Tom ate his breakfast with his mother Annie.

She was a Caucasian woman with long black hair attached with a blue ribbon and blue eyes. She wore a white shirt with blue pants and a necklace with a golden cross on it. She looked at her son, "Is everything okay? You seemed preoccupied by something."

"I'm fine. Just a lot in my mind."

"You can tell me. I am a good player in Chaotic," she joked, to remind him that she knew this part of his life now. She let out a kind and warm smile, "There is nothing to hide."

"Yeah. It's about Peyton and stuff around it," he began to admit it. He tapped his chin, "You know that cult wandering around?"

"Yeah. Police still won't do anything about it."

"Well, they are not a cult. Confirm this with the Codemasters."

Annie was surprised as she dropped her spoon. She grabbed it, "W-what do you mean? What are they?"

Tom was relieved his mother fully trusted him. He let out a small smile, "They didn't do anything to me if you are about to ask that," he then explained to her what he confirmed with the Codemasters.

His mother took a while to take all of that in. She understood enough what the Cothica was. It took a few minutes before she finally spoke once again, "It's… This is really the Cothica? Our world?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Still a bit hard to accept that. I know it's true, but it's hard to just agree that it's true. And those people are here to protect our world from invaders and stuff like that."

"This feels like a sci-fi and fantasy at the same time if they have the power of light."

"Feels like we could do it at the past, like creatures with their power."

"I'll believe it when I can do it," Annie lightly joked as she tried to recover from the revelation.

A knock on the door ended their conversation. The woman walked and opened it to their guest. She stopped when she saw a human who wore the golden robe, members of the cult.

"The Matriarch wished to see Tom Major," the woman said behind her hood.

The boy and his mother glanced at each other's. They had no idea how to answer to that request.


Chapter 28: Proposition

Tom and his mother were in the car as it drove to their destinations. The teenage boy was glad his mother won the argument and they went to the base together. He knew she could obtain a peace treaty against Chaor, even if the Underworlder was in his worse mood.

There was an awkward silence in the car. Tom glanced at the answer of his friends when he told them what happened.

Be careful Tom. If there is any trouble, we will come and rescue you. Kaz replied.

Are you doing something on your own again Tom? At least your mom is with you this time. Sarah replied.

Tom chuckled lightly at the reply of his girlfriend. He knew she was worried. He had a tendency to get into big trouble. He raised his head and they went down to the secret location of the Guardians of the Cothica.

His mother felt like she was in a movie as it went through the secret passage, "You dad will need to know about this."

"He will soon enough," the member of the Guardians of the Cothica replied.

Annie took a deep breath as they reached the elevator that would bring them to the underground city.

As the elevator went down, she looked around, "Are you telling me this existed for a long time near our town?" she quickly glanced at the member of the cult.

"We have a few towns around. We can quickly teleport around. Where they are, we won't tell you," the woman had a smile that appeared behind the hood, "You just have to find it yourself. However, it's well hidden. We only have a few intruders for thousands of years and their descendant are part of us now. It won't be the case for you since you are invited."

"Prisoners here forever?" Tom asked.

"No. They just cannot leave our town or any others. They become a part of us. Once they are, the go outside when needed. We won't kill anyone or erase their memories. It might be one of the mysterious deaths that appeared on the news. They aren't real death. It's just the news to prevent anyone from searching them. They became a part of the Guardian of the Cothica. One of the most recent who found one of our places was making an ARG horror about mysterious undergrounds and actually found one of those places," she chuckled, "And he is dedicated to his duty once he understood them."

"That's… one way to find this place," the teenager nervously chuckled.

"Anyway, we need to keep going. The Matriarch is waiting for us," the mysterious woman said as she climbed back in the car.

The Major's followed her back in. She drove towards their destination.

Tom thought about that little bit of information. He guessed that some people who suddenly disappeared might be because they find one of their places. It was only a few, from what he heard. Good thing they came to them and they never found something like that in their life. It was well hidden at least.

They reached a large building in the middle of the underground city. It was protected by a few well armed guards with weapons that would come from the future in a TV show.

They walked out of the car and walked through the entrance. The guards simply nodded at them as the large door opened.

They went inside and followed their guide where the Matriarch resided. They stopped in front of another large door.

"The Matriarch is waiting for you two behind this door. She has no problem with the presence of your mother here. Please be polite with our Matriarch, because we will come in at any sign of trouble," the woman warned them, before opening the door.

Mother and son went through the door.

It was a large room. The walls and the ceiling were painted silver. There was a large solar system suspended in the air. They were two large shelves filled with books, parchments and golden cubes. At back of the room, there was a large desk with the Matriarch that sat behind it, with a computer in front of her. They were two chairs for the guests.

