CHAPTER FIVE
--At sea--
"So... why aren't you female?"
Orde saw the question coming from a mile away and didn't need mind reading abilities to know that Chiara would ask it. The others were either giving the Toa of Lightning appalled looks or taking interest in something besides the awkward conversation.
"Stars alive, Chiara," Arctur murmured. "You can't just ask someone why they aren't female."
"All Psionics Matoran, Toa, and Turaga are female," Chiara said, undeterred while keeping her eyes on Orde. "But you're male. Why?"
"Chiara, you might want to just leave him be," Zaria whispered to her. "It might be a touchy subject for him."
"No, Zaria, it's fine," Orde said. "I've been asked this enough times that it's no longer a big deal."
Meeting Chiara's eyes, the Toa of Psionics then said, "I was never born as a Matoran. I was one of the first Toa ever created and the first task given to me was to test my powers on the Zyglak."
Chiara slowly nodded. "That's when you agitated them further...."
"Correct. I was aggressive with m powers and pushed them over the edge. After that fiasco, all Ce-Matoran were created female, probably to achieve a gentler touch."
"You've obviously never met a female Skakdi," Seldaan said. "They make the Makuta look nice."
"Hey, like I said, that's just my guess. I could very well be wrong."
Zaria glanced from Orde to Lesovikk at the helm. If the Toa of Air had overheard any of the conversation, he did not show it.
"So," the Toa of Iron whispered, "does that kind of make you... indirectly responsible for his team's demise?"
Orde sighed, hanging his head. "It's hardly something I'm proud of...."
The Toa's vessel continued to traverse the Silver Sea in silence. After several hours had passed and night was beginning to fall, Lesovikk turned to address his crew.
"We'll be making a stop at Stelt to spend the rest of the night," he told them. "I have a Fa-Matoran accomplice there who'll provide for us."
"Stelt, eh?" Seldaan smirked. "I've been there before. Hope the place we're staying at doesn't get knocked down by jealous neighbors."
"My friend runs an inn which are safe from the ruling class' disputes," Lesovikk said. "As long as you don't make any deals with the locals, we should be good."
"Ah, but we're Toa, aren't we?" Zaria said. "Wherever we go, danger is usually not far behind."
--Artakha--
The Ga-Matoran ran as fast as her small legs could carry her, her footsteps echoing throughout the corridors of the fortress. She hated having to abandon her work-- it was her life, after all-- but if word of what was coming didn't get to certain beings' ears soon, she would shortly be deprived of such work.
"Hayai!"
The Matoran of Water skidded to a halt as soon as she had reached her destination. Two Matoran stood guard at the large door which she had been headed for. One of them, a Ko-Matoran, gave Hayai a stern look.
"And just what gives you the allowance to run through the esteemed Artakha's fortress like a Le-Matoran at a playground?"
Catching her breath, Hayai gave the Ko-Matoran a sharp look. "How about the fact that we're about to be invaded?"
The Ko-Matoran guard shared a glance with his partner, a Matoran of Earth. The latter then looked at Hayai with a look of disapproval.
"Neither of us has time for your nonsense, Hayai. You know as well as anyone that no one in the universe knows the Great Refuge's location."
"Tell that to the Rahkshi and Makuta starting to wash ashore."
Eyes wide, the guards looked at each other again, this time in genuine alarm. Then, the Ko-Matoran said, "I'll sound the alarms. Tiber, you alert the master."
As the Onu-Matoran entered Artakha's chambers, the Ko-Matoran beckoned for Hayai to follow him.
"We need to get our defenses back up," he said. "Did you see if it's a single fleet we're dealing with?"
"Try the entire Brotherhood," she murmured.
--Destral--
"The invasion is underway," Makuta Tridax said to Icarax, standing in the throne room with fellow Makuta Antroz, Gorast, and Chirox. "If only Kojol was still around; I would have loved to see his face when he saw us succeed where he failed."
"I still don't like this," Gorast hissed. "The repercussions of Kojol's raid were... intimidating enough. If we lose here, what will it mean for our entire race?"
Icarax scoffed, dismissing his sister's fear with a wave of the hand. "It's not like Mata Nui can strike us with lightning now."
Gorast sneered. "I wasn't referring to Mata Nui."
All five Makuta looked over to the large vat in the corner of the room, the essence of Makuta Teridax floating within. Despite being a gaseous cloud of green, they could still feel the anger radiation from him.
"Unnerving, isn't it?" Chirox commented. "Having him in the same room as us, yet not taking part in the conversation. Watching us, waiting...."
Icarax merely sniffed as he turned his back to the vat. "I don't see what you're worried about, Gorast. Invading Artakha hardly affects the Plan in any way. In fact, it might just give us an advantage."
"How so?" Antroz asked, a skeptical look on his mask.
Icarax smirked. "Think about it: Artakha is supposed to be as old as the stars themselves, perhaps even as old as Mata Nui. The secrets he must have... they would be valuable to our building empire."
"And you think it'll be that easy to pry the secrets from his head?" Chirox asked.
"I never said it would be easy. But I'm sure it's possible."
"It's all a matter of capturing him, though," Tridax muttered.
"I'll leave that task to you, brother," Icarax said as he seated himself on his throne. "Serve me well at this endeavor and I promise that your reward will be grand."
While the Makuta of Nynrah was visible pleased by this, Antroz and the others scowled silently. As they were dismissed from the throne room, Antroz spared one last glance at the vat containing Teridax's essence, vowing to himself that Icarax would not be sitting on the throne for much longer.
--Stelt--
"I can't thank you enough for your hospitality, Forron, especially on such short notice this late at night."
"Eh, business is business," the Fa-Matoran said as he passed a cup of liquid Protodermis to Lesovikk. "Though I'll admit, I was surprised to see you with other Toa. What happened to the whole 'don't-call-me-a-Toa' thing?"
Lesovikk grimaced as he sipped his beverage. "It was something I was talked into."
"Given an offer you couldn't refuse?"
"Something like that."
Silence fell between the two for a moment. The rest of the Toa Tenebrae had retired to their rooms and the streets outside were quiet for the most part, though Lesovikk could swear he heard some sort of brawl going on.
After a moment, Forron said, "It's Karzahni, isn't it?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"What else could it be? Last time I saw you, you were bent on tracking down Karzahni and getting payback for what he had done to your friends."
"Our friends. You knew Sarda and Idris as well as I did."
Forron shook his head. "No. Not as well as you did. I was just a trader passing through and they happened to be frequent customers. But I understand how you feel; if it were me, I'd be ticked at my Turaga for shipping all of my friends to a lunatic like Karzahni, and even more so at Karzahni himself for making such shoddy 'repairs'... but that doesn't mean he deserves execution."
"What makes you think I want to kill him?"
"I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice. You have all of this anger bottled up within you: anger at the Zyglak for slaughtering your teammates; anger at Turaga Orlan for sending Sarda, Idris, and everyone to that forsaken land; anger at Karzahni for making their lives even more miserable. You're mere inches away from going over the edge."
Lesovikk sighed. "Okay, you're right; I want to see Karzahni dead. My orders were to simply turn him in, but... I'm not sure if I would be able to restrain myself."
"In that case, ask yourself this: if she was still alive... what would Nikila want you to do?"
The Toa of Air stiffened. "Why her?"
"Because when it comes down to it," Forron said, "she was all that ever really mattered to you."
Lesovikk was silent for a long time.
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