Korra begins to pick the vibrant fire lilies and walks further into the sea of red. She realizes that she's not alone when she hears footsteps coming from behind her. She turns around and is puzzled to see that the owner of the footsteps, a boy, is walking away from her, his scarf blending perfectly with the red colors of the flowers. Korra curiously follows him, purposefully rustling the flowers to get him to notice her, but the boy keeps walking. Soon he creates a great distance between them, and she runs out towards him crying, "Wait!" but her foot slips and the field of flowers swallow her before she can reach him.
Korra wakes up with a start, drenched in a cold sweat. She wipes a tear from her eye and confusion sweeps over her. Why am I crying? she thinks to herself. It was only a dream. The events of the dream begin to elude her memory, but the image of the boy with the scarf burns in her mind. She lets out a groan as she sees the time on her clock. Being underground, the lights of dawn can't greet her at the start of a new day, and the darkness makes the morning all the more evil. She lets out another groan when she realizes that her roommate has already left. As much as she wants to stay in the comfort of her bed, Korra reluctantly gets up and begins to dress. She pulls on the green suit and begins to clasp the gold buttons. She ties the maroon scarf around her neck and feels a pang in her chest. The boy in her dream wore a similar scarf.
She dismisses her feelings, it was only a dream and she leaves it at that as she laces up her boots, grabs her helmet, and exits the room. The Equalists' headquarters consist of a labyrinth of tunnels under Republic City with areas to train, eat, and sleep. This makes it more like a small city than a mere training facility. Ever since Amon won the war, the equalists move around more freely and openly than before, but many still live and train in the tunnels to ward off the threat of a counter-strike by bending rebels. Korra heads to the schedule master's office to receive her assignments for the day, and groans when it mainly consists of hours of chi-blocking training and guard duties. The headquarters also functions nicely as a prison for traitors and those apart of the bending counterattack.
Noticing that chi-blocking training starts at seven, and the clock on the wall says six-thirty, Korra runs in the direction of the mess hall in hopes of grabbing a quick meal before taking part in the training session. When she arrives, she slows her pace to and strolls into the hall, grabbing her bowl of fried rice. "What's shakin' Kaz?" Korra asks her roommate, Kazue, who's almost done her breakfast already.
"I see you finally got up," she replies, wiping her face with a napkin. Korra laughs and takes a seat next to her friend. "So, what does your day look like?" Kazue asks.
"Really boring," Korra huffs, "Just a ton of training and then some guard duties later. I always get the worst schedules, while everyone undergoes incredible missions; sometimes with the boss himself!"
Kazue laughs and says, "Korra, you're such a rookie. Once you complete your initial training, I bet you'll get the type of mission you want." Kazue then excuses herself from the table, and Korra finishes the rest of her meal alone. She grumbles something about wishing she got the good missions and places her dish on the cart to be washed. Korra hurriedly makes her way to the training facility, not wanting to be late for her three-hour session… again.
Many equalists like her pack into the gym. She figures today will be hand-to-hand combat instead of practicing on the dummies, which she despises. She loves the thrill of battle and taking on people twice her size. Thinking about taking on skilled benders makes her long for the experience. Each equalist grabs a partner and they begin practicing their chi-blocking techniques on each other. Korra's partner is a scrawny male who's only a few inches taller than her. They begin to practice, and Korra soon realizes that what this man lacks in muscle, he makes up for in speed. She barely dodges a jab to the arms, a move that cripples most benders instantly. She counters this strike with a jab to his legs and he falls to the ground. When training, chi-blockers don't typically incapacitate their opponents, so she lends out a hand to help him up.
"Very nice young one," a voice praises her. Korra turns around and is shocked to see that it is the man in the mask himself, Amon! She blushes and feels the heat flush to her face as she stammers,
"Th-thank you Amon, sir!" She's completely taken off guard, but flattered that Amon cares enough to say something to her. She has never met the man himself, but she knows just how skillful and charismatic he is.
"And what is your name, my sister?" he asks coolly.
