On the two worlds, the four teenagers couldn't reply at the discovery that the Metalist were creature that lived on Earth, which was known as the Cothica long ago. The teenagers silently observed the person/creature who revealed that matter.
The four weren't receptive to anything until the managed to process it. It took around and hour for them to recover from this revelation and then move on in the matter.
Chapter 19: To Believe Or Not Believe
The Metalist king had a small smirk on his face as the boy finished his thought process, "Seems like this little detail was too strong for you?"
"Yeah. You are creatures from Perim. You are not from Earth. I mean, there is no thing about you there," Peyton replied. He heard nothing in the matter.
"Maybe they erased the history of our existence or another matter. The war was extremely violent and little remained from our two sides. That's what I believe," Titanium replied at this. He didn't hold ill for the teen to not believe his words. He glanced at the portly boy who avoided looking at him. He gave time for the young boy to finish processing everything, before he moved on to more detail.
Peyton felt his scanner in his pocket. He forgot he still had it on him. Still, it might be pointless to have it now. He was in Perim with his real self. Who could know how it worked when the person, in flesh and blood, was there. He pushed that aside. He was curious to know more, "Is that all?"
"No. Without going into too much detail, there is something else," the creature answered.
The Matriarch explained, "The war against the Metalist was an extremely intense one. It lasted for a century before our kind was victorious. It caused the destruction of both our civilisations. We won because we were more resilient than the Metalist. It is gone now, but the surface of the world was covered with ruins long ago. Most of them disappeared from the surface, either destroyed or went underground. The lost technology our kind possessed, with only glimpses of what we had with Chaotic and the Codemasters."
"The Codemasters were made by a genius," Kaz commented, remembering it was the father of Alexandre, also known as the Messenger of the Cothica.
"Yes. Talent that we once have is coming back, faster and faster than before. It was a sign that Perim might reconnect with here sooner or later. When your friend Alexandre traveled to Perim by accident, it was the first step for what we came now."
Khybon had questions about how it was long ago, when creatures could come here. He got a glance from the woman that asked him to wait for later. He didn't mind, it was a lot to learn and to took in. It put his tribe at a big advantage to know this. Still, he couldn't return to Perim and gave such report. He had to watch Kaz, especially with one Metalist that took one of the guides.
The old lady explained more about the long road to recovery, before she went to another subject, "There is one important thing to know about the Metalist. As you know, they are from the Cothica and were exiled to Perim after our victory. They have the power over the darkness."
Tom and Sarah saw a bit of his power when they glanced back during the battle between Siado and Titanium. They guessed it was indeed the power of darkness he used.
"Know that humans and Metalists are two sides of the same coin, in a way. We humans are made of flesh and blood, their kind are made of metal and oil. They possess the power of darkness and we," she raised her hand and a ball of light appeared. It mesmerised Khybon at the sight of such unique power, "are blessed with the light. Something that also has been lost long ago," she glanced at them and went on, "The creatures of Perim used the power of the four elements, while our kind only possessed one and cannot trained to master any other element. Same with the Metalist," the ball of light disappeared.
The simple sight of that convinced the trio that there might be more truth in what came from the old lady than they expected. Still, it was pretty unrealistic that something like that happened. At the same time, the bit of advanced technology they saw might be.
They didn't see enough of the city to be sure.
The matriarch saw a bit of disbelief in their faces. She wasn't insult by it. She let out a kind smile, "You can believe in the part where we can control the power of the light," she created the ball once again. She closed her hand and it was gone once more.
Sarah began questioning her, "You think we can just believe all this like… that? I mean, that's true and this place just feels different, but we didn't go all around the world. You can't just say that and think we will believe you," she crossed her arms and waited for an answer.
"Of course not. However, we have little time to explain everything and act. The Metalist came and took your friend. That means they have every intention to return here and invade our world once again. There is little hope that they went over their defeat."
"We're we always at war with them? If it is true?" Kaz asked before Sarah could go on. He adjusted his glasses and braced for the answer.
Peyton wondered, "And you were sent to Perim by us because you lost the war? An exile?"
Titanium nodded, "Yes. We were exiled after we tried to conquer the world," he rolled his hand for a few seconds as he searched for a way to go on, "Obviously, our ancestors plan didn't go as they wanted," he put his hand on his back and turned around, not looking at the boy's face, "It was a grave mistake they did. A grave sin they committed. Even if you could go to the past to change things, it wouldn't," he glanced at the boy, "Because this path was unavoidable. From everything we preserved, the war was inevitable. Before the war, many skirmishes happened between our kinds. We believed to be superior to humans and that your kind should be our slaves. Our ancestors were proven wrong."
"How could this be possible? I mean, you have power and we don't," Peyton protested.
