By that night Maxine found herself lying in bed. Unfortunately for her, her right arm was sticking out of the bed as she was still chained to Carrie. They had pushed two beds relatively close to one another but completely together. These beds were also especially large in order to be comfortable for the two giant sisters but they also ran into another problem.

Neither of them could move around much in their bed without pulling on the other. Because of this every time one of them wanted to turn over it would pull against the chain and move the other sister. It was much harder for Carrie to do this since Maxine was currently taller and much stronger than her. To her moving Maxine was almost like moving a dead weight. This was annoying for her.

Something else that greatly annoyed Carrie was the fact that Maxine had also begun to snore. At first it wasn't much but as the night went along the snoring only got worse. She wasn't sure whether Maxine was doing this on purpose just to annoy her or if it was something that couldn't be helped. One thing that she was sure of was that it was going to be a very long night.

Someone else who was having an odd night was Charles who found himself sleeping in a room all by himself. By now he was used to having Maxine sleeping close by him but tonight was very different. There was no one in this room with him and in his mind, it was a nice chance of pace.

On previous nights he had always been careful not to wake up his giant friend or else he would likely regret it. Tonight, he didn't have to worry about this but he also knew not to be too loud. There was still a family sleeping in the same house and although they had showed him much kindness, he didn't want to give them a rude awakening. He still remembered when he had been forced to wake Maxine up before, she was ready. She was less than happy and he was almost sure that she would strike him. Thankfully such a strike never came but it was something that he would always remember.

Most of the family had gone to bed early that night as they were used to waking up close to dawn in order to start with their usual farm work. Because of this most of the people in the house were sound asleep and dreaming away. Charles was also dreaming and, in his dream, he was a hero who saved maidens and took down evil wherever he saw it. He would always conquer his foes and win the girl.

He would always be a little disappointed when he woke up but at least he knew that his situation now was better than it had been before. Back then he was more or less on his own but now he had Maxine watching his back and ensuring that he was safe. Although their partnership was more or less a life debt situation, he was beginning to think that it was more than that now. He knew that one day that they might be together more over willingness rather than having such a debt hang over them.

Maxine too was dreaming but hers was one that some people would consider to be a little silly. It once again involved her eating pies but this one was different, in her dream she was the size of a doll and standing before what to her was the largest pie that she had ever seen. Rather than being terrified by what she was seeing she was instead very excited as she dived into the pie as if she was diving into a lake.

Her head popped up through the pastry and she was eating the wonderful filling inside. She could taste every bite and it caused her to smile. As the dream progressed, she ate more and more of the pie until there was no more left. By then her belly had become huge and she rubbed it with satisfaction. She belched loudly as well as for the moment she felt full. That was until she saw another equally large pie close by. She thought it was rude to allow that pie to sit all by itself so she got up from where she was lying and begun the process all over again.

When Maxine finally opened her eyes, daylight had taken over the room and she yawned loudly. It was one of the best sleeps she had for a long while and when she looked over to Carrie, she could see that her younger sister was still asleep. It had taken her much longer to fall asleep thanks to Maxine's snoring and for now she seemed pretty peaceful.

For a moment Maxine was tempted to wake Carrie up but she thought that she'd let her sister sleep for a little longer. Eventually she decided that it was getting too late in the morning so she woke her up by at first pulling on the chain. This didn't work so in the end she had to remove the covers from Carrie's bed.

This action forced Carrie to begin to wake up and she groaned as she was less than happy. Her first instinct was to increase her size and show Maxine just how annoyed she was. However, when she tried this, she felt a small amount of pain as the metal cuff on her arm didn't grow with her. Because of this she was forced to stop and then shrink back down to her normal size.

This had not gone unnoticed by Maxine but she was glad to see that it hadn't worked. Even so there would be no room for Carrie to grow in this room as things were cramped enough as it was. Having two women who were both between eight and a half and nine feet in height made this modest room look very small.

"You bitch," said Carrie in a very annoyed tone. "You couldn't just let me sleep, could you?" She wanted to strike Maxine but she knew that while she was like this, she didn't have the size or strength advantage that she needed. She wasn't forgetting how her sister lifted up a full-size horse by herself.

"It's late enough as it is," replied Maxine. "We need to be up and ready to get back to work. You wouldn't want father to be upset with us."

Carrie didn't answer and simply grumbled as Maxine pulled on the chain to force her out of the bed. She felt that she could have slept for another few hours, if it hadn't been her sister's snoring the previous night, she would have gotten all the sleep that she needed. Now she would be tired for the rest of the day.

