Liz groaned and rolled over. Man, her head hurt. What had she been doing last night? Drinking Vodka shot with beer and a little Cognac on the side? She was surprised her parents would let her do that. It must have been one hell of a welcome home party, she just wished she could remember it.

She brought her hand up and brushed some hair off her face, keeping her eyes closed. She wanted to prolong this sleep as much as possible. Opening her eyes meant light and, in this state, light most definitely meant pain.

She was hungry though. She felt like she hadn't eaten for a week. She always felt hungry when she woke up at home. At Uni. she could manage but here where the sent of scrambled eggs and bacon would drift up to her from the Crashdown she could never resist food. The scent would fill her senses and then drive her out of bed, pulling her down towards the grill. And there she could have what ever she wanted; eggs, bacon, t-

Suddenly Liz froze, her thoughts grinding to an abrupt halt. She sat still for a second and then inhaled again, checking for what she desperately hoped would be there. But there was nothing. Not a whiff of the bacon she had been thinking about and definitely no egg.

A shiver ran through her entire body as everything came flooding back to her. Suddenly she knew why she couldn't remember any party. Why she couldn't smell the bacon. And why it was that she knew for a certainty that she was not alone.

'It just feels weird,' sighed Maria for the fifth time as she slumped down onto the stool at the bar of the pizza restaurant.

Kyle nodded absentmindedly, his thoughts focused on the steaming pizza that was being pulled out of the oven. Drool was practically hanging from his mouth.

'She'll be back soon though,' replied Serena.

'Yeah but by then we'll be,' Maria lowered her voice to a whisper. 'Off up north.'

Serena raised an eyebrow at Maria. 'Riiight. Besides she'll get some space and clear her head!'

'Yeah I know,' sighed Maria again, slouching further into the stool. 'It just-'

'Feels weird! I know!' said Serena with a slight smile.

Maria flashed her a very half hearted smile. 'It's just that for the last two years we've been all each other has had. We even went on holiday together and now it feels like… like I'm losing her.'

Kyle dragged his eyes away from yet another glistening hot pizza to stare at her indignantly. 'Hey! What about me! I've been around.'

Maria just looked at him.

'OK so maybe not all the time but I was always gonna be there if you needed anything!'

'Yeah I guess. It just fells-'

'We know!' interrupted Kyle and Serena.

'Good morning Liz.'

Liz lay still. She knew the voice, she'd know it anywhere. But should she move or should she just pretend to be asleep until it all went away.

'I know you're awake.'

She kept her eyes closed, perhaps he was bluffing.

'No Liz I really do know you're awake.'

Liz swallowed. It was obvious this wasn't working. It didn't look like he was going anywhere fast so her only other option was…

Liz pulled her eyes open, her stomach clenching in fear.

'Ah so you've seen reason.'

She felt bile rising in her throat as her eyes locked with his. 'Kivar,' she said evenly. She pulled the sheets further around her, feeling naked under his probing eyes.

'Good morning my queen.'

Liz choked slightly. 'Queen?'

Kivar smiled a satisfied smile. 'I thought you'd be surprised. You always underestimated yourself, you were born to be a leader Liz. You have the right temperament, the right attitude. Such a shame that Zan could never see it.'

'What do you want with me?' said Liz her voice wavering slightly.

'All in good time. First you must get dressed, there will be much more time for bedroom talks in the future.'

Liz shrank further into the bed as she caught his meaning. She felt defiled, naked.

'I suppose you would like to be left alone to change,' said Kivar longingly. 'Or I could help..'

Once again Liz felt like she was about to be sick. 'No.' she said hurriedly.

Kivar just smiled down at her. 'Ah well, soon.' He turned to leave but at the door he turned back. 'Oh and Liz. There's no point in getting ideas about escaping. Your powers are useless here.'

Tears began to roll down Liz' face as the door closed. She brought her legs up to her chest and began to sob.

'You really think we can do this?' said Michael.

'I don't know,' replied Max honestly as he turned away.

'I don't want to go back there.'

Max turned to look at Michael. He saw the fear in his best friend's eyes. It was the fear that he found when he thought of the white room. He didn't know what they had done to Michael while they were on Antar but he could see the effects. For a while they had broken his spirit completely, not even thoughts of Maria could drive him on.

He'd learnt something about Michael while they were on Antar. He was a free spirit, like a bird. Perhaps that was where his artistic talents came from. But caging him had almost destroyed him. He couldn't take it. It had broken him down. That was why he didn't want to go back. He didn't want to be caged again because to all three of them all Antar could ever be for them was a cage. A cage which they had been tricked to enter and no could not escape.

'He's right Max, I don't want to go either,' said Isabel as she walked out of Liz' room. Her eyes were red, she looked like she'd been crying. 'But we have to. We were born to this, it's because of us that all those people are suffering, we have to save them.'

Michael looked at her, his face softening a bit. He slumped down into a chair. 'I know I just… I just don't like dragging the other's into this.'

'We're all already in this!' said Adam. All the others turned to him in surprise, they had forgotten he was even there. 'We've been in this since the beginning. This is just our ditch attempt at getting out!'