Tom opened his eyes as he woke up. He saw the sealing made of rocks from their location. He heard Arias grumbled a bit in his sleep.

The two rested on the floor, since the bed the creature had would break their back, since it was made of rocks.

The boy stood up and looked at the ocean by the window. It felt calm and peaceful for now. Still, he rather preferred to be home or with his friends in Chaotic. Maybe exploring Perim and talking with Maxxor. None of that was possible now. He had a mission now. He had to wait before he began his own.

He turned around and searched for the fire elementalist. He couldn't see him. He guessed he was outside. He decided to leave. He wouldn't go too far. Arias would wake up and search for him.

Chapter 53: First Day On The Island

Tom walked outside as he listened to the ocean. He took a deep breath. He smelt a bit of the salty ocean. The gentle wind blew on his hair. He watched the ocean and let his mind wandered a bit. He wondered if his friends were searching for him and Peyton. He prayed that Peyton was okay. He hoped Maxxor wouldn't do something too reckless.

After a few minutes, he focused, "I need to be ready," he had to focus on his mission. Everything the Guardians of the Cothica explained to him. It was vital for him.

"You are up early," Arias grumbled as he joined the boy. He stood by his side, "And not jailed while I was asleep. I guess they are really going to hold up their words."

"I come from the Cothica, I don't think they would try to lie to me," Tom replied. It felt weird to say that openly now. It was true that their world was the Cothica. He had no idea how it became Earth. Still, that wasn't important, "When we are really alone, I'll tell you something important."

Arias nodded. Coming with the boy had much more advantages than he thought. He would know why had to come here, even if it wasn't necessary.

The two walked towards the more habituated part of the island. They couldn't see their host.

The elementalists minded their business, but it was obvious they kept an eye on the Overworlder. They were amicable to the human and nodded in acknowledgement of the boy's existence.

"Hello human," a water creature waved at him.

"Hi," he replied back.

The creature left with a smile on his face, not entering in a conversation with him.

"I guess I am in his way," the Overworlder commented.

"It's okay. I just need to look around and meet them. They are not as bad as I first thought. I heard what happened when Maxxor went to get something to fix the portal. It was a bit intense with the council," he crossed his arms. He wondered if it was because he came from the Cothica that everything seemed a little bit different from his hero's experience.

He already missed Maxxor and the others.

He took a deep breath. Tom wondered if Milla'iin was alright. He should have asked the m'arrillian to give him any news of his situation in his jail. Thinking about him worried him a little bit.

"I am fine Tom. There is little reason to worry about me."

"Milla'iin? Are you talking in my mind?" the boy asked in his mind.

"Yes. I keep in touch with you. I can hear your thought, when you think really hard about it, just like now. I do agree that we need to tell Arias what is going on later. I'm not mistreated in any ways," the m'arrillian added reassuringly.

That calmed the teenager down, "Tell me if anything is wrong."

"As I said yesterday I will. I just moved from one prison to another. There is no difference for me. I will focus on our task ahead," the creature cut contact with him.

Tom realised that maybe Milla'iin read his mind a little too much. He responded only when worried for the creature. He might still read about everything else he thought about. Still, he didn't mind that much. They were in a unique situation. Also, the way he spelled it out was what he thought really hard. Maybe something that the creature couldn't ignore.

"Exactly," the m'arrillian added that last word before he cut contact again.

Arias glanced at the boy, "What should we do next? We should eat something, but we cannot buy anything."

Tom thought about it. He wasn't sure how to get some. He had no real idea how the economy worked for this tribe. He learned a lot about the overworlder's way, but not the other tribes, "Not sure. We should fire our host and asked him about it. If not, I can bother the council. We know where they are," he replied.

"I would enjoy annoying the council, but I best leave it to you," the overworlder replied with a very small smile on his face. The kind of smile that was under control, to avoid trouble with the creatures around them.

The two continued their walk, searching for their host. Tom greeted the creatures who came to talk with him a little, before they returned to their duties or they parents, depending on their age.

The teenager focused ahead. He needed to know a bit of his surrounding and the creatures for later. It was quite easy to do it himself.

Arias just remained by his side and made sure no one tried to hurt the boy. He showed down for a few seconds when he realised one thing. They never learned the name of the fire creature that let them stayed in his house, "Do you know the name of our host?"

The human stopped when he realised, he had no idea what the creature's name was, "No."

"Searching for him might be a bit harder if we can't call him in public," the overworlder declared. He put his hands on his hips. He looked around.

