Chapter 59: A Invitation
Van Bloot sighed quietly as he held a parchment with a message on it. He waited in the usual meeting spot as he rested his back against the wall of the target.
He had no idea how to write the human language, so he needed their help to send it to Kaz.
He decided to invite the human to a location instead of kidnapping him again. It would be less trouble for so many reasons. The risk was that the boy sold him out to Chaor. Still, he was ready to take it. Him and his followers were in a do or die situation anyway. He had to take a lot of risk and he would. He checked his wings a bit nervously as it took a bit.
King Titanium appeared at their meeting spot. He saw the parchment, "You asked my presence for this?" he had a neutral expression and without judgement. He knew that this was important and not something meaningless.
The underworlder hoped that he didn't insult the creature, "Yes. This is a message for Kaz. An invitation to a location where I can speak with him. I do not know how to write the human language, so I was hoping you can translate it and sent it to the boy."
"It won't be any problem. Everything you offered so far is satisfying. I have no problem offering this extra service," he let out a small smile. He grabbed the parchment, "It will be done and he will receive it when we find him. It might take a bit before he got it."
"I understand. The meeting will be in 10 days. Enough for translation and finding the location. If it takes longer, I will give a new date."
"He will receive it in less than 2 days. Unless there is a lot of trouble," the king frowned. He remembered he lost one of his scouts. He was also busy planning a rescue mission. Now, he had to focus on this small task. Mostly, someone else. He ported away and left the creature on his own.
Van Bloot hoped that no problem would come, but he could never be sure.
Kaz stood at a cliff leading to the ocean. He watched the horizon, but only see water. He had no idea where his best friend might be. Still, he hoped that he could find a way to save his friend soon. He wished Tom told him clearly what his other thing he planned was. Maxxor spoke about it when he saw him yesterday.
"What is going on Tom? Why didn't you tell me?" he had a feeling it was something important. He knew his friend fully trust him and he trusted him back. The teenager was certain that the Guardian's of the Cothica had something to do with it. He wouldn't blame his friend, but he will give him a lecture and a piece of his mind.
He crossed his arms and sighed, "I keep praying that you are safe Tom. I know you are, but I'll continue praying," he worryingly declared.
He grabbed his scanner and was ready to port away. He needed to get ready for his upcoming match. He heard a suspicious sound behind him and turned around. He looked at anything standing out with his scanner pointed forward. He wondered if there was something to scan. His eyes searched for anything in high alert.
He didn't see anyone, but didn't relax. The sound was a bit loud for an animal and with everything about the metalists, he rather ported out right now. He was ready to press on the button when he saw something floated in the air. He saw that it was a piece of paper. It seemed to fly towards him in an unnatural manner. He was a bit confused. He raised his hand and grabbed it when it reached him, "This is weird," not that much. He had so many strange things going on right now that he wasn't surprise.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds after he laid eyes on the piece of paper. He opened them and looked at it. He just couldn't believe that it was written in English. It was bad English, but English nonetheless. It was like someone trying to imitated it, but didn't understand perfectly how to write it. No grammar mistakes or anything like that.
He stopped thinking about that and decided to read the text, while making sure that no one would come towards him and used this as a distraction. He frowned a bit as he finished reading the message, "What does Van Bloot wants to talk about?" he wondered.
He saw the meeting spot suggested and a date to see him. He could already guess that it wasn't where his current base, or something like that was. It was somewhere isolated and surely far from the rest of his troops. He sighed as he closed the scroll and glanced at the sky for a few seconds. All of this seemed a bit like it was a trap to capture him. It felt that way and he didn't like it. Still, he was a bit curious what the creature wanted to talk about. He crossed his arms and quietly sighed, "Like he would know anything about Tom," he grumbled. He looked at it. Still, maybe he might get something from Van Bloot. Still, he needed to decide how to handle all of this.
His thought moved to something else. He wondered who brought that message and how it was written in English. He knew some creatures knew how to write their language, but not that many. This one didn't feel like it was one of the five tribes. Maybe it was Van Bloot who learned how to do it very recently.
"I guess he just leaned how to do it," he concluded. He closed the scroll and decided to port out.
The human ported out.
The metalist who sent the message had a small smile as his mission was a success. He teleported away to give his report to his king.
In Chaotic, Kaz was still in deep thought as he wondered what he should do with this request. This felt like he would go into a trap. He reread it another time. It was still just an invitation of a talk between him, Van Bloot and one bodyguard for the underworlder. It was obvious why the creature wanted someone to protect him.
There was no explanation of what the meeting might be, but he guessed it was about Chaor ancestor usurping his ancestor.
