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Now at this point it should be explained; Directly south of the Av-Matoran complex surrounding the Ignika’s vault was a prison for those who had endangered the health of Mata Nui by damaging his body, the Matoran Universe. I’m not sure whose idea it was to place such liabilities near such a vital artifact; If this was an intentional choice or not, I dunno. When the Great Cataclysm occurred, the Pit’s walls shattered, as the waters of Aqua Magna flooded in. By fate, these waters had been irradiated by diluted Energized Protodermis conduits and grids; This caused the water to mutate those who breathed it in, and the released prisoners were both cursed and blessed with the ability to breathe underwater... As well as monstrous new bodies.
The Prisoners of the Pit escaped out into the ocean, south of the Matoran Universe, and towards Mata Nui’s legs. Along the coastal shelf where Mata Nui’s chest and waist met (also the shelf the Pit had been contained inside), six prisoners took command; The Barraki, former kings of the Matoran Universe, once divinely-ordained by Mata Nui. With the guidance of Ehlek, who was already experienced to ruling underwater, the Barraki and their armies constructed a massive fortress alongside the coastal shelf, directly beneath the Pit.
They ruled for a while... Until the massive shadow of Voya Nui passed by overhead, the currents of the Great Whirlpool pulling it North of the Barraki Fortress, atop the coastal shelf. Voya Nui blocked out any and all sunlight like a grave omen; And then it followed through on this promise when Mount Valmai’s eruption dislodged a chunk of the island. This fragment plummeted into the depths and smashed the Barraki Fortress into oblivion. Later named Mahri Rock, this fragment found itself supported both by the coastal shelf it leaned against, but also by the remains of the Barraki Fortress it rested upon.
The Barraki were incensed, Ehlek in particular, and they cursed Voya Nui and the stone it had cast down upon them, as if hurled by Mata Nui’s own hand. Meanwhile, the rest of Voya Nui continued floating onwards towards the Great Whirlpool... But as mentioned, it was Mount Valmai’s eruption that caused Mahri Rock to break off. This exposed underground magma channels, which then oozed, dragged, and stretched out, connected to Mahri Rock. Exposed to Aqua Magna’s cooling waters, this magma thread connecting Mahri Rock and Voya Nui rapidly cooled, becoming a Cord of stone that chained the formations together.
Voya Nui stopped against the pull of this Cord, with Mahri Rock on the other end acting as an anchor, catching against the coastal shelf. The Great Whirlpool pulled Voya Nui towards its center, but the Cord held on, preventing it from reaching its destiny. Thus, Voya Nui remained in place, pulled in opposite directions by the Great Whirlpool and the Cord.
When the Ignika’s vault was ejected out of Mata Nui’s body, it also tore out with it parts of the Av-Matoran complex that had surrounded the structure. Thus, while some Av-Matoran fell into Karda Nui, others ascended with the Ignika onto the surface of Aqua Magna... And were killed by the massive force of this journey, alas. Their bodies were wrecked, torn apart, and mangled; But the Ignika sensed that it had missing Matoran workers. So when it released a wave of Life energy, not only did this energy interact with the camouflage systems to create Voya Nui;
They also went into the jumbled parts and corpses of these Av-Matoran. New life surged into these mangled pieces and haphazardly put them together into a new variant of Matoran, born from the remains of the dead. Having died, these parts lost their elemental affiliation, and thus were replaced by new, standard elements when the Ignika breathed life. These newly-made Matoran of Voya Nui were frail compared to regular members of their species, given the circumstances of their creation by an admittedly clumsy application of raw Life.
They found tools left over by their predecessors, transformed by the Ignika’s power into enchanted weapons- These Matoran, though they did not know of it, were tasked as unwitting guardians for the Mask of Life, with a desire to stay and protect their home. Using their tools, the Matoran tunneled our into the earth surrounding their tunnels of birth, and emerged out onto the surface of Voya Nui. They had some leftover knowledge from the salvaged brains of their Av-Matoran predecessors- Thus they had vague, general ideas of Mata Nui as their Great Spirit, as well as Toa who were meant to protect them, but were alas absent.
These Matoran were forced to adapt on their own, and built the city of Mahri as their home. They managed to somewhat thrive in Mahri, but then as mentioned before- Eventually, Mount Valmai erupted. The city of Mahri, as well as those dwelling within it at the moment, sank alongside a fragment of their disconnected island. By some miracle, huge quantities of oxygen had been trapped alongside this fragment later named Mahri Rock- And when it sank beneath the waves of Aqua Magna, titanic air bubbles formed around the city of Mahri Nui. Thanks to the ice bowl beneath Mahri Rock, this fragment of the island took just long enough to sink that the Matoran trapped were able to acclimate to the pressures more gently.
Still, this lesser cataclysm, as well as the impact of Mahri Rock landing atop the Barraki Fortress, killed quite a few. When Ehlek found out Matoran were living atop the stone that Mata Nui had thrown at his home, he blamed them for the incident; And admittedly, the creation of Mahri did create additional weight that contributed to the landmass’ split from Voya Nui. Luckily, Pridak and the other Barraki just barely reined him in, seeing no point in wanton slaughter, and instead opted to spare the Matoran; Of course, to pass the time the Barraki would occasionally torment the Matoran themselves, haunting them as predators from the depths.
