that were inscribed with the letter G. She had done this with the other pairs of statues and when she touched the vines after she finished she had been overcome with the emotions of pure good and evil. If this pair were same as in her childhood story she expected to be overcome by neutral feelings and emotions if such a thing was possible.
Carefully Jessica grasped the attached vine and she felt herself become overcome with what she could only describe as greyness. Everything around her remained the same but she felt that she didn’t love or hate it. This was an odd feeling for her as everyone had their likes and dislikes but while she felt like this she had no strong feelings for anything. Such neutrality about everything was probably odder than when she was feeling emotions of pure good and evil.
Once again this only lasted a few moments before Jessica let go and it subsided. She was glad to feel normal again and she hoped that what she had done would have been enough to allow her to move on in the trial. Instead nothing happened and she was surprised at this, it also somewhat annoyed her that she had gone through all that and yet she hadn’t even progressed in the trial.
Rather than venting her anger Jessica kept it to herself for now she just tried to think of what she was supposed to do. She saw the lizard near her and it looked up to her as it wagged its tail. It somewhat reminded her of a dog and it began to chirp at her a couple of times. She knew that it was trying to tell her something but she still had no idea what it was. She felt that she wasn’t as intelligent as she would have liked to believe.
“What is it?” asked Jessica as the lizard chirped at her. It also clicked its tongue a few times and it pointed its nose towards a wall. Jessica looked and at first saw nothing of any real interest. She did walk towards it just in case there was something there that she could have missed.
After taking a few steps Jessica began to see something on the ground. At first she expected it to be more vines but instead she saw what seemed to be a small dagger. Calling it a dagger was giving it more credit than it deserved. The knife was nowhere near the size of Jessica’s hand and the blade was so dull that it would most likely not even cut through a thin piece of paper.
Jessica picked the blade up nonetheless and looked at it. From her perspective there was nothing remarkable about it at all. The only thing that she could take note about was the fact that it seemed so dull. One could even give it to a child and there would be no worry about it hurting itself with it.
Regardless of its seeming uselessness Jessica did pick it up and place it in her pocket. She turned to look at the statues and she was surprised to see that the vine attaching two of them had gotten much longer. This was odd in her eyes but since not everything inside the trials made that much sense she just went with the flow so to speak.
It also gave her an idea. Now that the vine had grown it was possible that she could tie it to each statue and that way they would be connected. It seemed to be a sound plan as Jessica carefully unwrapped the vine from the statues. She figured that its length had been increased thrice so it meant that there would be enough for what she needed to do.
First Jessica tried to pull the vine apart but she discovered that it was tougher than it looked. This didn’t really surprise her and she began to grow so that she would have the strength to pull the vine apart. Even when she had increased her size the vine still refused to be ripped apart. She began to get somewhat annoyed and she grew to full size and began to pull. She hadn’t noticed that even though she was at her full size she was standing up and hadn’t even touched the ceiling.
Once again Jessica’s strength seemed to have failed her for the third time in this trial. It was pretty embarrassing for her as it had never failed her in such quick succession before. She had no choice but to shrink down again and she began to think. It only took her a few moments to realise that the knife in her pocket would be what she needed to cut the vine. She took it out of her pocket and looked at it again. It still looked to be as dull and boring as it had been before.
“Surely this thing can’t be of any use,” said Jessica to herself as she continued to inspect the blade. She even went as far as to slide her finger on the edges of the blade and yet she wasn’t cut. Not because of the thickness of her skin but the dullness of the blade.
At this point Jessica was more or less willing to try anything since she knew that the only way she could get out was to keep going forwards. She placed the vine over the section where she wanted to cut. She didn’t expect anything to happen but as she placed the blade on the vine it cut through it as if it was nothing.
Jessica was taken by surprise with the ease of how the blade went through the vine. It was like a hot knife going through butter but rather than question what had happened Jessica proceeded to cut the vine again in a further section. This left her three strands of vine that were more or less the same length.
Not wasting any time Jessica began to wrap the vines around the statues like she did before. Each maiden was tied to the corresponding warrior and it only took her a couple of minutes to achieve this. She felt that she was on the right course of action and she noticed that the lizard was just sitting there and waiting for her.