Someone came to the table and sat in front of him, "Hi Kaz."
"Hi Remi," he replied to the other boy, "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing okay. I spoke with the m'arrillians and they are organising to help search for Tom and Peyton. Gal'drad managed to form an alliance with the mipedians and the overworlders. That is good news after what happened last year. Still, I heard that the two tribes don't fully trust them."
"Can't blame them after last year and the war before. It will be long before they are forgiven. They are also another tribe, so they would never fully trust their allies. It's the same between overworlders and the mipedians," Kaz explained.
"Yeah. It's more complicated with the m'arrillians. Anyway, I have no clues about Tom or Peyton, but that's what I found out. What about you? You got a letter?" he looked at it.
"I got a message from Van Bloot. He wants to see me and talk about something. Last time, he kidnapped me to talk about how Chaor ancestor usurped his own ancestor. I know it's true, but that was very long ago and Chaor has nothing to do with it," he sighed quietly.
Remi grumbled, "Seems like a trap. He might want to capture you again," he scratched his left cheek, "I mean. He isn't someone known to be trustworthy or reliable. Anyway, to get what he wants."
"You think I should ignore this?"
"Wellllllll-" the boy grumbled as he searched for the right answer, "I don't really know. As I said… This can be a trap for something that I can't figure out. Maybe the situation could be worse if you don't meet him. I mean, he kidnapped you last time and you were gone for a while. If you are gone again, that will be three of you," he sighed as he glanced at the empty space.
It was obvious that the absence of Peyton and Tom weight on the other two. Remi could see that. He also felt their absence. It was a bit quieter in the group and the spot was empty. He didn't know how to cheer them up. He noticed Kaz didn't say anything after he gave his suggestion. He changed a bit the subject, "I'll continue to check if there is anything to help our friends."
"Meeting him still feels like a bad idea. I still don't know how sent me that scroll and how he could wander around the overworld. Not only that," he opened it and showed it, "It's written in English. I don't think anyone serving Van Bloot knows how to write in our language. Not only that, but it's written in a weird way."
Remi squinted his eyes a bit. He had no idea how to respond to that. He didn't know what could write a bit weird like that.
"What's going on?" Sarah showed up and interrupted the silence between the two boys. She noticed the scroll, "What's that and who wrote it like that?"
"I don't know," Kaz replied as he played with his orange hair a bit. He took a deep breath, "Van Bloot invited me somewhere to talk about something. He didn't specify what, but I have my idea what it is," he explained to her his guess.
"Of course it's about Chaor," she grumbled. She sat on her chair and asked for more details.
Kaz didn't have any extra detail to say, "I just don't know what to do. This time, he doesn't seem to want to kidnap me."
"That bastard is surely planning this."
"I know Sarah," he went on as he adjusted his glasses, "I said seem. Anyway, Remi thinks that he might try something more drastic if I don't show up. He didn't say it was best if I come, but Van Bloot could do that."
Sarah nodded, "Yeah. I think that meeting him is a bad idea. He won't be alone and even if you have your scanner near you, just one mistake and they got it and you won't be able to escape."
"I know. If they got me by surprise instead of the meeting, there is more change that I won't be able to escape. Not only that, but I won't see it coming," he sighed, "Tom and Peyton already disappeared and I don't want to be next. I need to find Tom here and… I don't know what," he sighed. He thought about it. He looked around. There weren't any creatures in Chaotic close to them, "I think I'll accept meeting him. I-"
"What?" the two others yelled.
"I need to know what's going on and- Don't tell Chaor about it. He would surely plan something. I need to know what Van Bloot is thinking and maybe it would help Chaor. I mean, I have no idea how he got this message translated. I have many questions already."
"Kaz. This is reckless."
"I know, but I need to do it. Better to be on my terms than kidnapped again. I will make sure they won't try to get me," he let out a small smile, "I think I know how anyway."
"What is it?" Sarah asked suspiciously. She could already see what his answer would be.
The boy sighed when he realised that she already could tell what he was thinking, "I just need to be ready to port out as soon as I see something suspicious."
And he was right. Sarah already began to give him a piece of her mind about how reckless and stupid his idea was. He didn't complain and let her vent out until she eventually calmed down. He added that it was the best option he could pick for now. He would try to find another solution, but he would meet with the creature in five days and they couldn't change his mind.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
The story will have a new chapter once per two weeks from now on. Inspiration is a bit lacking for now, but I have no intention of giving up on it. It will make sure that I don't lose motivation.
Next: A Bit Of Progress.
The Mipedians continued to interrogate their prisoners and tried to make him talk.