The door swung open, as she pushed against it. Pausing it the doorway she asked, "I'm human? Mortal?"
Carter nodded, as she stepped through the threshold, "Yes."
"Welcome home," Jill said, as she took another shaky step into the hallway.
"I don't even know what to say," she said, "It doesn't feel real."
"What do you remember?" Carter asked.
"Everything," she said, "How long?"
"How long have you been gone?" Jimmy asked, as she nodded, "It's been almost five years, Max."
"And you never gave up? You kept looking for us?" she asked slowly.
"We weren't going to abandon you, either of you," Skeeter said, "Especially after finding out about the taking over the universe thing."
"The King, Zakan," she said, "The army . . . they're almost done. There is only one world left for them."
"Yeah, this one," Carter said, "But it will be a little harder without Arcadia."
"They'll still come."
"Before this goes any further," Littleton interjected, as he looked at the blanket wrapped woman, "How do we know that you're even Max, not just Arcadia screwing with us?"
"Arcadia would have destroyed you the minute she got out of that cell. She had a fondness for mortals, but she wouldn't hesitate in destroying any that crossed her," Max said, "She wasn't evil . . .She wanted to create utopia, make the universe a happier place for everything."
"By taking it over?" Jimmy asked, "How could you let her? How did any of this happen?"
"Let her? I couldn't exactly stop her," Max said.
"There is plenty of time for this," Carter interjected, "But for now, why don't we get out of here before anyone else shows up? Most people think that you're dead, and I really don't think anyone wants to come up with a reason why you're not."
6666
"Where is Zakan?" the King asked.
"Still searching for Arcadia," the guard said.
"Arcadia picked a fine time to disappear," the King growled.
"She won't abandon us, she can't," the guard said, as he nodded toward the temple being built, "It is almost complete, and what Goddess would not want to be around for that?"
"She is a complicated Goddess, but she would never betray Zakan. She is devoted to him, and he would not allow that devotion to wane."
6666
"These books tell the legends and the histories of Arcadia and Zakan," Carter said, as Max picked one up carefully, "How they were banished until the time was right for them to return."
"How Zakan tried to take control of the world," Max practically whispered, "And how Arcadia was banished along side him, for being his lover. I know the story."
"Do you have her memories?" Jill asked.
"Like she had mine," Max said quietly, "Of the ancient times, and more recently."
"That's good," Carter said quickly, "We can use that!"
"For what?" Max asked, trying not to squirm under their gaze, "You think that you can stop them?"
"I don't want to live in a world controlled by this King and Zakan," Littleton replied, "And somehow I don't think you do either. How do we stop them?"
"There are too many of them," Max began, faltering slightly, "You can't try to stop them."
"Why the hell not?" Skeeter asked.
She shook her head, and choked back her tears, "They kill anyone who dissents when the worlds collide. Zakan . . . he's killed thousands, and the army is made up of the strongest warriors from all of the worlds. When it comes . . ."
"They don't have Arcadia anymore," Carter said, "That makes them considerably weaker."
"Arcadia wasn't a warrior. She healed the sick, created beauty around her, and sure, when she got pissed she wasn't above hurting anyone. She was a creator, nurturer . . . She mended the worlds together after they joined," Max trailed off, "There will be chaos without her there to mend it."
"And will they take the chance without her?" Carter asked.
"What the King wants, the King gets," Max practically spat, "One way or another."
"Why don't we start at the beginning?" Jill asked, "How did you end up becoming Arcadia, and . . ."
"And Kenny into Zakan?" Max finished for her.
"Do you remember?" Jimmy asked.
She nodded, "Have a seat."
6666
"She was here," Zakan said, as he stood in the shadows, "I can feel her presence here."
Arcadia, he thought, as he stared into the night sky, why are you doing this? You wouldn't betray me. Not for mortals, humans.
6666
"I'm so sorry," Jill said, as Max finished the story of what happened after the quest.
Max looked up, visibly shaken from the telling of the story, "After the ceremony, Arcadia and Zakan had full control. They were worshiped in the streets of Ital, and the King began his plan. Create a new world, where the people were obedient, worshiped his Gods . . . and Arcadia and Zakan were all for it. Zakan had tried to do it before, and was banished. He was looking to accomplish his goal, to prove the old Gods wrong and to create the utopia that Arcadia so desired. He'd do anything for her."
"And that is his weakness," Carter mused, "Arcadia."
"Arcadia is gone," Jimmy said.
"He doesn't know that," Carter countered, as he turned back to Max, "And you have all of her memories."
"You aren't putting that thing back inside of me," Max practically cried.
"Of course not," Jill replied soothingly.
"You brought me back," Max started, "I'm not sure how . . . But are you going to bring Kenny back too?"
"We will," Carter promised, "We summoned Arcadia through a spell, and it should would on Zakan as well."
She shook her head, "Zakan is so much stronger. Even in a magic proof cage . . . It won't hold him."
"Then what do you propose that we do?" Skeeter asked, "How do we stop this takeover and get Kenny back? Any bright ideas?"
"I think so," she said, as lightening erupted across the sky, "Oh, no."
"Is this how it starts?" Jimmy asked, as thunder crashed around them.
"Zakan," Max whispered, as she leapt to her feet, "He's here!"
"Arcadia!" a voice bellowed around them, "Arcadia!"
"How do we stop him?" Jimmy yelled over the roar.
"Give him what he wants!" Max yelled, "She's the only one who can ever stop him!"
"You're not her anymore! He'll know that just by looking at you!" Skeeter yelled.