Just as Jessica made sure the last of the vines were properly wrapped she saw the eyes of the statue begin to glow. She was completely silent as she watched the light from the eyes travel down from the eyes and into the vine. Quickly the light shot down the vine and only stopped when the lights met one another which was in the area where the vines intertwined. This was more or less dead centre between the statues.
Jessica watched as a beam of light fired down from the intertwining point to the ground below. It was so bright that Jessica had to look away for the moment but not too long after that she could feel what seemed to be a tremor.
Eventually the light subsided and Jessica was able to look again but now there was a large hole in the ground which was a stairway. A huge smile appeared on her face as she knew that she had completed the puzzle. It was a relief for her and she felt that she was one step closer to getting out with the location of the treasure.
Before Jessica went to step down the long stairway she did feel some guilt. She knew that Sir Tucker would have wanted to do this himself but she didn’t want to risk losing him. She felt that she was much more likely to come out alive than him. She knew that he was capable of looking after himself but something had told her that he wouldn’t have walked out of the trial alive.
All she could do was hope that Sir Tucker would understand. She cared about him more than anything else in her life and his safety was always her main concern. He didn’t like to think that she was constantly protecting him but Jessica didn’t care. She was just glad to know that there was no one else around when she knocked him out. At least then his manhood wouldn’t of been tarnished. She did wonder if he had woken up yet and she was somewhat worried that she might have punched him too hard. Even after all these years she still didn’t fully know her own strength.
With some care Jessica began to step down the stairway but the lizard made sure that it was in front of her. She did make sure that she had the map in her possession before leaving since if she left it behind it would make their quest pointless. She did notice that torches were beginning to light up as the pair made their way further and further down the stairway. It was somewhat steep and Jessica didn’t want to fall because there were many steps between her and the bottom.
Jessica watched as the lizard just jumped down each step without seemingly a care in the world. It showed no indication of slipping and it was like it had gone down them so many times that it knew exactly where to place its feet. It began to get a steady lead on Jessica as they continued to go further and further down.
After well over one hundred steps they eventually reached the bottom where Jessica was greeted by another corridor which she was pretty sick of. She didn’t like them because they always felt small and if there was one thing that a giant hated it was small spaces. The ceiling was high however so at least she was able to stand up straight. The walls on either side seemed to be plain and unremarkable so she didn’t pay too much attention to it. Instead she looked down at the lizard that continued to walk ahead. It made sure that there not that much difference between him and the tall woman following him.
Eventually they came to an opening and it just led to a blank wall but when Jessica looked up she could see another opening. Right now there was seemingly no means to get up to the opening and Jessica knew that this was another test. It also looked to be difficult because right there and then there didn’t seem to be anyway a normal person could climb up. It seemed to be a worthy test.
However for Jessica it would be simple, she just began to grow in size until she was tall enough to reach the opening which had been roughly forty feet above her. Next she gently picked up the lizard who didn’t even seem to resist and placed it in the opening. It seemed to click in approval and if anything it almost seemed to be used to a giant person picking it up. She also made sure to place the map in the opening since she knew that she was going to need both of her hands.
Jessica then placed her hand on the ground of the opening. She then began to shrink herself but she performed this slower than normal and as she shrank she began to feel her feet dangle. When she was small enough she placed her other hand on the edge and began to pull herself up as she continued to shrink. By the time she had reached her smallest size she had been able to pull herself up and she brushed any dirt or gravel she might have had on her dress.
“Well that was easy,” said Jessica as she made sure that she was clean. She had just completed a test that would have taken a normal person some time to complete in less than a minute. She didn’t know if Sir Tucker would have been able complete this task, she had seen no way for a normal person to climb up without some kind of rope. She looked down at the lizard who was standing a few feet away from her. “Can you lead me on? I don’t want to leave my friend waiting for too long.”
The Lizard chirped in agreement and began to walk away as it intended Jessica to follow her. The tall woman didn’t hesitate in following and she felt that she was close to the end of the trial. She would be more than happy to learn the location of Three Man’s Treasure and be on her way. She didn’t really care too much about the treasure but she knew how much it meant to Sir Tucker and she was willing to help in any way that she could. She wouldn’t do anything for him that she felt was wrong.
