Raymund stood his ground as the distant figure grew larger, and more imposing with each stride of her long legs. Each foot fall caused a larger and more disruptive impact tremor, and the curious gathering of citizens near the city gate had quickly changed tone to that of tension and worry.

It wasn’t exactly as if they had never heard of a Titan before, or even that they hadn’t ever seen one, there were occasions where Titans from Tayas Mons traveled to the city gates for whatever reason. Some citizens even paid the stranger no heed at first, that is until more and more city guards began to show up and form a line along the outside of the Lions gate portcullis.

That sent the absolute wrong message to the crowd that had gathered, who were not used to titan visitors receiving  such a  peculiar reception.

Every titan who visited Atlantis, did so with purpose. There was generally little time for mingling with the local populace, absolutely no access  to the city infrastructure itself, for obvious reasons of stability and preservation of the ancient cities buildings, and were generally met, at night, by a small, intimate gathering.

Not the entire available city watch.
The titan’s attention was on the first person to cross into her line of sight, which unfortunately for Raymund, was the one furthest from the ground. His stomach lurched as the woman’s blue-grey eyes focused directly on him. Her lips curled into a hesitant smile and she changed her pace and direction, approaching as one would when they had something particularly pressing on their mind.

“Oh shit…” Raymund muttered, and looked around to find those around him had fled to the towers. He was alone.

The thought of fleeing had occurred to him, but his legs, like gelatin, refused to cooperate. His mouth went dry like cotton, with a bitter metallic taste as his whole body lurched with the frightening impact tremors of the nearby titans steps.

Her shadow enveloped him, like Herekleos blocking the sun during an eclipse, how she was able to cover a hundred podes with every step, left Raymund in awe.

The creature was upon him soon enough, standing at her full height, he only came up to thigh height, the tallest point of the towers would only of reached her navel. His mind went blank, his jaw agape, as the titan stood above him, nervously looking down, wringing her hands together, as if trying to figure out what to say next.

“Hi ummm….” She began, in perhaps the loudest voice Raymund had ever heard. Far louder than even his radio turned to its loudest setting, hooked up to an amplifier, could ever match.

Raymund just stood, terrified, in awe.

The titan shifted her weight and crouched down, steadying herself with a hand against the wall for support. The ancient structure groaned and cracked, debris crumbled to the ground below as the human structure struggled to support more weight than it had ever been designed to support.

“Um, hey…my name’s Kymie, and I…um… was hoping you would be able to help me find somebody?” The titan said softly, wincing as she heard the wall strain under her weight.

***
Rixie Tam groaned, everything had happened so fast, she couldn’t recall exactly what had happened. There was a bang, a flash, she clutched her ears, then she hit the ground…hard. Gravitational dampeners only served to soften the blow so much, it still felt as though she had fallen from three times the height she had.

Her legs also felt like dead weight, Avalonian gravity was slowly crushing her legs under their own weight.

“A little overkill, don’t you think?” Tamm grumbled, attempting to wiggle her arms free of their restraints.

The sun was in her eyes, all she could do to fend off it’s rays was turn her head to the side, where she came into contact with a small contingent of officers, one of which was the familiar face of Darren.

“Can’t say I blame them Trix, you got a nasty habit of getting up, when you got no damn business getting up. Suppose they just wanted to secure their victory.” Darren said, as he took a step closer to his prone friend.

“Alright, fair enough. Victory secured, now let me up. I have a killer cramp in my legs, I’d rather not require prosthetic replacements thank you very much.” Rixie replied, though she didn’t sound angry, she actually sounded a little amused.

“Easy, we’re gonna remove the nodes from your dampeners. Don’t try to get up till then eh?” Darren said, motioning to a score of soldiers who were already scaling Mt. Tamm.

“Can’t we do something about the ties in the meantime?” Rixie asked, flexing her arm a bit, testing her chances of breaking free on her own accord.

“Easy! We got recruits on the other end of those, this isn’t Archavia, you send one for a fly, they land hard.” Darren scolded.

