Tom gave his full attention to what the elementalist said when they had a conversation. His gut instinct told him that something important that would help him on his quest would come. He had no idea. He just woke up one day and knew what he had to too.
He couldn't explain it to Milla'iin or Arias. He just knew somehow. It made little sense, but he knew something happened in his slumber. It was the second time it happened, but this time, his memories were a bit clearer than last time.
Tom still had no idea what triggered that decision to wait for any clew or how he knew the fragment wasn't on the island. He didn't tell the other two about this. Just that he had a feeling that something helpful would come.
Those were the next days since he had that strange dream.
Chapter 61: A Chance
Tom looked outside by the window while Flame went to get them something to eat. It took a while, but they finally asked their host his name and he replied he was Flame. He wondered how Peyton was right now. He still had no idea if he was okay or not. He was on his own compared to himself.
"Still thinking about listening to them today?" Arias asked with a small smirk in his voice.
"Yes. I just know that we might get a chance to find out where it might be. I don't remember how, but I knew I got it from my dream. I just know it came from there. Now the rest," he didn't say that he had two other things he knew, like they were clues to help them in this treasure hunt.
"Like how having one would make it easier to find the others."
"Yeah. I don't know how, but I know my dream was correct."
"Might be because you are worthy or you are the one who is searching for the jewel. You are also our guide. Maybe that's why," he raised his shoulders.
"Maybe," Tom replied. He sighed a bit, "Still, it makes me feel like I don't have all my mind."
"I know you have and Milla'iin also told you that this dream was real and we can trust it. As much as I don't really trust the m'arrillian, I trust you Tom," Arias answered. He frowned when he heard something, "Flame is coming back."
The conversation dropped as the creature came with large pieces of bread, "I brought something for you. It's simple as usual, but good appetite," Flame said as he took a bite out of his meal.
The boy and the creature followed suit.
"We will have a visit from a neighboring island today. Heard one of them was rather excited for some reason," Flame commented.
Tom and Arias exchanged a quiet glance. Not sure if it was an actual clue or not that something might help them today. Still, today was their luck, they hoped.
After breakfast, the trio left the house and went towards the village to help the elementalists as they could.
Tom and Arias had their own reason to follow him, outside of being helpful and passing time.
The teenager wondered who the visitor was and what he looked like. He knew it would be an elementalist. The question was which element he was and who he was. He had a good idea of what the creatures looked like on the island and wondered if the visitor would stand out or not.
Arias also gave a few glances, but much less than his friend. He was under more scrutiny for another reason, "I guess the visitor will be curious about Tom. A human on the island surely would grab his attention," he muttered to himself. He glanced at Flame.
The fire creature nodded, "Of course. He might search for you and since you are here, you will be easy to stop. You and Arias do not look like anyone like us," he had a small smile.
Tom nodded and mentally prepared himself to meet the creature. It would be perfect if he came to him and he needed to stand out a bit. At the same time, he didn't try to stand out with so many elementalists that wanted to talk to him. It was a bit too much and Arias kinda became a wall to avoid too much attention.
The three reached the street market. It was pretty alive today with the visitors coming.
"I guess they want to get or sell things from the visitors," Tom deduced.
"Yes. The islands have many unique plants and other things that could not be found here. They come like… once per month and they sell the surplus they have. We also do the same with food and other things we can keep fresh and stay good for a long time," the fire elementalist continued on with his explanation. He seemed to sparkle a bit and his fire was a bit stronger.
Arias chuckled, "Guess you are a bit passionate about it."
"Of course. It's great to share my knowledge and how we live to a human. The Cothica is the blessed world and that you have the desire to learn and understand us is great," he let out a large smile.
"I'm sure it's that great," he replied in a neutral tone. He didn't want to go too much on his excitement and his amazement of the Cothica. It was a strange world compared to his own and with how many humans lived there, it showed how unique the Cothica was.
"For now, we should help with the crates. Many of us are working on it already, but we are a bit late because someone forgot to bring the create here," Flame grumbled as he seemed to search for the creature whose duty was that.
Tom mind wandered for a few seconds. He asked himself where the water member of the council was today. He wasn't sure if his presence could be troublesome or not. He didn't want to cross path with that creature.
The group went to the crates and grabbed some of them. They transported them to the stalls as designated by the crates. Tom couldn't read what was written on the crates, so he followed directions from Flame.
It didn't take too long to move the crates.
Tom asked, "Do you have anything to sale?"
