The Deep Ocean was in turmoil. Milla'iin was floating as he gazed furiously at the damage done to their armory. The creature crossed his tentacles and looked around for anything that could help them find those who dared to stand in their way.
"What happening!?" He yelled, looking around. He could see some of the battlegear was simply left lying on the ground. Going over he checked on them and immediately recognised the low-quality weapons they had. Taking in the damage done more carefully he understood that the thieves had been those traitorous M'arrillian rebels. His eye shined as he turned around and swore, vowing he would find those traitors. He would find their leader and kill him. All he had to do was find that creature and that would be easy enough. He knew what he wanted to steal and how to weaken them.
He was going to strike hard and summoned the creatures that were loyal to Aa'une cause. They had to quickly control this if they wanted to reach the Cothica.
Chapter 41: M'arrillian Civil Conflict
A few M'arrillians were transporting the battlegear in their bags, marching towards their hidden base.
"I can't believe we got away without any trouble." One of them chuckled.
"We are not out of trouble yet. If Milla'iin decides to sound the alarm, they will capture us."
"So quiet you two. We're not safe until we reach base." A third one whispered.
They stopped when they reached the water. They looked around and saw no creatures after them or near them.
They nodded at each other and jumped into the water. Swimming quickly they headed towards the deepest part of the ocean. The darkness began to claim their surroundings, hiding everything. One of them took out a small ball and raised it in the air. With a soft whistle it emitted some light that guided them into the abyss of the ocean, finding their base and went entering.
(He will be happy with everything we got. Soon, we'll show them their beliefs were wrong.)
(The voice of the Messenger shall be heard. His will won't be silenced anymore.)
(My ancestors have been waiting for this day.)
They entered the building and waited at the entrance, listening to telepathic conversations. Compared to most other M'arrillian structures, this one didn't look like a shell or based on a shell at all. It was simply a natural rock formation that had the form of an egg, somehow. There was only one entrance and it was blocked by a coral door.
The light was out and in the darkness one of the M'arrillians approached the door. He raised his hand. He knocked twice, stayed silent for a few seconds, knocked three times, waited for a second before knocking once.
The door opened and warriors gazed at the looters. They nodded at the group as entered. The inside had a few sources of light like shining rocks and some plants to chase away the darkness of the deepest part of the Ocean.
(Welcome soldiers.) Their leader said.
The group nodded at him as they brought the bags and put them in the center of the room.
(We got their best battlegear.)
(It's not everything. They are careful about us.)
Their leader took a few steps forward and revealed himself under the pale light.
The M'arrillian had a pale blue body which seemed to be made of solid and very compact liquid for most of his body. He wore a dark blue armor at his upper legs, pelvis, chest, and arms. A dark blue tail came out of his back with spikes on it.
(Good. They are surely suspecting us, but they had no idea of our identity. Once you finish delivering everything, return to your position as if you never came here. Milla'iin must be enraged right about now.)
(Yes Gal'Drad!) They replied as they went to put the gear into security.
The Chieftain Gal'Drad had become the leader of the Rebellion shortly after he joined them and proved his loyalty.
Their tribe often naturally put a Chieftain in position of leadership, even when not demanded so the change had been natural enough.
Gal'Drad had always had doubts against his leader during the war, but fear had stopped him from doing anything. He didn't protest, he didn't try a coup or put Aa'une's orders into question.
He had heard from his ancestors about the Will Of The Messenger, given by Maelstrom during the first M'arrillian war at the end of his life.
Personally, he only believed them to be legends, until after the war. The rumors from the other tribes, the mysteries of Kaizeph and the relics, had shown that the Messenger was indeed real. Not only that, he was a human. Those pesky Chaotic Players came from the Cothica. Something he still barely believed.
Both times, he told himself. Both times, the humans appeared during the M'arrillian Wars. Each time, they managed to influence the tribes towards their defeat. No matter how little it was.
In the first war, The Messenger of the Cothica truly united the tribes. He gave them the strength to counter-attack and claim victory. Not only that, he showed the wrongdoing of the M'arrillians to Maelstrom, father of Phelphor. During the second war, it was the little things. Nothing like The Messenger. Friendships, bonds, and the little influences pushed the tribes to fight harder than before.
None of them could have anticipated that Chaor would bite his ego and join Maxxor against their fallen leader. A bit of the mind of the Underworld ruler had showed the image of a red-haired human, Kazdan. It was just to show off the boy that nothing would destroy him. Even the fall of the Underworld.
The revolutionary warriors passed near the Chieftain and nodded at him, before returning to the surface and returned to their positions.
(Shall you return soon Gal'Drad?) One warrior asked.
Gal'Drad turned towards a Kha'rall and nodded, (Yes. They cannot suspect that I'm the traitor. Although, they are the true traitors.) He raised his hands, (Together, we shall turn the Will of the Messenger into reality.)
(We shall atone for the sins of our ancestors! We shall become worthy of the Cothica!) They yelled back.
Gal'Drad nodded at them with pride and left their base. He quickly swum to the surface.
His mind was currently focused on the coming meeting with Milla'iin. He had just received the message. He had demanded all the Chieftains join him right now and from the sound of it Milla'iin sounded furious. Quickly he replied he was coming.
