"Where are you taking me?" Mako asked for what seemed like the fiftieth time. Korra just rolled her eyes, though the expression was lost on Mako. His vision had been impaired due to the thick black cloth Korra had wrapped around his head.
"Just be patient! I promise it'll be worth it." Mako just sighed, letting his girlfriend jerk him through the festival. He heard a door open and felt himself being pulled inside. Wherever they were, it was eerily quiet and not much warmer than the outside. Korra slowly guided him through winding halls, abruptbly stopping at a seemingly random point. He heard knuckles rap on a wooden door.
Knock, knock, knock
The door creaked open slightly.
"Password?"
Mako only vaugely recognized the voice, and his worry only heightened. Where the hell had Korra taken him where she needed a password to get in?
"The wolfbat howls at midnight." Korra answered.
The door creaked open some more and Korra led Mako inside, the door slamming quickly upon his entrance. She guided him into a seated posistion. He felt furs beneath him and the soft warmth of candlelight surrounding him.
"Can you take this stupid blind fold off now?" He asked. Korra just laughed, utying the fabric and letting it drop in his lap. Mako took a few moments to take in his surroundings; a small room with low ceilings, covered in blankets and furs with candlelight being the only illumination. He saw two other bodies seated before him, facing him at an angle, and recognized them as Bolin and Asami.
Before he could question why they were there as well (Mako might have wished that this was a sexy rendezvous point), his thoughts were interuppted by synchronized voices.
"Welcome, friends, to your first Winter Solstice Seance." The voices sent chills up all their spines. Mako turned back to see Korra's super creepy twin cousins - Kirima and Desna, with Korra off to the side. All three of them shared a knowing grin.
"W-what's a seance?" Bolin managed to sputter out. He had his knees tucked under his chin and was visibly shaking, whether it be from the cold or the fear of what was going to happen next. The twins glanced at each other and shared a low chuckle before filling in the spots between Mako, Bolin and Asami, creating a circle.
"Seances are rituals to contacts spirits, and the Winter Solstice is one of the most spiritual times of the year," Kirima - or was it Desna? - began.
"The great shamans of our tribe say it's a time where the line between the Spirit World and our world become blurred," The other twin continued. Okay, Mako was sure that one had to be Desna, because that one didn't have little hair ties.
"So we figured," Kirima said, "with our cousin's new found spiritual connection," She gave a glance a Korra, whose grin was illuminated by the flickering candlelight.
"We could have a little fun," Desna finished. The three Water Tribe kids took a seat. Korra produced a board from behind her and laid it out in the middle of their circle. The candlelight reflected on the ivory surface of the board that had inky characters painted onto it, along with images of the four elements, the sun, the moon, numbers, and the phrases 'yes', 'no', 'hello', and 'good-bye'. Bolin let out a low 'ooooh'.
"What is that?" Asami asked, reaching out to touch the board. Kirima, who was seated next to her, smacked her hand away.
"It's an antique, it's been in our family for generations, and is not to be touched by just anyone," She quipped, giving Asami a look.
"Okay, but what does it do?" Mako was growing impatient. First, he was dragged around in a blindfold and led to this cramped room and now they were staring at a board? He was starting to feel pretty fed up. Desna gave the firebender another one of those creepy grins as he produced a small heart shaped piece made from the same material as the board with a small see-through circle in the middle.
"I was waiting for someone to ask that," He said, placing the piece on the board. "It's called a spirit board, and it's used for contacting-" Mako held up his hand.
"Wait, let me guess - spirits." His tone was very unamused. Desna narrowed his eyes at him.
"Very observant, Mako," Kirima continued. "We would use this board all the time when Korra came to visit," Kirima looked over at her cousin, Korra nodding enthusiastically.
"It didn't always work, but when it did…" Korra trailed off as the three of them shared in a laugh. Now it seemed even Korra was in sync with those two.
"How does it work?" Bolin asked.
"Simple, really," Desma began. "You just take your index and middle fingers and set them on the piece," He guided Bolin's hand to the heart shaped piece, placing his own fingers beside them. Kirima, Korra and Asami followed their lead, but Mako kept his hands to himself. Korra looked at him.
"C'mon, city boy, aren't you going to join in on the fun?" Mako rolled his eyes.
"You know I don't believe in this whole spirits nonsense." Korra stared at him.
"So, what you're saying is, that you're dating the Avatar, bridge between the natural and spirit world, but you don't believe in it?"
Oh, Mako was in trouble.
"No, I mean, your kinda spirit stuff is different, like it's real and…if I play the game, will you forget I said that?" Korra smiled and placed his fingers on the heart shaped piece.
"Already forgotten." Korra looked across the circle to Desna. "Care to begin the seance, Desna?" He quirked his lips.
"My pleasure, dear cousin." Desna closed his eyes, the rest of the circle following his lead.
"On the night of the Solstice in the Twelth Month on the Twenty First Day, we ask any spirits that are present to let themselves be known to us." The six of them waited, fingers patiently pressed onto the heart shaped piece. The few moments that had passed seemed like hours before Bolin piped up.
"What are we supposed to do now?" He asked in a not-so-quiet whisper.
"Just wait," Kirima answered. "If any spirits are present, the piece will move around the board, translating its' message." Bolin nodded and closed his eyes again.
More time passed. The piece remained still. Mako groaned.
"Alright, there are obviously no spirits present, so can we-" He was interupted by a sudden jerk of the piece. Everyone stared down at the board. The clear hole in the center magnified the message.
Hello
Bolin let out an impressed whoa!, a grin spread over Asami's face, and Korra couldn't help but give her boyfriend a smug look.
"Still think this stuff isn't real?" Mako just rolled his eyes.
