Book Five
Chi
Chapter Nine
Truths and Consequences
"So then I said, 'Well if you didn't want the flame to go out, you shouldn't have dated a Waterbender'!" Varrick loudly concluded with a slap of his knee, he and the group of high rollers assembled around him (a group which included Raiko, Buttercup, Ryuuki and the Wu formerly known as 'Prince') breaking out into a fit of laughter, drinks still in hand. After all was said and done, tonight was still a night for celebration, and with Opal back safe and sound (as far as any of those gathered were concerned) and another potential crisis successfully averted, they saw no reason not to get right back into it. In fact, if anything, they had more reason to celebrate now than they did before, mover premiere or no.
And they weren't the only ones, either.
Now that Lin no longer had to lead a manhunt for her niece, and Tenzin no longer had to assist in the arrest of one of his finest pupils, the two of them seemed to have seen it fit to finally cut loose and live a little, something that – from the awkward, embarrassing way they seemed to carry themselves while intoxicated – they hadn't had the opportunity to do together in quite some time. While they relived the 'old days' over another glass of wine, Pema watched the two of them like a hawk from hers and the kids' table across the room, Rohan playing with some paper and crayons right beside her while Ikki and Meelo drifted off to hang out with Huan and Jinora settled in with a book across from her mother.
Meanwhile, while they hadn't seen it fit to turn to celebration just yet, the look of relief that'd washed across Su and Bolin's faces when Korra returned with Opal in tow wasn't something she would be forgetting anytime soon. The two of them looked as though the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders, happily escorting the Airbender back to her family's table together, the three of them sitting down with Wing, Wei and Bataar Sr. to talk about what just happened. Hopefully in full, she thought.
The sooner those who needed to know knew what had transpired, the sooner Korra could leave it to them to keep the Beifong from making the same mistake twice, and the sooner she could let them help her deal with her residual anger and any unresolved issues with Kuvira in a more constructive manner. Or, well, she could mostly leave it to them, anyway – she'd still be checking in on her herself every now and again, just like she'd promised back on the island.
With all of that now safely put behind her (at least for the time being), the young Avatar felt as though she'd earned herself a drink and the rest of the night off, ordering another glass of wine and then walking back over to her table with Mako and Asami to give them an edited summary of everything that'd just gone down.
In time, drinking her wine and reminiscing with two of her oldest friends, Korra's stress quickly began to melt away, and before she knew it, a half an hour had passed and Mako had gone off to look for Ryuuki while she and Asami had decided to slow dance to the tune being played by the band in the back of the establishment. Both of them were more than a little tipsy by this point (Korra a little less than Asami), but both of them more than needed a moment to themselves after what Korra just had to deal with, the engineer in her arms clearly having grasped that she wasn't telling them the full story right now, but nevertheless choosing not to press it any further.
For all intents and purposes, it should have been a perfect moment. And on paper, it was. But for Korra, something didn't sit right, a nagging sensation in the back of her mind threatening to pull her out of her moment, alcohol or no alcohol, Asami or no Asami. It felt like something important, like something she'd forgotten to take care of, but she was at a total loss as to what it was. Strangely enough, this much, Asami didn't seem to pick up on, pulling her wife-to-be in for a much needed kiss on the lips instead, something Korra hoped to have some effect on the nagging in her head.
But there was nothing. Nothing but that incessant voice in the back of her mind, the feeling that something had been forgotten. And as the two of them pulled apart and Korra seemed completely unfazed, stuck inside of her own head, the woman in front of her recognized immediately that something was wrong. "Korra? Is everything okay?" She asked.
The Avatar was silent. Was it just her, or was it getting a little hot in here?
"Korra?" Asami asked again. The Waterbender still didn't respond. What was that? That heat? ...And that voice... was somebody calling her?
"Korra!" Finally, Korra came to.
"...Huh? Asami?" Korra asked, still a little dazed and distracted. Was that Asami's voice calling her just now, or...
...Opal.
"S-Sorry, yeah, I'm fine, I just... I feel like I really need to talk to Opal again right now. Hang on a minute." She requested simply, pulling away from her fiancee in an uncharacteristically distracted manner. Normally, it was Asami who personified all of the Waterbender's distractions – this was the first time she felt as though something else was more important. The drive to talk to Opal was all-consuming.
"Korra, wait, don't go!" Asami called, desperation in her voice, as if she knew what was going to happen next. But though she reached out for her, Korra was already too far away, completely absorbed by the nagging sensation that was now front and center in her mind.
"It'll only take a minute, hold on," Korra requested, her fiancee fading out of view as she pushed her way through the crowd.
It was strange. It almost seemed as though there were more people here now than there were a few minutes ago. She wasn't really paying them too much mind, but, if she thought about it for a second, for a party, they didn't really seem all that lively anymore. In fact, they all seemed a little grim, as though they were disappointed by something, judging something, all talking amongst themselves about something. As they whispered all around her things she couldn't make out in voices she could barely hear, Korra, too focused on her goal to care, arrived at Opal's table, approaching the Beifong girl from behind.
"Opal, can I talk to you again for a minute?" She asked, reaching out a hand and placing it on the Airbender's shoulder to turn her around, an action she almost immediately regretted, as when Opal turned to face her, it wasn't the Beifong's eyes she found herself looking into. It was Zaheer's.
"Why didn't you let us kill you when we had the chance?"
When it was his voice that reached her ears instead of Opal's, Korra's heart skipped a beat, and the Avatar stumbled backwards, the world around her having suddenly shifted from the party back at the club, to a lone tree on a hill in a crimson meadow, the entirety of the scenery having been caught up in a hellish blaze as sweat rolled down the young woman's face. The source of the heat that'd been so confusing her, she reasoned.
As she looked frantically all around her, terrified and confused, she saw that the sky above was a dark, boiling red, distinct from the field around her, and there was a hole where the sun or the moon should've been, Zaheer alone standing in the inferno as her only companion as the countless whispering patrons that had surrounded her before had vanished into the air like smoke.
"Why didn't you let us save you?" ...Us?
"I... how...? Save me from what...?" Korra asked. She wanted to escape, but her body would no longer obey her commands. She wanted to scream for Asami, but her chest was too tight, she could barely engage Zaheer as it was.
In response to her question, Zaheer tilted his head. "You really don't know yet, do you? He's seen you, Korra." The Airbender warned.
"Who? Who's seen me?" She asked, desperate.
"He's seen you and now he knows you've seen him. He's coming for you, Korra. There's no stopping what's about to happen. You should have let us kill you when we had the chance. You should have let us save you from this fate." He repeated, a mixture of anger, fear and confusion in Korra's eyes as she repeated herself in turn.
"Who!?" She demanded, power returning her voice as she finally readjusted herself to her surroundings and gathered back her courage. That's right... courage. She'd dealt with all of this before, hadn't she? Why was she acting so scared now? She wasn't afraid of him – not anymore!
At this, Zaheer only smiled, his eyes shifting focus from the Avatar to somebody else behind her. Unsure of what he was looking at, Korra turned around, finding herself now trapped back in the infinite dark expanse she'd been relocated to on that night at the theater, back to standing face-to-face with the Chi Eater spirit, its huge, dripping maw mere inches from her face. The fire and the hill from before were gone now. Zaheer was gone, too. Everyone and everything was gone. Now, there was only...
"Us." It whispered simply, a blue glow rising from its throat and grabbing hold of her face as its jaws snapped closed around her and consumed her body whole, its single, solitary hand pulling her spirit down into the eternal churning pit of souls buried deep in its own...
"NO!" Korra screamed, awaking with a start back in the safety of her own bed. A dream... it was all a dream. While this realization should have calmed her down, the contents of her nightmare, still fresh on her mind, had triggered some old wounds and brought back to the surface some worries she had been putting off before, things that kept her panicked and afraid even after she realized what had happened wasn't real. How long had it been since she'd had a nightmare like this? A month, maybe? Whatever it was, it wasn't long enough. She'd genuinely hoped that she'd finished with this anxious exercise.
In immediate response to her sudden jolting upright and desperate screaming, Asami, who had previously been sleeping peacefully at Korra's side, arms wrapped lovingly around her waist as the big spoon of the night, also sprung up in panicked surprise, wide-awake and alert and unfortunately all-too-familiar with what was going on. The moment she noticed that they weren't under attack and that the both of them were still safe and sound in their room at the Estate, she knew. It was another nightmare.
Like Korra, Asami, too, had hoped that the Avatar had had the last of these a month and a half ago, back in their time in the Spirit World. But she supposed some wounds wouldn't heal so easily.
Remembering the routine they had constructed back then, Asami first gently placed her hand onto her fiancee's bare shoulder, grabbing the Avatar's attention and causing her to look back at the green eyed girl with the disheveled hair and a loving concern in her eyes, a soothing presence that immediately slowed back down her previously sharp and labored breathing, which regulated her erratic heartbeat in turn.
Right. Like she'd just told herself – it was just a dream. A dream with him in it, but, a dream nonetheless.
Sliding her hand slowly down her fiancee's arm from her shoulder down to her hand, Asami grabbed hold of Korra's with a gentle firmness, reassuring her that she was okay now.
Asami's fear was that it was another dying dream, another memory of her near-death experience. So far as she could tell, only Zaheer ever got Korra this worked up, and any time he happened to be on her mind, a situation like this seemed to follow, eventually.
But Korra had learned how to manage these things herself in her years of recovery. From a cup of tea, to stargazing, to re-reading Asami's letters, to meditation – once her least favorite activity, now a frequent destressor and a much-loved remedy to the occasional night-terror – she was still in a better place than she was before returning to Republic City the first time. She'd come to accept what had happened to her and not let that fear of what could've been consume her. But this wasn't something that you could just... get over, and never have to deal with again.
It was easier now, certainly. Livable, even. Manageable. But this was deep, perhaps even permanent, something Korra would have to deal with on occasion for the rest of her life.
There would be slips, relapses, bad nights, and that was okay – she was still keeping on keeping on. Tonight just happened to be one of those bad nights, the Sato supposed, and it wasn't the first that she'd seen. Now that the two of them spent most their nights together, Korra's post-nightmare management had become decidedly more Sato-centric. She could handle it on her own if she had to, but... she didn't have to. Not anymore, and not right now. And that thought alone brought the Avatar more comfort than almost anything else.
"Another nightmare?" She asked simply, though her intended question, to Korra, was clear. 'Was it Zaheer again'. Asami had elected to not use his name, or even refer to him at all, in their time together. When it did turn out to be about him, Asami didn't want to keep everything fresh and present in Korra's head, so she just asked simple, seemingly obvious and nondescript questions, instead, letting Korra steer their conversation however far she wanted by whatever she was willing to divulge. Still, he usually was the bulk of Korra's nightmares, even now, so the two questions may as well have been the same thing.
Much to Asami's surprise however, to this question, Korra didn't nod. Instead, her grip on Asami's hand briefly tightened, and then loosened, and then she pulled her hand free altogether, electing instead to rest herself on the woman's chest and shoulder, to have herself wrapped back in her arms where she felt safest, where she was safest.
Asami understood immediately and held her there, stroking her hair, and then placed her hand on top of Korra's again now that she had repositioned herself, gently holding onto the Avatar's left that had found itself resting gently on the engineer's chest.
As she laid there for a moment, gathering her thoughts, Korra sighed, calming down some more while Asami's other arm remained comfortingly wrapped around her, ceasing to play with her hair while she maintained her silence so that her fiancee could speak.
"No, not this time. I mean... not exactly." Korra tried to explain, her grip on Asami's chest reflexively tightening while the Sato only stared lovingly at her fiancee, interlocking her fingers with Korra's own, patiently waiting for her to find the words. "I had a nightmare, yeah. And he was there, but, he was like a..." She paused, trying to think of the right way to describe it. "He was like a... a symbol, or a metaphor, or something... a stand-in... I think." She couldn't seem to find the right words, and had briefly narrowed her eyes in thought, clearly still a little confused and distraught and trying to gather her thoughts, but Asami got the message.
She reached up for Korra's face with her other hand, brushing a lock of her hair out of the way so that she could plant a soft kiss to calm her down even further and keep her talking.
"You think?" Asami had to confirm it wasn't about that again. Korra understood what she was implying and nodded, trying to think of how to better describe what she meant while she savored the sensation of Asami's kiss.
"I'm not sure what it was, honestly, but... I was back at the party earlier tonight, and at first, everything seemed normal. It was like I was just reliving everything that'd happened when I came back with Opal, but, I didn't seem to realize at first that I'd already experienced all of it." She explained. So, to a point then, that was exactly how the night had gone. It could be surmised the events after their dance hadn't actually happened, then.
"But then, when we were dancing, for some reason... for some reason, I felt like there was something really important that I had forgotten about. You tried to warn me not to go, but, I left you behind to go try and talk to Opal again, and when I finally got back to her, when she turned around, it was Zaheer."
"I see... do you think it was because of what she tried to do earlier?" Asami inquired, listening intently to her fiancee's every word.
Of course Korra had told her the full story of what'd happened after they got home – she was Asami, her fiancee, the love of her life and practically her number one counsel by this point. She didn't keep secrets from Asami, no matter what, especially not ones like that. It was too important, and she knew it could lead to something like this later in the night. They both knew that. Korra's recovery had been a long, arduous road that she was still traveling down, in some ways. But even when bad nights did happen, Asami still couldn't help but be proud of how far she had still come.
"I don't know, maybe. But, it was what he said that really got to me. When I'd noticed that it was him, the scene had completely changed. I wasn't in the club anymore, I was back on that hill, by that tree, the one I saw when I fought the Chi Eater?" She began, wanting to confirm Asami remembered what she was talking about. Of course she'd been apprised of that little happening, too, and she remembered it all faithfully, so, the Sato nodded.
"Except... everything was on fire now, and there was no sun or moon or anything like that, just... black. And Zaheer kept asking me why I didn't let him kill me, acting like he was trying to do me a favor, or something. Except... I don't know if it was Zaheer, exactly?" Korra asked, unsure of her own uncertainty. Asami also seemed to be confused.
"Who do you think it was, then?" She asked. Korra thought for a moment, recalling the end of her dream.
"Well, the way he kept referring to himself... it was plural. At first, when he said 'us', I thought he meant me and him, but then he said something about me having been seen by 'him', and how I couldn't stop what was going to happen. The way he said it, it felt like he intended it to mean that me being killed by him would've been better than whatever was going to happen next, and I remember feeling that way too, for some reason. And then everything changed again, and..." When Korra paused and bit her lip, Asami's grip on her hand tightened, and she held the girl a little closer.
It was okay now.
"...the Chi Eater ate me. Zaheer was talking about the Chi Eater." Korra concluded. So... her nightmare was about the Chi Eater, then? Not about Zaheer?
Ordinarily, Asami would have been relieved to hear that it wasn't about him again, taking it as a sign of further recovery in that now even her nightmares were free and clear and hers alone again. But, in this case, it was more like she was trading in one trauma for another. Korra had confided in her how scared she was when the Chi Eater was on top of her like that, what she'd heard and felt and how she thought she was going to die all over again, and how awful its presence was at such a close distance, so Asami was briefly afraid that any progress she may have made could've been undone by repeated trauma.
