Author Comment: This is the version corrected by FollowerOfAnhamirak. I thank you once again for giving time to reread my chapters and correct my mistakes.
Peyton was a little nervous as he walked towards the Mipedian palace with Sarah. She wasn't in a mood to be reasonable and patient and she was certainly not about to accept any wrong answers the king of Al Mipedim would provide. Frankly, if he was being honest, she had a point. After everything that had happened, he also had many doubts about his friendship with Theb-Saar.
The king's answers in Chaotic weren't enough to end the doubt.
Taking the lead Sarah strode forward and stopped in front of the palace when guards blocked her path. "Let us through. We have to speak with your king right now!"
"Sarah! That's not how you ask an audience with the king." Said Peyton, trying to calm her down, "That's a big no-no."
A short distance from them one of the guards went into the palace when he noticed Peyton.
"I don't care!"
"You should show respect to our king, human! I won't hesitate to arrest you on the spot and confiscate your scanner!" The guard grunted, glaring at her fiercely.
"That wouldn't be my first time!" Sarah replied hotly, a slight smirk on her face.
"Sarah!" Yelped Peyton, raising his hands in exasperation.
"The Danians are terrible at it," Retorted the guard, frowning. He pointed his claws at her, "Don't test your luck."
Sarah paled lightly at the threat, but didn't back down, "You think I'll just try to be pleasing to-"
Peyton put his hand on her mouth, "That's enough Sarah. You are saying loco things right now!"
The creature pointed his spear at the girl, "I'll bring you to jail human. Don't try to reach your scanner and-"
"No need for that. Theb-Saar agreed to meet them in the throne room." Said the guard who left said as he came back.
"Really?! That girl is being disrespectful and isn't even apologizing for it! She was insulting our king." The Mipedian grunted at his partner.
"She is a friend of Peyton and he said to bring them to him." The guard repeated again with a tired expression. It had been a long day.
The annoyed guard wanted to argue more, but it was the order of their ruler. He glared at the teenage girl, "You can go meet the king."
Without further ado the two humans went inside the palace, Peyton walking behind Sarah with a worried expression. Keeping a careful watch on the girl until she was out of sight he grumbled, "How can Peyton be friends with her?"
Chapter 30: Confronting The King
Theb-Saar was waiting for his guest to enter the throne room. He gazed pensively at the door as he sat on his throne; fingers crossed. From what the guard resumed, the girl by the side of Peyton was not happy with everything they discovered.
Still, despite everything, he was already aware it was all about his intentions. The Mipedian had to be careful in how they would interpret it. They could lose their guide to the Cothica, but honestly, he wouldn't blame him.
The door opened and Sarah entered first with Peyton behind her.
"Sarah. You have to really chill up." During their short walk to the throne room Peyton used everything to try and convince her to stay calm. Theb-Saar may have been chill in his dealings with him but he didn't want to find out what would happen if Sarah got him mad. As they entered the room Peyton glanced around to see if they were more creatures around. At least it seemed there wouldn't be an audience for Sarah to antagonize as well.
"Welcome Peyton. I'm glad we can settle this right now. And welcome Sarah." Said Theb-Saar as he gestured welcome at them. Taking a look at the two of them he decided to avoid commenting on why the humans face was red instead of there usual peach color.
"Don't try that on me. If you think I'll let you use my friend like that, you are so wrong!" Said Sarah waspishly as she glared at Theb-Saar.
Protective of her friends, noted Theb-Saar. It was a quality he appreciated in someone. He raised his hands, "No need to arrest her."
Startled, the two humans quickly looked around, searching for any other creatures.
"There are guards everywhere Sarah. We shouldn't annoy him." Peyton whispered nervously.
"Fine." Conceded Sarah, crossing her arms as she glared at Theb-Saar. She still had a lot to tell him.
"I'm sure you came to settle the many issues you have with me paying a visit in Chaotic, am I wrong?" Theb-Saar asked politely.
"We have a ton! And not just because you came here!" Snapped Sarah at Theb-Saar.
