Tom watched the elementalists guided Milla'iin to his jail. It was a bit weird to see the M'arrillian freed from one prison to go to another back to his world. He decided not to dwell on that.

(I'll be fine Tom. I'll warn you if they are trying anything,) he told in the mind of the human.

The teenager crossed his arms lightly as he glanced at the members of the council quietly. They had to wait for a place to stay for the night.

The earth creature told them, "Stay here. We will be back after we speak with Aquarius in private."

The water creature was nervous as they left the building, leaving the boy and the overworlder inside.

Chapter 47: Explanation

Tom took a deep breath as he searched for a way to tell Arias what was going on. He wasn't sure the how or if he would believe it. Still, he had to be honest with his friend who just put his life in danger to protect him, "Arias. I can't tell you everything going on and why I accept to come here until we really are alone, but I can tell you a few things," he quietly said.

"Take your time Tom. I had a feeling there was more than just coming here with Milla'iin."

"Just a feeling?" he was a bit doubtful about that.

"I could see there was another reason. You can easily fight them back and the water creature surely was bluffing, from what I got. It seemed like you got an opportunity and the Guardians of the Cothica decided to use it to send you here for something."

"Yeah. With you coming to the Cothica," he still found it strange that the Earth was the Cothica. It wasn't that hard to say it, but it was still strange. He looked at the creature, "And the Metalist trying something. They guess the metalists are trying to find a way to return to the Cothica once more for… whatever plans they have," he crossed his arms, "With everything like that, there is…" he whispered a bit more quietly, just in case the creatures returned, "Something else going on. No one knows it, but they knew and explained it to me. It's too risky to tell you until we really are alone. Anyway, I am here to make sure that the other thing won't fall into the metalists hands."

"You can tell me what that something is later. I can't give any report to Maxxor anyway," the large creature chuckled. Arias put his hand on his shoulder, "You are a little too brave Tom. I could say that you are a bit foolish to do something like this with Milla'iin. Anyway, you are stuck with me by your side."

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing," the two chuckled a bit, "Still, it could have end badly if they decided to eliminate you."

"It was a risk I was willing to take to protect you, Tom. If I didn't, I'm not sure I could face Maxxor in the eyes and tell him I let you go in a dangerous mission alone," before Tom could reply, he said, "And Milla'iin is currently in jail."

"I already knew that. He will stay there for now. He can still talk in my mind if necessary. He said that he will warn me if they tried anything."

"What is the plan for now?" Arias curiously asked. If he was here for another purpose, there was a plan in his mind, or one in the making.

"For now, we have to wait. I need to get a chance. I have to get something and here is the first place. It will take some time and we have to be careful. Anyway, I'll explain more later," he noticed the shadow of the creatures coming closer. He guessed their talk was over.

The wind creature frowned and grumbled, "Come with me. The other two are giving Aquarius his punishment for acting against our back."

The ram creature wanted to say something, but Tom hit his stomach as a warning and kept his mouth shut. He respected Tom enough to let him pull that off. He wouldn't let any other humans do that.

"It's because he should act with the council together?" the human asked.

"Yes. I am pissed that the creatures can just go to the Cothica when it shouldn't happen, especially with last time!" he glared at them.

Arias had no idea what that last time was, but he guessed a tribe tried to invade the Cothica long ago, "An invasion of the Cothica? It's the only thing I can think of."

"Exactly," the wind member of the council growled before he changed subject, "Aquarius will remain a member of the council, if you are curious about it. He's just going to do some extra works. Works that we all hate. All on his shoulders for a while," he snickered a little bit.

The two didn't ask what the punishment was. It wasn't physical at first sight.

"You two will stay on a small house on the side of the village. They are not too many of them who goes there. One creature lives in the house and feels the honor of letting a human stay in his house. He doesn't mind that much about his 'protector'."

"I'm curious to see what the creature looks like," Arias commented. He scratched his chin a little bit.

"He is a fire creature. He won't cause too much trouble. He is excited to meet you, but he wouldn't be too much of a pain. I hope so," he added at the end.

That made Tom a bit uncertain if it was a good idea to meet the creature. Still, he held his tongue.

"You have something else to tell us?" the overworlder asked.

"Yes. It might be wise not to speak with the populace for now. I'm sure they will overwhelm you with questions. They didn't see humans for many generations. They were just rumors that you showed up again in Perim, but not here. We kept contact with your kind, but we didn't let our tribe go to the Cothica after everything that happened long ago. We know you recovered well from the war against the metalists, but not fully yet."

