“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Pryvani was moving about her spacious living quarters at a frenetic pace, double-checking that she had everything that she needed packed. “While we’ve dealt with the immediate threat, it’s not sunshine and spring flowers down there either.”

“You don’t have a choice, Pryvani.” Zara responded, idly folding one of Pryvani’s skirts and tossing it into the bag. “If you don’t go and defend yourself against your mother’s lawsuit, she gains control over Avalon and then the people down there will really be in trouble.”

“Fair point, but I don’t really need to be there.” Pryvani responded. “It’s perfectly within my rights to assign Hurassen as a proxy defendant. He is my legal counsel, after all.”

Zara shook her head. “That would send the wrong message.”

“Yes, but-”

“What was that lecture you gave Lysis about needing to know when to delegate?” Zara asked wryly.

Pryvani stopped short and sighed in frustration. “Yes, fair point again.”

“You’re doing what you need to do to help them, Pryvani.” Zara gently placed her hand on Pryvani’s shoulder. “Keeping Avalon out of your mother’s hands is extremely important.”

“I know.” Pryvani shook her head in frustration. “I just hate that it feels like I’m abandoning Avalon.”

“You aren’t.” A small voice spoke up from atop her dresser.

Pryvani and Zara started at the voice. The two titanesses turned and spied the small figure of a human man, dressed in loose fitting cloth pants and a light tunic.

“And just how long have you been sitting there eavesdropping?” Pryvani asked the figure archly, although the smile on her face belied the fake annoyance in her voice.

“A while.” Zhan admitted with a shrug. “Long enough to know you’re fretting over nothing. There will be plenty of Titans here to keep the peace in your absence, and Lysis isn’t exactly a pushover herself. You’re doing what you need to do, Goddess.”

“You’re biased.” Pryvani muttered while she tried to fight down the blush that now appeared whenever Zhan used the new pet name he’d grown fond of. She also ignored the knowing smirk on Zara’s face.

“Maybe.” Zhan said with a grin. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not right.”

Pryvani rolled her eyes. “All right. I will concede the point for the moment.”

“Good.” Zhan replied with a grin. “Because if you decide you need to stay here, that means that I do too… and I want to see space.”

Pryvani smiled and scooped him into her palm. “Well, I did promise you a trip into space, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.” Zhan replied.

“All right.” Pryvani lifted Zhan onto her shoulder. “No use putting this off any longer.”

The young heiress picked up her bag, and turned to leave before turning right back around again.

“You’re absolutely certain-?”

“YES! LEAVE!”

*.*.*.*.*.*

“So I’m not going to have to hide in your luggage again, am I?”

Rixie rolled her eyes. “No Alex. Pryvani was very insistent that you accompany us.” Rixie’s electronic voice still managed to carry the long suffering tone. “Which is somewhat ironic since she’s not even sure she should be going.”

“Yeah well, we both know how that’s going to turn out.” Alex muttered. He sat on the edge of Rixie’s bed watching the giantess pack. He himself had already packed everything he would need. Of course, he didn’t really have much to begin with, so it hadn’t taken long.

“Yes, we do.” The Titaness clicked the latch on her carry case.

“On the plus side,” Alex continued brightly. “I don’t think anybody is going to be shooting at us.”

“This is Pryvani’s mother.” Rixie reminded him. “I wouldn’t bet on anything.”

“My aren’t you just sunny.” Alex pushed himself to his feet and, without warning, leaped the distance from the bed to Rixie and latched onto the pouch on the side of her pants. Rixie stiffened and held completely still until she felt the human slide into the pouch.

“I hate when you do that.” She muttered irritably when Alex poked his head back out. “At least warn me first.”

“You’re fine.” Alex replied, leaning halfway out of the pouch. “Besides a fall from this height wouldn’t kill me or anything.”

“It would if I turned at the wrong time and accidentally brought my boot down on top of you.” Rixie shot back.

“True. But I know you wouldn’t do that.”

“Not on purpose, but that’s not…” Rixie broke her rant off with a sigh. “Never mind.”

She carried Alex and their luggage out into the hall where they were met by Pryvani and Zhan heading in the same direction.

“I hope you two are ready to go, because the jump-ship to Valhalla is waiting for us.” Pryvani said cheerily as she fell into step beside Rixie.

“Right.” The taller giantess muttered. “Like it’s going to leave without you Pryvani.”

“True.” The heiress admitted. “But it doesn’t do anybody any good to be running late.”

