Bitil silently nodded to the Rahkshi who opened the gate for him, and then headed straight for his watchtower. He stopped as soon as he opened the door: Antroz was inside, but her sword was drawn for some reason, and she was moving about in an odd, abrupt fashion.

"Antroz?" he asked.

She jumped, turning to face him. "B-Bitil? Is that you?"

He closed the door behind him. "Yes…what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Antroz said, quickly sheathing her sword. "It's nothing."

Bitil nodded slowly. "Alright. I see you made it back from your visit to the Sand Lord. Was it a fruitful encounter?"

Antroz shifted her weight. "…Somewhat. The Sand Lord wishes us to prove that we are worth allying with; specifically, she asked that we conquer Xia without killing any Vorox."

"Xia? That's not going to be easy…well, when Krika gets back, I suppose we'll have to start planning that assault."

Bitil walked towards the stairs. Antroz asked, "Where are you going?"

"To make an announcement."

He continued without offering anything more, so Antroz ended up following him. When they came to the top of the tower, Bitil used his Sonic powers to generate a sound like loud bells, and hearing this, the Rahkshi all stopped what they were doing and gathered together at the tower's base. Bitil took a deep breath.

"My children…I wish to apologize to you all."

A ripple of soft, confused hissing moved through the crowd below.

"We have suffered a great loss, and I have made incredibly poor decisions in dealing with it. There is no excuse for this. But, I am now ready to make amends."

The Rahkshi fell deathly quiet.

"In two days' time, at midday, we will hold a proper burial for your brother Virban, to honor his life so that he may rest in peace. It was a mistake not to do this sooner—I see that now. I ask that you all be there, and as details are decided I may ask some of you to help in the arrangements. I hope that this is acceptable."

The Rahkshi all hissed loudly. Hearing their agreement, Bitil smiled.

"Thank you all. If you wish to speak with me about the ceremony, please feel free. That is all for now."

His eyes combed through the crowd as it began to break apart. Turning to Antroz, he said, "I don't see Charla or Lady Zaekura anywhere. Do you know where they are?"

"Ah…I believe they went to investigate the lab Lord Velika uncovered," Antroz said.

Bitil nodded and took a step towards the stairs. "…You are welcome to attend the ceremony if you wish, Antroz."

She inclined her head. "Thank you, Bitil. Perhaps I will."

As he descended the stairs, he thought he noticed Antroz turn sharply, but he paid it no mind. He made his way down and out of the tower, back out the gate, and over to where the lab entrance was, informing the guards there of his decision before heading down into the earth to the massive hidden cavern. Zaekura stood over at the central terminal, with Charla sitting on a chair not far away.

"Pardon me," Bitil said.

Zaekura looked over her shoulder. Charla leapt to her feet, greeting, "Oh, Lord Bitil! Welcome back! Did…did you speak with Makuta Kojol? Was she of any help?"

"She was," Bitil said as he came closer. "Thank you for sending me, Charla. I am in your debt."

Zaekura turned fully, leaning back against the console and crossing her arms. "So, what's up? You must have something to say if you came out to find us."

"Indeed. Two days from now, we will be giving Virban a proper burial. If it is not too much to ask, Charla, I would appreciate your assistance in organizing it."

Charla was stunned for a moment. Then, nodding a bit, she said, "Yes, Lord Bitil. It would be an honor. Thank you."

"I also wanted to say I'm sorry. I now realize I've been acting a fool, and that it…may have given off the wrong impression. If that was the case, then I am truly, truly sorry."

"I know. Thank you, Lord Bitil. I think this is exactly what we all need."

Charla turned to Zaekura, who smiled at her. When she looked back to Bitil, he said, "And, Lady Zaekura…well, I am not sure how well you knew Virban, but…the Rahkshi all think very highly of you, and it would mean a lot to them…and to me, as well, if you were to be there."

"…Sure," Zaekura said. "I'll be there."

"Thank you," Bitil said, relief evident in his features. "So…what have you been doing down here?"

Zaekura grimaced, lightly striking the console with her knuckles. "Just messing around with this thing. Felt like I could use a distraction, but it still makes no sense; at this rate I'm only getting more frustrated."

"More? Did something happen?"

"Oh, right." She shifted a bit, averting her eyes. "Turns out my dad died when Nynrah was attacked. Fangs knew the whole time, but she only just told me. I'm pretty annoyed by that."