The creature told himself that he had to act as if he didn't know what happened. That part was easy. He just had to wait for the others to react. He wasn't someone who made suppositions or try to find clues while Milla'iin called every Chieftains in such a mood.
He came out of the water and saw a few creatures going to their destination. It was the ancient palace of Aa'une, unused as the once ruler of The Deep Ocean was dead and left no descendant to ascend. Gal'Drad would bet that if there was another one in line, he would be as malicious as Aa'une, or maybe even worse. Aa'une had been worse than his mother and he wouldn't want to see a progression of such malice.
He reached the surface as he discarded those thoughts. He put his loyal persona forward and joined the other M'arrillians called by Milla'iin. Slowly they approached the large structure where Aa'une once lived. They had went in there often and there was nothing of real consequence sto r ed there. He had personally checked for any gear secretly hidden by their fallen leader, but nothing that had to be hidden from the tendrils of the yellow chieftain.
"Gal'Drad." A familiar voice called him.
The creature gazed at his friend, another chieftain. A potential enemy when he would be discovered or when the time came to fight back against the wrongdoing of his tribe, "Aval'Par. You managed to return." Gal'Drad greeted.
Aval'Par was a creature made of purple fluid with pink veins spread inside of it with two arms, one having a hand at the end and the other a tentacle. Some tentacles came out of his waist through the holes of his armor on various sections. His head looked like a blue stone with a black pupil at the center of it. Gray armor covered his chest, shoulders, legs, and waist.
"Indeed. I failed to collect anything from the Overworld. The plan to get the means to reach Chaotic ended in failure." Aval'Par replied.
"As long as you came back alive for another day." Gal'Drad replied.
"What did he call us for?" Aval'Par asked, curious.
He remembered his fake position, "I am unaware though for him to call us so whatever it is that angered him so is surely important."
Debating silently they reached the palace where the leader of their tribe once lived.
"Gal'Drad. I also failed to collect anything regarding the whereabout of Phelphor. All we got is silence. We have had nothing for a while, and I do not know what he did. Do you know anything?" Aval'Par's black eye went to the other creature.
He didn't have to lie for that, "I don't know. There is nothing that can explain why he has gone quiet like that. He has either died or is still incapacitated."
Aval'Par hlanced at the ceiling, "Unless he has betrayed us. He might be an important soldier for those idiotic rebels."
Gal'Drad had to contain himself. His friend was insulting, without realising it, his soldiers and himself, "The Messenger's words were powerful. Even now, they are still lingering in the mind of our tribe and the others."
"I heard a rumor. It seemed like The Messenger might be in Perim." Aval'Par whispered.
The other stopped walking and asked, "Are those rumors true or just the delusion of some creatures?"
"Surely delusion. A human cannot live more than 200 solans… 270 by some miracle. They are weak in strength and life." Aval'par commented with a sentiment of superiority.
Gal'Drad reprimanded his counter in his mind. He himself thought that humans were better than they all believed. They did so many strange things when their lifespan was so short. They could travel precisely between any locations of Perim they managed to scan, scan the creature's body and mind, and even more importantly, teleport between worlds, Cothica and Perim.
His tribe was underestimating them, and he wasn't about to correct them in that mistake. He did wish he could have a chance to change his friend's mind. For now though he couldn't put any faith in Aval'Par.
Aval'Par grumbled, "And somehow, they have caused so much trouble for our tribe. Our destiny is to rule above all of the other tribes. Perim is ours and not theirs." Aval'Par clenched his hand. He still felt the sting of defeat against the Tribal Alliance.
"And if they are aware of the possible civil war, it would be dangerous for us to do anything." Gal'Drad replied, reminding him of their current situation. One that he personally saw as positive. The other tribes hadn't attacked them yet. He wondered if it was the fear of having their mind controlled, or that they were seen as a minor problem at the moment. Unless their focus was elsewhere.
"I know. We are weak right now. None of us is as powerful as Aa'une. We cannot control the mind of every creature and nor do we have any humans that could be useful as tools. We have nothing to control." Aval'Par looked as if he wanted to destroy something but stopped. He calmed down and added, "With those traitors, we can't even control a single creature, upsetting any chance to control a mind by disturbing us."
"As long as we are divided, we cannot act." Gal'Drad concluded as they joined the others who came to see/endure Milla'iin's anger.
The chieftain in question was waiting for them to come. His tentacles were waving furiously and quickly.
Gal'Drad sighed as he crossed his tentacles together and shook his head . He made no comments and knew what would happen. It was obvious what would come. It would be boring.
Milla'iin was going to tell them that many of the battlegear were stolen once again. It would follow up with him raging about their inefficiency to stop the thieves from getting anything. He would then build some suspicion among the other Chieftains, claiming that one of them was the traitor. It was true, but none of them knew that Gal'Drad was the traitor, just standing among them as if he had nothing to hide.
It was all pointless in the end. Milla'iin had no plan to stop the thefts. He had no plan for any of that. He was too focused on trying to reach Chaotic somehow. Very few creatures knew how though.
In the end, it all happened as he expected. Just a waste of time for the M'arrillians.
AC: This is the end of this chapter. Not a lot happened, but you now know that Gal'Drad is the Chieftain who tries to change everything.
That little bit of the choice came from Changing Life, which is still on hold.
Next Chapter: Second Chance.