Going back to the Great Temple was hard for Vakama. In spite of all his meticulous planning, in spite of his careful manipulation and fussing about how it would pull together, there was always that one part he hadn't been able to figure out. The one piece in his puzzle that he couldn't place, hoping for one outcome, yet terrified of another. Sending everyone to the Great Temple had been the easy part. Even battling Nuju became an 'easy feat' compared to his next mission. And yet there was simply nothing else for him to do, no task or distraction left to let him deviate from his course. He had started this campaign, and now he needed to end it, for better or for worse. He had to confront the others, no matter how it was going to finish.
'We could just run.' The Hordika said calmly. 'Find somewhere and hide until it's over. That's the smart thing to do.'
"Perhaps." Vakama replied softly, his tone unsure for his future, but certain about his path. "But doing the smart thing, and doing the right thing, isn't always the same. I've done horrible things to them, and now I must face their judgement. I can't hide any more, no matter how hard I may want to."
'They'll kill you, you know. Is it really worth dying for? Is any of this worth dying for?'
"If it is how I must atone for my actions, then yes. As long as I can apologize one last time, it will be worth it, even if only because I spent my last moments knowing I was able to bring everyone back to one place, so they could finish what I was too weak to complete."
'I hope you're right, Vakama.' The Hordika remarked. 'Otherwise... well, I told you so. IF we do end up dying, at least.' He paused before adding to his commentary. 'But if we die... It was nice knowing you. I learned a lot about what loyalty really is. What family is. And even if I'm just an extension of you... well, I guess it means you learned a lot too.'
Vakama laughed, albeit weakly. "I suppose you're right; we did learn a lot because of this. And I think we're better for it, even with what it took to get us here. As much as I hate saying it, I... I think I'll miss you when this is over."
'I'll still be here, Vakama. I'll just be quieter, that's all. I'm your instinct, your gut feeling, your very core. Only difference is that I'll finally shut up.'
The redhead laughed again at this. "Well, either way it will be a quiet I'm not used to. Just don't fail me when you stop talking."
The Hordika chuckled. 'Never have, and never will.'
Travelling to Ga-Metru took Vakama longer than usual. He took time to dawdle and reflect, to search for the silver lining in his darkest hours. By the time the Great Temple was even in sight, there would be no denying that everyone else had arrived before he did. Vakama didn't mind much, nor did he mind that this could possibly be his end, if the others were mad enough about it all. As long as he could make his apology before anything else, he felt he could die in peace, something he hadn't felt for as long as he could presently recall. Standing before the temple doors, Vakama smiled weakly to himself, remembering the first time he had ever come here, in lighter and happier times. It felt like a lifetime ago, returning now in vivid recollection, as though it were only yesterday that he had met his Brothers and Sister for the first time. He remembered the empowering, refreshing energy that coursed through him upon becoming a Toa, as well as the excitement his teammates were filled with.
In a way, it seemed poetic that now, after so long, he would be reuniting with them in the same place it had all begun. He drew in a breath, exhaling slowly before pressing against one of the doors and pushing it open, finally unafraid of whatever waited behind it.
What he saw shocked him.
Standing there, waiting for him to enter, was none other than Nokama, a weak and semi-hopeful smile on her face. She didn't speak, not at first, but when he stepped inside and closed the door, her feeble expression grew, even if only a little. "It... it really is you, isn't it?"
Vakama stared at her in surprise, slowly nodding as he studied her expression with confusion. Why was she happy to see him? She should have been furious, or at least highly disappointed, shouldn't she?
"Kopaka and Tahu told me what happened." Nokama continued softly. "As did the others. Nuju said you saved him."
"H-He did?" Vakama asked, blinking again and hardly daring to hope what she said was true.
She nodded and moved closer. "He said you stopped him from losing himself to the Hordika in his mind, and reminded him of what he was supposed to do. He said you reminded him of what being a Toa is really about."
"Did I?" He sputtered, mind reeling. This wasn't how he'd imagined his return would go. He had expected anger and disproval, yet here she was, after everything he had done, happy to see him? Why? Before he could think of an explanation, he found himself being embraced, Nokama burying her face in his chest and shoulder as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "N-Nokama?"
"I knew you would come back to us." She murmured as she held onto him. "I didn't know when, but I knew you would."
The redhead swallowed silently before wrapping his arms around her, holding her close as his own tears began to fall. "Even with all the things I did... you believed in me?"
Her answer left him dumbstruck.
"I never gave up on you, Vakama, and I never will."
He was completely stunned, confused, and dizzyingly relieved, all at once. Part of him wanted to jump for joy and celebrate, the rest dreaded waking up and facing a reality that didn't have this happy ending. "I-is... is this real?" He breathed, his voice quiet and shaky. "A-am I even here?"
Nokama laughed weakly as she leaned back just enough so she could look in his eyes. "Yes, this is real. You're here, with us again." She shook her head after a moment and sighed, however, expression turning sad. "Some of the others though..."
He knew what she meant right away. While Nokama was happy to see him alive and well, some of the others weren't going to be nearly as trusting. "I understand." He said faintly. "But I can't run from them, not any more. I... I have to try and make things as right as I can."
However, before he could say anything else, something much more dire occurred. A sharp, stabbing pain shot through his skull, causing him to stumble and collapse, dropping him to his knees in front of Nokama as he gripped his head with his hands.
"Vakama?!"
