Prelude
Chapter 1 {Drowned Might}
(Parallel universe 0-119g, one-thousand years ago)
“Long Ago on a Island known as Xia home to the Vortixx, a young aspiring warrior Queta, climbed up the deadly sentient mountain with another in a rite of proving and returned by her lonesome, when she was asked where her companion was she told them that she slew him in one on one combat at the summit showing them his sword as proof. Although they had no use for a warrior among a race of manufacturers and salesmen they accepted her nonetheless. Queta would continue to grow in fame for her near unbeatable technique and own creations of high quality weapons and armor that were renowned for their superb quality and durability that matched the warriors own battle prowess. She would remain undefeated in combat until one fateful day she stood against a Makuta wearing a antlered mask and wielding a otherworldly staff of power, after a lengthy duel that lasted four four days straight the Makuta came out on top glaring down at her as she struggled to remove his foot from her chest “Pathetic, this is the one my Lord chose to sire? you are not deserving to serve the greater purpose...not yet” he raised his staff unleashing entropic power from his staff vaporizing a portion of the city, “We will meet again when you are worthy to stand before me again and until you defeat me, you are nothing but dust under my foot.” Suddenly he disappeared leaving only his staff behind in her lap, ahead of her the entire city burned a sulfur green and she felt a immense shame build up inside of her, she was suppose to protect the people and instead she got them all killed for some selfish act of glory. Queta had lost everything, her home, her reputation, and her people’s trust, she decided that the best course of action would be self exile to the outskirts to train harder so she could fight that Makuta again and restore her honor.
Wherever she went the Makuta’s staff would follow her, showing up in places she least expected it to reminding her of her failure so she would destroy it wherever she found it, she would snapped it over her knee and smash the pieces until they were dust, melted the thing down into slag, throw it off the nearest cliff and even fed it to The Mountain, but it always kept coming back no matter how many times Queta would dispose of it she would wake up the next day and it would be sitting next to her. Any merchants she sold it to would immediately be returned in the next few hours, saying that she wanted it back despite not being there. once she brought it to another Makuta in hopes of finally be rid of it, the next day surely enough the staff was beside her and of the Makuta? his metal chassis was split open with strange green fumes and plants coming from his chest, she gave up trying to get rid of it afterwards.
One day while training with spears in a old Xian ruin one of her spears went over a wall and when she went to retrieve it a tall eight armed being with a single glowing eye stood gazing out at the ruins. without turning around it spoke to her “War Child Drowned Witch, you have been chosen for the greater purpose what is your wish?” Drawing her favored axe she attacked the being at the mention of the greater purpose, to her surprise the blow never landed instead it was stuck inches away from it’s featureless mask now staring at her expectantly, again and again she attacked the entity growing more frustrated as none of her attacks had landed and the being had not once attempted to attack “Fight me already coward! stop. hiding. behind. your. magic!!!” she shouted at the entity who sighed taking a seat on a nearby fallen pillar offering a seat to her beside him. She responded by smashing the pillar next to him with her axe expecting it to fall on him, where she became trapped under the collapsed pillar instead. For the next couple of minutes she thrashed under the column before she dropped her axe exhausted and ready for whatever fate this strange thing had in mind. to her astonishment the being lifted the stone off of her with little effort and offered it’s hand to her asking again what her wish would be, this time she took up it’s offer making a wish to be stronger so that no one will ever defeat her again. the strange entity introducing itself as The Prodigal gave her a map to somewhere on the far side of the island “On this map you will find a warrior much like yourself on your journey you must fight all that challenge you, once you reach him challenge him to a one on one duel, he will be wearing a suit of armor, take it and your wish will be granted.”