“Alright, alright.” Rixie chuckled. Defeat wasn’t something she was used to, but if she had to lose to anyone, the Avalonians would be on top of her list. “Darren, that was gorram impressive, be honest, did you feed them that strategy?” Rixie asked, angling her neck so she could get a better look at Darren.

The Epistratichos shook his head. “Not a such, no.” He said, his chest swelling a little.

Rixie’s lips curled into a smile. “Really? They came up with this on their own? Heh…nice.”

“Well, actually, Sir,” A timid young man spoke up, it was Eliud, ” it was Adoni Raptis…all of this sir, it was her idea.”

Darren and Rixie both looked to the young man. “Who?” Rixie spoke up. “I’d like to speak with her, when I’m free.” Rixie said, in a tone Darren had heard before, when he drove Iron Maiden to the brink of defeat, so many years ago.

“I’ll arrange for that.” Darren grinned. “Soldier, good work…I believe ya’ll have a titan to free?” Darren laughed. “Magister-Imperator Tam can only be so patient after all.

Eliud swallowed, even tied and bound, the woman before him was imposing, and spoke with a commanding presence, with a hasty salute, Eliud scurried off to assist in Tamm’s untieing.

“One recruit planned this whole thing?” Rixie said, the pressure suddenly easing off her legs as her dampeners began to come back online, she sighed in relief and closed her eyes. That was a painful exercise, but it was worth it. “Heh, Marionette could of used a few pointers from her few years back eh…” Rixie said with a grin.

“Well…I did give her a damn good pep talk…” Darren said, crossing his arms.

Rixie soon felt the tension from the cables release, one by one, it took all she had not to tear the remaining ones off, instead she waited patiently until given the all clear, which thankfully came only moments later.

“Alright Epistratichos, I think we’re all clear!” A voice shouted from near Rixie’s opposite arm.

“You heard the man Trix, you’re free to stand. Just be careful, managed to get through today with out any accidents, I’d hate to ruin that record now.” Darren snickered, as he jogged away to give Rixie a wide enough berth to stand and orientate herself, with out posing a risk to any of the near by human soldiers.

Watching the Titan stand was a sight to behold indeed. It was a common misconception, that large creatures moved in a slow and lumbering fashion. Rixie Tam however, devastated this myth, as she stood in one swift, fluid motion, with out the need to even use her arms to steady herself. The Tamm’s were known for being in peek personal shape, Rixie was absolutely no exception.

Darren had learned of this year’s ago, when a right hook from Rixie had felt like he had been decked by Shaquille O’Neal himself.

Myona had been watching in the distance, and was on her way to congratulate the troops, and console Rixie on her valiant effort, the crowd of soldiers was just starting to disperse, and Epistratichos Xanthopolous had just mounted his horse, when Rixie Tamm nearly lost her footing, and crouched down to clasp at her right thigh.

“Shaka!” She swore, and winced, as she felt a sharp stinging pain in her leg. When she pulled her hand away, there was blood covering her finger tips. “The hells?” The titan said with a growl.

The gathering of recruits froze and watched the angry titan examine herself, to reveal a long, barbed harpoon, sticking out of her inner thigh.

Rixie Tamm, had been shot!

***

Alex rode in Loona’s cupped palm, which the titan kept clutched near her navel, alongside Nonah, who was reclined, using her friends upturned fingers to support her weight. They had chatted a while as Loona transported them from the rented meeting room, to the canteen, where she carefully set them both atop a free table.

“I hope the ride wasn’t too uncomfortable?” Loona asked Alex, and smiled sympathetically.

“Oh, yea it was fine, thanks.” Alex shrugged, not used to being asked, but not disappointed about it either.

“She never asks me that, you know.” Nonah whispered playfully, before steadying herself and stretching her long arms above her head. “So, whacha got planned next?!” Nonah asked Alex, eagerly.

“Heading back to Avalon, I assume?” Loona asked, still standing, leaving the two humans at waist height. “Guys, I’m gonna grab a soda from the dispenser, I’ll be a tic, ok?” Loona said, motioning to the drink vendor only a few steps away.

