Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.
AN: HEY ALL :D sorry I haven't been on in a while. Got busy moving and life XD anyway here is a long awaited chapter 2 XD hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think.

Outside Ta-Koro, Rem POV

I was traveling with Takua, who I learned was the Chronicler, and his Ussal crab named Pewku towards the next village, Le-Koro. Turaga Vakama received word from the Turaga at that village that a Crystal Matoran from Ga-Koro arrived there the day before yesterday. I wondered who it might be, but I knew that I would find out once we got there. I sat next to Takua on Pewku as we traveled towards the border, and towards Le-Koro, and I opened up my pack to look at the prototypes Jaller helped make for me. They were still small, but they would work for now.

I snapped my head up towards the sky when I heard a faint humming sound. Takua didn't hear it and neither did Pewku as we continued on our way. I continued to look in the direction I thought I heard it from when I noticed something-or someone- in the trees. I blinked and they were gone. I looked back at the road and heard the humming again. This time Takua heard it too.

"Sounds like a Gukko bird," He said as Pewku came to a stop. Sure enough, one landed for a moment then took off again. I smiled as I looked at Phoenix. She smiled at us and walked over.

"Hey, you must be Takua," She said, looking at Takua. He smiled and nodded. "Good, can you change course and go to Po-Koro? Rem and I need to find our friend and I heard he was there."

"Sure, hop on and we can get going," Takua said as he and I made room for Phoenix. Once she got on, we continued on our way. "The path to Po-Koro is up ahead, and will be a short ride there." Phoenix smiled and looked over to me. I knew what she was thinking, so I shook my head.

"We don't need them to know just yet," I thought to myself, ignoring the conversation between Takua and Phoenix. I looked at the scenery around us as we went. "But if we wait too long, then they might not trust us. Either way, it is bad."

Phoenix POV

Once we got to the outskirts of Po-Koro, I noticed that there were more crystals here and used them to search around. Suddenly, I sensed something fast approaching us.

"Something is coming, and fast," I said. Takua looked over at me and smiled.

"Oh, then that might be Toa Pohatu," He said, still smiling. I mentally sighed at the sound of another toa. Gali was nice and all, as was Lewa, though he was a little too much like Storm, but toa are toa and the ones we have known have all betrayed us. Sure enough, a few moments later a toa varying in shades of brown, with hints of silver, came running up and stopping near us.

"Chronicler, and friends," He said, looking at all of us. "Glad you made it here safe, but how did you get past the Rahi?"

"Rahi?" Takua asked. "There was a Rahi around here?" The toa nodded.

"Yes, but it seems it left for now," He looked around then smiled. "Let's get everyone to Po-Koro. You two must be Rem and Phoenix. Storm has talked about you two." He chuckled as he walked next to us as Takua had Pewku continue on. Rem and I looked at each other, then up at him.

"Should we be worried?" I asked, a hint of humor in my voice. That made the toa laugh, deep and long. "Yep, we should." I looked at Rem again and he was busy planning something. The toa and Takua talked about many things and soon enough we made it to Po-Koro.

"Turaga Onewa wants to talk to you Takua, so go on ahead. I'll take these two over to Storm," Toa Pohatu said, smiling as Takua took off. "This way you two." He said to Rem and me and started walking towards a hut. Once we reached the hut, he nodded and left, probably to do patrol or something. I looked over at Rem and he shrugged, so I sighed again and we both stepped into the hut.

Elsewhere, Narrator POV

Four of the six toa meet up at the edge of Le-Wahi, Tahu, Kopaka, Gali, and Onua. Gali and Tahu brought the other two up to speed on what has been going on in their own Wahi. Once Kopaka and Onua were caught up, they began talking about the strange attacks they had all been under. Some of the attacks were done by rahi, others by Rahkshi, and the rest by something unknown to them all. However, all the attacks had one thing in common: the creatures were all unidentifiable and looked to be made up of shadow and darkness.

"It's too much of a coincidence that these three matoran show up and the attacks began," Tahu stated bluntly.

"Agreed," Gali said, "but they are still matoran, and if this… shadow creature is after them, then they will need to be protected just like all of the other matoran." They all nodded, agreeing to that statement. "Now, what will we do now?" No one answered for a long time, and even then the silence was only broken by the sound of an explosion in Po-Wahi.

By the time they had arrived, Pohatu was trying to get Lewa to safety and the three crystal matoran were scattered and cut off due to the shadow creature. The creature's form kept shifting, so it was hard to get a good description of it, but one thing was clear, it was after the three crystal matoran. It looked at all three, then it charged Phoenix.