They went to search for the fire creature. They managed to find him after half an hour. He transported something heavy on his back. It was a large barrel that seemed to contain some water or another kind of liquid.

"There you are," Tom said, after making sure they wouldn't surprise him. An accident could happen quite quickly.

The fire creature nodded at them, "Let me finish this and you can talk to me," he then continued on his way to a large structure.

Arias chuckled as he asked, "Need help?" he showed up his biceps.

"Yes," the creature didn't hesitate to reply.

The overworlder grabbed it. He could already tell that this barrel was heavy and didn't try to lift it on his own.

The two transported it to the building and put it inside with the other barrels. Once they put it there, the fire creature said, "Thanks for the help overworlder," he grumbled a few things quietly, before he went on, "What are you doing wandering in the village anyway?"

"We don't know our way around and we don't know where and what to eat without getting into trouble. You know what I mean," Arias replied.

Tom nodded, "We have no idea when you would come back, so we searched for you."

The fire creature nodded, "I see. Anyway, I need to do a few chores before we can get something. The farms need to move crops into the storage too and they need extra hands."

Arias asked, "You can't just be a helper here."

"I am a crafter, but right now, we don't have the resources for it," the fire creature replied.

"Makes sense," the overworlder agreed.

Tom guessed that the materials came from other islands. The island didn't feel that big so far. From Maxxor's story about the location where they found what to fix the portal, he guessed the tribe spread around. Each island could have a village or a small city, if habituated, "Why is the council here? Is it because of the portal?" he wondered to himself.

The elementalist nodded, "Yes. The portal gives us direct contact with humans if needed. The council never used it for a long time. That is when they are staying here. They usually move from island to island to have a presence everywhere. This is their main location," he concluded his short explanation.

"That's good for your tribe," Arias nodded.

"I'll do what I can to help for now."

The three helped the farmers to bring the crops to the storage building. It took an hour and it made the creature and the boy hungrier. They didn't complain when their stomach grunted.

Once they were done, they felt accomplished a bit. Tom gazed around during that hour, but didn't see anything standing out for now. He noticed that none of the buildings seemed connected. He didn't see the port or any other ways they could leave.

Still, he got an idea where he might find what he needed. It could be on this island, or in an old temple. He had to explain everything to Arias when he had the chance.

Once they finished the chores, they returned to their current temporary residence.

The fire creature prepared something to eat and it was quickly done. Arias chuckled as he devoured his meal with Tom slowly eating it.

The meal was some kind of meat the teenager never saw in his life with a few vegetables. He never really ate what was made in Perim, but it tasted good. He was a bit surprise to eat that much for breakfast, but didn't complain. It might be closer to the middle of the day.

In insight, he wondered why he didn't take his chance to talk with Arias when they were alone. Maybe hunger distracted him and it wasn't his priority until his hunger was satisfied. He glanced at his friend from the overworld.

Once breakfast/lunch was done, the fire creature prepared to leave again.

"I need to help with a few more chores. I suggest you stay here. The members of the council might do their round today and it might be best you don't cross their path. I heard the water member of the council is in a very bad mood because of all the paper works he had to do."

The overworlder had a small smug on his face. He enjoyed that this jerk had any kind of retribution for this.

"I'll see you later," the fire creature left.

The two realised they forgot to ask his name.

Tom waited for a minute and checked outside. He saw that the creature was gone. Now, it was his chance to explain everything, "Arias. There is something very important I need to tell you," he turned towards him.

The creature rested his back against the wall. He waited for the teenager to speak. He saw the boy hesitated a bit, "Go on. I won't bite you," he smirked a bit.

Tom chuckled for a few seconds, before he stopped. He took a deep breath, "I came here for an important mission," he crossed his arms a bit nervously. He took a deep breath and sighed a bit. He closed his eyes for a few seconds. He assembled his thought. Eventually, he looked straight in the eyes of his friend, "I came here to obtain an important artifact. With the metalists active… And they might be after it too So, the Guardians of the Cothica believed I have the best chance to obtain it."

Arias frowned a little bit. The boy was on a mission to obtain something, but the important thing was what he came to get, "What did you come here to obtain? I'm sure the important artifact must only be on the Cothica. Unless it was forgotten here long ago."

"Not really. It's something that can be found both on my world and yours," he took a deep breath and dropped the bombshell, "I came to obtain an artifact called, the Jewel of the Cothica."

The creature was stunned. He had no idea what to reply. He didn't know what that thing even was and what it meant.

Tom didn't even elaborate on it yet.

AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: The Jewel of the Cothica.

Tom explained what it is to Arias.