Additionally, the impact of Mahri Rock’s landing jostled fields of Airweed that had grown nearby; These released bubbles that added to the ones surrounding Mahri Nui, and taught the Matoran that they could rely upon them for survival. They tamed Hydruka that had crawled along Aqua Magna’s seabed and onto the Great Spirit Robot, using them to harvest the Airweed; But this became treacherous as Ehlek, believing the Matoran were literally standing on his accomplishments and taking advantage of them, would conduct the occasional raid. Luckily, though the mutagen had damaged their tools to defunct weapons, the Matoran of Mahri Nui found another unusual blessing- They had not breathed the mutagen and become water-breathers, but physical contact did end up strengthening their bodies!
As for Voya Nui above, well- The Matoran left behind mourned those they had lost and believed them dead. In yearly tribute, they would drop gifts in honor of their deceased into the ocean, off the coast of the bay that Mahri Rock had broken off from. These gifts would float down, some consumed by the Great Whirlpool; But a lucky few would make their way to Mahri Nui, where the inhabitants would collect these tributes. Some believed them to be gifts from Mata Nui, while others were more pragmatic and guessed they were from survivors on Voya Nui above.
Alas, the Matoran of Mahri Nui could not swim back to the surface; It would have to be a gradual and careful process, one that would allow ample time for the Barraki and their armies to pick them off. The Barraki had purposefully penned the Matoran within Mahri Nui, allowing them this bit of territory; But any who ventured out into Barraki territory were lunch. Pridak and the others were more pragmatic than Ehlek... But they too bore a grudge, and anyhow, were hungry and bored.
There was also the Cord as well- It was connected directly to Mahri Rock, and it had spacious air bubbles that could be exploited to carve a way back to Voya Nui. Unfortunately, the job had already been done, and overtaken, by Zyglak. Zyglak were amongst the prisoners of the Pit, and had rejected the rule of the Barraki upon their escape; Instead, they lived on the outskirts of the Barraki’s territory. When Mahri Rock fell and crushed the fortress of the Barraki, the Zyglak swam over the sunken city and investigated the Cord. Using their spears, they carved a stable tunnel network throughout the Cord, and set up residence within- But were also fiercely territorial.
Anyone from Voya Nui who tried to venture below was slaughtered. Anyone from Mahri Nui who tried to venture above was slaughtered. Anyone, such as the forces of the Barraki, who tried to enter the Cord from its side was also slaughtered. The Barraki did entertain and briefly skirmish with the Zyglak for control of the Cord- But then realized that the Cord’s destruction could possibly cause Voya Nui to tremble once more, and rain even more stone upon them as retribution. Thus, the Zyglak were left alone. It should be noted that some Zyglak stayed behind in the ruins of the Pit.
In response to the Great Cataclysm, the Order of Mata Nui sent Botar to teleport outside of the Matoran Universe, and track down the Ignika. He succeeded in finding the island of Voya Nui; Helryx, already swamped with a million other structural problems throughout the Matoran Universe to work on, as well as the Brotherhood of Makuta’s assault on the populace, was stretched thin. In the end, the Ignika was a back-up if Mata Nui began to die; And it didn’t seem like he was dying at the moment. Still, it seemed sensible to keep tabs on the Ignika, so she had Botar teleport dutiful agents Axonn and Brutaka to guard the Mask of Life, and give them updates.
Axonn and Brutaka did what they could to subtly help the Matoran of Voya Nui, not allowed to reveal themselves. Eventually, Brutaka grew disillusioned and stopped, but this didn’t keep Axonn from continuing his help and even revealing himself to the Matoran Kazi, who kept his secret. Axonn and Brutaka checked up with Umbra and the Protodax, and confirmed they were still alive and continuing their duties, unaffected. Likewise, Botar had teleported an agent to the waters around Mahri Nui; This agent confirmed Hydraxon’s demise, the presence of the Great Whirlpool, and so forth.
Botar, Axonn, Brutaka, and this unnamed agent were able to outline a new set of procedures for reviving Mata Nui; A team of heroes would need to be sent to this new island of Voya Nui. They would prove themselves, journeying through the 777 stairs. Once they had retrieved the Ignika, they would need to then travel below the surface of the ocean to access Karda Nui, beneath the Great Whirlpool; A journey through the Cord would help this team acclimate to the change of pressure, and they would be equipped with water-breathing gear.
The agent below Mahri Nui would help this team deliver the Ignika to Karda Nui; The martyr would don the Ignika, target its energy into the breach leading to Karda Nui, and then the Ignika would be returned to its vault. Concerns were raised about the Barraki and the escaped prisoners; Helryx reasoned that being stranded outside of the Matoran Universe was a prison in and of itself. The Barraki and their armies were still a liability for anyone who would need to transport the Ignika through the ocean and into Karda Nui; With so many other things to handle and Mata Nui’s health not a pressing concern, Helryx held off on this issue.