years passed before Queta, now covered in trophies from all who challenged her on the way just as the Prodigal said to finally reached a cabin in a quiet woodland part of Xia strangely it was somehow untouched by the mass industrialization by her species. inside was a old Vortixx soldier dressed in a ornate suit of armor sitting at a table “Hello young one have you come all this way to chat with an old one like me? or are you here for this?” he gestured down at his armor “How did you know about my quest?” she asked surprised at his reaction, the elder shook his head “Seventy years ago, a glowing eight armed creature straight from the old stories came to me in the middle of the night and gifted me this suit of armor, it said as long as I wear it no sword shall pierce my heart, arrows will shatter against my will and magic falters against my aegis until a stranger comes to my home and slays me, ever since my twenty year crusade to slay every known creature in the universe I have not once found the so called ‘chosen one’ and now that I am old and weak you stand here as prophecy decreed at the behest of something you barely understand…” Queta could barely believe what she was seeing this was the warrior The Prodigal had sent her to slay? he looked like he could barely walk much less wield a sword, before she could answer he spoke again “I know what you are thinking, is it really the right thing? To slay an old man who can’t fight for the armor on his back? let me tell you a secret that i've never told anyone else, this armor…it-” his words were cut off by sudden violent convulsions and choking, Before Queta could help he went limp in his chair and collapsed on the floor lifeless. This sudden death shocked her to her core but regardless she knelt over and removed the gilded crimson chest armor from his body, she checked for any signs of poisoning but found nothing, not even a trace of venom until she noticed familiar green fumes coming from his mouth…
The next morning she buried him behind his home and but on the armor expecting to feel a surge of power but felt nothing. Her journey back to the city would be uneventful until halfway to the front gates she could feel a strong bloodlust building inside of her it boiled and seethed inside her until she found herself in the city center where she could hold it no more. With a war cry she loosened her axe on the closest crowd of people… When the red blur faded Queta realized with horror what she had done, in her rage she had slaughtered hundreds of innocent people and law enforcement officers without so much as a scratch, their corpses lining the streets cold empty eyes all staring back at her. Queta fled the city and out towards a cliff overlooking the sea the Makuta’s staff hummed on her back seemingly mocking her for her failure. ignoring the screaming voices in her head she cast herself into the water below, as she sank below into the abyss she swore she could see the Prodigal hovering above and as she blacked out the name it had given her earlier “Drowned Witch” became clear…
Queta awoke in a deep black inky space where beside her The Makuta from years past, The Prodigal, and a strange grotesque being with a nightmarish grinning mask floated beside her kneeling. in front, a impossibly large Primordial creature overshadowed them, gleaming eyes casting light on her and when it finally spoke it’s voice shook the very fabric of reality “W E L C O M E, W A R R I O R. O F. T H E. V O R T I X X… Y O U. S H A L L. B E. K N O W N. A S. QUETANÛL. M Y. M I G H T… Y O U. S H A L L. B E. K N O W N. A S. W A R. I T S E L F… R I S E. F R O M. T H E. D E E P… R E B O R N.” Queta of the Vortixx died beneath the waves of her home island, and Quetanûl, Might of the Leviathan rose from her ashes filled with greater purpose.
Chapter 2 [Escape]
Quetanûl hated it, the waiting…the Insufferable waiting in the large empty wet pit under the shadow of the Zigguraut, a temple dedicated to the artifacts, spoils of conquest and treasure horde the other Jewels brought back. She did not wish to spend her day standing guard in front of some dusty old temple when she could be destroying another of Ahnvokhan’s devices, He would place them near her territory as some sort of communion ritual with the five suns in the sky which were supposedly the actual eyes of the Leviathan itself according to her knowledge. These conduits made a irritating buzzing noise day in and out that drove her crazy forcing her to leave her post to smash the blasted things wherever she found them. To her anger and resentment, when Ahnvokhan came to repair or move them he would refuse to fight her no matter how hard she tried and eventually the buzzing continued.
