Losing her bending did not, as Lin had expected, feel unimaginably painful. In fact, she barely felt it at all.
The first thing she was conscious of as she started to fall to the ground was how much heavier she felt. Of course, her metal armor had never been light to begin with, but the burden had always seemed easier to bear when she could slave it to her will.
Avatar Aang had told her once that spirit was what allowed him to fly. Bending was an inherently spiritual art, and now her connection to it had been permanently severed. Maybe that was why the earth seemed to pull harder than it had before.
She hit the muddy stone with an ugly crunch and pain shot up her skull, but she ignored it. Almost instinctively, she waited for the ground to answer, but the earth had gone silent. Had it stopped speaking, or could she no longer listen? It mattered little either way.
Lin grunted, turning her head up to glare at the chi blockers surrounding her. As she did so, she searched for a word that was capable of describing the loss she felt. After a few moments, she arrived at one.
Bereft.
"I have to admit, Bei Fong, I'm surprised," the raspy voice of Amon told her. "Out of everybody I've equalized, you were the only one who didn't fight to keep your bending. You didn't even consider accepting my bargain."
"Oh please," she breathed. "You would have taken my bending away whether I told you where the Avatar was or not. And I don't bargain with terrorists."
Amon chuckled, brushing off that last remark. "Let's go," he told his henchmen, starting towards the main temple. "We have much preparing to do."
"So that's it, then?" Lin called after him. "You're just going to leave me here? Why not throw me in one of your dungeons?"
He stopped, but only spared a glance over his shoulder. "Why should I? Now that your bending is gone you no longer pose a threat."
Bei Fong laughed spitefully. "That's really what you believe? You're even dumber than I thought."
That got him to turn around. "How so?"
She grunted, managing to rise to her knees before falling flat on her face again. Amon motioned to two of the chi blockers to help her up.
"Taking away a person's bending doesn't change who they are inside," she elaborated as they lifted her. "You really think Councilman Tarrlok wouldn't have tried to grab power even if he wasn't a bloodbender? Sure, it made it easier. But he would have grown up a stingrayshark no matter what. And you're no better."
Amon only stared at her with his burning eyes that seemed to see right into her soul. "Really? Please do continue. I find this line of reasoning... amusing."
"You would, you manipulative badgertoad," Lin spat. "You go after benders because they supposedly use their gifts to oppress people and grab power, but you're doing the same thing. Where'd you get that 'Revelation' from again? Korra tells me you claim spirits gave it to you. Doesn't that give you an unnatural physical advantage over the rest of us?"
The Lieutenant raised one of his kali sticks and fired up the electricity, but Amon stopped him with a single gesture. "All I'm doing is taking the power back from the ones who stole it in the first place. Leveling the playing field will allow us to finally achieve equality."
"You can't seriously believe that garbage you're spewing," she retorted. "Bringing everybody down to your level isn't equality. Equality is coexisting with people who are different from you and trusting them. It's embracing everybody, not trying to erase a part of their identity just because a few of them did something bad to you. Balance brings equality, not extremism."
"Really?" he replied. "And who enforces the Balance? Who stops the ones in power from abusing it? Who protects the defenseless?"
Lin smiled. "Who else? The Avatar."
Amon responded with a long, merciless cackle.
"You honestly believe that girl is your salvation?" he sneered, walking closer. "She knows nothing of Balance. She's just as much of an extremist as I am. And do you know why? Because Balance only reinforces the status quo. That is the Avatar's true role."
He began to pace. "Since the beginning of humankind, the Avatar has ensured that civilization only rises to a certain point, keeping control firmly in the hands of the benders. For a thousand generations, wars were fought over whose bending was better than whose, and millions of nonbenders suffered for it."
"Benders, too," she pointed out.