She eventually did assign a Terrain Crawler -one of Kojol’s experimental Rahi- to help transport these hypothetical heroes and the Ignika; Meanwhile, the Mahri Nui agent helped coordinate the leftover Maxilos guards of the Pit in trying to recapture the Barraki. Unfortunately, this agent eventually died under unknown circumstances.
It was also deduced that in order to repair the Great Spirit Robot, the Ignika’s vault would need to be returned to its place within the GSR’s hull; The plan was for Artakha to use the Kanohi Ekimu, the Mask of Creation, to send a surge of energy throughout the Matoran Universe, repairing broken structures and reconnecting the vault within the GSR. This would of course involve the destruction of the Cord, as well as for Voya Nui to sink to the bottom of the Great Whirlpool; Evacuation procedures for Botar to teleport the Matoran of Voya and Mahri Nui into the Matoran Universe were laid out.
Either the Ekimu would use its additional powers of Destruction to shatter Voya Nui so the Ignika’s vault could slot back into position; Or Artakha would simply instruct Cahdok and Gahdok to send their Bohrok swarms to break the island. Later on, Artakha deduced that the Ignika might be needed to awaken Mata Nui- Thus, it was arranged for the Ignika to be brought into Karda Nui by the martyr and then used, rather than simply having its power directed into the cave. Complications involving the Barraki, a Hydraxon clone, as well as Makuta Teridax’s machinations led to all of these conditions being fulfilled, albeit in not the most ideal manner.
It was understood that Artakha would send the Toa Nuva to Karda Nui to awaken the Great Spirit, and collect the Ignika. If it needed to be used a second time, it would be- If not, the Toa Nuva would bring it with them out of Karda Nui, and hand it over to the Order of Mata Nui to return to its proper resting place. And speaking of Karda Nui, although its walls had breaches, they were nevertheless intact enough to prevent the Mask of Creation’s power from reaching inside;
Thus, rather than retrieve the lost parts that fell into Karda Nui, the Ekimu merely made replacements to repair the Av-Matoran complex above. Problem solved. And speaking of the Av-Matoran, those who had fallen into Karda Nui had used what materials and knowledge they had to construct jetpacks to fly around on. When the Brotherhood of Makuta began to seize Karda Nui, the Order of Mata Nui retaliated by clearing the rubble blocking off the Av-Matoran complex from Karda Nui, and sent their own forces through the openings left behind by the stalactite villages.
Ultimately, despite some rocky mishaps, everything returned to form. Matoro brought the Ignika into Karda Nui and revived Mata Nui; And the Ignika, after unexpectedly seizing its own agency, willingly helped in awakening the Great Spirit. The Av-Matoran, as well as the Matoran of Voya and Mahri Nui, were successfully evacuated to safer locations.
The Order didn’t have the heart to leave the prisoners of the pit stranded outside of the Matoran Universe, to be obliterated by Mata Nui’s rising; So they returned them to the Pit with the help of Hydraxon 2: Electric Boogaloo. It helps that Helryx had further use for some of these prisoners... And that the Pit itself might be needed for future criminals as well.
Voya Nui was returned to where it belonged- The Cord was shattered and Voya Nui floated to the center of the Great Whirlpool, before its drag and the destruction of the ice bowl by the Toa Mahri caused the island to sink; As Voya Nui sunk, it spun around, its ‘dagger’ outcroppings smashing into Mahri Nui, destroying the city, its rock, and the daggers. The rest of Voya Nui was eventually destroyed so the Ignika’s vault and attached machinery could slot back into place. The Mask of Creation was used to fix the damage of the Great Cataclysm.
After OoMN forces had evacuated, the Toa Nuva used the Axalara, Jetrax, and Rockoh to escape Karda Nui as the Energy Storms returned. The Toa Nuva left Karda Nui through Vamprah’s Breach (left open by Artakha for their escape), which was sealed behind them by the Ekimu, preventing the Energy Storms from following them out into the Southern Continent’s dome. Thus, everything was finally returned to its proper place and fixed... Just for Makuta to take control of a newly-healed universe.
A lot of destruction occurred for places such as Voya and Mahri Nui, as well as the settlements of Karda Nui, to be created. Said places were destroyed to fix the damage of the Great Catsclysm. These places were made with the wounds of the Great Spirit, and thus had to be undone alongside these wounds. The Great Beings would consider these opposite forces to be symbolically hand-in-hand, for indeed much was lost with Mata Nui’s slumber, and then lost again to awaken him. The Matoran who fled Mata Nui empathized with those rescued by the Order of Mata Nui; And with the rest of the universe when the world was destroyed with Spherus Magna’s reformation.
In the end, the destructive cost of Creation makes one wonder- Was it all worth it? Sometimes it’s not, the conquests of the Barraki and Makuta sacrificed much just for personal power. But as someone who understands the transactional nature of Creation and Destruction very well, Artakha can say, looking at the happy people left over on Spherus Magna, and the reformed paradise they inherited... Yes, it was worth it. So much destroyed, to create even more beyond their wildest imaginations.