Despite being a Toa of Time, Rhem had a little difficulty keeping track of it after he had last spoken with the other Toa. Before then, he remembered the minutes go by while he walked to the City of the Mask Makers. How long had it been since? A day? No. Two weeks, perhaps? It felt like an eternity and a flash all at once. There was one thing that remained the same-

Thump-thump…

Rhem's heart. He heard it after blocking everything else out, just as he learned under Voriki… what, days ago? Weeks? No matter. His heart beated in the stillness. Rhem let the sound guide him to his destination.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump...

He pushed through the Great Divide, past the Stone and Water Regions lying on either side. The dry heat and humid air shifted quickly-in milliseconds?-into a familiar cold air. Rhem didn't stop there, otherwise he would be on the edge of the Ice Region. He went across the miles of icy wastes, and through any lines of unknowing Crystal Guards.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump…

The walls of Izotor's Glacier came and went, and so did its people who couldn't perceive time as Rhem could. Out of the jagged street patterns and stalactite-like spires, a blocky home had been the Toa of Time's focus. When he first arrived in Okoto, a nice wife of a cold Protector had ushered him inside. Later on, he entered the home to listen as the Protectors decided to split. And now, he appeared in the main lobby of that same home to find-

"Intruder!" shouted one of several Crystal Guards who first noticed the Toa of Time appearing out of nowhere.

Rhem held up his hands to the icy spears pointed at him. "Woah, woah, woah! Hey, it's just me! Toa Rhem, remember?!" Only a few spears lowered while everyone else looked to each other in confusion. "Uh, don't you guys remember me?"

"... We do, Toa," stated one female Crystal Guard, but uncertainty betrayed her stoicism.

"Good! So, how about everyone just calm down? ... Uh, please?" Rhem asked, eying the even more confused guards. With so many spears, Rhem wished he hadn't given up his sickle over to Keela.

The very guard who called Rhem out said, "Our protector ordered us no strangers are to enter Izotor's Glacier without permission, let alone his home!"

"But I'm not a stranger! Well, not much," Rhem said, ignorant of the steps approaching from above. "Please, I just want to talk to Protector Hunarr and-"

"Guards," said a voice from above, and everyone-Toa included-looked up to Protector Hunarr staring down from the staircase. "Stand down."

The Crystal Guards did so after exchanging glances again, and Rhem rushed up the steps, skipping every three to reach Hunarr. The gaze greeting him, however, was usually ice cold. "What are you doing here?" the Protector asked, stopping Rhem in place.

"Well, uh," Rhem began, rubbing the back of his neck, "... I thought I'd come around… see how you're doing, you know."

"I am well. Now leave."

"Wha-?" Seeing the Protector just turn, Rhem almost backed down a step. "Listen," he said as he followed Hunarr, "I know things are… a bit tense, but it's not going to be like this forever."

"And why not?"

"Because then other Toa and I are working on a plan to stop Uram and-"

"You mean like how you stopped him last time?"

Rhem flinched against the bitter glare reflecting off the frozen walls. "I… well…" Still following, Rhem again tried to come up with the right words. "Look, I'm doing what I can to make sure it doesn't happen. I'm training everyday-"

"So I've seen," Hunarr droned.

"-and the other Toa are figuring out a way to work together. It's possible. You just have to stop with the guards and join with Torren to stop..." Rhem stopped, realizing Hunarr hadn't paid attention to almost a single word. Throwing up his arms, Rhem exclaimed, "Ugh, you aren't even listening! Why don't you trust me on this?! Is it because of my element?! Seriously, I've dealt with enough of that from Kaze as is!"

Hunarr stopped, twirled, and his eyes pierced into a shocked Toa of Time. "I do not trust you because I cannot. On anything," he said, his voice sharp like an ice pick. "You are part of Torren's secrets. Secrets he had kept from us. Despite everything, I had put my trust in him, and it cost me my wife."

"But she's still alive!"