"Welcome Tom and Annie. I hope the travel went without trouble," she told them.

"Everything went okay," Tom's mother replied. She had no idea how to speak with the Matriarch.

"Come and take a seat, there is a lot to talk about," she invited them to sit.

The two thanked her and sat on a chair.

Annie was the first to speak. "What do you want with my son? You just sent someone to get him."

"You think we intended to kidnap him?" the old lady softly asked.

"Yes."

"You are wrong; however, I am happy a mother like you would assume the worse of our intentions."

Tom's mother had no idea how to reply to that.

"Why did you want to bring me here? You never said that we would need to come again. Why just me and not my friends too?" Tom asked.

"Let me explain why I asked you to come here," she crossed her fingers together and seriously said, "I'm not sure if your mother knows them. What do you know about the Elementalist?"

"What Maxxor told me. They are creatures made of the four elements. Tera Motus is one of them. Maxxor and a few others went to get something to fix the portal and encountered them on an island. They managed to escape with Tera Motus and that's pretty much it. He doesn't know anything else about that tribe."

"Something happened about them I presume," Annie commented, not liking where this might be going.

"Yes. One of them is asking us two things and one of them involves Tom," the Matriarch sighed as she braced for the news.

The other two noticed she didn't seem keen on whatever she would bring up.

The old lady coughed a few times, before she explained, "The creature wants us to bring him Milla'iin for his crimes for invading the Cothica. We managed to get some time by convincing him to let the justice rule over his crimes and heard his punishment. The other thing… He wants Tom."

"Me? I never met them!" Tom quickly reacted.

His mother grunted, "I will not let this creature touch my son!"

"If we refuse, he will use more drastic measure to get you. He warned us of that," she went on.

The two looked in her eyes. Annie grunted, "Then he will regret this if he tries to get my son. I will not let a hand of… whatever element is on my boy."

Her son asked, "Why did he want me specifically? Is it because he believes I am a guide to the Cothica?"

"Yes. He wants you because you are their guide and you are close to Maxxor. He was one of the creatures who went to fix the portal. His revenge plan is one we would refuse, but what he could plan with the portal is one that we are hesitant to risk. We also warned Michel and Annette on the matter and told them everything we could. Michel wasn't keen of even thinking about putting you at risk Tom."

"Do not ask my son to put his life on the line because of some threat from this creature. I will make that creature regret it if he tried to get my son," Annie frowned as she clenched her hands.

"I won't ask his son. I want you to know the situation and what we have in our hands. We are willing to teach Tom how to use the power of light," she raised her hand and materialised a ball of light, "It would help him defend himself against the creatures. However, there is still a lot more to say in the matter. I need to ask you something Tom. Not force you to put your life at risk, but what would you do if there is no choice."

"No!" his mother said before he could reply, "You cannot even give him a choice in the matter. He's too young for this kind of situation!" she was pissed.

"What is it? I kinda want to hear it anyway," he quickly said before his mother interrupted him. He felt the tension in the air, coming from the two adult women. He wondered what it might be.

Annie glanced at her son, but didn't say anything about it. It was best to know what that old woman wanted from them. At least, they could do something about it.

"We need you to accept the demand of the Elementalist and go to their world to appease them for a moment," the Matriarch finally answered.

It was exactly what the other woman guessed as she glanced at her boy, "You are asking Tom to put his life on the line for what? Avoid trouble with one creature!"

"If only it was just that. With the Metalist doing their first move, we need to focus on them. The Metalist surely are planning an invasion of the Earth and we need to put our might against them. We cannot allow ourselves to deal with two tribes at the same time," the old woman stood up and turned around. She went to search for a book, "So Tom is vulnerable here if they are planning to kidnap him," she held a book and turned towards them, "For two reasons."

"Two?" they asked.

"One, you are a guide to the Cothica, like Peyton. Someone who serve as a connection between our world and Perim. A guide is someone who will connect our worlds in harmony and avoid wars and conflicts with their heart and soul. It's also a safe passage between worlds in a way," she put the book on the table, "Which you are doing by being yourself. Kaz got a lot more on his hands in the matter," she joked, "The problem is that there is no guide for the Elementalist and the Metalist came from here."

"What's the other reason the Metalist might want me?" Tom asked a bit nervous. He never would have thought there was another reason.

The Matriarch opened the book and turned a few pages. Once she found it, she put it on the table and showed them, "This is why we also have to propose this for you."

On the book, there was an image of a woman who wore a necklace. On it, there was a jewel of eight colors that seemed to shine brightly.

"What is it?" Annie asked. She could tell it was extremely important.

"The Jewel of the Cothica."


AC: This is the end of this chapter and the jewel is finally introduced at chapter 28.

Next: Milla'iin.

Milla'iin received a visit and a task.