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Description
Alix panted heavily, finally reaching some flat surface. Her muscles ached, lungs screamed for air, sandals barely gave any support on the smoothly polished wooden surface she had to climb - but she prevailed. She collapsed for a second, arms twitching and spasming in agony. Weakly, she propped herself towards the edge she had just overcome and looked down, into the abyss. Or, what seemed to be abyssal to her - in fact this was just a few centimeters of space.

Next she looked to the left. In front of her was a towering complex of bookshelves, boxes and containers, very similar to the one she had just climbed. Together the two pieces of furniture created a narrow side corridor of her favourite comic book store - a cozy place she always loved to visit at weekends, hunting for newly delivered issues of her favourite series or for some cool merchandise. The shop was small and not very popular, being located in a side alley of her city, but somehow it managed to stay afloat, much to Alix's delight. However, that day her beloved spot had some very nasty surprise in store instead...

To her left, in the passage between the corridor and the main hall, the air was gently shimmering, creating an almost invisible blueish aura stretched between the shelves. Three minutes before, she ignored it when turning the corner - and noticed the azure veil only after its effects have settled in. First she felt an itch all across her exposed arms, neck, face, midriff and legs. She started scratching, her attention drawn to the sensation for half a minute or so. When she noticed what happened in the meantime, the world around her was already growing.

The transformation's speed gave her vertigo. There was no sudden flash of light, no magical sound - just the woosh of air as her head raced downwards, like in a falling elevator. She fell to her knees, trying to contain the unexpected wave of nausea.

The realization of her new state made her mind go blank. All rational thought was expelled, replaced by an automatic reaction, an urge to escape from the exposed area. And the only place she could think of was the nearest, lowest shelf. And this was how she ended up here, staring back at the ethereal curtain, panic finally withdrawing. Her thoughts slowly became coherent again.

"Holy shit" she whispered, sitting up and taking one more look at her surroundings and trying to think of a next step to take.

The shopkeeper was in the back room, and even if he was at the counter, the corridor was out of his line of sight. There were no cameras here - the shop was not a particularly modern place and she frankly doubted if the owner could even afford that kind of investment. So no chance she could attract attention from her current place Walking back across the forcefield was out of the question. Behind her, a wall of books rose, many times taller than her. There were spaces between the tomes, so she might be able to squeeze through them, possibly reaching the shelf on the other side and thus returning to the main room. She checked her phone - no signal. Only silence answered her calls, messages bounced back. Same with the internet.

"Guess there's only one way out" she sighed, feeling adrenaline pumping into her veins. After a brief episode of panic, her normal self settled back in. It was just a challenge. Like an escape room or a climbing wall. However that field worked, there had to be a way to first bypass, and then reverse its effects. She just needed to find out how. Trying to smile confidently, she stood up, took a turn towards the shelf's interior...

...and her heart skipped a beat when she realised the extent of the how alien that 'new' world seemed at her present size. Her breath deep and unever, she took a less than confident step towards the nearest crack between the tomes.

That was when she heard somebody entering the corridor. The sound of a sole slamming against the floor was deafening like a deep, rumbling gunshot. Alix rushed towards the narrow space between two tomes of Sword Art Online, the instinct to hide once again steering her actions. She hid in crack, barely able to fit in even after dropping her backpack. For the first time in her life she cursed her curvy bottom, its ample volume painfully compressing itself in order to fit in.

From her hiding place, she could only see the lowest part of the coming person - a rim of an azure-blue skirt, slightly tanned calves and sandal-clad feet. Evidently a girl. Alix's first thought was to get out of the hiding spot, try to get the other girl notice her - but then came a second thought; why wasn't the other woman affected by whatever had shrunken her? Why was she just so calmly browsing the shelves, what happened to that strange force field?

Suddenly, the visitor crouched, looking at the bottom of the shelf directly opposing Alix's hiding spot. Almost the whole figure came into sight - a green loose top and a fragment of head covered with jet black hair. The sheer difference in size made a shiver run down Alix's spine. Just what on earth was happening here?!

The other girl browsed the books for a while, evidently looking for something. She looked to the side, carefully examining the floor. Then, still crouching, she turned round to face Alix's shelf. Her hazel eyes skipped across the books. Overwhelmed by the gaze, Alix scurried deeper and deeper into her miniscule refuge, hoping to get to that other shelf before the other girl notices her. There was something deeply disturbing in the way she was searching the place...

