Slumber's End
"To be delivered to Avatar Korra:
We of the Order of the White Lotus, Chapter of Petrified Stems would formally request your presence. With the current state of affairs: the Equalists threatening to overthrow Republic City, we believe that it is necessary to utilize the resource locked inside Quietus Crypt. Through a unanimous vote, a council of the grand masters have decided our proposition to be in the best interest of all people. Your presence would be preferred, however it is not necessary. The following date has been decided. If you are unable to appear" Avatar Korra... "please notify" Avatar Korra... "your local" Avatar Korra...
The repetition of her name snapped Korra's mind away from the old letter she had received those days before. Gone was the familiar salty taste of sea air, the odd sounds of Winged Lemurs flying about, and Tenzin hovering over her shoulder, curious and concerned about the mysterious letter. Now she stood in an old mineshaft in the mountains looming behind Republic City, descending in an elegant brass cage, an open elevator. She had never been in one so antiquated seeming, decades, perhaps a century old, yet the brass still shined like new.
"Avatar Korra, were you paying attention?" Korra heard. She looked to her right. Through the darkness stood somebody in pure white robes, immaculate white cloth that covered the person from head to toe. They stood unmoving, like a marble statue seeming to stare out into never ending blackness that surrounded the elevator.
"You," Korra began saying, her mind trying to find where she had been distracted. "You were saying something about Aang doing something with..."
"I have not spoken about Avatar Aang in several minutes," the person said slowly. Their voice was so quiet, almost seeming as if they were not truly there. "I will try to shorten this, but do try to pay attention this time. Follow these simple rules. Do not Earthbend, under any circumstances."
"Some danger?"
"This underground complex is built in a way so that the walls support most of the weight above. Using Earthbending could and likely will kill all of us. Next, this complex is built to be confusing and easy to get lost in. Do not wander off. Stay close to me."
Korra smiled slightly at the obviousness of the instruction. Wandering off was nearly impossible. It seemed the deeper they went in the mere elevator, the darker and darker it seemed to become. She could barely see her fingertips if her arm was outstretched, much less find any reason to stay away from the one person who seemed to hold a lantern no matter where they went.
"What insane asylum reject designed this place?"
"If you had listened to me before you would understand that it was a prison for Earthbenders."
"So, the Fire Nation..."
"It predates Firelord Sozin's grandfathers. It was Earth Kingdom in design, although the Fire Nation did use it."
"No way this elevator is that old," Korra said slightly grasping at the one of the brass bars.
"Please do not touch that," the person said. "This elevator is a most recent renovation, as is the library and the inclusion of the crypt."
"Crypt?"
"You did read the letter, correct? The crypt is what you have been summoned here for. Avatar Aang sealed it, therefore it is best if an Avatar was present for its opening."
"A crypt?" Korra repeated.
"Yes a crypt, Avatar." the person in white responded, neither frustration nor facetiousness leaking through the voice. "A casket made of stone holding"
"Dead things," Korra interrupted. "You brought me here to find some dead body?"
"You, Avatar Korra should know that not all things follow mortal rules of life and death."
"So what is not entirely dead thing," she said as a grin appeared across her mouth."
"Something that may be able to prevent these Equalists from destroying the peace of this world."
The elevator stopped, its familiar rumbling ending as it seemed to hit the ground. Slowly, the person in white pushed the brass gate forward, opening into an area of near total darkness.
Not a footstep could be sensed through the movement of the cloth, nor by any swinging of the lantern. The light merely moved slightly forward, out of the elevator and into a hallway of polished stone walls and floor. For a single second, Korra felt as if she were looking at some sort of old machine, arcane gears turning before her, understanding nothing of what was supposed to happen, not even knowing of the age of everything that stood.
"Do keep up, Avatar," the person said as Korra took her first steps out of the elevator, slowly looking around at the walls and ceiling. She began walking, footstep after footstep droning themselves out as she followed the many twists and turns, always a few short footsteps behind the person in white.
"Its so dark. You're sure that nothing else is down here, right?" Korra asked in surprise and confusion. It seemed that beyond the slight glow of the lantern, darkness seemed to creep up constantly, so that Korra could never know if there was or was not something out there, ever just a few short steps out of the light.
"This place is without life. It was designed to take life away. Nothing is alive here. Nothing could live here."
Korra looked ahead, seeing a dim light at the end of the long hallway, uncountable paces away from the crypt, and everything that stood to happen. As she watched the lit room grow closer and closer, the drone of her footsteps echoed down the hallway, a single sound penetrating the otherwise silence and darkness.
"What about ghosts?" Korra asked as she looked back.
"Ghosts are just figments of a restless mind," the person said, "Being in an area like this where you are deprived of sight and sound, it can cause hallucinations. Nothing is alive down here. Nothing can be alive down here. Any odd movements you see are your mind being restless. Any odd sounds you hear are your mind being bored."
"That," Korra began saying. The hallway's end grew nearer, ending in a lit room. As far as she could tell, less than a minute of walking remained. "That sounds... specific."