They weren't the only people in the house who were up as most of the other members of the Martel family were already up. Some breakfast was being prepared which would normally be helped by Carrie. However due to her current situation this would be difficult so it was the matriarch of the house that made the breakfast.

This was something that everyone took caution with since they knew how terrible her cooking skills were. Even though she tried her best and practiced over the years her skills when it came to cooking were subpar at best. Because of this, other members of the family would help her.

Carrie had been the main one who was helping her mother as she was quite good at cooking and in her mind it helped train her for later life. With her current situation she wouldn't be that much of a help. Instead they would just have to endure and get through with the breakfast as smoothly as they could.

There were a couple of things that Maxine was remembering as well. The first was that her armour should be ready and that she would have to pick it up when she could. Until she was released from her punishment, she wouldn't be able to pick up anything. The other thing that she remembered was the fact that her squire Charles was still asleep.

With some reluctance from Carrie, Maxine was able to move toward the door that Charles was sleeping behind. She knocked on it fairly loudly in order to wake him up. He had still been in the middle of his dream and when he had been suddenly awakened it was a bit of a shock for him. It caused him to become afraid for a moment before he realised that it was safe and simply Maxine waking him up.

"It's getting late into the day," said Maxine from the other side of the door. "Get up and help around the house."

"Y-Yes ma'am," replied Charles who was still not fully awake. Slowly he rose out of his bed and had to take a moment to regain his balance. He had wanted to stay in bed for a little longer but he knew better than to go against the word of Maxine.

There was someone who noticed that Maxine and Carrie were getting along fairly well and that was Sir Tucker. He was glad to see that his idea seemed to be working but his wife was still more than unhappy with what he had done. Shortly after they went to bed, he wanted to have a little bit of fun with her but she refused until he removed the chains that were keeping their eldest daughters together.

He had tried to convince her that it was for the best but it had fallen onto deaf ears. He wouldn't hurry the process just so he could have the intimacy that he wanted from his wife but it certainly was a thought. But a part of him thought that he wouldn't have to do this for very long. There was a chance that he would remove the chains before then because he felt that his daughters had learned their lesson.

Not too long after breakfast both Maxine and Carrie sat down on seats in front of Charles. He wanted to have another talk with them like he did the previous day. However, this time he wasn't going to use the talking stick since this time he felt that it wasn't needed. He could see that Maxine looked well-rested while Carrie looked like she had been awake all night. There were a few theories in his head but for the time being he kept quiet about them.

"Good morning to you both," said Charles. "I am more than impressed with the progress that we made today and I hope that we make more today. Now before we begin did you both sleep well?"

"No," replied Carrie in a snap of the tongue. "Because of this walrus here I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Call me that again and I will cut your tongue out and feed it to the pigs!" snapped Maxine in response. This caused them to glare at each other while Charles was quickly trying to figure out a way to lower the tension.

"Ladies please," stated Charles while he waved his hands a little. "Let's be civil about this, you didn't have a good night's sleep Carrie. That is something that everyone experiences every now and again. Tell me how Maxine was keeping you up all night?"

"She was snoring her head off and most likely dreaming about stuffing her fat face with pies again."

"Only because pies are a gift from the gods and should be eaten accordingly," replied Maxine who didn't like what she was hearing.

"Now Carrie do you think that Maxine intended to snore like she did?" asked Charles as he looked at the younger sister.

"I'm sure that she did somehow," answered Carrie. "I don't know how she did it but I'm certain that she did."

"Are you? Because last time I checked a person couldn't control how much they snored. Isn't that right?"

"Y-Yeah." She didn't want to admit this but she knew that Charles was right. It was almost as bad as admitting that she was wrong.

"So, in that case Maxine couldn't help herself and because of that you were kept awake all night. I know there was no intention of this so could you find it in that big heart of yours to forgive her for that?"

"I-I suppose that I can."

"Good, now back to where we left off. We made a lot of progress yesterday and I hope that we can keep it up. Carrie you said that you remembered Maxine's first slight against you. The question is now reversed, Maxine, do you remember when Carrie first did anything to cross you?"

"I'm not sure," replied Maxine. "It was so long ago that I can't really remember it all that well." The truth was that she did remember it very well but she didn't really want to talk about it.

"Hmm, I don't believe that's true. I can tell that you're not being honest and if you can't be honest then we can't make any progress."

"Fine!" She spoke with an annoyed tone, it was obvious that she didn't really want to be there anymore but if she wanted to be free, she would sit through it. "While I was young my training to be a knight began with a wooden sword. I practiced with it every day but then Carrie got her hands on it. Even at that age she had learned how to grow in size and she used her new ability to snap my sword like a twig. From then on I knew that things between us would never be the same again."

