Sanguine Petals, Chapter 10:
Korra stared down into the mug of coffee she held in both hands, slowly watching the cream spiral through the drink, gradually lightening its color. She hoped that the meeting she arranged here would do the same to her mood, because she felt absolutely awful about what she did to Mako yesterday.
"Oh, Korra... is something wrong?" she heard Asami ask as she sat down opposite her at the booth she was at. One could see that Korra looked quite haggard and tired, but the most noticeable change was that her hair wasn't done up at all.
"Asami..." Korra said with a smile as she slowly looked up from her mug. "Thank you so much for coming on such a short notice."
"Anything for you," Asami said, returning the smile before she glanced down at the menu of the coffee shop. "I could use a pick me up like this before going to work today."
"I don't think I'm much of a coffee person, but I needed this. I haven't been able to go to sleep," Korra said quietly as she took a sip of the drink. She recoiled from the cup. Still too hot. "Hopefully I can actually drink some soon."
"How come you're losing sleep? What's the matter?" Asami asked with concern as she looked up from the menu, which she placed aside.
"I sparred with Bolin and Mako yesterday. Things were going well until I lost balance and fell. Mako tried to help me up, and... I don't know why I did what I did. There was just this primal fear deep inside of me that suddenly rushed to the surface and... and... I lashed out at him. I burned him, and he had to go to the hospital..." Korra said lowly, hanging her head in shame.
"Korra..." Asami said with conflicted shock and sorrow. "Is he okay?"
"I don't know... Bolin had to help carry him off, but he was at least putting on a straight face for me. I could tell I definitely hurt him. What if I freak out and attack someone again?" Korra asked anxiously.
"You just need to take a deep breath, Korra. It sounds to me like you still have some scars from having to be helped around all the time. But it's all okay now. You're better... all of that is over," Asami said with an assuring smile.
Korra said nothing in response as she glanced to the side and down at the ground. The waiter came by and asked for Asami's order. He walked off, and Korra meekly looked back up at her friend.
"Do you really think so? I just feel really awful and I'm afraid that it could happen again..." she said.
"You should stop worrying about it. That's not making you any better if you're losing sleep over things," Asami said. The waiter walked back up with Asami's coffee, and Korra took another sip of her drink. It had cooled down enough to be palatable.
"Thanks for the pep talk. But I wish Mako and Bolin could be here... I had some things I wanted to tell all of you. But I'm worried about how they'll think of me..."
"Korra, we're your friends. What you did wouldn't make them fear you. They'd want to help... I'm positive of that."
"I know..." Korra said with a heavy sigh as she slumped into her seat. "But I still have this nagging voice in my head that says otherwise..."
"If you know that it's wrong, then why do you listen?" Asami asked.
"It's difficult to explain..." Korra mumbled, leaning forward and taking another drink of the coffee.
"Excuse me for a moment.. I need to use the restroom," Asami said after taking another drink. She got up from the table and walked off, leaving behind one bored Avatar. Asami found her slowly stirring a spoon in her cup when she got back.
"Having fun?" she asked with a light smile.
"The time of my life," Korra droned in response. Her tone was not too serious but her countenance remained stoic. It brightened up a bit when she sat up more and said, "Enough of this doom and gloom. I called you over here to get my mind off of things. How have things been going?"
"What about what you needed to tell the gang?"
"I think it's best to wait until all four of us are together..." Korra said glumly. Asami wanted to press her friend, but decided to heed her wishes instead and told her some of the things she was doing at Future Industries. She wasn't too worried about not being able to hear what Korra wanted to tell everyone, because she had already enacted a plan to get that information, as well as hopefully ease her friend's fears.
Sometime into their conversation, Asami waved as Mako and Bolin walked up to the table behind Korra. Confused at her friend's reaction, Korra turned around and was genuinely surprised to see the two brothers walk up.
"When I went to the restroom I called them up. Now you can tell us all what you want to say," Asami said, sounding satisfied with herself.
"A-Asami!" Korra exclaimed, her head bouncing back and forth between her and the other friends.
"Chillax, Korra, that burn wasn't as bad as you thought!" Bolin said with assurance as he slid onto the booth next to Asami, practically pushing her towards the wall. Mako did the same with Korra, only politely like a normal person.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Korra asked Mako.
"Really, I'm fine. You need to stop worrying yourself to death, Korra," Mako said calmly as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Asami has told me you didn't sleep at all, and I can see it in your eyes. You can't do this to yourself, Korra. I care about you..."
Korra said nothing, but looked away from Mako with shame. He let go of her, and Korra glanced back up at her friends.
"I wanted to tell you all about Zaheer," she said.
"Isn't he now, y'know...?" Bolin asked, dragging a finger across his neck.