Max whirled around to face Carter, "You're practicing magic? You ever hear of a glamour?"
"You're not going with him!" Skeeter yelled back.
"I'm not letting him kill all of you!" Max yelled back, as she turned back to Carter, "Can you?"
Carter nodded and raised his hands, and chanted a few words before the other figure appeared in the room. Max stifled a scream, as she was thrown back into the wall, and watched in wonder, as a cage appeared around her. Looking down at the white robes she was wearing again, she pushed the waist length curls off of her face. Prisoner again, she thought, as she watched Zakan appear in the room in front of her.
"Arcadia!" he bellowed, as the other occupants flew into the walls at his rage.
"Holy shit," Skeeter said, as he watched the gladiator like God in Carter's living room.
"Zakan!" Max cried, praying that he bought the illusion. Be Arcadia, she told herself, you know her as well as you know yourself, "My love. You came."
"I would never leave you," he replied, "These humans, what have they done to you?"
"This cage," Max said, as she watched the others rise to their feet behind Zakan, "It can't be broken into by magic. They're trying to stop utopia."
"And you're about to join her," Carter said, as the bars appeared around Zakan as well, "Welcome back."
"Mortals," he hissed, as Max took a step closer to the wall, "You think that you can stop us?"
"Oh, we're well on our way," Jimmy said, as he studied Zakan thoughtfully, "Now that we have both of you, why don't you get the hell out of our friend's bodies?"
Zakan raised his arm in anger, and let the lightening fly from his hand. Stumbling back, as it deflected off the cages bars, "What have you done to us?"
"Zakan," Max said, stroking his arms soothingly, "Leave the mortals be. They can't hurt us. Their silly spells are growing weaker by the moment, I can feel it."
"Arcadia," he breathed, as he stroked her face, "I was worried about you."
"I know," she whispered, as she studied the face that she fell in love with all those years ago, "I was worried about you too."
"They are ready to come here. We must get back."
"I know," she breathed, as she took his hands in hers, "We'll do it together. This cage can't hold us."
"I really don't like the way that this is going," Carter said under his breath, as he watched the two in the cage, "What if she was just screwing with us? It's gotta be tough to go from Goddess to human, if it even happened."
"It's Max," Jill insisted, "The other cage let her out. She's human. Listen."
"Close your eyes," Max whispered, as she kissed Zakan's lips gently, "Focus on Ital. Picture it. Picture us, Zakan."
"Arcadia," he whispered, as she joined their hands.
"Ssh," she whispered, as she kissed his fingers, and pausing slightly by his ring, "Just concentrate there, Zakan. Zakan?'
Taking a deep breath at his meditative state, she slid the ring from his finger.
"What do you think that you're doing, Arcadia?" he asked, as he grasped her wrists in hers.
"Getting us home," she practically choked out, and the anger in his eyes, " You're hurting me, Zakan."
He tossed her to the ground, and stared at her for a long moment, "Arcadia?"
Max stumbled to her feet, and tossed his ring out into the living room, as she fumbled to open the cage door, "No, not anymore."
"Get back here!" he yelled as he lunged at the opening, and was thrown back with force.
"I hate you!" Max screamed, at the trapped God, as the others in the room stared at her in shock, "I hate everything that you have ever done! The death that you caused! The murders of the ancient Gods! How you made sure that Arcadia was banished with you for all those centuries! You're a monster, Zakan! And you know what I hate most of all about you, you son of bitch? That you're occupying my best friend's body at the moment, and it's the only thing keeping me from cutting off your head!"
"Max," Carter said, as he watched the glamour fade at her tirade, and the shock cross Zakan's face, "Get back."
"Don't touch me!" she yelled, as she advanced on the caged Zakan, "You can go back to Ital, get your army together, but there is no way in hell that I'm going to let you do this. I'll kill you first."
"You think that you can stop me?" Zakan hissed, "A mere mortal, like yourself? Arcadia will stop you!"
Max smiled, and felt more alive then she had since she had first woken up, "Arcadia is gone. Forever. How does that feel, asshole? Like someone ripped your heart out, and left you alone to die? Welcome to how I feel."
"What the hell is she doing?" Skeeter hissed, as he watched Max rant in wonder, "Does she want to piss him off?"
"You will die for harming Arcadia!" Zakan bellowed, "You will be the first to die here!"
"I'll gladly die to stop you!" Max yelled back, "I want you to suffer!"
"Max, get back!" Jimmy yelled, as he and Skeeter dragged her to the other side of the room, "What the hell are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?"
She whirled around to face them, "I hate him!"
"Yeah, got that," Skeeter replied, "Now why don't you use that to stop him, instead of screaming at him?"
"It's not working!" Carter yelled in frustration, after chanting the same spell he used before to remove Arcadia.
"He's too strong," Max swallowed, as she watched Zakan in the cage, "He won't let him out."
"Then how?" Jill asked.
"The cage isn't holding," Carter yelled, as he stumbled back into the group, "How do we stop him, Max?"
"I don't think you can," she replied, "Even without the ring . . ."
"You can't stop us!" Zakan yelled, as the cage exploded around him, and he advanced upon them.
"Yeah?" Skeeter challenged, as he whipped the gun out from his belt, "But we can make it hurt!"
Max closed her eyes, as the bullets ripped into Zakan, and silently cried for Kenny. Fight, she thought, please Kenny fight your way back to me. Opening her eyes, she heard Zakan laughing, as blood dripped from his hands.
"I'll be back for you," he promised, as he stared at her, "You murdering little witch."