“Pryvani! Hold on a minute!”

Sophia dashed after the retreating woman, grateful for the lower gravity of the Titan-oriented environment. She was fairly certain that without the enhanced speed that said lower gravity afforded her, she’d never stand a chance of catching up to Pryvani, especially on her still injured leg. 

Then again, if they were in an Earth-like gravity, Sophia could probably catch up to Pryvani quite easily, considering the latter would be unable to move.

Soon enough, the smaller woman had closed the gap between them. She found herself running alongside Pryvani’s brown leather sandals, and shouting for attention. It was no use; Pryvani was apparently too lost in thought to notice the finger-sized human jogging down at her feet. 

Muttering exasperatedly, Sophia jogged ahead of the giantess and stood in front of her, waving her arms for attention. She began to get more and more nervous as Pryvani’s stride brought her closer and closer. Soon the Titaness was looming right above Sophia, who was beginning to think this wasn’t such a great idea. 

As Pryvani’s shadow engulfed her, Sophia felt her heartbeat quicken. Animalistic fear gripped her and she curled herself into a little ball, screaming in panic and waiting for the sole of the Titaness’ foot to fall upon her. 

“Sophia? What are you doing?” 

Her eyes opened and she slowly uncurled herself and looked up to see Pryvani staring down at her with a quizzical look on her face. She took a few deep, calming breaths before she trusted herself enough to stand and look at the giant woman. 

“I um, I just wanted to talk to you…” she squeaked, still trying to slow her racing heart rate. 

Pryvani smirked and knelt down, lowering a hand so the human could clamber into her palm. “It looked more like you were trying to see the bottom of my shoe, the hard way.” 

“Yeah well, today seems to be the day for stupid ideas.” She muttered self-consciously. “Thanks for not stepping on me.”

Pryvani chuckled. “You’re welcome, I suppose.” The Titaness resumed walking. “Now, what is it you needed to talk to me about desperately enough to risk getting trodden on?” 

“Well I, um, I just wanted to see if you were okay.” She twirled a lock of hair around her finger, very aware that her idea was not really worth getting killed for, and feeling somewhat stupid because of it. “You looked like maybe you could use someone to talk to.” 

Pryvani smiled softly, feeling touched. “Well, that’s very sweet of you, but next time, try to be a little more careful. …How’s your leg?” 

Sophia rubbed at her injured ankle. “It still feels sore.” 

“I might have something that will help.” She turned left down a separate corridor. “Brinn’s not going to miss you, is she?” 

Sophia chuckled. “No, I don’t think so. She’s too busy doting on Nick and making sure he’s all right. She may never let him out of her sight again.” 

“Well… All right then” Pryvani entered her office and set the human onto the top of her work desk, before seating herself in the chair. After settling herself, she opened up the middle desk drawer and began rummaging within. After a few seconds of searching, she pulled out a small tube of purple colored ointment. 

Pryvani unscrewed the cap and set the tube down by where Sophia was seated. “Here, dab a little of that on your ankle and see if it helps any.”

Sophia shot a sidelong glance at the odd looking paste. She dipped her fingers into it and sniffed it experimentally. It didn’t smell too bad, so she shrugged and began to rub it on her ankle. 

Almost instantly she felt the pain begin to numb, causing her to sigh contentedly. 

“Better?” Pryvani asked with a smile.

“Much.” Sophia grinned. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

There was a moment of silence between them as Sophia finished rubbing the medical paste into her foot. Then she looked up to see the giant woman watching her with interest. 

“So…” Sophia began. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Pryvani blinked. “There’s really not much to talk about…”

“Are you sure about that?” Sophia narrowed her eyes contemplatively, but Pryvani didn’t notice.

“Yes.” Pryvani cleared her throat. “I’m sure.” 

“Well, all right. But if you change your mind, I’m a really good listener…” Sophia smiled winningly. 

Pryvani smiled. “I’m sure you are.” 