Currently one of these emmiters lay crushed under her foot leaking a bluish green substance “Vile putrid witchcraft…AHNVOKHAN!! SHOW YOURSELF! FIGHT ME SPINELESS SCHEMING COWARD!!!” her challenge echoed across the canyon drowning out the sounds of the waterfalls around her “I challenge you to one on one combat! do you accept?!” when no answer came she snarled and clenched her fist around her battle axe before kicking the crumpled device off the bridge into the water below and stalking into the building. Inside she entered a large chamber filled to the brim with golden treasures from countless civilizations that gleamed in the light like the midday sun. Among the many golden coins and widgets were gilded helmets and swords from many a great warrior, glittering gem encrusted pots and plates taken from vanquished kings and lords, a golden throne made from melted swords of unknown origin, a platter full of glowing rings that she knew not what they were for, various kanohi masks of all kinds and their various colors standing out from the rest of the horde scattered in a field of gold, but Quetanûl cared little about the riches that surrounded her for her target was a cube in the center of the horde. Inside the cube after shoving open heavy steel doors was a single engraved golden mask sitting on a pedestal overlooking a star-map shaped like a crown, two of the gems representing the worlds that each member of the Crown controlled were shattered leaving only four left, the one labeled ‘Hand’ was a hellish derelict of the great spirit robot that once held the matoran universe, that world had once belonged to Karzahni, a insane tyrant who was ‘blessed’ like her by the Leviathan’s personal errand runner, the Prodigal to control that particular section of the universe, although she didn’t outright despise the deranged little goblin thing she kept her distance from him when he was around. The other lost world, the Cryptex belonged to the aforementioned Prodigal, a being she would very much like to strangle with her own hands if she could, it was the entity responsible for changing her life and gracing her the life she had now. Quetanûl Breathed in and out calmly before punching a wall next to her leaving a sizable crack in it “If you were going to wreck my home you could’ve at least said hi first.” a voice coming from the pedestal said Quetanûl sighed before slumping her shoulders “My apologizes Zillusai, I did not mean to disturb your rest, today was very stressful and I needed to vent my frustrations.” The mask turned around on it’s pedestal and spoke “Ahnvokhan again? yeah you and me both, that creep and his creepiness get on my nerves, if I had legs…or arms I would go out there myself and give him a piece of my mind!” The talking mask was a Jewel itself, the Eye of the Leviathan, The Kanohi Zillusai, mask of Equilibrium, the mask had been created by a ancient extinct race for the sole purpose of killing the Leviathan, unfortunately for them the mask was stolen and it’s creator’s soul was torn from their body and placed inside her own creation to stare at a star-map for all eternity it would seem, Quetanûl felt pity for the sentient kanohi mask, she would visit the mask chamber every day after the five suns in the sky went out of sight to simply talk about their thoughts and feelings on the strange world around them, it at least kept the both of them sane. The Might and The Eye would share stories about their past lives and what the world outside was like since Zillusia could not leave the room she was in and was unable to be moved lest the rest of her fellow disciples know. “Zillusia, you know you cannot leave this room, and even if you could the others will hunt you down and place you back here.” Zillusia sighed and turned back to the map “I know but I can dream right? even though I haven’t slept for several eons.” a faint buzzing could be heard outside that Quetanûl was all too familiar with, the Voice had set up another of those amplifiers while she was inside…no doubt on purpose just to irritate her. “Stay safe out there…maybe today you’ll get that worthy opponent you always wanted?” The Might couldn’t agree more, even though she knew she would win thanks to the enchanted armor she wore that made her nearly unbeatable, it had taken decades but she had finally gotten the bloodlust that came with it under control. Prehaps some day a challenger would finally defeat her and take the armor as a trophy but until that day came…She was Quetanûl, Might of the Leviathan, the Drowned Witch, guarding a temple forevermore until the end of time.
