Kaz, Peyton and Sarah were worryingly waiting for Tom to come back. The day was about to end and there was no sign of their friend. They were hoping it wouldn't have been the worse case scenario. It was exactly that. Their friend was surely captured by the M'arrillians and they had to get him out of there. How? That was the question.

"Kaz," someone called him.

The boy turned around and they saw their friend just there, "You're back Tom! What happened?"

"Did the M'arrillians capture you?" Peyton asked.

"Why did you go on your own to get a scan? Remember what I told you?" Sarah asked, relief written clearly on her face.

"Yes, I was captured by them and I managed to get out of here. Kaz, come to the Beta Drome. There is something I need to see right now," the boy quickly said as he grabbed the arm of his friend.

"Hey!" The three said.

"It's really important," Tom said as he looked at his friend.

Kaz looked back. There was obviously something in the mind of his friend and he couldn't push that side no matter what. He let out a loud sigh, "Fine. We have so many questions and you will answer them."

"And this match will give me the answers too," MajorTom replied as they went to the Beta Drome. His two other friends protested for a while until the reached the drome.

"Tom. You better explain everything after this," his best friend ordered, "Because we were worried sick for you."

"I know. It's just…" he couldn't find the answer, "A M'arrillian saved me and I have to know why… him of all of them would do that."

His three friends stopped as he said that.

"I have to look in his memories," the boy concluded.

Kaz nodded and went in the drome for the match.

They entered in there and MajorTom began to type a few things. The match was put in private and wouldn't appear on the screen. It was only them who could see their match, "Kaz. I'll pick my creature and the location. I'll focus on seeing in his memories."

"Where will we be?" Kaz asked as he picked Chaor.

"Kiru City."

They could see the creatures they picked on their screen. Kaz gasped when he saw which M'arrillian it was. Out of all of them, it was him.

He made his pick and they began their 'match' "Phelphor attack Chaor in Kiru city!"

The two humans took the form of the creature they picked.

Chapter 12: Behind The Cracked Mask

Once they were in Kiri City. Chaor searched for Phelphor, "I can't believe it was Phelphor who saved Tom. He was the one who caused this war, helped defeating the Underworlders and threatening the rest of Perim. How?"

Phelphor was near him, sitting on a rock, "That's what I want to figure out. Nothing made sense. I just know that something happened after the war. There is something going on in the Deep Ocean. So, I'll search his memories."

"You better tell me everything you find," Chaor grunted as he crossed his arms and sat in front of him, "I already told you, but we were really worried for you. We had no way to even begin searching for you."

"I'm sorry Kaz. It was stupid of me," Phelphor closed his eyes and focused on his thought.

Chaor decided to let his mouthful reprimand after this. The boy in the form of Chaor had to agree that it was much easier to give a mouthful when he was Chaor. Their personality was strongly contrasting.

"I think I see something. Let me focus please," Tom plead.

Phelphor memories

Keep calm. That's all I must do. Stay calm and keep walking forward. Make sure no one seems you. No one knows you are here. You aren't supposed to be here. I'm almost there.

Afterall, this is going to be the last thing I'll do in Perim. I cannot fail as I followed the side of the road to my destination. I went there the moment I leaned about it.

I stopped for a second as I observed the prison. It was one isolated from everywhere else in the Deep Ocean. It was above the water for some prisoners who would die underwater. There was no guard present. I guess this is about the other M'arrillians protesting about the current decision of the council. My tribe is pretty much cut in two right now. Two defeats for Aa'une and the second one cost his life. We cannot control mind anymore and we are weakened. Anyway, that's not important for me. It's pointless.

I walk in there and it wasn't long before I found the boy. MajorTom. The Chaotic Player.

"Phelphor," he whispered.

I nodded, "We need to talk MajorTom."

He was carefully observing my face. I didn't know why. I know they think I have an ugly face and I don't care. I'm not here for that anyway.

"What do you want to talk about? If it's about the scanner or the Cothica, I won't answer," the Chaotic Player replied as he crossed his arms.

"I'm not here for answers. I just have something to give back soon," I revealed the scanner.

"My scanner," he whispered surprised. He suspiciously looked at me, "Why do you have it?"

"Because it's the only way for you to get out of here," I approached the bars and looked at the doubtful glare I got. I deserve that.

"You? Getting me out of here? I know what you did to Perim and what you did to many creatures Phelphor. I won't fall for your trick," he grunted.

"There is nothing to fall from," I threw the scanner at him. It hit the peach face of MajorTom. He got his thing at least. And probably a bruise. I guess nope. I didn't throw it that hard.

