Maxine and Charles were allowed inside of the building and they did so with some hurry. Not just because they wanted to make Maxine like she was before but also because they had felt some raindrops. The sky above them was a murky colour and the threat of a downpour was constantly present. Although getting wet from the rain was the least of their problems, it was still something that they didn't really want to deal with.

Once they had gotten inside, they could see that there were numerous jars all around which had liquids of almost any colour that they could imagine. There were also several old books on a nearby shelf along with a couple of them located on a desk. In a way it looked like the abode of a witch that they would hear in stories when they were younger. On the ceiling seemed to be small objects hanging by strings. One of them looked to be the arm of a small animal but right now neither of them knew one it was.

The woman didn't really look like a witch as far as the pair were concerned but they hoped that she would be able to help them. Maxine was a little impatient with getting her size back but after the sacrifice that Charles had made, she was quieter and more willing to wait rather than try and push things forward.

Maxine was forced to sit down on an old wooden chair that groaned a little under her weight. This caused some concern to her as if it was struggling while she was this size, she thought that it would break if even an average person sat down on it. Charles stood beside her as they watched the woman leaning against the desk and looking at them. It seemed like she was a little impatient.

"So, what's the problem?" asked the Woman. She had crossed her arms and was looking at Charles in particular. "If you're looking for body improvements then I can't help you. No matter what you pay me."

"Actually, it's not me that is the problem," replied Charles. "It is my friend here, a few days ago she was nine feet tall and packed more muscle than you thought was possible for a woman. And now she's like this."

"Hmm, so the magic has been removed from her and she became like this?" Both Maxine and Charles were surprised that she was able to guess that without them needing to tell her. "Well unless you have the magic that was removed from her there isn't really much, I can do for her."

"That's the thing, we do have the magic. But the problem is that when we placed it back inside of her, she couldn't stop growing bigger and more muscular. She burst out of a building and if I hadn't of removed it again, she probably wouldn't have stopped."

"Hmm, so that is a problem. That one I might be able to help you with." She now had a hand on her chin as she seemed to be thinking. "I have a few theories of what had happened but still, before we go any further, do you have the magic in question?"

"Of course."

With that Charles went back into his satchel and pulled out the container that held the sphere. The glow from it was beautiful for those gazing on and even the woman looked at it with some amazement. If she thought that they had been lying before, she was certain that they weren't now. She knew better than to touch it as she would absorb it and likely go through the same process as Maxine had.

"That is what was extracted from me," said Maxine. They could see that since she was close, the sphere was pushing against the container as if it was trying to return to her. This was something that they couldn't allow for the time being. "I need it back inside of me like I was before."

"That is possible," replied the Woman. "May I ask how you were able to obtain it in the first place?"

"I was born with it. My mother was given the magic at a young age and some of it was passed down to me and my sisters."

"Hmm that does make sense." She then held the container and she could see the sphere inside pushing itself towards Maxine. "That's why this thing is so desperate to get back inside of you." This got her to think for a moment before she decided to ask another question. "So, your mother, was she very tall like you were?"

"Yes, she was, she was over eight feet tall, well actually she's about one hundred and fifty feet tall but she wears a dress that allows her to shrink smaller."

"Oh really?" It seemed like she was beginning to figure something out. "I think I might know this woman. Is your father a man named Sir Tucker Martel?"

"Yes, he is." Maxine became curious as she knew that stories about her father were out there but not many people spoke of them. "How did you know that?"

"I met them once towards the East. Your mother's abilities completely took my breath away. It's nice to know that they settled down together and started a family." She paused as she thought for a moment. "I have an idea of what happened and what needs to be done. But you need to do exactly what I tell you. However, for me to have to do this your friend here is going to have to wait outside."

"What?" This caught her by surprise as this was a request that she hadn't expected at all. "Why does he need to leave?"

"The magic and techniques I'm going to be using will be too great for most people to comprehend. It is best for his own sanity that he waits outside and for us to do what needs to be done."

"That man is both my squire and my best friend." There was some sternness in her voice that did seem a little funny coming from someone who was so short. But she still needed to be taken seriously as far as she was concerned. "If I am welcome somewhere then so is, he, no ifs no buts."

"It's alright ma'am," said Charles who felt like he needed to step in. He did appreciate her calling him her best friend but he knew that there was more at stake here than what was worth the trouble. "If she needs me to step out, then I'll do it."

"That is the right decision," said the Woman. Her tone of voice did make it seem like it was a matter of fact. "Now you go and wait and I'll be more than happy to do what needs to be done. In the next few minutes, your friend will be back to the way that she was before. You have my word."

Charles once again thanked the woman and stepped outside of the door and back onto the street. Even though he had stepped out willingly, there was still something within him that was telling him that there was something not right there.

