Tom was in Chaotic and prepared to port to Kiru city. It was morning and knew that many creatures came out as the sun rises. It was the best time to begin their search. His friends already came and teleported to Underworld city and Mount Pillar; in hope they might find something about the Elementalists. Some of the creatures went to an island and they might hold some answers. Tom mentally prepared himself to meet with the creature if ice and rock again. He didn't know where he might work in the city, "Maybe Maxxor can help me," he thought of the other creatures.
He then ported to Perim.
Chapter 25: The Search Of Clues
Tom walked in the city. He looked around the large city. It felt the same as before. Many Overworlders wandered around in their usual activity. They were a few Mipedians who marched towards the castle with Tiaane taking the lead.
The boy stopped when he saw that, "W-what's going on?"
The Mipedian noticed him and chuckled, "Hello again Tom," he approached the boy with his guards following him, "Didn't expect to see you today. How's it going?" he let out a small forced smile.
The teenager knew what was in the mind of the creature, "Searching for a way to help Peyton. He disappeared as you know. Me and my friends are trying to find something, anything to help us find him."
"You seemed like you put a lot of weight on your shoulders Tom," the orange lizard replied. He let out a small forced smile, "We are also searching for any clues on the disappearance of our friend. Our alliance with Maxxor stayed strong as you might be one of the next to disappear. One is already too much," he told him. He glanced at the castle, "I should go," he took a few steps towards the castle. He stopped and turned around, "Tom. If you find anything about Peyton or any of your friends in the matter. Please, tell our king what you discover. He wants to do more himself, but Al Mipedim cannot govern and reinforce his borders by itself."
"I will," he nodded.
"Good. I'll see you another time," Tiaane left with the other Mipedians.
Tom stood there for a few seconds, before he scrapped his first plan, "Maxxor is going to be busy. Best to ask around if they know anything."
The boy spent a part of the morning searching for the location of Tera Motus. The answers he got were vague and lack precision to pinpoint the location. Still, he knew he got closer as the Overworlders began to point at a location instead of a vague answer.
He eventually reached the market street where many vendors resided. He saw the creature who stood next to a store and seemed to simply watch around. He approached the rock and ice creature, "Hi."
Tera Motus was a creature who was mostly made of rock. He was a creature that appearance gave a bit of familiarity. He had a bit of Tangath Toborn in his look, something Tom had to agree. The mane looked like it was made of ice, the same color as its eyes. It wore a white loincloth with a few skulls on it. He smiled when he saw the human, "Hello human. It's always a pleasure to meet one of your kind."
The boy guessed he didn't remember him. They didn't meet that often, so it made sense, "I came to see you. I need to ask something important and I don't want everyone to hear it," he nervously admitted.
"As you can see, I am on duty right now and I cannot leave my post. I still need to fully prove myself to the Overworlders. They were kind enough to let me live here. Although, I guess some of the creatures might be hurt since I… look a little like their hero Tangath Toborn. After I learned what he did to save Perim, I can't disagree that it might be hard to be around me."
The teenager couldn't disagree, "I wanted to talk with Maxxor too, but he will be busy for a while. I… can still tell you here," he glanced around, they weren't that many creatures.
"Of course. I'll try not to yell if it makes you any nervous," Tera replied.
"What is your duty anyway?"
"I am on the look out. I am no soldier, but I help the guards and protect this place," the creature glanced around. He saw nothing suspicious, "A few humans tried to scan a few things that they shouldn't. Your kind is as reckless as the legend says," he chuckled.
"Yeah…" he didn't want to deny something that obvious. It was weird that there was a legend about humanity recklessness, "Thanks for tell me that. Anyway, do you know what happened on Earth recently?"
The face of the rock and ice creature turned serious, "Yes. Maxxor consulted me on the matter. He asked if I knew anything about those creatures made of Metal and oil. I am still thinking back. I don't know if they came from the same place as you. The Cothica is the world where you came from. It was so long ago that not everything might have been preserved," he answered. He raised his finger, "I didn't mention it to Maxxor in the past. It was because we never any sign of them. I thought they were instinct and didn't survive Perim. They came from the Cothica and were ill-prepared when they were sent to exile. Many died on their first time here. They surely survive the exile if they took the big boy," he mentioned Peyton. He squinted his eyes a bit, "I think I see you before… You are the guide of the Overworlder," he finally recognised Tom.
The boy nodded. He was still taken aback by what he just learned. The Elementalists were aware of the presence of the Metalists, but thought they were dead, "Do you think they might know where Peyton might be?"
