AN: Hello again, my dear readers. No, this chapter hasn't been updated on the wrong time. Now, this story will be updated every other Friday instead of every other Saturday (done this way to help me keep track of this and other stories I am working on).
Also, it has certainly been a while since the last update! Well, has this time been used wisely to write more chapters? ... Uh, yes and no?
Okay, I'm gonna be honest. I only got a few chapters done at this point. The ghost that is real life haunts every corner, and even its tiniest things can, at times, make me feel drained these days. I'm unsure if I can get another chapter done in time, so don't be surprised if I don't update after a few chapters.
I'm sorry to be a downer but it is how things are and I don't want to give you false hope (well no more than what I've already given you guys).
So bad news out of the way, I do thank you for your patience. Enjoy!
"So, what do you think dad's doing now?" Waya asked as he spotted a fish swim by his window.
"Dunno," Mizu answered in a bored tone, "and don't really care."
Waya turned from the great ocean outside to the foamy-like insides of his bedroom. "You know," he told Mizu, lying on the bed, "you probably should take this more seriously. It's not everyday we get to see a Toa."
Mizu threw his arms up to the ceiling's wavy patterns. "What's the point? We've been stuck here for days! Why talk about the Toa if we can't see him?"
Waya's eyes frowned. "Well, it won't be long until we're not grounded. Then, things will go back to normal..." The younger brother paused and muttered, "... well before you do something crazy again, that is…"
"Yeah right. Like things will get back to normal," Mizu scoffed as he sat up. "I bet you there's something shady with this whole Toa business. We're the first Okotans to see a Toa in five centuries, and we're locked up like prisoners!"
"No, I think that had something to do with the fact that you playing as lightning catchers," Waya said sardonically.
That earned a finger-point from Mizu. "Hey, you came along willingly!"
"No," Waya pointed back, "you dragged me along to go on your crazy adventures like you always do!"
"Not like you had anything better to do!"
"Boys," a third and older voice said from outside the door, "don't make me come in there!"
Hearing the guard waiting outside, Torren's sons stopped. "Yes ma'am!" called a wincing Waya. He quickly glared at Mizu and whispered, "See! Every time this happens, we end up here!"
The older brother crossed his arms, almost pouting to the younger. "Well, nothing good comes out of waiting…"
Tap, tap, tap, tap…
The two looked up, and found the waves in the ceiling's pattern had shifted slightly. Then, one wave - which was a panel in truth - moved to the side, unveiling a mask of a familiar Water Okotan. "Likki?" Waya said, recognizing his brother's partner-in-crime in the ceiling.
"What was that?!" came from outside.
"Nothing! Just my brother tapping at the window!" Mizu called back.
When the guard didn't enter, he and Waya looked back at the open space in the ceiling. Through it, Likki dropped a note of folded leaf. Mizu eagerly picked it up, unfolded it, and quietly read the words to read on it. "'The Toa is back?'"
His eyes bright like lightning, Mizu whirled to Waya. "Do you hear that Waya? He's back! We got a chance to see that Toa again! We can figure out what's going on!"
"No, we're not! We're still grounded, remember?" Waya pointed out.
"Yes, but not like dad will ever know about this. We've got a guide of the city with us, after all," Mizu argued, pointing up at Likki.
Waya huffed in response. "Well, we're going to need something even climb up there. I don't think even Likki has that."
As if on cue, Likki dropped an old, but long and sturdy cable from her hole. The bits of fluorescent wiring stuck out when its glowing end landed in front of the two brothers. Seeing it, the older grinned victoriously while the younger sighed in defeat.
Water pounded and collided on the metal walls. They remained firm as they had for over a century, keeping Kivoda City's submerged half and its ventilation system intact. For as loud as the waters were, they didn't drown Mizu as he crawled through the cylindrical tunnel. "Likki, you are a life-saver!" he exclaimed while shuffling on his hands and knees.
Likki, taking the lead, looked over her bent shoulder. "Well, I couldn't just leave you two alone. Not after what I've seen," she explained.
"You mean the Toa?" Waya said from the back of the line, his snark made more apparent by the walls' light blue glow.
