I stirred from my dreams of the long distant past. Gone were the opaque scenery of my homeland, the people that populated my fading memories, and the echoes of life as a freshly matured giantess. I was quickly reminded of the current truth: being cast adrift through the endless reaches of the celestial void. A place away from Blessgard and the Hall of the Titaness.

Forsaken.

I suffered these visions of my past countless times. The heartache that followed was a little muted now. It was expected to come and go before leaving me mind-numbingly bored.

Why was I here? Where were the fields and meadows and the Great Hall of the Titaness in Blessgard, the resting place of righteous giants? I couldn’t say. I could only hope that my imprisonment in the void would end somehow.

There had been a new Ultimate War. The fae had broken the treaty and attacked, ravaging giant lands. Instead of my parents and I banding together to fight them with the other giants, my parents beamed me away using a runic circle at the edges of our chiefdom.

They never explained why.

If they wished to hide me from fae assassins, why wouldn’t they come to join me? I knew this was selfish of me to want, but wouldn’t it be nicer to stay with your daughter instead of fighting a bloody war? Wasn’t I their first duty? They had told me such, but here I was alone.

If my parents weren’t going to join me, they could’ve at least sent Logotha with me. But she was nowhere to be seen when I was blasted away. No matter how hard I racked my brain for an explanation, the reason behind Logotha’s disappearance eluded me.

Maybe I shouldn’t criticize my parents. Mother was probably dead. Father was probably dead. Logotha, too, I supposed.

I felt my chest prickle. A tear floated away from the corner of my eye. It, just like me, drifted by itself in the uncaring void.

My timeless voyage through the half-dark changed plenty of me. I didn’t understand my body anymore. I didn’t hunger here. And I felt as if I was not made of flesh. I was part of this place—a setting outside of the realm.

My emotions still bothered me, but not by much. I rather they hadn’t at all. I favored my progression with my current hobby more than my feelings.

You see, I enjoyed rest and relaxation devotedly. But under the proper context. Usually between one matter of effort and the other. It was hard to relax when you did too much of it. So, I expended energy on what was around me.

In the distance were sparkly clouds. Bright starlight beamed out of their vast luminous forms. Some clouds seemed to drip light and dust in unison. Others ran like watery paint streaking across the void. They came in many hues, from rusty orange to bright yellow to lime green. To observe them was entertaining.

To shape them with my thoughts was even more amusing. I had been at this for a long time, I believed. What started as an imaginary exercise nudging one point of light around transformed into me repainting the endless night with my rudimentary mental strokes.

I unraveled threads of dark red lights from blue ribbons that oscillated brighter lights. I smeared brown patches with green clusters. There was one moment where I felt especially savage. After a bad dream, I took my anger on a glowy gassy giant by clawing it to shreds.

After my tantrum ran its course, I felt sorry over the affair. It felt wrong to brutalize these cosmic lights that dazzled me with wonder. The sentiment was silly, I suppose, since I wasn’t causing any reprehensible damage.

With a wave of my mind, things would return to normal. I long suspected I was actually manipulating the way I perceived the pretty lights and glowy void dust.

Not the actual source.

But I had no way to confirm that. It sounded too ridiculous to think I could control the starlight of the celestial sea.

Or could I?

I didn’t even know how I could do any of this. I simply did it to keep my mind active. To keep me in play and away from the absolute darkness.

My mental activities kept me from being absorbed into the deeper shadowy void where monstrosities lurked. Whenever I exerted myself, I managed to stay afloat in the brighter parts of the void.

Sometimes I wondered if it would be better to let the deep dark have me. Then I would never feel anything or be awake for anything. I could relive the fables I dreamed of forever. Though, I feared that was its own type of torment. So, I kept active with some mental exercise.

Meanwhile, my body continued to change. I was expanding. My emotions shrank away from me a little. My memories faded more. When I dreamed, I went from visions of myself being blindfolded to visions where I was utterly blinded and only able to hear broken phrases.

I could still recall Rogof, Skadya, and Logotha.

But I stopped feeling much toward them.

At some point, I only remembered I was something called Realmshaker.

I figured that would fade, too. Then I would be a nameless entity floating around the empty vastness of the inbetween. My only instinct would be to play with the lights of other entities that drew my attention.

Maybe, eventually, I would grow large enough to play with those entities directly. Perhaps I could pull them my way with my mind so I could hold them—Marvel over their luminescence up close. Then eat them for my amusement.

That sounded nice to me even though I wasn’t hungry. Still, I missed the sensation of eating. That stayed with me. If I gave up my name, maybe I would assume I was mere a cosmic eater of bright lights and glowy stuff. That sounded suitable.

Such a fate could’ve passed if I hadn’t felt something tug at me without touching. It was a tiny sensation. I could have easily ignored it, but it might've been eons since I've felt anything so different!

Curious, I turned toward it and floated in its direction. The tugging intensified. It was centered around my stomach. I wondered if I would be treated to a meal. Or would it be another diversion for me to remake with my mind?

I rather it was a meal. Faded memories or not, I missed eating something.

What I saw ahead cooled my stomach and stayed my mental tomfoolery. Tendrils of darkness and closed eyes were wrapped around a single world. A glint of light shone through the barricade of wicked tendrils.

I wanted to go into that light and enter the world. I was uncertain if this was truly my own feeling, but I felt the same tingles and hums of runic magic that sent me into the void.

The tugging encouraged this urge to make landfall. It seemed dangerous, of course. An entity bigger and greater than me was wrapped around the world. I sensed I could not beat it directly to make my way.

