King Titanium watched the strange stone that Steel brought with him. He squinted his eyes. He recognised the Jewel of the Cothica. It was just a fragment of it, but he recognised it nonetheless. The very fact that this thing came into existence and there was a fragment, meant that someone worthy came around.

"W-what are you talking about my king?" Steel asked, confused about this.

Titanium watched his warrior and smiled a bit, "This. I never saw it in my life, but we have enough records that I can tell what it is," he decided to dance around a bit. He could have a bit of fun at Steel's extent.

The deadpan gaze he got made him chuckled.

Steel sighed, "You know what this is," he concluded as he held it a bit closer.

"The very fact you have it means that you are someone who deserve to have it until someone come to claim the fragment. The Fragment of the Cothica," he explained.

Steel watched it, resting on the palm of his metallic hand, "Me? Why not you?"

"After what my ancestors have done and decided, I am not surprise it isn't in my hand."

"What is this fragment? Why is it even in fragments? I get that there is something big if this appear, but what?"

Titanium invited him to come, "Let's go to my room. This is only between you and me. Peyton and his parents cannot know about what I will explain to you."

"Of course my king," he stood up and followed him.

Chapter 78: The fragment

Titanium waited for Steel to enter in his room before he closed the door, "Once again, this will be between me and you. Since you have the fragment, you deserve to know more about how important the Jewel of the Cothica is. The very fact that it appears now means that a human might be searching for them."

"A human?" Steel curiously asked. He checked at the fragment. He thought back. He knew so little after this object. He thought it was just some tales of old, where they had something powerful like that, until one day, it disappeared. He closed his eyes a bit and opened them, "Why would a human be searching for them?"

"Long ago, when we lived on the Cothica, we were the tribe who possessed the Jewel of the Cothica. It was a symbol of our power. It was also the very blessing that he bestows upon us. As you know, my ancestors were foolish enough to believe that they deserved the rule over the humans and Perim. That we were the master of both worlds. That everyone should bow and obey our commands."

"I remember our tales of that. We tried to enslave the humans and we forced them to serve us. I rather not remembered the details of what we forced them to do. I just know that many died," Steel commented as he glanced at the side. Not a part of his people history he was proud off.

"One of the reasons we believed that was because we possessed the Jewel of the Cothica," the king replied as he put his hand on his chest, "We angered him and he made the Jewel of the Cothica disappeared. We weren't worthy of its power anymore. The Jewel was one source of our power and without it, we were greatly weakened," he walked towards the window and sighed. He took a deep breath and went on, "We weren't worthy of the Cothica at that moment. The humans took their chance and they fought back against us. They took us quickly. They quickly united in an unnatural way. It was as if the Jewel left us with a curse that put us at a disadvantage," he turned towards Steel.

"They managed to get their weapons and their power of light was stronger than our power of darkness. That was from what I learned I know," he frowned a bit. He wasn't certain what the explanation meant. The curse thing was one thing he never heard before, "Curse?"

"It wasn't really a curse, but it felt that way," Titanium answered. He put his hands on his back and turned around. He approached Steel, "I believe that the humans planned their liberation for a long time. The moment they knew the Jewel was gone; it gave them the feeling that it was the perfect time to fight back. They were ready. We also grew complacent and a bit lazy. The war went on for decades. The first strike was strong and pushed us back quickly," his muscles tensed a bit as he stood in front of his soldier, "We were pushed away during the decades and we lost the way. At the end, we were forced to exile ourselves in Perim. It remained that way since then."

Steel nodded. He thought of the story. The extra context explained why they were at the top and managed to felt quickly. He wondered one thing, "We had the Jewel before?"

"Yes. We had it because my ancestor was worthy of the Jewel. Alas, this great source of power corrupted him. He quickly abused of his power, as I already explained and we paid the price. We were sent into exile in Perim for something we did commit," he put his hand on his hips. He looked at the fragment, "Which is why I am certain that it isn't once of us who are worthy of it. That means that a human is surely doing… whatever the path is to make the complete Jewel," he clenched his hands, "It is also a chance for us to return home," he smiled a bit, "This will help with our purpose in returning to the Cothica," he chuckled a bit.

"O-okay," Steel glanced at the side, "What do you mean by that? If we don't deserve it, I'm sure we won't be able to do anything with it," he looked at it, "And why am I the one who had the fragment? I'm surely not the worthiest. Why not you?"

"I am not him. I cannot explain why, but I think that kidnapping Peyton and his parents might be one reason," the king replied. He walked towards the window and looked outside once more. The world they were forced to live. They couldn't really live outside of their territory. They were despised by the elementalists and the other tribes would surely fight them or enslave them if they could. This was the price they paid for enslaving humanity. That price was paid, "We will return home soon. With the help of Peyton as our guide, but maybe also with the extra help from the Jewel. A fragment of it cannot be used for anything. Its power can only reveal itself once it is completed. For that, we will have to wait. Still, I am a very patient creature. We just need to wait for the human to come to us," he chuckled a bit, before he stopped. The king turned towards his soldier, "Do not worry. I do not intent to kill the human who will come to make the Jewel of the Cothica complete. I would be a fool to even attempt such a thing."

Steel was a bit uncertain. He wanted to return to the Cothica too. He really wanted to return to the world where they truly belong. At the same time, it would allow Peyton and his parents to return home. They were, kinda, trapped here. The traitors would try to kill them again. As long as they were here, they could be in danger. He glanced at the fragment. He knew his kind wouldn't hurt the human, but to use the Jewel. He wasn't sure about that. He had no idea if it would be a good idea to steal it. He didn't know if his king wanted to steal it. Also, if the human would come to them, what would they do? How should they welcome him?

So many questions and so few answers. He knew what his king told him. He knew it was pretty much everything King Titanium knew. He had a question, "What would happen when the human come here? If he sees Peyton and his parents, what would he do?"

"I have no idea what the human would do. However, I do not that it won't be good. I also know that he will wander around Perim. We could find him and capture him," he decided.

"The human will come to us."

"Yes, but will he come alone?" Titanium asked.

That question made him nervous. It was clear that the human probably wouldn't come alone. He would get the fragments from the other tribe to complete it. The creatures would surely follow him for protection. Maybe it would also be because they will have a chance to attack their city.

Steel nodded, "And with the rebels still around, they will cause trouble. They will try to kill this human to get the fragments. They have spies in the city," he remembered when they stopped one of them from trying to kill the three guests. He put his fingers together, "And what should I tell Peyton about the fragment?"

"Nothing. This is none of his concern. He isn't the human who has to get the fragments and he will try something against us. He is a good boy and a funny one. Still, everyone is loyal to their kind first. I won't blame this on him," the king didn't need to explain that he thought the same way. He was for his kind first and it was the reason he did kidnap Peyton. He glanced at the other one, "There is only a few more things to explain, but those are more trivial."

"You can tell me," the creature replied. He pointed his thumbs at the door, "After this, I'll put this somewhere no one can see and check on Peyton."

"Good," the metalist replied.

The two continued with a short talk, before they split up. King Titanium began to formulate many plans, knowing what it was about to come.

AC: This is the end of this chapter.

Next: Remi visited his M'arrillian friends and notice a strange stone in possession of one creature.