There was another prolonged moment of silence between the two women, and then…

“It’s just… I know I’ve made an absolute mess of things.” Pryvani sighed. “And I want to make things right, I really do… I just don’t know how. Nothing I can do will bring Tulak back, or make his death have any meaning.” 

Sophia shook her head. “Don’t worry about his death, worry more about his life. Think about what it meant that he knew the truth about you, and he chose to follow you anyway. Doesn’t that show that he had faith in you?”

Pryvani laughed bitterly. “Either that or it shows that he was afraid I’d stomp his city into the ground and eat his people.” 

“I don’t think that’s the case. If it were, he never would have tried to stand up to Trell. He would have taken off running the moment she appeared. And, to be fair, it’s not like you were having him guard some piece of pretty glass that had no real value. You didn’t lie to him when you told him how important that disk is.” 

“But I did lie. I lied to all of them; my whole family has been lying to them for generations.” With a frustrated sigh, Pryvani wiped a hand across her face. 

Silence reigned in the room again. Pryvani stared at her hands clasped in her lap, and Sophia absentmindedly massaged her ankle. 

“I never asked to be a goddess.” The larger woman mumbled, half to herself. “I never asked for any of this.” 

She sighed and drummed her fingers on the desk top near where Sophia was sitting. “I mean, I knew eventually I would have to take on the role, as so many women in my family had before. But I wasn’t expecting that to happen for another ten years or so.” Pryvani rose to her feet and began pacing along the floor.

She seemed to be talking more to herself now, so Sophia was content to remain silent and let the Titaness sort out her feelings for herself. She folded her knees to her chest and watched the other woman begin to wear a tread in the carpet. 

“But then my parents separated, (my mom only really loved my dad for his money anyway…) and then six months after that my dad was k- … died suddenly.” 

She slumped back in the chair and held her head in her hand. “So the next thing I know, I’m barely an adult and I have the responsibility for a multi-trillion cred business and an entire civilization.” She sighed. “My entire family’s legacy, all in one go, and not a clue what to do with it.”

“How long ago was that?” Sophia asked, resting her chin on her knees.

“About five years or so.” 

“Five years and Avalon isn’t a smoking crater, and your company hasn’t gone completely into the trash… You must be doing something right.” 

Pryvani didn’t answer, but her face took on a contemplative look. 

Sophia sighed and shook her head. “Look, if you can stand to take some advice from a mere human.” That got a small strangled laugh out of Pryvani. “I think you should stop worrying about your family legacy, good and bad. They’re all gone now. Even, I’m sad to say, your father. It’s just you now. Your actions are the only ones that matter. Whatever mistakes your family made in the past, it’s too late to change them, so stop dwelling on them. The important question now is: ‘What are YOU going to do?’”

Pryvani was silent, and her eyes got a faraway look in them as she contemplated the small woman’s words. The silence seemed to last for almost a full minute before she suddenly broke out of her trance with a weary sigh. 

“Honestly Sophia, I don’t know yet what I’m going to do.” She rubbed her left eye with the heel of her hand. “I’ve got a lot to think about.”

“The first step of any good decision, I’d say.” Sophia said with a smile. 

Pryvani nodded. “Talking it out did help a lot though, you were right. Thank you.” 

“Any time Pryvani.” 

*.*.*.*.*.*

“I’ve got a little chore I need to finish, are you going to be okay if I leave you here?” Rixie glanced down at her lap, where Alex was curled up like a shaar on her thigh, gently dozing while she caressed him lightly with her fingers.

And he claims he’s not my pet. She thought with a wry smirk, gazing down at the little human fondly.

“Does that mean I can fly the ship?” He mumbled sleepily, uncurling himself with a stretch.

Rixie grinned as she scooped him up in her fingers and deposited him on the console in front of her. “If you can figure out how between now and the time I get back… sure, knock yourself out.” 

“Awesome.” 

Rixie pulled herself to her feet and walked towards the back of the cockpit where the door to the corridor was. She had just stepped outside when a thought occurred to her and she turned back around. 

“I was just kidding about you flying the ship, Alex. If you touch one button, I will throw you out the airlock.” 

