#mangai

It won't surprise most who were familiar with the Chronicler to know that the final topic of Kodan's research was in fact one of the Toa Mangai themselves, but I do at least hope that this record can provide some much needed closure for those of us who knew those featured in the account, and have spent the last millennium waiting for the answers enclosed within.

As you can imagine, the record begins in Metru Nui itself, after three of the Toa Mangai had been summoned for a seemingly mundane mission by the city's Turaga…

Kodan entered the room quietly, stone tablet in hand, so as not to disturb the conversation already in progress. Turaga Dume, leader of Metru Nui, sat behind his desk addressing the three Toa in front of him with the details of their latest mission.

"So why exactly are we closing the Sea Gates?" Valtruu, Toa of Ice, spoke up.

"I fear the Dark Hunters are growing bolder by the day" Dume said, getting up from his seat and walking out in front of his desk. "If something isn't done to fortify Metru Nui soon, they will doubtless take advantage and try to make the first move. We wouldn't want another war in our great city, now would we?" the Turaga said.

"I s'pose that makes sense, but why not just have the Vahki do it?" Valtruu countered.

Kanae, Toa of Plantlife, let out a scoff. "Those machines can't find their way to a charging port without methodical instruction" he said, before Dume raised his hand to interrupt the Toa.

"They already tried" he said, tossing a scrap of Vahki armor onto his desk for the room to see, "it seems they met some resistance".

Motara, the usually quiet and reserved Toa of Stone, spoke up for the first time since Kodan had entered the room. "Any chance you could tell us what to look out for, then?" he asked, unsatisfied with the Turaga's brevity.

"Feral Rahi, in all likelihood. Surely nothing for Toa to worry about" the Turaga said, brushing aside the Toa of Stone's concern before continuing. "You have your orders, now follow them. I have no time for further questions," Dume said dismissively, showing the three Toa to the door. "The safety of Metru Nui is my utmost priority, as it should be yours. If you have concerns, I shall hear them out after you've returned, when I have more time. For now, my attention is demanded elsewhere." he continued.

Valtruu shrugged, and followed his brothers out of the Turaga's office, with Kodan making sure to keep up behind them.

As the group exited the Coliseum, Kanae waved to the others and began heading off in the opposite direction. "I'm late for a thing in Ga-Metru, you guys can handle this one right?" he said in his usual nonchalant way, now that they were no longer in the presence of the Turaga.

"Yeah, shouldn't be a big deal" Valtruu replied, turning to speak to the Po-Matoran following close behind them. "You sure you've got time to join us, little dude?" he asked.

"A long, boring boat ride alone with the two of you? I wouldn't miss it for the universe," Kodan responded, smiling beneath his mask, as the trio set out to borrow a skiff for their mission…

The vessel skipped against the waves as it began making its way further from shore, while Kodan sat back to observe the two Toa making preparations for the mission ahead. Valtruu was standing towards the back of their skiff, steering the motor with his attention focused on the dome wall far off in the distance, while toward the front of the skiff sat Motara, checking over the stone-carving claws attached at his forearms.

Despite the two having known each other for many years at this point, Motara was the Mangai least familiar to Kodan, and to many others in the city as well. There were rumors of course, everyone in the city had their own theory about the background of this strangely colored Toa clad in striking silver armor, but rumors were all they were. What really sparked their interest wasn't just how foreign the yellow and black colored Toa looked, but the mask he wore.

Motara adorned himself with a sharp silver Great Mask of Power Scream, a mask whose power was normally considered immoral by the standards of Matoran society. In addition to the mask's long history of association with the brutal and fearsome Brotherhood of Makuta, the unholy shrieks it made when used were enough to unsettle even the sturdiest of individuals, leading to its almost unanimous rejection by Matoran society.

Despite this though, Kodan had never seen the Toa be anything less than upstanding in all his years of service to the city, which just made his choice in mask all the more perplexing. And now thanks to this mission, Kodan had the perfect opportunity to ask the Po-Toa all about it, without interruption…

After finally striking up a conversation with the Toa of Stone, Kodan soon found himself eagerly writing down everything he was hearing.

"It goes back many years ago, during the great war between the Brotherhood of Makuta and the League of Six Kingdoms" Motara began. "I lived in a small village back then, and had only just become a Toa in the months before the war started. We were able to keep our heads down and stay out of it at first, but once the League caught wind of our settlement they sent someone over to plant a flag down, and started telling us we belonged to them."

Motara reached his hand up to soothe an old scar on his shoulder, as if by reflex, before continuing. "I tried to fight them off, but they were too strong for just one Toa to handle. We'd almost given up hope of getting our freedom back, until one night, when a great warrior clad in silver showed up and ran the League's governor out of town with a legion of Rahkshi." He looked out over the side of the skiff, breaking eye contact.