"I only broke that stupid thing because you broke my doll first," snapped Carrie. "Besides you treated that sword and acted like it was a boyfriend or something creepy like that." This caused both women to glare at each other again.

"You actually think I was in love with that sword. You're even more delusional than I thought."

"Now ladies," said Charles as he waved his hands a little. "We've made so much progress so let's not throw it away."

The two sisters continued to glare at each other but the hatred between them didn't seem to be as strong as it was the previous day. In Charles's mind this was a positive sign of progress but he wanted to see if he could get them free that day. It would be a difficult task to say the least but he thought that it was possible.

"You know most knights would have struck their squire for speaking to them in such a manner," said Maxine. "You're lucky that I'm not like most knights."

"You're not even a knight so you can't go around saying that anyway," replied Carrie as a way to hit Maxine where it hurt.

"Before we go any further there's something that I want to say," said Charles as he thought that what he said next might get him into a lot of trouble but he was going to say it anyway. "Right now, I think that you're both being very selfish."

"How dare you say that to me!" stated Maxine with rage in her voice. It was good in a way that her focus was on him rather than Carrie but it was taking a lot of willpower for her to remain seated.

"Hear me out first, this rivalry isn't just effecting you both. It is also affecting your family as well. I've seen how your brothers and sisters react when you both start arguing. Your father sees this as very shameful and then there is your mother. I've seen on more than one occasion how upset she looks when you both are fighting. She's at her wits end with you both and even though she's saddened by what is happening you both haven't cared to notice. You've been so caught up with each other that you don't even consider how it might be affecting others. I've only known your mother for a few short days but I can tell that she's a woman with a very big heart who loves you both dearly. I'm asking you, for her sake can you please put this all behind you. Be good sisters and actually look out for one another? I know that this would make her very happy."

There were a few moments of silence as both sisters began to comprehend what Charles had said. They didn't realise just how much their rivalry was affecting their mother and they both loved her dearly. Maxine's anger towards her squire had ebbed away as she now felt shame for what she had done. It wasn't his fault about all of this, the blame fell squarely on her larger shoulders and that of her sister.

"Mother always did the best she could for us," said Carrie. "Even if we didn't fully appreciate it."

"As do all mothers but the best that you can do for your mother is to put your rivalry aside and love each other like good sisters," said Charles. On the outside he seemed as cool and collective as ever but, on the inside, he was very happy and jumping with joy.

There were a few moments as Maxine and Carrie looked at each other. They weren't glaring like they had done during previous stare downs. Instead they were looking at each other with a small amount of love and only a few seconds later they embraced themselves in a hug. They might not have gotten everything behind them yet but this was certainly a huge step forward for the both of them.

If Jessica had been there to see it, she would probably have begun crying tears of joy. Instead she was tending to baby Rina but there was someone who was witnessing what was taking place. This was none other than Sir Tucker who had already began to make his way to where this session was taking place. Even as he approached, he began to clap his hands at the pair who quickly noticed him and they broke off the hug. There was a small amount of embarrassment from the both of them but they could see the smile on the knight's face as he seemed genuinely happy.

"Now this is what I wanted to see," said Sir Tucker. "You pair finally stopped acting like your mortal enemies and loving each other as family. I'm a fool to believe right now that everything between you has been resolved but it seems that enough has been done to make me rethink a few things."

"Does that include freeing us from this damn chain?" replied Maxine with a small amount of hope in her voice.

"Oh, gods no, you've still got a very, very long way to go before I do something crazy like that."

"What?" replied both sisters in both shock and horror. The idea that they weren't even close to being free was harrowing for them. They even began to imagine them both as old women and still chained up. This was followed by a very loud laughter from their father who seemed to enjoy what had just happened.

"I'm only having a laugh with you. You've proved that you can tolerate the other and you've earned your freedom." He went into his pocket and expected to find something. Much to his surprise he couldn't find it and so he quickly checked his other pocket, only to get the same result. "I-I can't find the key." There was some nervousness in his voice as he continued to look for the key in his pockets.

"That's enough joking around father," answered Carrie who thought that their father was simply having fun with them again.

"No seriously, I can't find the bloody key." This was when it dawned on the two larger women that their father was not pulling another trick on them and that he was being serious. A small amount of panic appeared on the face of everyone there as even Charles knew what this meant.

"I-It's got to be somewhere in the house, you haven't left the property since you received it. You did receive a key, didn't you?"

"Of course, what kind of mad man would chain their daughters together without the means of freeing them?"