“Aw man!” 

Chuckling to herself, Rixie stepped into the corridor. She made a quick stop in a storage locker for some supplies she would need for her little “chore” and then swiftly made her way back to the room where they’d kept Trell locked up. 

She hefted the bag she carried and entered the security code. The door in front of her hissed open, revealing Trell seated slumped against the wall. There was still a small puddle of now dried blood on the floor, and a bucket of vomit in the corner. The room was beginning to stink pretty badly, and Rixie resolved to clean up the vomit at the very least before she left. She also made a note to look into what kind of ventilation she could start in here.

The woman herself had seen better days. Her skin was ashen and her blonde hair was matted to her forehead with sweat. She was shivering and the cloth tied around her leg was soaked with dried blood. 

Rixie could almost feel sorry for her. Almost. 

“What are you doing here?” Trell snarled

“I’m here to clean your wound, Trell.” Rixie kept her voice flat and unemotional. “Unless you’d rather it festered and turned gangrene, but frankly we’re in an airtight environment and I’d rather you didn’t start stinking up the place… any worse.” 

Trell snorted, but didn’t respond further. She turned away as Rixie donned a pair of gloves and kneeled down next to her wounded leg and examined her own handy-work.

Using a pair of shears, Rixie cut away the cloth that she’s used to bandage the wound earlier. It was glued to Trell’s leg with dried blood, but Rixie paid it no mind as she pulled the cloth away, partially reopening the wound. Blood dripped slowly onto the floor. 

Trell hissed in pain. 

“Something the matter Trell?” Rixie smirked, her tone ironically innocent. 

“No, not at all.” Trell responded in the same tone, although her smile was more like a grimace. 

“Good.” Rixie drew out a bottle of blue anti-septic and liberally coated the wound with the stinging solution. Trell bit her lip but couldn’t stop a muffled groan from escaping her mouth, as her leg twitched from the pain. 

Rixie pretended not to notice. 

Trell gasped and took a deep breath, trying and failing to keep her leg from twitching. 

“So… how’s your little toy, Rixie?” She grinned maliciously. “He was awfully tasty… pity I didn’t get a chance to swallow him too. He looked like a fighter, bet he would have felt really good in here.” She patted her stomach. 

Rixie smiled sardonically and pressed a thumb into Trell’s wound, causing a spike of agonizing pain to rip up her leg. 

“Oops. Sorry about that. I slipped.” 

“No problem at all.” Trell responded, gasping for air. 

“You know, Trell.” Rixie spoke conversationally as she wiped Trell’s wound clean and began to wrap it in gauze and bandages. “It’s lucky for you that you weren’t able to swallow Alex.” She finished wrapping the wound and began to pack up her supplies, with a fake cheery smile on her face. 

“Because if you had…” Her gaze turned as hard as steel. “I wouldn’t have bothered with the knife or the tonic; I would have just ripped you head off, reached down your throat and fished him out of your stomach myself.” 

She zipped her bag and stood up to leave, throwing a cheery wave behind her. “Enjoy the rest of the trip hon.”

The door hissed shut and locked after she left.

*.*.*.*.*.* 

“Can I ask you something?” Pryvani lowered her head down onto her arms so that she and Sophia were essentially seeing each other eye to eye. 

“Of course!” Sophia smiled and patted the Titan’s finger in a friendly manner. 

“It might be a bit… personal.”

Sophia shot her a sardonic look. “I’m sitting here completely naked, how much more personal does it get?”

“Well… alright.” Pryvani cleared her throat. “Do you ever miss Earth? I mean, do you ever resent the fact that you’re someone’s property here?” 

Sophia chuckled mirthlessly, settling herself into a seated position in front of Pryvani. “That’s assuming I wasn’t someone’s property before.”

Pryvani blinked and raised her head in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

Sophia shrugged casually. “Humans like to pretend that slavery doesn’t exist anymore, that we’ve grown beyond that. But that’s a lie. Sure it’s not as blatant as it was in past times. It’s not really ‘legal’ …but it still goes on, just the same. There are people who are still treated as slaves.” 

