Intress continued to watch the destruction of the city by the M'arrillians. It was horrible what the creatures were doing to the Cothica. It worried her more as she wondered what Milla'iin and the others would do if they got their tendrils on Tom and his friends. She didn't like this at all.
Not only that, but this amount of destruction might cause the end of the Cothica permanently if nothing was done.
The Overworlder wondered if it was a good idea to let the boy on his own. She considered following him, but Ario and Gathup were already with him, invisible. She sighed.
"Is there anything we can do to prepare for the upcoming battle?" Agitos asked. The inactivity seemed to get the better of him, after seeing the destruction. It reminded him a little of the feeling he had when the M'arrillians crushed the Underworld.
Rothar showed his fangs. He remembered when his tribe fell to the M'arrillians. He refused to see it happen again. What he saw on screen gave him a similar feeling of powerlessness. That they might fail to protect their tribe once again. He refused to get that sinking feeling again. It was the only reason he joined the alliance with the few remainders of his tribe, "We got to do something!" He smashed the table and broke it.
The humans watched him. George said, "You're gonna fix that."
The minotaur paled a little at the many eyes on him and nodded, "Yes."
Still, everyone felt just a little bit of relief when the Underworlder broke the tension with his aggressive behavior.
Chapter 113: The Talk
Tom walked towards the prison of Aval'par. He wasn't sure if he would get anything else from the creature. He reached the jail and got permission to go inside.
The two Mipedians turned invisible and followed him inside. They had to get as much as possible out of the creature.
The boy reached the jail where the M'arrillian was. Aval'par turned his back at him and didn't say anything. It felt like he was in the same situation as before. The creature was completely closed off. Still, he didn't feel that much animosity anymore. Tom shook his head and concluded it was only in his mind.
Tom gathered his courage, "Aval'par."
The creature acted like he didn't hear the boy.
"I'm back, as you obviously noticed," he scratched the back of his head nervously.
It was getting a little awkward.
Which Aval'par ended, "I have nothing else to tell you. Besides, you aren't alone anyway."
Tom told himself it was pointless to lie, "Of course, they wouldn't. You could still try something to escape and capture me," he replied.
"As I said, I have nothing else I can tell you. I didn't have anything to hide anyway. I am a prisoner and I have no idea what Milla'iin is planning or doing right now," the M'arrillian grumbled quietly. He was in his mind and wondered why the boy came right now, "Did something happen? If you decided to come, it's not just because you wanted to talk with me. Why would you anyway?"
The teenage boy was taken off-guard by how quickly the other creature noticed the reason he came to him, "You got me there. Yeah, the M'arrillians are… destroying a city."
Aval'par gazed at the boy for a few seconds, before he turned his gaze away, "I guess this is an idea from Milla'iin. I can see him deciding to do that in an act of fury. What did you humans do?"
"An evacuation and they couldn't get any human," Tom replied.
"That's it?" The purple M'arrillian couldn't believe what he heard. It was a ridiculous reason.
"We didn't see that much. I know that the people wouldn't fight back unprepared," the boy replied.
Aval'par put his hand on his face, "Milla'iin is going a little too far."
"A little?"
"Yes. He could have taken control of the empty city and the resources, not just destroyed it. There are so many problems with such decision," the M'arrillian sighed. His foot tapped the ground a few times.
"Was he… always like that?" Tom asked curiously.
"No. If Aa'une was still around, he wouldn't do that on the count of anger. I guess losing the war really put him to the limit of his patience, or something like that," Aval'par replied. He turned and gazed at the boy, "Guess it goes with what you said last time. We are soldiers. We are warriors. We spend our life preparing our invasion of Perim. We have nothing else. Losing the war caused much more damage than normal," he guessed.
Tom remembered their previous conversation. He didn't know how to go on with it. It was clear that the M'arrillian had some introspection on the matter.
Meanwhile, Gathup whispered, "What's going on Ario?"
"Tom said something to the M'arrillian last time. He told him about not having anything except for war. He asked about music and other types of arts. If they had that. Aval'par couldn't answer that," Ario answered a bit of what went on after the important questions.
Aval'par grumbled, "Because we have nothing else. I cannot deny we have nothing else. When I think back, I trained for this war since my childhood. I trained with the others. That's how I met Gal'drad. We were friends, but we still both knew only of how to fight and conquer Perim. We trained our mind to learn how to control it," he sighed, "Even then, Gal'drad did wonder a few things like that. Is there anything but that? Is there anything, but preparing to conquer Perim? Those questions, he just asked them when we were together and in secret. It could have cost us our lives."
Tom wasn't sure what to say. The creature was much more open about the matter than last time. It had just been more than a day. He guessed it was because the creature had nothing else to do. The question was asked and he couldn't avoid it. The human went on, "What did he find?"
"Nothing. He found nothing. After the war, he was quieter. He closed off to me. He went and did things on his own. He didn't talk to me about it. It's only when I came here that I realized he was a rebel. He wasn't with us when we invaded the Cothica. He stood in our way," he put his hand on his face, "I'm just glad we didn't face one another."
