Legends Unite: Island of Mystery

Note: Before you read this, you may want to catch up on the rest of the story here: Legends Unite Overall(?) Topic

Prologue

Ti’lan started up the fire. She wasn’t usually one for campfires, but she found enjoyment in spending time in isolation. She enjoyed the forest, with its leaves, twigs and insects, but she couldn’t let herself become attached to it. She was the new captain of the guard in her village. Soon, she would have to get back to her icy post, her quiet, isolated perfect…

“Hey! Ti’lan! You coming?”

Then there was Leku. How she ended up watching this peppy, obnoxious, clumsy inventor for the night, Ti’lan would never know. Her grandmother said it had something to do with a responsibility test. Leku was the only one in real need of learning responsibility.

Suddenly, a sharp breeze passed by. Ti’lan knew it by the pressure and the direction, this was a message. The gods were trying to tell here something.

The hunter was coming back to Okoto.

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival

Ten years”, Ekimu thought. “Ten years since the Toa left. Is it time now? Is it time to save him?” “Ekimu!” He looked up. His assistant, Barneria, was the one making the ruckus. What could be going on this time? “Master, sorry. Someone from the other lands has arrived on the island.” “The other lands? That’s odd.”

Ekimu examined the stranger laying unconscious on the floor of his forge. He was wearing black and purple armor, though it was horribly scratched up and burnt. He held a hammer in one hand, and a strange metal shield in the other. “So how did you knock him out?” Ekimu asked. “It wasn’t me,” replied Barneria, “we found him this way on the coast near the Water Shrine. What should we do?” “First, I reckon we fix up his armor. If he’s friendly, we’ll want to make a good first impression. Once he wakes up, we’ll question him.”

Karda Nui. 5 years before the Great Cataclysm.

Bodies hung unconscious in test tubes. The Toa Mata were nearing completion. Velika began plans for his next experiment.

Soon he would overthrow the Great Spirit himself.

Chapter 2: The Other Lands

Barneria examined the stranger. He was battered, weak, and helpless. She wondered if he would ever wake up. She hoped he would. The only other person on Okoto from the Other Lands was…

Okoto. One month after the Toa’s victory.

“Mask Maker!” Narmoto rushed into the forge. “You need to come see this!” Ekimu confronted the being clad in blue armor. She stood about the same height as him. “So,” he began, “what can you tell me about yourself?” “My name is Barneria. I know… Something about water, or maybe creating? That’s all I remember.” “You don’t know your parents? Your village’s name?” “No, sir. I would love to stay here though. The architecture is beautiful.” “Thank you. And I think I may have a place for you…”

From that day forward, Ekimu concluded that the Other Lands have a mystical veil erasing the memory of anyone who leaves. He took Barneria in as an assistant, but he soon began to see her as a daughter.

If only Makuta could see this.

“Ekimu? He’s waking up.”

Chapter 3: The Three Divided

“Hello sir, welcome to Okoto.” The figure in purple, still just waking up, took a second to respond to Barneria’s greeting. “Uhh, thanks, yeah. Just one question, what exactly is this armor I’m wearing?” “Oh, Master Ekimu crafted it especially for you. We wanted you to feel welcome!” “Well, the message got across. I’m Jakami, by the way. Toa of Gravity.” “Barneria.” Ekimu interjected. “I’m sorry, did you say Toa?” “Yeah, I’m a Toa. You must be Ekimu.” “That’s correct. We just wanted to ask a few questions before you go, if that’s alright.” “Alright, ask away.”

6 hours ago

“Come on, Lartixx, you can do this.” A figure clad in green and gold trudged his way through Okoto’s shrubbery. As he found the beach, he watched as Barneria dragged Jakami’s lifeless body toward the forge. “Oh, gukko droppings, too late.” Lartixx spoke under his breath. “There were only two, and Ekimu has both of them now. I might have to reveal myself pretty soon.” He glanced at his hand, deteriorating and crumbling up. A golden glow pulsed through it, healing it back to full health.

Present Day

“Spherus Magna you say?” Ekimu was wrapping up his questioning. “A land of Toa? So you’re not from the Other Lands?” “I… Don’t think so?” Jakami replied. “They might be one in the same, who knows.” Jakami’s attention was caught by a golden pulse running through his hand. He looked back over at Barneria. “I’m sorry, have we met?” Barneria looked confused. “No, not that I know of.” “Huh, weird.” Ekimu interjected once more. “If you don’t mind, could I ask a favor of you before you depart?” “What sort of favor?” Ekimu grinned. “We’re making a rescue party.”

