Makuta Ikatakk was thrown into the Great Volcano, the source of his evil plan. There, the six Toa Nebula watched him melt. The Toa Nebula of Fire, Takan, was the last to leave, staring into the Makuta's evil mask of shadow and deceit. Something about burning it rubbed him the wrong way. It should have been smashed into pieces first. Maybe chop Ikatakk into pieces and feed them to ravenous Rahi. Something gruesome like that surely entered his mind.
The defeat of Ikatakk was not the last evil the Toa had to fight, nor the most dangerous. Threat after threat faced the Toa, and some nearly made the Toa die before they remembered the Three Virtues. Some battles scarred the Toa beyond repair. Those scars would never leave, even when healed and purged. Some evils boil below the surface, unseen.
Nekora's makeshift ladder provided enough strength to allow all three matoran down. Once all three were on the ground, Tadan felt the ground and noticed a puddle of water. Slowly moving his hand revealed a path made by the burning torch. Following the line of water led the trio into an even darker part of the Glacier, where Nekora could lead with his night vision.
The tunnel ended when it reached a large room. Around 20 feet in both directions from the center, the room was strange in more ways than one. First, the ground was bumpy and jagged, contrasting with the smooth tunnels from before. Second, Tadan threw his torch into the air to reveal the ceiling had icicles the shape of stalactites. Third, the center had an ice-coated stone altar. The writing was etched into the sides and on top was an unconscious Po-Matoran.
Tadan hopped down from the tunnel and landed in a puddle where his doused torch was. He lit several torches and propped them against the altar to melt away the ice. Nekora and Gawae picked up Hoei and tried two ways of waking him. They first put fire to his feet, and then repeatedly shoved his head into the puddle. When neither of the options worked, they set him down.
The altar was stone grey and had crude matoran markings on them, a precursor to the most modern written language most likely. All three matoran tried to crack the ancient code but none were successful. On top, where Hoei had previously rested, there was a short cylinder sticking out. It had twelve holes in its sides, each big enough for a matoran's hand.
Nekora slowly pushed a torch into one of the holes. No reaction. Then even more slowly and apprehensive he put his hand in. A flash of black burst from the top and his hand was trapped. His hand was no longer visible, instead, his arm ended in a wall of stone where the hole had been. Nekora pulled all he could but his arm wouldn't budge out.
Tadan and Gawae took Nekora's pick pieces and tried to chisel Nekora's arm out. As hard as they swang and even harder they chipped, no altarpiece would crack away.
"This isn't any regular stone. I doubt any of our tools could break a pebble off." Nekora said, resting on the altar.
"Then we should find something more powerful than a matoran. Maybe Lopek's Gekko!" Tadan kicked the altar and prodded it with some torches.
"No. Nekora's right. No matoran could break that altar."
All three conscious matoran looked at each other. The voice wasn't theirs. It was Hoei's, who slowly sat up. Groggy, like when you take a nap on a couch for an hour or two. The world slowly comes into focus and your brain turns on again.
"You're finally awake! Hey, put your hand in one of these holes for me!" Nekora pointed with his other hand to an eagerly open hole.
"No thanks."
As Nekora kept pointing towards the next hole, he went too far and his hand slipped in. Another flash of black filled the room. This time for much longer as they heard Nekora scream. It didn't seem to be a painful scream, but more of an inventor's Aha, or a scream of guttural determination.
When the noise subsided and vision cleared again, The matoran was gone.
Stohn got word about a group of six matorans who were permitted to mine the Glacier. He knew he didn't give that order, just one matoran was sent to the glacier, to look at it. An easy task. He also knew Hoei went after, but where did the four others come from? Six matorans going into the unknown and disobeying orders. He knew the story too well.
He went out to the tunnel and felt a burst of power. It came from deep within the Glacier, something powerful was just awoken. Stohn raced into the tunnel and came across the parallel tunnel. He felt the smooth sides and grew in worry. No Matoran could have smoothed this tunnel. They were in danger.
He took the left path and followed it until the pit. Feeling around, he found the handholds and descended the pit. A Lightstone embedded into his staff lit up the darkness until he too found the large chamber. Except it was empty of matorans. 4 torches were burning bright by an altar and at the exit of the tunnel was a puddle.
The text on the sides was old, but Stohn knew what it meant. And where the matoran had gone. He looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling. It was rough and jagged. It veered off to the right at one point and straightened back up after a long while. Whatever dug that tunnel was inexperienced.
Stohn returned from the tunnel entrance to an eagerly waiting crowd of matoran.
"What's down there!"
"Should we worry?"
"Whatever's down there should not be disturbed!"
Stohn shushed the crowd and raised his staff, "The six matoran are gone."
The crowd went into an uproar, demanding what happened to them.
"The matoran are gone and Heroes have taken their place."
Stohn never was a people pleaser. He used to let the other Turaga handle diplomacy. Now that they aren't here, he needs to cover his faults… and it isn't going too well.
"Heroes? Them? Why not us! Why not the real hard workers! Not liars and ditchers!"
"What threat could be worse than this glacier!"
Stohn sighed and looked at the crowd. They needed real answers, not the fake ones he had been giving for years. He looked at the worried and confused faces, "The Great Spirit has called those six to fulfill their destiny. To become Toa, a word lost to you."