"What would you have done?" The human nervously asked. He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.
"I would have killed him for treason. It is the only thing to do against traitors. He turned his back on our tribe. He is a traitor and traitors deserve death," he sighed loudly. He sat down, but still looked at Tom, "He didn't personally talk to any humans. He must have just believed the things a few M'arrillians said about the Messenger of the Cothica. It was rumors. Rumors we always heard in the Deep Ocean. About that Messenger who convinced Maelstrom to betray Aa'une. Gal'drad must have believed those words. Even more when we captured him and gave a little speech, before he escaped," he sighed loudly.
"Alexandre is far away. Milla'iin won't find him. Unless he can handle the cold," Tom replied.
"Depends on how cold it is and how constantly cold that land is," the creature replied.
"Forever," he answered.
The other creature was speechless, "The Messenger is safe as long as he remains there."
The two Mipedians were to the side and whispered together. Ario commented, "We aren't going to learn anything."
Gathup asked, "And they have little culture outside of war. I… I didn't know they had something like that. A culture centered on war only."
"That means they know nothing else. As long as they are around, they will try to conquer Perim, until the end of their tribe, or something major changes them," Ario grumbled. He didn't want to think about how their own tribe would turn up, if they took a path like that.
"We got a close one with Theb-Saar's father," the orange Mipedian admitted as he scratched his beard.
"Right," the other one replied.
They focused once again on the conversation between the boy and the M'arrillian.
"I… I do have to share something. I don't know how Milla'iin would do it, but there is one thing I know," Aval'par started.
"You want to share something?" Tom asked.
"With what Milla'iin is doing, it might be for the best. At this rate, maybe Bahrakatan might do something against him too. Not sure what might happen among the M'arrillians," he raised his arms. He let out a fake cough, "Anyway, Milla'iin's objective is obvious. Control the Cothica, so he can control Perim later. He intends to control the minds of every last human for that. Though, it might not be possible, if there are too many of them. If he can't, he will be more subtle. He will aim for the important humans and leaders of the Cothica. The humans will follow their leaders, just like the tribes would do, unless some who aren't loyal to their leader are present," he crossed his arms, "I do know that we are supposed to get you and your friends, to force the other tribes into submission."
"That won't happen," Tom replied as he remembered what Maxxor said at their first meeting. That the ruler of the Overworld put priority to his own tribe.
"You four are close to one of the rulers. Something that no creatures might expect in any capacities. When you put emotions into the mix, what would they do under our control? Would they fight back, if… for example, Milla'iin makes you assassinate Maxxor? Would he fight back against you?"
That was a question Tom couldn't answer. He didn't know what would happen in that scenario. He wanted to ask the Mipedians, but that would be about Peyton and Theb-Saar. There was no clear answer in the matter. Tom replied to his belief, "He can stop me from trying to kill him and find a way to free my mind on the way. I'm not strong enough to overpower him," he crossed his arms. It made sense; he couldn't do much directly.
"And if he made you threaten to end your own life, under the control of Milla'iin?" Aval'par asked.
Now, the teenager had no answer. He didn't know what would happen. If a Mipedian was around, it was easy to answer that question. Right now, he couldn't, "I'll make sure we never end up in that situation. Milla'iin will be stopped before that."
"He might surrender to protect you," the M'arrillian concluded.
The teenager couldn't disagree with that. It was a possibility. The subject seemed to be over. He couldn't protest about it, "Yeah. Still, I'll make sure they won't get me," he took a deep breath. He sighed quietly. He gazed at the purple creature, "Anything else?"
"No. I told you everything I know about Milla'iin and how much he's ready to hurt the other tribes. You won't make peace with him," Aval'par sighed. He gazed at the boy, "And I don't know how your stupid question really perturbed me that much. Yes, we have nothing else other than war."
"Yeah. You are… more open," he let out a nervous smile. He crossed his arms and went on, "More talkative."
"So much on my mind. With what Milla'iin did, I don't mind opening my 'mouth'," he answered. He stood up and gazed at the boy, "Tom. If the M'arrillians find you, you better run away. You know what Milla'iin would do," he squinted his eye, "Before you think I'm being friendly, I didn't forget how I lost against you and that you shot me with your battlegear."
Tom let out a nervous smile as he gazed at the side, "We were fighting for our lives."
"Yes. I know," he replied. He looked around, "You can tell the two Mipedians that I've said everything I can now and for real," he turned around and sat down, "You can leave now."
"We are right here," Ario replied.
The boy said, "Thanks for telling us that."
Aval'par didn't reply. The human and the two Mipedians left. He noticed the two Mipedians hadn't asked him anything. They just let the human handle him. He sighed, "I wonder if I'll regret opening my mouth soon."
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: The decision.
When Bahrakatan learned what Milla'iin did, he made his decision on where his loyalty would be.