"What kind of mad man would chain up their daughters in the first place?" asked Charles in a quiet voice so that he couldn't be heard. This was picked up by Maxine who glared over at him and it almost looked like she was going to strike him.

"Charles!" stated Maxine in a relatively loud voice. "I need you to go back inside and look for the key. I don't care if you need to the house upside down. FIND THAT KEY!"

"Y-Yes ma'am."

With that Charles rushed back towards the house as fast as his legs could carry him. The chained sisters weren't going to stand around and do nothing while he was gone. They knew that there was a small chance that the key might be somewhere outside where their father had been working.

Because of this they quickly went to where Sir Tucker had been recently and started to search on the ground for it. The grass didn't help which was particularly long and if anything, they were just wanted this nightmare to be over. There was a good chance that even if they couldn't find the key that their uncle would simply use his tools to break the chains and free them through that. But it would be a lot easier if they could simply find the key, a task that was easier said than done.

Inside the house Charles was doing what he had been told and was looking for the key as best as he could. Unfortunately, he was having just as much luck as Maxine and Carrie as his search was turning up empty. His actions had been spotted by Jessica who looked at him with confusion. When he explained the situation to her the matriarch of the house experienced a combination of feelings.

The first was joy as she was told that her eldest daughters had put their rivalry aside for the time being and had begun to love each other again. This moved her almost to tears but when Charles told her about the missing key her joy turned to panic as she too began the search for the key. She was the one who checked the bedroom and she even grew until she was large enough to literally flip the bed.

There was still no key in sight and with each passing minute their situation seemed to become more desperate. But one thing that Charles had to do was to be quiet as he continued his search. Baby Rina was asleep and Jessica would be very upset with him if he woke her up. He knew better than to upset a mother, especially one as large as Jessica and who could increase her size many times over.

Eventually Charles found himself crawling on the ground near the kitchen and it wasn't long before he ran into a pair of very large feet. As he looked up, he could see the face of Jane that was high above him. The lanky girl looked down at the relatively short man with a small amount of confusion on her face. For the time being she didn't know about what was happening.

"What are you doing?" asked Jane. She noticed that he wasn't getting up which was something else that she felt was odd.

"Jane," replied Charles. "This is very important, have you seen a key lying around here at all? Your father lost the key to Maxine and Carrie's chains. If we don't find it then it's going to cause us a lot of problems."

"Do you mean this key?" The very tall girl stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out a key that looked like it would fit into the lock of the cuffs. This caused Charles to quickly stand up. He looked at her in amazement as she held the key just above him.

"T-That's it, where did you find it?"

"I found it outside near the pig pen yesterday. I was going to give it back to father but I forgot until you just mentioned it."

"Jane you're a life saver." He then embraced the lanky girl in a hug. He didn't mind that it felt weird to hug someone who was so much taller than him but it seemed like she enjoyed it as well. It was one of the few times that she had been hugged by anyone who wasn't a member of her family. "Your sister is going to be very happy when she sees this." He broke off the hug and continued to look up at her. "Jane, may I please have the key?"

"I don't know, if I give you this key that means that Maxine will be free and she'll go away again. I don't want to see her go."

"Unfortunately, that is something that you don't have any control over." He knew the situation but still chose to remain calm as he knew that he would have to use his skills again. "Your sister isn't a child anymore, she's an adult and is making her own way in life. Just because she's leaving here doesn't mean that she doesn't love you. She's just spent all the time that she can in this house and needs to spread her wings. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jane didn't answer but instead nodded her head a little. "Good, now may I have the key please Jane."

Jane was silent for a few moments and at first Charles didn't think that she would give up her prize. However, before he could say anything else, he watched as the tall girl handed him the key much to his delight. He was sure to thank her but before he could leave, he felt her embrace him in a hug. There were a few tears rolling down her face and he did feel some sympathy towards her. But more importantly he knew that Maxine would be very happy with his success.

Once the hug was over Charles quickly made his way outside where he held the key up for everyone to see. This made them all give out a sigh of relief as they thought that they had prevented a crisis. Maxine in particular was happy as it meant that she was only a few moments away from being separated from Carrie.

It was not too long later that Charles was given the honour of unlocking the cuffs. Much to his pleasure he pulled out the key that Jane had given to him but when he put it towards the lock, he quickly realised something. The key in his hand looked too large for the lock in the cuffs.

This was confirmed when he placed the key towards the lock and indeed discovered that there was a large size discrepancy between the two. It suddenly dawned on everyone there that this was the wrong key. This caused Charles to nervously chuckle up at Maxine and Carrie who were both horrified over what had happened. The only thing the giant sisters could do was scream in frustration.