This is a Short Story I wrote called the Last Memories, a short narrative by Toa Mata Onua.
(Anyone know how to center images and stuff?)
The Last Memories
Onua silently listened for the fifth click that would indicate the rest of his team had entered stasis within the Toa Canisters. He had made sure to close his only half way so the stasis would not activate.
Tahu, the leader of the team, and Kopaka, the self-proclaimed deputy, had brought them here and ordered them to get inside these strange ‘Toa Transports.’
He trusted that the Toa of Fire would not lie, but the big question that had come to Onua’s mind when he had been told to get inside was, “What if Tahu and Kopaka had made a mistake?”
He sat there in his canister pondering this, “What if we’re never released from our sleep within the transports? What if we’re needed, but nobody can call us for help? The world might crumble to dust around us, and we might never even know; or worse, what if we die here? What if something comes while we sleep and slays us? Who would be left to protect the Matoran and the Great Spirit?”
Onua’s thoughts were interrupted by something unexpected; a voice that said, “Onua, Toa Mata of Earth.”
Onua froze, and then after a moment of silence he said, “What? W-who said that?”
The voice replied, “It was I.”
Onua looked around, and even though he didn’t see anyone, he whispered, “Mata Nui?”
He wasn’t sure how he knew, but somehow he did; the voice that had spoken to him had been the Great Spirit.
The voice spoke again, “Onua, wise Toa Mata of Earth. You seek answers to your questions, do you not?”
Onua stammered a little, and then replied, “Y-yes.”
The voice said, “You are very wise to consider these things before you simply obey orders.”
Onua smiled a little and thought, “So I am right! Tahu and Kopaka were wrong!”
The voice continued, “But you are losing sight of something. The reasons you were brought into being; Unity, Duty, and Destiny.”
Onua had heard these three things said many times. They were the three virtues that the Matoran lived by. He too had tried to live by them, but Onua had never fully understood what they meant or what their significance was.
The voice continued, “You are so concerned with accomplishing your duty as a Toa, that you have forgotten your destiny.”
Onua thought for a moment and replied, “Which is…?”
The voice replied, “Only by following all three of the virtues can you accomplish your purpose. Your brothers and sister will stay in stasis until they are needed. In order to follow the virtues, you must go with them so you can achieve unity, to accomplish your duty and-”
As Onua understood what this was leading up to, he finished, “…and to fulfill my destiny.”
The voice replied, “Yes, now you begin to see. As I have said before, you are very wise Onua. Through that wisdom you will save your brothers from doom many a time in the future.”
Onua listened in surprise, he had always seen himself as one of the less important members of the team, not a good leader like Tahu and Kopaka, or as good at keeping the peace like Gali.
The voice spoke up again, “Being humble is a great strength Onua, even stronger than your Kanohi Pakari, but never let that humbleness cause you to look upon yourself as unimportant. Evil will triumph when the good do nothing. And to answer another question that you are certainly thinking, you will not remember anything when you arrive at your destination, except your name.”
Onua was saddened by this, but the voice continued, “But one day you shall return here, and your memories will be restored. And now Onua, you must seal your canister, and wait to fulfill your destiny, and I must go.”
Onua quickly said, “Wait, I have another question. When you first spoke to me, you called me a Toa ‘Mata.’ Why?”
The voice replied, “It is an ancient word, few know it’s meaning, or even understand it. Loosely translated, it means ‘Spirit.’ Think of it as the opposite of Piraka.”
Onua full well knew what Piraka meant; it was a great insult meaning, ‘a thief and a murderer.’ To be referred to as the opposite of it was a great honor.
The voice spoke again, “And now Toa, I must go.”
Onua said, “Wait, don’t go yet! I have so many more questions to ask!”
But the voice did not reply. If Onua had worn the Kanohi Elda, the mask of Detection, he would have realized that Mata Nui’s presence was still there, but he was simply not answering.
Onua sighed, and then held up a razor-sharp claw, “Perhaps I won’t remember anything,” said the Toa of Earth, “but this canister can remember for me.”
He began to etch a sentence into the wall, and if Mata Nui could have smiled in his current form, he would have done so. The sentence read, “Evil triumphs when the good do nothing.”
Mata Nui silently thought to himself, “Wise Onua. He did not choose to remember his past, nor his meeting with me, or even the pride of knowing he would fill an important role in the future. He instead chose to remember his destiny.”
Onua etched one last pair of words underneath that read, “Mata: ‘Spirit.’
And with that, he placed his weapons in a compartment and twisted the handle above his head, sealing his canister. He felt dizzy for a moment, and then fell into a deep sleep as the Great Spirit watched over him…