*.*.*.*.*.*

Sam leaned against the clear plastic wall of his cage. He had no idea how long he’d been stuck in this hell. Months at least. And day after day it was the same. He’d get taken into the Arena, he’d fight whoever got thrown in with him, and he’d either win or he’d lose.

At first, it had been easy. It was obvious whoever was supplying his opponents thought size and strength were the only determining factors in the outcome of a fight. So, he played the David versus Goliath game with an impressive array of Andre the Giant wannabes then went back to his cage for the night. It had still been an imprisonment, of course, but it had been mildly tolerable.

Then, his adversaries had gotten smarter. Apparently his winning streak had begun to seem boring to the spectators beyond the black dome, so they’d begun to devise challenges for him. Sometimes it was multiple opponents, and sometimes they actually managed to find someone with a bit of skill. One time they pitted him against a woman, he’d lost that one purely by the fact he refused to fight back.

He’d fallen into a losing streak, and his lifestyle- such as it was- had begun to reflect that. His accommodations were back to being horrific, his medical treatment had become the bare minimum to keep him alive and his cage had been moved into Syon Fand’s office.

Sam wrapped the ratty scrap of cloth that served as his blanket around his shoulders and shuddered. The worst of it wasn’t the combat. That was bad, but it wasn’t much more than the type of exhibition matches he’d fought back on Earth- other than the fact he was being forced into them.

No, the worst part was the extra activities he’d sometimes get drafted for. Titans, apparently, occasionally had… inclinations towards humans, and sometimes one of the affluent spectators took a liking to him.

Sam’s eyes screwed shut and he tried to block out the memories of those nights. He hadn’t been a person then, hell he hadn’t even been an animal. He’d been a thing. A toy for the amusement of the giant beings, to be used and discarded when done with. They’d been allowed to do whatever they liked to him, as long as they didn’t break him.

Of course, accidents happened.

Fortunately, Dr. Rylne’s magic medicine was always there to patch him up again and make sure he was ready for his next fight.

And on it went…

The door at the far end of the office hissed open. Sam looked up but was unsurprised to see Yvenna stride purposefully into the room. It must be time for his next fight to begin.

Sam glanced around the small enclosure. Hopefully if he managed to win, he’ at least get his toilet back.

The Titaness crossed the room and Sam saw the small carrying cage dangling from her fingertips. With a sigh Sam stood and discarded the blanket from around his shoulders.

Yvenna’s face blocked the view of the rest of the room as she drew level with the cage. For a moment she observed him silently.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Sam shouted. “Just get it over with! We both know the drill here. You think I’m some dumb animal that you can do whatever you like to. I know there’s no point in trying to reason with you.”

He actually managed to elicit a small, amused chuckle out of the giantess. She reached into his cage and wrapped her fingers around him before lifting him out into the open air.

“You are mistaken about one thing, Isamu Rodriguez.” The Titaness told him as she lowered him into the carrying cage. “We do not believe you to be an animal. Indeed, Syon Fand is completely cognizant of the intelligence of humans. She simply does not care. Fate has granted her the ability to use you in whatever manner she sees fit, and you are unable to stop her. That is simply the natural order of things.”

Sam was shocked, first by the fact that the woman had actually spoken to him- he’d actually begun to suspect she was mute, and second by what she’d said. Sam had been working under the impression the Titans who controlled him believed him to be an animal, perhaps a very smart animal, but an animal nonetheless. The revelation that they not only knew of his intelligence, but had completely dismissed it shook him to the core.

Sam had harbored fantasies that if he could just demonstrate his intelligence sufficiently, that his nightmare would end. It seemed that was no longer the case.

Before he had a chance to contemplate it further, the cage rocked as Yvenna turned to leave, knocking Sam off his feet.

With a grunt Sam rolled into a sitting position and leaned back against the side of the cage. He watched with bored detachment as the familiar hallways flew past at an incredible speed.

Of course, he’d seen it a dozen times before. Just like the whirling lights and horrendous noise of the casino floor, just like the outrageously arrogant faces of the “spectators” he managed to catch a glimpse of before he was dumped onto the sand of the pit beneath the black dome.

And then he waited for his next opponent.

Just like always.

*.*.*.*.*.*

“Hey Renna! They posted the schedule for the next week!”

The exhausted waitress looked up from where she was putting the garnish on a salad. Nyli was waving her over to the announcement board.