Amon ignored her. "Do you know why humanity has only just discovered modern technology in the last forty years? Just think how far advanced we could be if we didn't rely on bending for everything. Why hire a nonbender to build a skyscraper for you when you can have an earthbender whip up a nice hovel in minutes? Why waste time developing an internal combustion engine when a firebender can keep burning coal? Why trust nonbenders to do anything but the most menial tasks when benders can do the important jobs faster and cheaper?"
He came to a stop in front of her and crossed his arms behind his back. "Bending makes society far too reliant on a small group of people who are all too happy to abuse that privilege. But why did it change? Simple. Avatar Aang disappeared into an iceberg for one hundred years. And look how well the world got along without him."
"Yes, it devolved into a century long war that killed countless people."
"True," he admitted. "That's what always happens when benders are left to their own devices. But consider all the advances in technology that were made in that short hundred years compared to the thousands that came before it. All because the Avatar wasn't there to keep progress from happening."
He leaned over and brought those terrifying eyes inches from hers. "Your so-called Balance only keeps the powerful in power. Progress only happens when you're willing to go to extremes to make it so. So tell me again: why do you think the Avatar will be the one to bring about true Balance?"
Lin grinned toothily. "Because she's learning."
His hand smacked her cheek so hard that a few flecks of blood fell from her mouth. She spat, then stared at him quizzically for several seconds.
"What do you honestly think is going to happen if you take everybody's bending away? You think they'll be grateful that you've erased a part of their identity? Face it, Amon; you're grabbing power for yourself because once this revolution of yours is over, you'll have another one on your hands. And guess who's going to be the oppressor then?"
"I have a plan," he insisted.
"Well whatever it is, it won't be enough," she fired back. "You're not making progress. You're just throwing the world further into chaos by introducing a conflict that will never, ever end." She smirked. "But then, you're clever enough to realize that. Which means you're playing another angle here."
"Very astute of you."
"But here's the thing," she continued. "No matter what it is you've got cooking, you've already lost. The United Forces are already on their way."
"We'll repel them."
Lin shrugged. "Even if you do, Tenzin and his family are far away where you can't touch them. And believe me, Air Nomads are very good at evading capture. And as for the Avatar? Well, all you've managed to do is piss her right off."
"She is playing right into my hands," he replied confidently.
She laughed pitilessly. "You really don't get it, do you? This change of yours is never going to stick. Even if by some miracle you manage to take away everybody's bending, it won't last."
"And how do you know this?"
"Tarrlok was Yakone's son," she answered. "Forty two years ago, Yakone had his bending taken away by Avatar Aang. That was five years before Tarrlok was born. And he still inherited his father's ability to bloodbend at any time."
Lin smiled wickedly. "You're not going to be around forever. Even if you do manage to achieve your goal and equalize every single bender in this generation, it'll just come back in the next one."
"Perhaps," he admitted. "But it won't come from you. How does it feel to be the last of the Bei Fongs?"
He was clearly trying to twist the knife into her. He had no idea with whom he was dealing.
"I made my peace with that a long time ago," she informed him in a low, emotionless voice.
It was a simple story, really. Tenzin wanted kids. She did not. And, as they later found out, she could not. It had hurt at the time, but the years had dulled it. Now she no longer felt the pain. Watching over Tenzin's family today had been a small glimpse into the life she could have had, and while she did not regret what she had done with her life, there was a part of her that wished she could have had that.
Not that she was about to let Amon know that.
"There's something you don't understand, you self-aggrandizing prick. All I care about is protecting Republic City, and my friends. You took my bending? So what? I'd gladly give my life if it meant stopping you."
He chuckled. "Just as stubborn as your mother." He reared back with his hand, striking a small nerve in her jaw that would knock her unconscious.
But even as she fell to the ground once more, Lin smiled. She had won. Tenzin and his family had escaped, and Korra and her friends were biding their time until the United Forces arrived. And now that monster had nothing left to take from her.
The earth was silent when she landed, but she was not saddened by it. A little quiet was just what she needed to get some well-deserved rest.