The neck day, the ship pulled into the dock of the city of Philiopia. Aramis' mother, Linda and best friend, Palmatil were waiting for him.
The shipmates lowered the ramp. Aramis and Michelle came down the ramp together. Linda was shocked at Aramis' new appearence. Morpheus and Magnus followed. Linda gasped when she saw Morpheus.
"Oh, don't be afraid of him," Aramis said. He walked up and hugged her. She was so proud.
Aramis looked at Palmatil. He smiled. They glasped hands together in friendship. "Wow, Aramis," he said. "Stories are all over Europe about you. This is so cool."
Aramis laughed happily.
"Yes," Linda said, "The city council is setting up a festival for the heroes. It's so wonderful. While you were away, everything went to hell. All the crops were drying up. The animals were dying. All the colors were fading. The sky was unusally dark. Now everything's beautiful." She once again hugged him.
.
The city streets were lined with the city folk. The main street was clear for the procession. The children school band began to play and march down the street. The spectators began cheering. A long line of wonderful floats were moving along. Toward the end of the procession, Aramis and party were being pulled along in a horse drawn buggy. The crowd went nuts when they became visible. The cheering got louder. Children began to drop confetti from the surrounding buildings. The air was soon full of colorful beauty.
Aramis set next to Michell with his arm around her. Morpheus sat on her other side. Magnus sat next to him. They waved at the people. Some people were scared when they saw Morpheus. He smiled to reassure them. They smiled back.
The buggy came to a stop at the town square. A stage was set up next to it. Aramis, Morpheus and Magnus got out and proceded up some stairs onto the stage. Linda and Palmatil got into the buggy with Michelle. The people began to come and surround the stage.
Aramis looked out at the people. There was so many. He was a little nervous.
"Hello people of Philiopia!" he shouted.
The people cheered and shouted.
He waited for them to calm down.
"I'm glad to see you are all alright. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see any of you again. I want you to know that as I look out at all of you; the white, the black, the pretty, the ugly, the slim, the overweight, the rich and the poor, and so on. I see just one group of people. Human. You are all beautiful to me. I have fought for you because I love you all. I want you to take my strenght and make it your strength. You must learn tolerance for the people that are different than you. After all, this would be a boring planet if we were all the same person. I wish you to be strong.
"There has been alot of crime in downtown Philiopia, which affects us all. We must learn to deal with this. We just can't lock away criminals. Our prisons are becoming overcrowded. We must help rehabilitate these people. After all alot of them turned to crime because nobody cared about them. Nobody was there to help them when they needed it. Now we must learn to help these people. We just can't hide in our houses and hope it will go away or hope somebody will do something about it. By ignoring this we are allowing such atrocities to go on unchallenged. We all make a difference. We can't leave things to chance. The fate of the world is not determined by the roll of the dice. The world is affected by the conscious discissions of you and of me. So believe in yourself and stand up."
A mist began to appear in the center of the people. They backed away afraid. The Elder appeared. The group of them were all drapped in white clotes. Pocky floated over them. He smiled and waved at Aramis. Aramis waved back.
Suddenly Ace appeared next to Aramis. He jumped back startled.
Ace laughed. "Sorry." he said. He motioned for Morpheus and Magnus to come to him. The got together in a huddle. Ace whispered. "The Elder are here to see what Aramis has learned. Would you like to show them?"
"Sure," Aramis replied.
"Alright. Everybody back up."
The three back away from Ace. Ace motioned his arms. A large drum set appeared in the center of the stage. It was unlike anything they had seen before. "Hold out your arms," Ace said. Aramis looked at his, then held out his arms. Ace's guitar suddenly appeared.
"I don't know about this, Ace"
Ace looked at Morpheus. "You too," he said.
Morpheus didn't want to, but decided he would. A guitar appear in his arms.
"What do we play?" Aramis asked.
"Play what you feel."
