ULTIMATE BIONICLE

Chapter 31: In the Midst of the Storm

Several hours later and the Legion of Toa now reside inside the small residence that belonged to Nokama in the middle of Ga-Metru. They had gone and retrieved Onua, Gali, Tehutti, Vhisola and Orkham before heading there. Matau and Vakama lay on the floor. Vakama had still not regained his consciousness. Most of the other Toa sat on the ground silently, staring at Matau's corpse. Takanuva leaned against the edge of a window, staring outside. Whenua was not in the room. None of them had said a word since they left the Coliseum.

The feelings of sorrow struck them all in very different ways. The Toa Metru all felt a deep rooted grief that rotted in the pit of their stomachs. The Toa Nuva were under the affect of the infectious sorrow that polluted the air. Even though they were not as close to Matau as everyone else, they shared the sorrow that the others were feeling.

Slowly the silence started to lift as a heavy downpour of rain started to fall outside. Vakama stirred, and then awoke to the sight of his fallen brother beside him, sending a knife of grief through him once more. He sat up to the site of the saddened faces of his comrades. "Damn it!" Vakama said with anguish. "Put a blanket over Matau!"

Takanuva turned away from the window and put a sheet, which he found in a closet, over Matau's body. He then looked at Vakama, "There are a few things you missed that I think you should know…" He said.

&&&&&&&&

The cool rain continued to mercilessly pour down upon all the buildings as far as anyone could see. Atop the building that the Legion of Toa resided in stood Whenua, who separating himself from the others. He stood near the edge of the building, his head facing upwards and his eyes closed, letting the rain wash over his mask.

Whenua sighed deeply, "Damn it, Nuju…" He mumbled under his breath. He then heard the slow, splashing steps of someone behind him. He however did not move or open his eyes. "Since when do earth Toa like rain?" He heard Gali ask. Whenua opened his eyes and turned around and looked at her. She had a faint smile but her eyes were dim and sad. "It helps me think…" Whenua responded, turning back around and crossing his arms.

Gali slowly walked over and stood beside him. After a long pause she looked up at him. "Did Nuju…really do what they said he did?" She asked. Whenua looked down into her eyes; though the rain hid most of it, he could tell that she was crying. "Yes…he murdered Matau." Whenua said bluntly.

Gali began to cry, and grabbed Whenua by the shoulders. "You're lying! Nuju would never do that! Please tell me you're lying! It must be some kind of mistake!" She yelled, shaking Whenua violently. Whenua had a hard, blank expression as he stared down at her. "I'm sorry, Gali… I'm very, very sorry… But Nuju is a Piraka now…" He said sadly.

"Shut up!" Gali yelled. "You're wrong!" Whenua pushed away Gali's arms. She stared at Whenua with a shocked, tearful expression. "Can you really be so blind?" Whenua yelled angrily as a flash of lightning appeared. "Forget what you believe in your heart! You may believe inside that there is no way that Nuju could have done this, but you have to realize what you see with your own two eyes! Didn't you see his body? Matau is dead, and we all saw Nuju do it! I'm sorry Gali, but you're just gonna have to except that!"

Gali began to cry harder as she hugged Whenua tightly. He could feel her tears running onto him. "Why would he do that though? I…I loved him… Why would he go and do that?" Gali said tearfully. Whenua rubbed her back, and held her tight to try and comfort her. "I don't know… But we need to find a way to get them back… Matau and Nuju…" Whenua said. His eyes suddenly widened, "What if…"

&&&&&&&&

Even at the centre of the city, the Coliseum, it down poured unendingly. High atop on a balcony stood Vorak, overlooking the vast city. He was using his telekinesis to shield himself from the downpour. He knew so little… why should he trust Makuta? Such thoughts ran through his mind. He had been alone all his life, never knowing of the one who created him. Now he was expected to trust this so called 'father' of his who suddenly appears out of nowhere?

Vorak suddenly heard loud footsteps as Makuta himself stepped behind him. Vorak did not bother turning around as Makuta stepped beside him. "Take a good look, Vorak." Makuta said. "It'll only be a matter of time and then it will all be ours." He said with a grin.

Vorak looked at him. "What is my purpose?" He asked Makuta. "What did I do that was so important?" Makuta turned to Vorak. "I created you to ensure my survival. Although my body was no more, my spirit kept itself hidden inside of you." Makuta explained.

