Isaac sighed in relief as he entered the gates of Tolbi; it had been almost two weeks since they left the destroyed Vale and every one of his companions were suffering from exhaustion. A two-week pilgrimage from Vale to Tolbi was a very quick pace for warriors without the aid of a caravan, which was they many warriors traveled when they needed to get somewhere fast.

"I'm so glad we're here at last. . ." Mia sighed in relief.

"Yeah, I could use a nice feather bed. . ." Dargon muttered, his armor creaking at the joints because of dust contamination. "I need a smith to polish and oil my armor too!"

"I'm hungry." Garet whined, as his stomach growled so loud someone in Lunpa could here it.

"It's good to be home." Triad sighed, happy to see his hometown much like he left it. "So, what do we do first, Isaac?"

"We rest first, then we'll speak with Babi about the ship." Isaac ordered. His face and hair were full of dust; there had been a sandstorm on the way to Tolbi, and most of the adventurers were covered in the fine sands of the desert.

"Yeah, I could really use a bath right about now. . ." Jenna sighed, brushing thousands of coarse grains of sand from her hair. "That sandstorm was something else." Felix spat before he replied.

"Yeah, well, at least you didn't swallow any of it."

"That's something I'd really expect from Garet, Felix." Ivan smiled.

"Shut up, Ivan!" Garet and Felix shouted at the same time.

"I think we could all use baths after what happened out there. . . being attacked by Hellhounds the whole time was not my idea of a good day." Sheba said, mildly upset without changing her even tone at all.

"I agree." Mia sighed, brushing sand from her robes.

"Aw, that storm was nothing." Triad smiled. "You should've seen the one here three years ago, the whole town was covered! Think of it as Imil in a blizzard only with sand."

"It's easy for you, Triad! You've lived here most of your life!" Garet returned, shaking sand out of his hair. "I've got sand in places I didn't even know I had!"

"Like in your empty head?" Jenna asked, poking fun.

"That's one place." Garet smiled in return.

"Well, if we all want stuff, why are we still standing around here like a pack of idiots? Let's go." Isaac asked, as he walked into town. "We should probably get cleaned up before we pay a visit to Babi."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea." Mia agreed.

"It doesn't matter." Triad said. "Babi wouldn't care one way or another, considering you're the ones who brought him his draught and I'm the one who used to work for him. He'd actually prefer us going straight to him instead of lollygaging around here in Tolbi."

"It's not polite, Triad." Ivan reminded his friend of his manners. He'd been having to do that quite frequently lately. "Besides, being cleaned up would make a good impression."

"You already saved the man's life, what more impression can you make on him? By winning Colosso?!"

"Well actually, I already did that." Isaac responded, truthfully. Triad turned, obviously stunned.

"So YOU were the underdog everyone was talking about a year or so back?! Go figure I had to be in Kalay on an errand at the time! Damn, I would've like to seen you win that!"

"It wasn't much to see."

"What are you kidding Isaac?! You beat the stuffing out of a guy three times your size!" Garet exclaimed as they continued walking through the city. "It definitely was something to see!"

"You were quite impressive, Isaac." Ivan stated.

"I remember it quite well." Sheba replied, whom actually was at the finals.

"You gave us all quite a scare at the end of the tournament, though." Mia smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone sleep that soundly; I don't even think Garet ever did."

"Oh great. I miss two really unusual things in one tournament! Dammit!" Triad muttered.

"Whoa, what's this Colosso thing, anyway?" Dargon asked, as they walked into Tolbi's inn.

"It's a tournament where the best fighters in the world compete for title of Champion. The trials are rough, the matches are brutal, and the opponents are even worse. You have to be strong, cunning, and smart to win." Garet replied. "Isaac was all of those things that day."

"Come on guys, stop already." Isaac muttered, not wanting any more praise. He turned to the innkeeper. "How many rooms do you have?"

"We only have four left; one triple occupancy, three doubles. Do you want them?"

"Yeah. We'll take them." Isaac said, forking over nearly 250 coins for the rooms. He took each of the four keys and prepared to pass them out. "You girls will sleep in the triple suite, while the rest of us will pair off into rooms, okay? Ok, who is with who?"

"I don't care." Felix said.

"Neither do I." Dargon replied.

"Good, you two share a room then; you both don't care." Isaac said, flipping Felix a key. "Ivan, who you staying with?"

"It doesn't matter; I guess I'll stay with Triad, like back in Imil."

"That's fine with me." Triad replied. He caught the key tossed to him by his Venus Adept friend.

"Guess that means you and I are bunking, Garet."

"No duh, Isaac. Come on, I want to get this damned sand out of my hair some time today."

********************************************

"Lord Babi, you have visitors." Iodem stated, walking into Babi's throne room. The throne room was huge and made of stone; elaborately decorated in the finest carpet, art pieces, statues, and pieces of furniture. No expense had been spared when Babi had it built; he obviously had money to spare.

"I'm very busy, Iodem." Babi stated, looking over some paperwork. "I've got to get everything set up for Colosso next month."

"Babi, I think you may wish to see them."

"Iodem, please. I'm busy."

"Guard, send them in!" Iodem shouted. The giant cedar door opened and a huge party of nine walked into the room. "Lord Babi, may I introduce, Isaac and company." Babi's head shot up on the word 'Isaac' and he looked at his guests, including his Colosso champion, his friends, a Jupiter Adept that he remembered holding against her will, and an inventor that had once worked under his flag.

"Ah, Iodem, why didn't you say who they were?! Come in, please! Have a seat!" Babi invited them in happily. "Can I get you anything? A drink? Food perhaps?"

"No, we ate before we came." Isaac replied. "Thank you, though."

"Excuse us, Iodem."