"I know most don't think too highly of Rahkshi, and in truth I didn't either, but after that night we saw them as our saviors. Mostly though, we were grateful to their master, the silver warrior." Motara turned back toward Kodan, "I'm sure you can guess by the company he kept, but he was a Makuta, who went by the name Aruke." Motara touched his kanohi lightly before continuing.

"Unlike most of the Brotherhood who were occupied with grand military campaigns, or pursuits of glory on the front lines, Aruke and his troops made a point of seeking out settlements like ours, who were actually suffering under League occupation, and freeing as many of them as he could. I was so moved by the man's skill, grace, and honor that I pledged myself to his service right then and there."

"Lemme guess, he gave you that shiny armor to match his?" Valtruu chimed in from the back of the skiff.

"Eventually, yeah" Motara answered. "Makuta Aruke and I continued freeing League occupied settlements for the remainder of the war, and when it was all over and 'heroes' on the front got their accolades and fancy medals, nobody paid much attention to all the work we had done. Still though, Aruke was grateful for my help. He had this armor made special, so the two of us would match. Said it was a promise, not a reward. A promise that we would always be there to stand up for the forgotten and the oppressed, and a promise to each other, that we would never forget everything we had been through", Motara finished.

"So where is he now?" Kodan asked, "Why didn't you stay with your Makuta if you two were clearly so close?"

"I did, to an extent", Motara said, "we stayed in periodic contact for quite a while afterward."

The Po-Toa got up to stretch after sitting in the skiff for so long. "Then, after the Brotherhood took up the responsibilities left behind by the Barraki and were eventually assigned their own dominions, my home village fell within Aruke's new territory, and I was offered the position of his right-hand aide, which I humbly accepted." Motara said, sitting back down as the skiff passed over rougher waters.

"Things went well, until Aruke was summoned to a Convocation- a meeting of the Makuta. He was only gone for a few days, but when he returned, there was something… different about him." Motara reached up to touch his Kanohi before continuing.

"He was acting paranoid, doubling the guard at his fortress, checking rooms before entering… When I finally asked him what had happened at the meeting, he told me only two things: no one was to be trusted, and that things were changing in the universe."

"Well, that's not ominous at all!" Valtruu shouted over the wind and waves, still listening in from the back of the skiff.

Motara's expression soured, but he continued. "It was only a few days later, before I had gotten the opportunity to pry further, that Aruke vanished. For three days the fortress grounds were alive with search parties, all silent, hoping we might hear if he called out to us. Eventually though I was the one to find his body, sitting alone in his study- where it hadn't been just the night before."

Kodan spent a short while trying to find words. "I'm sorry," the Chronicler finally said. "Did you ever find out?" he continued, failing to fight back his curiosity, "What happened to him, I mean."

"No," Motara said, in a voice that was somehow both small yet louder than the crashing waves. "I figured his paranoia was right… The universe had changed, and that change, whatever it was, swallowed him up. Afterwards, everything Aruke had was transferred to another Makuta, as though he never even existed." Motara sighed. "Everything except for me…" he said, gingerly peeling the gleaming silver Kanohi from his face, taking a long look at it for himself, "And his mask…"

Motara's gaze was transfixed on the mask for some time. Kodan noted that, despite the maskless state of the Toa of Stone, there was a steely resolve in his eyes that failed to betray any weakness.

"I've been wearing it for myself ever since. Not just to honor what he stood for, but to remind myself of his last words to me" the Po-Toa said, before placing the mask back over his face.

"I spent the next few years moving around a lot, helping out wherever I could." Motara turned to the chronicler with a solemn look, before continuing. "Trying never to stay in the same place for too long, for fear that whoever killed Aruke would catch up with me too. That is, until I heard the Turaga's request for help, and came to this city." Motara said, looking back at the now tiny Metru Nui skyline behind them.

"For the first time in as long as I can remember, living in this place, being a part of this team… It's made me feel like I have a home again." He finished…

After Kodan had recorded Motara's story on his stone tablet, the trio sat in silence, reflecting on the Po-Toa's words, until they came in eye shot of the Sea Gate. As their skiff was slowing down on approach to the towering doorway, Motara noticed another vessel parked along the edge of the dome wall, and pointed it out to his comrades. Toa Valtruu, with his Great mask of Water Breathing, decided to dive beneath the sea of protodermis to get a closer look at the strange ship.

After a few minutes with no sign of the Ko-Toa, Motara was about to stand up and take a better look for himself. Before he could leap over the side of the skiff however, a towering monster of black and purple armor, with a grotesque face and four extra arms sticking up from behind its shoulders, stood up out of the water, igniting energy that crackled between its fingertips…

The record cuts off after that, though I think it safe to assume what happened next. As someone who lived in the city for many years, I've spent more time than I care to recall thinking on what I could have done differently to prevent the tragedies that occured, both to Metru Nui itself, and its honorable protectors. I often wonder, if I had stayed in the city rather than being convinced to set out on my travels by the false Turaga, if perhaps his deception could have been uncovered before it was too late.