The Tezcatlipoca vanished with a loud snap. Neblae staggered back, looking up in shock at the gathering storm. Jules exclaimed,"MON DIEU!" Neblae whispered to Narchi,"Lime broke open the time-line. We have visitors arriving." She sat on the corner of the table in the field. A bolt of red lightning flashed across the darkening sky. Narchi felt the jolt of stressed space indicating a teleport. He snapped,"Mind me wife!" He sprinted like the wind to the collapsed cistern a hundred feet away. Phineas gaped at his speed as the wind picked up. Narchi arrived seconds later to see the Measure and Lime picking themselves up after the rough teleport. He exclaimed,"Disguise yourselves! QUICKLY! The natives are coming!" Measure released her fly-spies to scan the area and said,"Lime,SNARE up with me!" Lime nodded. Their outfits flickered through a range of shapes and colors until they stopped on what might look more fashionable. Lime's skin color turned from green to a more acceptable color for Scotland. Phineas ran up and stopped at the edge of the cistern and gasped out,"YOU! You're the girl from my dream! With the horns!" Measure choked and her hands went to where her horns just were moments before. She sighed,"I don't have any horns! WHEW." Narchi groaned. He thought quickly and said,"Phineas, these are two friends of my grand-daughters. The older is MARYGOLD and the younger is LAMIA THISTLEDOWN. Ladies, this is Phineas Cloud, a professor at Cambridge. AND in case ye just fell from the sky and landed on your heads, I am STILL Archibald Mardalan! Marygold? MARYGOLD! Uh-oh." He saw the look on Measure's face and felt like slapping her. He exclaimed,"MARYGOLD! Did that red lightning strike ye,foolish girl?" The wind whipped the loose leaves around them. "Hunh? What lightning?" Measure did looked stunned, but Narchi knew it had little to do with bad teleports or lightning. He grumped,"Well--SHE'S back to normal! I know ye two rascals! Ye were probably sneaking across the field when that lightning struck causing ye both to fall into the only hole within MILES of here! That's sadly typical!" He shook his head. Phineas went onto one knee as Narchi did the same. Phineas reached out a hand towards them. Measure's hand didn't come within eight feet of Phineas' hand. Narchi said,"Classic engineering problem!" He said,"It's like a giant ant-lion's trap. Wide and deep made of loose gravel and dirt. You can't climb out and can't walk out without help.We need a horse and some rope." Measure asked,"Ant-Lion? What's that?" "They're insects that devour ants. Quite cunning." He finished as Lime and Measure got looks of fear on their faces. Measure asked,"Are giant ant-lions common around here?" Phineas looked over at Narchi with a grin and asked, "Professor?" He laughed,"No giant insects of any kind around here! Now what are ye two about here? I thought we left ye two on the Nautilus!" Measure blinked and looked from Narchi to Phineas."Nautilus?" Narchi said,"The ship we were on before it was attacked by that pirate king,Typhon,on his ship, the Hel! My wife,Neblae, and I, AND my grand-daughter,Maeve, were washed over-board during that storm! I'm sure ye lot thought we must have been lost forever. Right?" Measure saw the others that were with Narchi come running up. A woman who must have been Neon came with them. Though blind, Lime focused on her intently. Neon looked coolly at the others and then focused on Lime. Lime said, like reading a script,"We came ahead of the others on a sloop. I contacted a forbidden tropical poison flower and just went blind. The natives recommended I seek out Neblae for treatment. The ship was small so only we two could come." She smiled then,"We have some good news, by the way. Archibald, your son survives. He lives! He barely survived, but he DID!" Narchi teared up. Neon looked shocked. Measure looked at Phineas with puppy-dog eyes. --TO BE CONTINUED!--