The ship suddenly started making a lot of noise and steam as it was gaining altitude.

"Come ‘ere Label. Ye’ll be me first mate. Err, co-pilot," she was tapping the seat next to Mai.

"What about the rest of the ship?" Noix shrugged as blondie already decided that seeing the lift-off far outweighs the tour in the excitement department.

The professor and his assistant sat down on a pair of passenger seats behind them.

"What do I have to do?" Label asked.

"Relax. Mai’s got ye covered!" she gave him a thumbs up.

The whole city slowly came into view as the Noisemaker was flying higher than the tallest buildings.

"Whoooaaah! You’ve been living here? Anciel, you lucky…"

"Hmm, I take it our little private piece of the world tickles your fancy. Not to worry, we’ll be taking turns in giving you the tour and knowledge of this little gem we’ve built while you were away," the blue-clad man crossed his arms, nodding.

"While I was away…" Label repeated in a melancholic tone.

Noix looked a bit sad, seeing the result of the words he used. Lalane softly kicked him in the shin for it.

"Ouch! I guess I deserve that one…"

"No. It’s okay. I’m happy you… haven’t forgotten about me. Surrounded by people like you, I have no right to be sulking.

But tell me…what happened that day? What happened to the Serpent Forces? How did we get out of there? Did I… kill someone?" Label had no recollection of events after touching the Zehnhander on that day, ten years ago.

Noix and Lalane remained quiet. They didn’t think it was their right to answer those questions as none of them was there at the time.

"Ye did. Anguis," Mai finally told him, letting the words sink in before continuing.

"Myself was a bit late to the party, but it’d seem ye handed the poor bastards’ their asses two times over," she turned to see him, as he was on her blind side.

"I don’t remember any of it…" he looked down.

"Anciel or Zandor can tell ye the whole story, but in me book, ye were the hero that day. If it weren’t for ye, things would have been different. Not just for me, mom, and yer friends. For the whole world."

"I think it wasn’t me though…" Label whispered to himself.

They flew over the city towers and into a smaller but nicer suburb, where a single mansion had what seemed to be quite a large property for itself.

"Noix, is this where Master Zandor lives now?"

"Correct."

"Wow…how did he get all this?"

"He bought it."

"With our gold!" Mai was suddenly interested in the conversation.

"He claims he won it fair and square on the last ever tournament held in Wasserstadt," Noix waved his finger.

"Last tournament?" Label was confused.

"Unfortunately, Wasserstadt is no more. It is now called Centropolis and is under the rule of Emnikatian Kingdom."

"I’m sorry… If I wasn’t missing, I could have helped," he said to Mai.

"I’ll ‘ave it back someday," she was not of a weak spirit.

"Darn… and I really wanted to go to the tournament…" the blond man was disappointed.

"Oh do not fret. There are plenty here in Para City," the blue-haired man smiled.

"Really?" his eyes had their spark back.

"Indeed. Although, they are not of such savage kind, but rather… well, we call them sports," Lalane intervened.

"Sports?"

"It’s better if you see it for yourself," she added.

"Oh, I completely forgot! I promised I’d help rescue Sheena…" Label suddenly jerked back in the seat, grasping his head with both arms as he realized just how late he was with that particular promise.

"Hmm," Noix smiled.

As the airship was approaching, some figures were already coming out of the large, almost castle-like house. After rolling down the ladder, they descended onto the residence grounds, mostly covered by beautiful green grass and even a small forest.

"Hello!" the professor waved.

"Hi, Noix! Hi Lalane!"

Two young lynxes came rushing and hugging the duo.

"No manners…" Noix cuddled one of them on the forehead.

"Small Zandors…?" confusion spread across Label’s face.

"Welcome friends," an older female leopard greeted them. Another cub was hidden behind her back, peeking just enough to see what was going on.

"We are not Zandors," one of the two sister lynxes said to Label.

"We are Zandor’s daughters, though," the other one added, "My name is Mura."

"And I’m Shen. He is Zandor," she pointed to the smallest one hiding behind his mother.

"Nice to meet you," Label shook their paws, happy to see that his master’s family is expanding.

"Sheena," she said offering her paw, "but I believe we have already met, a long time ago."

"You can’t imagine how glad I am that you are alright," Label hugged her.