"As Uram's hostage, along with others. Knowing him, they will not last long." Again, Rhem flinched while Hunarr's went on. "You and your fellow Toa have failed to keep them safe, you have failed to protect these people when Uram had attacked them, and you have failed to save my wife. And I had put my trust in Torren to bring you all here. If Ignar was right about one thing is this: there is no one you can trust. There is no one but myself. Does that answer your question?"

It did, but Rhem didn't like it. His vision swayed on the Protector of Ice, someone who was tiny compared to a Toa but held far more command than Rhem ever had before. The cold words frozen him to the core and dragged his eyes to the floor. There, he saw the guilt staring up at him. The failure to save the first person who had shown him kindness in a cold land. With that stare, something rose within Rhem.

Hunarr's reflection turned with the Protector. "I will have my men closing on the border soon enough. You should leave... Join with your 'Toa,'" he had said before walking up the stairs to his room.

"I'll get her back." The words from Rhem were simple, but his voice rose as he stared at Hunarr's back that grew smaller and smaller. "I'll get her back. Somehow, I'll get her back. You hear me?! I'll find Aska and bring her back home! I swear it!"

Rhem's voice echoed across the icy walls of before the Toa warped away to the sight of Hunarr turning to him, the Protector's expression solemn as melted snow.

Rhem's heart kept on pounding furiously after he reappeared on the Great Divide. It had been the same spot where he and the other Toa had met to discuss their plans. That must have been less than a day ago. Only Voriki waited for him now, his spear at ready for any danger. "How did it go?" the Toa of Lightning asked, and Rhem's clenched fists of frustration answered him. "... Okay. Well, are you ready?"

Nodding, Rhem followed Voriki across the Great Divide. Rhem didn't pay attention to how much time had passed, not that it mattered. Hunarr's words haunted him every step of the way. They stung at his heart, like the huge stone he banged his foot against. "Ah!" Rhem hissed.

"I was wondering if you were going to say something," Voriki noted. "You've been awfully quiet."

"It's nothing," Rhem muttered after he let his foot down, but the impatience overtook him a second later. "Ah, it's this whole thing with the protectors! I know what happened! I know we're responsible, but… but this..." Rhem sighed, his shoulders sagging. "... I just don't like what's going on. Back with the Region of Ice."

"Did the protector say something?" asked Voriki who went down the Great Divide.

"He did…" Rhem admitted, his voice low like the steep incline. "He's not budging at all. If anything, he wants to keep the way things are after… after what happened, you know."

"Maybe he isn't wrong," Voriki said, briefly looking up to a surprised Rhem. "What? He's trying to protect his people. I can get why he's doing what he's doing. Doesn't mean I agree with his methods, but still."

"But if he's going through with this, then the other protectors are probably doing the same!" Rhem argued, almost sliding down the Great Divide to catch up with Voriki. "I saw how the other protectors were! By the elements, we've barely held it together! You've already seen other Okotans almost fighting each other!"

"Then, we make sure that doesn't happen," Voriki said so sure.

So sure that it befuddled Rhem. "But how? I mean, the six of us alone can't do it. Who can we count on other than ourselves?" He paused when he realized something. "And where are we even going?"

At last stopping along the bottom of the Great Divide, Voriki raised his spear. "That should answer your last question," he told Rhem, pointing at the dilapidated structure atop a distant hill.

Stopping beside him, Rhem peered at the structure. "Looks impressive, I guess," he commented, his white eyes glancing at Voriki. "... what is it?"

Voriki, walking towards the structure, answered, "The Temple of Time. This is where Torren and the others had summoned us… at least that's what Torren told me when I first arrived."

"And what are we doing here?"

"Taking a look," Voriki explained, waving a free hand to Rhem. "Come on. You don't want to get left behind, do you?"

And Rhem followed Voriki up the hill instead of down the Great Divide. All around, Rhem saw ancient hills and stalks that could've once been obelisks. The stairs leading up to the so-called Temple of Time could've been the same in the near-future. The temple itself looked like a metronome Hunarr kept in his study.

After reaching the top with careful steps-lest he somehow damaged them-and looking at the archways overhead, Rhem asked, "So, what are we looking for exactly?"