Bitil's eyes widened as he soaked in the information. "She…she what?!"

Zaekura managed a smirk. "Gotta say, getting reasonable reactions is honestly helping."

"Why that…! I'm so terribly sorry, Lady Zaekura. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Thanks, but no. I'll work it out on my own."

Bitil turned towards the stairs. "I can't believe she would keep that from you! I should shove her essence in a vial for something like this!"

"No, that's okay. I already gave her a piece of my mind, and I'm sure I'll have more for her later."

"Is that why she was acting so jumpy?" Bitil asked as he turned back.

Zaekura raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Jumpy?"

"I encountered her in the tower when I returned. She seemed flustered somehow, and even had her sword drawn when I found her."

"Her sword? What was she expecting to do with that? I haven't seen her since she told me the news, so I don't know what her problem is."

"If I may say so, having a 'jumpy' Makuta around sounds a bit…dangerous," Charla said. "Should something be done?"

Bitil thought for a moment. "Let's just keep an eye out. Unless she loses her mind completely, I doubt we have much to fear from Antroz. Leave her to face whatever unsettles her."

"No complaints here," Zaekura grumbled.

"Oh, that's right. She told me what the Sand Lord requested."

"You mean about Xia? Yeah, that's on the agenda." She paused a moment, then said, "But, don't worry about it right now: you focus on Virban's burial. After that, we'll start on an attack strategy. I, uh, could use a little breather as well."

"I'm sure." Bitil took a brief look around. "I think I'll be heading back, then. There's much for me to do."

He departed, and Zaekura turned to Charla once he was gone. "…You sure you're up to organizing this thing?"

Charla nodded. "Yes. I want to do what I can to honor my brother."

"I get that, but…weren't you feeling sorta conflicted? Have you worked through that?"

The Rahkshi looked down at her hands as she wrung them together. "…Not entirely, I suppose."

Zaekura stepped towards her.

"But, I want to do this! I won't get another chance—I can't lose it to hesitation."

"It seemed worse than hesitation."

Charla paused. "Well...either way. I want Virban to be honored, but depending on how that is done…it could only inspire more Rahkshi to sacrifice themselves. I don't want that to happen. So…if I am involved in organizing the ceremony, I can take precaution against it. Perhaps finding balance there will help me to settle my own conflict."

"…Alright," Zaekura said. "Good luck. And, you know…I'm here if you need me."

Charla nodded. "Thank you, Lady Zaekura. It eases my mind knowing I have your support."


Toa Kodan rushed across the street, shouting, "Makuta Yarion!"

The Makuta stopped on the sidewalk and waited for the Toa to catch up. "Apologies, Toa, but I don't have anything for you today."

"But Makuta, what about the artist that was arrested yesterday?" Kodan said, pulling a blank tablet from his satchel. "I saw the record update: you dropped the charges! Does that have anything to do with the rumors circulating about the criminal assisting Makuta Krika?"

"I do not know of any rumors. I simply judged the case to the best of my ability."

Kodan waved his hand over the tablet, willing those words to appear on its surface. "And is that your official statement?"

Yarion sighed. "Good evening, Toa."

The Makuta walked away before Kodan could say anything else. The Toa grumbled to himself, shoved the tablet away, and headed in the opposite direction. It was a short walk to his workplace, the Civitas Chronicle, and he was barely inside before a group of his employees swarmed him.

"Did you get a statement?" a Matoran asked. "You've gotta have something we can print, right?"

"Not exactly," Kodan said. "Makuta Yarion wasn't in the mood to talk."

He could feel them all deflate. An Agori asked, "What if we all meet up at Yarion's office tomorrow? They'll have to talk to us then, right?"

"It isn't that simple, Tarduk. If Yarion doesn't want to comment on a case, they don't comment on a case. Pestering them isn't going to change anything."

"But what are we going to do?" another Agori asked. "This whole Nynrah thing is blowing up bigger than any story I've ever seen, but no one has any clue what's actually happening! We have to tell the people something!"

Kodan shrugged. "Look, if we don't have the information, there's nothing we can say! We're not just going to toss out a column of rumors like those idiots at Voriki Post—admitting we have nothing to say is still better than that trash."