But at the same time though, she also knew that as the Avatar, Korra was privy to things that ordinary people and Benders weren't, and that there may have been more to all of this than met the eye, which was deeply concerning for a whole other reason. For now, she'd just have to keep on asking questions and see what the two of them could figure out together.
"I thought you'd gotten rid of the Chi Eater for good though, why would it be in your dreams now?" She asked. And why would Zaheer show up to warn her about it after the fact, she wondered? "Do you think that maybe you didn't kill it after all...?" Korra immediately retreated when Asami referenced killing it, something the raven-haired woman immediately regretted bringing up when the Avatar had pulled away from her embrace to quickly re-gather her thoughts.
Necessary or not, Korra still had a hard time dealing with all of that.
But... Asami understood it, kind of. In all honesty, she was just glad that even as the Avatar, face to face with a corrupt, killer spirit, Korra was still Korra. She valued life, and took no joy in ending it, even if sometimes the situation might not give her any other choices. In the heat of the moment, however, she'd forgotten just how much having to do that had actually upset her. It wasn't like Unalaq, where the choices were clear and Vaatu had taken control. She really felt like she could've saved that thing if she was just a little bit stronger, just a little bit better of an Energybender than she was.
But she wasn't.
"No, I... I definitely killed it, and it thanked me for it," Korra reaffirmed, now sitting up alongside her fiancee with her knees pulled up to her chest as opposed to relaxing in Asami's arms, quickly trying to move things along. She didn't like to dwell on this.
"But something about it has been bugging me all week. That vision... I know it didn't come from who or whatever was controlling it, but I still can't help but think it's somehow connected to them, anyway. Like the Chi Eater wanted me to see it, like it wanted me to try and use it to get to... him." She described with a shrug.
"...Him?" This was the first time Korra had given any sort of definitives in regards to the Chi Eater's corrputor.
"I don't know, Zaheer referred to the Chi Eater as a 'him', but I didn't get the feeling he was talking about the spirit, even if that's what I saw in my dream. I was sure he was talking about whoever corrupted it." She explained with another shrug, letting out a sigh.
Asami placed her hand on Korra's shoulder again, who looked back at her for a moment, and then returned to her, having apparently forgiven her for the slip-up (and really missed the feeling of being in her arms), returning to her previous position as she was urged to continue with what it was she was getting at.
"I know it doesn't seem possible that somebody could create a dark spirit like that and be alive for more than a thousand years, but, that's the vibe I've been getting ever since I made contact with the Chi Eater's spirit. Both of them. Whoever he is, he's still alive today, and he knows who I am and what I did." Asami was now, officially, concerned.
She was neither a bender, the Avatar, or even very well versed in spiritual matters (although she had been brushing up on those as of late, almost entirely because of who her fiancee was), but even she knew that anybody who could live a thousand years straight on through was nobody to be trifled with. If Korra's gut was right, then whoever was behind all of this was an enemy unlike any the Avatar had ever faced before. She was just glad that this time, said Avatar had no shortage of friends and allies at her side to help her face this guy.
"Are you sure?" She asked. Korra wasn't, which gave Asami some relief, but the Avatar still seemed convinced that it made the most sense. And as she went on to explain why, that relief which had briefly graced Asami's mind had just as quickly eluded her.
"No, but, I talked to some spirits earlier today. I didn't have the chance to tell you about it earlier with everything that was going on, but, I'd noticed that even though I supposedly took out the Chi Eater, there weren't as many spirits in the city as there used to be." Come to think of it, Asami had noticed that too.
"Then I bumped into the light spirit that'd led me to Toph a while back, and he told me that all of the older spirits had elected to stay behind in the Spirit World because they didn't think I'd actually gotten rid of it. The way he explained it, what I fought was very alone, and sad, and dangerous, but... it was more like another victim than anything else." She sighed. "And if the spirits are scared about something, you can bet it's something dangerous. So, in other words..."
"In other words, it's not over..." Asami finished, letting the realization sink in for the both of them. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh?
"...In my dream, Zaheer said that he'd seen me, and that I'd seen him too. I'm guessing that it happened when I made contact with his spirit, the one that was buried deep down in the core of the Chi Eater's. I don't know, not for sure, but... whoever he is, he's strong. Real strong. The way his will had been so perfectly intertwined with that spirit's own... either he's some sort of spirit himself, or he's an Energybender unlike anything I ever thought possible." And she wasn't sure which possibility was worse. If it was an Energybending spirit, she was clearly out of her league, she had no idea where to even begin in countering that. But if it was a person...
Raava was right when she said that the Chi Eater's actions seemed more in line with those of a human's than those of a spirit's, a theory lent even further credence when Korra connected with it the second time, when she fought to free it again after everybody had managed to get it on the ropes for a moment. Spirits didn't want to die either, no, they tried to continue living as much as anyone and anything else, but they didn't fear death. Not like humans did. And that fear, that mantra repeated deep down in its soul, that was very, very human.
She never thought that anybody but the Avatar could Energybend before, that there was anybody else out there with this sort of power aside from the Lion Turtles, but now...
"Well... since when has that ever stopped you before?" Asami asked, a smile on her face. Korra immediately pulled back a bit and looked up at her fiancee, surprised by her sudden burst of optimism. What'd happened to all her worried thoughts from a couple of moments ago? "You've fought a Spiritbender before in your uncle, right? I know you've said it's different, but that was still pretty scary and unprecedented too, right? Somebody who was able to sway spirits one way or another and drive them mad at will?" ...So that's where she was going with this. From the way she was leading her fiancee on, it seemed Asami's reasoning had given her hope already.
"Well, I–" Korra began, before Asami cut her off.
"And how about Amon? I mean, a psychic Bloodbender? Only Aang had ever encountered one of those before, and even he needed to go into the Avatar State in order to counter him. But from what you and Mako told me, you went and broke his hold all on your own and took him out with nothing more than an Airbending kick. And when you fought Unavaatu? That was all you, too. You were faced with a literally larger-than-life challenge, and you still rose to the occasion and fought it on your terms. And then there was the Spirit Cannon, where–"
"Okay, okay, I get your point," Korra laughed, pulling closer to Asami again, who continued to smile and ran her fingers through the Avatar's hair. "I know I've done some pretty impossible things before, you're right. But I can't help but feel like it's different this time, you know? Like whoever's behind this is... desperate." She concluded. Desperate?
"Any time I won an impossible fight like that, it was only because I was desperate, too. All of my enemies so far, all of them have been powerful, but arrogant. They were fighting for something they believed in, but they were too out of balance. But this feels different from that, and I have no idea what that might mean for me." The Avatar confessed. But Asami remained optimistic.
"Then you'll just have to take what you believe in, which isn't out of balance, and fight for that even more desperately." The inventor shrugged. "Don't worry about whether you can or not, Korra, because I know that you can. I believe in you. Just, don't forget, you're not all alone, either. Sure, we're not the Avatar, but... we are her friends. ...And, her lover, I guess, heh." Asami laughed.
Korra smiled, nuzzling deeper into her fiancee's chest, clutching her close. She always did feel safe here, safer than anywhere else. And for the most powerful person in the world, that was not a feeling that came very easily. It always managed to put her back in an okay mood, even after one of her nightmares.
"Yeah, maybe you're right." Korra smiled. "I think I'm going to go back into the Spirit World tomorrow and see if I can't get to the bottom of all of this. This nightmare's gone on long enough. And I guess I should probably let Lin and Raiko know what's going on, too... make sure they're ready to move if something happens or I can find anything... but for right now, I don't think I want to talk about it anymore. I'm still tired and a little dizzy and I just want to go back to sleep." She admitted with a groan.
Asami nodded, agreeing with her, lying back down while Korra maintained her position resting on her chest, now with the addition of her legs wrapped tightly around Asami's own.
"I think that's a good idea, yeah. I'll be here if you need me, for anything." She reaffirmed, kissing Korra's head while she sighed with contentment. Tomorrow wasn't going to be fun. Could she just skip it and spend the day in bed with Asami, instead? Spirits, that sounded better. She really hated her job sometimes. Shifting her head and body around a bit to in order get more comfortable, Korra closed her eyes, relaxing as she prepared to go back to sleep.
"Thanks for letting me ramble to you about my dreams..." She mumbled, finding the perfect position she was searching for and settling her face into a warm, tired smile. "I really hope this doesn't make you think less of me..." Korra's eyes snapped back open. Did she just say that out loud? ...She just said that out loud, didn't she. That part was supposed to stay in her head. She really was tired...
But thankfully, Asami just laughed it off, though not in a way that came off as belittling or dismissive or anything, kissing her head again and then vanquishing her fears almost as quickly as they'd appeared.
"Of course not, silly. You might be the Avatar, but at the end of the day, you're also still just Korra, at least to me. It's okay to not always be so brave, especially around the ones who love you." And nobody loved her more than Asami, Korra thought.
"Well... it is pretty nice not having to act so tough all the time..." She confessed with a laugh. Asami kissed her even more in response, an action that caused the Waterbender's smile to grow a little more every time. She seemed to be in a pretty loving mood tonight. Residual effects of all the alcohol, or a response to her nightmare? Either way didn't really matter to her. In all honesty she was still a little flabbergasted by this whole thing, her and Asami. There were a few times when she was away she was afraid maybe she was reading a little too much into everything. But on nights like tonight especially, she was really glad that she wasn't.
"See? Of course I don't think any less of you. If anything, I'm honored that you trust me so much to be so vulnerable around me." I mean, how many people got to say they were the Avatar's lover and confidant, right? Of course there was more to it than that for Asami, but, that didn't mean the thought didn't still occur to her sometimes, anyway. How incredible all of this was; how incredible she was. Being with Korra like she was was an honor, a privilege, and the greatest thing to have ever happened to her.
"Well, we have been through a lot together, especially in the Spirit World." She laughed, nuzzling up even closer to Asami, assuming that was even possible. "I feel like I know you better than I know myself, sometimes." And in some very physical ways, she might not have been wrong.
"Besides, I've always felt safe with you. Since Harmonic Convergence, at least, but... especially after Zaheer; those two weeks when you wouldn't leave my side. I don't know, I guess... I guess I always just figure you've already seen me at my worst and you still somehow managed to love me, so I mean..." She was kind of just rambling at this point, and both of them knew it, but Asami didn't really want her to stop. She liked this more relaxed, rambling side of Korra, this sort of feeling of... it didn't matter what was being said, exactly, they just really liked talking to each other and hearing the other's voice.
Still, it was late, and both of them needed to get back to sleep.
Kissing Korra's head again, Asami ran her fingers through the girl's hair, the Avatar allowing herself to relax as she quieted down to the sound of Asami's heartbeat and the soft, steady, motion of her breathing, her eyes gradually getting heavy again. She'd managed to find something really special at the end of her recovery after all, she thought to herself, taking in the peacefulness of the moment while she still had it.
"Goodnight, Asami... I love you..." She mumbled, closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep to much more pleasant dreams than before.
"Goodnight, Korra. I love you too." Asami quietly returned, continuing to stroke the girl's hair as she fell back asleep, before falling asleep again herself shortly thereafter.
"Look, alls I'm sayin' is, if we're gonna act, we gotta do it quickly, opportunities like these don't come a'knockin' all that often, y'feel me? Kuvira may of wreaked a lot of havoc, but she also gave us the best chance we're ever gonna get at takin' this whole damn city for our own. But we ain't never gonna get anywhere by goin' back to brawlin' in the streets and beefin' over turf like a buncha low-level kiddie gangsters anymore, not with the Avatar back in town and the RCPD bringing in more and more officers every day." Atsushi repeated for what had to have been the third or fourth time now.
As Chiasa was well aware, it wasn't very like the hot-blooded crime boss to actively avoid a little street violence like this, especially seeing as it seemed to be what he and his goons did best. The Agni Kais often started fights simply for the hell of it, hoping to maybe get a little lucky and drive their competition out of whatever part of town they happened to be angling after at the time, and Atsushi was the worst of them all.
But even somebody as violent and short-fused as he was knew a golden opportunity when he saw one. If he took the time to approach this with a more level head, and he could get his rivals to agree to work together and decide ahead of time which territories were going to belong to which organization, they could take all of Republic City by storm before the police ever knew what hit them. So, that's exactly what he was doing, or at least, trying to do. But, understandably, it was in deciding who should have what territories that was proving to be the most difficult.
"You know I've been eyin' that eastern port of yours for a while now, ever since you stole it from me back in May, and you've got plenty of others already under your control that I ain't want nothin' to do with, some of it even nearby. So what's the matter with giving me a little somethin' somethin' for the sake of my operations, hmm?" Atsushi inquired, hoping that this time, his request wouldn't fall on deaf ears. But unfortunately for him, it didn't go any better the sixth time around. The Ice Queen wasn't budging.
Every Triad wanted different parts of the city for different reasons, and when the perceived value of an area wasn't the same across the board, or at least between two of them in particular, then all was well and good and the areas in question could be freely traded, Triads swapping one point of interest for another back and forth endlessly and without any incident.
But when interest happened to overlap, however, and one group tried to broker a deal to acquire a valuable property from another group, or competed with them for an open space... well, that was usually when things got violent and the Triads in question would resort to duking it out on the streets, aiming to take their prize by force. Except, this time, they were actively trying to avoid that scenario, as devolving into an all-out turf war would be not only what the city was expecting, but counting on.
No, if they were going to do this right and have some success with it, then they'd have to do things a little bit differently. This was a unique opportunity to try and approach things in a more peaceful manner, to barter over mutually valuable territories that might not otherwise be on the table without a flaming fist to the face or an icy spear through the chest.
But as far as Chiasa was concerned, this particular piece of territory was simply not up for debate. She couldn't allow herself to budge here, not even an inch.
"And 'alls I'm sayin' is'," The white-haired woman began, snootily mocking Atsushi's manner of speech. The Firebender scoffed. "If you want some of my organization's turf, fine, I have no problem with that, ask about whatever you want and maybe we can hash something out. But the docks are off-limits, all of them. So please, stop asking. I made this clear to both of you from the very start, and my patience is beginning to wear thin." She bitterly reiterated. How long had they been at this now, anyway? A couple of hours, maybe? This argument was getting old.
She briefly looked around. Ravi still hadn't returned yet, it seemed. Unfortunate. He'd walked away again sometime during their last trade in order to tend to the last of the party's guests, meaning things were especially tense between her and Atsushi right about now. You know that old saying about fire and water not mixing? Well, Ravi was kind of the big, buff, Earthbending brick wall that stopped the two of them from constantly going for each other's throats. So with him being gone and Atsushi being Atsushi and Chiasa being Chiasa, well...
"Alright, listen here lady, you ain't the only one bringin' stuff in and out of Republic City, capiche? You can't own a total monopoly on shippin' here, especially not in harbors well within established Agni Kai territory!" Atsushi fired back just as bitterly, though in a manner more reflective of his fiery personality than Chiasa's brand of icy indifference. But given the elemental leanings of the organizations they led, it seemed fitting that they would be so fundamentally, characteristically opposed, even in personal temperament.
