Remi was in Chaotic and sighed a bit. He checked on his scanner and watched a few messages from his friends. Kaz and Sarah made some progress, but they didn't make that much. All he knew was that Tom and Peyton were somewhere in Perim, but their real self, not their code. He tapped his finger on the table as he ate a few fries.

"So much is going on and we know so little," he grumbled. He took a deep breath. Compared to them and the creatures, he found almost nothing that could help any of them.

The only thing he was certain was that they two were surely safe. He hoped the parents of Peyton were fine too.

He stood up, "Maybe the M'arrillians know something. I didn't visit them for a while," Remi wondered if his friends were okay. He knew they were also busy with everything going on. The situation also affected them. They saw him as their guide to the Cothica. They couldn't do like his friends and sent a bodyguard. He was thankful they couldn't. His parents would be either furious or afraid of the creature. The tribe did control the mind of his parents. What they did with his parents was something he didn't wish to know.

The man decided it was time to port to the Deep Ocean and checked if his friends knew something that the others didn't. After this, he should focus on investigating Perim in locations he didn't really visit before.

Chapter 79: Another fragment

Remi ported at the entrance of the city. He could see the creatures were much active than last time he visited them. Of course, he could see a few of them transporting some battlegears. He noticed it was more towards a building than anywhere in particular. He guessed it was where they put them when not used. He glanced at the direction they came from and it was from the Coralsmith workshop, as Remi decided to call it.

"Bahrakatan is surely busy today," the boy commented. He wondered if he might know something. With the creatures coming at him and leaving, it might be possible.

As he approached the Coralsmith workshop, he waved and nodded at a few m'arrillians who welcomed him. Remi didn't notice any human wandering in the Deep Ocean. He guessed it would take a long time before they would be official m'arrillian players in chaotic. He didn't mind being the closest of having a m'arrillian team.

He pushed those thought aside. He needed to find something that could help find their friends. He entered the workshop and saw the creature at work.

"Hello Remi," Bahrakatan told the human. He gave a short nod and continued his work.

"Hi. Things are getting busy here. I just came and saw a few of them coming out of here," the human told him.

"Yes. The overworlders are making progress in finding Tom and the Mipedians also made progress in finding the locations of the metalist. I cannot say much in the matter. The metalists could spy us, even in the Deep Ocean."

"You spotted one of them?" Remi asked.

"No. It was one of the guards who noticed them and sent the alert. Since then, I have been busy. We are not sure if those creatures planned to attack us, but we will not let them get us by surprise. The patrols increased and I am fixing as much battlegears as I can. No time to make new ones for now."

"You think Gal'drad knows more about what is going on? I could ask him since you are busy," Remi suggested.

The creature nodded negatively, "You can stay. I don't mind talking with you. It has been a while. Anyway, know a few things going on yourself? I am a bit out of the loop outside of the what Gal'drad is doing. He is handling a lot of mess and we aren't such a unified tribe for now," the coralsmith sighed as he finished fixing another battlegear.

That was something the boy knew enough. He knew the tribe was still in two groups. Gal'drad tried to make peace with the other tribes and to change the way of the m'arrillians, but not everyone agreed. Milla'iin surrendered and gave more strength to Gal'drad belief, but there was some tension. There wasn't any brawl per say, but he did hear a few shouting matches. That was one way of discovering that those creatures could have their own form of colorful language, with how quickly Bahrakatan took him away from that argument.

Remi resumed what he learned about what could happen with Tom and Peyton quietly. The fact that the metalists could be there and spied on the creatures wasn't something that made him easy. It was best that those creatures didn't know what the others knew.

"It might be best that such information to be shared in Chaotic from now on," Bahrakatan concluded as he scratched his chin. He hoped that Chaotic was the safest place to exchange information.

The boy guessed that he would need to invite a m'arrillian who knew about what was going on if I wanted to know get anything or tell anything, "I guess so. Hard to be with you when you are that busy. You don't really come to Chaotic," he sighed.

"Coming to vent because I am too busy?" Bahrakatan joked lightly. He grumbled. He wasn't the kind of creature who liked humor. Still, it was better than insulting the boy if he asked seriously, "I am one of the best smiths of my tribe. I need to be efficient and-" he grumbled as he finished fixing another battlegear, "I cannot work in Chaotic. Too troublesome with the creatures of the other tribes," he tapped his pincer with his claws. He looked at the boy with a small smile, hidden by his exoskeleton, "I don't want Mudeenu breathing on my neck again."

"A-again?" Remi was surprise that it happened once.

"Yes. We have a few meetings with the creatures and I worked on fixing a battlegear while there. It was because I was the main caused of the invasion of the Cothica. I made the portal that caused all the chaos," he put his hand on his forehead, "I still regret this decision," he looked at the boy, "At the same time, I am wondering if Milla'iin would remain the vicious creature he was if I changed the past."