"Boss," said the Matoran, "the trash will outsell us if we don't have any way of competing with it. People are expecting us to tackle the Nynrah issue! We need an article about it, even if it's just an editorial."

Kodan rubbed his neck. "…Tomorrow's edition is already finalized anyway. Let me sleep on it, alright? I'll have a plan in the morning."

Dissatisfied murmurings came from all around as the crowd began to break. Kodan went to his office, shut the door behind him, and flicked on the lightstone perched on the corner of his desk. Setting down his satchel, he flopped into his chair and sighed loudly as he began to wrack his brain over what to do.

"Quite the conundrum."

The Toa nearly fell out of his chair. He became aware of someone standing by the far wall, a Toa of Sonics by the looks of it, watching him with an amused smirk.

"W-Who are you?" Kodan asked as he stood up. "How did you get in here?"

"Not important," the stranger said.

"I beg to differ," Kodan mumbled.

The stranger slowly paced across the office. "No, Toa Kodan, what's important is what I can do for you. I have a once in a lifetime opportunity for you, one that will bring the Civitas Chronicle notoriety the likes of which you could only dream of."

Kodan didn't say a word.

"What if I told you…that I could arrange an exclusive interview that would give insight into the truth about what happened in Nynrah?"

Sitting back down, Kodan said, "Oh I don't know. 'You must've heard us talking,' or 'Have you been pitching this to every news outlet in the region,' or 'I'll do whatever you want!' You're hoping for something like that, I'm guessing?"

The stranger chuckled. He came to a stop, staring at the wall for a few seconds before going on, "You've heard the rumors, yes?"

"I hear all the rumors. But I work in facts."

"I admire that. In the interest of full disclosure, I did investigate several other outlets before deciding on this one, but you are the first one I've actually approached. That dedication to printing only the verified is exactly why. You seek to keep the public informed, and take every step to avoid misinforming them. The Chronicle has been running for centuries, and not a single retraction! People trust you, Toa Kodan. They know that you would never invent a story to sell an issue, that even if the knowledge contained sounds farfetched, you would not be sharing it with them were it not true." The stranger faced him. "I'm the one who's been spreading rumors about Nynrah, about Krika, about Zaekura. And I've been doing that because they are true. The girl has been condemned for no crime, and Nynrah was razed because she would not turn herself in."

Kodan tapped a finger against his desk. "Am I to take your word for that?"

"No, of course not. Hence the interview. It mayn't be immediate, but if you are patient for, let us say, 1 to 2 weeks, I can arrange a meeting between you and Zaekura herself."

A long silence passed. Kodan's chair creaked as he leaned forward, setting his elbows on his desk and folding his hands before his face as he eyed the stranger carefully. The stranger chuckled.

"I wonder," he said, "do you not trust me, or are you concerned about the backlash interviewing such a high-profile criminal could bring?"

"Both," Kodan said. "Even if you're telling the truth, there would be a lot of questions about how I met Zaekura, and if I might be in league with her. If I'm not careful, that could ruin my entire business."

"It won't be that difficult, Kodan. You were already considering visiting Ga-Koro, were you not?"

"…What makes you say that?"

"You did say you hear all the rumors—of course you know that the citizens of Nynrah fled there. So, if you wish to learn more about the situation, it would make sense to at least consider trekking out there and seeing who you could interview. And what if, by sheer coincidence, Zaekura herself happens to be there, ready to answer a few questions?"

Kodan grunted.

The stranger approached the desk and looked him in the eye, saying, "Ga-Koro is neutral ground—you will have every justification you need to avoid suspicion. Well, save a few raving lunatics, but surely you're accustomed to dealing with those? This is your chance to shed light on the most dire issue of our millennium, perhaps our entire history. This is the only way the people will know the truth."

Kodan stared hard at him. With a sigh, he said, "I have to admit, you're making an attractive offer…but you still haven't proved that I can believe you. As far as we know, the only one working with Zaekura is Makuta Krika, maybe Makuta Antroz—I haven't heard anything about a Toa on her side. Who are you?"

The stranger grinned. Holding up one hand, he opened his palm, and the light from the lightstone suddenly shot over to it. This time, Kodan hit the floor.

"I'll contact you once Zaekura agrees to the interview," Krika said, closing his fingers around the ball of light. "Thank you for your consideration, Toa Kodan."