"Then why is it that you are in Panrahk's body?" Vorak asked, raising an eyebrow. "When you attacked Panrahk in the jungles of Le-Wahi, that blast of energy you fired did indeed kill him. However, my spirit travelled with your energy and bonded with Panrahk's corpse." Makuta continued. "But if you were in Panrahk's body, how were you able to regain all of your power?" Vorak asked.

"That is the key point where you came in." Makuta said with a grin. "Each time you absorbed the life force of something, half of it was transferred to me, allowing my spirit to slowly take over Panrahk's body. When you were turned into a cyborg, you were fed enormous amounts of energy, which rapidly boosted my rejuvenation." Makuta explained.

Nuju suddenly interrupted them. "I have finished killing off the Matoran scientists in the lower basement…master…" Nuju said. Makuta and Vorak turned around. "Prove it to me, Nuju. Prove to me that you killed them." Makuta ordered. Nuju grinned and through down a blood stained Miru that looked as though it belonged to a Ga-Matoran. "I told you." Nuju said with an evil grin. "As long as you keep your end of the bargain, I will remain loyal." Makuta smiled, "I'm glad to hear it."

Makuta suddenly lifted his hands and drew forth blood from both Nuju and Vorak arms, causing them to cringe with pain. The blood floated above each of Makuta's hands in a ball of liquid. "Why'd you do that?" Vorak yelled in protest. "Watch and learn, Vorak" Makuta said, walking back inside of the Coliseum once more; Nuju and Vorak followed.

Makuta smashed both masses of blood into each other and a huge source of shadow energy started to manifest. The dark purple light was intense, making Nuju and Vorak shield their eyes. "With the blood of two, another life is born!" Makuta yelled.

&&&&&&&&

Whenua and Gali entered the room, turning the heads of all the other Toa. Gali was hunched over and holding herself up by putting her arm around Whenua's shoulder. She was no longer crying but had a miserable expression on her face. Whenua's face remained hard and serious as he looked at all the other Toa.

Nokama got up, "Let me help you set her down." She said, taking hold of Gali and help Whenua to lower her. Whenua looked around. "Where are Tahu, Vakama and Takanuva?" He asked.

"They're in that room." Vhisola said, pointing. "…Thanks." Whenua responded, walking towards the door. He quickly pushed open the door and slammed it shut. "Wonder what's gotten him so worked up all of a sudden." Lewa said.

Nokama let out a deep sigh of worry. "What do you think they are talking about in there?" Pohatu asked her. Nokama stared at Matau's body. "I don't know…" She responded blankly.

Nokama remembered the horrible pain she felt before it happened. Why had her telepathic abilities reacted so violently, before anything had even happened? It all confused her to no end. Was there more to her 'gift' that she thought? And how could she increase its power? She started to feel incredibly frustrated.

"Are you alright?" Onua asked put a hand on her shoulder. The door Whenua had gone through opened. "Yeah…I'm fine." Nokama responded with a smile. She suddenly looked up; Tahu, Vakama, Takanuva and Whenua were all out of the room now. Whenua was looking down at her with a bothered expression before looking to Tehutti. "Come on." Whenua said to him. "We're going."

Tehutti returned a shocked but eager expression. "Where are we going?" Tehutti asked with excitement. It had been a long time since Whenua had asked Tehutti to come along with him to do anything. "We're going to the Archives, Tehutti. Come on now." Whenua said. Tehutti got to his feet quickly and ran to Whenua's side and they both headed for the door.

Nokama then realized that this might be a chance to find out more about her 'gift'. "Wait!" She yelled. Both Whenua and Tehutti stopped, but only Tehutti turned around. "What is it, Nokama?" Tehutti asked. "I want to come as well." Nokama said insistently.

Whenua was silent for a time, while Nokama waited expectantly for an answer. "We'll go alone." Whenua said dismissively, walking out the door. Tehutti followed. Nokama ran through the door after them, slamming it behind her. "Why can't I come along?" Nokama asked feeling rejected. "I don't know why you guys are going, but I need to find some answers for myself!" Nokama yelled persistently.

Whenua turned around, a cross expression on his face. "We don't have time for your little 'side quests'! We're going to research into something that might be able to bring back Matau! And the last thing I want to do is waste time with trivial things! Why don't you just go be with Onua!" Whenua yelled.

Whenua's words struck Nokama hurtfully. "What does Onua have to do with this…?" Nokama stared at the ground, confused and upset. "Why…why do you hate me?" She asked.

Whenua let out a faint gasp, but then sighed deeply. "Nokama…just stay here…" Nokama was upset, but confused by the fact that she did not sense any anger within Whenua. Whenua turned around and left with Tehutti, leaving behind Nokama and the others.