"Hm..." what must have been a silent murmur to a normal-sized ear was a rumbling thunder to tiny Alix. A short while later, the book to her left shifted, closing the passage towards the back of the shelf. Gasping in shock, the tiny girl turned round - only to see a curious, inquisitive eye inspecting the gap.

"There you are" the other girl smirked, half-whispering the words more to herself than to Alix. Then, before Alix could have taken a single step, the book to her left moved again - this time pushing straight into her, turning two SAO tomes into a grotesque press.

To a normal human, the result would be negligible. To the bug-sized Alix, the pressure was as great as for an actual insect. She felt air escape from her lungs, an outstretched arm filling with pain she never felt in her life. Ribcage caving in, on the verge of bones breaking. Her head about to implode, trapped between two paper anvils. The world, just a while ago encompassed between the colourful artwork of the books' covers, suddenly got engulfed with blackness, the sounds of the shop replaced with her bones creaking and the sound of blood rushing through her agitated veins.

The torture lasted for an eternal second and then ceased, the two tomes splitting apart. Stunned and aching, Alix collapsed to the shelf, as the giantess pulled one of the books out and grabbed the tiny girl with the spare hand. She tried resisting, but all the joints and muscles refused to listen. It felt like the day she fell off the climbing wall - but a million times worse and more intense. Even turning her eyes to look upon the face was a heroic effort.

"You're a clever tiny bug" the giantess clucked, keeping her voice the same hushed whisper as before. After a while - at Alix's state it could have as well been an eon - she let the tiny girl go, the limp body landing inside some orange-yellow plastic bowl. Poweless, Alix could barely turn to her back, only to see the other half of the container quickly close. The characteristic clasp thundered, making her remember where she saw the exact same hue of plastic.

It was a capsule from inside a Kinder Surprise. Only now she was the one inside, instead of a toy.

As darkness ensnared her, with only the tiniest breathing holes letting in narrow beams of light, she felt the capsule drop again. Another seemingly endless fall ensued, ending with a muffled thud as the whole prison abruptly stopped, making her head bang hard against the surface. Lights went out, as she drifted into an endless abyss.

Description
Alix panted heavily, finally reaching some flat surface. Her muscles ached, lungs screamed for air, sandals barely gave any support on the smoothly polished wooden surface she had to climb - but she prevailed. She collapsed for a second, arms twitching and spasming in agony. Weakly, she propped herself towards the edge she had just overcome and looked down, into the abyss. Or, what seemed to be abyssal to her - in fact this was just a few centimeters of space.

Next she looked to the left. In front of her was a towering complex of bookshelves, boxes and containers, very similar to the one she had just climbed. Together the two pieces of furniture created a narrow side corridor of her favourite comic book store - a cozy place she always loved to visit at weekends, hunting for newly delivered issues of her favourite series or for some cool merchandise. The shop was small and not very popular, being located in a side alley of her city, but somehow it managed to stay afloat, much to Alix's delight. However, that day her beloved spot had some very nasty surprise in store instead...

To her left, in the passage between the corridor and the main hall, the air was gently shimmering, creating an almost invisible blueish aura stretched between the shelves. Three minutes before, she ignored it when turning the corner - and noticed the azure veil only after its effects have settled in. First she felt an itch all across her exposed arms, neck, face, midriff and legs. She started scratching, her attention drawn to the sensation for half a minute or so. When she noticed what happened in the meantime, the world around her was already growing.

The transformation's speed gave her vertigo. There was no sudden flash of light, no magical sound - just the woosh of air as her head raced downwards, like in a falling elevator. She fell to her knees, trying to contain the unexpected wave of nausea.

The realization of her new state made her mind go blank. All rational thought was expelled, replaced by an automatic reaction, an urge to escape from the exposed area. And the only place she could think of was the nearest, lowest shelf. And this was how she ended up here, staring back at the ethereal curtain, panic finally withdrawing. Her thoughts slowly became coherent again.

"Holy shit" she whispered, sitting up and taking one more look at her surroundings and trying to think of a next step to take.