He looked at his scanner and then at me in disbelief, "Why? Why would you do that?"

Why indeed? "I found something in Kaizeph and it brought back things I've… rather forget."

My mission was to collect any of those tablets I could in the Water Quadrant. I managed to enter in there. Unseen by the Overworlder. I was almost found but I hid in the water.

In the large lake, I somehow found… a tombstone with two tablets down there. When I saw the name, I could just whisper, "Dad."

My father. Why did you do it? Why did it end up with me- So… this is where you were buried.

I took the first tablet and saw an image. I froze when I saw a Chaotic Player of old with five creatures, one of each tribe. The one who made you turned against our tribe. You should have known it would have cost your life f-.

…Were you smiling like that with them? A large smile like that?

I grabbed the second one and saw a message written on it. I flinched, "Phelphor, my only child. If you are reading this, then I have paid the price for my treason. Know that I have no regret, for I met a strange being who came from the Cothica. He was a kind human who saved my life… when his friends would have killed me. The Messenger Of The Cothica awoke something I me I cannot give up," I turned the tablet at the other side, "I realised that our tribe is taking the wrong path. One that goes against the Cothica. One where the Cothica might destroy us. So, I turn my back on my tribe. We'll probably met on the battlefield. Son. I'm sorry for the pain. You won't ever forgive me but I love you. If you have the strength. May the Cothica be by your side one day."

As I read thing, I sobbed. I… I never cried after that day. The day where-

I didn't want to remember. Things I wanted to put in a chest, locked it and threw it in the deepest and darkest part of the ocean. All because of one order and who I had to kill. Why were you cursing my soul right now father?

That even happened so long ago. Yet, right now. My memory of that moment was clear in my mind. It was during the first war. The tribes came out of Kaizeph and stroke back. We lost many battles when we captured a traitor.

I stood on a small hill, surrounded by many soldiers of my tribe. Aa'une stood forward. I couldn't see what was going on but I knew who he was talking too.

"Anything you want to say for your defense traitor?" my Oligarch said.

"I have nothing to say in my defense Aa'une. I will not let you ruin every creature's life anymore! I met him and I changed for the better," I heard my father painfully grunted. I flinched. A bone broke.

"Who did you meet to make a loyal M'arrllian like you betray our tribe? Because of you! We are losing this war now! They know how to free the minds of their comrades and they are fighting together as one! We cannot control their mind either!" my ruler furiously yelled. I closed my eyes.

I gasped when the soldiers grabbed me and pulled me forward. What are they thinking? What are they planning for me? Are they going to kill me in front of father?

"I met one of them! One of the habitants who blessed Perim! A being coming from there! A messenger who was born in the Cothica! The messenger came and united the creatures! He purified me from our filthy ambitions!"

I was dragged in front of the crowed and I saw my father. He was restrained and on his knees. He was badly beaten. I couldn't see one of his eyes. He lost a few fangs and I saw a bit of a bone from his foot out of the flesh. Father. He was in pain and I could only watch.

Why did you betray us? You were one of the best soldiers of the M'arrillians. I looked up to you. You inspired me to become a soldier. Now, you ruined our family.

"We are going against the will of the Cothica! The pain will not silence me!"

Aa'une grabbed my fa- traitor by his jaw and lifted him, "Where is that messenger now?"

"Once we united. He returned to his world. His mission accomplished," my father grinned. He added, "You will never get him."

"I have enough of your foolishness," and my father was punched in the gut by my Oligarch. Father was dropped on the ground, before soldiers forced him to stand up. My ruler turned towards me, "And you! Are you a traitor like your father?" His yellow eyes pierced my soul, ready to gut me out with a simple glare.

I looked down, "No my Oligarch. My loyalty lies in you. You only."

I was released and something was put on in my hands. A sword. Aa'une ordered, "Then prove it to me. Your father is sentenced to death and you shall be his executioner."

"Don't make him do this Aa'une!" Father yelled in outrage. I could see it in his eyes. Desperation. Not for his execution, but because I was the one who had to do it. F- You pushed me to this moment, "Do it yourself!"

"No. Phelphor! Take your father's heart out of his chest and give it to me." My ruler sadistically said. I'm sure it was with sadism he said that.

My stomach turned at those words sink in. Yet, I couldn't turn back. I had to do it. If I didn't. I'll be a traitor like father, and I'll be dead.

I slowly approached the traitor. Steps by steps, I approached him. Now, at this moment I…

Why? Why couldn't I hate you father? Why? Why? I want to cry. I could feel it. I won't. I couldn't. My life was on the line now.