"We can't change the past…" he thought back about what the human known as The Messenger of the Cothica said, "Not anymore."

"That is for the best. If it can still happen, we won't ever realise it anyway," Bahrakatan ended the conversation in the subject.

The two talked a bit together. The important subject pushed aside. The Coralsmith chuckled a bit after his friend told him a funny story from his world. He really enjoyed the presence of his friend here. Eventually, Bahrakatan asked, "There is one thing I never asked before. It is important for me to ask you," he glanced at the side for a few seconds. He took a deep breath and asked his dreaded question, "Do you think I…I-" he didn't know how to ask it.

Remi had an idea what it might be, "Bahrakatan. You helped us. You saved me during the invasion. You did what you could to correct your mistake. I think you can forgive yourself for that."

The m'arrillian nodded. He sighed, but felt a bit better inside. He remained hunted with what he did to the Cothica, but he would never repeat that mistake again. With Gal'drad in power, the chances for that were quite low. He would do everything to protect the Cothica once more.

Phelphor walked into the room with a few battlegears, "I brought some battlegears that need to be fixed," there was a strange item that was obviously not a battlegear. He noticed Remi, "Hello there," he nodded to him. He was glad to meet with their guide to the Cothica.

"Hi Phelphor. How is it going since you returned here?" the boy asked.

The pink creature pensively nodded, before he answered, "Not that bad. It's getting a lot of use too. The other m'arrilians would give me some strange gaze sometimes. Just a few of them," he quickly precise when he realised what he implied, "Anything you learned about Tom?"

Remi said only a few things and added, "Bahrakatan suggested that things like that should be told in Chaotic."

"I'll make sure to be in Chaotic soon," Phelphor replied. He glanced at the table where he put the battlegears. He glanced at the Coralsmith. He waited for the creature to notice what he brought. He crossed his arms together.

Bahrakatan followed the gaze of the other m'arrillian and noticed something in the battlegears. He put his pincer on it. He decided to grab it with his hand. He lifted it and looked at this, "What is that?"

"I don't know. I found it in my possession for a while. I tried to figure out what it is, but I have no idea. I asked Gal'drad if he had anything about it, but nothing. You are pretty much the last one I can think of that might have an answer about this thing."

The creature inspected the strange stone. Remi also looked at it. He had no idea what it was. Still, there was something pretty. It was both impressive and unassuming. He had no idea how he should really feel about the existence of this stone. He frowned a bit.

Bahrakatan replied, "I have no idea what this is. However, I can feel there is something inside of it. That's all that I can say," his eyes shined a bit, "However, I do notice that there are a few strange shapes there," he pointed at a part that looked like something was cut. His pincer slid a little bit on it, "It's like it was cut by something. I feel like this is just a part of something. How did you find it?"

"I woke up one day and it was there. I know I never grabbed it or find it before," Phelphor replied. He grumbled as he tapped the floor with his left foot, "If you are saying that it is special, then maybe you should keep it."

The Coralsmith grabbed the strange stone and looked at it once more. He frowned a little bit, before he nodded negatively. His instinct told him something, "No. I don't think I should keep it. It came in your possession. You should keep it on yourself. This stone appeared near you. I don't know why, but it is for the best."

Phelphor looked at it. He looked at the creature a bit perplexed. He wasn't sure if he should keep it on himself. Still, he didn't argue.

Bahrakatan gave it back to the pink m'arrillian, "I have a feeling this is an important stone," he repeated. He put his pincer against his hips, "I will need to search or ask for anyone if they know anything about it."

"I will try to ask some of the wisest m'arrillians if they know something about it," Phelphor replied.

Remi asked, "Think I should ask to someone else too? I can travel to Perim for that."

"Yes. As long as it's not Chaor or any underworlders," the fluidmorpher commented. He knew the underworld wouldn't accept that he was free. He couldn't blame them that much. He infiltrated them to release the m'arrillians to invade Perim. Thinking back, he regretted the chaos he caused, but that was only because of what he discovered last year. He sighed. He was much older than most of his tribe, only because he was frozen for thousands of solans.

"No problem. I think the overworlders or the mipedians might know more. They are searching for the metalists and the elementalists," he replied.

The creatures nodded. They spoke a bit longer together before Remi decided to port out.

The two m'arrillians looked at each other's. They looked at the fragment of a stone once again. They wondered what it might be.

AC: This is the end of this chapter. You readers already know what the stone is, but not the other tribes. They need to figure that out first.

Next: The Plan.

Lord Van Bloot is ready for another ploy to defeat Chaor.