"Ugh! I am not wearing the right shoes for this!" Meg yelled to herself. She lifted up a dainty foot clad in fashionable purple heels. Unfortunately they were her favorite pair and completely ruined, green slime from the marshes staining them beyond the point of repair.
She had been traveling for quite some time and finally made it to her destination. Living in the Underworld all the time doesn't really help one's endurance or cheerful attitude, so Meg was seriously ready for this trip to be done and over with. She was hungry, tired, and had blisters the size of watermelons on her aching feet. Hades had been kind enough to not make her walk the whole way though. He told her that once she had accomplished her goal all she had to do was signal to him that she was ready with this necklace he had given her. It was a very pretty piece of jewelry, not that she had seen much in her lifetime, but she could definitely appreciate it when she saw it. She wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to signal anything to him with this though. She brushed the cool metal with her fingertips and the faint emerald light inside seemed to glow brighter. Her eyes widened and she quickly dropped her hand to her side.
She had to admit to herself, working for Hades had definitely made her life interesting. With a roll of her eyes she continued on walking through the disgusting wetlands. She had been travelling for about a week now, which was pretty good time all things considered, and the marshes were a fair distance from the Underworld. Well, everything was a distance from the Underworld. She heaved a dejected sigh, about ready to stop for the day and have some lunch. She was really going to start losing her feminine curves if she had to keep roughing it like this.
Then, all of a sudden a loud thump reached her ears. Meg's eyes widened, and she stilled, holding her breath. Again, another ground shaking thump followed by more thumps. 'Giants', her mind screamed at her. Immediately her pulse rate increased and her palms began to sweat. 'Okay, calm down. Nothing I haven't dealt with before.' Meg tried to relax. She began to put on her mask. Not a literal mask, but the one she wears when she has to seduce barbarians for Hades. She breathed evenly through her nose, and followed the source the noises were originating from.
She found the giants a good distance from the path she had been travelling. There were several groups of them. She decided to pick the smallest group, a trio of giants. Craning her neck upward she gulped. If you stacked three houses on top of each other you just might reach the top of their heads, and these weren't even the biggest giants in some of the groups. Calming her nerves and steeling her resolve Meg strode up to the giant farthest away from the others.
"Hey there big boy", she called in her sexiest voice.
A few moments passed where the giant made no move to show that he had heard her. Clearing her throat she raised her hands to her mouth and yelled,"Hey! Can you hear me?"
At her call he moved his large head and looked down at her. She smiled seductively, and placed her hands on her hips, jutting out her leg and showcasing her creamy skin to the humongous man. He knelt down so he could be closer to her and placed his palm flat on the ground in front of her. Inside she was really nervous to be literally in this stranger's hand, but on the outside she was calm and in control. Daintily, she stepped onto his large, greasy hand.
He brought her to eye level with him, and bellowed in his deep voice, "What do you want?"
Lowering her eye lids, and batting her eyelashes the tiniest bit, she replied mysteriously, "Well, that all depends on you now doesn't it?"
"Me?" he questioned pointing to himself.
"Yes", she stated as if it was obvious.
Meg bent down to "adjust" her heels when really she was just trying to give him a glimpse of her cleavage.
"Have you heard of a man by the name of Hades?" Meg said.
The giant replied,"Yeah, he's the god of the Underworld. He's got a real grudge against Zeus for sticking him down there, and ever since then he's been trying to take Zeus down".
Meg was slightly startled. It wasn't uncommon for her to have to explain who Hades was, and why his whole 'cause' was important. Some of these buffoons she had to recruit lived under rocks, and didn't really keep up with the gods.
Smiling she continued, "Very good. I'm sure you are at the top of your class".
He blinked at her. 'A real charmer this one', she thought. She walked over to his thumb and began to trace random patterns on his skin with her fingers.
"Well, since you already know that Hades is trying to get back at Zeus you should know that he will need a bit of help for that. And that, my strikingly handsome friend, is where you come in."
He stared at her, slightly suspicious. Meg began to get nervous. Usually by now the 'victim' to her ministrations would show signs of being under her spell, but this man didn't seem to be affected whatsoever. Damn.
"How?" he deadpanned.
Licking her lips she brought her hands to play with her hair.
"You are a strong man. A man with large, capable hands. Very skilled hands I assume. Hades could use a guy like you. And the benefits, I assure you, would be worth it."
She accented her point by arching her back slightly and showcasing her breasts in a more prominent way. Meg bit her lip in a sultry way, but it was more a force of habit than her trying to be sexy. The giant didn't look swayed. He gestured with his long, sweeping arm towards his other giant comrades.
"Why would I leave my friends, my family, and my own kind to help Hades with some petty grudge that he holds over Zeus? It has nothing to do with me, and I do not want to get involved. I am happy to live in the mountains where no one bothers me there, and I bother no one in return".
He said the last part almost as a threat, as if to say that Meg should drop it and be on her way. 'Come ooon', Meg thought to herself, 'I'm a sexy female, scantily clad, and showing interest in him what more could I do?' Meg thought back to her master's earlier words about her having to make this deal, that it was crucial.
Aggravation marring her brow momentarily she replied, "Well what about your other friends? I'm sure they might want to join. Especially since the rewards are very substantial".
Meg's gaze became focused on the other giants, trying to size them up (no pun intended) and see the possibility of them joining Hades's army.
"No", came a gruff reply.
Her head swiveled around to stare at what previously held her rapt attention. "Excuse me?" she said.
The giant held a fierce, protective expression on his large face. "I don't want you trying to feed them the same lines that you fed me. None of us will join Hades. We like our peace, and our privacy Miss."
Shocked, Meg blanched a bit, fumbling for something to say since she was caught red handed.
"In fact, I should just crush you right now. I would be saving others who are not wise enough to walk away from such an offer the trouble. Anyone who is in league with Hades meets misfortune and misery."
Meg's eyes widened. Hades was definitely right when he said giants were smarter than ogres. Too smart for their own good even.
"C-crush me?" she squeaked.
Nodding he said, "We giants don't resort to our more barbaric tendencies unless provoked, and I have a feeling that if I don't kill you now you'll keep haunting my kind."
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. This giant was so calmly telling her that he was going to kill her, as if he was asking her to pass the milk.
"N-n-no! Don't!" she cried.
He moved his hand above her, poised to swat her as if she were a fly. Meg was usually a very brave girl with more balls than most men, but when faced with such a situation all that flew out the window. After all, she was only a girl facing off with a giant easily three stories high. What could she do?
She quickly moved to his thumb grasping it close to her. The giant's hand drew back for momentum, and pulling forward with the speed of a cobra striking its prey, intended to squash her like a bug.
"Ow!" he cried.
In a last ditch attempt and wanting to just do something Meg bit down on his greasy thumb before he could strike the killing blow. HARD. In pain, the giant flailed his hand around, sticking his thumb in his mouth in an effort to lessen the pain. To the giant it felt as if he just got stuck by a tack. Meg screamed. In his momentary pain he had let go of her. She was plummeting to the ground fast, and knew there was no way she would survive it. Hell, she wouldn't even want to survive a fall like this. All rational thought fled the scene of her mind like a crime scene. Rash, unaltered terror filled her entire being. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed. She prayed for all she was worth that something, anything would save her. Everything was coming at her too fast. The wind was too loud. The feeling of falling was making her nauseous. She knew at any second the ground would rush up to meet her and that would be the end of that. And she just wanted it all to stop.