Renna rolled her eyes exasperatedly. The new schedule was not worth the level of excitement her friend was exhibiting, but it was a momentary distraction from work so Renna decided to go take a look.

With her attention mostly on her upcoming orders, Renna’s eyes scanned the posted schedule, until something caught her attention and she peered at it closer.

“Wait a moment.” She muttered. “I’m not on here. Why am I not on here Nyli?”

“How should I know? Go ask the supervisor.”

Renna shuddered silently at the idea of talking to Jex more than she absolutely had to… still, she sort of needed the hours and the sooner she figured out why they weren’t there anymore, the better off she’d be.

“Right. Can you do a favor for me and take care of table sixteen for me while I get this straightened out?”

“Sure, no problem.” Nyli replied with a grin.

With a sigh of frustration, Renna stepped out into the dining room and traversed her way to the front of the house where she was sure Jex would be.

Sure enough, she found the loathsome little man greeting guests at the host station.

“Jex?” She asked tapping him on the shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure thing.” Jex put on a smile that made Renna’s skin crawl. “What do you need?”

“Well…” Renna made sure to keep her voice friendly to hide the revulsion she felt. “I was just wondering why I’m not on next week’s schedule.”

“Oh that. The bigshot’s got some big to-do coming up and the hotel housekeeping needed a little extra help. Asked me if I wouldn’t mind letting them borrow someone.”

“What?!” Renna spluttered. “But I don’t work for the hotel. We’re not even owned by the same company!”

Jex shrugged. “Desperate times kiddo. Relax, it’ll only be for a few days and then you’ll be right back here …where you belong.” He patted her shoulder in a friendly manner and it was all Renna could do not to retch.

“Besides, it’s not like you’re not going to be paid.”

Renna sighed and rubbed the back of her head. “Okay. I guess that’ll be fine.”

“Good. Glad we got that sorted out.”

And without another word, Jex returned to his station to continue seating guests.

Renna sighed and turned to go back into the dining room. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. If nothing else, this would give her a week free of Jex pawing at her at every opportunity.

No point in worrying about it right then. She still had half her shift to finish.

*.*.*.*.*

Syon Fand stared at the coded message she’d received from one of her multitude of underlings scattered throughout the quadrant. The offering-slash-stalling tactic she’d arranged to be delivered to the Hive had been waylaid. There was nothing to tie it back to her, of course, but that meant she was a bit more pressed for time than she’d been planning for.

To say that she was displeased would be an understatement.

No matter. Syon was nothing if not adaptable. She had contingency plans for just such a situation. She always did.

Her computer beeped and Syon turned her attention back to the screen. An icon had appeared indicating a request for a live video feed. Curious, she clicked on it.

A window opened on the screen, revealing the smiling face of her young associate; Vasha Zakrov.

“Hello Vasha.” Syon kept her tone, and her smile, polite and professional. “I wasn’t expecting to be hearing from you this evening, what can I do for you?”

The young woman’s smile lit up her face. Vasha was every bit a hedonist. A wealthy heiress in her own right, her family had built their fortune in hotels. It matched up with Fand’s own businesses (the legitimate aspects of it anyway) which were largely entertainments: Restaurants, casinos, nightclubs and the like. Together, they often controlled much of Grelau’s nightlife with Vasha providing space for Fand’s own enterprises.

The girl was completely oblivious to Syon’s other aspirations of course.

“Oh Syon,” The young woman gushed. “I just had a bit of interesting news cross my desk and felt I had to share it with you.”

“Oh really.” Syon’s voice remained deadpan, but inside her curiosity was piqued nonetheless.

“Yes.” The girl giggled. “You’ll never guess who’s made a rather lengthy reservation in one of our penthouse suites.”

Fand rolled her eyes. She didn’t bother guessing, by the look of her Vasha was roughly three seconds from exploding anyway.

“Pryvani!” Vasha gushed, a huge grin on her face.

For a split second Syon’s eyes widened in surprise before she was able to regain control over her expression. “Really?”

Her voice remained mild, even bored, but inside Fand had to agree the news was interesting. It was a rather bold move on Pryvani’s part, to put herself under the same roof as Fand herself. Grudgingly, she had to admit a certain respect for her daughter, having the guts to invade Fand’s territory in this way.

“Uh huh.” Vasha continued, oblivious. “I just thought you’d find that interesting, considering your rather strained relations as of late.”

