The past few days were full of surprises. The first had been Rhem's vision at the Temple of Time. Then were Zala and Protector Hanu appearing at the same place, having been chased by Makuta. Last, and most shocking so far, had been Kaze sending the fire into the sky. To be honest, Voriki didn't think the Toa of Air could disperse wildfire like that.

Yet Kaze did, and hours later, he hadn't woken up despite the airship he laid in. Protector Torren had sent it to pick up the other Toa, and the vehicle arrived sooner after seeing Kaze's "explosive" move. Keela, who was on the Great Divide between the Jungle and Water Regions, had been the last one. Sitting in the back of the airship, Voriki asked, "Is he any better?"

"A bit," Keela said with her scope on the unconscious Toa of Air. To the right, she and Zala knelt on either side of him. "His burns are healing well. He just needs a bit more rest."

"He deserves it after his ordeal," Maram said proudly from the left, then he winced from the new scars on his chest plate and old ones everywhere else.

"Hey, take it easy!" Rhem said as he helped the keeling Toa of Light.

Keela, examining Maram from afar, noted, "It seems like you deserve some rest, too."

"We'll all get it where we're going… Speaking of which, we're here," Voriki told everyone after he spotted Kivoda City coming into view.

Its spires arose from a cliff resting in the Water Region's very heart. The waves struck against and fell over metallic structures that connected the surrounding archipelagos to its center, making it look more like pods. High upon the central spire was a circular dish of platform for the airship to land on. On it, Protector Torren and his guards greeted the Toa.

"I see things are just as we heard..." Torren said after seeing the state of the six.

Leading the group out, Voriki said, "We're still here… Some of us will need some healing, though." At that, he gestured to Kaze resting in Maram's arms.

"You shall have it," Torren said kindly, despite the fatigue glowing through his mask. "I guess it is prudent to welcome you back to Kivoda City, Toa."

Rhem raised and waved a hand from the center of the Toa. "Uh, this is actually my first time here. Keela's too, I think…" he spoke. He hung his silent mask after seeing the glances from the Water Protector and the other Toa.

Rhem may have been new to Kivoda City, but the two Okotans who accompanied the Toa weren't. "Hey, dad," said a nonchalant Mizu after walking past the Toa with a huge backpack.

Waya, who also had an equally huge backpack, was more respectful. "Hello, father."

Torren's almost broken-hearted look softened on his sons. "It is nice to see you two are safe… Now, you two should head down to your room," he said. After his guards took the two boys away, Torren called to them, "And no escaping this time."

"Yes sir!" said both boys before they disappeared behind the doorway into the spire.

Torren waited until his sons were well out of sight before he addressed the Toa again. "They were supposed to have been far away. They should not be here," he said with concern.

Keela stepped up beside Voriki and said, "They insisted on coming back. If they didn't, Protector Ferra, she… she didn't want to keep them around. The others may feel similarly."

Then, Torren asked Voriki, "How much do they know? About your plan?"

"Nothing, it seems like," Voriki explained. Keela told him that much earlier. "We can still go through with it."

The Toa's words kept Torren calm enough to turn for the opened doorway his sons entered a minute ago. Yet, Voriki noticed a rigidness in the Water Protector's walk. A shaken foundation of confidence about to break. After the other Toa walked by him, Voriki said nothing. He followed his team into Kivoda City, but not before he glanced around at the calm and uncertain waters beyond it.

Kivoda City's main plaza was still magnificent as when Voriki first saw it. The electrifying cables hummed as the elevator carried the six Toa and sole Protector down the rocky chasm to it. Voriki told Rhem to not touch the cables and get shocked, which the Toa of Time did out of curiosity. He fortunately, and the others, had the spectacle before them for a nice distraction. Similar cables were everywhere, from lining the round translucent walls and silver floors to dangling from the domed ceiling. In their soft blue-white light, Voriki tried not to frown at the quiet plaza.