The glow also showed Likki's grinning eyes. "Not just ours. But the others too!"
Mizu's expression matched his guide's. He had heard rumors of the other Toa, but rumors couldn't satiate his curiosity. "What are their elements? And just how many are there exactly And-!"
"Maybe save it for when we get there," Likki said. "The Toa can give you a good explanation."
After a moment of crawling and debating in his head, Mizu sighed. "Yeah, you're right."
"Of course I am," Likki almost laughed. "I'm not just a pretty face, after all."
"Well, that does help," Mizu said a bit bashfully, earning a groan from behind.
"Ugh, why don't you just marry her-oof!"
After giving Waya a well-placed 'nudge' of his foot, Mizu heard Likki say, "We're almost there! Just past a few junctions!"
Likki stated the truth. A maze in of itself, the ventilation system had several junctions where the air tunnels connected with one another. Given their size, it was either for the trio to turn into one hole on their right or stretch over another. The further they went, the closer they got to another source of light. "Alright, we're here!" Likki announced after stopping by the brightness.
Mizu and Waya joined her, huddling close to get a peek. The light itself poured from four wave-shaped slits of a metal grill. Beyond that and down was a round chamber, no different than Mizu and Waya's bedroom. The only difference was the bed in the room's center. That, and the dark and tiny Toa lying on it.
"Who…?" Waya asked but loud steps stopped him before he could ask about the Toa who wasn't Voriki.
The tunnel he, Mizu, and Likki hid in shook, and voices followed after a massive pale figure in the room below. "... sure you can do this, Toa Maram?" asked someone who was unmistakably Protector Torren.
Mizu, holding back a frown, watched his father trail behind the giant being. "Perhaps…" the Toa named Maram said, "... I will need to carefully observe what is keeping Zala here asleep. Stand back."
Another pair of feet wobbled behind Torren. "What's the Earth Protector doing here?" Waya asked when he saw Hanu, and Likki shushed him.
An equally-curious Mizu kept quiet too, in time to see Maram hold his hands out. Light flooded into the room and washed over the dark Toa called Zala. White rays bent around her body, circling her still limbs and over her closed eyes. "What's going on?" Waya asked again, and Likki shushed him again.
Mizu had a faint idea on his brother's question. He often heard tales of the great Ekimu from centuries past. Mizu remembered one tale, and a voice as gentle as a stream flowed to the forefront of his mind. "Light is an element like any other. But unlike the others, it can see what we may not see with our own eyes. Some call it the element of revelation."
And the light revealed flames covering Zala. Dark flames screaming in malicious tongues of fearful cries. They slithered around the dark Toa's forms, silencing any word from her.
"By the elements!" Likki gasped beside an inhaling Mizu, who couldn't hide his own shock. Only Waya, ironically, remained silent.
In the room below, the two Protectors lurched back at the horrible thing entrapping Zala. "Is there anything you can do?" Torren asked, while Hanu watched in shock.
"I hope so… I may know of a way that can help with this," Maram's voice rumbled and trailed up to the tunnel. The spectators inside it, Mizu particularly, noted about the hesitation from the huge Toa. "... you may want to shield your eyes for a moment."
While the Protectors below did so, the trio above blinked. "What do you think he means by that?" Mizu whispered, breaking his silence.
"I don't know - Gah!" Likki said and was interrupted by a sudden FLASH.
Like Likki, the brothers quickly shielded their eyes. All three of them could barely stare into the light now flooding the entire room and into their hiding spot. "Argh, what's going on?!" Waya said while he looked to the other side.
"Hrgh, I… I can't see anything!" Mizu said. He attempted several times to take a glance, and several times, he only found the light and had to turn his eyes away.
When he took one more peek, Mizu at last saw something. The dark outlines of Zala rose, levitating softly over what was supposed to be her bed. The dark flames lurched in every direction imaginable like snakes boiling in the desert, their sizzling sounds raging at the light. They fought for every bit of control to stick with Zala and keep her asleep as she had been for who knows how long.
Within a tiny fraction of that time, the light turned the darkened flames into nothing.