“We’ll manage, somehow.” Nonah rolled her eyes, then looked back to Alex, who nodded casually.

“Right.” Loona shook her head and sprinted off, though setting her bag and overcoat at her table first, to mark it as taken.

“So, you were saying?” Nonah smiled.

Alex shrugged and shook his head. “Well, the Yapetus still has a bit of a trip ahead of them, they were here picking up a shipment for Pryvani, and delivering it to the Core, so they’ll likely be out for a few days to a week still.” Alex mulled over his words for a few moments. Traveling the galaxy with Taron and the gang wasn’t a bad way to spend his week off. “But I have other plans.”

“Oh?” Nonah asked in reply.

“Meeting a friend here on Valhala, after that…dunknow.”

“A friend?” Nonah tilted her head in question.

Neither of the two humans noticed the shadow that soon overcame them, until it had overtaken the whole table. It wasn’t until the feeling of being watched was so overwhelming, that the hair aback Nonah’s neck was standing on edge, that the two turned suddenly to find themselves starring at the belly of a titan, most with out question not belonging to Loona Armac!

“Two humans, alone on Valhala station?” A questioning voice spoke, once the two humans turned in surprise. “Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
***

Dhan stood about as close to the prison bars as he could with out touching them. He had been as civil with the guard as he could tolerate, but she was still showing no signs of wavering.

“Sir, look…I’ll level with you. Even if I felt the least bit sorry for you, and wanted to just open the door and let you walk free, truth is I can’t. That’s outside of my authority. I can’t do that, they’d fire me, and I have a family to support. So please, can’t you just sit still for a few, take a nap, or eat…anything really, other than pestering me?” The guard said, at last, actually facing Dhan this time.

Dhan anxiously paced back and forth, he was getting nowhere, and it was incredibly frustrating! “Don’t I have diplomatic immunity or something? How can you arrest and detain somebody indefinitely, when I’m not even a citizen!” Dhan asked, stopping long enough to look his jailer in the eyes.

“Look, at least we are giving you due process, that’s more than you can say for this ‘friend’ you keep going on about. How much  courtesy has she given you?” There was a brief moment of bitterness in the guards tone, before settling. “Anyhow, if you really do have friends on Tayas Mons looking for you, than all they have to do is go through the proper channels and you’ll be out of here by morning.” The guard grinned. “If you’re really who you claim to be, which I doubt.”

Both Dhan and the guard heard a soft, distant crash, which they had been hearing for a while now, but had dismissed as construction work, or something. This time it caught both their attention.

The guard furrowed her brow, then looked back to Dhan. “So do me a favor, and just calm down already, ok?”

Dhan felt like shaking the bars, but didn’t. He remember well what happened when he did. Though before he could open his mouth to retaliate verbally, he heard something that filled him with equal parts relief, and dread.

His name.

It Was Kymie, for what ever reason, for what ever purpose, it was her! What ever chain of events she had gone through since his parting with her, that convinced her this was the best way to assist him, was in or near the city, this time for real, not in holographic form. He didn’t know why, but the second time he heard her voice echo through the city, he was with out a doubt sure, that was Kymie Abaforad.
They both heard it, loud, distant, but clear. The whole city likely heard it as well.

Dhan watched the guards expression as she looked around the immediate vicinity for the source.

“Looks like someone’s looking for me.” Dhan said smugly. “That didn’t take long at all eh?” Dhan grinned. His overwhelming desire to be rescued, trumped his paralyzing fear of titans, for now. “Definitely not as long as you suggested, eh?”

Besides, he couldn’t pass up a chance to rub this in his jailers smug little face.

“…” The prison guard braced herself against her desk, as it felt like there was about to be an earth quake. The whole city likely felt the impact tremors as they grew louder and more intense, finally comming to a stop, for now.

“Believe me yet?” He asked, but the guard simply stared, a little bit amazed a little bit confused, but mostly just in shock.

It appeared, the man had been telling the truth.

Dhan crossed his arms and sat quietly on his cott. Things were about to get rather interesting, of that he was sure.