"And as I have said before, I will let you and your lackeys smuggle your drugs and women in and out of my territories as much as you want, free of charge and without interference, but the city's remaining harbors will remain squarely in my control. The Triple Threats have already taken over half of this city's ports as it is, I can't afford to let any more of them fall into theirs or anybody else's hands without it posing a significant threat to my business, which, unlike yours, relies almost entirely on shipping. Unlike me, you can afford to let it go." But unfortunately, as favored as they were by the icily inclined, those three words appeared incongruous with the Firebender's intentions tonight.
"So, what, I'm supposed ta trust you not ta screw me and my gang over, butcha ain't gonna trust me ta extend ya the same damn courtesy!?" He asked, his pronunciation slipping as he rapidly grew more and more heated.
Chiasa could only smirk. He was quick to anger, but he was smarter than he looked.
"In a word, yes. Unlike you, I've shown myself to be more than willing to negotiate and iron out deals with my competitors that can benefit the both of us – and I don't just mean tonight. I make arrangements like these almost every day. And I mean, Ravi's had no problem working under these exact same terms, even in what would ordinarily be Terra turf. So what's your damage?" She asked. Atsushi snarled.
"Yeah, well, I'm not Ravi, you didn't sleep with me. And, I'm sorry, what was that? Did you just imply that I'm the one who's unwillin' to negotiate? Who the hell d'ya think it was who CALLED this damn meeting!?" He shouted, clenching his fists, steam rolling off his body in a rage. He was about ready to boil over, and Chiasa knew it.
Immediately, she sussed out any nearby water sources and readied herself for a fight, their surface tension stiffening as she grabbed hold of it with her bending, her breathing steady and eyes narrowed. She'd have liked to keep things civil, but, civil didn't usually last long with this guy. She was ready to fight at a moment's notice should his rage migrate into his fists like it normally did, but, thankfully, this was exactly when Ravi returned to finish mediating between the two.
"Technically I did, but admittedly you were rather insistent about it." The Earthbender replied, adjusting his cufflinks as he reentered the scene, closing the door to the club behind him. Immediately, Chiasa relaxed, releasing her hold on the nearby water, its surface tension returning to normal. Scary... Atsushi hadn't even noticed that she'd already grabbed hold of that puddle behind her.
"Not that Chiasa hadn't also expressed some interest in a meeting like this, if only in private, but, you're far from the only one, Atsushi. It takes two to negotiate." The Firebender was unamused, gritting his teeth, but he began to regain his cool with Ravi back in-between them. This was not somebody he wanted to throw down with.
"Believe it or not, this is about as close as you'll ever get to her being cooperative, so I would suggest that you take whatever deal she's offering you so that we can move on with all of this already, before she retracts her offer just to spite you." He warned, looking down in the head of the Agni Kai's direction. It seemed like he wasn't being left much choice here, was he? Chiasa didn't just have his back pushed up against the wall – the wall was pushing back on him, too, now.
"Ah, Ravi, there you are. Finally, somebody sensible." Chiasa greeted with a roll of her eyes, holding out her hand as if to ask for a smoke. The businessman obliged, handing her a cigarette from his jacket which she lit with a lighter from her long fur coat, breathing in the smoke in order to help clear her head before she elected to carry on with the world's most unpleasant business negotiation. Though, before she got back to that, there was something she wanted to ask...
"Did the President finally leave?"
"Yes. He, Varrick and Ryuuki were the last to go; it's just us now." Ravi replied, glancing upward. "I'm honestly surprised they stuck around so long, it's almost dawn. We should wrap this up soon." Chiasa agreed, nodding once. She was beginning to grow weary of repeating herself, and if the ports were the only thing left on Atsushi's mind, then once they'd settled that little dispute, her business here should be done. Aside from his relentless pursuit of the southernmost harbor, tonight had been a pretty good night; they'd traded some interesting territories today. Aside from whatever still happened to be held by the Triple Threats, the city now looked to be much more evenly divided up amongst them.
But, with the Earthbender's confirmation, Chiasa nodded, happy to hear it and immediately feeling more at ease, though her momentary reprieve was broken when Atsushi decided to open his mouth again.
"Ugh, okay, look, how about this," The Firebender began, eliciting an annoyed sigh from his Waterbending rival. 'Here we go again', she thought. "If Viper's still got a stick up his ass about playin' ball with us, then why don't we just team up and take back those ports he stole back from you so I can keep mine?" Chiasa rubbed her temples. Honestly, what did it matter? It was like she'd said before, her operations relied almost entirely on shipping, Atsushi's didn't. Why was this so important to him?
"Because these days, the Triple Threats have greater numbers than the Agni Kais and Red Monsoons combined. If we so much as sneeze in their general direction, there's no guarantee they won't take it as an excuse to just wipe us off of the map entirely. The whole point of this little meet and greet is to avoid that and any other unnecessary violence so we can all just have our territories, take our stakes in the city, and then let each other be. But of course Viper declined the invitation, probably at least in part because somebody insisted it be held behind a bar, on a weekend, in enemy territory, where all of the city's most powerful people were hauled up having a party."
Whether Atsushi owned this place or not didn't matter. As far as she was concerned, this was still a stupid idea, and they were lucky they weren't dead or in prison right now. Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure why she'd elected to show up. Probably something to do with Ravi's insistence, she figured.
"That discrepancy in numbers is exactly why the Terra Triad is here to help mediate these proceedings. We are still not entirely recognized by the Triple Threats due to only reemerging after Kuvira's attack, but even still, we aren't to be underestimated. We will help to fortify both of your organizations so that you can stand on more equal terms with the Triple Threats and thus more effectively negotiate with them." Ravi calmly explained, reaffirming his position as a somewhat neutral party in all that was going on. His organization held the least amount of territory of the 4, but it was strategically placed, and they were still the strongest in the new business district where Future Industries was located, for obvious reasons.
"Right, mediate. Yer doin' a bang-up job there, Ravi ol' buddy ol' pal. Maybe if you stopped walkin' away every 10 raa-damn minutes..." Atsushi grumbled.
"The party is over and Asami has long since returned home with the Avatar. My attention is no longer divided." Ravi coolly fired back. Atsushi stopped grumbling when he mentioned Asami, Ravi still eying him funny for threatening her earlier. What, did he have a crush on her, or something? 'Good luck wrestin' her away from the Avatar there, pal', Atsushi thought.
"What of Viper, anyway? Even with the Terra Triad backing us up, I'd still prefer not to fight and lose any men unless I have to." Chiasa explained, taking another drag of her cigarette. "As much as I don't like the guy, I'd still like to try to hold a similar trading session with him sometime soon, particularly now that I have more territory to trade with. I know for a fact that he's been eying some of what I got off of Atsushi for a while now. I can work with this." Ravi nodded.
"I've arranged to speak with Viper myself later this week, but, you know how he is. I may be a wall, but that man is like a glacier." Chiasa smirked.
"Maybe so, but he isn't the only one." She slyly replied. Ravi quirked an eyebrow. "If worse comes to worse, you might still have an ace in the hole; I'm pretty sure that pissbender's afraid of me. Put me in a room with him alone and I can guarantee you his cooperation without ever having to do more than threaten to lift a finger." She confidently proclaimed.
"Still, at the same time, the way he looks at me makes me want to puke. Have you ever seen the face somebody makes when they're terrified of you, but at the same time, given the chance, they'd leap at the opportunity to plow you? I have. I might freeze his heart for the hell of it before I ever get him on board." She shrugged. "Still, if you can't make any headway... you've got my number." She grinned, immediately following it up with another drag. Ravi smirked. He liked his girl.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He replied simply.
In terms of pure bending skill, Viper was only moderately above average at best, but Chiasa... personally, Ravi had never seen a Waterbender like her before. She was gifted, a natural. In a one-on-one battle, Viper stood no chance, and he knew it. Everybody knew it. The only thing that stopped Chiasa and the Red Monsoons from walking all over him were the Triple Threats' greater number of men and territories and the power and wealth that came with it. She may have run one of the city's premiere shipping companies, but, even her fortune paled in comparison to the Triple Threat war chest. As an organization, they were not to be trifled with.
"Okay, good, so it's decided then, we can handle Viper, I'm glad we all agree. Does this mean I get to keep my port, now?" Atsushi abruptly asked. The Waterbender's face immediately soured. Whatever good mood her confidence may have had her in was stifled the second he opened his mouth.
"For spirits' sake... this again? Why do you even care!? It's not like it's going to change anything!" In all these hours of arguing, this may have been the first time Atsushi had seen her lose her cool. The Firebender quickly grinned, impressed. Had he just melted that seemingly impenetrable sheet of ice around her heart? It seemed as though her patience was at its limit. That little bit of passion had earned her a full response, he thought.
"Because my brother gave his life winnin' me that slice of the city. Lettin' it revert back to you or anybody else would be an insult to his memory. It's bad enough you swept it out from under me as soon as that there Colossus dust settled. So I ain't leavin' here satisfied until I get it back, even if I've gotta fight ya for it."
...Oh.
Oh.
That... wasn't something either of them knew before.
Ravi glanced at Chiasa, but her face was indecipherable. He himself was aware of Atsushi's brother from when they were younger, but, he never knew that he'd died, only that he wasn't around anymore. He thought maybe he was in prison or something, but, that certainly explained away his absence, he supposed.
"..." Chiasa was unsure. She didn't really care about Atsushi or his brother, but it wasn't like she didn't get it, either. This was actually personal for him. She may not have wanted to surrender such a valuable territory to an organization she wasn't so sure she could trust, but, she also knew better than to try and cut through family ties in order to get what she wanted. She'd made that mistake before. With a defeated sigh, she finally relented. If worse came to worse, she could lean on Ravi to help enforce the terms of their agreement.
"Fine, whatever. Keep your damn port. Just extend to me the same benefits I was willing to extend to you and we can put this damn thing to bed, already." She said, begrudgingly extending a hand. The gesture indicated cooperation, but her face displayed only frustration and defeat. Nevertheless, Atsushi nodded, reciprocating the gesture.
"That, I can do." He agreed, shaking the Waterbender's hand and sealing their deal. She was glad she was wearing gloves right now. If she had to make skin-to-skin contact with this assclown she was probably going to puke.
"Then I think we're done here, unless there's anything else you wish to discuss." The head of the Red Monsoons concluded, rescinding her hand, stomping out her cigarette, and readjusting her coat. She was ready to go home now. She'd missed out on a good night of sleep for this.
"Well, there's still the elephant koi in the room of that there Avatar problem." Atsushi chimed in, looking now in Ravi's direction. "You keep sayin' you have a plan to 'take care of her', but ya still haven't filled me in on what that is exactly." The larger man seemed unfazed.
"That's something that is best discussed amongst all of the Triads. That includes the Triple Threats." The businessman replied. He'd said that before, but it no longer seemed to be doing the trick, at least for Atsushi. If Chiasa was having any doubts about him now, too, she wasn't showing it. But, knowing how persistent the head of the Agni Kais could be, he supposed he could relent and give a little bit more information than that to hold them over.
"...The Avatar is not somebody who can be fought directly, not by any normal bender. Even if all four Triads worked together, we still wouldn't have power enough to defeat her. Do I need to remind you what she did to Kuvira's Colossus? Or to the Chi Eater?" From the look on Atsushi's face, it appeared that he didn't.
"She does not operate entirely within the law. She will not hesitate to call us out and fight us in the streets. She's done it before. Therefore, until our power is secure and the entire city is under our control, the best we can hope to do is watch her movements and find other ways to distract her, other problems we can throw her attention onto, whether they're of our design or not." Other problems?
"And what did you have in mind?" Chiasa asked, clearly becoming curious now. Ravi smirked.
"That, I'm afraid, I can't tell you two until Viper is here, as well. My plan hinges on the four of us working together. So if he isn't here and willing to at least consider playing ball, then we stand no chance at succeeding." He explained. Well, whatever his full plan was, it better have been good, Atsushi thought.
"I've already been making use of my relationship with her fiancee to subtly direct her movements, but that's only a temporary solution. Meeting up with Viper should now become our top priority. If either of you have anything you've been holding back on that might prompt him to bite, now would be the time to use it. Once we're all together again, I'll mediate the proceedings just like I did with tonight's and explain the full breadth of my plan." He concluded.
"Hrm..." Atsushi hummed, not entirely buying the Earthbender's explanation. He tended to be a man of his word, but, something about all of this felt... off to him. There was something he wasn't telling them, but he'd said that much himself. But it was still new. The Ravi he knew didn't used to be so vague. But, the Ravi he knew also didn't used to lead an entire Bending Triad, either.
"...Okay then, Mr. Mediator. If you say so." He shrugged. No use arguing about it now. "I'll leave it up to you to get that weaselsnake's blessing, then." Like hell he was going to do it, he couldn't stand that guy. He clashed harder with him than he ever did with Chiasa; at least she could be semi-reasonable sometimes.
"I second that sentiment." Chiasa tacked on. "Like I said before, Viper may fear me, but that still doesn't mean I enjoy dealing with him. I'll put my faith in your powers of persuasion, my silver-tongued Metalbender." She and Ravi both grinned.
"Oy, I think I'm going to be sick..." Atsushi groaned, dragging his hand down his face. "I'm done here. You two do... whatever it is you two do. I'm gonna go get some shut-eye." He proclaimed, giving the two rival gangsters a lazy wave goodbye before walking away.
"Finally, he says something I can agree with." Chiasa half-joked, looking relieved that he was gone now. "I could use some sleep, myself. Of course, you're free to join me, if you'd like..." He appreciated the invitation, but...
"Not tonight, I'm afraid. I'll see you Friday, Chiasa." Ah, shot down. C'est la vie.
"Oh well, suit yourself. Later then, boulder boy." She winked, leaving the man in the alley with his thoughts. Alone again, he sighed, lighting another cigarette for himself before turning and walking away.
"What do you mean the Chi Eater isn't dead?!" Of all the things that her job entailed, this was probably one of her least favorite. If the look on her face wasn't enough to make the Avatar retreat, the anger in her voice certainly was. Giving bad news to a Beifong was never a fun activity, but giving it to Lin Beifong? Definitely not one of Korra's favorite Avatar duties.
Before she headed off into the Spirit World again to see if she could find out anything new about the Chi Eater, Korra had elected to schedule an impromptu meeting between herself, Lin, Raiko, and Mako and Bolin, first, in order to fill them in on what was going on and what she'd figured out. Lin and Raiko were obvious given who they were, but Mako and Bolin, as members of Team Avatar and the two whose case the Chi Eater killings fell under the jurisdiction of, also deserved to know, in her mind.
Curiously, though, she'd elected not to invite Tenzin, turning the meeting into a 5 person affair as opposed to 6. Perhaps it was due to him having his hands full with Opal, or perhaps it was because she didn't want to worry him again until she had some specifics (like a name) to work with, or maybe she just didn't think it was as important for him to know since he wasn't as immediately involved with this case as the rest of them. Whatever the case, the lack of his presence was still felt, if only by the Avatar.