"I learned that history. We are still far from what we were," Tom thought back. He didn't hear everything, but enough to have some common knowledge from the Guardians of the Cothica. He wondered how long before they reached that state as before, "Is there anything else?" he was curious if the member of the council had more to say.

"One last thing. I hope Aquarius didn't do anything bad to you or any humans. We do not want to follow the same fate as the tribes," he glanced at the overworlder, "I might have a… temper," he nervously admitted, "But I am no fool like that wet jerk."

The boy and his guardian guessed that calling a water creature a wet being should be consider an insult. Arias did wonder what the other elements insult might be. He could let out a few of those to the creatures who got into his nerves too much. That would be fun. Alas, he had to hold back and not put stress on the shoulders of his friend.

The wind creature grumbled a few things, "And one last thing," he pointed his finger at the creature, "If you try anything, we will not hesitate to imprison you. The safety of our tribe stands above your little freedom we let you have. Do not even thing to complain about it. You would do the same if we were the ones in Kiru city."

Arias couldn't disagree, "Won't get that mad if I do something like that and get arrested," now that he thought about it. He wondered how to avoid trouble. Some of them might get ready to act dirty and trapped him into a situation where the blame would fall on him no matter what.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Tom replied as he thought the same thing, "He still has the right to defend himself if the elementalists strike first. That is not the same as if he put your tribe safety at risk," he crossed his arms and his fingers shined a little with the power of light. He showed how serious he was and what the consequences might be if they tried anything.

"Rest assures, I don't plan to get that dirty. I cannot say the same for that wet jerk," he glanced at them, "Follow me. I'll show you where you will stay for the night."

He left the room.

The human and the overworlder followed suit. They didn't see the other three members of the council. They were surely elsewhere and probably punishing the water creature.

They left the large building. They traversed the town or village. Tom wasn't sure. The place was kinda big, but the houses and the other structures were quite spaced.

The teenager asked, "Is this the only island you live or they are more?" he looked around. He could see the ocean not that far away, but he couldn't see any island near them.

"Of course," the wind creature replied, not giving any hint of how many and where. It was obvious that he didn't want to give any clue to the overworlder.

Arias observed his surrounding and tried to guess where they might be. As he expected, nothing could help him in that matter. He had no idea where he was and how far the continent was. He noticed the port where a few ships could be found. He looked a bit more around and saw a few tall towers. He guessed those were in case an invader came, or some other purpose. Maybe him or Tom can check it out later.

They went away from the village and to a more isolated location. They could see a large house. It was located on a cliff. They could smell the ocean as they approached the house. The two saw it was made of stone and had nothing made of woods. Not only that, but there were no trees that surrounded it. It gave a few clues about what element the creature might be.

The ocean slowly revealed itself to them. They could only see the blue-green water and the small waves it created. The sound of the waves clashing against the rock of the island was soft and also calming. Birds from Perim sang quietly as they flew above the ocean.

Tom found this place to be peaceful. It looked so different from the rest of the island. Very few places in Perim gave a sense of peace and serenity. This location was one of them. Too bad he didn't have his scanner anymore. Since he was here in the flesh, he probably couldn't scan it anyway.

They reached the large house and the wind creature knocked the door. He waited a few seconds before he knocked again a bit louder.

"Coming!" someone replied inside of the house. The door opened a few seconds later and a creature greeted them, "Welcome. You must be the human from the Cothica," he let out a small smile, "It's an honor to let you stay here for the night."

It was a fire creature with his body made of yellow and orange flame. He looked at the human with his white eyes. He wore a loincloth that seemed to be made of rock that could resist the body head of the creature. He bowed to the human, "Again, it's an honor that you will rest here for the night. I promise I won't annoy you too much about your world or any kind of questions like that," he nervously chuckled.

Arias declared, "You are going to do that. Don't worry, I will remind you when you go too far," he warned him with a bit of a friendly tone. He glanced at the wind creature.

"Welcome to you too," the fire being said with a more neutral tone. There was no animosity in his voice, but also nothing positive. The overworlder was just a strange who was with the human.

"This is going to be a fun night," Arias sarcastically commented.

Tom had to agree. It won't be easy for both of them. Maybe. They had no idea how the first night would come. He won't have a chance to really explain his true mission to his friend right now. Once they had the chance, he will.

After a small talk, the member of the council left them with one warning, "If you cause any trouble Arias, you will end up in jail, just like that M'arrillian."

He left the two creatures and the human for the night.

Arias suspected that guards might be around, but couldn't see them. Still, he had no intention of causing trouble.

AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: Another Meeting.

Van Bloot had a few information for the next meeting to obtain the help and defeat Chaor once and for all.