He clenched his fist, and the room was pitch-black. Kodan scrambled up, hitting the lightstone again, but when it illuminated the room once more Krika was gone. The Toa took a moment to catch his breath before he sat back down.

"Boss?" a Matoran said as she cracked the door. "You alright?"

"Uh, yeah," Kodan said. "Just, uh…lost my balance."

The Matoran snickered. "Hey, get your head on straight. We've got an important job to do!"

She was gone then, leaving Kodan alone with his thoughts. For a time he just sat there.

"Hey, Gaaki," he called as he walked out into the hallway. "How much money do we have set aside for travel?"


Antroz sat on the ground floor of Bitil's watchtower, her body still and her mind reaching just outside the walls that surrounded her. She could sense the Rahkshi going by, some working, some wandering, but nearly all of them thinking of Virban so strongly that she could read bits of it without even trying. One Rahkshi was recalling the battle, and how it had shocked them to see their brother slain so easily. A handful were standing around practicing with their weapons, talking of how they hoped to avenge him in the next battle. Many passers-by were simply excited or anxious about the upcoming funeral.

"And you, Antroz, are the reason he died," said the voice.

Antroz twitched, but then grew still once more. She reduced the range of her telepathy by only a little.

"Over two hundred sheltered minds, never knowing grief before now. But when you showed up, one of them died. Surely they blame you for it."

Her leg began to bounce. She continued to reel in her mind slowly, focusing more and more on the details of her surroundings and attempting to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"How many more are going to die? And not just Rahkshi. Toa, Glatorian, Agori, Matoran—so very, very many are going to die because you refused to follow your orders. All because you had to do 'the right thing'. Will they feel that gives their death meaning?"

Antroz's wings spread for a moment, closing in a few short motions. She could only sense her immediate area now, and though the range grew more and more narrow, still there was nothing of note.

"How wretched you are, Antroz. You've regressed to your most basic state of primal vanity. You don't even care about all the blood that will be spilled as a result."

Her mind was withdrawn now. She knew not what was around her, but still she could hear the voice, a voice without a body, a voice that could be anywhere, could be everywhere around her.

"I wonder what the visitor would say if he heard about what you were doing? This sounds an awful lot like what his Antroz would do."

Shooting to her feet, Antroz drew her sword and swung it in a circle around herself. She shuffled about, keeping her blade extended to try to ward off whoever was there, but knew she could do nothing more.

"Yes, that's all you are—that's the truth at the core of who you are, Antroz. You are evil. Nothing but pure evil. And nothing can ever change that."

Antroz put a hand to her head. "No! No, I am not! I am not!"

She swung her sword again. A moment later, she heard the door open, and she reached out with her mind as she whirled.

"What the karzahni?!"

Zaekura stopped where she stood. Antroz was on the other side of the room, but her sword was still pointed right at her, and the look on her face was unnerving.

"…Zaekura…?" Antroz asked.

Leaning back, Zaekura asked, "Who were you expecting?"

Antroz lowered her sword at once, turning away to cover her face. "I-I'm sorry. I thought…no, never mind."

"So this is what Bitil meant," Zaekura mumbled, tentatively moving inside. "Can't you find something better to do than stand around waving your sword?" She walked towards the stairs.

"I'm sorry," Antroz said quietly.

"Yeah, whatever."

Antroz turned and approached her. "Please, Zaekura! I'm sorry I hid the truth from you—it was a mistake! I didn't know what to do, especially with so much happening at once! What can I do to show you that I'm sorry?"

"I don't know!" Zaekura said, throwing her arms out. "I don't know what to do with this whole situation, and I don't know if I'm even going to figure anything out! If I do, I'll let you know, but for now just…" She sighed. "I don't know, just stop whatever this is! You're making everyone nervous!"

As Antroz prepared her response, she heard a noise and spun to face it.

"My gosh…"

Zaekura moved to climb the stairs. Antroz turned back and said, "W-Wait, Zaekura! I think there's someone here!"

"What, like you can sense someone?"

"…No, I can't sense them, but I hear someone speaking."

"Right now?"

"Not right now, no, only when I'm…" She hesitated, but nonetheless finished, "Alone."

Zaekura leaned against the handrail, staring at Antroz with a mix of frustration and disbelief. "So when you're alone…you're hearing voices? That's what you're telling me?"