“Oh well, I bare the girl no ill will of course, I’m merely doing what I think is best for my late husband’s legacy.”

Of course.” Vasha agreed, and for just a split second there was a glint in the young woman’s eyes, a hint of something deeper; which then vanished back into her excited expression. “Well, I just wanted to give you a head’s up. I really must dash off though, lots to do, you know how it is.”

“Of course dear.” Fand nodded sympathetically. “I’ll talk with you later.”

*.*.*.*.*.*

Aboard the shuttle Elysium, Pryvani had just stepped out of the shower and into the cloud of steam that now encompassed her cabin’s bathroom. She wiped the condensation from the mirror above the sink and smiled at her reflection. She’d dyed her hair again, this time a mixture of silver and blue, and the bags hadn’t completely disappeared from underneath her eyes, but all in all she had to admit a lot of the stress she’d been carrying for the past few weeks had begun to ebb away.

Not all of it, of course. Things in Avalon were by no means peaceful and there was still the business with her mother to contend with. Pryvani was confident that she would be able to beat the lawsuit, but it wouldn’t do to underestimate her mother either.

Still, they had a few days before they reached Grelau. There was no sense in Pryvani worrying too much at the moment. Better to save her energy for a time when she could actually accomplish something with it.

The young titaness wrapped a clean towel around her body and stepped out into her bedroom.

She smiled fondly at the small figure perched by the window gazing with rapt attention at the black starscape that zoomed past outside.

“I sometimes forget how impressive space really is, until I see the reaction of someone who has never been out here.” Pryvani spoke into the silence, grinning in amusement as Zhan started.

“Sorry.” Pryvani whispered. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh you didn’t.” Zhan muttered as he turned around. “I was just …um…” The young man’s voice faltered into a rather undignified squeak as he saw that Pryvani was wearing only a towel. The hem of which was at his eye level.

“Something wrong Zhan?” Pryvani asked mildly, expertly keeping the knowing grin off of her face.

“Uhm… well… what? No. Nothing.” Zhan cleared his throat and turned back around to face the window again. Pryvani could see the back of his neck had turned an amusing shade of red.

“Okay. Good.” Pryvani slowly lowered herself to the floor and sat herself behind Zhan, carefully positioning herself so he could see the ample cleavage that peeked above her towel reflected in the window.

“S-So I suppose you’ve travelled through space a lot huh?”

“Oh yes.” Pryvani purred, leaning forward until her bust gently bumped into Zhan, which she pretended not to notice. “It’s easy to forget how amazing it actually is, being able to travel from star to star.”

“Yeah.” Zhan swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt Pryvani press into him from behind. A moment later she folded her arms in front of him, completely surrounding him on all sides with her body.

“But I think there’s something I’m far more interested in right now…” Zhan felt her hot breath on the back of his neck, which sent shivers up his spine.

Slowly he turned around and found himself confronted by a pair of plush lips painted in a dark purple. A second later they split into a mischievous grin, before pouncing on him.

Zhan felt himself pushed to his back by the force of the soft puckered flesh, the air was sucked out of his lungs and all he could hear was the low growl of pleasure coming from the back of her throat.

After a few intense seconds she pulled away, a satisfied smirk. Zhan was left gasping for air.

“Zhan? Are you all right?” The smirk was gone, replaced with a look of worry and confusion, and then one of dawning horror.

“Oh gods, Zhan, I didn’t think… I’m sorry!”

“Wh-what?” Zhan muttered, confusedly. “What for?”

“Well… that… I mean, after what Trell did to you…”

“WHAT?!” Zhan finally snapped out of it. “Oh no, no! Don’t even think that!”

“So… what’s wrong? …Didn’t you like it?”

“Of course I did!” Zhan assured her. “It’s just… um…”

Pryvani’s eyes narrowed and she leaned forward. “Zhan, what’s the matter?” She asked gently.

“Well… it’s…”

“Yes?”

“I’ve um…” The young man scratched the back of his head self-consciously. “I’ve just, never done anything like this before.”

Pryvani chuckled sympathetically. “Well I should think not. It’s not like you’ve met many titans before.”

“No, um…” Zhan cleared his throat. “I mean anything like this… at all. With anyone.”

“Oh.” Pryvani whispered, before her eyes widened in realization. “OH! I see.”

“Yeah.” Zhan muttered, looking down at his boots.

“Zhan that’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Pryvani smiled and gently caressed his back with her finger.