Chapter 4: History Lesson

“Barneria,” Ekimu began, “have I ever told you the history of Okoto’s great mask makers?” After just one second with no response, he continued. “We might want to tell our new friend, don’t you think?” Barneria nodded.

"I was just a small child at the time, only on the island for two years, but I can still remember it vividly, one thousand and twenty years later. We saw gods for the first time. My brother and I watched as the gods fought high up in the sky. Two small but powerful beings were clashing with a pitch black monster three times the size of them. We watched, as one drove a powerful attack into the monster, and it was shattered into a million shards. The shards spread all over the island, implanting themselves in caves and the like, growing into massive crystal formations. The gods were nowhere to be seen, but our attention was already drawn away.

We soon discovered that the crystals bore elemental properties. My father, the great man that he was, had the brilliant idea to make masks with them. In twenty year’s time, mask making was the greatest profession on all Okoto, and I was up next in line to the forge.

Not one year into my term, our prophesied saviors arrived. The Toa landed on Okoto. We celebrated their arrival, showed them to the Elemental Beasts, gave them ceremonial armor, all the festivities. Makuta even made golden masks with their elements imbued in them, and placed them in the island’s temples to celebrate.

After three days, it was time for the Toa to leave once more. We didn’t quite know how to send them back to their world, but Narmoto, our Protector of Fire at the time, had an idea. He brought the Toa in the canisters they came in to the Temple of Time. We used the Mask of Time to send them off.

Not six months later, Makuta came to the public to display his new mask. It was a mask that could control all elements. As he put it on, it took control over him, and I quickly smashed with my hammer, sending Makuta’s corrupted soul to the Shadow Realm, and sending me into a thousand year slumber.

I had foreseen this happening with the Mask of Time, yet I did nothing. I thought destiny was set in stone. I was a fool.

But now, I need a rescue party to help save my brother from the Shadow Realm. Are you with me?" Jakami smiled and nodded eagerly.

Chapter 5: Destroyer

“So how exactly are we going to get to Makuta?” Barneria inquired. “Last time you told me, Toa Gali could only enter as a spirit, not a physical body.”
Ekimu acknowledged this. “When Umarak assembled the Forbidden Mask again, the portal only allowed spiritual entry. When I broke it with my hammer, it absorbed Makuta’s physical body. We will have to reassemble it, then destroy it to enter the Shadow Realm with our bodies. We will need assistance, however. And I may know someone willing to go a few rounds with my brother…”

The Mountain of Darkness, Region of Stone

Ekimu approached the massive crater where the Toa fought ten years ago. He turned to Jakami and Barneria. “Stand back, I don’t know how big this needs to be.” He pulled out his hammer, leaped up high the air, and brought a massive hammer strike directly into the crater. The ground began to shake and crumble, as bursts of aqua blue energy erupted from the ground and reached the sky. As the energy bursts came back down, the brought with them multiple sickly green shards and a massively deformed mask. The shards began levitating, and rotated around the mask in a ritual-like motion. The rotation became faster and faster as the shards closed in on the mask, until the shards and mask erupted into a massive cloud of green energy. From the energy strike, a loud roar erupted, and two humongous horns approached from the energy cloud. The Destroyer had returned.

As Umarak charged him, Ekimu jumped up and grabbed onto his head, trying to pry the mask off. Green liquids dripped out of the Destroyer’s jaw as Ekimu tore apart the Mask of Control piece by piece. Finally, he ripped off the last part and jumped back as Umarak slowly shrunk back to his original form. His claws, now just regular fingers, tore on his maskless face as the Shadow Hunter screamed in agony. He glared at Ekimu.

“Ancient One… Why are you back? Why must you make every second of my life a series of torture? Why can’t you let me die?”
“Calm down, Umarak. I know you’re in shock, but we need your help.”
“And why would I help you, after you’ve done?”
“We need to rescue my brother. That mission allows you to get your hands on the one who did this to you. Are you willing to help?”

Umarak grinned. “As long as I get my mask back.”