The shopkeeper was in the back room, and even if he was at the counter, the corridor was out of his line of sight. There were no cameras here - the shop was not a particularly modern place and she frankly doubted if the owner could even afford that kind of investment. So no chance she could attract attention from her current place Walking back across the forcefield was out of the question. Behind her, a wall of books rose, many times taller than her. There were spaces between the tomes, so she might be able to squeeze through them, possibly reaching the shelf on the other side and thus returning to the main room. She checked her phone - no signal. Only silence answered her calls, messages bounced back. Same with the internet.

"Guess there's only one way out" she sighed, feeling adrenaline pumping into her veins. After a brief episode of panic, her normal self settled back in. It was just a challenge. Like an escape room or a climbing wall. However that field worked, there had to be a way to first bypass, and then reverse its effects. She just needed to find out how. Trying to smile confidently, she stood up, took a turn towards the shelf's interior...

...and her heart skipped a beat when she realised the extent of the how alien that 'new' world seemed at her present size. Her breath deep and unever, she took a less than confident step towards the nearest crack between the tomes.

That was when she heard somebody entering the corridor. The sound of a sole slamming against the floor was deafening like a deep, rumbling gunshot. Alix rushed towards the narrow space between two tomes of Sword Art Online, the instinct to hide once again steering her actions. She hid in crack, barely able to fit in even after dropping her backpack. For the first time in her life she cursed her curvy bottom, its ample volume painfully compressing itself in order to fit in.

From her hiding place, she could only see the lowest part of the coming person - a rim of an azure-blue skirt, slightly tanned calves and sandal-clad feet. Evidently a girl. Alix's first thought was to get out of the hiding spot, try to get the other girl notice her - but then came a second thought; why wasn't the other woman affected by whatever had shrunken her? Why was she just so calmly browsing the shelves, what happened to that strange force field?

Suddenly, the visitor crouched, looking at the bottom of the shelf directly opposing Alix's hiding spot. Almost the whole figure came into sight - a green loose top and a fragment of head covered with jet black hair. The sheer difference in size made a shiver run down Alix's spine. Just what on earth was happening here?!

The other girl browsed the books for a while, evidently looking for something. She looked to the side, carefully examining the floor. Then, still crouching, she turned round to face Alix's shelf. Her hazel eyes skipped across the books. Overwhelmed by the gaze, Alix scurried deeper and deeper into her miniscule refuge, hoping to get to that other shelf before the other girl notices her. There was something deeply disturbing in the way she was searching the place...

"Hm..." what must have been a silent murmur to a normal-sized ear was a rumbling thunder to tiny Alix. A short while later, the book to her left shifted, closing the passage towards the back of the shelf. Gasping in shock, the tiny girl turned round - only to see a curious, inquisitive eye inspecting the gap.

"There you are" the other girl smirked, half-whispering the words more to herself than to Alix. Then, before Alix could have taken a single step, the book to her left moved again - this time pushing straight into her, turning two SAO tomes into a grotesque press.

To a normal human, the result would be negligible. To the bug-sized Alix, the pressure was as great as for an actual insect. She felt air escape from her lungs, an outstretched arm filling with pain she never felt in her life. Ribcage caving in, on the verge of bones breaking. Her head about to implode, trapped between two paper anvils. The world, just a while ago encompassed between the colourful artwork of the books' covers, suddenly got engulfed with blackness, the sounds of the shop replaced with her bones creaking and the sound of blood rushing through her agitated veins.

The torture lasted for an eternal second and then ceased, the two tomes splitting apart. Stunned and aching, Alix collapsed to the shelf, as the giantess pulled one of the books out and grabbed the tiny girl with the spare hand. She tried resisting, but all the joints and muscles refused to listen. It felt like the day she fell off the climbing wall - but a million times worse and more intense. Even turning her eyes to look upon the face was a heroic effort.

"You're a clever tiny bug" the giantess clucked, keeping her voice the same hushed whisper as before. After a while - at Alix's state it could have as well been an eon - she let the tiny girl go, the limp body landing inside some orange-yellow plastic bowl. Poweless, Alix could barely turn to her back, only to see the other half of the container quickly close. The characteristic clasp thundered, making her remember where she saw the exact same hue of plastic.

It was a capsule from inside a Kinder Surprise. Only now she was the one inside, instead of a toy.

As darkness ensnared her, with only the tiniest breathing holes letting in narrow beams of light, she felt the capsule drop again. Another seemingly endless fall ensued, ending with a muffled thud as the whole prison abruptly stopped, making her head bang hard against the surface. Lights went out, as she drifted into an endless abyss.