With an annoyed sigh, the Chief of Police turned around, facing the window behind her desk and rubbing the bridge of her nose. She knew better than to expect good news when the Avatar asked to meet with her and Raiko, especially after last night, but part of her still hoped that she was wrong. Or, that if she wasn't, that it was about something less awful than this. Following up on Opal maybe, or securing a visit to Kuvira. That, she would've been fine with. That, she could've dealt with. But this?
"It's... it's exactly what I just said. I don't think the Chi Eater is actually dead. I think Republic City might still be in danger." Korra replied, meekly at first. She'd fought against giant metal monsters and all-powerful spirit kites, but, somehow, Lin still managed to actually intimidate her.
While the Chief cursed her luck beneath her breath, trying to process what the Avatar was saying, the look on Raiko's face became grim. He'd gotten far closer to that... thing than he would've liked, so he'd seen firsthand what it was capable of. If the Avatar's latest claim proved true, then he knew just how bad this might actually be.
"And you're sure about this?" The President asked. Before Korra could even open her mouth to respond, the Firebender to her right had answered in her stead, defending his friend.
"I don't think she would've called all of us in here if she wasn't, sir." Mako said, the Water Tribe girl giving him a thankful smile in response. He flashed a small shrug and a quick grin in return. He remembered how much she hated dealing with stuff like this.
"I don't get it... the killings stopped, bodies stopped appearing." The Beifong began, still trying to figure out where Korra got the idea it was still alive from. Had she seen something Lin hadn't? "I saw you kill that thing myself. The whole damn world watched it die. How the hell could it still be alive?!" Lin demanded, turning back around and slamming her hands onto her desk.
Papers flew as Korra withdrew with a wince once again, partially because of Lin and partially because she didn't like talking about that fight, but Mako seemed to be just fine, pissed off Beifong and all. Bolin, too, come to think of it. Seemed as though they'd already grown accustomed to their chief's attitude. Though, given Opal's heritage, she supposed Bolin may have had some extra practice here and there...
"Don't get me wrong, the Chi Eater spirit is... it's gone," Korra began, quickly brushing past any further talk about that night. "But the one that created it, the real Chi Eater, I think he might still be alive, and on the hunt."
"He?" Raiko asked.
"You think?" Lin tacked on. The Avatar frowned.
"The spirits seem to think so, yes. That's why they still haven't all come back." Korra said. The Chief fell quieter after that. She was beginning to wonder about them, herself. But she also didn't want to think too much about it. She wanted to believe this was over.
"I was talking with one earlier in the day yesterday, and he said that all of the older spirits are convinced that the Chi Eater's still alive. The way he put it, what we fought was just a corrupted spirit. Whoever created it, I think he wanted us to think that it was the real Chi Eater, to give us something to hunt down and fight while he kept on doing his thing undetected."
"In other words, you're saying it was a decoy." Mako summarized. Korra nodded. The Firebender let out a defeated sigh. "It makes sense. We already knew that the Chi Eater was smart, but I think we may have underestimated just how smart; probably because we were still so focused on it being a spirit of some sort. But if that spirit we fought was just a decoy, then the real culprit probably knew he wouldn't be able to get away with this unnoticed forever and prepared for that well in advance, just in case anybody ever knew to come looking."
"So basically what you're saying is we've been duped." The two young benders agreed and Lin grit her teeth. She hated it when criminals were smart. But when you've been at it for over a thousand years...
Still, none of this so far had explicitly ruled out the possibility that the spirit was just some sort of holdover from a thousand years ago. It was interesting, sure, but she failed to see how it screamed 'The real Chi Eater is still alive' so far. Before she could ask Korra why she thought that was the case, however, the President interjected.
"How are you so sure that this 'real' Chi Eater is a 'he'?" Raiko asked again.
"Well... I'm not entirely sure I do know, exactly? I mean... I kind of do, I think, but..." The President looked concerned. Korra didn't think she was explaining is this properly. Letting out a small, frustrated sigh, she tried again.
"That much I got from a dream. Which... okay, I know how it sounds, but, it matched something I saw when I landed the finishing blow on that spirit; a vision I had." At this, Raiko quirked an eyebrow while Mako and Bolin exchanged a look.
"A vision? You never told us about any vision..." The younger of the bending brothers said, a little confused. Korra gave a sorrowful look.
"I'm sorry, it didn't seem like it was all that relevant at the time, I thought it was nothing. But when I landed that final hit, it showed me something. A... a hill, and I guess all the other spirits that the decoy had eaten in its lifetime, and it thanked me for stopping it. Then, last night, I had a dream that took place on that same hill, and the feeling I had was exactly the same as the one I had in that vision. There were a few times in that fight, when I was bending the Chi Eater's energy, that I felt like it was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't always make it all out. Now, I think it may have been trying to tell me who was behind all of this." Korra sighed.
She wished it was easier to explain all of this Avatar Stuff™ to people than it was. They always ended up looking at her confused or like she had six heads or something instead, trusting her judgment because weird things like this tended to happen to the Great Bridge, but also finding it somewhat laughable that something as seemingly simple as a dream could be of such grave importance. After all, strange dreams and nightmares happened all the time, even to the Avatar, as Korra knew all-too-well. But, when the Avatar seemed sure about something, people still listened, no matter how silly or outlandish it may have sounded on the surface.
"So you know the Chi Eater's true identity, then?" Raiko asked further.
"No, not yet. All I know for sure is that it's a guy and that, apparently, at some point, we saw each other. The spirit didn't tell me anything more than that, in my vision or in my dream." She defeatedly replied, rubbing her right arm. Maybe if she'd tried a little harder to connect with it, to ask it questions, she could've figured that out and been done with all of this by now. But instead, she killed it, and now she was stuck here playing catch up with an ancient serial killer. She couldn't help but feel like it was partially her fault, somehow.
If the decoy's creator had killed anybody else since then because she hadn't stopped fighting long enough to ask the right questions, if her killing it had ended up leading to somebody else's death, she...
"Great, that narrows it down to, what, half the population?" Lin complained with a shrug, returning her fingers to the bridge of her nose immediately afterward. She clearly seemed to be stressed.
"What I don't get is how he could even still be alive." Mako commented. He had a point. They'd seen reports of this thing dating back centuries. Surely nobody could actually live for that long, right? "He'd have to be well over a thousand years old by now. Is it even possible for a human to prolong their life for that long?" He asked. Aside from her dream, they didn't have any evidence that he was still alive, but the detective wasn't about to question her about that now; if she was sure, he believed her.
"I don't know." Korra said, concerned. "Whoever he is, he's definitely an Energybender, though, so honestly anything's possible. I still don't fully understand it yet, but, I know it's really old and really powerful. You've seen what I've been able to do with it in just a couple of years, mainly out of desperation, but if he's really been at this for more than a thousand years, then..." Korra's look hardened. She didn't like where this was going.
"Maybe the Chi Eater isn't just one man." Raiko suggested. Korra quirked an eyebrow. "What if he is an Energybender like you say, but he isn't the first? What if this power is something that's been passed down over generations with the spirit as a kind of pet, sort of like your past lives and their animal guides?" Korra would ignore the insinuation that Naga was just a pet for now to address the crux of the President's question instead.
"Well, I mean, I guess it's possible, but... I don't know. If it was more than just one person, then I feel like the spirit would've tried to tell me that. But it said he, singular, implying that all off this is the work of a single man." A really, really old man.
"Maybe that's why he takes people's chi." Mako suggested, everybody's focus immediately shifting to him. Well that was a little uncomfortable.
"Ooh, yeah! Like maybe he's some sort of energy stealing vampire!" Bolin chimed in, expanding off of Mako's comment with his signature bravado, mimicking fangs with his index fingers held out in front of his mouth. Ordinarily, his older brother would shoot down an idea like that for being ridiculous, but, for once, he and Bolin actually seemed to be on the same page.
"Well, actually... yeah. That's exactly what I was getting at." Bolin looked confused, but Korra seemed even more-so. Really? Mako's look screamed 'hear me out on this one', though, so she allowed him to continue.
"Korra, you never figured out why the Chi Eater was stealing people's chi, did you?"
"No, it never really made any sense to me. The best Raava and I could figure out was that it was using people's energy to make itself stronger for some reason... which it was. You saw what it did with those Spirit Beams." Mako nodded. "But... that explanation never really sat right with me, or with Raava. It just seems too... human." Korra ended with a shrug.
"Well, then, what if the Chi Eater was more than just a decoy? What if it also gathered energy for whoever created it and then gave it back to him later so that he could extend his lifespan with it? We already know that the spirit you encountered could definitely steal people's chi – it'd eaten its way through a number of officers before crashing the mover premiere, and it'd tried its hand at eating both of us while we were fighting it – so, what if it selected victims for the real Chi Eater to feast on while also taking care of some of the work for him if or when he was weak, or otherwise under threat of exposure? If he's really as old as we think he is, then it'd make sense, especially if he starts getting slower and older again once he exhausts all of the energy that he's stolen."
"That could explain the 25 year cycle." Lin suggested, putting her thumb and index finger to her chin in thought. Mako nodded in agreement, but Korra seemed unsure.
"I... maybe? I don't even know if that's possible, honestly. I mean... extending your lifespan by taking other people's chi?" Korra wondered, trying to compare what she knew about spirits, humans and energy with what Mako was suggesting. As far as she could tell, it wasn't necessarily impossible, but, she wasn't sure if it was all that plausible, either.
"But... it would explain a lot. The vibe I got every time I connected with the Chi Eater spirit is that it was desperate; it kept repeating "I will not die, I will not die" to itself. Except, I don't think that was the spirit talking as much as it was whoever corrupted it or was controlling it. There was more than one soul inside of that thing." Not counting the ones it'd eaten, that was – she meant the core entity's spiritual center. She'd only neglected to mention it before because she didn't think whoever had corrupted it could possibly still be alive. But... she stood corrected, it would seem.
"Ugh, now that's just scary. A thousand year old man going around sucking out people's chi like some sort of energy-sucking vampire?" Bolin shuddered at the thought. "I wonder if that energy makes him look young, too. Otherwise he'd have to look like some sort of wrinkly old raisin or something by now, right?" He was being a little dramatic, but it was still a good question. In all likelihood the answer was yes, it did make him look young, but they couldn't be sure. All of this was still purely theoretical.
"I'll admit, all of this would explain a lot about the Chi Eater's behavior and why somebody would use it to target another person's chi in the first place, but, the only problem is..." Korra paused, her eyes downcast and her look softening with the dawning of uncertainty. "It shouldn't be possible for him to have more than his own energy inside of him. Our bodies aren't made to work that way."
"Yours does." Lin remarked.
"That's different." The Avatar replied. "Raava and I aren't two completely separate entities anymore, not entirely. Our spirits became one when she willingly fused with Avatar Wan over 10,000 years ago, but this isn't like that. What you guys are describing is somebody forcibly extracting another person's energy from their body, taking it into his own, somehow managing to burn through all of that in a quarter of a century, and then repeating that process over and over again for more than a thousand years. He should've overloaded his body and his spirit the second he first introduced somebody else's energy into his body. I don't care how good of an Energybender he might or might not be, the human body is not made to hold onto and burn through spiritual energy like that."
At least, not as far as she knew.
It was the same reason why nobody else but the Avatar could bend all of the elements. She only really had that power because Raava had that power, and Raava only had that power because held onto the knowledge and the energy transferred to her and Wan by the Lion Turtles. Spirits – especially older, more powerful ones like Raava – were more than capable of holding onto more than one energy inside of themselves and finding equilibrium with that, adapting to that. As beings of pure energy, it came more naturally to them.
But humans are different. They're more set in stone, in some ways, because they also have physical bodies made up of physical matter. If a spirit ever entered into their body, they would begin to mutate and die because their physical forms couldn't adapt to the excess energy, and if they tried to carry the power to bend more than one element, their body would be overloaded by the necessary chi and they'd die as a result. The Chi Eater should've been the same way, no matter how strong he was. No amount of Energybending should be able to save him from that.
And yet... that appeared to be the most fitting explanation for almost everything they'd seen and learned so far. She just couldn't understand how. There were still a few pieces missing to this puzzle and it was stopping her from seeing the whole picture. She still didn't even entirely understand the Chi Eater's motivations for doing all of this aside from extending his lifespan. But why? Why go through all that trouble? It couldn't really be that simple, could it? What was he after?
However informative this little meet and greet and its theory session may have been, she wasn't going to find those answers here. She knew where she had to go next. And that meant it was time to wrap things up here.
"...Whatever the case," She began, breaking the silence she'd created. "We could stand here and trade ideas back and forth all we want, but that's not going to stop him from taking any more lives. We know he operates on a cycle, and now we might have an idea why. So if that decoy helped gather energy for him, then he may be out there doing it on his own now, meaning-"
"Meaning he might finally be vulnerable for once." Lin finished. Korra nodded. "I'll alert my officers, tell them to stay on guard and keep an eye out for this sociopath."
"Maybe you should hold off on that a little longer, Chief," Mako interjected before Lin could formalize her course of action, the Beifong and the Avatar both looking in his direction. "The last thing we want to do right now is cause another panic. I'm guessing that's why Korra called this meeting between the five of us alone – not even Tenzin's here right now." The Firebender posited. The look in Korra's eyes told him he was right.
"There's a lot of new blood in the force right now. If you tell them the Chi Eater's still alive, you might end up spooking some of them, and if that happens, they might end up telling people. Friends, loved ones, the press... before long, the whole city will be in a state of panic and any element of surprise we might have right now would be gone. I'm guessing if he's been at this for as long as we all think he has, he feels pretty secure in his plan. He probably wouldn't think we've figured him out." Lin paused for a moment.
"...You might be right." The Chief conceded. "But if we are going to catch this guy, we do need some feet on the ground looking for any signs of suspicious, potentially Chi Eater related activity. In which case, I'm still going to pass this on to some of our more veteran officers... ones I know I can trust." Korra and Mako both nodded in response. In the event that even the spirits didn't know the Chi Eater's true identity, having some 'feet on the ground' trying their best to track him down would be their next best bet.
"There's only one thing I don't get." Raiko said, rubbing his chin in thought. It'd been a while since he'd spoken up. "If this Chi Eater really does have some sort of cycle and need to kill people and drain them of their chi, why haven't any more bodies turned up since the premiere?" That... was actually a pretty good question. "He wasn't exactly subtle about his methods before, he basically left mummies in his wake with every attack. I haven't heard about any more mummies turning up recently. Have you?" He asked.
"No." Lin replied simply. "It's why we all thought this was over with." She sighed. Raiko seemed concerned, but before he could voice those concerns (which likely would've included questioning Korra's reliability here, if she knew him at all), Lin perked back up, digging through the myriad of scattered papers on her desk in search of something. Finding it, she picked it up and quickly scanned it as she continued.
"However... I did notice something strange, recently. There's been a higher than average number of missing persons reports filed this month. I didn't really think anything of it before, I figured it just had to do with the state of the city and the movement of the Triads lately, but... it roughly correlates to around the time those bodies first started appearing. It could be that he's been taking more victims than we know about and simply disposing of the remains so that they won't be found." Lin suggested.