"Yes, but it's too risky for anyone to go there. Even your kind shouldn't make contact with them on your own," the creature warned the boy, "You came from the Cothica, but that doesn't mean they will be cooperative. They won't worship you for being part of the Cothica. A long time passed and it might not be the same anyway. Meeting you still feels like a dream sometimes. Seeing you wandering around with a smile on your face or just scanning creature," Tera Motus tapped his lips, "I have a feeling you are going to keep searching for any clues on their locations. I can help you a bit in the matter. I didn't visit the main islands of my tribe, but you might get a clue if you see my memories. The scanner can do that," he grabbed the hand of the boy, "If you manage to go there, somehow. You need to be very careful. I was declared a traitor for helping the tribes to stop this Milla'iin. Promise me that. If you don't, I won't let you scan me."
Tom looked in the eyes of the creature, "I promise I'll be careful. Troubles are coming for us no matter where we go on Perim or Earth now," he nervously chuckled at that fact.
Tera laughed for a few seconds, "I heard that little reputation of yours and your friends. Maybe that's why Peyton is in a bit of trouble with the Metalist. Can you tell me more about them? Maybe you know other things and I am curious."
The boy nodded, "The Metalists did come from the Earth," it was still hard to admit his world was the Cothica. When did the name change, or if it actually did? He held his hands together, "And they are quite powerful. I only saw their ruler. He was intimidating… when he succeeded. He failed when he just crashed on the ground when he tried to do a bad guy thing," he nervously chuckled once again. He glanced at the side, "I promise again that I'll be careful," he took out his scanner, "Peyton needs our help and any clues will help save him from those Metalists. We have no idea what they want to do with him. So far, there is a chance they might not do anything bad, but who knows."
"Then scan me, Tom. A part of me will be with you," he let out a small smile. He felt weird being scanned and turned into something on the screen of the scanner.
The teenager watched the creatures' stats. They were high and above average from most creatures. The except what his speed, which was pretty low. He also couldn't use mugic. He glanced at the creature, "Thank you. I'm sure it will help finding where Peyton is. Then we can save him and we all be home together," he put his scanner in his pocket.
"It seems you are investigating something again Tom," a creature said. A blue Overworlder with a long white beard landed near the two.
The boy saw Najarin. He was glad the wise creature showed up, "Yes. My friend Peyton disappeared. I wanted to see Maxxor, but he's gone."
"Do not put yourself at risk to figure this out."
"It's my code that I'm using. Peyton real self was brought here," the boy had a second to think about the technology behind sending their code to Perim. With everything they learned, he wouldn't surprise if this was made by humans long ago in their ancient civilisation. Still, he refocused on the present, "I need to find my friend. He is really in danger. Those Metalist got him and with everything I learned about them…"
"Calm down Tom. What do you mean by everything you learned about them?" Najarin was curious now. It seemed Tom knew more about it than the creatures.
The teenager sighed. Khybon knew about it. He also repeated a bit he told Tera Motus, "Khybon already knew it, so it's okay if I tell you," he rested his back against the wall. Tera Motus and Najarin waited for the boy to speak up. The Elementalist wondered if there was more to learn, "Talk about someone called the Matriarch on Earth with Kaz and Sarah. That was after Peyton disappeared," he took a deep breath, "They are known as the Guardian of the Cothica. They are humans who knows about some secret of our world. And… She confirmed that the Earth really is the Cothica."
The wise Overworlder wasn't that surprised. It was something he believed from the start. The humans didn't believe so. Now the boy found out it was true, "Let's no dwell on the detail. What do you learn about the Metalist. Anything to make a stand against them? They might get to you and we need to be ready at anything to protect you, Tom."
"Right," he nodded. He grabbed his arm as he tried to explain it clearly, "The Matriarch explained that the Metalist also came from our world. They lost a war long ago and were sent to exile in Perim. It kinda feels like they might try to come back to Earth."
"Return to the Cothica. They were also a tribe that came from your world," Najarin frowned as things got more complicated. He frowned and asked another thing, "Did this Matriarch said anything else?"
"Yeah," he then resumed a bit of what the humans could do in the past and that Chaotic probably was a relic of the human past when they came to Perim, "That's also what the Codemasters discovered. There is so much we don't know about," the teenager sighed as he glanced at them, "Tera. Do you know why we just leave and didn't come back to Perim in the past?"
The creature thought about it, "No. I do not remember anything about this in the matter. I was not a member of the council. My knowledge is more limited in the matter."
Tom thought back what the Matriarch said. He remembered that creatures tried to invade the Cothica long ago, "I guess it might be because the tribes tried to invade the Cothica long ago, just like last year."
Najarin took this knowledge and made sure to remember it, "Then it might be best that we avoid making this mistake once again and the new leadership of the M'arrillian will avoid such problem."
The boy nodded, "Yeah."
The three continued to talk about this some more, but nothing more came out of it. Tom called his friends and told them he got a scan of Tera Motus and would check his memories and figured out any clues to find the location of the Elementalists, in hope they knew more about the Metalist location.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: Negotiation
The Elementalist began negotiation with the Matriarch to obtain what he wanted and to get revenge on the tribes for going to the Cothica.