Chapter 3: Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
Crack
Crack
Crack
The purple fist sharply impacts on the wall, with small flakes of stone crumbling to the floor.
Voriki arm remained outstretched, as if awaiting for the wall to crumble to the floor. Alas, the gray wall stood its ground, oblivious to the matoran’s rage.
Unsatisfied with the small hole she was creating, Voriki sighs and collapses to the floor. She stares up at the ceiling, a frown plastered onto her face.
It had been a few days since her morality test with Karzahni. Despite her bold declaration to her tormentor, her vow to become a “hero” was off to a low start. She couldn’t actually do anything to him, nor the prison where she lived. It seemed like he was always aware of her plans, however implausible they seemed.
She once tried to trick him into lowering his head so she could bash one of his eyes in with a hidden stone she pocketed. Yet he gave a sly grin, flicked the stone from her possession, and proceeded to pellet her with a torrent of rocks.
“‘Enough to cause pain, but not to damage’,” Voriki seethes, recalling Karzahni’s cheeky reassurance. “Suddenly it’s making sense why he did those durability tests.”
Tests and tests and more tests; from the beginning that’s all she had experienced. He was assessing every single detail about her, from her strength to her moral code to the aforementioned durability.
She pulls herself up and slams her hands on the floor.
“And I don’t know why!” she snarls. “All of these tests and stuff and I have no idea why I am here!”
Voriki stands up, becoming agitated once more.
“He said he wanted to create a sentient being, but that can’t be it. You don’t need this many observations to determine that when I can speak clearly-”
She clinches her fists.
“-and pain has nothing to do with it!”
She begins to feel sick, a cold shiver that runs through her body.
The horrid, yet quiet thought seeps into her head once more.
I’m just a thing to him.
She begins to shake.
A source of entertainment.
“That can’t be it…” she tries to assure herself.
I live to feel pain.
She grits her teeth, shaking her head as if to thrash away the terrible thoughts.
For his enjoyment.
She gives a rough, guttural scream in frustration as tears begin beading up around her eyes.
“I’m here for a reason!! I’m not just a toy!!”
Her head is pounding, her vision swaying back and forth. Smoke begins to softly rise from her fists.
“I’m here-”
I’m here to suffer.
Forever.
With one final cry to the unseen sky, she reels her fist back and lunges to the wall.
Her fist impacts.
There’s a loud crash.
Then white.
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Thunder sounds off in the distance as Karzahni observes his brothers in conflict.
His elder brother (barely older, his mind autocorrects) had returned to their palace with the head of some monstrous creature. Makuta’s mighty armor was stained with soot and chipped at various points.
Despite being slightly battered, he towers over Ekimu, who was shaking in a mixture of sadness and fear.
“Why would you kill it!? The Rahi Nui was a beautiful creature; the apex predator who surpassed every other rahi on the island-!”
“It also was tearing apart everything in a blind rage,” Makuta states flatly, “and a creature like that has no place on this island.”
“It could have been legendary for matoran!” Ekimu snaps. “Image what kind of tales they could have crafted for such a beast…”
Karzahni notices the Overseer’s eye twitch ever slightly at the mention of the people his brother brought into existence. He holds back his growing smile as Makuta heaves his iron-slab of a sword before him.
“Even moreso of why a creature like that has no place here; have you already lost interest for your ‘magnificent’ creations?”
Ekimu folds his arms, “Not at all.”
“So you are content with them being slaughtered for your own amusement?” Makuta demands, his voice subtlety raised.
“What!? No, of course not! I’m not cruel; I don’t enjoy it when they die!” stammers the Creator. “But I find it torturous to have what could be extraordinary beings be locked away from reality!”
Makuta exhales in slight annoyance.
“You need to learn restraint brother,” he scolds. “Do not do this again.”
Ekimu maintains his ground as the Overseer stomps around him and down the corridor where the abominable one observes.
“Our brother misbehaving again?” Karzahni chuckles as Makuta walks by him.
The giant stops, his purple eye glancing over to his malformed brother.
“You’re one to talk, Karzahni. And I thought I told you to speak normally.”
The smile underneath Karzahni’s mask slides away into a frown.
He clears his throat in a gross manner.
“… Y-Yehu- you aare… kruewl… brather.”
“And you’re getting better at speaking in a normal tongue,” Makuta replies. “If you keep practicing, maybe I’ll actually have a decent conversation with you.”
Karzahni scowls as the iron behemoth continues past him.
As the slowly deliberate steps echo away down the hall, they are replaced with soft and almost gracefully footsteps. Karzahni turns to see his brother, face buried in a subtle contempt.
“I see that the creative alternatives have not stilled your itch,” Karzahni murmurs sheepishly.
Ekimu sighs, “I’ve tried to do what he asked; I tried to paint, to play, to expend energy with something else. But I have yet to find an avenue that has been able to give me the same gratification as watching something I thought of becoming reality.”
Karzahni’s tentacles idly wrap around his lower body, eyeing his upset brother.
“While I can confidently say our brother can be a bit overbearing,” the malformed god says gently to Ekimu, “I must admit that we are reaching close to the threshold of how many different inhabitants live on this island.”
Ekimu sighs and closes his eyes.
“… I know. It’s just… addictive.”
It goes silent. After a moment, Karzahni’s arm slightly raises towards his brother, but snaps back to his side as Ekimu turns towards him.
“By the way, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
Ekimu walks over to a nearby window and peers outside.
“I’ve been noticing that matoran have been going missing.”
“…huh.” comes the feigned reply. “Well, it is not unreasonable to have a few matoran venture on their own, or perhaps are attacked by rahi.”
Ekimu’s brow furrows in concentration.
“…I guess,” he mumbles. “But it’s strange; it’s happening all over the island, and I don’t think there’s violent enough rahi in every region…”
Karzahni’s claws anxiously click against each other, his tentacles sliding around him tensely. He stares at the back of his brother’s head.
“… but you’re probably right.” the Creator concludes.
A subtle relief flows through Karzahni.
“Of course I’m right.”
Ekimu turns to him once more, his bright blue eyes shining in a mixture of wisdom and naivety.
“If you could just keep an eye out for anything that might be weird… I’d really appreciate it.”
The monster chuckles, “Don’t fret; I have plenty of eyes to go around. I will let you know.”
Karzahni musters up an awkward smile, and is met by a small warm one from his brother. Satisfied, the God of Chaos turns away and proceeds to the palace’s exit.
Out of view from his gullible sibling, his smile immediately collapses into a bitter grimace.
“It appears I was not as conspicuous as I had thought. I’ll have to pause my collecting until he loses interest.”
He shrugs to himself.
“Well… I have enough to work with anyway.”
Another thunderclap sounds off in the distance.
His form shifts, his tentacles folding in and his arms bending back. With two mighty wings, Karzahni sails off into the approaching storm.
^^^^^^^
Stay Tuned
-DarkMaestro