"You need a super chill moment Sarah! S-sorry king Theb-Saar." Scolded Peyton before turning to apologize to Theb-Saar.
The king crossed his fingers. He could tease them, but it was obviously a terrible idea. Even if it would amuse him for a moment, "I don't want to make you lose more time than necessary. So, let's go straight to the problem. You don't like it when we creatures pay a visit in Chaotic."
"It's not that! A little, but not that!" Sarah snapped.
Theb-Saar decided to bring a little bit of guilt in them, just so the female human's rage subsided. They were here to talk, not yell at each other pointlessly, "It is the same with many creatures, but still you came to Perim. Many don't want to be scanned or humans coming to their town, but you did anyway. You should have expected the opposite to happen one day."
That made the humans gazed a little on the side. Sarah searched for a comeback, but he was right. Theb-Saar just did what the Chaotic Players always did.
"But we have been wrong about you. Your kind came from the Cothica." Said Theb-Saar, his fingers crossed, "You should have been welcome in Perim from the very beginning."
"We do not come from the Cothica!" Said Sarah exasperatedly, clearly more then over the whole issue.
"We are nothing special Theb-Saar. We don't have any super powers like you do. I can't use mugic like you," Added Peyton as he played with his fingers and nothing appeared, to prove his point.
Theb-Saar chuckled, "You are special. You surely already know about what your scanners can do. That is something none of us can recreate. Consider how you can read minds with those scanners of yours, as the M'arrillians can, except it's not by any special power. You become us. You may not comprehend the magnitude of it but you scan our memories as well as our forms. No creature in Perim can invent something like that. It is only in the Cothica that this is possible."
Try as they could, none of them could come up with a reply for that. It was pointless. They knew it was pointless to protest it.
Changing topics Sarah decided to focus on the real problem, " Never mind about that! We're here because you're probably planning to use Peyton for something!"
"Maybe you can let him talk in his name Sarah," Theb-Saar suggested.
"And let you sweet talk him somehow?" Retorted Sarah, her face turning a little redder.
Peyton didn't try to calm her down now. He just gave up on that. Instead he chose to just cross his arms and looked into the crimson eyes of the king. He just had to face the consequence.
As for the blue Mipedian, he realized he made a mistake. The female human was brazen, but she wasn't angry about anything involving her. She was angry for her friend. Not only that, but Peyton seemed to agree. The girl was taking the lead to avoid any kind of manipulation on the boy. He knew the Mipedian player was a kind boy and maybe a little naïve and it seemed that his friend knew that as well, "It wasn't for that. Anyone has to stand for themselves."
The larger teenager sighed and asked, "Theb-Saar. We really have to know why you wanted to be friends with me. With everything going on now, I just don't know what you really think of me. Honestly," he grabbed his arm and gazed down, "I think you want to use me for something."
The Mipedian crossed his blue fingers as he prepared for his answer. He carefully searched for the right words, "Alright. I'll be honest. The reason I grew interested in you were multiple. The first one was that I just came back from my self-imposed exile and was interested by the sudden appearance of humans. You appeared out of the blue and that caught my interest. I also heard from many of my soldiers that they thought highly of you Peyton, even those who sided with my nephews more… intolerant belief."
"That doesn't tell us anything." Sarah grumbled.
"Context matters," explained Theb-Saar, raising his fingers, "I already have many reasons to be interested in you Peyton. Many important reasons. Such as the many Mipedians that liked you and deemed you trustworthy. Your reputation reached me pretty quickly." Theb-Saar let out a small smile, "That was one of the main reasons I wanted to meet you. I was wondering who this Chaotic Player was that befriended and gained the trust of so many of my subjects. Then, things accelerated."
Peyton asked, "Is it because of all the crazy stuff found on Kaizeph?"
"Indeed. The natural conclusion was that you humans are creatures that came from the Cothica. I knew that Maxxor and Chaor both had a human they kept... close to them. Maxxor mostly by trust while Chaor...I do not know how. They both had someone who could guide them to the Cothica. At that point it became vital that I meet you quickly Peyton."
