Epilogue

Nuparu ascended the stone steps of Kini-Nui at a dizzying speed. He had no idea why he had been summoned, but he did know who had done the summoning. Matoran from across the island were making their way to Kini-Nui, but the Toa had specifically summoned Nuparu, even sending Pewku to fetch him. There was only one request — that he bring the pieces from the Bohrok-Kal that he had salvaged.

But Nuparu knew that the person who awaited him at the temple was not the Takua he had fought alongside. This was someone else, someone more. The idea that a Matoran could become a Toa… it was inconceivable.

As the seventh Toa came into view, Nuparu held his breath. The golden armor of Takanuva’s form seemed to radiate. Gone was any semblance of the Matoran Nuparu had once known. It didn’t even look like this Toa had been a Matoran at all. Truly he resembled the six great heroes of Mata Nui.

He was a hero of Mata Nui. He just now looked the part.

The Toa noticed Nuparu. Turning he took cautious steps forward, still adjusting to his new growth.

“Thank you for coming, Nuparu,” he stated. “There is something I need your help with.”

“What do you need, great Toa?” Nuparu asked, saluting.

“Just Takua,” the Toa smiled, waving his hand. “Or rather… Takanuva. Nuparu, do you remember how I lost my memory around the time the Toa arrived at the island?”

“Sure,” Nuparu nodded. “Onepu told me. He was pretty disappointed you’d forgotten playing against him in the Great Ussal Race.”

“It took some time, but I remember my adventure to summon the Toa. And yet… I cannot escape the sense that there is more… more just beyond my grasp. A life I lived that has been lost to me.”

“All of us Matoran get that sense from time to time,” Nuparu shrugged.

Takanuva nodded. “Indeed. And when I put on this mask, I saw a glimpse of it.”

This got Nuparu’s attention. “You what?!”

“A glimpse,” Takanuva repeated. “Just a glimpse. I was a Matoran in a land I’d never seen before. An underground Matoran village that glowed with light. Someone very tall was speaking to me. I don’t remember what he looked like, only what he said.”

“What was he saying?”

“He was telling me that the day was coming when I would embrace a greater destiny. That I was to be set apart from the Matoran. I asked him what my destiny would be… he said the knowing would come.”

Nuparu shuddered involuntarily.

“He also said that if I had to face the evil, I would need to know how to track it down and face it in its land. So he took me, step by step, through the design for a vehicle that could.” Takanuva smiled and placed his hand on Pewku. “Sorry girl, but I’ve outgrown you a little. But this vehicle will be like a great Ussal… a Ussanui.”

Now Nuparu trembled with excitement.

“What was the design?” he asked. “Can you remember it?”

“I can, more or less,” Takanuva nodded. “And we will have to make due with what we have. You once rebuilt the Bohrok into Boxors, and now you’ve salvaged Bohrok-Kal pieces. We will need those… and those,” he gestured to the defeated forms of the Rahkshi. “Together they will give us what we will need.”