Tom opened his eyes and noticed he was in the strange place once again. He was a bit confused as he looked around.

He was once again in the dark place. There was a table with a few candles on it. They were two chairs with two cups on the table.

The creature from his dream wasn't present yet somehow.

The teenager decided to be polite and sat on his chair. He wondered why he had a strange dream like that again. He scratched his chin. He closed his eyes a bit. He hummed for a few seconds. His feet tapped the ground. He heard the echo around him. He decided not to try and to understand what was going on. He closed his eyes a bit and sighed quietly.

He guessed it was tea time with that creature, who seemed to be late this time. After a few minutes, or something that felt like that, he saw the creature in his golden clothes and his sky-blue eyes who came and calmly sit on his chair and faced the boy, "Welcome again Tom. It is time for another tea time moment together," he seemed to smile, but the teenager couldn't see behind the hood.

Chapter 56: Another Dream

The teenager nodded. He crossed his fingers as he took a deep breath, "Yeah. It seems like it," he looked in the eyes of the creature, "And there is more I want to ask," he glanced at the cup. He wondered what the name of the creature was. He knew he heard it in his previous dream, but it seemed like that name was out of reach somehow. He once again looked at the other one.

The creature served a nice hot tea in the cup of the one and one for himself. He had no idea where he obtained it and how he prepared it. It was a dream, so he didn't really wonder the logic behind it, "Before that. I suggest that you drank this. I made sure that it tastes a little bit special."

"Alright," Tom tasted it. It didn't taste any different from before, "It's the same."

"I put some mint in it to add a bit to the taste from last time. I guess I should have put some pepper," the being chuckled. It was clear that he actually planned that.

"Don't do that. I would throw it at you by reflex," the teenager warned him.

"Good luck hitting me by 'reflex'."

"Anyway… Why am I here this time?" he took another sip.

He watched his human guest for a few seconds, before answering, "You are in Perim. The real you, is in Perim. You need a little bit of update before we go on," he put his own cup on the table. He rested his arms on the table, "You are hunting the eight shards of the jewel now. You should know that such journey is a dangerous one. I hope you are ready to face those challenges ahead."

"I am. That's why I'm here. Too late to turn back anyway," Tom replied with conviction.

"Good. It is too late anyway. At least, you are not alone. Arias and Milla'iin are ready to fight to protect you. Even with the power you have, you are not strong and durable enough for a big battle. You still remain a human."

"I know, but I can do something with my power, instead of just running around and hiding," Tom replied. He did mostly that when there was a battle in Perim.

"On Earth, you couldn't and fought back against the m'arrillians with your family and friends," the creature reminded him of the siege on his grandparents' home.

"Yeah," he didn't really want to think back. He killed a few m'arrillians and it still sicken him. He couldn't believe he managed to shoot a living creature like that.

"You are a very companionate person, Tom. I am surprise at how much you are from many of your kind," he saw the teenager about to reply and interrupted him, "Of course, compassion is something that you have and needs to learn and nurture. You had few for the mipedians until Peyton showed you the way."

"Yeah," he glanced down. He worryingly thought of his friend. He couldn't search for him. His friends, mipedians and maybe the overworlders surely were looking for him. He looked up, "I hope he's okay. His parents were taken too."

"Indeed. I have no answer to their current situation," the creature replied. His blue eyes moved to the side a bit as he took another sip.

Tom thought a bit of his friends. He did learn about the underworlders and the danians from his friends when they had adventures together. Of course, he was an overworlder player first. He took his own cup of tea and took another sup. He put it down on the table and asked, "Do you have a few things to help me? If you know why I'm here."

The creature chuckled a bit as he wondered if he should answer the boy or not. He looked in the eyes of the boy, "First. I am curious about what you think of me. Am I a part of your dream, or there is something else going on? I think I teased you about that before."

Tom sighed. He wanted to know if the creature had some clues, but it would be pointless if it was just a dream. At the same time, "I think you are not part of a dream or something like that. I don't know why, but there is just something strange about you. I just have that feeling that this is real. I don't know why, but I just know it is," he glanced a bit at his left as he answered. He took another sip of his tea after he answered.

"I am real to you. I won't confirm or deny it," the creature chuckled a bit. He let out a small smile. He took a sip of his tea before he put the cup on the table, "Then you might believe my clues. Alright, I will give you a few. I won't make this journey easy," he glanced around for a few seconds, "First clue. The first part of the relic you search aren't on the island, however, there is one elementalist who might help you reach it. You need to find which one and make a careful choice in the matter."

"I thought it might be here since the council is often here. That's where they live," Tom replied.

"That is a good way of thinking, but none of them are the creature who hold the fragment you are searching for. Give it a few days and the rumor about the jewel might show up, if you keep an ear open."

"Something like a rumor. Got it," he nodded.

"Second clue is that the creatures who will hold the fragments, they don't all know that they hold something of such importance. They will only realise it later or when you found them. It could be a creature who might be your enemy now. Be warned about it."

"Not all creatures are good. I know. I don't think any creatures in Perim really knows about this. Maybe Najarin could, but with the loss of memories during the first invasion, it might have been erased back then," he thought back.

"Third and last one. It's about the very nature of the fragments of the Jewel of the Cothica itself. Those fragments are split up into eight pieces. You didn't obtain the one from your kind and it kinda make it more difficult. That's only because the Guardians of the Cothica lost a lot of their past history. The fragments are attracted to each other. The first one is the harder to obtain, but the others, you will notice something when you are getting closer to one. Keep an eye on the jewel and you will know that you are getting close."

Tom let out a small smile. All of those clues are pretty helpful. Especially the last one. The hard part was to get the first one. He closed his eyes for a few seconds. He wondered how he should reply. He knew a thank you had to be said, but he had to say more. He had no idea, so he started with, "Thanks. It will really help me," he glanced at the side, "And I hope the metalists aren't trying to get it too."

"I cannot answer that question Tom," the creature replied. He finished his cup of tea and glanced at the boy, who also finished his own, "This is pretty much everything I wanted to tell you. You will wake up soon and you will remember our conversation, but not in the way you are expecting. It will just feel like your instinct," he chuckled a bit.

"That's… a strange thing to say. I guess you won't want me to talk about you."

"That's right. Before you leave, I do have a question to ask. I don't expect an answer yet," his blue eyes were fixed on the boy.

"You can… ask," he wondered why that gaze was that intense.

"I am asking this, because the jewel was misused long ago by the metalist. I rather know for certain this answer, before you finished finding the eight pieces," he crossed his fingers. His head rested on the top of it, "What will you do when you obtain the Jewel of the Cothica? Or… How will you use it?"

"I don't know. I just don't want anyone to use it to cause harm to our world and Perim," Tom honestly replied.

"That is a satisfying answer for now, but you will need to have a clear idea when the journey comes to an end Tom. You still have all your time. Good-bye," he waved at the boy.

Tom suddenly left the place as he woke up from this strange dream.

AC: This is the end of this chapter. A short one to guide Tom a bit.

Next: The Strange Sound.

Peyton wandered in the castle, when he heard something strange that sounded like someone in pain.