"K-Korra," she manages to say.
"I expect great things from you Korra. Very great things indeed," Amon remarks before leaving her with her partner and moving on to oversee the rest of his henchmen.
After training, Korra feels absolutely exhausted as she trudges to the women's locker room to shower. She removes her smelly uniform and hops into the nearest stall to bathe. She rubs at her arms, which still feel the after affects of having her chi points blocked several times. As she washes her hair, she thinks about what Amon said to her and she grins to herself. Finally, she got herself noticed and might be on the fast track to important missions and not the mundane cycle she finds herself in daily. She exits the stall and puts on her fresh uniform from her bag, eyeing the maroon scarf carefully. Suddenly her dream from that night comes rushing back to her and she's overcome by emotion. I'm sad, but why do I feel so sad? she thinks to herself, grabbing on to the bench to keep her balance. She takes a few deep breaths and is relieved to have these feelings leave her body. She throws her dirty uniform down the laundry shoot and quickly leaves the locker room.
Korra pulls her helmet and goggles over her head before making her way down to the prisons. Most of the time she guards prisoners who defied Amon's new regime and attempted to start up bending counterrevolutions. Sometimes she even receives the privilege to hand the bending scum to the Lieutenant who then takes them to Amon to be cleansed. She makes her rounds down the prison hall, only looking into the cells every so often. She sees women, men, and the occasional teenager like herself. They appear worn down and haggard. She admits that the Equalists' headquarters is the worst prison in Republic City to end up in, but she does not feel any pity for the benders who must now suffer the harsh conditions. It is benders like them who abuse their powers and strike down the weak and defenseless. Amon finally brought balance to the world, something the avatar failed to accomplish.
This thought strikes a chord in Korra. All of a sudden she feels wrong. She feels like she's out of place guarding traitors in the Equalist headquarters and the tinted green world seen through her goggles feels like the wrong world. She does not know why thoughts of the avatar make her feel this way; she never met the girl with whom she unfortunately shared a name. According to Amon's victory speech at City Hall, the avatar fell and perished in the final battle for Republic City. Why does a dead girl cause these feelings within her, especially a bender like the avatar? The feelings of wrongness slowly leave Korra, and she takes out her pocket watch to check the time. Only one more hour, you can do this Korra she motivates herself; however, she fears that even another minute in this dark, dank place might make her go insane. Her thoughts have been especially unnerving today.
Normally the prisoners yell obscenities at her and her fellows, but today the silence is deafening. Korra almost wishes that the prisoners were more rowdy, because at least they'd give her an escape from her thoughts. She jumps back a little in fright as the Lieutenant comes through the door and walks down the hallway towards her. He stops to talk to another guard who then walks with him and then he stops at Korra.
"We need you two to chi block a bender and deliver him to Amon," he orders. He gives them the cell and prisoner number and Korra and her unknown brother move towards the cell. Dealing with a person who still has their bending is difficult and they must be cautious. They both need to chi block him at the same time, while leaving no room for possible escape. Korra looks into the cell at the man who, soon enough, would be cleansed of his bending. When he sees the two of them, his fear shines in his eyes. The door creaks open and the man, using all of his remaining strength, unleashes fire blasts at them, which they easily dodge. Soon they are upon him and he begs for them to stop, but this plea falls on deaf ears for Korra and her equalist brother block all of his chi points, which causes the man to crumple to the ground.
It takes the two of them to hoist him up on Korra's back and she follows the Lieutenant to Amon's office. "Sounds like he put up a fight," the Lieutenant observes while they wind through the labyrinth.
"Nothing we couldn't handle, sir," was her reply. She notices that she has never been in this part of the maze, which is odd because it's not like she's never delivered prisoners before to the boss. She realizes that Amon probably moves from place to place in his own headquarters to prevent possible spies from giving away his location. They arrive at a door and the Lieutenant knocks three times, stating, "We've got the prisoner you wanted sir".