I thought of moving it with my mind like I had done with the lights. But I stayed my mental manipulation in fear of waking it. It had so many eyes. I dreaded to be looked at by those eyes. I would be see-through by those eyes. The deepest depths of my being would be examined by all angles. The examination would rip me apart, I feared. And I had no idea what the monster could genuinely do, but my imaginings struck me a harsh blow. My fears made me tremble from the mere anticipation of the consequence of waking such an alien and godly entity.

Instinctively, I knew I couldn’t match such a horrific being. Yet, I couldn’t run away, either. I sensed if I ignored the summoning, I would truly be lost.

Drat.

I believed myself too big to go into that little glint of light while in this form. Yet, I had to. That light was the last bastion of hope against the monstrous worldcoverer. It was my last chance to be more than driftwood in the void.

It would seem like too much effort to deduce a way of entry, but I put my mind to the task regardless. Nothing sensible was brought to mind, though. All I could hear was the faded echoes of a giantess’s lessons.

Be a savage.

I did not think I could take this lesson and unleash it on the dark tentacle creature that slumbered with many closed eyes. It would be unwise since I had dodged such creatures that wanted to draw me into the undervoid. But I could throw myself at the glint of light and force my way into the world directly despite my size if I tried really hard. It was difficult to believe, but I had no other option if I wanted to change my situation.

So, I tried to reenter Mythokos with gusto.

And I fractured apart. My limbs shattered first like glass, sending lances of pain throughout my body. Then my torso dissolved, running streaks behind me like a long slash of chalk. The forced entry burned me. It made me hurt so much!

It broke me down to pieces.

Yet, I continued to assert myself. There was no stopping now. It had been a long time since I pushed myself to achieve anything difficult. I could hear Skadya encouraging me, my memories of her returning. My heart thundered to the sound of Mother’s rare praise when I succeeded in something that made her proud.

I smashed myself apart in a fierce and awesome fashion. A tiny, tiny fraction of my former being made it through.

***

Hm?

I woke up. Stone blocks dug into my back. My first breath in a long time was filled with fresh spring air. A passing wind blew over me and rustled the trees. With a glance, I saw how the surrounding forest was highly green, vibrant, and alive.

Thank the Titaness. This was not another dream.

Sitting up, I found myself at the center of a demolished runic circle. The same one at the edges of my chiefdom. The same one that had sent me away. But now, it was more worn and aged than I last remembered. Lots of thick vines covered it.

Muted amazement thrummed inside of me. I was taking it all slowly. Then my world became odd again when white words in a semi-translucent gold box appeared in my vision. It related information and symbols I barely understood.

[]

Name | Rhonda the Realmshaker

Title(s) | N/A

Ranking | Epic

Ancestry | Noble Giantess

Subtrait | N/A

Size | 18 feet tall - huge

Class | N/A

Job(s) | N/A

Star Fragments | 0

Star Power | 45 ★

Vitality & Endurance | ✰ ✰

Strength & Agility ✰ ✰

Resilience & Perception | ✰ ⋆

Wisdom & Intellect | ✰

Composure & Charisma | ✰

Faith & Fortune | ✰ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Perks | Identification⁠ (T1). Linguistics (T2). Beautiful Giantess (T4). Savage Ranger (T2). Delegating Chieftess (T2). Ravenous Eater (T2). Multiple Resistances (T1). Star⁠ Dreamer (T5).

Powers | None.

Gear & Loot | Light Pelts, Tunic, Belt, Trousers, and Boots (All Common).

[]

This was entirely foreign to me.

But… it was fascinating.

What did this all mean?

I couldn’t help but feel absorbed by it.

I studied the accumulated stars in front of twin attributes. It made me wonder what each star represented. Did the stars help the attribute pairs entirely, or a selected half of a pair? What was the difference between a big star and a small star? It would be good to know how such strange magic worked. What would it do to me since my name was inscribed on it?

Also, why do I have all of these... perks… and no powers? Was that indicative of my lack of elemental prowess? What was the purpose of this? What did I need to do to divine their meaning? In fact, what did any of this mean? Was it good to be Epic of rank?

It did sound flattering.

More questions sent my mind whirring.

Were my 45 stars high or low? I immediately wanted to know how I stacked up. If Logotha were here, I would compare my stars to hers. Surely, I would have more so I could lord it over her teasingly.

I missed Logotha.

She and Mother and Father.

The memories were returning in full force. That meant I was indeed in the real realm again. I was back home in Brogheimr and away from the nightmarish torment of the dreamlike void and its creepy monsters and endless bright lights.

This knowledge could only hurt me, spawning a sensation in my chest like shattered pottery. I wanted to cry now. The tears welled up and stung my eyes.

A distant explosion rang out among the rolling green hills, interrupting my episode. It steered me from my pain, for which I was thankful.

I blinked away my tears and saw that the gold box had disappeared with its accurate notations, mysterious measurements, and many perks. It made me wonder if the episode had only been an illusion.

I doubted that.

I redirected my attention to the sounds of intense fighting. Beasts were howling at the source of the explosion. I felt pulled toward this random conflict, and not because of a runic summoning. My own spirit buzzed with energy that needed to be expended. I could not be restful now that I’d returned.

I wiped my eyes and stuffed away my softer feelings. I walked toward the battle, hopeful that there would be a fellow giant there. The more I moved, the more I remembered the brutal lessons of my savage Mother.

My heart pulsed faster.

It would be delightful to honor my homecoming with bloodshed.