Everything dimmed back to normal, yet their screams echoed everywhere. They lowered with the aloft Zala until she at last rested back on the bed. In the newfound silence, everyone watched - the worried Maram and the Protectors by her side, and the children in confusion and anticipation. "What…" Mizu asked, "... what just happened-?"
Sound filled the room again. Screams, this time. "N-no! Please, make it stop!" came from Zala, now rolling on the bed.
Maram quickly - and gently - grabbed Zala's arms before she could flail them around. "Zala! Zala! It is I, Maram!" Maram called over the sounds of terror.
"... Maram? Where…?" Zala asked after settling down and sitting up, her pinkish eyes gazing all around her new surroundings.
Maram slowly let go. "You are in Kivoda City. You… suffered greatly…" he answered quietly and hesitantly.
Zala hugged her tiny body to stop trembling in the slightest. The reaction surprised the spying Mizu and his cohorts. Since when were Toa defeated, let alone scared for their lives? Just what in the elements had happened to her?
After a few seconds passed, Zala spoke again. "Is… Is everyone alright? Is Kaze…?"
"Toa Kaze is fine. The situation has been handled appropriately," Torren told Zala, gaining the attention of the two Toa. He also gained the attention of Protector Hanu, who stomped a foot on the floor. "Uh, yes… your protector came here to pick you up… He wants you to leave with him… immediately…"
As much as Torren's hesitation surprised Zala, it surprised Mizu and Waya even more. Neither of them had ever heard their father talk like this in years… Not since…
Maram's voice cut through Zala and the brothers' shock. "We should go… I shall tell you about it on our way."
Hanu first left the room in soft thuds and disappeared out of view. After sliding off the bed, Zala was about to leave when she stopped. Maram's back had been turned, so he didn't notice Zala turning her head and… wait, was she looking up? Mizu blinked that thought away, believing it was ridiculous for anyone to find him, Waya, and Mizu.
Zala's pink eyes, gazing up at the hidden trio, widened. Makuta's black heart, she did see them! How…?
Each of Likki's hands quickly covered the brothers' masks. "Don't speak or move," she whispered to not blow their cover.
A stomp from ahead turned Zala away from Waya, Mizu, and Likki. "Uh, coming!" she called and ran after Hanu, allowing the young ones to breathe easily from inside their hiding spot.
There was a new issue when Torren called for Maram. "Toa, a moment please." The giant stopped to look at the tiny Water Protector, just as the brothers did from above. "I have a request to make… I have two sons and I would like for you to take them away from here…"
"It is… strange, but I shall do what I can. Two boys may be easier than an Elemental Guardian," Maram said, almost laughing.
Waya softly groaned, and Likki almost chuckled, knowing the irony of the statement. Mizu kept unusually silent, stifling any laugh to hear his father sigh. "Perhaps," Torren told Maram, "but after what happened, after Ferra came by for her piece, I can only fear for them."
Maram's light laughter died back into a rumble, and his hand rested on the Protector's shoulder. "That is a sign of fatherhood if I have ever seen one. Do not fear, Protector. I shall watch over them."
"Thank you… and be careful. I don't want this to be like Izotor's Glacier and Uram."
Uram. Mizu shivered. That was a name he hadn't heard in over ten years. That explained a whole lot now, especially if Protector Torren, of everyone on Okoto, was afraid. "Uncle Uram?" Waya whispered, his voice and body trembling. "He's back?"
"I… I guess," Likki whispered, her voice shaking. Probably just as anxious as Waya.
Mizu tightened his quaking hands into fists. There was no way he would show fear. Not now and especially for someone who wasn't there. "We should head back before anyone notices," Mizu told the others. "Dad will probably want us to go immediately."
Not Likki nor Waya argued. On their hands and knees, they went the way back they came. None spoke a single word. After all, they had seen more Toa. They had seen another Protector within Kivoda City after so many years. They had at least a clue of what - or rather, whom - was going on.
At the same time, there were still other things left unanswered. How was Uncle Uram still alive? What did he have to do with any of this? Who and where the other Toa?
And where was Voriki?