"W-what do you mean?" the leopard felt a bit awkward but returned the hug after a moment of hesitation.

"You see, from Label’s perspective, you were held captive by the orgriash until recently," Noix explained.

"Oh… I see. No, I’m alright. More than alright actually. I’m happy for the last ten years. Ever since Master Anciel and Miss Rogue helped my husband to rescue me."

"And… this is Zandor? What happened to him? Is this the effect of the poison?" Label stared at the little leopard.

"No…", his mother chuckled a bit, "This is Zandor Junior. Come out and properly introduce yourself dear."

"…" the cub held firmly to his mother’s dress.

"That’s alright," the tall man went down on one knee and towered over the small leopard, "My name is Label," he put a hand on his chest.

"… I’m… Junior," the cub came out a bit.

"He’s a little scaredy-cat," one of his sisters teased him.

"Mura, stop that." a familiar voice came from down the road, "As Junior's older and wiser sister, you should aid him in facing his fears, not mock him for having them."

Label recognized the voice immediately. He stood up to see his master, but his smile slowly disappeared as his eyes filled up with a salty substance.

"Master Zandor…" he said quietly.

The once proud orgriash warrior was getting closer rather slowly, propelled by a mechanical chair on wheels.

"I am glad to see you too, my pupil," he stopped and turned off the chair’s miniature steam engine.

"Is this because of… Abraxia’s poison?"

"And here I thought you are crying because you are happy to see me…" the old Lynx shook his head, trying to stand up and refusing any help anyone would offer, "See? It’s not like I’m completely out of commission," he barely got out of the wheelchair and now onto a cane.

"Of course, I’m glad to see you, Master," the man hugged him.

Lalane offered a tissue and Noix quickly grabbed it, wiping his eyes under the glasses.

"Will you be staying?" Sheena gestured towards the mansion.

"No, I’m afraid we must be on our way—" the professor was about to say, but his assistant stopped him.

"Unfortunately, the two of us must get some serious paperwork sorted, regarding the incident," Lalane showed at Label, "that occurred this morning. But I believe the rest of you have some good old catching up to do."

"I suppose so…" Noix shrugged, "What about you Mai? Don’t you have some enforcer duties you need to attend to?"

"Mah, that can wait! Ye’ve been drivin’ me like a canoe recently, I was gonna’ tell ye lot to get off me case anyway."

"Rude and lazy… what a combination," Noix grumbled.

"Ye get what ye pay for" she would wink, but since she had an eye patch, it looked like she just blinked.

Label said goodbye to the two workaholics and the Noisemaker slowly flew away as the rest went into the house. The inside of the mansion was beautifully decorated and taken care of. The old wooden furniture mixed with golden steam pipes gave away quite an atmosphere.

"Follow me. I will serve you some tea and coffee in the living room," Sheena showed him around.

Label couldn’t take in all the details fast enough, while Mai casually strolled in and dropped onto a red and gold couch. She was used to this place, at this point.

"Sit next to me, handsome," she removed her boots off the couch and pat the seat next to her, looking at Label.

He accepted a bit awkwardly, not really sure what to think of the young lady. She reminded him of her mother a lot.

"I’ll ‘ave some tea in me rum!" she ordered like it was her home.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… you can get a pirate out of the sea, but you can’t get the sea out of a pirate," Zandor stopped his chair to face them from the other side of a small glass table.

The two sisters helped their mother in preparing the drinks and some homemade cookies for the guests, while Junior sat on his father’s lap.

"First of all, I owe you an apology, Label. If it weren’t for me and the Zehnhander you’d never… this would have never happened to you. I am truly sorry."

"No, Master… I won’t accept that."

Everyone in the room was taken aback by the man’s unexpected reply, but he explained.

"What I meant was… You have nothing to apologize for. If anyone was in a position to avoid that specific turn of events, it was me and maybe Anciel. We had the power of clairvoyance, not you. Yet we weren’t capable enough."

"Hmm… I find it interesting, to see how much you have changed. Even though you have been asleep for ten years, you are not a little rascal anymore. Is it the effect of your brain developing, or is it something else entirely?"

Zandor observed, but Mai had to have her say in it.