“And you were one of those people?” 

Sophia smirked. “I might as well have been. I was a foster care kid. The government took me from my mom when I was a little girl because she wasn’t able to take care of me properly. The problem was the place they sent me wasn’t really any better.” 

She sighed. “They ‘took care of me’ as much as they were legally obligated to, but they weren’t very nice to me. I had to do all of the cooking and cleaning, and not just the chores that most kids are expected to do. I was up until really late at night, and not allowed to sleep until I got all my work done.”

Pryvani’s brow creased with concern. “That sounds horrible.”

“It was. My ‘foster parents’ believed in physical punishments as well. I felt like Cinderella.” Sophia chuckled drily. “Although, I suppose you aren’t familiar with that story.”

“Actually I am!” Pryvani’s face lit up with a grin. “We Titans have a version of that story too, funnily enough. Only ours is called ‘Ashenti the Dust Princess’ and it’s not a shoe that reveals the identity of the mystery girl, it’s a glove with a missing finger. 

“In our version; the evil woman is a witch who cuts off the girl’s finger and uses it as part of a spell that enslaves Ashenti. So, naturally, one of the gloves she wears to the festival is missing a finger as well. That’s how the Prince finds her.”

Sophia blinked a pleased smile on her face. “That’s amazing! It’s really my favorite story. I wonder if Humans and Titans have any other stories in common.” 

Pryvani shrugged. “It’s likely. Some things are just literally universal.” She smiled softly. “But you were telling me about your life on Earth…” 

“Right, anyway.” Sophia cleared her throat. “It got to the point that I was becoming pretty messed up, emotionally. I was depressed, angry. I hurt myself. I wanted to die.” She shook her head sadly. “Sixteen years old, (or about two years- as you reckon it-) and I wanted to kill myself, though I could never quite bring myself to do it.” 

“So… what happened?” Pryvani’s voice was hushed. 

Sophia shrugged. “I was taken. I don’t remember a lot of what happened, just that I snuck out of the house late one night, and ran into the woods that was nearby. There was a big tree that I liked to climb to the top of and watch the stars. I used to sit and wonder if things would ever be different. If someday a prince would come looking for me, or at least if I’d ever get moved to a better home.” 

“Then, one day, I got my answer.” She smiled, softly. “It’s all kind of fuzzy, and like I said I don’t remember everything…. Just that I was sitting in that tree, looking at the stars and dozing off a little. Then I noticed it looked like one of the stars was moving. As if it were getting closer to Earth.” 

Pryvani was silent, completely transfixed by the little woman’s story. 

“As I watched it got bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter. There wasn’t a whisper of sound from it though, which was the amazing part. You’d think something that big would create all kinds of ruckus, but no. It was completely, eerily quiet.” Sophia twisted herself into a cross-legged position and leaned forward as she told her story. Above her, Pryvani also leaned forward, as if hypnotized by the little woman. 

“The thing hovered over me for a second. A big lumpy metal object the size of a city bus just floating in the sky. For a moment it seemed like time was frozen, neither it nor I moved. Then, as I watched, the thing began to split open. There was a bright light shining behind the crack that got bigger and brighter as the split got wider. Then, suddenly, everything went black.

“The next thing I knew, I woke up to find Zara’s smiling face looming over me.” 

Pryvani grinned. “That must have been an …interesting way to wake up.” 

Sophia snorted. “Interesting? Try terrifying. I vaguely recall peeing myself and screaming my head off for at least three full minutes before she was able to calm me down long enough to introduce herself and reassure me that no, no one was going to eat me.” 

And did you believe her?” Pryvani’s grin widened. 

“Not a bit. Or at least, not at first.” Sophia hugged her knees to her chest, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Eventually she won me over though. She got me to trust her. She was just so nice to me… She didn’t make demands of me, didn’t expect me to do work for her. She didn’t hit me.