"He's still alive. I asked Raiko to pardon him," Korra said sternly, unflinching when she saw the surprised faces her friends had. She expected them to react this way.
"But Korra-!" Mako began.
"I know. I know all the terrible things he's done. But killing him won't solve any of the troubles he's caused. I think he can actually help us. He's just as concerned about Chizue as we are."
"Oh no... what if he's mad that I told him to put a sock in it?" Bolin asked.
Now reminded that Bolin did that, Korra looked at him strangely. "I really don't think he'll care about that. He's too devoted to keeping the Red Lotus pure. He suspects Chizue's going to act against their ideals. So, at least in her case, he's an ally to us."
"If you think this is the right thing to do... then I trust you," Mako admitted.
"I'm just worried if he tries to turn against us," Asami said.
"I don't think he will... but if he does, I've stopped him once. I can do it again," Korra declared.
"So when exactly are we going to head out into the Earth Kingdom?" Bolin asked.
"As soon as I can stay on my feet and not freak out," Korra said with a self-defeating smile. It quickly faded as she added, "I don't want to wait any longer than I have to. I'm going to work hard to get in shape again now that I know my fears aren't true."
"So, with this business wrapped up, I have some new ideas for my movers..." Bolin said with a smile as he leaned in.
A surge of primal fear rushed through Ban's mind, snapping him wide awake as the man slowly got out of bed. Ban felt like running as fast as he could out of this room, but his logical mind was holding instinct back. The experiment was a success. Now he had to dispose of it.
He had thought of this stealthy manner of testing each concoction before they had even boarded Keitsa's airship. He had one more serum to administrate to the successful victim. A potent and deadly neurotoxin designed solely to shut down the reanimated dead. Any other method would be far too messy and would betray the claim that he had passed from food poisoning.
Ban made the light from the lamp brighter as he darted towards his bag and rustled around for the neurotoxin. He could hear the man lightly growling and rasping as it slowly walked towards him. After some tense rifling through the things in his bag, he found the neurotoxin and an empty syringe. He was worried that he would spill the toxin, but he managed to keep his cool and filled the syringe with the poison.
He stood up and turned around to come face to face with the infected man, who had his mouth open and ready to bite. Ban grabbed his shoulder with one hand and jabbed the syringe into the man's neck with the other, pressing down on the plunger. He had a brief struggle with the infected man before the neurotoxin kicked in, and it fell to the ground, dead once more.
Ban took a deep breath as he slowly walked away from the corpse. His whole body was shaking from the experience that had just happened. Before it had been masked by scientific curiosity, but now the realization that he had just killed a man was hitting him full force. He knew that the time would come eventually if he stayed with the Red Lotus, but he didn't expect it to feel so... inconsequential.
After calming down, he picked up the body of the man and laid it back on the bed, adjusting his position and covers to make it seem that he had died in his sleep once more. Once that was done, Ban lowered the lights and quietly left his room, heading down the hallway to Chizue's room. She had told him to head to her room once the plague was confirmed to work, but he wasn't sure how she intended to answer the door in the dead of night. Ban jiggled the door handle, and it was locked as he suspected.
Unsure of how to proceed, he lifted a hand and lightly knocked on the door and waited for a response. He awkwardly stood there for a few moments, contemplating whether or not to knock again or leave, when he heard the door click and slightly move open. He saw Chizue peeping through the cracks before the door was opened more. Ban started in mild surprise, for Chizue was simply wrapped up in a towel. The wetness of her hair showed that she had just got out of a bath.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" she asked, slightly motioning for Ban to enter the room. He did so, and Chizue closed the door behind them. "I take it things went well?" she immediately asked, either not noticing or choosing to ignore Ban's nervousness around her at this moment.
"Y-Yes. The man reanimated after perishing from a terrible fever," Ban explained.
"That's wonderful to hear," Chizue said as she walked past Ban deeper into the room. "No looking," she added as she held her hands on the towel. Ban meekly turned his head away from her as she changed clothes, fighting an urge to peek at her.
He was suddenly turned around by Chizue, now clad in nightwear, as she flung her arms around him in an embrace. "Thank you for helping make my dreams come true," she said with a sincere smile.
"Oh... um... y-you're welcome...?" Ban nervously stammered, his face turning a deep shade of red. The blushing intensified further when Chizue suddenly kissed him.
"W-What was that for?" Ban asked, stunned, as Chizue backed away from him with a smile. He adjusted his glasses and failed to cover up his embarrassment. He had liked Chizue for a very long time, but he didn't think that she would be so forward out of the blue!
"This wouldn't be possible without your help. I figured that was an appropriate reward," she said as she sat down on her bed. "But I just wanted to know when things would be successful. Have a good night's rest now. We'll be taking off in the morning."