"No. I have nothing to sale for myself. I mostly made my money by helping others. It is an important task, even if it's little in the town. Some creature has to do the mundane tasks."
"Right," Tom nodded. The teenager looked around, "Are the guest coming soon?"
"Pretty soon. If they arrive, they surely spoke with the council first. After the meeting, they will come to the marketplace. I don't really see any activity and no one was angry about getting their crates late. I guess they aren't here yet."
"We should help others and wait," Arias suggested to his friend.
The boy nodded.
They helped Flame for a while, until the elementalists didn't want the overworlder and the human to help them. The marketplace was ready for the visitors.
They waited for a bit, before the location began get loud and alive.
Tom and Arias saw the visitors. They looked like most elementalists, but those who could had some mark on their shoulders. They had no idea what the circle with the small symbols inside of it meant, but it looked identical among the visitors.
It was useful to differentiate from the habitants of the island.
"Who is that?" one of them asked as he approached Tom. He inspected the boy a bit closer, "You're a human from the Cothica?" he said in disbelief.
The others heard him and turned towards the teenager. They quickly surrounded him and Arias was pushed to the side.
The ram creature grumbled, "Hey," as he held back his frustration and anger.
Flame approached the crowed and tried to help Tom, "Hey! Give him some space! Stay back a bit!" he continued with his demand.
The shopkeepers and the others that were in the market came to help the human.
It took a few minutes and they managed to give Tom some space. The boy was a bit shock to be treated like a star and he didn't like this at all. He wondered how they could endure such a thing. He was glad he wasn't a fan like some he saw in his life.
Once he recovered from all the questions and the curious or the awes gazed, he wondered what to tell them. He was searching for a creature in particular that might know a few things about the fragment of the Jewel of the Cothica. Still, he couldn't just ask it directly, "Yes. I'm a human from the Cothica," Tom wondered if he should bring up why he was here. It might anger the creatures a bit.
"Why are you here?" another one asked.
They were a bit confused by the presence of the human, despite being happy about it.
Arias watching this ang quickly guessed that humans didn't visit them at all, or very rarely. He shouldn't be surprise with what he discovered. Few humans knew the existence of Perim, before they were Chaotic players. Things were changing, but the knowledge of humanity past was mostly lost.
"The human is Tom and should be threated with respect," a fire creature came.
Tom quickly recognised the member of the council. He noticed the fire creature flame was a bit brighter. He could fell the nervousness in his voice.
Arias noticed it too. He knew he didn't want to know why he was here. Probably a scandal would come if that was known.
The teenager understood it too, "It's not important why I came here," besides, he came for another reason than what the elemental council believed.
The fire member of the council suggested, "We shouldn't waste time bothering the human. He is clearly not sure how to handle so many of you at once. I guess he is rather intimidated by all of you."
The message was clear and the visitors returned to their previous occupation. Except one water elementalist who looked at the boy curiously. He then turned his attention back to the member of the council, "I am surprise that a human is here. You didn't tell us anything about him."
The member of the council nodded a bit nervously, "Yes. There are a few things that happened and this… This is something we forgot to bring up."
"I am actually happy that a human finally visited our tribe," he turned towards the human and approached him. He bowed respectfully, "It is an honor for you to visit us. I know things are surely busy in the Cothica," he stood up. His blue watery body made the creature looked a bit like a beast. Since the body didn't look stable, Tom couldn't tell what form it was.
"Yes. I came here for…" he glanced at the fire creature. He couldn't just say something bad about someone who had nothing to do with the plan to bring him here anyway, "For an important reason. I rather say it," he let out a nervous smile.
"Must be quite important. You don't look like an adult yet," the water elementalist commented as he looked at him.
The member of the council relaxed a bit, "He isn't yet, but he is hard working and I hope that our tribe and his kind will get closer."
"What about him?" he pointed at the overworlder.
"He is a friend of the overworld and I will make sure that no one hurt him," Arias replied as he put his hands on his hips.
The elementalist nodded, "By the way, I forgot to tell the other members of the council, but one of us possessed a strange stone. It seemed that he found it when he excavated the time and doesn't want to sell it. It is a rather unique one too," he tried to scratch his chin, but he was made of water.
The moment he said that, Tom and Arias tensed a bit. They knew what that meant.
The creature of fire also noticed the sudden tension in the body of those two.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: A Little Help.
Tom found out where the fragment of the Cothica was, but the member of the Council had an eye on them.