"This is something your kind forgot. You have power. The power to control the light. The opposite of us. We control darkness. You are made of flesh and blood, us, metal and oil," he showed his metallic arm. He pinched it and pulled his metallic skin. It stretched as if it was normal skin, "Yeah. We are not metal like sword and other weaponries."
"That's cool dude," Peyton replied, impressed by the soft metal the creature just showed up. He focused back on the explanation, "And are you really doing that just to return home?"
"Yes. We learned our lesson from our mistakes. Not all of us alas. Those who are standing against me think otherwise," he put his hand over his face before he went on, "I have no intention of following the path of my ancestors. I will make sure we all return home. So many solans passed. Perim isn't our home and never will be. The Cothica is," his voice sounded a bit melancholic, despite never knowing what living on earth was.
Peyton was a bit confused after he explained that. He had no idea if the creature was genuine or not. He could try to manipulate him with lies. Unless he was honest. The teenager had no ideas. Not only that, but everything sounded too unreal. An old war, humans being able to summon light like the creatures. It was so weird.
King Titanium explained a bit of the history, but he lost the boy. He realised he was caught up in his mind, "I guess there is nothing to explain to you anymore today," he chuckled as he approached the boy, "I do hope you will be the funny guy eventually."
The teen realised the conversation was dropped when the creature looked in his eyes, "Hum- Y-yeah."
"Anyway, we will continue this another time. You don't seem ready to believe everything I told you," he tapped his chin, "What to do?" he snapped his finger, "Maybe we can show you how to use your power," a smirk appeared on his face, "Summoning your power is similar to us I bet."
The Matriarch finished her explanation and gazed at her left, "This is pretty much everything I can tell you right now. I can see you are reluctant to believe me," she glanced at the creature, "Less him."
Khybon asked, "Do you know where those Metalist are in Perim?"
"No. That information was lost long ago. We don't even know if the portal we used is still around or if this was the way they were sent to exile," she answered.
The three teenagers were together as they zoned out of the conversation. Kaz asked, "Do you really believe what she said is true?"
"Not at all," Sarah grumbled as she glanced at the old woman, "They are a cult and this is what they believe."
"Do you think Annette and Michel know more about this? Maybe they knew if it's true or not," Tom remembered something the Codemaster said, "And remember what he said," Tom pointed at his scanner.
They knew he brought up what Codemaster Imthor told them. Kaz frowned, "Yeah."
They didn't iterate more in the matter. That would be with the Codemaster. Maybe they could make up their mind with talking with the Codemasters. They were intelligent and might have the right answer. Maybe confirm or infirm if this was true or not.
"Anyway, I won't believe them until we have concrete proof," Kaz decided.
Sarah nodded in agreement.
Tom was a bit more hesitant as he glanced at the old woman. He had a feeling there were some truths to it. Not entirely the true, but there was some truth to this, "I'll decide after we checked everything. I'm not sure she just lied to us," he admitted.
His two friends glanced at him. They didn't judge him about that decision. They agreed they needed to cross-examine everything before their decision was finale.
"You kids should return home now. You can come here anything. Just ask one of us to come," the Matriarch suggested. She glanced at the Underworlder, "You shouldn't complain this time, or you will have to walk back to Summervale."
"You…" Khybon grunted. He didn't want to be attached to the roof of a car again. He wanted to crush them with his good hand.
After a small talk, while the creature argued with the Matriarch, the three friends knew it was best to leave now.
"I'll have to tell mom about this," Tom quietly sighed.
"Me too," Kaz agreed.
Sarah nodded, "We need to ask Michel and Annette before telling them everything."
It would be difficult to explain, but they needed to be certain what was the true in the matter.
Peyton nervously chuckled, "Summoning power. Like I can do something like that," he waved his hands and made some sound, as if he used magic. He wiggled it for a few more seconds before he stopped.
Titanium laughed loudly as he put his hands on his stomach, "Do not worry, we can teach you how to awaken that power. The power of light and darkness are summoned the same way… Based on what our ancestors collected. The energy comes from the same source," he went on a bit, explaining about the ways to awake the power. His explanation was poor and only confused the boy.
Meanwhile. Peyton went into his mind. He didn't dare to interrupt the creature in his confusing explanation. He glanced at the image that remained there. He couldn't believe that the Metalists came from his world and that his world was the Cothica. None of it made sense. Even having special power didn't make sense. If he could… it would change everything, but he couldn't. He guessed there was a bit of lie and deception at best or the creature completely lied to him at worse.
Still, he needed to find a way to return home. His parents surely were worried sick for him. That was his main priority.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: The Rescue.
A rescue team was sent to save Kaz and H'earring from Lord Van Bloot and his loyal servants.