“She asked me, actually asked me, if I was okay with helping her out with her research… although she didn’t call it that at the time. All she wanted me to do was play a few games with the other kids. They watched us work on Puzzles, mazes, simple problems. Things like that.

“For the first time in my life, someone was actually looking after me. She never felt like a ‘master’ to me, more like a big (really, really big) sister. Zara made sure I had enough to eat. If I got sick she took care of me. When she found out I wasn’t sleeping well and having nightmares, she managed to get ahold of a real teddy bear for me.”

“A what bear?” Pryvani blinked.

“A teddy bear.” Sophia giggled. “It’s a little soft toy that’s in the shape of a bear that kids cuddle with when they sleep so they don’t get scared or lonely. I was kind of old for one, but still, it was a nice thought. And it actually helped… I still have that bear.”

“I see.”

“She took good care of the other kids as well, of course. They all did. I always felt she was paying special attention to me though.” She shrugged with a soft laugh. “Of course, then the study ended and she took me home with her, so I must have been right.”

There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two women. When it ended Sophia looked up at Pryvani, and the Titaness could see tiny tears in the smaller woman’s eyes. 

“I’m not going to suggest that most humans from Earth would be able to tolerate being a ‘pet’ to a Titan, let alone enjoy it. But as for me, and to answer your original question: No, I don’t resent being Zara’s ‘property,’ and I don’t for one second miss my life on Earth.” 

Pryvani nodded, with a gentle smile tugging at her lips. 

“I understand.” On a whim, she reached out and stroked the back of the smaller woman’s head with her finger, and was pleased when Sophia leaned into the caress. “You’ve had a hard life, Sophia. You must think my own problems are the petty whining of a rich little princess in comparison.” 

Sophia shook her head and patted the tip of the finger that was stroking her face. “Not at all. Everybody has their challenges in life, and only a fool tries to compare theirs to another and claim who has it worse. You’ve had your difficulties in life as well, ones which I would not like to face for all the money in the universe.” 

“You’re a wise woman, Sophia.” She winked at her, a teasing grin on her face. “You know, for a human.”

Sophia snorted. “Thanks.” 

Pryvani’s eyes lit up as she suddenly got an idea. “Oh, we should call Zara. She doesn’t know you and Nick are okay.”

Sophia grinned. “Oh, can we?” 

Pryvani nodded and began setting up the communications channel and the holographic projector. In a few moments she was inputting commands into the system. 

“Establishing connection with Avalon…. Now.”

They waited for a moment as the communication link “rang” on the other end. After a few seconds delay, the projector clicked on and a life-size three-dimensional image of Zara appeared. She looked haggard, like she hadn’t slept in a long time. 

“Zara!” Sophia shouted, happiness welling up inside her. 

Zara grinned. “Sophia! You’re okay!” She glanced around. “I don’t see Nick there… did anything happen to him?” A look of concern flashed across her face

Sophia shook her head, the stupid grin glued to her face. “He’s fine. We’re both fine. Everything is okay now.” 

Zara breathed a sigh of relief and with a gentle smile she reached down for Sophia. This projector was just sound and image, however, so her holographic hand passed right though the little human. 

Pryvani smiled as she watched the two of them converse. Eventually, she cleared her throat politely, drawing Zara’s attention. 

“How are things going on Avalon?” She asked. 

Zara fidgeted and scratched the back of her head. “Well, the damage Trell did was fairly minimal. Not nearly as bad as we feared, or as bad as it could have been. Not too bad In the way of casualties either. Mostly injuries…” She trailed off, but Pryvani could tell there was more. 

“What is it, Zara? What aren’t you telling me?” 

“Well…” Zara cleared her throat. “The thing is, and we totally didn’t mean to do this, I just want to make that clear…” 

“Zara…” Pryvani tried to keep the exasperation out of her voice. 

“Okay, okay…” Zara sighed. “Taron and I… We, um, might have… accidentally…”

“Zara!” 

“We might have started new religions on Avalon…” Her eyes were downcast. “With us as the objects of worship.”