"Okay, so maybe there's a spirit in this room or whatever, but what do we do now?" He asked, the question open to either of the twins.
"We ask questions," Kirima answered and closed her eyes. "Spirit, we welcome your prescence among us. May we know your name?" The piece moved again, from character to character, until the name was spelled out.
"Oh…mah…" Korra sounded out the characters. "Like of Omashu?" She asked, looking above, as if the spirit could see her. The piece moved again.
Yes
"Wow! I can't believe it! We're actually talking to the spirit of Oma!" Korra let out delighted laugh. Mako's face softened a little upon hearing it; maybe this game wasn't so stupid.
"Would anyone like to ask Oma a question?" Desna asked. Bolin's free hand shot in the air as he bounced in his seat.
"Oh oh, I would!" He put his hand back down and screwed his eyes shut, trying to think of a good question. "Uh, okay, spirit of Oma, of the great city of Omashu, I ask you this question…do you think my team has a chance of winning the championship this year?" The piece moved downward, where 'yes' and 'no' were located. It hestiated for a moment, before moving to the left, magnifying the no. Bolin looked crestfallen as Asami stifled a laugh.
"Hey, at least we know she's honest." Asami said. This didn't make Bolin feel any better.
"Anyone else have any questions?" Desna asked, his eyes scanning the faces until he landed on a certain firebender seated next to him.
"Mako?"
Mako looked back at Desna. He had that grin again, that grin that implied that he was up to something, but what was it. Mako just gave that grin right back to him.
"Nope, not at all." Desna's grin twisted into a pout. Looks like it runs in the family.
"C'mon, Mako! You don't have anything you want to ask the great spirit of Oma?" Korra asked, playfully elbowing him. Mako smiled at her, taking her up on the challenge.
"Alright, I got a question," he bagan. Mako closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Oh great spirit of Oma, answer me this question - is this game a huge pile of polar bear dog shit, or does it just smell that way?" He opened his eyes, expecting amused expressions from his friends, but instead met the shocked faces of Desna and Kirima. He felt the piece erratically move across the board, not spelling anything out but going from corner to corner, magnifying the element symbols.
"You've done it!" Kirima shouted.
"Done what!" Mako tried to lift his fingers from the piece, but it seemed like they stayed there from some other wordly force.
"You've angered the spirit!" Desna responsed. Suddenly, his hands clutched either side of his head and he keeled over, trembling. Kirima took in a sharp breath.
"Not again…" She murmured. Mako looked over at her.
"Again! What do you mean again! So whatever's happening right now has happened before!" Kirima nodded.
"When you anger a spirit on a day when the Spirit World is so close to us, let's just say-"
"Things can get out of hand." A low growl eminating from Desna interrupted her. They all stared silently at his curled up body. He slowly rised, hair mussed, a crazed look in his eye. He thrust a finger at Mako, but his gaze remained directly in front of him.
"Mako of Republic City, you have angered the spirit of Oma, and for that, you shall pay!" A rough, booming voice left Desna's mouth. He shifted his feet into horse stance and thrusted his arms up, a pillar of earth jutting through the floor. Mako, Bolin and Asami yelped, holding onto each other for dear life.
"Please, spirit! Spare my brother! He doesn't know how much of a jerk he can be!" Bolin cried, cowering. Mako made a mental note to get him for that later, because he was currently too wrapped up in the possesion of Korra's cousin to think of a clever comeback.
Desna drew closer to the cowering firebender, the earth below them shaking. Mako shut his eyes and began pleading with him.
"I'm so sorry, great spirit of Oma! I apologize for angering you, please I'll do anything, just leave us alone!" The sight of her "cool under fire" boyfriend cowering at the feet of her fifteen-year-old cousin was too much for Korra to handle, so she let out a side-splitting laugh, prompting Kirima and Desna to do the same. The three of them held onto eachother, while a very confused Mako, Bolin and Asami stared at them. Mako knitted his brows.
"What exactly is so funny?" The question didn't phase the three of them, Kirima wiping a tear from her eye.
"You were right, Korra, these city kids will believe anything!" She said. Mako's jaw went slack.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bolin whined, still clutching Asami on the floor. She quickly untangled herself upon realizing this, blushing slightly.
"It's not a big deal or anything," Desna said, rolling his eyes.
"We just thought it'd be fun to pull a little prank on you guys, that's all." Korra gave her friends a smile, though Mako still looked unamused.
"Fun! You scared us half to death!"
"Well, I thought it was funny," Desna mumbled to himself. Mako shot him a glare.
"Get over it, Mako," Mako turned to find his brother standing up, helping Asami up, too. "It was just a harmless prank."
"It was pretty clever," Asami added. Mako knew he was outnumbered, so he just grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Alright, fine, but I have a couple questions - how were you able to make the piece move? And how could Desna bend that pillar of earth?" Mako asked. Kirima picked up the heart shaped piece and thrusted into Mako's face.
"The center is filled with water," She said, placing the piece back into her sleeve. Oh, waterbending, that made sense, he thought.
"And as far as the earth goes…" Kirina trailed off, looking at her brother.
"Being related to the Avatar has its' perks." And with that, the twins slipped out of the room. Bolin yawned, stretching his arms over his head.
"Well, that was fun, but I'm tired. See you guys in the morning." Bolin made his exit, Asami leaving shortly after, leaving Mako and Korra alone. Korra gently placed a hand on his elbow.
"Hey," her voice was soft. Mako looked over into her deep blue eyes and felt a smile creep onto his face. He could never be mad at her for too long.
"Okay, I admit it, that was a pretty good prank. I'll just have to find a way to get you back now." His grin turned devilish as he walked out of the room. Korra laughed, following him out.