Jessica found herself walking down another tunnel but this one seemed to be more open than the previous corridor. She didn’t feel so cramped and it was a relief for her although she couldn’t wait to be up in the open again. She always liked to be somewhere where she knew she could grow and not have to worry about bursting out. It was also safer for everyone since on a couple of occasions she had grown beyond her control.
There was one thing that Jessica noticed as she continued to walk. Although the tunnel was well lit it seemed to be growing brighter with each step that she took. At first she thought that this was simply her imagination but as she continued to walk the light grew brighter and brighter. It became so bright that she needed to cover her eyes.
Without being able to see where she was going Jessica continued to walk but she took much care as she did this. She used one arm to cover her eyes and the other was stretched out so that she could touch anything that was in front of her. She was even starting to feel the warmth of the light as she walked and it was a very odd feeling. She could hear the lizard continue to click its tongue as it continued to lead her. She couldn’t even see him but she just walked as best as she could.
Eventually Jessica felt the light subside and she even hazarded a look. This when she truly found out that the light had subsided and she carefully lowered her arm. She discovered that she was in a large open room and she saw what seemed to be a large statue a short distance away from her. She did become somewhat nervous as she thought that this was most likely the combat stage of the trial. The previous trials had included combatants who had been above the norm. The first time Sir Tucker had fought a being that Jessica could only describe as living armour. The second trial had featured a being who had stolen the appearance of Jessica and would grow every time it was defeated.
She watched as the lizard moved to one side and she looked over to the statue. It didn’t really look that much like a person but rather just a pile of large rocks that formed a humanoid figure. She watched as it began to move and it had a glowing red eyes and a mouth that when it opened there was the feeling of heat. It too was red and it stood well over ten feet tall and looked to weigh a couple of tons. Jessica did move but it was not towards the statue, rather it was just to one of the corners as she put the map down so that she would have both of her hands free.
As soon as the map was placed down Jessica walked back to where she was before but she did notice that the entrance behind her had closed meaning that the only way out was through the statue before her. She put her hands up and clenched her fists in anticipation for the fight but much to her surprise she saw the statue ahead of her take a bow. She stood there for a few seconds with some confusion.
“Greetings traveller,” said the statue as it rose itself up from the bow. It had a somewhat charming voice despite its monstrous appearance. “I applaud you for making it this far, many would be treasure hunters would have fallen long before now.”
“Thank you I guess,” replied Jessica with much surprise in her voice. The previous combatants had not spoken and she had expected it to be a simpleton rather than a being who could string full and coherent sentences.
“And might I say you’re much taller than I expected. May I ask, have the human race gotten taller over time or is it just you?”
“N-no it’s just me I’m afraid.” She still couldn’t believe that she was having an actually conversation with a being that was completely made out of rock. It was definitely something that she would remember for the rest of her life.
“Oh I see, now that the pleasantries are over I’m afraid that I’m going to have to kill you.” Despite what the statue had said it still had a pleasant voice. It made it sound that much more sinister.
“Wait do we have to fight?” She didn’t particularly want to fight the statue since she didn’t really believe in pointless fights. She would have loved nothing more than just to make her way passed the statue without fighting.
“I’m afraid we do, in a time long before I can remember I was tasked with staying here and preventing any treasure hunters from making their way through. I’m sure that you’re a very nice person but this is where your quest ends. If it brings you any peace you are the prettiest opponent I’ve had and because of that I’m going to give you the first attack. It is the only sporting thing to do.”
“I thank you.” She knew that the only way through was to defeat the statue and quickly she grew to around twenty feet in height which was as tall as she could get in this chamber and she gave the statue a strong punch which knocked it off of its feet. “But I don’t think you should have done that.”
The Statue did roll back somewhat and get back up to its feet. It was surprised that Jessica had grown like that right in front of it. Never had it seen anything like this before but if anything it didn’t think that its chances had diminished at all. If anything it was just going to make things more fun.