"There are those amongst the Chapter of Petrified Stems whose minds had suffered in the darkness and silence. However, their writings and relics were suppressed, so that they would not corrupt other members."
"Corrupt?" They were growing very close to the lit room.
"They believed it was in the best interests of all to abandon our righteous work, shirk our duties, and abandon the crypt beneath mountains of rubble. Some even believed that only evil laid in the hallways."
"And, you're sure that they were completely nuts." Korra said as she looked back, feeling the same feeling of something following her. She could see nothing, simply hearing the echoes of only her footsteps. They were nearly to the room with lights, just a few more seconds. Korra could even see inside the room.
"A place ruled by evil. Such foolishness. Evil is a concept exclusive to sentience. As the Avatar, you would do well to understand that evil comes and leaves with beings with minds, and only men and spirits are truly evil or truly good. Beasts and this thing lack minds."
"Wait, what do you mean beings with minds? Is, wait, what is in that crypt anyway?" Korra asked as the two entered the room with lights.
The room wasn't particularly large, a simple half circle shape room. Around its walls hung a simple line of brass lanterns shining with electrical power coming from an unknown source, casting dim light throughout the room. She could see an odd pattern on the floor and ceilings, semicircles connected in chaotic ways, extending throughout the room, odd symbols and characters foreign to her adorning them. Four other people in pure white robes stood around the room, unmoving and still as the two walked in, all seeming to stare at the crypt.
The crypt was massive, standing up, braced against the wall, taller than her, taller than anyone she had ever met or even heard of and as wide as three men standing side by side. Its makers were completely unknown to her. She didn't even recognize the stone it was made out of. A black stone that seemed to draw in all light with its mere presence, adorned and covered with more of the symbols and characters she could not recognize. Only a small window seemed to not made of the odd stone, glass fogged over, revealing nothing inside.
"Please stand aside," Korra heard as the person with the lantern seemed to hover forward, the other four moving to odd cranks on the wall, turning and moving like clockwork figures. All played out before Korra's eyes.
Korra backed against a wall as the people in white began turning the cranks. Slowly ancient gears began turning, grinding against one another, scraping at rust accumulated over decades. Such noise Korra had not expected, pounding sound that seemed to rip at her ears, a slow screeching sound as little by little, the lid of the crypt pushed further and further forward.
Hiiiiiiiisssssssssssssss
Fog began pushing out of the crypt, making it ever harder to see, turning everything into mere shadows across a room. Korra couldn't even see her hand in front of her face after a few seconds, impenetrable clouds filling the room far too efficiently. Slowly she inhaled, tasting the odd mist. She couldn't even properly describe the taste: just thinking it as something so foreign that she couldn't even compare it to anything that had ever touched her tongue.
Yet, through it all the sounds continued, the ancient gears turning over and over again, the scraping sound continuing as the lid of the crypt pushed open.
Korra turned slightly. She couldn't Airbend, the art still remaining out of her grasps. But, she could Waterbend. Slowly she outstretched her hands, turning them, trying to pull the fog out of the air, trying and failing. Even though she normally could, she couldn't Bend the water in the air.
The sounds ended. For a single second, the entire room was silent in the fog as the gears stopped turning, and the screeching sound stopped. For a single second, a single breath, everything was silent in the room. For a single second, in the fog, Korra could calm herself, try to convince herself that nothing was going to happen.
SLAM.
Korra nearly jumped as the sound rocked through the room, a heavy pounding sound, the sound of the crypt's lid falling to the ground. It pounded through Korra's chest, seeming to put a stop to her beating heart for a single breath. A single breath, for Korra to regain control of her nerves. But, it lasted only a single breath.
Shesherrshoshesh
As the sound entered Korra's ears, one by one, the brass lanterns began burning out, filaments popping as the room got darker and darker. And, through the foggy darkness, the sound came again and again.
Sheshoshroshoshhoshe
Shoshesheshosheshesh
Sheshershoshshrosh
Sheshoshosheresh
Sheresheshesheroshesheshosh
Five times. Five times, the awful sounds entered Korra's ears. She was sweating, her hands on the walls, her body pressed against it.
"Are you out there?" Korra's terrified voice shrieked, but no response was heard. "Chapter of the Petrified Stems?" No response could be heard. "Anyone?" Silence. "Hello?" "Please no. This isn't funny! Please, anyone?"
Shesheshesheshosh
"No. Stay back. No!" Korra screamed. It was growing closer. Something was creeping toward her in the darkness. It had to be. She wasn't alone in the darkness of the room.
Shereshoshoshe
It was practically on top of her. Whatever was making the sounds was mere steps away from her, growing closer.
"Stay back!" Terrified, Korra's fist slammed forward, flames bursting forth. For a few long seconds, light poured into the dark room, revealing the truth.
Korra was alone. The fogs were gone even. The crypt was open, a dark stone box. But, nothing was in it. Only the open door littered the floor. There weren't even any bodies. All of the people in white were gone, vanished without bloodshed or a struggle. She was alone; somewhere in a massive underground complex, somewhere in suffocating darkness, she was alone. Or at least, she thought she was.
Sheshoshrosheshshoeshesh