"Oh, he’s a rascal, if I ever seen one. Did’ya see what he did this mornin’? Not a rascal…" she spit, but then instantly caught it in the air, apologizing.

"Sorry… old habits."

"Tell me Label, how do you feel?" the old orgriash inquired with much care in his voice. He was genuinely concerned about his comatose pupil for a long time now.

"I feel…like I just woke up," Label went to explain his unique experience in more detail, "While I was asleep, I was dreaming. So much so that it started to look like a reality. Actually, when I awoke here, I thought I was still dreaming for some time. As a matter of fact, I’m still not sure…"

Mai pinched him on the cheek so hard he let a tear out and slapped her on the wrist.

"This’ be no dream."

"Hey… well I wanted to say anyway; I’m pretty sure this is real. Most of my dreams had nothing to do with this world. It’s kinda hard to describe."

Sheena and the cubs brought porcelain cups, tea, and coffee on silver platters, putting them on the table.

"Enjoy."

"Thanks," the blond man smiled at her.

Mai and Junior dug into the cookies straight away.

"Manners," Zandor warned his son.

"Sorry Papa…I know. Guests first," he offered his cookie to Label.

"It’s okay," Label smiled, "So… I’d really like to know all about how you rescued your wife," he said and then nervously stood up, realizing he forgot something important he remembers from the time he lived in the Village of Stars.

"Congratulations on your marriage… and kids. Oh gosh… I’m so late at… everything."

"That’s quite alright. We have more understanding of your situation than you give us credit for. Sit down and relax," Zandor gave him some ease of mind, "As you have noticed, Sheena and I decided to take up the human ways when we moved to Para City, so we married as is customary for your kind.
You may feel sorry for me, for my condition to be precise, but rest assured, I have never felt more content and happy in my entire life, and it’s all thanks to Miss Mai and her crew, as well as my other pupil, your friend Anciel."

"Aye, that be true. ‘Tis all thanks to us, brave folks. Brave ‘n’ crazy."

"Miss Mai, would you like to tell the story or should I?" the orgriash asked her.

She was stuffing her mouth full of treats, as well as struggling to drink the piping hot rum-tea.

"Ye go fer it. I be a little busy right now. Also, me thinks he’d prefer ye to tell it since ye obviously ‘ave a knack for tellin’ stories, old cat."

"Oh, it’s story time!" Mura jumped over and landed on the sofa. The other daughter followed suit.

Zandor took a deep breath.

"Where should I begin… After chasing away the Serpent Forces, we have never seen them again. Abraxia was… well, you dealt with him for good, that’s as much as I will say. Dyus carried him to the S.S. Gunfish, in order to escape the island."

"Poor Gunfish, alas, I knew her well…" Mai put a hand on her chest.

"Yes, the plan to lure the serpents onto the ship and then blow it up worked partially, as it would seem that some of them were either lucky or cunning enough to avoid the trap that was set for them.

The ones who did fall into the trap were Dyus and Abraxia."

"Dyus…" Label frowned.

The old Lynx sighed, "Indeed, I wish I could have talked with him more. I do not hold a grudge for what he did to me. I find his fate to be rather tragic. It is what it is. Returning to former Wasserstadt; now known as the Centropolis, we’ve had very little time before the ground troops of Emnikatia reached the city. Somehow, they did not fear retaliation on the sea, as we have thought. Parting ways with you and the Zehnhander, which we decided would be best are taken to Vapeur Republic for research and Noix who was transported to his home here in Para City, where he got an almost successful treatment—"

"Yes?" Zandor noticed Label wants to ask something.

"What do you mean, almost successful? He looked fine."

"He is still partially paralyzed, but due to his, I dare say, most advanced inventions so far, he can move about even better than before. You can ask him all about it when you see him next time."

"How come you don’t use his invention? Sorry if I’m prying."

"My once extraordinary abilities as a master of the body always brought me suffering and pain. Ever since I lost them, my life has turned for the better. You may see me as a coward, but it was only because of my condition that I managed to rescue Sheena. You will understand better when you hear the full story. Anyhow, then came a point in which the two Captains of the pirate folk had a disagreement on the best course of action."

"I’d still go and kick some Gradopolis butt," Mai crushed a cookie with her fist, making a mess on the carpet, picking it up right after.

Zandor continued.