"Then why would he have left any bodies behind in the first place? Are we supposed to assume he just... slipped up, or something?" Raiko asked.
"Maybe not. If the spirit really was a decoy, then maybe he wanted it to be found." Mako said. The focus of the room again returned to the detective. "What if he thought he might be spotted this time around? We live in a more connected world than ever before right now. He can't just rely on distance anymore to conceal himself and his movements, especially not if he's taken to hunting in big cities too. His options are beginning to become a lot more limited. So, maybe, instead of waiting for some sort of mistake to reveal him..."
"...He chose to reveal himself on his own terms and let us 'stop' him while he keeps working alone from the shadows..." Korra finished, her ex nodding silently in response. That... also made a lot of sense, honestly.
"He took us for a bunch of chumps... he didn't think any of us would keep investigating after all the hubbub at the premiere was dealt with." Lin realized, gritting her teeth. The worst part was he was right. It was only because Korra had felt something was off that they were even talking about this right now.
"Yeah, well, he underestimated the Avatar." Korra said with a smirk. "I'm not sure if any of this is right or not, but I know one way I can find out." Her confidence returned, she was more eager now than ever to get back into the Spirit World and put this thing to bed. If anybody was going to have some answers for her, it was going to be the spirits.
"You're right. Go, we'll handle things on this side as best we can." Lin replied. The Avatar nodded.
"With any luck, when I come back, I'll have an identity we can work with and we can go take this creep down once and for all." She concluded, pounding her fist into her hand in a show of confidence. "I'll let you guys know as soon as I'm back." Lin nodded. Raiko seemed unsure, but, nevertheless gave his approval, as well. Much as he may have hated it, there wasn't much anybody could do in this situation, Avatar or otherwise.
Turning and leaving the room, as she made her way through the office and toward the hall, the sound of hurried footsteps closed in from behind her. "Korra, wait up!" Mako called, having apparently run to catch up with her before she left. He seemed to be in a better mood today; that was good, she thought.
"Mako? What's up?" She asked. Bolin seemed to have stayed behind. Usually it was the other way around, at least as of late.
"I want to go with you. Things are pretty crazy right now, and if this Chi Eater's corrupted any more spirits, you're going to need all the help you can get... my Lightning seemed to be one of the only things that actually hurt that thing last week." Korra frowned. He had a point, but...
"Thanks, Mako, but, I think it's better if I go alone." She replied. Mako's face sunk. "I'm just going into the Spirit World, I'll be fine." She reassured with a smile. "They just don't really like talking to humans at the best of times, not even the Avatar. At least not if they're old, anyway. If I showed up with anybody else, there's no guarantee I'd be able to talk to any of them." She admitted with a frown.
"So, I appreciate the offer, but... it's probably not the best idea, this time around. Besides, I thought you said it hurt to Firebend lately, anyway, because of your scar? I wouldn't want you to push yourself and make it any worse; you still need time to build your strength back up." Mako looked a little confused.
"...? Didn't I tell you?" He asked. Now Korra was the one who was confused. "Last night, at the party? Ryuuki healed me. I don't know how he did it, exactly, but... I'm as good as new, now. It's amazing!"
...That's right, she'd almost forgotten. He had mentioned something about that last night, hadn't he? She thought he was just drunk, ranting and raving about Ryuuki of all people, or that maybe it was part of a dream, so she'd just written it off and forgotten about it, but... apparently not?
"I... what? You mean that actually happened?" She asked. Mako nodded.
"Yeah, I don't really get the specifics, but... I guess it's like that Fire Sage you mentioned meeting back before Harmonic Convergence?" Korra seemed unsure. She figured it wasn't impossible, but... Firebending healers were pretty rare to say the least, especially since the Hundred Year War. It was a dying art. But then again, Ryuuki had surprised her before during the premiere with those blue flames of his, so she couldn't exactly rule it out, either. Still, though...
"...I don't know, maybe. Ryuuki never really struck me as the type for the healing arts, but, maybe I'm wrong? I mean, I managed to learn them." And when she did, she had a way more fiery personality than Ryuuki did. He just seemed too... well, she wouldn't go so far as to say daft, but, something like that, she supposed. "If you want, I can take a closer look at it when I get back, see if maybe I can learn something from it?" She asked. Mako nodded. "For now, though, I should probably get going."
"Right, yeah, sorry. Good luck!" He wished. Korra smiled. Well, whatever Ryuuki had done, at least it seemed to have him in high spirits again. As for right now though, there was somewhere else she needed be.
In the aftermath of Opal's attack, one thing had become clear – Kuvira needed more guards. Not in fear that she might escape, but rather, in fear that somebody else would try and finish what she started. And this time, a select few Airbenders from Air Temple Island – handpicked by Raiko and Tenzin – were there to help fill in the ranks.
While Korra had elected not to divulge the full extent of what Opal had done – or at least, had tried to do – this didn't mean she didn't still face consequences for her known actions, ones the Avatar couldn't have prevented from getting out, such as attacking the RCPD and United Forces officers stationed at her cell. Sure, they didn't like her either, or having to spend their days and nights defending her, but, orders were orders and a job was a job. For at least that much, Opal would likely end up facing some sort of disciplinary action.
But... in all honesty, it would probably only be a slap on the wrist. Since she'd knocked all of the guards unconscious, nobody knew what actually went down last night except for Korra and Kuvira, and from what the former had said about the proceedings, it 'wasn't that bad'.
When she'd heard the report on the event over the guards' new, even louder radio (because of course the first thing they had to do was get their hands on another), the Metalbender scoffed. So that's how it was going to be then, huh? She wasn't surprised. Being friends with the Avatar had its benefits, after all, and she wasn't surprised Su had used them.
Because really, who else would be behind a coverup like this? Korra didn't have it in her, not alone. She probably promised Opal to keep quiet for her sake, but, actually managing the aftermath of things... the Avatar likely would've distanced herself after Opal alone and left it to Su and Tenzin to figure out. Hell, the bulk of her punishment was probably being overseen by that pedantic pushover of a monk.
I mean, it's not like the President was going to interfere, or anything. Regardless of how big he talked, that spineless weasel snake always trusted Tenzin to advise him on and help him out of situations like this. One could wonder if Tenzin had ever really stepped down from his leadership position in the city what with the way the president still so heavily relied on him. If Tenzin was the one dishing out the consequences, then Opal was definitely going to be getting off easy. Honestly, what was he going to have her do? A thousand forms? Repeat basic training? Re-study all of the monks' old teachings?
But hey, who cared about her, right? She was just another fallen dictator. As far as the general public was concerned, she'd gotten what she deserved. Why would anybody look any further into it than that?
The sound of a motorboat broke Kuvira's train of thought, the woman raising her head from its position in her knees which had been pulled up into her chest, her ear involuntarily twitching back to see if she could hear who it was.
If Opal had come to finish the job, she would've come silently by air like before. Korra could've Waterbent her way over here, but she couldn't discount the possibility that she took a boat, either. Or maybe it was Raiko, come to question her on the specifics of what'd happened? After all, he barely trusted Korra, even now.
But... no.
No, she knew those footsteps. The sound of that gait. The wooden floor creaked as her mysterious visitor made her way over to her cell. "I'm here to speak with Kuvira. I have clearance from the President." She knew that voice, too. There was no doubt about it, then. It was her.
Suyin Beifong.
What at first was an expression of disdain had contorted itself into a grin, Kuvira rising up from her seated position to stand tall, shakily recalling her posture while the guards performed a routine security check on the VIP visitor, making sure she hadn't brought anything metal with her Kuvira could bend. But the would-be empress didn't turn to face her so she could look her in the eyes when she approached – not just yet.
The thought of what was about to happen filled her with an unusual sense of joy. She'd expected her to cover up the truth of what'd happened immediately, that was definitely Suyin's style, but honestly, she never would've expected her to come visit her, not after what'd happened. She always chose to maintain her distance and avoid public scrutiny or plausible culpability when situations like these went down. This could be fun.
With the check completed, the Beifong's footsteps resumed, and as she drew closer, a wooden chair was placed down for her in front of the scoffed at the gesture. She wasn't provided with such luxuries. Standing up or sitting down on the floor were her only two options, and for now, she'd chosen to stand. Su appeared to have chosen the same as she requested she be left alone with her fallen protege, as Kuvira didn't hear any creaking from the seat as the guards walked away, only from the floor below them. Suyin's footsteps, meanwhile, stopped directly in front of the wooden cage.
Kuvira chose to speak before Suyin could even open her mouth.
"Well, well, well... I never would've expected to see you here after that stunt your daughter pulled last night." She began. The look of smug satisfaction on her face was practically audible. "I honestly didn't know she had that in her. But come on, Suyin, having the Avatar cover for you? Really? That's a new low, even for you. I-"
As Kuvira turned to continue chastising the matriarch of the Metal Clan, she stopped, the sight she saw before her wiping all of the smugness from her face. She stumbled back, losing hold of the posture she'd narrowly reclaimed from her hunger as her heart skipped a beat, her mind struggling to comprehend what it was she was seeing.
Suyin was bowing to her.
Not in the way that one would bow to somebody in a position of power, no, but rather, in the way one would bow to another to beg them for forgiveness. She was making it as clear as she possibly could that she wasn't here for a fight. She wasn't here to argue, or make excuses, or come down on Kuvira anymore. She was here to apologize. And that... that was something that Kuvira had no idea how to respond to. The look on her face was one of pure shock. She wore it uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry." Suyin stated simply, maintaining her bowed position. "For everything."
Kuvira looked around. Was this some sort of joke, or publicity stunt, or something? But... there was nobody. The guards had all gathered back together in the break room –perhaps to help with repairs – and were paying her and her visitor no mind. There didn't appear to be any press around, either, or Raiko, or Tenzin, or anybody else for that matter. It was just... her.
Kuvira grit her teeth.
"What is this?" She asked, desperate and angry. She was more than a little confused, and Suyin could hear it.
"An apology." She repeated. As she rose from her bowed position and finally accepted the seat that had been placed there for her, Kuvira had been rendered completely speechless. She still seemed to be confused. "I am here to apologize, Kuvira. For everything. To tell you that you were right about me. Maybe not on everything, but on enough. I'm here to tell you thatI'm sorry for what Opal tried to do to you last night. But more importantly than any of that, I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry for everything that has happened. All of it."
"..." Kuvira had no words, so Suyin continued saying hers.
"One way or another, all of this is my fault – even Opal. For all intents and purposes, for better or for worse, I was your mother, Kuvira. I helped shape who you are, who you became, how you acted. Maybe not entirely – you were a kid when I took you in, but, not an infant; I didn't raise you from the very beginning – but for the better part of your life, I was all you had to look up to. How you turned out, how you lashed out... I think maybe it says more about me than I've been willing to admit, and I'm sorry." She said.
Kuvira remained silent.
"I tried to give you everything, to help you feel like you belonged, like you were wanted. And you were! But far too often, I tried to... ignore problems between you and Opal, I tried to let you two work out your own differences. I saw what was going on, but I never thought it was... I should've known from how my mother raised me and my sister that it wouldn't work out, but I didn't know what else to do. I'd always hoped that things would turn out differently than they did with Lin and I, but after last night..." Su looked down.
But Kuvira still wasn't saying anything.
"...But I guess the problem runs even deeper than that. I think... I think maybe after I learned that you were an Earthbender, when I found out that you could Metalbend... ...spirits, you were so eager to please..." She reminisced, laughing beneath her breath as she wiped a tear from her eye. Kuvira remembered that day, too. She'd been trying for weeks and weeks in secret and had figured it out entirely on her own. She'd wanted so badly to impress Suyin. And she had.
"I think maybe after that, I went too far. Maybe I gave you the wrong idea of me, or of our relationship. The way you spoke of me when you left... it was like you thought all I ever cared about was your talent. You made it sound like all I ever cared about was how people perceived me, how great you and Zaofu reflected on me, like I never cared about you personally, but nothing could've been further from the truth. Everything I did, I did to empower you, to try and bond with you. And for a long time, I thought it was working. But... maybe it wasn't."
Though Suyin may have wished she'd have said something by now, Kuvira still refused, stubbornly continuing to maintain her silence. But perhaps it was for the best. There was a lot she wanted to say, today.
"Maybe you needed more than an instructor. Maybe, outside of training, I didn't show you enough love. Maybe you felt like you could never really fit in, because I wasn't really your mother, you weren't really my kid, and deep down you knew that, you feared that. I don't know. But I should. I should've known. I should've paid more attention. But I didn't. I have a bad habit of ignoring my flaws and problems until they get bad enough to bite me in the ass." The understatement of the century, she thought.
"I've always tried to rationalize my shortcomings, to gloss over my imperfections, to always put my best face forward. And coming from the background that I did, I guess it makes sense that I would. I had a lot I wanted to forget, a lot of mistakes I wanted to show people I was better than. But maybe in doing that... maybe, if I'd just stopped for a minute and tried to talk with you..."
This time, Su went silent, if only for a moment. Kuvira seemed intent not to break that silence. Her eyes were downward cast.
"I'm sorry, Kuvira. For everything. In spite of how you might've seen me growing up, in spite of what you might believe about me, in spite of everything that has happened... I love you. You, in my eyes, will always be my daughter, and I have never considered you anything less, not since the day I elected to accept you into Zaofu, into my family. But I expected more from you than I maybe should have, than I'd prepared you for, and that's on me. What you've done is still unforgivable, but... I cannot ignore my role in it any longer. I cannot ignore the precedent I've set in how I've been acting, reacting, and refusing to address this. To address us. But not anymore. So I'm sorry." She finished.
The look in her eyes showed that she was serious, remorseful even, but Kuvira didn't need to look her in the eyes to know that she was. She could hear it in her voice. Even still, she refused to look back up, her eyes remaining downcast and obscured as she replied in as simple and succinct a way as she could.
"Leave."
Su was taken back. She wasn't going to say anything? After all of these years, she finally gets what she wants, and she just wants her to leave? But rather than being upset, Suyin seemed to be concerned. She could tell that something was off.
"I... what? Kuvira-" As she reached toward her slightly, Kuvira finally looked back up, repeating her previous demand.
"I SAID LEAVE!" Now that she was looking right at her, Suyin understood. Nodding once, she stood back up, lingering for a moment, watching as Kuvira turned around and sat back down in the center of her cell, then turned to walk away herself.
There were tears in her eyes.
In all of these years, Suyin wasn't sure she'd ever seen Kuvira cry.
She'd said all she needed to for today.
"...Suyin, wait." Kuvira meekly tacked on, speaking back up just before the Beifong walked out of earshot and re-checked with the guards. The older woman paused, turning around as she listened. "...Next time you see Korra... let her know I'm ready to talk."
...Korra?
She seemed a little puzzled by the request, but nevertheless, Suyin nodded. It was the least she could do, for now. Maybe she and Kuvira would get their talk later. But at least for right now, what was said had been enough.