"Of course, lord Babi." Iodem bowed before leaving the room and shutting the doors behind him.

"To what do I owe this honor, my friends?" Babi asked, pleased to see the ones whom saved his life by bringing him the Draught of Life.

"We've come to ask for a favor, Babi. You well remember the people we sought to catch up with our first time through?"

"Yes, I believe you said their names were Saturos and Menardi, correct?"

"You've an excellent memory. Well, they've survived and are now a threat to us again; this time they have another plan in mind."

"Well, what can I do to be of service?"

"We need to borrow your Lemurian ship again; we'll need it to pursue them across the sea to the Mars Lighthouse."

"I see."

"You see, Saturos and Menardi are trying to steal this artifact that could endanger the lives of thousands of people; if they get their hands on it, there's no telling what might happen after they use it."

"I understand. . . so, you wish to use my ship again?"

"Yes."

"I do owe you a favor, and you did return it in impeccable condition last time. . . I'll tell you what. I'll let you use the ship again, and you can use it for however long you may need it, or even want it. I can't give you the ship as a gift, sadly; my advisors wouldn't have it. Confidentially, I don't care how long you need to use it, just so long as you stop those two from doing any damage. As well, I'll provide you with a full cargo hold of supplies."

"You don't have to. . ."

"Yes, I have to." Babi said, cutting Isaac off. "I can never begin to repay my debt to you, and especially to you, Sheba." Sheba stirred slightly to the comment, but she didn't say anything. "My holding you was dead wrong; and I wish to reconcile with you; I've already compensated your people monetarily, but I still do not feel it is enough. I feel I owe an even deeper debt to you, but I don't know how to repay it."

"You can repay me by never doing such a thing to anyone ever again, Babi. Wealth means nothing to me, and worldly pleasures mean little as well." Sheba replied, evenly and calmly.

"I swear to you on Lunpa's grave." Babi moved his hand over his heart. "Now, I'll have Iodem make the preparations to the ship immediately. You'll be able to leave for wherever you may be going in the morning. We'll have a caravan waiting for you in front of the inn; my finest men will be with you, so you should be able to reach the boat in a day's travel."

"A day?! We had to cross the Suhulla Desert and it took us a week after that to get to your ship before!"

"We found an easier route; it was part of our peace treaty with Lalivero. We set up an easy trade route between the two of us. Now the town can be reached in a matter of a couple of days with a normal caravan, but a fast moving one can get there in less than a sunset. Pack up, I'll have Iodem set up for you."

"Thank you, Babi. Thank you very much." Isaac said, pleased that the ruler of Tolbi had not only changed his ways, but was willing to go out of his way to help him and his friends. Seven of the eight got up to leave, but Triad remained seated. "Um, Triad, are you coming?"

"I'll be with you shortly; I would like to talk to Babi in private." Triad replied, not budging a muscle.

"Well, okay. Come on." Isaac sighed, leaving the room. The others followed behind him, and when the door closed, Babi started the conversation.

"What is it, Triad? Did you want to come back to your old job?"

"No, Babi. My resignation stands. I just want to know a few things."

"Like what, my boy?"

"First of all, why did you want the Babi Lighthouse built? When you had me help design the plans, you never mentioned what it was supposed to do."

"Have Isaac and the others told you about Lemuria?"

"Yes, briefly."

"It was to help me find that island; I needed to find it to save my life."

"And why did you force the citizens of Lalivero into labor for you?"

"I needed to save money at the time, as well as get the construction finished quicker.."

"So it was about commerce that you sold a group of people into variable slavery?"

"You misunderstand, Triad. It wasn't just about commerce; it was about my life too. I'm trying to reconcile my actions."

"I understand that, Babi, but you did something all of your propaganda said you'd never do: hurt someone else. Tell me, why did you have me as chief engineer for Tolbi?"

"Because you had the talent, my boy."

"Tell me this: How come you kept lying to me when it came to what you stood for?! I was following you blindly; which was my fault entirely. Why couldn't you be straight with me on the issues?" Babi didn't respond. "I designed a lot of technology for Tolbi. Tell me, how much of it was turned into weapons of war?" Babi remained silent. "How much of it?"

"Nearly all of it."

"I figured. How many people died because of what I created?" Again, Babi remained silent. "Damn it, how many people did I send to their graves, Babi?! Tell me!" The ruler of Tolbi paused before answering.

"Exactly seven thousand nine hundred and twenty-six people, Triad."

"Did you plan on converting my flying machine into a weapon too?"

"That was its original intention."

"I figured as much. So my career has been nothing but a tool for you to create a bloodbath with. The rocket, the mortar, gunpowder, and even my improved steel-forging techniques. . . all stains on my soul now. I can't believe I was talked into inventing such things. I was hoping my inventions would've bettered mankind; they all did exactly opposite. I'll admit, I was guilty in developing the mortar as a weapon myself; though I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't pushed for. On top of it, I now find out that my pride and joy, the flying machine, was going to be made into a weapon?"

"It was never finished, Triad. The project has been retired, but your prototype remains intact. Triad. . . I'm sorry to have put you through this. . . How can I make it up to you?"

"If you want to make it up me, decommission every weapon I have ever made and put the prototype flying machine on the ship with me. I'll finish my life's work in peace and use it solely for such. I'm sick of killing innocent people with weapons like that. If one must slay, it should be done honorably." Triad said, remembering his use of the mortar on the centaur; though they were bloodthirsty savages, what he did to them was downright despicable. He should've adhered to his own logic and turned them sword for sword, despite the great danger that would've caused.

"Consider it done, Triad. All of those weapons will be decommissioned." Babi said solemnly. Triad nodded and he stood, leaving the room. "Triad." He turned. "I'm sorry." The boy nodded again, and left Babi's chamber for good.