"Very good, bring him in," is the reply. Korra hoists the prisoner farther up her shoulders before entering the room. The room is small and plainer than she expects. An anti-bending revolution poster adorns the wall above a desk with a clutter of papers. "Give him to me," Amon orders and she feels the man begin to struggle as she makes her way closer to Amon. She hands him over and the man begins to plea once again, but no one listens. Amon lowers him to the ground, and Korra is surprised and excited that she gets to witness Amon taking away someone's bending so up close.
This excitement disappears as a claustrophobic sensation falls over Korra, and the walls begin to close in around her. She wants with all of her heart to leave the room, but Amon never asked her to leave so she's stuck watching the man lose his bending. A fear rises up in her and Korra can't put her finger on the source, and does all she can to not bolt from the room. The room begins to spin and elongate. She does all she can to keep her balance and not lose it here, in front of Amon, but watching Amon place his thumb on the man's forehead causes something in her to snap. As soon as the bender collapses in front of her, Korra herself sees the world go dark and suddenly she's falling.
Her eyes flutter open and she feels the cold from her sweat on her entire body. How long has she been out? Minutes? Hours? Days? She could not tell. Korra looks at the ceiling and realizes she's in a different room than she was before the world went black. It appears to be some kind of infirmary. There's a man sitting in a chair by her bedside and she jumps back in fear when she realizes it's Amon. Wait a second Korra, she thinks to herself, why are you afraid? He's Amon, your leader, and mentor, and a friend to nonbenders like you. Amon cuts off her thoughts when he finally says from behind the mask, "You're finally awake young one. You took a nasty fall in my office earlier today."
She nods and looks at him, embarrassed that she fainted in front of him. She then realizes that she's been out for hours. Oh spirits, has he been waiting here the entire time!? "You're Korra, the skilled chi-blocker from earlier correct?" he asks her and she only nods in reply. "It's funny, I wonder what caused you to suddenly faint in my office. You looked so lively this morning."
"I-I've just been having a bad day," she answers in response. It's true, ever since she woke up from that dream she's felt off and somewhat detached.
"How so?" he muses. A tiny voice inside her tells her to lie, and she's startled by her own thoughts once again. Why should she lie to Amon is what she counters to the voice in her head. She ignores the voice and admits, "I've been having strange dreams and thoughts, and I don't know what's happening to me." She places her head in her hands and struggles to breathe evenly.
"I have something that might be able to help you with that," Amon offers and Korra looks up surprised. She's never heard of a medicine that countered dreams and vicious thoughts. "It's a sleeping draught," he continues, holding up a vile with a blue liquid, "and it should help you get through the night without a problem." She slowly reaches for the bottle and he drops it in her hand. "I'll make sure you have one every night," he promises and leaves the room before Korra can even express her thanks. She; however, misses the glint in his eyes and the smirk behind his mask.
When she finally convinces the nurse that she is fine and feels completely normal again, Korra finally leaves the infirmary. She doesn't feel the slightest bit hungry, so she makes her way to the room. She's surprised that it's only eight in the evening, but she figures that a good night's rest is what she really needs. She enters her room and eyes her empty bed longingly. She begins to undress and kicks off her boots. She still has the vial clenched in her hand. It takes a few minutes arguing with her inner self, but she finally takes a swig of the blue liquid, shuddering at its awful taste. Korra pulls the cover over her head in and drifts off to sleep. Only blackness greets her and the boy in the scarf does not visit her for a second evening.
Amon paces back and forth in his office, his hand holding his chin while he's deep in thought. "It appears that the avatar's old memories are seeping into her subconscious," he informs his lieutenant.
"Is there something we need to do about that sir?" he asks with worry lining his voice.
"No, I gave her something that will keep those pesky memories at bay for now, but we'll need to keep a closer eye on her than we've been. We can't have the avatar return while my plan is going so perfectly." The Lieutenant nods and exits the room, leaving Amon to his thoughts. He himself had never foreseen the power of the avatar's spirit and her small and subtle resistance to the mind control. He can't worry himself too much over this, as long as she continues to take the draught nightly, she will be his again in no time…
to be continued...