He barely even heard her worried voice before everything around him faded, throwing him headlong into a nightmare only he could see.
His first vision in six years had finally begun...
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
He was kneeling in the Coliseum observatory, watching as, before his eyes, Mihkoro was thrown down before him, his half-serpentine body writhing and convulsing grotesquely as Visorak encircled him. A blood red crystal, taller than any normal being, stood nearby, a horrifyingly familiar figure sealed within. Roodaka's smooth voice came from behind Vakama, sounding cold and agitated. "Tell me, Mihkoro; just how is it that you have lasted this long, when your brother barely lasted a fraction of the time?"
"G-Go drown in the Pit!" Mihkoro hissed, shifting just enough to glower back at her, though he soon convulsed more violently, gasping and letting out a strangled scream as his scale-ridden skin began to stretch and tear.
Roodaka scowled, stalking into Vakama's view as she approached the slowly mutating Toa. "When I ask for an answer, I expect to be given one." She seethed. "Is it not enough that this will be your fourth time changing back? Must I force you to endure even more?"
"If it keeps the others alive..." He gasped out, choking back another scream as the tear in his skin grew wider and deeper. "Than I w-would rather die than t-tell you anything!"
"Don't be so boring," Roodaka all but growled as she glared down at him. "you and I both know that anyone who says that ends up dead in the end. Why doom yourself?" A cold, merciless smile tugged at her lips as the cracking of bone, followed by a full-fledged, blood-curdling scream, echoed forth from her prisoner.
Vakama cringed and looked away, trying to focus on anything but his twin's agony. Desperate for a distraction, he struggled to his feet and walked closer to the crystal, leaning in closer and studying the frozen-in-time face of the one he had once believed to be the worst enemy he and his team would ever have to face. "How foolish of me to believe that..." He whispered shakily. The longer he stared, the more it seemed like Teridax was smirking at him, as though mocking his naivety.
"Tie him to the crystal."
Vakama turned, scrambling out of the way as two Visorak dragged Mihkoro's now normal looking frame closer, forcing him to stand with his back pressed against the Toa Seal, his limbs quickly bound and preventing him from collapsing. Yet, even as he stood there, barely strong enough to lift his head, a small smirk tugged at his lips. "Can you hear the screaming?" He rasped. "Your pets are dying... Vakama rose from the ashes of his undoing, and... and now everything you fought to overrule is going to collapse... whether I live or die will be of little consequence... because you and your horde will finally come to an end."
As Vakama's vision began to fade, he watched Roodaka walk nearer, cupping Mihkoro's chin with her hand.
"We shall see..."
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
Reality came back to him as a swirl of dull colors. He could hear muffled voices speaking over him, bleary shapes gradually becoming clearer and revealing faces he only half-recognized.
"What happened to him?" Someone asked.
"A vision, I think." Nokama replied, sounding worried. "He started walking around, but lost his footing and smashed his head on the floor."
"Maybe it strongknocked some sense into that maskcracked head of his..." Someone else – Matau, Vakama guessed by the speech pattern – grumbled.
"Enough with the negativity, before I give you a reason for it." The first voice growled.
Nokama sighed in exasperation. "Nuju you aren't helping."
"As if Vakama being here is?!" Matau squawked, frowning outright.
Now that he could see clearly, Vakama realized that they likely had no idea he was even consciously aware of them, and for a while he debated what would be his smartest option. That is, until the Air Hordika spoke again.
"What if he snaps out of it and does something everdark? What if he tries to take Hlahlu away?! What if he-"
"What if I'm already awake and tired of your complaining?" Vakama remarked crossly, utterly fed up with his Brother's fretting and doubting.
Needless to say, he caught the lot of them off guard. Nokama gave a sharp inhale, Nuju jumped slightly, and Matau – ever the exaggerator – looked like he was fit to molt. "Y-you're openeyed?!"
"Yes," the twenty six year old replied, frowning as he pushed himself to his feet, doing his best to ignore the throbbing in his head. "and I really have to wonder how thick you actually are." He had decided it was high time he stood up for himself, especially after all the trouble it had been to get everyone to actually come to the Great Temple. "Did you not even once consider that there was no possible way Hlahlu's capsule could have randomly appeared out of nowhere? Or wonder why Tahu and Kopaka were both perfectly healthy when you got here, not to mention had Jaller with them? And let's not forget the strange circumstances behind everyone else all getting the idea to come here, roughly at the same time. Better yet, the fact that Nuju actually came instead of needing to be hunted down. Did any of that actually make you wonder?"
"But you attacked us repeatedly before!" Matau persisted. "Not to mention that you killed ToaHero Lhikan!"
"Yes I did!" Vakama all but shouted. "But that doesn't mean I can't try to make things better! I'm not the villain Matau, and I'm tired of you saying I am!"
The silence that followed was almost deafening. Matau looked as though someone had told him his life was a lie, but Vakama was done caring what Matau thought. After nobody spoke for several seconds, Vakama turned and started slowly walking away. "If none of you mind, I need to contemplate my latest vision and try to figure out a happy ending. Otherwise..." He trailed off, shaking his head a little, not wanting them to know what he had seen.
"Otherwise what?" Nokama asked.
The redhead hesitated as he debated how best to answer. Finally, he glanced over and said the words he knew he had to say. "Otherwise Jaller won't be coming out of this nightmare with a father. If we can't come up with a plan..."
"Mihkoro is going to die."