Onewa stepped beside her. "Don't worry. I think Matau's death has just really gotten to him." Onewa said with assurance. "Whenua…" Nokama thought. "Do you hate me?"

As Whenua and Tehutti exited the building, Tehutti turned to him. "What was all that about Whenua? I thought that…" Whenua cut Tehutti off in mid-sentence. "I don't like being tortured, Tehutti. Let's just leave it at that."

&&&&&&&&

Whenua and Tehutti exited the chutes and were in Onu-Metru. Whenua took a deep breath, "Home sweet home." He said. Tehutti grinned, "You can say that again." Whenua suddenly lifted Tehutti onto his right shoulder. "Ah! What are you doing?" Tehutti shouted in surprise.

Whenua pointed down the deep canyon. "The Archives are down there. You know that. And I'm in no mood to walk all the way down there." Whenua said impatiently. Tehutti made a scared expression. "You don't mean we're gonna jump do you?" Tehutti asked.

"Let's go." Whenua said, jumping down the canyon. Tehutti screamed in fright as Whenua landed on a rocky hill and skid the rest of the way down. They reached the bottom and Tehutti leapt off his shoulder. "Don't ever do that again!" He yelled.

"You'll get over it." Whenua said, walking towards the Archives. Tehutti quickly followed behind. "Oh, well. At least we'll be out of the rain soon." Tehutti said.

The familiar sights and smells as they entered the Archives filled Tehutti with a sense of belonging. He felt that for the first time in a while, he was finally home. "This really takes you back, eh Whenua?" Tehutti said. "If you say so." Whenua responded blandly.

Tehutti put his hands behind his head and looked at Whenua with a raised eyebrow. "Why don't you like the Archives?" He asked him. "I never said I didn't like them." Whenua answered. "I just hated working here."

"Well then why didn't you just go work in the mines?" Tehutti asked. Whenua made a small smile. "Because then you would've been left by yourself with all the obsessed 'librarian' types. Besides, if I had left then I wouldn't have found that Toa stone, would I have?"

Slowly they made their way through the Archives, until they reached the entrance of the exhibit: The Ancient Artefacts wing. "Is what we're looking for in there?" Tehutti asked.

"Unfortunately no, but where it is said to be hidden is." Whenua answered. Tehutti hung his head and sighed. "This is gonna take us a while isn't it? What are we looking for anyway?" He asked.

"The Amana Volo stone." Whenua answered.

It was about an hour later. While they had been searching all over the vast exhibit, a question ran through Tehutti's head, one he had been meaning to ask for a long time. Whenua was currently reading through some text on a wall. "Uh…Whenua…" Tehutti said.

"What is it?" Whenua said, not taking his eyes off of what he was reading. Tehutti stared at the floor nervously. "Will you…will you train me?" Whenua flinched in surprise, turning to him with curious eyes. "But aren't you already training?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am…" Tehutti said nervously. "But it's hard to do that without someone forcing me to do it. So I need a master!" Whenua sighed and rubbed his chin. "Fine, I'll train you as soon as we get the Amana Volo stone and bring Matau back to life."

Tehutti's mask beamed with excitement. "I won't let you down, Whenua!" He shouted excitedly. "Okay, okay, calm down! We still need to learn where to find the stone." Whenua said. He felt frustrated, but could help but be glad to see Tehutti so enthused about bettering himself.

Whenua turned his attention back to the text he was reading. He was having trouble figuring it out. "This said something about the stone…" Whenua thought to himself. "But it's proving harder to translate than I thought… Maybe I should have let Nokama come after all…"

"Why…why do you hate me?" Nokama's words ran like a plague through his mind once more. He grasped his head in anxiety, groaning from the uncomfortable memory. Just remembering what she said was torture enough. Never had a mere statement caused him so much pain. "Why do I always complicate things…? Damn I hate myself sometimes…" He mumbled. Whenua fell forward and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Maybe I shouldn't even bother…" He wondered. "DAMN IT!" He yelled angrily, driving his fist through the wall he was reading, destroying a section of it. He put his hand on the wall to hold himself up as he panted from his outburst. "I could never hate you… I just let my emotions get the better of me. And what ends up happening? I make things worse. Maybe…you're better off without me…"

Whenua suddenly looked up at the hole he made in the wall, and noticed something. "What the hell is this?" He thought out loud as he pulled a folded piece of paper out of the hole.