Ban nodded, his face still flush as he awkwardly shuffled out of Chizue's room and returned to his own. He was too occupied by the kiss from his longtime crush, so it took quite a while before he got tired enough to realize that his bed was currently occupied by a dead guy. He sighed and reluctantly returned to his desk, resting his head upon its hard surface. It's not like he was a stranger to sleeping this way...
He was jolted awake just as suddenly as he drifted off to sleep. Daylight was now shining through the windows, and it looked like a staff of the inn was wondering how the man was doing. Ban feigned ignorance and assumed the man had died of his fever overnight. Ban felt a bit guilty leaving the responsibility of dealing with the dead to the innkeeper, but he had to leave with his group.
The four went back into Keitsa's airship and departed, leaving Hangyi behind.
"It's unfortunate that the man passed away, but I know you did everything you could to help. Don't feel ashamed... it's someone else's carelessness with the food he ate that took his life," Khaidu said reassuringly to Ban upon noticing his general despondence. "I'm guessing not even those herbs helped?"
"Herbs?" Ban asked with confusion. Chizue's cover story then popped back into his head. "Oh. Yes. They didn't work for him..."
"What a shame such a thing had to happen..." Khaidu said lowly.
"Tragic, yes, but there was nothing that we could do. I'm sure Ban eased the man's pain as best as he could," Chizue said. Ban fidgeted uncomfortably when she said that. "On to other matters... we must now make preparations to pay the Fire Nation a visit now that everything's in place."
"We're not heading there right now, are we?" Keitsa asked.
"No, no. Ban and I will need a few days to prepare. What about you?"
"I... I'm not sure on that one," Keitsa said, furrowing her brow in thought. "It will be tough to think of an excuse for heading to the Fire Nation... but I don't even know if I can keep walking behind the backs of people when doing something that would surely bring me into the spotlight."
"Do you still intend on keeping your position once we start liberating the Fire Nation?" Chizue asked.
"It has how I have served the Red Lotus best."
"So you would hide in the shadows and cling to your power rather than helping us?" Chizue said, her tone lowering as she kept the pressure up on the ambassador.
"I'm not betraying you, if that's what you're getting at. I'm just not used to being so... forward in my methods," Keitsa said, displeased at the accusations being thrown her way.
"Calm down. There's no reason to argue like this. You said yourself that Keitsa was an ally, Chizue," Khaidu said.
The tension in the air started to dissipate in the moment of silence that followed his statement.
"Look... I know anarchy means my position of power will not be needed. It's just that in the current environment I think I can help out more where I am... at least, that's what I thought until I was brought into this little group. I'll just be honest and forward with you all. I am too used to living in my mansion. I can throw away my position, but my home? I will need a few days to ensure it is properly protected..." Keitsa said.
"Why didn't you say that in the first place? I care not if you want your home to remain yours," Chizue said, leaning back in her seat.
"I'm not sure how you'll protect your property and possessions, but if it just takes a few days, that's fine. We shouldn't wait any longer than we have to before heading out to the Fire Nation," Ban said.
"I can't say I've ever been to a city before..." Khaidu said.
"You haven't, have you?" Chizue asked as she turned to Khaidu with bright eyes. "This will be a culture shock for sure, but I'll make sure you have a good time while Ban gets things ready!"
"I thought both you and him were preparing things?" Keitsa said with a slight scoff.
"He does most of the work, anyway. Think of me as a supervisor," Chizue responded.
"Don't rub it in," Ban sighed, not looking forward to Chizue and Khaidu frolicking about the city while he was cooped up in his apartment readying the plague and other things that would come in handy during the attack. He was still transfixed on Chizue, too. Did she really like him? Was that kiss just a heat of the moment thing, or was there more to it? Did she like Khaidu, instead? Already his thoughts had trailed away from the man he had killed.
Later that evening, the first victim of the plague had been laid to rest in Hangyi. It was an ordinary hastily-organized funerary session for the sudden death of a local of the town, but it had been the first death in the town since Harmonic Convergence. Not even the recent Red Lotus attacks had killed anyone, but merely brought on various injuries at worst. The spirits inhabiting this town were reclusive, and few people were aware of their presence. Even those who knew that spirits resided in the town did not know that they had made the town's graveyard their home, drawn to its forested location outside of town.
The humans had been gone for some time now, so the spirits returned from their hiding spots and investigated the new disturbance in their area. As they approached the new gravesite, a strange force overtook them, twisting their very essence and warping their very beings.
The corrupted spirits slowly made their way towards town, the plant life around them slowly wilting in their wake. The plague was far more potent than Ban or Chizue could even imagine...