The smell of salty, sugary treats filled the air as many oohs and aahs escaped from the large tent resting along the outskirts of a small town within the Fire Nation. Applause and laughter was not uncommon to the few men who stood outside, carefully discarding of the tickets they had acquired from the local populace who had gathered in the tent to see the Beguiling Bijon.

"Peh, stupid name." One of the ticket gatherers stared at the ridiculously colourful sign inviting all to come see the great Bijon, the self-proclaimed greatest magician alive. The audience within the tent certainly seemed to agree with Bijon's assessment of himself as they clapped excitedly at his tricks. It was said that it was impossible to tell whether Bijon was a bender or simply a very skilled trickster.

Within the tent, the lanky middle aged Bijon stepped down off his makeshift wooden stage, the poorly crafted steps creaking with each soft step of his polished shoes. Patting his tuxedo down, Bijon removed his top hat to show off his short and scruffy red hair, a stark contrast to his finely maintained facial hair which included a carefully trimmed goatee. Bijon waved the hat around slightly in his gloved hand as he spoke, his soft voice bringing smiles to the onlookers. "Well my friends, I hate to say that our time together is soon coming to a close. It has been a tremendous evening, has it not?"

The audience clapped in agreement, bringing a large grin to Bijon's face. "I'll miss all of you, too! I will be venturing to the Earth Nation tomorrow and will not be back or some time, so I shall leave you with one of my personal favourite tricks."

Resting his hat back on top of his head, Bijon pulled a deck of cards out of a pocket and tossed it to a young woman in the front row. "My dear! Remove those cards and verify that it is a full deck. Every card is indeed unique, no two are alike."

The woman excitedly opened the box and removed the cards, examining them before holding them up for all to see. It was indeed a full deck of cards.

"Now, my dear..." Bijon's voice brought her attention back to him. "You will pick one card. You will not tell me what it is, and you will not let anyone see it. Choose that card and then place it in your pocket before putting the rest of the deck into your other pocket."

The woman nervously complied as she sifted through the cards before settling on one and putting it in her right pocket. After putting the rest of the deck in her left pocket before speaking up in a nervous voice. "I-I'm ready!"

"Excellent!" Bijon clasped his hands together as he grinned to the young woman. Now, pick anyone from the audience who you witnessed coming here on their own tonight. Be it a friend or a neighbour, it matters not! When you pick one of your fellow audience members, ask that person what card you have. I promise you, they will know it and inform you of what card you selected without hesitation!"

The woman looked dumbfounded, but she complied as she stood up and looked the audience over before smiling warmly to an elderly lady in the back. The young woman knew her, she was indeed a local from town and she happened to have absolutely terrible eyesight. As the young woman lifted a hand and pointed her finger at the old woman, Bijon grinned as he pulled his hat down over his eyes to obscure them from the audience before speaking to the young woman. "Ask her, my dear."

The young woman was almost giddy at the prospect of the trick working as she stammered the words out of her mouth. "W-What card do I have?"

The old woman smiled politely as she pointed towards the young woman's pocket. "The five of clubs, dear."

There was silence for a moment before the young woman went into hysterical laughter, pulling the five of clubs out of her pocket and showing it excitedly to everyone. When she finally turned around to face Bijon with her eyes glimmering of excitement, he chose not to respond over the noise of the audience clapping in awe and admiration. Instead, Bijon simply smiled to the young woman warmly as he shrugged a shoulder.

"H-How did you... ?"

Bijon raised a gloved finger and pressed it to the young woman's lips to silence her. "Shhh... magic, my dear."

An hour after the show, and the crowd had vanished from the tent. Bijon's few workers had already taken the tent down and packed up his props as he ducked out into the trees to relieve himself. Another successful show, what more could he ask for? He truly was putting his gift to excellent work, and it was supporting his family more than any true job ever would. Bending? Magic? Bijon's tricks were neither, though the mystery of his show made it impossible to tell otherwise.

"Ah, that was nice." Giving himself a shake and pulling his pants up, Bijon turned to return back to his crew but did not make it even one step from his position. Standing before him was a young man with scraggly black hair with bangs that hung low over his face. The young man's face was hard and stern, his gaze focused intently on Bijon. There was a calculated coldness to the stare. Bijon averted his gaze for a moment, sizing the man up as he looked him over. He seemed to be wearing a heavy cloak suited for travelling. Bijon knew that the man could be hiding anything underneath the cloak, even a weapon. Swallowing hard, Bijon met the man's eyes again and finally found his voice. "May I help you?"

"Yes Bijon, you can. We have need of your gift." The man's baritone voice was deep and almost threatening. Bijon watched as he reached into his cloak, pulling something out and holding it out for Bijon to see. "Do you know what this symbolizes?"

Bijon's eyes widened slightly before nodding his head. "E-Er, yeah... I was performing in Republic City when that man was..." His voice trailed off as he shook his head. "What does this mean?"

The stranger grinned, almost fiendishly, as he introduced himself. "My name is Katashi. You are going to help us, Bijon. Your gift, you are deeply talented. You are a spiritual master, aren't you? Your tricks all revolve around exploiting the spirits, the very souls, of your onlookers."

Bijon did not respond as the man continued. "You exert your soul upon others, you suppress them within their very bodies... yet they do not know? That poor old lady certainly did not."

"What do you want with me?" Bijon's response was short and simple, refusing to acknowledge the man's knowledge of the dark side of Bijon's magic act.

"We need to make use of your... expertise. If you do not come with me, you will never see your family ever again. Your daughters, your wife, never again." Katashi lifted what was in his hand to his face. Resting what was the mask of Amon against his face lightly, he peered out at Bijon and let an unseen smirk spread across his face. "The Equalists, and Amon's ideals, need your gift."