Phoenix POV

The Jail Keeper's Creature charged at me. I froze and started to panic. Everything seemed to slow down and I suddenly realized that this area was full of crystals, even though they were buried far beneath the surface.

"I could do that," I thought quickly as the creature came closer, "but they may not understand us. They may- NO! No… We can trust them… I can trust them…" I made up my mind then, and used my elemental powers to draw up the crystals and create a small cave right below me so I can just fall thru and dodge the creature's attack.

Gali POV

I watched as the creature charged at Phoenix, and I knew that none of us had time to react. It jumped at her and crashed back down, causing dust and rocks to go flying. There was a horrible screech from the creature as it tried to get away from something. As it backtracked, I saw it shack off crystal shards, some of which had damaged it. I looked back to where it had crashed into and saw a jagged hole. I looked at my brothers and saw they were just as confused as I was.

"Where did Phoenix quick-vanish to?" Lewa asked, looking around a bit. The creature was just as confused as we were if the way it acted was anything to go by. It turned one way then the other, looking for any of the crystal matoran.

"Wait, where are Rem and Storm?" I asked, looking at where they were last at and saw two similar holes. "What is going on?"

"What's going on, young toa, is that three of my… prisoners… have escaped," A sinister voice sounded from nearby, causing all of us to turn towards it, weapons at the ready. The being was tall, much taller than any of us toa, his armor was a decayed green and brown, and his eyes were a sharp red. He wore a cloak that seemed to be made up of shadows and darkness and that hid his features. In his hands/claws were two whips that were long and durable, and had metal 'teeth' at the end so they could grip better and cause more pain. The creature moved and was now behind the being. "Now if you excuse me, I will just collect my prisoners and be on my way." We all just stared at him, surprised and a bit angry.

"Who are you?" I asked, staying prepared and ready for anything. "And what do you plan on doing to them?" The being only grinned a crazed grin that sent shivers down my back.

"Me?" He asked, almost playfully. "I am simply known as the Jail Keeper, and what I plan on doing is taking back what BELONGS TO ME!" He snarled and lashed out with his whips. We all dodged them, Kopaka and Onua landed near me on the being's right, and Tahu, Lewa, and Pohatu all landed on his left. However, that didn't stop him from letting lose his pet on them and turning towards us and attacked once more. I dodged, landing near where we first began, and he continued attack me only. Kopaka and Onua started to head over to help me, but had to change direction to help the others with the creature.

"Oh little toa," He said between attacks, "just hand over the three matoran and I will let you all l-AHHHHH!" He shrieked as crystal shards suddenly sprang up and attacked him. I saw an opening and summoned my elemental energy and attacked with a stream of water, making him fly back and into his creature. I quickly ran over to my brothers as the Jail Keeper and his 'pet' growled and ran off.

"What in Mata Nui's name quick-happened?" Lewa asked, out of breath. I shook my head and looked around for the matoran.

"No clue brother," I said, still looking, "but I think I know who might." I pointed at where the three matoran were climbing out of yet another hole in the ground and started walking over to them.

Phoenix POV

I stood to the side with Rem and Storm as soon as we had climbed out of the hole we made. I glanced at them and saw that they too had neutral expressions on. I knew that the toa would have questions about all of this and what had happened, but I didn't know if we would be able to explain everything. I wondered if they would try to use us as well as the Jail Keeper, or if they would help us.

"Phoenix," Gali said softly, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up at her, trying not to show how scared I truly was. She tried to come closer but all three of us backed up, keeping a distance between us and the toa. She sighed and stopped. "That… thing… was after you three and we need to know why. Please tell us, we can help you-"

"Yeah right!" Storm said suddenly, completely out of character for him, and I could tell Pohatu knew that when he winced. "We were betrayed by a toa who said the same thing, and look at where we are now! Slaves forced to mine and harvest crystals day in and day out till we drop dead!" Rem grabbed Storm and took him a bit away so he could cool off. It took a lot to get him mad, and a lot more to get me mad. I sighed and looked at the hole we had made.

"Storm's right," I said, looking up at all the toa, who were still shocked at his outburst. "He shouldn't have yelled it, but he is right. How do we know we can trust you all when we have been betrayed before?" I did my best to keep the fear out of my voice, but it was hard. I looked at the six of them, watching their eyes, trying to figure out if we could trust them.

"Phoenix," Gali said calmly, "you and your friends can trust us. You are matoran in need, and as toa we cannot stand by and just watch. I know we don't understand your situation fully, but please help us to understand." My full attention was on her as she spoke. I knew she spoke truthfully, but could we trust her? Could we trust them after all?

