The Garden

It wasn't often that Kiina came back to the old ruins of Bara Magnas previous life. The derelict buildings reminded her too much of the olds ways of brutality and war. At the time it felt natural, it felt like it was just what you did to get by, but now it just seemed to barbaric. In retrospect, there really wasn't much separating her from Vorox. Even after a hundred years, the shadows of that dark time clung to her mind just like these ruins clung to the physical world.

As she walked down the dusty plaza streets, she thought of her past. When Tarix was unavailable, she would fight in the arena in his place. She recalled on time when she fought a Skrall before his people even registered as a threat to most. He was a serious fellow, but he didn't struck her as a violent person. In fact, he was quite gentle in the arena. She lost, of course, being such a young fighter. She laughed to herself, finding that she was almost nostalgic for those early years. Life was so much simpler back then. Then it all changed. So much, so quickly. The Skrall, Mata Nui, Makuta. Two giant robots having a fist-fight. Bara Magnas two moons beings pulled back to the surface, and the whole planet becoming a paradise. All within only a few weeks. It was scary how quickly everything moved, but it was amazing. The friends she made. The things she saw. She wouldn't have had it any other way. She looked down towards the end of the street, laying her eyes upon a huge tower. It had a single central column, with four flat struts spiralling all the way up to the top, sliming down as they climbed. Its surface was broken only by a handful of slim, straight windows that stretched up the towers entered height. Kiina was always taken aback by the majesty and grandiose of the tower, and how it cut through the roughness of the desert, even though she had seen it hundreds of times before. She sighed, pulling of her backpack, and kneeled on the ground. She placed the backpack in front of her, opening it up and pulling out a small bouquet of flowers. There were a little banged up, but this was the best way to get them through the deserts heat. She stood back up, holding the flower in front of her chest, and looked back up to the top of the tower. The next part was hard, but it was worth it every time.

Toa powers were an amazing thing. Air, water, fire, earth, stone and ice. All from nothing. Mata Nui had given her a small taste of it, but it was nothing compared so someone like Toa Gali. She was amazing. The whole Matoran world was amazing. Beings as tall as buildings, masks that gave you the ability to teleport, and beings that would create a ranging torrent of water out of nothing but their own bodies. But all of that was nothing compared to the power of the Ignika. The power to create life out of nothing. It controlled something that many Agori struggled with before like it was nothing. It was impossible and beautiful all at once. Kiina had walked up countless steps to get to the top of the great tower, but it did not lessen her spirit. She knew what lied at the top was worth the pain. As she hauled herself up the last few steps, she saw what she had some for; a beautiful garden, thousands of metres in the sky. It was bordered by tall Marble columns, which in term held of a huge Marble roof. It was protected from the elements, but was still very much an open to the world. Kiina walked towards the centre of the huge, twisting garden, running her free hand through the leaves and foliage. She held a flower for a few seconds, inspecting its details, before letting it go an continuing though the green corridor. The path was free form any sort of paving, as was instead the same wet dirt that the plants grew from. The path was kept clear by a different force, one that little knew better than Kiina. After a few minutes of slowly walked though the garden, she reached the centre of the room, and the reason for her visit. Sat in the dead-center was a simple stone plinth, overground with vines and leaves. Sat on top was a gleaming gold mask. The Ignika. Kiina kneeled down in front of it, laying the bouquet of flowers down at the foot of the plinth. She laid her hand on the side of the mask, wiping her thumb over its eye. Even though she felt like crying, she smiled. She layer her other hand on the hand and looked directly into its eyes. Even though there was nothing behind them, she could feel something looking back at her. A warmth that she couldn't describe.

"I miss you, Mata Nui." she said, her voice crocking slightly. She cleared her throat, looking to the side of mask. "I still miss you." She didn't try to stop her voice from breaking this time. She pressed her forehead against the mask, letting her tears fall upon it. She stayed motionless for a while before looking back up at the masks eyes. She stood up, wiping her eyes, and looked down at the mask once more. She smiled at it once more before turning around and walking away.