This was something that Maxine didn't feel at that moment in time as she was led to a table and instructed to lie down on top of it. This was something that she did expect but soon enough she found her wrists and ankles shackled to it. The table itself was incredibly uncomfortable as there was a small piece of wood that was sticking into her back. However, this was the least of her worries.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Maxine as she struggled in the shackles. If she had been her full size, she might have been able to break free. But at her current size this was an impossibility.

"This is for your own safety," replied the Woman. "The process that we're doing is going to be painful for you. This is just so that you don't thrash around and injure either yourself or me."

Maxine did find it odd but it did make some sense. Although she was still a little reluctant about all of this, she was still willing to go through with it if it meant that she could be like she was before. She turns her head and watched as the container was placed on a small table nearby and a book was placed right next to it. From the wear and tear on the book, it seemed like it was much older than she likely realised.

The woman also picked up a couple of jars with liquid inside of it. Maxine merely thought that it was some kind of magic that was inside of them. Beforehand she didn't believe in magic too much despite the fact that magic fuelled her mother's size. Now she was a firm believer that it existed but she still didn't want to have to have to deal with it though. In her mind, magic couldn't solve every problem.

"Now let's see," said the Woman as she looked into the book. A smile appeared on her face as she continued to read. "Hmm, this shouldn't be too difficult. All I need to do is this, then it'll be done."

"Oh good," replied Maxine as she thought that the woman was talking to her. "Can you please put it back into me?" She watched as the Woman opened the container and she stared at the glowing orb for a few moments. However, it tried to fly out of the container towards Maxine like it had before, but this time the Woman caught onto it with her hand. This was something that Maxine thought was very risky. However, much to her horror, the Woman didn't move the orb towards Maxine, instead she began to chant some words in a language that couldn't be understood by a common person. She then thrust the sphere into her own chest with quite a lot of force. "What are you doing?"

The Woman didn't answer as she groaned while the magic took effect. Her muscles began to bulge underneath her skin and her height increased much to Maxine's horror. She attempted to break free of her restraints but nothing seemed to be happening. She was powerless but to watch the Woman continuing to grow bigger as her muscles were bursting up through her clothing and she was laughing as the process continued.

The sound of stretching and tearing clothing was loud within the room. The Woman had an evil smile on her face as she continued to grow taller right before Maxine. Within moments she was six feet tall, then seven, then eight and eventually nine. Even then she continued to grow taller until she was a little over nine and a half feet in height. Her muscles did seem to be the same size that Maxine's had been before and even though she was standing there completely naked it didn't seem to bother her at all. Instead she began to laugh somewhat maniacally as she looked at her larger body.

"Finally!" said the Woman in a triumphant tone. "I've done it!"

"What is the meaning of this?" replied Maxine who although was scared still had a demanding tone in her voice. "Explain yourself!"

"I thank you Ms Martel." Her tone had changed somewhat and she looked at the much smaller woman who was still shackled to the table. "Like you I'm only taking back something that was stolen from me."

"What do you mean? I never took anything from you."

"No, you didn't." She then stepped towards Maxine and placed her hand on her neck. The pressure she applied was almost enough to start choking Maxine out. But the pressure was intentional to keep her focused on her. "But it is so much fun seeing the look on your when you saw me grow. Makes my vengeance even sweeter."

"Vengeance? What are you talking about? I've never met you before in my life." Maxine was more confused than anything else. She did consider calling out Charles but she didn't think that it would be a good idea. Not only would the woman be able to kill her before he could reach her, but he would not stand a chance against her. If he were to rush inside then it was likely he could be seriously injured or worse.

"You haven't but like I said, I did meet your mother and father. It's because of them, I lost much more than you did. I might not be able to have my revenge on them straight away but starting with their daughter is a good start."

"What did they do to you to warrant such hatred?" She was confused but she was also becoming angry. She had her size stolen already and she was unwilling to have it happen again.

"Oh, I forgot." The Woman chuckled for a moment as if she had just forgotten to do something important. "In all this excitement I forgot to tell you my name, manners are so hard to come by today. My name is Gwendolyn but I like to be called Gwen for short." This caused her the short woman an evil smirk.

This caused Maxine to fall to complete silence as she had heard the name before. On more than one occasion when Sir Tucker was telling her tales of his adventures, he had mentioned the name Gwen. There wasn't much that he had said but one thing that he was certain of was the fact that she was trouble. Probably more than she could deal with, especially with the fact that she was now taller and as muscular as Maxine had been.

"Y-You're Gwen?" asked Maxine with a small amount of confusion in her voice. "I thought that you'd be taller." Even though she was in this situation she still had her confidence which only seemed to annoy the large muscular woman.

