Chapter 1: Introduction

"Watch where you're mopping, will ya?" I hissed at the mop handle as I swiveled it around a dusty corner. Thank heavens for these thick rubber gloves; if I ever had to look at another cobweb-covered artifact, I'd scream my head off.

Rummaging through my cleaning supplies, I groaned inwardly and wondered when this nightmare would ever be over.

I felt like a goddamn ant, lost in this dark maze that belonged to her: the ancient giantess who haunted the museum's depths. I'd seen glimpses of her, the legacy she'd left behind: the broken pillars towering over me like matchsticks, the half-collapsed archways covered in moss, and the enormous stone statues eerily watching my every move.

Stifling my fears, I accidentally knocked over a bucket, alert the giantess to my presence. Bitch.

*That* was the word that escaped my lips when I realized I'd been caught. There she was - the ancient giantess Alicia - towering over me with an amused smile as she looked down at my miniature form. The way the fluorescent lights danced through her radiant hair, casting an almost ethereal glow around her. She looked regal, *powerful* - like a burning sun dwarfing a tiny ember.

Heart pounding harder in my chest than it ever had before, I prepared for a scolding like no other.

But as I was expecting a string of curses, the last thing I ever anticipated was the flame-haired titaness slowly descending to her knees.

It was unreal, her massive frame bent to meet my tiny stature. She looked like a goddess reaching out to a mere mortal, radiating an aura that demanded submission.

"You know, little one, you are quite an interesting creature," she whispered with a mischievous glint in her eyes, examining me from head to toe.

I gulped.