"So, it was all to use my friend!" Sarah remarked in annoyance. It was just like the Danians, she thought as she grabbed her arm.
"I see," Peyton whispered as he understood that. He looked direction in the crimson eyes of the Mipedian.
"Peyton, circumstance pushed me to do many things earlier than I expected. Honestly, I already was interested in you because of what you did for my tribe and for who you are. I was certain our first meeting would be when you would try to scan me and then the situation with Kaizeph pushed me to act in a less genuine manner than I would have preferred," he looked in the eyes of the boy. His calm voice cracked for a second, becoming more real and tired, "You surely won't believe me anymore, but I see you as a friend, before someone who could guide us to the Cothica."
"Empty lies." Sarah huffed as she glared at the blue Mipedian.
"Thanks." Peyton commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Peyton." Sarah groaned, turning towards him.
"He ain't lying Sarah. He has no poker face." Sighed Peyton, gesturing at Theb-Saar.
That comment confused the creature who never heard such words before, "Anything else?"
"Why not wait?" Peyton wondered out loud, looking at the Mipedian king.
"Because it is for the safety of my tribe and to put an end to all conflict in Perim. With the Cothica, we can achieve true peace in Perim. I believe that with the power coming from the Cothica, it is possible. The tribes could finally unite and end this endless conflict we have endured for so long. The only reason we worked in a group before was always because of a common enemy. If I waited for us to meet another way, it might already end with Chaor reaching the Cothica and turning Perim into whatever he wants it to become. I cannot take that risk for its power to be misused."
The two humans were quiet at that answer. They had a lot to think about. Sarah wondered if the Danian queen thought the same way. That maybe she didn't want the other tribe to obtain it for malicious intentions. From her perspective of course. They ruled over their own tribe and had to protect them. Sarah frowned as it still didn't think it made it okay to do that.
"Thanks," Peyton replied as he took out his scanner, "Let's go Sarah."
"We aren't finished yet." She countered.
"I have a lot to think about Sarah," Peyton said with a small and forced smile, " I'm done."
Sarah simply sighed and nodded, taking out her own scanner, "This isn't over."
"Take your time. I do hope to see you again Peyton." The king said.
The two humans ported out and left the ruler.
Theb-Saar sighed as he stood up. It didn't go as well as he expected. It wasn't catastrophic, but the boy wasn't fully trusting anymore. He wondered if he should have come clean earlier.
Tiaane revealed himself, "He will be back my king. There is just a lot going on and he needs time, but he will come back."
"Are you certain Tiaane? I am doubting myself a little. It's true that I haven't been completely honest and he could believe I just used him. Humans are less predictable than I thought." Theb-Saar admitted.
"He would have told you if he wouldn't come back. He told you what was in his mind. It's true you were about to lose him, but you dropped the mask for a second." the High Muge commented.
"What do you mean?"
"Your voice cracked for a second there. For a brief moment you let your real emotions show and he saw that." Tianne replied.
He thought back and realized Tianne was right, "A simpleton's mistake."
"I'm certain you sounded more honest to the boy."
"I hope you are right. I might lose a friend here." Theb-Saar said, crossing his fingers. He liked Peyton. Just thinking back, his late mate would have also liked the boy. It was moments like these that made him realize how she had been gone for a long time now, "We have more things to prepare. The other tribes might already notice what I did and try harder to reach Chaotic."
Tiaane didn't bring up Sarah, but he thought she wasn't someone you could mess with. Her or her friends.
Soon enough the Mipedians that had left reappeared and continued to talk about their plans to protect their secret way to reach Chaotic. They had to leave when Peyton and Sarah came but with them gone, they returned to the previous subject at hand.
They had to make sure it wouldn't fall into any other hands for as long as possible.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: He Who Let His Tribe Behind.
Phelphor lived in secrecy, away from the eyes of the tribes and he crossed path with Reggie.
