âThe ocean is healing.â
Thatâs what she kept insisting.
I had met up with a group of Toa I had worked with in the past and Maa immediately recognized that I was not in as good condition as I had been.
Indeed, my armor was a heavily saturated brown, as opposed to the burnt orange it would turn after longer exposure to the Spherus Magna sun. My new role largely had me working in Matoran settlements around the Bara Magna region, giving me less time to be out in nature as I probably should be.
âI believe you,â I said, shuffling awkwardly across the beach. âBut if the waves knock my mask askew, Iâm done.â The sands of the beach was markedly different from the sands of the desert I call home. Itâs missing that layer of rock beneath it that ties it back to its source. The beachâs sands are loose, ever shifting and more effort to navigate than I would have liked. As we approached, I struggled to envision how I would occupy my time bobbing around in the ocean. Thatâs when Maa revealed the extra mask she had been carrying.
âI brought a Kanohi Kaukau for us to share between the team! I thought it would be fun to see if we can see any integration between the sea beasts of Spherus Magna, and our Rahi!â Maa had been a Toa for a long time. So long so that I am still surprised to see that she has not made the transformation into Turaga every time I see them. One might mistake her for a Toa of Water, what with her fondness for the sea, but the gold bands on her Kanohi and armor denoted her as a Psionic Toa. She used her power judiciously to determine what was best for the mental state of her team, despite any outward facade. That had been me during the trip out here. She was right. I needed the time to heal.
The rest of the team took turns with the Kanohi, looking around the tides for interesting signs of life. I waded out into the ocean to join them, minding my step as to not disturb the ecosystem more than necessary. Something that took some getting used to on Spherus Magna was the abundance of small organisms. Most everything inside the old Matoran Universe was large. The bugs, the frogs, the crabs. The revelation that the creatures on this world underwent something called âevolutionâ, as opposed to being designed by a creator had been a difficult one for most of us, but it made them fascinating in a unique way.
âJasui, why donât you give it a try?â One of the other Toa insisted after taking a turn. âI know youâll enjoy it.â Again, she was right. My dour demeanor could hide nothing from the team. I took a moment to admire the mask in my hands. The Kanohi Kaukau was a striking design with its visor and layered, curved top. The Agori say it has âstyleâ. âCome on, whatâs under the water is gonna be waaay more interesting than the mask, I promise!â
I let out a lighthearted laugh as I swapped my own Kanohi with the Kaukau. Other Toa have described feeling a sense of security in the water just from wearing it. Maybe it was my own fears, maybe it was the fact that I had never worn one before, but I felt no such thing. I stared at the water for a moment behind the maskâs visor, knowing consciously that I would be fine while submerged⊠I just had to convince myself.
Out of habit, I took a deep breath in, and curled down, wrapping my arms around my knees. If I felt so out of place, I should do as the stones of the ocean do and simply sink. The view was immediately captivating. Fish, smaller than any I had ever seen darted about. A flat creature, previously cloaked in the sand rocketed away from where I had landed. The feelings of wonder momentarily gave way to panic. I had not been breathing. On a conscious level, I knew I was wearing the Kanohi Kaukau but every instinct in my body told me not to open my mouth. I saw the shapes of the other Toa gathering around, peering below the surface at me. I closed my eyes, focused on the feeling of the sand underneath me, and took a breath in.
Relaxing was still not easy, but I was now past the hardest part. Breathing with the power of the mask, I began to explore the sandy floor with better focus. The small, Spherus Magna fish swam in tandem with a Ruki fish from our world. The larger fish seemed to serve as a leader, or maybe even a bodyguard. Perhaps the larger size and protodermic scales of the Ruki dissuade the predators that would hunt this fish. Perhaps the creativity of the Makuta was intentionally influenced by the Great Beings to recreate the beasts of their world. Could the smaller fish feel some sort of connection to the Ruki, or was it just convenience? It was known that the Matoran people were based on the inhabitants of Spherus Magna. How deep did our connection go?
I was getting lost in the moment. There would be time later to ponder the Great Beings. I had to admit though, the experience was rejuvenating. As the day went on, I did find myself genuinely enjoying my time at the beach. I began to realize why Maa felt that the ocean was healing. Here, there was no conflict. The crash of the waves had no malice and the creatures had no agenda. There was nothing to fix and no one to protect. Just time to be. My only duty here was to enjoy myself.