He looked in my eyes, a small smile on his face, "I'm sorry son. Do it," he whispered to me. A blessing to kill him. An ugly and twisted blessing, "I love you."

"Do it!" My Oligarch ordered, losing patience.

I yelled as I impaled my dad in the chest. I slowly opened his chest. My stomach spin once again in my gut. I wanted to throw everything out. I held all back, barely.

He screamed in agony, but death wasn't bringing him mercy. I did, "I still love you," I said that quietly as I finished my father. I couldn't endure the suffering I inflicted as I pulled his heart out. I didn't immediately look back.

"You have proven your loyalty."

I have to live. I have to survive. I will survive. I must do it! I am the last one of the family.

I put a mask. To live longer, I must put a mask. I cast myself on the side. I'll be what Aa'une wants me to be. This will be my greatest lie. One that everyone will fell for.

I turned towards my Oligarch, blood of my father on my chest. I didn't matter. I let out a smirk, "I got rid of that traitor. No matter who they are, only my tribe matter," I licked the bloody blade of the sword. The blood of my father tasted bitter. I offered his heart.

Aa'une was pleased by my loyalty.

Apparently, it wasn't enough. Later, I was sent on a mission that no one of my tribe would accept. I was frozen in the ice in the Underworld, to be freed one day. I must prove myself again to my Oligarch. So be it. I must live.

That simple tablet brought that back. I… I feel for it too. I feel for the me under the mask. Right now, I could feel that mask cracking. Underwater, I couldn't see it but I knew… I knew too well I was crying now. I observed the tombstone. I could see the name of the creatures who buried him.

"A brave friend until the end."

After this, I didn't do anything. I entered in the deepest abyss of my mind. With everything going on now. The return of the beings of the Cothica. Coming before our return. It wasn't a coincidence. I'm certain of it.

I heard that they captured a Chaotic Player, MajorTom the following day.

Without my mask, I became as foolish as you, father.

"You want to know why I am doing this MajorTom?" I raised my arms and said, "Because my tribe… Doesn't deserve to reach the Cothica. Look at us. Look at what we did. What I did. Everything I've done just to prove myself. It is never enough. Father became a traitor to help Perim freeing himself from the M'arrillians. Father… he realised it. He wants us to deserve the blessing of the Cothica, but we will never reach it MajorTom. We will just continue what we do until our tribe ceased to exist."

The boy was at a lost of words. He never replied to me after I said all of this. I really sounded hopeless, but it was the true. He shook his head and said, "I don't understand why you-"

I put my hands on my chest and cut his words, "You want to truly understand me? Why I did this? I can see you won't believe me if I tell you. If you want the true, become me. The real me. I feel for the false me MajorTom. Always proving my loyalty to Aa'une. Just to survive," I grabbed the bars, "I should be the one behind them."

MajorTom raised his scanners but didn't scan me yet, "What… What will happen to you?" Did he sound concern for me?

"Me?" I sighed loudly, "I'll get executed of course. I'll be found here, you gone, and I'll be dead. There's nothing for me anywhere MajorTom."

The Chaotic Player pointed his scanner at me. He gazed into my eyes. He wanted to say something to me. He will never find anything good to say. Not to the likes of me. He took me by surprise when he said, "Thanks Phelphor. Next time we'll meet. Call me Tom," and he began to scan me.

Why did you say that? Why do you want me to call you Tom? Do you mean that-

That was the end of the memories inside Phelphor mind. He remembered what he said to the creature he became. It was the only thing in his mind. The only words he could find. The creature gazed at the ruler of the Underworlder and said, "I'm done. There is… so much Kaz."

"You'll tell this to Sarah and Peyton too. Do we cut this match now?" Chaor asked.

"No. I won't forget what I saw," Phelphor replied.

It wasn't long before Chaor was victorious and the two were back in the drome. Chaor body turned into Kaz while Tom nodded at his friends. He had a lot to say to his best friend, Sarah and Peyton.

The boy explained a little of what he learned in the memories. He wanted to explain everything to Sarah and Peyton. It was better than repeating himself twice.

Sarah had her arms crossed and was pissed, "Got your little match. Now tell us what is going on!"

"It was to tell us what's going on Sarah. He needed to see something to understand stuff," Kaz sat on the chair.

"What you found out Tom?" Peyton seriously asked.

The black-haired boy explained his misadventure. What happened to him when he went on a scan quest, his meeting with Milla'iin. He explained what he told him and why they wanted his scanner. That made them paled. Tom didn't let them ask questions as he continued. He reached Phelphor and told them their little conversation before he helped him get back here. He also explained what he saw in the mind of the M'arrillian.