"Oh, you really think that you act so cocky right now. Not when I can snap your neck like a twig?" She still had her hand on Maxine's neck and slightly increased the pressure which did cause her some pain. "I was a demi-goddess before your parents ruined it, now I'm a mere mortal like everyone else. Mortals cowered before me and for decades I've been trying to regain my lost power. This isn't exactly what I want but it's a good start if you ask me. But it is the first step towards becoming a god once again. Maybe soon I'll pay those parents of yours a visit and show them the error of their ways. Then I can prove to them that I am no mere mortal anymore."

"Soo you planned to kill me from the beginning?" She didn't seem all that worried and was instead trying to keep her confidence up.

"No, I did plan on helping you for the money. I have to put food on the table anyway, but when I learned who you actually were, that all went out of the window."

"You're going to be growing even bigger soon like I did the other night. Then you won't be able to move."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. It's why I placed the sphere inside of me, you on the other hand must have allowed it to simply flying in there. That's what caused you to grow so uncontrollably last time. But to you it doesn't matter because now I am taking back what is mine."

"At least what I had was actually mine." Even though her life could be ended at any moment she was still confident. "Better than stealing something because you're too much of an ass to earn it yourself." This statement caused Gwen's blood to boil.

"I hope that you enjoyed that last statement because it was your last." With that she increased the pressure around Maxine's neck. This caused her to be unable to breathe and she knew that she had to do something in order to try and escape.

One thing that Gwen hadn't realised was that while she had been focused on Maxine's face that she hadn't looked up to her hands. If she had, she would have noticed that Maxine had been slipping her right hand through the shackle that was keeping it bolted down. It was one of the few times that being small actually had its advantages. A slightly larger person would have no hope of slipping through, but for her it was possible.

Just as Maxine's hand and wrist were able to slip through the shackle, she immediately thrust her two fingers right into the eyes of Gwen. Her body might be unbelievably strong but her eyes were just as vulnerable as everyone else's. The sudden shock and pain from it caused her to quickly release her grip and stagger back. She screamed out in pain and covered her eyes as she tried to regain her composure.

With the time that she had Maxine quickly began to release herself from her other shackles. Right now, attack was not an option as she knew that she needed to escape. She was in no position to fight Gwen and needed to escape in order to make some kind of plan. But one thing she did hear was the door the building she quickly turned and looked. There, she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or afraid to see that it was Charles. The scream that he had heard had made him spring into action.

Even though he was inside he was shocked with what he was seeing. He thought that he would be seeing Maxine back at nine feet but instead it was Gwen who was large and he could see his friend getting off the table. He was more confused than anything else and an idea did pop into the head of Maxine.

"What is going on?" asked Charles. He took a step back in fear and confusion.

"Charles," replied Maxine. "Pass me that damn tool!" For several moments Charles stood there in complete disbelief and this forced her to prompt him again. "Now!"

This time Charles did as he was told and grabbed onto the tool that he had stored in his satchel. It was the same pair of tongs that he had used to extract the sphere from Maxine the other night. He did pass it over to her and she quickly darted forward towards the still staggering Gwen.

The larger woman was still waving her arms and staggering as she recovered from being poked in both of her eyes. One arm did come close to striking Maxine as she approached but she was able to duck underneath it. However, when she was close enough, she realised another problem. She was too short to reach Gwen's chest in order to extract the size from her. It was too late when she realised this and the next thing, she felt was a strong backhand to her cheek which sent her flying across the room.

Thankfully she didn't fly into anything but the tool was knocked out of her hand and she seemed to be mostly unconscious. By now Gwen had recovered from being poked in the eye and she looked over to Charles who was still standing there in disbelief. He could see that Gwen was larger than Maxine was, his mind could probably come up with an explanation but right now that was the last thing on, he could think of.

"You should have stayed outside," said Gwen as she stepped towards him. For a moment he wasn't sure what to do, everything was telling him to run but he doubted that it would do him any good. Not just that but it would also lead to Maxine most likely being killed and that was something that he couldn't allow to happen.

Gwen did dart towards him but she didn't notice a low beam just above her. This oversight caused her head to strike the ceiling and it caused her some discomfort. The distraction was enough for him to pick up the tool that had fallen onto the ground and make his way towards her.

His concern for Maxine was great but he knew that he couldn't check on her while Gwen was still around. However, he too had the same problem as Maxine as he was too short to reach her chest. Thankfully this was something that he had realised as he quickly moved towards a nearby table. It was the same one that Maxine had been shackled to around a minute earlier but it gave him the extra height that he needed.

Thankfully for him Gwen was close enough to him for him to use the tool in order to try and extract the sphere from her. He quickly raised it up in order to touch her chest which he was able to do. One odd thing that he noticed was that when he did that it seemed like she was being pulled towards him.