When he first arrived, dozens of Okotans swarmed him with questions. Now, those Okotans backed away from the Toa on a quiet street. A mask or two poked out of the massive silver cubes for homes. Torren led all six to one building, specifically an infirmary where Maram previously arrived to see Zala. Some Okotans, healers, stopped upon seeing the knocked-out Kaze, only taking him and Maram inside at their Protector's orders.

The hour passed by with Voriki waiting in the long hall. With him, Rhem-new to the city-sat on the floor. "Do you think all the buildings have that same wavy shape?" he asked after noticing the pattern on the wall.

"I don't know," Voriki said from next to the room Maram was in. After meeting the gaze of a passing-by Water Tribesman, he turned to Keela and Zala stepping out at last. "Are you done?"

"Just about," Keela said. Despite sounding tired, she tried to sound happy. "I hope you two weren't bored."

"Eh, a bit," Rhem said, pointing to the walls' patterns. "By the way, what do you think about that? Doesn't it look weird?"

Keela studied it then said, "Not really, seeing how each village takes on their own element. However, the buildings share similar architecture to the ones in the Mask Maker's City. It's fascinating how much history you can see in someone's home. Like the cables we saw..."

Voriki drowned out the rest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an opened door. Through it, he saw Kaze lying in his bed. Despite being attended to by a few healers, despite all the burns, Kaze had a steadfast, and uncertain, look, that the Toa of Lightning stared at for a long moment. The Toa of Air was dreaming, and Voriki had an idea about what. It made him wonder what would happen when Kaze awoke. If he awoke.

Zala blocked Voriki's view. "Uh, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Voriki lied. A second later, he admitted quietly for Keela not to hear, "... Maybe not. I didn't expect Uram to throw an Elemental Guardian at us so soon. Most of all, I think Kaze would..." He stopped and noticed Zala looking as uncomfortable as himself, so he changed the subject. "Anyway, how is Maram? Is he any better?"

Zala said, "... a bit. Keela wanted him to rest, but…"

Just then, Maram stepped outside. Patches of kelp covered his scarred chest plate, while his other burns were mostly healed. "Fear not. These wounds are not so serious to me," Maram said, thumping a hand on his chest.

Keela shook her head and any sternness away. "I suppose I shouldn't expect less from one of our group," she almost laughed.

Her words almost assured Voriki. Almost. "Well," he said, "I suppose we're accounted for."

"Well, not Kaze. He's still asleep," Rhem said. The other Toa's stares, especially Voriki's, made him fall into an awkward silence. "Sorry. I just meant…"

"We know," Voriki said and stopped to glance around. There were too many people. "Why don't we head inside Maram's room?"

Catching on, everyone followed Voriki back into Maram's room. Though Keela closed the door behind her for privacy, Voriki stared at it for a long while. He almost imagined looking through it, and his grip tightened on his spear.

Maram's gentle hand fell on Voriki's shoulder. "He will be well, Voriki. A hunter such as Kaze will not be down for much longer." A short glance from the Toa of Lightning removed Maram's hand. "Anyhow, I could not find the mask after I healed. Do you have it?"

Voriki answered by pulling out a familiar dark, evil-looking mask. Rhem and Keela's eyes widened in surprise, and the former asked, "Isn't that…?"

"The mask Makuta forced Kaze to wear, yes," Maram nodded. "Voriki had me hold onto it… well, until we had fought the Fire Guardian, that is."

"I didn't think it was part of the plan," Keela said. Something in her voice almost sounded terse.

Voriki ignored it. "It was for another plan. Uram changed things, and I had to put the old one aside. Now, it can be used again," he said before giving the mask to Zala.

Zala's wavering gaze raised to Voriki. "D-do you know what you're asking?"

"Somewhat. I wanted to give it to you sooner, but Maram insisted to wait until you were ready…" Voriki admitted, not easing Zala's fear. He sighed. "Look, I know it isn't easy after what happened, but none of this is. Hopefully, you won't have to wear it forever. Just long enough to track Uram. Can you do that?"

"I… I think I can," Zala said, her voice shaking like her grip on the mask.