"I realize how it sounds."

"Do you?"

"I am being serious, Zaekura! We must be vigilant until we understand what is going on!"

"What's going on is that you're losing your darn mind when we've only just—" Zaekura pulled back and cut herself off, grabbing her head as it throbbed. "…Look, if you're getting cold feet then just get lost. You've done nothing but make things worse anyway. No one here will miss you."

And then Antroz was alone again. She turned nervously, alert and ready for the next time the voice would appear, because she was sure that it would.


Over a kio away from the outpost, a lone figure ascended a dune and paused to admire the night sky. The Le-Matoran decided to sit down for a moment, unlimbering the scythe he carried as he did, and produced a cloth with which to clean the weapon.

"Nidhiki."

The Matoran swung his blade. It only passed through air.

"Calm down."

Nidhiki sighed, setting the scythe across his lap. He looked up to see his partner not far away, and said, "Will you stop sneaking up on me like that?"

"I did not sneak up. I merely came to where you are."

"Oh, shut up. Would it kill you to give a little more warning?" Receiving no response, he went on, "So, what is it? Got something good for me?"

"Antroz has been suitably affected. Her allies are beginning to grow wary of her, and she grows ever more erratic. The time approaches when we will be able to subdue her."

Nidhiki raised his scythe, letting the moonlight glint off its edge. "Yep, that sounds pretty good. Tell you what, why don't I sneak in tonight, take her by surprise while you distract her?"

"We would then be swarmed by Bitil's entire army. We are ill-equipped for such a task."

"Eh, I dunno, I might not be as quick as you but I think I could get in and get out before they have a chance to gang up on me."

"Do not ruin our mission with your foolishness."

Nidhiki sighed, setting his scythe back down. "Come on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go report back to the Keeper. Aren't you eager to tell him about a successful mission?"

"I am eager to tell him of a mission correctly executed. In order to do that, we must not rush things."

Grunting, Nidhiki got to his feet and started walking.

"Close in and wait for my signal. I will find the most opportune time to extract Antroz, and hopefully Zaekura as well. We may tread slowly for now…but our destination grows closer just the same."

Nidhiki waved half-heartedly and kept walking. Shortly, he stopped and looked back, seeing that his partner had already vanished. He gave a sigh and continued on his way.


ADDENDUM:

-Hm, still a little short. Sorry about that.

-I do my best to be serious about it but even I crack up whenever we get into a conversation with Rahkshi and I have to throw adverbs at "hissing" to simulate variety. I apologize for this design flaw.

-While trying to find the best way to fill this chapter while maintaining the pace I have in mind, having a scene showing Krika work on Zaekura's PR was the only sensible option, but I wasn't sure how best to do that. As I thought more about it, I realized rumors will only get so far and that proper news outlets are something one would definitely want on their side. Hence, the Civitas Chronicle. It seemed only appropriate for a Chronicler to be our point of view here, but Takua, Hahli, and Kopeke all have other avenues open to them, whereas Kodan…well, this is really all he has, so he got first dibs. Really, the guy's a blank slate. I'm not sure exactly how far he'll go, but I think he'll prove a worthwhile addition even if he ends up being a brief one.

-Let me tell you, I'm proud of myself for coming up with Voriki Post. I was wondering how Voriki could fit into this world or if I should even try, and then this hit me, and, yeah, perfect fit. For those who don't know: Voriki (Toa of Energy) was one of the very first prominent fake leaks that occurred throughout Bionicle's run, nothing more than a rumor and a photoshopped image that was pretty obviously fake…unless you were 9. He's sort of become the mascot of such lies, hence why he's associated with unreliable news here.

-Tarduk was more or less a random pick honestly. Gaaki has some experience with translation, which I felt was a skill that would be valued in this line of work.

-For the first appearance of the Odinans, it only seemed right to have Nidhiki, though since I already killed off Krekka in Gargoyle Knight I had to get creative with his partner. I won't reveal who the voice is just yet, but there's a hint or two hidden in there to point you in the right direction.

-I have a good idea of how the next few chapters are going to go, so hopefully they won't take too long? Yeah, I am currently sidetracked by The World Ends With You: Final Remix, but I have made good progress—won't be long before that distraction is done! Maybe. Here's hoping.