Charles continued to pull at the tool and slowly he could see the sphere being pulled out of Gwen's chest. But by this time, she had also recovered and placed her hands on his skull. Using all of her might she began to squeeze on it in an attempt to crush it. This caused him a great amount of pain. Even so he continued to pull at the tools as he knew that the situation was dire.

Maxine didn't stand around and do nothing as she picked up a nearby chair and with all of her might struck Gwen in the back with it. She had expected the chair to completely fall apart once she had used it but instead it remained intact. This went against some things that she had heard in stories but then again there was a lot stated in stories that weren't actually true in real life.

Worse still the strike didn't seem to have harmed Gwen as she continued the pressure around Charles's skull. He knew that he was only moments away from having his skull crushed in completely. With all his might he continued to pull, more and more they could see the glow of the sphere as it appeared from the chest.

Desperate Maxine picked up a bottle of liquid that was close by and smashed it against Gwen's back. She didn't expect much but suddenly the large muscular woman began to scream out in agony and smoke seemed to be rising from her back. It was enough for her to let go of Charles's skull and he groaned in relief as the pressure around his head had been taken away.

As Maxine looked at Gwen's back, she could see that the liquid was causing it to burn as it turned a deep red colour and looked extremely painful. Gwen would have gone down to the ground but Charles pulling out the sphere was keeping her upright and with all of his might he pulled. He even shouted out due to the effort and within moments the sphere was completely out in the open.

Almost immediately Gwen's body began to revert back to the way that it was before. She could feel the sensation of both being squashed and in severe pain. The process only took a few moments before she was on the ground and in tears. Not just because she was in pain but also because she had been bigger and now was back to being her small self once again.

"Charles!" stated Maxine as she rushed towards him. He still a good hold of the tools which in turn held onto the sphere. His head was aching from almost being squashed but it seemed that there wasn't any permanent damage. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright ma'am," replied Charles. Carefully he did climb down from the table and it seemed to be a little unsteady on his feet. He could feel the sphere pulling itself towards Maxine. He watched as she grabbed the sphere with both hands. "What are you doing? Is it safe?"

"Hopefully I will, if what she said was true then this should work." With that she slowly brought the sphere towards her chest and began to push it inside. However, she still kept a hold of it since if it went inside of her too quickly then she would have the growing problem again.

Charles could only watch as Maxine placed the sphere inside of herself through the chest. The whole process took several seconds unlike how it had been instantaneous previously. Once the sphere had been completely absorbed, she felt the same rush through her body that she had done before as she felt her body begin to grow taller and her muscles to swell. Her companion could only step back and watch as the process continued.

There was a small amount of fear from him as he was worried that she would continue growing like she had done before. He could hear her groaning as her body continued to stretch and bulge. Like before the clothes that she was wearing couldn't contain her body anymore.

Her clothes tore away from her body as her mighty size continued to return to her. It was a fantastic feeling for her as she could feel herself continuing to grow. She did wonder if this was the same feeling that her mother and sisters would experience whenever they grew in size. She felt stronger and almost all of the fears that she had been feeling before was now being swept away.

Charles could only watch as Maxine continued to grow bigger right before his eyes. He was being cautious as he still had his hands on the tool, just in case he needed to extract her size once again. It didn't take much for him to remember what happened last time but these thoughts were in the back of his mind as he continued to crane his head higher and higher to look at her face.

With one more groan from Maxine, her growth spurt ended and she looked as tall and muscular as she had before. The clothing that she had been wearing was now in shreds all over the ground around her. For Charles it was a little upsetting seeing clothing that he had spent money rip apart like this, a small part of him did hope that he could have a refund for his purchase.

"Are you alright ma'am?" asked Charles as he looked up at Maxine. He was looking at her body but not because she was naked, instead he was trying to spot any signs that she could grow even bigger.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine," replied Maxine. She moved her arms a little and looked at her hands. "It is nice being big again."

"Oh good, let's hope that you don't grow any further." He then looked down at Gwen who was still on the ground. Despite everything that she had gone through, she was still conscious. "What do you want to do with her?"

"Leave her. She means nothing to us."

Charles wasn't sure if this was the best course of action but there were a few things that he did before they left the building. The first thing was that he had found a large sheet that Maxine used in order to cover herself up. Their next destination was to return to Morgan so that she could retrieve her proper clothing as well as her armour and sword. It seemed like her nightmare was finally over.

He wasn't the only one who had picked something up as Maxine in turn picked up the money that they had originally given to Gwen. Not just that but he ensured that the locket was picked up as well, there was no chance that she would leave it behind but before she stepped out of the door, she did turn to look at Gwen who was still on the ground. Rather than tending to her she simply spat at her before turning around and ducking out of the door.