“Ah you have size manipulation abilities,” said the Statue with some surprise in its voice. “I must admit that I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Believe me I’m full of surprises,” replied Jessica. If she could she would have grown until she was her maximum size but the chamber limited her growth. “Believe me I don’t want to fight you but I will if I have to.”
Jessica went to punch the statue but much to her surprise it was able to get out of the way of her attack. It was faster than she expected and almost instantly it moved towards her legs. It knew that the only way to bring Jessica down was to attack her legs and bring her down that way. It was the classic strategy of when a smaller person took on a much larger opponent. However this time the Statue was actually the smaller of the pair, this was something that it wasn’t used to.
Jessica began to feel some pain as the statue struck her leg and she gave a small cry of pain. It seemed to be just able to strike her before she punch it back, it was attacking and then darting back. It was the first time that she had been involved in a fight with someone close to her own size and she was beginning to wish Sir Tucker was there with her. She knew that he would have her back but not this time. She had to win this by herself and she hoped that she could without killing the Statue.
The Statue went to attack again but this time she saw it coming and was able to grab its arm. Almost effortlessly she pulled him up and slammed it into the ground and there was a loud crashing noise as this took place. It would have been enough to kill a normal person but they were far from the realms of normality. She stood over it and even placed her oversized foot upon it.
“Stay down,” said Jessica. She had a stern tone as she wanted it to try and seem that she was more threatening than she actually was. “It’s over.”
“Never!” replied the Statue and with that he was able to lift up her foot enough for it to roll out and it was able to get back up to its feet. “I can take out beings twice your size and not even miss a beat.”
“Who said I couldn’t get any larger?” She had a smile on her face as she knew that she needed to make herself even bigger. It was not to make herself a better fighter but more of an intimidation factor.
With that she began to increase her size again and she began to lay down as she increased her size further and further. She was able to grab the statue and prevent it from moving away as she continued to grow. She wanted to pin it with her body weight but one thing she did was make sure where the lizard was. The last thing she wanted to do was to crush it, especially after everything it had done for her.
Jessica continued to grow until she was around sixty feet tall. The statue was now underneath her chest and despite its strength it couldn’t free itself. Its head was still in view and she looked down at it with a smile. She did feel cramped inside the chamber but she hoped that she wouldn’t have to stay this size for too long.
“As you can see I’m too much for you to handle,” said Jessica. She could see the statue struggling but to no avail. “And this isn’t even my full size. I can make myself at least twice this size, now if you give up I promise I’ll let you go.”
“It seems my options at this point are a limited.” It paused for a few moments as it thought. It knew that there was truly only one way out of this predicament. “Very well I surrender peacefully.”
“Wise choice.” She began to shrink in size and when she was small enough she stood back up and allowed the statue to stand up as well. She stopped shrinking when she was at eye level with the statue which was a few feet taller than her minimum height. “You know I really didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I thank you for that and I must admit that you’re unlike any opponent I’ve ever faced.” She still found it strange that the statue was talking and was even being courteous to her. This was probably the last thing she expected. “I must admit that I never expected to face a maiden who could grow into a giantess.”
“Well actually it’s not quite like that.” She began to blush as she felt somewhat embarrassed about it. “I’m actually a giant who has the ability to shrink in size.” It was as if she was admitting to having some kind of really embarrassing illness. She felt safe speaking it though as she knew for certainty that no one else could hear them.
“That is unusual but hardly surprising.” He paused for a few moments so that he could prepare himself for what he wanted to say next. “You have bested me in combat so now you may continue on. At this stage I can only wish you the best of luck.”
“Thank you although you haven’t told me your name.” She would like to properly thank him but she felt like she couldn’t do it properly until she knew what it was called.
“I have no name, I was created solely to guard this place and to ensure that only the worthy may proceed. You have shown your worthiness this day.”
“Ok, once again thank you.” She didn’t really know how to respond but to thank him again. She knew that it would be likely the last time that this statue every saw anyone else. Regardless she knew that she had to continue on or else she would find herself trapped there for the rest of her life.
A wall had opened up behind the statue but before Jessica stepped through it she was sure to pick up the map and make sure that the lizard came along with her. It had watched her during the fight and had been more than happy with what it had seen. It was by far the most excitement that it had experienced in a good long time. It walked ahead and went towards the opening with Jessica following close behind. She did say goodbye to the statue and went to walk through the opening.
