Part Three

“Okay, if I’m right, the entrance to the Great Refuge must be here somewhere,” Tiribomba said, looking around the large temple area. He turned to Aodhan. “Imagine, a place where all Matoran will be safe from Makuta, and Bohrok, forever!”

“Uh huh,” his companion replied, unconvinced. “Last time we were here, a Rahkshi showed up. I’d really rather not run into any more.”

Tiribomba smiled. “Don’t worry. Soon, we won’t have to worry about them!” He spotted the Suva Kaita in the evening twilight. “Look! I think I see an entrance!”

“There could be more Rahkshi down there! I think we should explore more of Kini-Nui first before we go down any dark tunnels,” Aodhan suggested.

“Alright, I guess that’s a good point,” Tiribomba agreed. “We may have missed something.”

Unfortunately, their search proved fruitless. “I don’t see anything here,” Tiribomba finally admitted from the top of a rock, disappointed. “I think we should go down the tunnel.” When he didn’t get an immediate reply he hopped down, finding his companion. Aodhan was strangely focused on the night sky, where the seven spirit stars burned brightly. “What’s the matter?”

“I was just thinking about what Toa Tahu said…about how Ta-Koro is gone. We should have been there to help. Instead…” His voice trailed off.

Tiribomba frowned. “We are helping! We’re trying to find a way to save everybody!”

Aodhan shrugged. “Maybe we would do more good if we were with our friends.”

Tiribomba was quiet for a moment. Then he brightened a little. “Come on, you’ll feel better when we find the refuge.”

Aodhan didn’t say anything. But he nodded and followed Tiribomba underground.

✴        ✴        ✴

“I…I don’t like this place,” Aodhan said, looking around. The tunnels had led them to sickly green statues lining an underground cavern. “It’s dark and cold. It doesn’t look like a refuge to me!”

“Um, this is probably just the outside edge,” Tiribomba reasoned. “I’m sure it gets lots nicer inside.”

“Right,” Aodhan scoffed. “And Rahi just want a nice bowl of water and a pat on the head.”

“So you have seen fit to ignore my warnings,” the voice of Makuta rang out around them. “Then welcome, Matoran—welcome to the lair of Makuta!”

“Makuta?” Tiribomba repeated. “Oh no! We have to get out of here! This way!”

“No, the other way!” Aodhan shouted, running right into him. “To the right!”

“You cannot hide from the shadows,” Makuta roared.

The two ran away blindly, finding themselves in a separate room. “This doesn’t look like the right way,” Tiribomba muttered.

They found themselves looking at a tall, translucent-green pillar, covered in supporting minerals and rocks. “I don’t like the looks of these big tubes.” Aodhan remarked.

“You cannot hide in the shadows,” Makuta’s voice pursued them. “They serve my will.”

“You’re just angry because we’re going to find the refuge and you won’t be able to scare us anymore!” Tiribomba said confidently.

“You are in my refuge now,” Makuta laughed. “Here you will stay, while my Rahkshi find the Mask of Light.”

Aodhan turned to Tiribomba. “Did you hear that? We have to get home!”

“No, we need to find the Refuge! Come on!” Tiribomba ran off, leading Aodhan. But no matter where they ran, all they found were rooms with the same crystalline pillars.

“Oh, this doesn’t look right at all!” Aodhan said helplessly.

A chill of darkness ran through this section. “There is nowhere you can hide from the power of Makuta.”

“We’re not trying to hide!” Aodhan defended. “We’re…we’re…”

“Well, yes, we are…aren’t we?” Tiribomba realized. “The refuge is a place to hide from everything, instead of facing our problems.”

Aodhan looked down. “I…I don’t know…”

Though they hadn’t realized it, their pace had slowed to a walk. Tiribomba pointed at one of the many tubes in Mangaia. “What’s that?”

“It looks like liquid protodermis,” Aodhan replied, as they approached the glow, a silvery substance near the center of the room. “That’s the same stuff that turned the Toa into the Toa Nuva.”

Tiribomba stopped.

“Listen,” he began, “I’ve been thinking… Maybe there is a Great Refuge, and maybe there isn’t. But is the duty and destiny of the Matoran really to run away and hide?”

“But everyone would be safe!” Aodhan insisted.

“Maybe we aren’t supposed to be safe,” Tiribomba suggested. “Maybe we’re supposed to stand up for ourselves against creeps like Makuta.” He let his words sink in. “I think it’s time we returned to our friends.”

Aodhan hesitated. He nodded.

“I guess you’re right.” He nodded again. “That’s where we belong…”

CRASH!

The sounded reverberated all throughout Mangaia, startling Tiribomba and Aodhan. “The Toa of Light has arrived!” Makuta rumbled, shaking the room they were in. “I have no more time for you two. Go!”

The world changed around them, and then… “Hey! We’re back on the surface!” Tiribomba noticed. “We’re alive—we got out safely!”

“But did you hear what Maktua said?” Aodhan pointed out. “He said that was a Toa of Light! That must mean the Seventh Toa has come! The prophesied light has returned to the island, just in time!”

“Yes, now I know we aren’t meant to hide, but to fight and be free,” Tiribomba said confidently.

“Let’s find the others! We belong with our people,” Aodhan said. “Ta-Koro might be gone…maybe all the villages are gone…but as long as the Matoran stand together, like seven Toa, Makuta will never win!”

The two friends raised their voices to the heavens in a cry that would bring apprehension to even Makuta in the depths below:

“Unity! Duty! Destiny!”