For Korra, few things compared to the sensation of stepping through a Spirit Portal and physically transporting into the Spirit World. In her extended vacation with her then-girlfriend here, this place had come to feel like another home to her, so stepping through a portal was like stepping through her bedroom door back down in the South Pole, or on Air Temple Island, or at the estate. But even before that vacation, something about coming here filled her with a sense of peace, and wholeness. One like she rarely felt.
Maybe it was because of Raava and the fact that, technically, she was herself part-spirit, but this place always felt like home, in a way, ever since the first time she traveled here, back during Harmonic Convergence. She was closer to Raava here than anywhere else, too. While in the Physical World it would take great concentration and a meditative state to contact her, here, it always felt as though she were just beneath the surface, and speaking with her was as easy as thinking. It was something she'd become accustomed to during her vacation and it was nice to have that sense of connection back.
Unfortunately, as quickly as the peace that came with that sense of wholeness and reconnection had overcome her, it had left, the smile on her lips fading as she felt the energy of the world around her change and her senses adjusted. This didn't feel like the same Spirit World she was living in only a couple of weeks ago. This felt... different. Empty. As she looked around, she saw why, as it became clear that the area was devoid of any spirit activity whatsoever.
An uneasy silence filled the area, broken only by an equally uneasy breeze blowing through the grass and flowers around her, and the distant trickling of water from a stream that she knew to be nearby. She was confused. Normally, this meadow was bustling with spirits of all shapes and sizes, due in large part to the new Spirit Portal that stood in its center. They'd come and go from Republic City in an almost constant, steady stream, gathering in crowds to hang out and converse and check out how the Physical World had changed since the time of Wan, but now... now, there was no one.
Was all of this really because of the Chi Eater? Was the threat that he posed really this great?
Frowning, Korra pressed on, walking through the flowers for what felt like forever. Everywhere she looked, she could see signs of activity that once was. Burrows in the ground made by gopher-like spirits left abandoned, tables carved out of stumps left with half-full cups of tea, chairs overturned all around – it looked to her as though they'd cleared out of here quickly, like something had spooked them, all at once. Something bad enough to force them to retreat further into the Spirit World. She'd never seen anything quite like it before.
"Raava... just what the hellare we chasing?" Korra asked the spirit within her. Though she'd never thought to directly ask her before, Korra doubted the Spirit of Light would have the answers she sought. She seemed to be about as confused by the decoy as Korra was back when they were fighting it at the arena, after all. Still, she might as well ask while it was still easy to do so. It didn't look like she'd be stumbling across any other ancient spirits anytime soon.
"I am not sure, Korra. The only time I have seen spirits react in this way, it was in response to Vaatu drawing near." Raava replied. Korra frowned deeper. That certainly didn't help paint the situation in any better of a light. She knew from that last battle alone that this Chi Eater was like nothing she'd ever faced before, but, she still secretly hoped that that was the worst of it. But if the spirits were still this scared, even in their own world...
"Still... I cannot help but feel as though I should know something more." The spirit continued. To this, Korra quirked an eyebrow.
"You feel it too?" She asked. Raava's hummed response told her all she needed to know. It'd been troubling Korra, too, since the very beginning. That feeling as though she should know more about this thing, like she should've recognized the pattern.
"The more that we pursue him, the more I feel as though I have encountered him before, perhaps in one of our shared past lives. But, as our connection to them has been severed..."
"...There's no way to ask them what they might remember." Korra finished with an audible sigh. Stopping for a moment at the base of a tree, the Avatar looked down. She wasn't sure how she felt about that thought, exactly.
Back when she'd first learned of the Chi Eater and how long he'd been active, she couldn't shake the feeling that she should've known about this thing sooner. The idea that the Avatar could fail so spectacularly and somehow never once encountered it never sat right with her, for reasons she couldn't quite explain. Reasons beyond just pride. They were like echoes of a memory, a sensation. She should've known.
But as it became clearer and clearer that the Chi Eater was intelligent – very intelligent – and meticulously avoiding detection by traveling the world, she pushed that feeling aside and reluctantly accepted the possibility that whoever it was, they were just that good. After all, if one of her past lives really had found out about this thing, they would've done something about it or died trying. And if death was the answer, then they would've passed that knowledge on to the next Avatar, and so on, until Aang either never would've encountered its wake in the first place, or he wouldn't have been as clueless to its existence as he was.
But... that didn't happen. If it had, then she wouldn't be in the situation that she was right now. And to Korra, that could only mean one of two things, and she wasn't sure which option she hated more.
Either she'd never encountered the Chi Eater before in any of her past lives and had been played for a fool for over a millennium...
Or at some point or another, for whatever reason, one of her past lives actually had encountered the Chi Eater once before, but then knowingly and willingly withheld that information from their reincarnations for centuries. And that... that was not a possibility she was currently willing to accept.
But with the way that Raava was talking, and the way that she had been feeling... if she really had encountered this guy before, if Raava really did recognize something, and the loss of her past lives was messing with her memories...
...Before she could become any more lost in thought or in her feelings of self-doubt, Korra came to, noting that all around her, a mist had begun developing. Was this her doing? Or maybe Raava's? The tree that she was previously standing under was gone... had she started moving again? How long had she been walking? She looked behind her, wanting to see if she could still make out the glow of the Spirit Portal, but although it was still within range, it was now distant on the horizon, obscured and growing fainter by the second as the mist that had settled around her grew thicker.
Feeling as though she should maybe turn around and try another route, as Korra turned to head back the way she came, the sound of rustling grass snapped her to attention, her body whipping back around with her arms held up in front of her in an Earthbending stance as a figure appeared shadowed behind the fog. Her muscles twitched to bend the world beneath her feet, but before she could carry the motion through, she stopped, catching herself and breathing a sigh of relief as the details of the figure came into view, illuminated by the lantern that he held in his hand. It was a lantern that she had come to know well.
"Iroh!" She called out with relief, running to hug her old friend, a smile on both of their faces.
"It is nice to see you again, Korra, though I did not think it would be so soon. I was just going out to gather some tealeaves for my next get together, when I noticed that a fog was enveloping the meadow." He explained, returning the Avatar's hug. Though he was smiling when she came in, however, as she pulled away, the look on his face had shifted to one of concern, putting a dent in the Avatar's mood. "Am I right in assuming that you are feeling lost, Korra?"
The Water Tribe girl frowned. So it was her doing after all. With a sigh, she confirmed the old general's suspicions. "Do you mind if I ask what is troubling you? Does it have anything to do with why have you come back to the Spirit World alone?" He asked, leaning to look behind her just to make sure that Asami wasn't nearby. The two of them were practically inseparable the last time she was here.
"Well... kind of, yeah." She admitted. "I've been trying to figure something out lately, back in the physical world; Avatar stuff. There were some strange killings in Republic City recently, so basically as soon as I got back, I was asked to step in and see if I could figure out what was going on. And I did, kind of, and I thought I'd stopped the one responsible, but... now I'm not so sure." A bit of an abridged retelling of events, but more-or-less accurate.
"So you don't feel as though the killer has been brought to justice?" Iroh asked.
"I know that he hasn't." Korra confidently replied. "Things have been quiet for over a week now, so I thought so at first, but... everything's pointing in the other direction now. But something's been bugging me about all of this since the very beginning. I've had this awful, nagging sensation in the back of my mind, and the more I learn about this guy and everything that's been going on... the more I feel like it might actually be my fault? Either due to the negligence of one of my past lives, or... worse." She didn't dare vocalize what that 'worse' was, though. Saying it almost made it more real. She didn't want it to be real.
"I came here to speak with some older spirits and see if I can't figure something out."
"I see... and you think the spirits might have the answers that you seek?"
"I don't know, but... I'm running out of places to go, and people to turn to. Nobody else can help me, and none of the spirits left in the city are old enough to know anything useful about this guy. I don't know how, exactly, but apparently, he's been at this for over a thousand years now." The look on Iroh's face soured, his eyes narrowing. Was she...?
"Korra... just who is it you are trying to catch?" He asked, a tone of suspicion on his voice.
"I don't know his name, that's actually what I came here hoping to find out, along with some other details about who he is or why he's doing all of this, but... we've been calling him the Chi Eater."
At the mention of that name, Iroh froze, a look of shocked horror streaking across his face as his grip momentarily loosened on his lantern, allowing it to fall helplessly to the ground below, extinguishing it on contact. This... was not the kind of response that Korra was hoping for. But given the way all the spirits had fled the city, it certainly seemed to be par for the course. Regaining his composure, the old general retrieved his lantern from the meadow, apologizing briefly before responding.
"Korra, you are chasing after something incredibly powerful right now... a being even the spirits fear." He warned.
"I know. I've already fought him once before, kind of, and I won. Or... I thought I did, anyway. At first I thought he was just some sort of corrupted spirit. I mean, it had to be, right? A thousand year killing spree? But... even though I..." Korra looked down. She didn't want to finish that sentence. "...It was just a puppet, and I had no idea. The toughest fight of my life, and it was just a decoy."
"Then you must know how powerful its master must be to create such a sad creature." Iroh supposed. Korra nodded.
"I know, but, like I said, I... I can't shake this feeling that this is still my fault, somehow, and even if it isn't, it doesn't change the fact that he's still out there, killing people, and he'll keep killing people unless somebody does something. And I feel like I might be the only one who can."
"You may be right." Iroh agreed, albeit reluctantly. This didn't appear to be a battle he wanted her to be fighting, but he was not one to argue with the Avatar, particularly not when he knew she was right. "From what little I know, the Chi Eater is an Energybender beyond compare. But, you are no slouch in the art, yourself." He smiled, motioning toward the light of the portal in the distance behind her. Well, he wasn't wrong.
"What do you know of him, anyway? Did you hear any stories about him during the war?" They had found records from Fire Nation Soldiers about his activities, after all. But Iroh shook his head.
"Surprisingly, no. It was only after joining the spirits that I began hearing rumors. But even here, that is all they ever were... until now. He is not one the spirits like to talk about, and until now, they had no reason to, particularly to someone such as myself." He sighed. "But, the reopening of the Spirit Portals has caused great change in both worlds – a lot of it for the better. But in this regard, it has made it possible for the Chi Eater to physically cross over into the Spirit World with all of his powers intact." Whatever the full extent of them may have been. Korra seemed confused.
"But if he's an Energybender, couldn't he just meditate in the Spirit World and use his powers anyway, even before the portals were opened? I can still do it when I meditate, and I find it hard to believe that somebody else who can Energybend wouldn't be connected to his spiritual side." She asked.
"Yes and no. From what my spirit friends have told me, the Chi Eater has always been able to influence this world, but his power was limited without his body. Supposedly, he has done something to it which has gifted him with incredible abilities. When he meditates into the Spirit World, he can be fought on equal terms, if only by the most ancient or powerful of spirits. But now, he can cross over in-person. That is why the spirits have fled the areas immediately around the Spirit Portals, such as this meadow." Korra grit her teeth. She knew it.
"I just don't get it... how could something so awful have been right underneath the Avatar's nose for so long?" She asked, mentally kicking herself yet again. Every time she learned something new about the Chi Eater or heard about the impact he had on the spirits, she felt a little bit more responsible for it. Even if they were past lives, even if her connection to them was lost, it was still her fault, her responsibility, intentional or not.
"That, I'm afraid, I do not know." Iroh admitted with a frown. Korra sighed again.
"Do you know of anyone who might? Any spirits old enough to know some details about him, or who may have encountered him in the past? You said the older ones could fight him on equal terms before, right?" She asked. Iroh hummed, thinking for a moment.
"I'm not entirely sure... many old and powerful spirits have retreated to the deepest parts of the Spirit World to defend their own, and not all of them are too keen to help out the Physical World, even at the Avatar's request. And even for the ones who are, they are either notoriously capricious, difficult to track down, or otherwise no longer located in the Spirit World, such as the Mother of Faces, or the great Moon and Ocean spirits. ...However..." Iroh trailed, rubbing his chin in further thought.
However? However what? Korra impatiently waited for the general to continue.
"...If you are really that desperate, there is one spirit that I know of who might have the answers you seek. But I must warn you, I do not believe it is a good idea. He is not known for being friendly toward the Avatar." To this, Korra quirked an eyebrow.
"Who...?" Was it Wan Shi Tong again?
"Somebody I believe you may already know, even without your connection to Avatars Aang or Kuruk – Koh, the Face Stealer." This time, it was Korra's turn to have a horrified expression due to the dropping of a name.
"KOH!?" She yelped, not entirely if she'd just heard him correctly. Unfortunately, Iroh nodded.
The general was right, though. Even she knew about Koh. "Show him no emotion, or your face will join his collection", or so the saying went. It was a story from Avatar Aang's life that'd been well documented by the previous Avatar, a tale he'd passed on in detail down to Tenzin, in hopes of preparing him for the sorts of spirits and dangers he may encounter in visiting the Spirit World. Tenzin in turn passed that knowledge on to Korra. So, obviously, in hearing that name, she couldn't help but feel a little bit on edge.
"Is he really my only option?" She asked. Iroh shook his head.
"I don't know. There may be others, but he is the only one I can tell you with any confidence. Though, whether or not he will be willing to help you is another matter. As I said, I do not believe it is a good idea." With yet another sigh of frustration, the Avatar ran her fingers through her hair. This Chi Eater mess just kept getting better and better, she thought.
"What makes you so sure about Koh?" She asked, wanting to be sure herself before pursuing such a dangerous spirit. The Dragon of the West understood.
"I've heard been said that Koh and the Chi Eater once fought one another, and that Koh had survived the encounter by the skin of his teeth, forcing the Chi Eater to retreat after a battle that lasted a day." Iroh repeated. A day!? "Rumor has it that the Chi Eater coveted Koh's power, and he had hoped to sway the spirit to his side by force. Fortunately, he failed to do so, forcing him to enslave a nature spirit to do his bidding for him instead." Korra frowned. So it was a nature spirit, then...
"Yeah, I... I'm familiar with that one, too..." She defeatedly admitted, immediately looking down. "I always try to avoid killing my enemies... even with Zaheer, I never pushed to have him executed, though spirits know my father did... but... that night at the arena... even Raava was telling me it was the right thing to do. I really felt like I had no choice, you know?"
"I don't think you did, Korra. The spirits are aware of what you did, but they do not hold it against you. In killing that spirit, you freed its soul from the Chi Eater's grasp, allowing the cycle of reincarnation to continue at last, so that its remaining energy may finally be reborn into a new spirit." He smiled. The Avatar immediately looked back up at the mention of reincarnation and rebirth, a glimmer of hope behind her eyes.
"Reborn...?" She asked. Iroh nodded, his continuing smile bolstering the Avatar's confidence.
"Spirits are cyclical creatures. They are born, they live, they die, and then they are born again, not at all unlike the cycle of the Avatar." He explained, staring the young woman in the eyes as he spoke. "From the almighty Raava down to the lowliest of mushroom spirits, the cycle of rebirth and reincarnation is as universal as it is eternal. Even ordinary humans are reborn, in a way, though none so directly as you." That... that was something Korra never knew before.