Unfortunately Jessica forgot to shrink herself to her smallest and accidentally knocked her head on the top of the opening. This caused her a small amount of pain and she did rub her forehead for a few moments. It was an additional reason why she disliked her height but there wasn’t much that she could do about it.
Jessica found herself in another corridor. At this point she was sick of seeing them but if it led to the way out and the location of Three Man’s Treasure she was more than willing to put up with it.
The Lizard continued to walk forward quite quickly and it sounded somewhat different than it did before. Jessica noticed that it seemed to be happier than when she first bumped into it. She didn’t even know if lizards could experience happiness and sadness. She did find it cute but still found it odd that it had been able to live down there for so long without the need of food or water. That was of course if there was some kind of source that she wasn’t aware of, but since to her it seemed unlikely she dismissed it.
This corridor was shorter than Jessica expected because after around a minute or two of walking she reached the end and reached what seemed to be another chamber. She hoped that this would be the final chamber but she noticed that it was practically featureless. She looked around and there was nothing on the walls, nothing on the ground and there was absolutely nothing that seemed to be worth noting.
She gave a sigh and sat on the ground as she tried to think about what she was supposed to do. The opening behind her had already closed and if it was like any of the other entrances in this place brute strength wouldn’t be able break it open. She did wonder if Sir Tucker had woken up yet and if he was enraged by what she did.
Jessica did look over to the lizard who seemed to just be walking around her a few times before finally lying down on its belly but it still continued to look at her. She didn’t think that it would be that much help to her this time. She was stuck here and it seemed like it would be some time before she would be able to get out.
“Come on Jess think,” said Jessica to herself as she tried to figure out what to do next. Without any kind of indication what her next move was she was completely lost. “You’ve got a big brain, now’s the time to use it. Tucker’s counting on me, that is of course if he’s not mad at me.” She took a look at the lizard who was still lying next to her. It seemed to be quite happy just laying down right beside her. “What do you think I should do?” It began to chirp at her a couple of times but it seemed so be any different than the chirps it gave her the previous times. “Of course it all makes sense.”
Of course to Jessica knew that it didn’t make any sense at all. She was as stuck as stuck could be in this chamber. There was no way out of it and she knew that her gigantism wouldn’t be any help at all. She feared that she would die in this chamber without seeing Sir Tucker ever again. It was a fairly upsetting for her and she began to wonder if she really should have come, she thought that he should have completed the trial rather than her. She thought that he would have been able to solve the puzzle.
Jessica was deep in thought when she felt an odd sensation run throughout her body. She didn’t know what it was or even what had caused it but she saw everything around her begin to grow smaller. This was a sight that she was used to seeing but this time was different, she wasn’t willing herself to grow taller and instantly she began to become panicked. She stood up to her full height.
“What’s going on?” asked Jessica with terror in her voice. She was trying to stop herself from growing but nothing seemed to be working. Her dress was still firmly on her body and this only further her confusion.
The next thing Jessica felt was a strong thud on her head when she struck the ceiling. It caused her a lot pain but she didn’t even notice it as she was continuing to grow. She knew that she would stop growing eventually but as she sat down she saw that she was still getting bigger by the second. She didn’t even notice where the lizard had gone but right now that was not her top concern.
Eventually Jessica more or less filled up the chamber and she could feel herself continue to expand. She even thought that she might be growing larger than her natural height but she had no idea how large she actually was. All she knew was if it didn’t stop and if she didn’t shrink herself she would be crushed.
One other sensation that Jessica was experiencing was the sensation that she was about to explode. It felt like there was a huge amount of energy within her body which was trying to get out and it felt like it was tearing her body apart. Sweat was rolling down her face and she couldn’t even keep her eyes open as she felt the walls all around her closing on her. It was probably the worst sensation she had ever experienced and she still felt like she was on the verge of exploding.
All this came ahead when her body seemingly exploded with an earth shattering bang. And all that was seemingly left was smoke with no sign of the once gigantic woman who had been sitting there less than a minute ago.