"I want to trust you," I said, looking at the six of them. "Believe you me, I do. But we are afraid that if you all knew what we were you would want to use us, like slaves…" I looked at the ground and had said the last bit in a very soft voice. "Your word means nothing to us… but you all have shown us kindness, and you all did try to protect us… Those were genuine actions…"

I glanced up at them as I looked back at Storm and Rem. They were watching me and nodded slightly, letting me know that they were with me and my decision. I looked back at the toa, and they, too, were just looking at me. They looked a bit confused, but were willing to wait for me to explain things. I took a deep breath and let it out before I started speaking again.

"It's hard to explain," I said, looking at them. "And it would be easier if we just show you. But the turaga need to be here as well…" I saw them nod, then turn and each headed back to their village, except Pohatu. He stayed with us as we waited for the others to return since we were near his village and he only had to use his mask power to get there and deliver a message to Turaga Onewa, then get back and wait for the turaga.

It was only an hour or so before all six toa and six turaga, and Nuju's interpreter, were all present. I was standing with Rem and Storm off to the side, talking about what we were about to do. I looked at our feet and saw three crystals. I picked them up and held them out to Rem and Storm, each choosing one and leaving the third for me. After that, we turned toward the toa and turaga, and prepared ourselves.

"We are known as Crystal Matoran," I said, starting the explanation. The toa looked surprised, but not as surprised as the turaga. I then held out my open hand with the crystal, and continued. "We have been in hiding because of what we can do. We feared others would want to use us, and that is exactly what happened to us. Despite everything we did to remain hidden, we were found out and turned into slaves.

"What we can do is control crystals, like you toa control your elements," I said, then levitating the crystal into the air and letting my hand fall to my side. There were gasps of surprise and murmurs. "As matoran, our ability is not that strong. But as toa, it is our stronger element. A Crystal toa is the only known toa to have two elements: Crystal as their main, and a secondary element." I brought my hand up and let the crystal fall into it. "Not all of us have this ability, only a little over half. Which is why we live in crystal caves and harvest them. Those who have the ability help create the caves and keep them from collapsing. Those without simply harvest the crystals." Rem and Storm demonstrated by creating life size versions of the Toa in perfect detail. I looked at the toa and turaga to see their reactions. All I saw was surprise and wonder. That caught me off guard. They were not looking like they just found an easy solution, or a rare prize. No, they looked like they just found a missing friend, or a plant or rahi that was thought to have vanished long ago.

"You telling us is a big leap for you in trusting us," Vakama said after a long silence. "We will not betray you, and we thank you for your honesty." There was a small smile within his voice, and that relaxed me, and Rem and Storm too. Somehow I knew he meant it. There was something about what he said that had me thinking back to that day. The day we were betrayed, the day that toa had said something similar, but not exactly the same as what Vakama had said.

Flashback

"Toa," I said, smiling and stopping the mining I had been doing to face him. He was easily three times my height, though on the small side for Crystal Toa, with dark purple armor and light pink highlights. His green eyes looked down at me as he smiled back. "You are back early. Where is your sister and brother?" I asked innocently, but I regretted it as soon as I had asked. He looked away, sad, and soon I was sad.

"They are gone…" He whispered, still not looking at me. This was the first bad feeling I got about him, but I ignored it. "We were ambushed… They were killed… But do not worry, little one… you are safe here, the others will be here to help… they will not betray you…" He had whispered the last part before leaving me and betraying everyone to the Jail Keeper and his pet.

End Flashback

There was another period of silence, which I took to look back at Rem and Storm, and I saw them relaxed. Not looking behind in fear, but forward in happiness. I smiled a bit and turned back to Vakama.

"You mean what you say," I said, more in statement than question. "And I thank you for that. It's been so long since we could trust others, but we trust you all, now." I gave a small bow to them. "If there is anything we can do to help around, just ask." I smiled, truly smiled, then and looked at them all. Some were smiling back and the turaga nodded back.

"We will need information," Vakama continued, happier it looked like. "But for now, I think we should all rest. Tomorrow you can tell your story." I nodded again and, as he turned to talk with the other turaga and toa, I was suddenly tackled from behind. It was Storm, smiling and just playing around as usual, which sparked a little match between him and I. By the end of it, nearly every one there was laughing. As we walked back to Po-Koro, I realized we had found a place to call home and had real friends again.

Unknown POV

The crystals pulsed from where the three left them when they went to sleep. The pulsing is what awoke me from my tormented slumber. I looked at the window I kept open on them and smiled sadly a bit. They got the crystals, now it is only a matter of time till they made their choice.

"Please choose wisely," I whispered, drifting off again. "And Hurry."