"So you mean I didn't just... erase it...?" Iroh shook his head.
"Although human souls can be consumed and destroyed by certain means, such as your Uncle's Spiritbending technique, spirit souls are far more tenacious and difficult to affect. Though the Chi Eater's control extends even into a spirit's soul, in killing it, you managed to sever that control, permanently. Now, it may reincarnate into the next spirit freely, and start all over again." This time, the sigh that escaped the Avatar's lips was one of relief.
That was a weight off her shoulders, honestly. Now it was beginning to make sense why Raava had been pushing her, and why the spirit had even thanked her after the fact... the Chi Eater had enslaved it for a thousand years, trapping it in a place between life and death where it had just enough of a consciousness to still be aware of the pain it was feeling and inflicting, but not enough power to fight back. It didn't even have the option to die and be reborn, to escape... not until Korra.
The thought of it all was too much for her, she could feel the tears beginning to escape her eyes, but she was powerless to stop them. She'd been beating herself up over that decision all week, constantly wondering where she went wrong, what she could've done different... but to know it actually was the right thing to do... to know a taste of what it must've been feeling, all those years...
"Thank you for telling me all of this." Korra sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes. Iroh nodded, smiling warmly. "I'm still not happy that I had to go so far, but knowing that it really was the right thing to do... but still, if I wasn't sure of it before, I'm definitely sure of it now. The Chi Eater needs to go down." She concluded.
The fire behind her eyes told him nothing he could say could sway her from her chosen path, now. But as the fog that'd gather around them gradually began to lift, the old Firebender was okay with this, his confidence in her and her ability now fully restored.
"Do not doubt your instincts, Korra, or Raava's guiding light. As the Avatar, you may come to find that the two are aligned more often than they are not." He reassured. Korra could only smile. It was at this point she began to notice that the fog had almost completely disappeared, looking around as Iroh's lantern dimmed in response to the brightening meadow, color returning to its flowering fields. Though it was still devoid of spirit activity, the area around them now looked – and felt – a little bit more alive.
"So... Koh, then..." She thought aloud, her smile fading, if only a little bit. Her eyes narrowed. "Do you think he might know about my other questions, as well? About my connection to the Chi Eater?" She asked.
"I am not sure, but if any spirit would, it would be him. He has studied the Avatar intensely over the years, in case you ever returned to finish what Avatar Kuruk had started." Korra grimaced slightly. Right... Avatar Kuruk... given that it was part of Koh's story and by extension Aang's, she knew about that, too. Maybe this time would be different, though. Maybe she could start to try and right that wrong, too. Seemed to be the story of her life up until now – righting others' wrongs, even if they were technically her own from umphundred years ago.
"Then I guess I'd better get going." The smile on her face had now been replaced with a look of determination. She knew whereabouts to start looking. "Thank you, Iroh." The general closed his eyes, smiling at her.
"The pleasure is all mine, Avatar Korra. Good luck." With that, Iroh disappeared from view, walking deeper into the meadow, toward the portal, before seemingly ceasing to be, likely reappearing somewhere else within the Spirit World. After all, you didn't have to exactly walk everywhere you wanted to go around here – thinking about your destination could be just as effective.
Granted, it was more effective if you were a disembodied spirit who had meditated into the spirit world, since then you could just teleport around on demand like Zaheer had, but even like this, appearing here in-person, Korra had options. From the dragon bird spirit to the natural malleability of the world around her, as she thought about her destination, she only had to stand there as the Spirit World sped by around her, the scenery shifting multiple times before she found herself at a dim, rocky pass, faceless animals wandering about and a cavern beneath a tree just barely visible across the way.
She was here.
Inhaling deeply, Korra resolved herself for whatever it was she was about to experience. From everything she knew about Avatar Aang's encounter, Koh was shifty and insect-like in appearance, always lurking in the shadows and jumping out unexpectedly to try and get a reaction from those who would enter his lair. He would probably frequently change faces to try and throw her off her game, and if she so much as cracked a smile in his presence, her face would be his... provided he saw that smile happen, anyway.
Hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that, though. Asami would kill her if she came home without a face.
Having prepared herself to the best of her ability, the Avatar shook the last of the emotion she could from her face and then hopped across the shaky stone pillars to the cavern across the divide, using her Airbending as an assist. As she neared the cavern's entrance, she paused, the wind whistling across its expanse. If she was going to turn back, now would be the time. But, she didn't, pressing forward down the old granite steps to find herself entering into the den of the mighty Face Stealer.
"Hello?" She asked. "I'm looking for a spirit named Koh." No response. Maintaining her composure, she turned her head, looking around the cavern to the best of her ability. The deeper she went, the darker it became – before long, she found herself having to Firebend herself a small light source in her hand. Had he left, too? This place was on the fringes of the Spirit World, to be sure, but... had the Chi Eater already beaten her to the punch to finish what he'd started?
The sound of loose pebbles and dirt emanated from behind her as they fell from the ceiling as though they were dislodged by something, and after that, if she strained her ears, she could swear she almost heard shuffling, and... whispers? Swallowing hard, she asked again.
"Koh? Are you there? It's me... the Avatar. I've come to talk." She said. The sounds of shuffling continued, but she couldn't seem to isolate where they were coming from, exactly – the way this cave was structured, it sounded like it was coming from all around her.
He was preparing to dart in and scare her, then. Korra was privy to his usual tricks. But Koh appeared to be similarly aware. The Avatar's reincarnation cycle made it hard to surprise them the same way twice, and Korra was almost twice as old as Aang was when he first came to the Face Stealer for information. So instead of darting out of the shadows without warning, he blanketed himself in them, maintaining a watchful eye as he utilized his home's unique acoustics to his advantage.
"Well, well well... the Avatar... come to me for information yet again, have you?" Came the voice. Calmly scanning the chamber, holding her hand out in front of her to light it up as best she could, she failed to isolate its source, visually or otherwise. What was he planning? "And with a new face, no less... it's been a long time since I've added a woman's face to my collection. How refreshing." He taunted. Korra remained visibly unfazed.
"Koh?" She asked to confirm. She couldn't imagine who else would be here to answer her, but...
"Indeed, it is I..." Damn, she still couldn't get a read on him. And since she was in the Spirit World, trying to lock onto his spiritual presence and locate him that way was next to impossible.
"Where are you?"
"Behind you." Feeling a shiver run up her spine as the sudden sensation of warm breath against her ear accompanied his whisper, it took every ounce of strength she had to not whip around violently on reflex, turning around in as calm and measured a manner as she could to get a good look at the so-called Face Stealer to find...
...Nothing. He was gone.
Exhaling sharply, she closed her eyes for a moment, regaining her composure, before opening them and turning around again. And when she did, that was when he finally chose to reveal himself, the young Avatar finding herself in for the shock of her life as the face of a hungry dragon roared as loud as it could mere inches from her own, its piercing yellow eyes catching her blue.
But she realized immediately that this was Koh, noting the centipede-like body that the face was attached to, just barely maintaining composure as his roar came to an end, and with it, his draconic visage, the eyelid-like structures along his face closing, and then opening, to reveal the face with which he seemed to be the most attached – a Noh mask with deep red lips and grey markings around its eyes. As his lips curled into a smile, he formally greeted the young Avatar, welcoming her to his home.
"Welcome, Avatar Korra... I see you are as well-prepared as your predecessor." He halfheartedly chided. If she could, she'd have grinned at that remark. But it seemed he knew her name, in particular... not surprising, given all the waves she'd made in reopening the portals, she supposed.
"Then again, he was only 12 when he first came to me, whereas you have lived a life more than twice as full... and, unlike him, you have already experienced true fear... isn't that right?" He asked, the upper portion of his insect-like body turning so that he could tilt his 'head'. Korra remained expressionless, refusing to answer. She knew what he was alluding to, but she wasn't going to bite. That battle was over.
"Hello." She bowed. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm not here to cause any trouble... I'd just like to talk." She repeated. Koh's eyes narrowed. No response, huh? If he could have, he'd have shifted to Zaheer's face instead of the dragon's in an attempt to ensnare her right away, but alas, that man hadn't dared step foot in this part of the Spirit World. It looked as though he'd have to respond, then.
"Talk, or interrogate? You should learn to be more honest with the spirits, Avatar. Even if you refuse to show me any expression, I know when you're lying." He warned.
"You're right, I apologize." She agreed, bowing once more. "I would like to ask you some questions, yes; about a mutual enemy of ours. He calls himself the Chi Eater."
"Oh, so you two are enemies now, are you? You really are the start of a new era." Koh teased. They were enemies now? It took everything Korra had to hold her emotions in check – now wasn't the time to be heading down that road again. That could come after; finding out who the Chi Eater actually was came first. "Very well then... Korra. What would you like to know?" Korra nodded.
"As I'm sure you know, I have lost my connection to my past lives. As far as I know, it's just me and Raava now. So if I ever knew of the Chi Eater before, I have no way of knowing that now." She briefly explained. Though he already knew all of this, Koh appeared to be listening. "I've been trying to stop him ever since I returned to the physical world, but I've run out of leads. I was wondering if maybe you could tell me who he is, and what he wants, so I can stop him and put an end to his reign of terror, permanently."
The look of satisfaction on Koh's face made Korra feel uneasy, but still, she kept it together, even as he began to encircle her, coiling around her like a snake about to squeeze the life out of its prey. This whole situation had the young woman on edge. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck beginning to stand up, but she controlled her breathing and remained calm, utilizing meditative techniques that'd been passed down to her by Tenzin and some tricks of her own from dealing with her trauma to keep her cool.
"So, the Avatar wants to know about the Chi Eater, does she..." Koh began, shuffling faces now to that of Ummi, Avatar Kuruk's old love, wondering if he could pull at some residual attachment to her past lives, but... there was nothing, not even a glimmer of recognition in her eyes. The Avatar's slate really had been wiped clean, then. It was as if she were seeing this face for the very first time – which technically, she was.
This meant she wouldn't have a clue about anything of her past lives she hadn't already been told beforehand, which would obviously include any information on the Chi Eater, meaning the rumors checked out after all. Realizing this, Koh smirked, admitting defeat but maintaining his confidence, knowing exactly how he could use this fact to his advantage later on. But that was then. Now, he simply continued with her request.
"Very well then. Though he started off as a human, the Chi Eater is no longer what you would call 'pure-blooded'... but, neither is he a spirit, either. He tows the line between the two, between life and death – or perhaps even transcends them – all the while continuing to wear his humanity like a suit. He is a unique entity without any parallel or precedent... except, of course, for you." ...The Avatar?
"So... he's a half-spirit too?"
"Not quite... but he was a man who was obsessed with immortality, willing to do whatever it took to live forever. And so he did." The spirit cryptically continued as he similarly continued to encircle the Avatar. "By the time of your predecessor, Avatar Aang, Energybending had all but died out, with only a single Lion Turtle its sole practitioner. But in the time of the Chi Eater, there existed 13 others, monks who lived high above the clouds atop mountains even the Air Nomads wouldn't climb. He believed that Energybending would hold the key to his immortality, so he made off with their secrets and began the process of becoming what he is today."
"And what is that?"
"Immortal." Koh smiled. He didn't have to spoil everything for her, after all. Assuming even he knew, anyway... given that he'd never challenged Koh physically and directly, there was a good chance even he might not know for sure. Korra sighed, maintaining as neutral an expression as possible as she did so.
"So all he wants to do is be immortal, then?" She asked, hoping she could at least confirm his motivations. To this, Koh nodded (in whatever way a creature like him even could, anyway), his face shifting back to that of the mask from before.
"Despite all he has purportedly done, to himself and to others, at his core, he still but a man... and a simple one, at that. In all this time, his goals have never once shifted. Though he holds all the power in the world, he chooses to use it to solely perpetuate his own existence. In all my countless epochs of being, I have never met a man more full of fear than him."
"Fear...?" Korra asked, audibly confused, but visually, continuing to maintain that same neutral expression. She was certainly determined, this new Avatar...
"Fear is what drives him above all else, what fuels his desire to live forever. His is a fear of death that far exceeds the manic. But as for who he is..." Koh trailed. To say or not to say, that was question. How much fun could he have with this new Avatar really? Admittedly, the Face Stealer was dying to find out, particularly since she had done him the service of approaching him in-person.
"...I could tell you, of course, but first... I don't believe that's all you really want to know about him, is it, Avatar?" He asked. Korra swallowed.
"I don't know what you mean."
"You're lying." The spirit immediately retaliated, flashing her a toothy grin. "I could feel it when I first hinted at there being a connection between you two... you've been wondering about that for quite a while now, haven't you? You don't even recognize the face of one of your past lives' lovers, but you recognized the Chi Eater's touch. His scent. The sickening feel of his chi on the air." Koh described. Korra refused to answer. "Would you like to know why?"
She thought for a moment. How should she answer?
If she lied, Koh would see right through her and elaborate anyway. If she said nothing, he would likely do the same. But if she was honest, it would be almost guaranteed.
There was no way she could react without giving him what he wanted. What they both wanted, technically. But for Korra... more and more she worried his explanation would be an answer she wouldn't like. She could feel it. Not only in his voice, but from within her very soul, and Raava could too.
So then, how should she react?
"...Yes."
With honesty.
Koh hummed with satisfaction, his grin widening.
"In that case, allow me to tell you a story... but I must warn you, it is a long one." The spirit replied, encircling the young Avatar. She remained unfazed, only nodding in response. Enough was enough. If she was going to put an end to this, she had to know everything, whether she liked what that 'everything' was or not.
"Very well then. Long, long ago, 1,300 years ago to be exact, shortly after the Chi Eater had first begun, you chose to confront him. You realized early on that he was a man who had powers which no longer belonged in this world and the sort of threat that somebody such as himself could pose should he choose to utilize that power to its fullest extent. Already, he was sacrificing the lives of others in order to extend his lifespan, and by the time you had finally tracked him down, he was already getting into his second cycle. Delivering a warning he staunchly ignored, you challenged him, failing to realize the full extent of what he was capable of, and he killed you."
Koh announced the defeat of the Avatar rather matter-of-factly, as if it were a foregone conclusion, hinting at what was at least his opinion of the Chi Eater's power while also confirming that the Avatar had, in fact, faced the man (or whatever he was) before. Immediately, this didn't sit well with Korra. If she'd fought this guy before and lost, how was she even alive?
"He could've chosen to end the Avatar cycle right then and there and saved himself the trouble, but instead, he forced you out of the Avatar State with his Energybending and killed you then, believing that the world would continue to need the your guidance regardless of what he did or didn't do."
Oh. That was how she was even alive. He could force her out of the Avatar State.
Though she was shaken by the idea of it, Korra remained calm, at least on the surface, continuing to listen to Koh's story. Whether she liked it or not, this was information she needed to have. Not that the Avatar State would give her much more of an advantage these days, anyway, outside of a Raava-sized supercharge.
But the more important – and frighetning – question raised by all of this, then, was why didn't Aang know? Why wasn't this information passed on? Koh continued his story.