Chapter 3 [Powerless]
“Another day another job right?” Sylus shouted over at Touraz who took cover behind a opposing rock, The pre-Skakdi fired several shots from his tri-blade launcher “Yep, just another day of almost dying…again no thanks to you.” They had been sent on a mission to stop a raging Tatorahk; a creature of massive proportions from wrecking the AREO shipping company transit center. How the titanic kaiju-like Rahi escaped it’s shipping pen was not important, what mattered now was keeping the enraged beast from leveling another warehouse. “AREO would be more than willing to pay us if we can keep their business from being flattened, who ordered that thing anyways? was it going to a circus somewhere?” Touraz asked as he adjusted his goggle scope to line up another shot. The beast didn’t even notice the blades entering it’s thick hide until they exploded causing it to roar in pain and turn around. A sudden buzzing from Touraz’s belt stopped him as he was taking another shot at the beast, putting the weapon aside he pressed the switch on his jury-rigged radio and was met with a rough voice on the other side “Rifleman! it’s time…send Sylus back here immediately!” ‘Rifleman’ was the code name given to him when he joined the Dark Hunters after his partner Izrahm perished at the claws of the Marendar two years ago when she joined Sylus and the other Hunters in a siege on the old Terrashire trade center to stop the Monstrosity, Karzahni from stealing divine power from the Prodigal of Salvation and afterwards A Makuta who sought to rewrite time itself, the battle cost many Hunters their lives and The Prodigal’s as well when the monster. “AREO probably wont pay us anyways if I know them, so just tell them that if they don’t pay up what they owe…then well, you know what happened to Sundar…” Touraz shuddered at the thought but remembered why he joined in the first place, to see the Sundar Metal-Works burn to the ground after they took everything from him. turning off the radio he called over to the toa “Hey! the boss says you need to haul back at hq pronto!” without another word Sylus left the Tatorahk just as it smashed another building and leapt on his motorbike, a gift from an old friend…and donned his mask of mechanics. he was long gone by the time the massive beast fell, tripped by netting from one of Touraz’s weapons, it’s fall heard all across the wasteland as Sylus traveled to New Odina, the base of The Dark Hunters.
Gadget was hard at work with the counterfeit masks of elemental energy, he had already fixed five of them to weapons in Hunter hands and had eight more in reserve fresh off the workbench. What the Shadowed One had entailed to him, his plan to use these masks to extract Sylus’s mysterious new power of elemental deflection to outfit his warriors with these abilities, interested him, such potential…limitless possibilities…as for Sylus once he was drained of his power? the Dark Hunter leader had specifically given him permission to use the toa as a test subject in any way he pleased which was good enough compensation for him, it was only a matter of time until…
Sylus pulled up to New Odina and entered the front gate.
Chapter 4 {Dameta’s Bizzare Adventure part 1}
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Chapter 5 {Handed to Madness}
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Chapter 6 [The First Trial; City of Judgement]
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Chapter 7 [Honor bound]
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Chapter 8 {Dameta’s Bizzare Adventure part 2}
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Chapter 9 [The Second Trial; Might’s Retribution]
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Chapter 10 {Sightless Servitude}
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Chapter 11 [The Third Trial; Garden of Hands]
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Chapter 12 [Ghosts of the past]
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Chapter 13 [Iron Will vs Relentless Odds]
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Chapter 14 {Dameta’s Bizzare Adventure part 3}
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Chapter 15 {a Puppet to be Judged}
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Chapter 16 [The Fourth Trial; The Miasma of Dispair]
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Chapter 17 {Hymns of the Damned verse 1}
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Chapter 18 [Hidden]
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Chapter 19 {Dameta’s Bizarre Adventure part 4}
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Chapter 20 {Doxology in Eternity]
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Chapter 21 [The Summit of Forever]
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Chapter 22 [The Fifth trial; Spire of Sight]
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Chapter 23 [Tizonak reborn]
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Chapter 24 [The Voice of reason]
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Chapter 25 {Dameta’s Bizarre Adventure part 5}
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Chapter 26 [Witch’s Lament]
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Chapter 27 [Anvokhan]
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Chapter 28 {Hymns of the Damned verse 2}
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Chapter 29 [a moment of quiet for where we have gone before…]
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Chapter 30 [Leviathan]
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Chapter 31 [THE. WORLD. IS. ENDING.]
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Chapter 32 [DO. NOT. DO. THIS.]
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Chapter 33 [YOU. DO. NOT. KNOW. WHAT. IS. COMING…]
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Chapter 34 [YOU. CANNOT. STOP. IT…WHAT. YOU. WILL. DO. CANNOT. BE. UNDONE.]
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Chapter 35 [STOP, IT. HURTSITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS]
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Chapter 36 [WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE?]
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Chapter 37 [Banished]
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Chapter 38 [The Aftermath]
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Chapter 39 {The Will to press on}
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Chapter 40 [~Understand. Adapt. Improvise.~]“