“So, uh…” Zhan grinned shyly up at her. “Do you… I mean, do you still want to…?”

“Very much so.” Pryvani responded, chuckling. She laid her palm flat next to Zhan and waited patiently as he climbed into her palm. “However, there seems to be a slight discrepancy in our relative states of undress.”

“What?”

“Your clothes, Zhan.” Pryvani grinned. “I think you need to lose them.”

“Oh. Right.”

Moments later Pryvani was laid out in her spacious bed, completely naked from head to toe. She grabbed Zhan, who was similarly clad, up in her hand and raised him high so he could get a good look at her.

“You like what you see?” She asked impishly.

“Definitely.” Zhan nodded.

“Good. So do I.”

“I didn’t realize you dyed all your hair though.”

Pryvani chuckled. “The tabloids have put out a hundred thousand credit reward for anybody who can tell them my real hair color. I like to keep it interesting.”

Pryvani lowered Zhan until he found himself astride one of her nipples. Reverently, he gently stroked her flesh, causing a pleased growl to rumble in the chest beneath him.

“More of that please.” Pryvani moaned, as her hand snaked down between her thighs. Zhan watched, awestruck, as the giantess skillfully teased herself into a higher state of arousal.

“Hey, eyes on your own work!” Pryvani scolded playfully. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later, but I think you should work up to it.”

With a grin, Zhan returned to the neglected bit of flesh in front of him. He leaned forward and gently caressed the hardening nipple. After a moment, he felt a pair of giant fingers press his entire body into the mountain of flesh underneath him.

“For goodness sake.” Pryvani teased. “I’m a hundred times you size, there’s no need to be too gentle.” For a moment, Pryvani seized control, using Zhan’s body to massage her flesh, before releasing him from her grip. Zhan lay winded on her breast, momentarily winded but exhilarated.

“Much better.” Pryvani purred. “Are you ready for the main event, darling?”

Zhan gulped nervously, but nodded. Pryvani lifted him to her mouth and covered his body with a gentle kiss. “Don’t worry; we’ll go slowly this time. Let me know if you don’t feel comfortable, okay?”

Zhan nodded.

“Good.” The Titaness gently gripped his body and slowly dragged him over her flesh until he reached the conjunction of her thighs. She carefully rolled him into her palm and pressed him against the lips of her sex. The contact with his body sent a shiver up her spine and she bit her lip.

Zhan marveled at her body and reached out to run a hand down the part of her labia that he could reach. Above, he heard a startled gasp escape Pryvani’s mouth.

Then, her hand pressed him deeper against her body, against a relatively small nub of flesh.

“Grab it!” Her voice gasped and without thinking he hastened to obey, taking the button in his hands and squeezing it carefully.

A loud groan was his reward. With a grin, Zhan continued to manipulate it, playing with her flesh in his hands like a new toy. Meanwhile, the rest of his body became soaked in her warm fluid, and below him, her deft fingers continued to manipulate the folds of flesh that surrounded him.

After a few moments, the movements of her hand became more insistent and frantic. After a while, Zhan lost his grip on her clitoris. It hardly mattered, as Pryvani was now using his body to manipulate every part of own until Zhan was nearly enveloped in the folds of her sex.

The feeling of it was indescribable, and Zhan suspected that even if he’d been more experienced with women, this particular sensation would have been entirely unique.

As it was, he was merely along for the ride as Pryvani’s hips bucked and she worked herself into frenzy. Zhan’s body tingled as he sensed Pryvani reaching a peak. Her gasps and moans had become deafening and he’d begun to wonder if the entire ship could hear her.

Although, he was sure she wouldn’t care if they could.

And then, suddenly, like a bolt of lightning the body of the titaness that surrounded him gave one final earth-quaking spasm, before she collapsed back onto the bed. Gasping for air.

Zhan, meanwhile, was also breathing hard and soaked. He felt her fingers gently surround him and he was lifted to her smiling face. She gazed at him with glazed eyes as she fought to catch her breath.

Wordlessly, she lowered him to her mouth and her long tongue snaked from between her lips and covered his entire body in long blissful strokes.

“That was pretty amazing little man.” Pryvani gasped.

“You did most of the work.” Zhan replied breathlessly. “I was just along for the ride.”

“That’s okay. Next time I’ll let you drive.” The giantess responded with a grin. “However…” Her grip tightened playfully and a mischievous glint appeared in those blue eyes.

“Now it’s your turn.”