Suppressing his own hesitation, Voriki accepted Zala's answer.

Hours later, Voriki's crackling power cut away the sound of the ocean crashing against the window outside. His spear stabbed forward, causing the gigantic rod in front-and in the plaza's center-to lit up with the electricity surging up. It lanced from the tod's trident-shaped tip to light up the cables too. "There, that should do it," Keela said after stepping away from the pole.

Voriki removed his spear, content despite the lack of a crowd he had drawn the last time with the same trick. The discharged power trailed over the plaza's inner dome and on its outer one. Between the two Toa, Torren asked, "Do you believe this will help?"

"In theory," Keela said before Voriki could. "If Uram or any of his monsters ever comes near, then the cables on the outside should light. Then, the ones in here should too. Really creative thinking."

"Thanks, but we'll have to see if it actually works," Voriki told Keela, knowing that wasn't all he had planned for Uram.

The Water Protector led the two Toa away. Passing over a bridge and another catwalk, they soon reached the edge of the plaza. Voriki turned from the glancing eyes of the Water Okotans, Okotans who once watched in awe, to the rod in front. As massive as the last one, and the one before it, Voriki was about to lit it up when he heard it. "Protector! Protector!" called one young, feminine, and familiar Water Okotan.

"Likki?" said Torren. "What is it?"

Likki, the girl whom Voriki remembered saving on a beach of wrecked ships, said, "It's Waya and Mizu. They've-"

Torren groaned, sounding more frustrated than before. "Forgive me, Toa," he told Keela and Voriki. "It seems like I'm needed elsewhere at the moment."

"Maybe, I should go with. Just in case," Keela said and left with the Water Protector. It wasn't long until Likki herself went her own way, wherever that was.

With their departure, another Toa arrived. "Should I be asking about that?" Rhem asked, thumbing to the departing Torren and Keela.

"Best if you don't know. You mind going over there?" he asked Rhem, pointing to the other side of the rod. Rhem did. "Ready?"

The crackling spear drowned out Rhem's 'yes,' but Voriki heard it. He charged the rod as he did with the previous ones. As it lit up, Voriki asked Rhem, "Are the others in position?"

"Um, yeah. Maram and Zala are waiting like you said." As Voriki was busy, Rhem himself asked, "Do you think this is going to work?"

"Well, it should after all the power I've put into these things," Voriki said whilst charging the rod.

Its light blurred Rhem's annoyed glare. "Come on. You know I meant… well, you know. We are one Toa short, after all."

Voriki hid his irritation after removing his spear from the rod. "I know, but we'll have to make do."

"Yeah, it's just…" Rhem stopped and sighed, hand rubbing the back of his head. "Just something Kaze told me. I'm guessing it has something to do with what I saw."

Voriki sighed, his irritation growing. He should have expected that. "What did I say about it?"

"Not tell the others, I know, I know, but… I can't stop thinking about it! I mean, I'm guessing the others know what was going on, right? Kaze, at least."

"Did you ask them?" Voriki inquired and was relieved when Rhem shook his head. Voriki then held Rhem's shoulder. "Look, Rhem. Whatever you saw, it doesn't matter. It should not matter. We're all here, and that's what matters."

The words fell on deaf ears. "You're like the opposite of Kaze, aren't you?" Rhem said. "Do you… do you want to forget?"

The question struck Voriki harder than any bolt. The thing was, he knew the answer: he did want to forget. By the elements, did he. "Look…"

The shine of the rod cut Voriki off. As murmurs went around, he and Rhem turned to the window immediately. In its reflection, Voriki saw the life of Kivoda City's streets and glances of the Water Tribesmen behind him. What was in front, in the ocean, was of greater concern to both Voriki and Rhem.

A massive bubble floated down the waters. Inside it, the monster holding it together was joined by another one with vines. "Rhem, get to the others! Now!" Voriki ordered, keeping his eyes on the approaching Elementals Guardians.

The moment after Rhem ran away, Voriki stabbed his spear into the rod to activate the city's defenses and awaited Uram's arrival.