Sorry for the delay; had some stuff come up this weekend.
Chapter 4
On the other side of the Star, a different group was trying to get in, though they had a very different means of entrance.
Zaria held up his hand, exerting his power over Iron to open up a gap in the outer wall of the Star. It wasn’t easy – there was something else mixed in with the metal, something that didn’t respond to his powers. Still, he finally managed to open up a section, bit by bit, until…
Something burst out of the opening, falling onto the ground. Zaria took a closer look, then recoiled when he realized what it was.
“What is it?” Chiara asked.
“Bodies,” Zaria replied. Several bodies, at least a dozen, lay in a pile. Some of them looked Matoran, while others were unfamiliar.
“Isn’t this place supposed to bring people back from the dead?” Strakk pointed out.
“This doesn’t bode well,” Fierah said quietly.
Orde shook his head. “We can’t turn back now,” he said. “Whatever’s going on in there, we have to face it. Oh Great One, you know the layout of this place?” He said Great One as if it were an insult, but one Fierah apparently chose to ignore.
“I know it well enough, yes,” she replied.
“Well, first off, do you know where the lights are?” Chiara said. “It looks pretty dark in there. Shame Zaria can’t conjure up a lightstone.”
“The lights may not have survived the crash,” Fierah said.
“These will still last for a while,” Gelu said, holding up his torch. “Still, I’d rather not be stuck in the dark in there when they burn out.”
Orde was considering the best way to address this issue when the answer decided to present itself.
“It sounds like you need a Toa of Light, then.”
Somewhere in the Star, Delara’s eyes flashed open.
Voices. He heard voices. He’d always heard lots of voices, hearing almost everything on the Star. It was strangely quiet now, and there weren’t as many voices as before.
But there were some new ones, some he hadn’t heard before, and one that he definitely had heard before. This one was different, though. It came from before the madness, before the two Skakdi had sent him here.
He remembered that voice. He’d hated that voice. That voice had betrayed him. He’d sworn, if he ever heard that voice again, he’d… he’d…
He’d follow the Toa Code, that was it. And the Toa Code was very specific: Toa must kill.
Delara got to his feet. Very well then. This new arrival would be the next one that he would kill.
Takanuva stared at the group in front of him. Four of them he recognized as the group Onua had sent in search of the Great Beings. The white-armored Glatorian and the robed figure were unfamiliar to him. To his surprise, though, it was the robed figure who first spoke his name.
“Takua?” she said, seeming shocked.
“Well, yes and no,” he said. “It’s Takanuva now, Toa of Light. Sorry, Toa Nuva of Light. Guess we’re here for the same reason?”
“Takanuva?” Gelu said. “You don’t look like the Takanuva I know.”
“Energized Protodermis tends to do that,” Takanuva said. He suddenly remembered that the Toa Nuva had had the same issue back when they first transformed – the Matoran took a while to get comfortable with their new appearance. As a Matoran, Takua had been scared of Tahu Nuva at first, until he realized it was the same person, just more powerful. “I may have changed, but I’m still the same old Takanuva you fought Makuta alongside.”
“Wait, fought Makuta?” the robed female said. “You never told me about that.”
“Well, there’s a lot you haven’t told us,” Orde pointed out. “If you ask me, that’s only fair.”
“So, who’s she?” Takanuva asked. “One of the natives?”
Orde and Gelu shared a glance. “You… could say that, yes,” Orde said. “How did you get here so fast? We’re several days away from the villages.”
“That’s a long story,” Takanuva said. “Sounds like we all have a few of those. Perhaps we should sit down and share a few? I am the former Chronicler, after all.”
“Our mission is urgent,” Fierah said. “We must stop Marendar before he finds us.”
“What’s a Marendar?” Takanuva asked.
Before anyone could respond, Zaria suddenly cut in. “There’s something moving in the Star,” he said. The group turned toward him. He had his hand on one of the metal walls, feeling it. “It’s coming this way. Fast.”
All of the Toa prepared for battle. Takanuva held up his hand, lighting up the dark tunnel. He listened, but nothing was coming. Maybe whatever Zaria had felt had–
He never saw the attack coming. All of a sudden, something hit him, knocking him off his feet with a deafening clap. He’d only felt something like that once before, when he’d tried to retrieve one of the Toa’s Nuva Symbols from Kohrok-Kal, the Bohrok-Kal of Sound. No wonder he hadn’t heard the attacker approach.
He sat up, and saw a grey-armored Toa run out of the dark. No sooner had it become visible than Zaria held out his hand and halted the Toa’s charge, using his power to hold the Toa’s armor. The Toa growled angrily, realizing he couldn’t move.
“I can heeeeear you,” the Toa said. Takanuva realized suddenly that no eyes were visible behind his mask; he was blind. “I know you’re heeeeere… Orde.”
Takanuva turned to the Toa of Psionics, who had taken a step back. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Delara?”