Oppressive Regimes

Yesterday was the day all of our dreams were crushed. It took us years to overthrow our oppressors, To transform Havene into a real Democracy, Then within months of our new reform, She came. The Goddess had not been seen since the dark ages of our people, most of us had believed the tributes were simply a symbolic relic of a dying religion, and we voted to stop them.

Then she came, confirming the myths and histories, angered at our choices and with her wrath our democracy came undone. The former power structure rapidly reasserted itself and those of us who help overthrow the old system found ourselves been offered up as part of the repentance tribute demanded by the nameless Goddess.

Me, My wife and our children were rounded up and taken to the ancient temple of the Goddess in the very centre of the continent. There were thousands of us, more than she had asked for indeed, The government was looking to appease her with a more magnificent tribute. As the temple doors swung closed behind the final unfortunates, The walls melded from old stone to new metal, and the temperature of the room went up. Then we waited, huddled in family groups, naked and reassuring each other that things would be fine. Isolation does strange things to the passage of time; it feels like it stretches into eternity.

Our world began to shake as we felt the container move and the roof started to slide back revealing the face of a youthful blonde girl.

"Havene's late payment I assume, Welcome to Goddess Charlotte's collection."

The girl tipped our small box out into a large metal bucket and looked down at us sympathetically; We must have only been a millimetre or so tall compared to her. She was a goddess.

"I am sorry to ask this but are any of you Vintners?"

The titan then squints as she surveys us looking for anyone who was maybe putting themselves forward. One man is jumping up and down trying to be noticed and is soon plucked up and away by the large woman who wanders away leaving us to our plight.

I turn to my family, nursing our bruises from the fall and we discuss the Goddess, We were under the impression she had dark hair and remorseless eyes, the blonde they had met seemed to be concerned for them, surely the cruelty of the Goddess they had heard was being exaggerated to them.

A short time later, The giant blonde returns with another box and tips the small people in along with us.

"Havene, Meet the quarterly tribute from Ellana, They are a huge world, so they tribute a lot of people"

The container we are being kept in is now getting very busy, the noise and panic of the surrounding population making it hard to talk with anyone. Chaos is taking over, and women can be heard screaming while fights are breaking out. I move to protect my family, trying to get us the edge, so I don't need to defend from all sides.

People began to rain from the sky again as the blonde returned with yet another box.

"Havene, Ellana, Meet Pyraxi, One of Charlotte's favourite planets"

We were now being buried in frightened, screaming people, It was deafening, My children had been crying, and now my wife had broken down, I stood above them stopping them from being crushed by the people currently on top, but it was only a matter of time before my strength gave out.

It was at this moment we heard the Goddess for the first time, her voice was distant and uncaring, annoyed as if she had been pulled from a meal.

"After Yesterday you better have a good reason for dragging me down here Sarah"

Through the people above I could barely make out the vast shapes moving in the room overhead. The blonde appeared to be down on her knees as she spoke to the bored looking titan in front of her.

"This tiny Vintner informs me the best way to make wine is to smash the grapes repeatedly under your feet; He says the old ways are the best. With this said, I believe this to be something you would find highly enjoyable and not a task I would take from you without permission"

The words hit us like an icy wind, terror and panic flooded through everyone at the same time, the volume of the writhing mass of people exceeding anything I thought possible from ordinary people. The rapid movements of everyone around me, the pushing and shoving, I was separated from my family, unable to fight back to them, unable to spare a glance upwards as I fought the throng of people to find my family again — the goddesses words reverberated around the container.

"Interesting, You have done well Sarah, I assume these are my wine grapes...Best return the Vintner to his people so I can get started"

I fight to break the surface of panic-stricken people, looking to get on top to get back to the edge and find where I left my wife, I see the blonde casually flick a person from her fingers into the bucket, and the other Titaness stands over us with a leg either side of our container. The reality of what is about to happen finally hits home and I realise that finding my family, won't change our fates.

Charlotte Stood over the bucket of people, Pleased that her maid had brought this process to her attention instead of performing it herself. She carefully placed her right foot into the bucket, power surging through her as it crushed into the mass of people. Shifting her weight she moved her other foot in next to it, a similar rush of power as lives were snuffed out below her. Then she started stomping, up and down, each foot taking more lives and she slowly worked the thousands of people below her into a dark red paste. She looked down lustily and then frowned slightly.

"This won't even be a full bottle; Next time use a bigger bucket"

The Goddess worked the mixture between her toes for 20 or so minutes before she was happy the contents would get no thinner. She stepped out onto a towel provided by her maid, bloody messy feet liberally coated in mortal remains. She grabbed a small container from a shelf marked "Foot Cleaners" as she left her maid to finish up in the storeroom.

Later that evening Charlotte was listening to a live musical performance by a small band on her desk when Sarah came in with a single glass of thick red liquid. She wordlessly took the glass and sipped it, tasting the flavours and texture. It was bitter , salty and all round rather unpleasant.

"Nope, That's no good, next time mix them with some actual grapes, You can finish it if you like"

Sarah sampled the glass and her face contorted in agreement with the goddesses appraisal. And she spat it back into the glass.

"Well, It was the first try, I will pour it away and do more research goddess"

As her maid left Charlotte realised she was bored of the musicians, Casually she swept them off her desk with the back of her hand and went back to reviewing her worlds.