Gone. Without a whisper, without a trail—she had vanished into the white abyss. Matau stood alone, his heart shrouded in anguish, a lone sentinel beneath a sunless sky. His sister, Nokama, was nowhere to be found.
Far ahead, in the frozen waste, two ghostly blue flames flickered upon the horizon—distant, silent, unnatural.
"I shall search there!" Matau bellowed, voice cracking with desperation and wrath.
Thus began the cursed journey of the two Toa. Guided by the mysterious symbol, they ventured deep into the northern desolation.Hours passed. The land surrendered all warmth to the ice, a lifeless expanse entombed in snow and shadow.
"This forsaken tundra," Matau muttered, lips bitter with frost. "Nuju would have called it home."
Onward they marched, until the jagged maw of a mountain range loomed before them. The first ascent was harrowing, and in time they sought refuge within a cave. It was there that calamity struck.
From the dark emerged a beast—a monstrous Ash Bear, its eyes ablaze with primal rage. With a guttural roar, it lunged. Nokama, caught off guard, fell before she could summon the power of her Kanohi. The creature was slain, its black blood hissing upon the stone, but the damage was done: Nokama lay broken.
Matau, wings trembling, took flight into the storm-choked sky. The bitter wind clawed at his mask, but he pressed forward. He needed the Tiaki leaves, ancient herbs once revered by the healers of old. Without them, Nokama would perish.
Beyond two snowbound hills, a forest lay nestled in silence. There, among the skeletal trees, Matau found the Tiaki—emerald leaves with veins of light. He reached for them, heart pounding.
Then came the heat.
Without warning, the air ignited. Flames erupted with a supernatural fury, devouring bark and snow alike. The fire spoke of sorcery—of something vile and unseen. Matau barely escaped, the leaves clutched in his hand.
But when he returned... Nokama was gone.
Only the echoing fog greeted him, and within it, once more, those two blue lights danced. He followed, breath ragged, until he beheld them: figures clad in unknown armor, loading Nokama's limp form into a black-winged vessel, marked with a weird new symbol.
They vanished into the sky, and Matau was left beneath the pale heavens, alone in silence and fire.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Far from the icy hell, the two Toa Whenua and Onewa crossed into the realm of ruin. They ventured toward Creep Canyon, their footsteps heavy with foreboding. Their world, once sovereign and ordered, now trembled on the edge of shadow.
They crested the hill of Jovan, expecting to see the mighty gates of Toka and Whe-Nui.
Instead, they saw a city undone by war.
What had once stood proud was now a carcass of stone and steel, smoldering and shattered. Fires whispered through broken towers, and the wind carried the scent of blood.
They descended into the aftermath. Matoran lay fallen, twisted, and cold, their limbs strewn like broken idols. Entire quarters had been erased by flame, and through the smoke, walls screamed of violence.
Whenua's eyes narrowed. Something called to him in the patterns—lines in the rubble, symbols in the soot.
"If I align the fractures… there," he whispered.
His voice faded.
Onewa stepped beside him. "What is it you see?"
But Whenua did not answer. His gaze was locked upon a symbol burned into the earth:
A crimson "H" enclosed by a circle—marked by dread. Now everything was clearer...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The hour had come.
Fourteen bells remained before the mission commenced. Within the hollow spire of the Hero citadel, three champions made ready. Stormer, weathered and grim; Stringer, the ever-faithful soldier; and finally, the young Nex.
To Stringer, it was a command. To Nex, a trial. But Stormer… Stormer knew more.Makuro had told him. This was no ordinary campaign.
Their true purpose was veiled: to seek the last Protectors of the Ignika, the mask that once defied death itself. What remained unsaid haunted Stormer's every breath.
Before departure, he stood once more before Makuro. The elder's words were vague, but his intent cut through the silence:
"This mission is for something greater. Something beyond us all."
And as Stormer turned to leave, he caught Makuro gazing into the abyss of space. A knowing grin flickered across the old Hero's face. Another important thing to note was that time, there in Makuhero City, was warped. Within the realm of Solis Magna, minutes stretched like decades. Makuro had foreseen this, placing signal obelisks across the stars to bridge the tides of time.
* * *
Their descent brought them to Tesara—a jungle coiled in fog and whispers. A Hero awaited them. Five elite warriors joined their march. Their goal: to uncover the secrets of Protodermis, that ancient metal that shaped gods and monsters alike in the dead Matoran Universe.
But something stirred beneath the leaves.
Hours later, the forest exploded. The shockwave shattered branches and tore through stone. The source: the Checkpoint. Stringer returned with three guards to assess the damage, while Stormer and Nex pushed forward.
They returned to ashes.
The base was gone—a tomb of twisted wreckage and blackened earth. Something far beyond them had struck.
Then, from the veil of foliage, a voice rasped."Stormer…"
It was Stringer. Or so they thought.
What emerged was no Hero, but a beast. Towering, armored in cursed green, its spear hissed poison, and its crimson gaze bore into their souls. They fought, and the creature bled—but it did not die. It vanished.
The squad divided again. Deeper they ventured. And again, the monster returned. Nex fell, his armor shattered, his light dimming. Stormer, stricken with guilt, called for aid.
Nex was rushed to the Skrall River Stronghold, where time and science fought for his life.
Stormer stood in silence.
His quest for knowledge had summoned ruin.His pride had blinded him to the cost.And now, the jungle whispered of death, and a boy lay dying in its shadow.
The truth, Stormer knew, was buried somewhere beneath bark, steel, and blood.
And the darkness was only beginning to speak.