"Anything really," Voriki said while entering ahead. "Remember when Keela said about the 'prophecy' that brought us here? There may be a clue worth looking into about that. If anything, we can use this place as a sanctuary for the worst-case scenario."

Wondering if it would come to that, Rhem's memory of the Crystal Guard and the Water Okotans had answered his own question. He couldn't imagine Okotans surrounding the Toa, but should any fighting come near, could the Temple of Time withstand it all? Rhem thought not, looking at the cracked walls. Then again, it had stood for centuries, maybe millennia, and Keela could always make some improvements.

"It's a little dark in here," Voriki commented and channelled some power into his spear. "There, that should do it!"

The bits of light from Voriki's crackling spear only helped a little. From what Rhem could see, strange markings covered the cracked walls of a round chamber. A few looked similar to the Okotan writing system. The rest wasn't even readable. They remained as old as the rest of the temple, bare for the whistling wind and the strange ringing-

Wait, ringing?

Voriki didn't seem to notice it, having gone to the elevated platform in the chamber's center. Rhem moved away from Voriki and his glowing spear. Rhem's curiosity and instinct told him not to ignore the sound. "Well, Voriki said to look for a clue," Rhem murmured to himself once out of earshot. "Maybe, this place may have a clue about my powers."

Rhem followed the only clue he had until it led him to the furthest end of the temple. Even in the dark, Rhem recognized the outline in the floor, and the beams of daylight entering from a nearby window proved it. "Hey, I think I've found something!" Rhem called to Voriki. After waiting for him to come over, Rhem knelt down to point at the print. "Right here. Don't these look like feet?"

"And they're recent, too," Voriki noted, kneeling beside Rhem. "It must have been Uram, but why come here?"

A quick look, Rhem found the answer. "Hey look, there's some writing!" he said, marching over to the wall in front. "Do you know what it says?

"... Not sure." Voriki's tone said otherwise, but Rhem focused more on the wall than Voriki.

The strange characters were like the rest, indecipherable to Rhem's eyes. At the same time, the ringing had been the loudest here, like the echoes of a struck gong. And maybe it was due to the electricity on Voriki's spear, but Rhem swore the writing was glowing.

"Wait, Rhem! Don't touch-" Voriki said, but the Toa of Time already had-

-A golden mask shone as a symbol of peace in the center of a field ruined by constant battles. Figures in armor laid dead or dying, while their comrades cried by their sides or raged against enemies all over. The red sky and weapons ranging from maces to giant swords and others shrouded the forms of the combatants.

Among those circling around the mask to defend it, one purple combatant shouted, "There's too many! We can't hold out much longer!"

"Keep them back! I have an idea!" a warrior in red ordered after pummeling a stray enemy, and he went closer towards the mask, calling five others to join him.

Left alone, the purple warrior kept on fighting. He fought with all he had, even though his comrades laid dead around him. He had seen a number of his own enemies mourn their own losses. Those were few. More came, and he couldn't find them forever.

It wasn't forever. The purple warrior felt the surge of energy. Everyone did, looking towards the center of the battlefield where the six other warriors surrounded the object being fought over. An object empowered with new energy, building upon itself over and over and over again.

Then, the mask broke into two halves-

"-GAH!" Rhem screamed, back in the Temple of Time. He pulled himself away, staring at his surroundings to confirm his reality. He looked more at Voriki than the wall, its glow fading from the writing. "What… what was that?!"

The unanswering Voriki's glare was dead set on Rhem. "What did you see?" he asked seriously.

"I… I dunno," Rhem answered between haunted breaths. "... I think I saw a mask… fighting and… and…"

Voriki held Rhem's shoulder in a tight grip. "Listen to me. Whatever you saw, do not tell anyone about it. Alright?"

Rhem blinked. "But why?"

"Just-!" Voriki's voice rose, but he stopped himself. "... Just don't. I'll tell you about it when we have finished, but please. We can't afford to break this team apart. Not now."

Slowly, the shocked Rhem nodded his head. However, his mind slowly noticed it. The fear. The same haunted look in Voriki's eyes. As Rhem watched him walk off exploring the temple, the Toa of Time realized Hunarr hadn't been the only cold one today.