Sarah asked, "So… Phelphor… Of all the M'arrillians. It was Phelphor who saved you. For what?"

"I don't really get it myself. Just that he didn't believe his tribe should reach the Cothica," he replied.

Peyton said, "So that Phelphor has some goody side of him. Hard to believe," he put his hands on his forehead.

"Aa'une is a fearsome ruler," Kaz admitted. Just one treason and a horrible execution. It was the memories of the creature himself. So, it couldn't be a lie.

"Forced to kill his father like that," Tom sat on the chair as he repeated what Phelphor did.

"That's quite a lot he had," she admitted.

The group was quiet for a moment. It was Peyton that cut it, "Think he's… dead Tom?"

"I don't know. His memories ended when I finished scanning him. He was wondering if I meant something, but it just ends there," the boy replied.

His friend sighed, "I'm certain Al Mipedim won't help him. Some M'arrillians has been accepted there but Phelphor won't."

Tom's best friend nodded, "He can forget any tribes. He can only become tribeless."

MajorTom nodded. He couldn't believe he was sympathetic to a M'arrillian who caused the war. He could have lived as an Underworlder and not open the door. He didn't have to help his tribe. He knew that the creature was deeply buried under a lie. He couldn't get out in time, when he didn't know he was buried in it, "Just because he found where his father rested in Kaizeph."

"So, the first war… one nice M'arrillian bro helped the tribes to survive and pushed back the evil M'arrillians. He died for it," Peyton said.

Sarah was curious and asked, "Do you think saying that he was the Messenger Of The Cothica did anything for the M'arrillians?"

"With the second war… I don't think so," Kaz admitted.

They were quiet for a while as everything sink into them.

"Tom. You were lucky someone decided to help you escape," the teenage girl said as she glared at her friend, "We don't go anywhere alone anymore! Unless we are with a creature who can do something against the M'arrillians," she raised her finger, "They want us and our scanners. Who knows what could happen if they somehow manage to come here?"

"A mass panic," Kaz sighed as he thought back of his nightmare a few months ago. Chaotic will be a warzone.

"So, we stick together now," Sarah ordered.

No one disagreed. Not after Tom had been through, "I won't forget it again Sarah."

"Me neither."

"All glued in my mind with super glue."

They changed the subject for something more casual.

"Let's try to go to Kaizeph in three days. We won't have another match that day," Sarah suggested.

"Good. I don't want to forget about it," Tom stood up, "I should port out. I haven't returned for a day or two."

"One day Tom," Kaz answered as he also stood up.

The group split as they returned to their home.

Tom stopped for a second when a question came. Where did Phelphor hide the scanner when he met him? He remembered he saw both M'arrillian hands freed before he gave the scanner. The boy pushed that aside. It will be pointless once he came back.

Phelphor made up his mind. The moment the Chaotic Player was gone, he ran. He avoided any guards coming at his direction. He could hear his tribe in his mind. They sent an alert that the scanner of Tom was gone. They didn't know it was him who stole the scanner and gave it back to its rightful owner. He had a chance to get out during the confusion.

Here I thought I would wait and die, he thought as he approached the gate leading to the Underworld. He avoided being stopped by the guards flawlessly and soon, he was there.

Once he went through it, there was no turning back. It would be over once and for all, his M'arrillian life. He had no authorisation from his sup- ex-superior to even come back to the Deep Ocean unless he brought the tablets, which he didn't. They would destroy his father last message.

He took a deep breath and hesitated. He thought what Tom said to him. A little sentence.

Next time we see, call me Tom.

It somehow changed everything. It gave back his will to live.

He knew the Chaotic Player didn't forgive him. That would be stupid to even conceive.

He took a step forward and was out of the Deep Ocean territory. He was in the enemy's land now, "What now?"

His mind wandered to his father once more. He began to march. He had only once place to go, Kaizeph, "Father," he whispered, "I want to know why you turn your back on the M'arrillians. I'm as crazy as you now," he let out a small chuckle.

Not having his cruel mask was… liberating. The mask of a soldier of Aa'une. Now, he was Phelphor. A tribeless creature. Nothing more. Nothing else.

"I will call you Tom next time we cross path," the creature declared.

AC: This is the end of this chapter. Been a while since I put a first-person moment. It fit better in this chapter. Phelphor is now a tribeless but his tribe isn't aware of it yet.

I'm not certain if I express him being disillusioned correctly but his illusions ended when his mask of the Phelphor we knew broke.

I picked Phelphor because I like him.

Next: Ario, The Rider.

Peyton discovered one secret from the Mipedians, one that came out right from a dream. Ario was the unlucky one who got busted.