"As selfish as the Chi Eater is, he has no desire to throw this world into chaos. The whole point of what he does is that he wants to live forever, but a world without the Avatar, to him, is a world that is destined to die, and if the world dies, his immortality is for naught. Because of this, this scenario repeated itself two or three times more, with Avatar after Avatar trying – and failing – to stop him while he carefully acted as to not disrupt your cycle." The longer Koh went on, the more uneasy Korra began to feel. It wasn't like Koh to just freely give out information like this, not unless it impacted him too or he had something to gain. She hoped the Chi Eater's threat was his only motivation.
"And so the two cycles went on – the Avatar was reborn while the Chi Eater lived his lifetimes straight-through, two immortals encircling each other like the Moon encircles the Ocean, though yours was a dance that was far more uneven. While the Avatar gained nothing, the Chi Eater still killed, and by now he had begun targeting spirits as well. It continued like this for some time, and it seemed as though all was lost until one Avatar in particular, maybe 8 or 900 years ago... an Avatar by the name of Yang." Pausing as if to gauge her reaction, Korra's face remained neutral. She didn't seem to recognize the name, either. Koh carried on.
"Yang was not too dissimilar from yourself, come to think of it. He, too, excelled at the physical side of bending, but the spiritual had always been lost on him, if only at first. But when he'd finally connected, the first thing he learned from the Avatar before him was of the existence of the Chi Eater, an explanation of his threat, and the stor of how the Avatar had failed to defeat him before. Living in a time of peace where the world seemed to solve its own problems, Yang took it upon himself to do what his predecessors could not and put an end to the Chi Eater once and for all, devoting himself to his training and becoming confident in his power."
"By the time he confronted the Chi Eater, he was one of the most powerful Avatars to have ever lived. But though he knew of the Chi Eater's strength, he had underestimated his cunning. Having expected Yang's interference, the Chi Eater had a plan, and he claimed to have taken hostage the Avatar's fiancee, threatening her death should he still choose to confront him. Confident, Yang ignored his warning, throwing the first attack, but the Chi Eater had done his research, and he was aware of Yang's power, as well as his hotheadedness, expecting the assault and avoiding it with ease." Koh paused. Still no reaction, though Korra seemed consumed by the tale.
"But when the Chi Eater had moved, he had proven his threat true, Yang's fiancee revealed. Though he tried to intercept, it was already too late. In an instant, she was slain, killed by her lover's own hand." Korra's heart sank, but visibly, she only gulped. She'd never considered that he might... "Predictably, Yang was distraught. But the Chi Eater only laughed at his foolishness, stating that he had warned him, reveling in her death before taking her remaining chi for his own. In a fit of rage, Yang lashed out, shifting immediately into the Avatar State and pushing the Chi Eater further than any Avatar before him."
"As great as Yang was, however, the Chi Eater was better. Maintaining the edge, he beat Yang within an inch of his life, but withheld the final blow. He had grown tired of encountering the Avatar, and pulling him out of the Avatar State, he gave the grieving Yang an ultimatum:
"Leave and never come back, in this or in any life, and I will let you live. But interfere with me again, and I will kill everyone that you love. Not only in this life, but in every life, again and again and again, until you finally agree to leave me alone."
With his ego bruised, his body broken, and his lover dead, Yang, having witnessed his power firsthand, agreed to the Chi Eater's terms, forsaking his duty as the Avatar and escaping with his life, the remainder of which he lived in self-imposed exile."
"No..." Korra whispered. Her voice, hushed though it may have been, did not escape the Face Stealer's attention. She knew what was coming.
"That's right, Avatar... even in death, you, as Yang, upheld your end of the bargain, refusing to pass on the knowledge of his existence to the next Avatar while simultaneously blocking any previous incarnations from doing the same. From then on, the Avatar would never again interfere in the affairs of the Chi Eater, making you, as the Avatar, just as responsible for all that he's done as the Chi Eater himself is." Koh concluded. Korra shook her head. Her facade was cracking.
"No, you're lying," Korra accused. Koh did not give her a response. "The Avatar would never do that, none of them! We're chosen by Raava for a reason... we..." She struggled to explain.
"There are a lot of things that your nature can make me overlook, Avatar Korra. I can forgive you for the transgressions of a past life because what you did in them were not decisions shaped by the person you are now. Personal grudges I may have had with you in the past mean nothing to you now, and whether they were ever settled or not, I can easily let them go, or perhaps even comprehend them. But there are some sins, I am afraid, that not even that will let me forgive. Some decisions that you make that will shape how you're seen for cycles to come." Koh elaborated as he walked in circles around the Avatar, her breathing getting heavy, beads of sweat on her face.
"Have you ever wondered why some spirits do not trust you, the Avatar? Why they look down on you as though you were any other human, even despite Raava's light? It's because your actions that day told us all that you were. That despite Raava's faith, a human is still a human, and no matter how hard they try, they will never be truly selfless, not all the time, not when it counts most. Some of us blame you for the brothers and sisters we've lost to the Chi Eater's scourge. Some of us understand that you've done great good despite all that, before and since Yang. But then others, like me..." The great spirit paused, pulling his face close to the Avatar's own, smiling.
"...Are just opportunists, with agendas of our own, waiting for our moment to strike." Korra looked up, tears in her eyes. Koh had finally found what he wanted from her. "You slipped." He stated simply, the young Avatar's eyes widening as she realized what she'd done.
In failing to control her emotions, her face had betrayed her inner turmoil, and the terms on which Koh acted had finally been met. From Kuruk to Aang, the Avatar had denied him their face at least twice before, but finally, he could take it for his own, and add his first Avatar to his sprawling connection.
From Korra's perspective, the next couple of seconds passed as if they were in slow motion, the dark spirit's face giving way as his pincers closed in around her head, a gaping maw opening up where a human-like face had been an instant prior. Her eyes widened further as she was greeted by rows of teeth and infinite black, from which light was now quickly arising, and purely on reflex, her body began to move, her right arm swinging up as she stumbled backward, a powerful burst of air following the trail of her fist and colliding with Koh's 'chin' to send him hurdling toward the roof.
That's right, she could bend here... she could fight! Her horror giving way to a smirk, the Face Stealer hissed.
"You DARE bend at ME!?" He snarled.
"I don't want to fight you, but I'm not letting you take my face, either!" Korra proclaimed. No point in holding herself back now – she was fighting for her life whether she liked it or not.
"You know the rules, Korra, and you lost, fair and square. I promise you, it's nothing personal." The Face Stealer claimed, pulling himself from the roof and leveling his maw back toward the Avatar. She instinctively looked away, feeling as though she would lose her identity just for staring at it for too long.
"Yeah, somehow I doubt that... you never really liked me, did you?" She asked. "You're not like most other spirits, you actually want to hurt people. I must've had to deal with you long before Kuruk."
As the malevolent spirit hissed, Korra assumed she was right, the Avatar's ears twitching as she heard him begin to move. The acoustics of the cavern were again in his favor, making tracking him difficult, if not outright impossible. While she would avoid direct eye contact with his (lack of a) face, she would still use her eyes and blasts of fire aimed at the walls to try and track the movements of his body.
"You say that about me now, but the Avatar had no problem with giving the Chi Eater a free pass. Everything that's coming for you, you brought on yourself." Koh dismissed, the Avatar's smirk fading. 'One thing at a time, Korra,' she thought. But she'd already lost track of him. "Maybe if I get lucky, your next incarnation will extend me the same courtesy!"
Behind her!
Jumping to her right as the Face Stealer jutted forward to grab her from behind, she swung a wave at fire at the spirit with her arm from behind her, breaking for the exit as the spirit screamed in pain. Had he ever had to fight the Avatar when they could still bend all the elements?
"You sure this is nothing personal? Because this is sure sounding personal." Korra taunted, glancing behind her a moment as she ran back for the stairs. To her surprise, however, Koh was already gone!
"Don't you dare make light of me, Avatar," The Face Stealer warned, dropping down from the ceiling in front of her, the Water Tribe girl skidding to a halt. Shit! "I've been around since long before Wan, and I'll still be around long after your last life has been extinguished."
An otherworldly noise like countless whispers carried on a maelstrom began to surround Korra as the Face Stealer came in for the kill once again, his 'face' leveled back in front of hers as she could feel a pull on her soul by whatever power Koh was using. She knew that he put his victims in a state between life and death where they'd be lost for the rest of their lives... was this how that felt?
Closing her eyes, she slammed her forehead against the Face Stealer's closest analogous feature with as much force as she could must, pushing him back just an inch or two before following up with a kick, a pillar of earth erupting from below his center to toss him into the air.
Again, he was forced to abandon his attempted theft, spinning around in mid-air so that he could land on the ceiling feet-first, scurrying back around to attack from another angle. He was persistent, and Korra was feeling drained just from that, but reaching up to feel for her face, she breathed a sigh of relief to feel it was still there – for now. She had to get out of here, and fast.
...But...
She still didn't have the information she'd come for. Though the light of the exit was nearly in sight, she knew Koh would likely be expecting her to make a break for it again, and more than that, if she returned empty-handed on the identity of the Chi Eater, she'd have risked her life in a battle with the Face Stealer for basically nothing (aside from a case of crippling self-doubt).
With a sigh, she grit her teeth, clenched her fists, and stood her ground, turning back around in the direction Koh had gone to release mighty blasts from her fists. The cavern was illuminated with a bright orange light, and for the briefest of moments, the Face Stealer's position was revealed, the spirit seeming surprised. She was staying!?
"Don't think we're done yet, Koh – you're telling me who the Chi Eater really is!" Her second proclamation of the day, and he was as dismissive of this one as he was of the first.
"Then you're a greater fool than Yang ever was!" He hissed, charging in for the kill and moving through her fire blasts as though they were nothing. So he was toying with her with every blow, was he? Figures – she'd just have to hit him with something he couldn't resist then, something she knew he was vulnerable to.
Energybending.
This time, though she made Earthbending movements to stop him, pieces of the cave colliding with his hard shell as though they were dirt clods, it was never her intention to actually do him harm, at least not like that, and when he came in to take her face, she reached out and grabbed for his head, her eyes going white.
"You...!" He growled, his prior face returning, un-dissolving from his maw as his power was counteracted. Spirits were made primarily of energy, just like their world, and she knew from Iroh's story that it could be used to fight the Face Stealer. But she'd forgotten the fact that their battle lasted a day, and almost immediately she met resistance, the old spirit's soul resisting her touch. "Insolent child, you thought you could Energybend ME!?" He cried out.
"No, but we can!" Korra replied, her voice overlapping with Raava's as Koh's expression changed.
"RAAVA!" He called, the overwhelming presence of the Light Spirit's power forcing him back, his form physically repelled backward by her might. He knew when to pick his battles and immediately attempted to scurry away, but before he could get very far, the very air – no, the world – around him was being bent to Korra's will, a barrier of air preventing his physical passage while the Spirit World itself was being bent around his location, any attempt to escape thwarted by the curvature of his plane. This was...
"Tell me who he is!" The Avatar demanded, her orders both her own and the spirit's within her, the Face Stealer shuddering.
"I refuse! You knew the terms...!" He defended. But the Avatar was not moved.
"His name!" She demanded louder, her grip tightening. Koh growled.
"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to!" He finally caved. Though she was visibly displeased, the Avatar appeared to be listening. "He changes his name every time he starts a new cycle, along with his face; his work even parallels my mother's!" High praise, given who she was... "But I can tell you that you've met him before, in this life, you reek of his stench. And besides, I really don't think that I'm the one you should be asking... it seems to me that there's a young Airbender who would know better than I on how to locate his aura." Korra's eyes briefly widened, but she maintained the Avatar state. Jinora...! Why didn't she think to ask her before...? She was a natural with this spiritual stuff...
"Now let me go!" Koh demanded.
Briefly narrowing her eyes again, the Avatar relented, the Avatar State released, and with it, her hold on Koh and the world immediately around him, the spirit falling from his suspended state with a loud thud. Glaring in Korra's direction, he briefly considered attacking her again, but relented. With as close as she was to Raava, being the only Avatar remaining in this new era she'd created, it was a risk he couldn't take.
"You really are a thorn in my side, no matter the incarnation... only the Chi Eater has ever resisted me so thoroughly." The Face Stealer remarked. "Perhaps you two are more similar than I thought. After all, you both fear your death, don't you?" He asked.
While Korra just stood there, unsure of how to respond, the spirit disappeared, turning and running deeper into his cave. He was letting her go... for now. The next time an Avatar showed their face around him, they might not be so lucky, rules or no rules. Letting out a sigh of relief, Korra rubbed the upper part of her face with her hands, trying to process everything she'd just learned. The Chi Eater... was he really her fault? Did the Avatar really let him go, intentionally, for all these years? And Jinora... spirits, Jinora. Tenzin was not going to like this.
This time, her sigh was not so relief-laden, but rather frustrated, instead. This was not going to be easy.
"Raava... was he telling the truth?" Korra asked the spirit within her as she turned back for the exit. Though her response was a bit hesitant, the Spirit of Light corroborated the story.
"I believe so, yes. I am sorry, Korra." Raava replied. Dejected, Korra sighed yet again. She felt like if she didn't she was going to explode.
"I always thought..." She began. What did she always think? That the Avatar was perfect? She knew that wasn't it; she'd found that out from experience. But... she never would've thought the Avatar could do something so... cowardly. "...I don't know. But it seems... wrong. Selfish. To let all those people and spirits die, just to protect yourself." She lamented, having now reached the stairs.
"Every truth has its consequence." Raava began. "But if it is any consolation, the good the Avatar has done since – the good that you have done – should also not be overlooked. In the end, you are still only human. You will still make mistakes and poor judgment calls even if I intervened. But I would honestly have it no other way. I do not think you or I alone could remain impartial to the concerns of humans and spirits if we did not understand and live as both. This is something I fear my kind has never fully understood about what the Avatar is meant to be."
"And what's that?"
"Flawed." The spirit replied simply. After all, if Korra didn't feel and experience the negatives of humanity herself, how could she ever come to understand them? To combat them? To treat those overwhelmed by them with compassion? While their primary goal would always be to bring balance, and harmony, they were not, nor were they ever intended to be, perfect. To be perfect would be to miss the point; not even Wan got everything right, after all. As Korra discovered, closing the Spirit Portals might not have been the best thing, in the end, after all.
But that's why Raava was there. To guide her and to provide further means of guidance in the form of past lives – their past lives – and to see balance maintained in the end... even if it took a little while, sometimes.
To that simple response, Korra smiled. You couldn't get much more flawed than her, right? Climbing out from Koh's cavern and emerging back on the cliff side, beneath his tree, Korra's eyes re-adjusted to the light as she set her mind on her next destination – the Republic City Spirit Portal.
She had a young Airbending master to go see.
A/N: This feels like a weird place to stop for me because I feel like I could've let this chapter go on a little more, but, I figure I've been working on it long enough, and it's one of the longest, most info-heavy chapters in the story so far as it is - adding anything else at the end there would just be excessive!
This should give me more room to let it breathe in Chapter Ten, anyway, which can only be good given what I have planned next...
I'll try and update sooner this time, but we'll see how the holidays treat me. Until next time!
