Author's Notes: So one of the things I really like about the Avatar universe is that it has all this history and background that make its world more three-dimensional. One thing I like to do with fanfic is to create backstory for things that didn't get a good look in the established universe. That's what I've done in this fic with the Dai Li. I hope the history I wrote for them fits in with the general tone of the show. Let me know what you think.
Chapter 11: Dai Li
Korra looked down the empty alleyway where the Dai Li had attacked her the previous day, trying to determine if there was anyone else around. She began to walk down it, towards the place where she had exchanged words with the agent in the silver collar, looking up at the rooftop above where she had first seen the shadow cross her path. Feeling a little silly, she cleared her throat and spoke aloud: "Um… Dai Li? Are you there?"
One by one, the six Dai Li agents dropped down in front of Korra from the rooftops above. When they were all present, they took a knee in front of her. "We are here to serve you, Avatar," said the man in the silver collar.
"Okay, great," said Korra. "Here's the first thing you can do for me: Stop kneeling to me. It's creepy."
Hesitantly, the Dai Li got to their feet. "We apologize, Avatar. We only wish to show you our fealty."
"I don't want fealty. I want trust. I want loyalty."
"We can give you those things, as well."
"Good. Give them to me, but you don't have to kneel anymore." Korra looked around at the alleyway. "I think we should talk, but this isn't a great place. Will you come with me to the courtyard of the Earth Palace?"
"We will," replied the head Dai Li agent.
"Awesome, thanks… um… What's your name?"
The question took the silver-collared Dai Li agent by surprise. No one had bothered to ask him his name in quite some time. For one crazy second he thought maybe he didn't remember it, but then he heard his mother's voice calling to him from his memories, faded over the long years. "I am Chen," he said. The name felt strange on his tongue.
"Chen. It's nice to meet you. I'm Korra." Korra stepped forward and offered her hand to Chen. There was a continued hesitation in Chen's movements as he mirrored her gesture and the two clasped each other's wrists. Chen couldn't remember the last time he'd shaken someone's hand. "So why don't you all come with me to the courtyard and we can get started? That sound good?"
Was she really asking his opinion? Chen and the other Dai Li agents stared at her, not knowing what to make of this strange young woman. Maybe there had been some mistake. Maybe this wasn't really the Avatar. But no, this was the same woman who had defeated them using all four elements, and though he hadn't seen her use the Avatar state, perhaps the fact that she hadn't used it was even more convincing. She was a powerful bender, to be sure. The most powerful bender in the world.
Instead of answering, Chen just nodded. Korra nodded back, then turned and began walking in the direction of the Earth Palace. The Dai Li followed silently. It was possible to travel much faster over the rooftops, but the Avatar didn't seem to be in any rush. She walked with purpose and watched her surroundings not with wariness, but with obvious appreciation. Here was a woman who had nothing to prove. Here was the Avatar, their master.
The Dai Li followed her, their hesitation melting away.
When they reached the courtyard behind the Earth Palace, Korra led them to a shaded area where they could sit on the grass and talk. Genly had offered the use of this area to train since they could no longer rely on having the police station as their base. If Korra managed to recruit more members, she would have to think seriously about where she was going to move their lessons.
"So," she said to the group as they made a small circle. Chen sat directly across from her, and Korra guessed he was kind of their spokesperson. "Why don't we go around and you can tell me all your names? What want to do today is get to know each other. I already know Chen, but how about the rest of you?"
The other Dai Li agents told her their names: Wei, Sun, Zhang, Tao and Jun.
"It's nice to meet all of you," said Korra. She paused, looking around the group. "I have to be honest with you guys, I need you for something."
"That is fine," said Chen. "We are yours."
Korra shifted uncomfortably at his choice of words. "Okay," she said simply. "It's probably not something you're used to doing."
"We are very adaptable. Tell us what must be done and we will do it, no questions asked."
"You're allowed to ask questions. In fact I encourage it. And it isn't that there's something that needs to be done, as much it is that I need you to be something. You see, I just moved to the Earth Republic from Republic City because the spirits have come to Ba Sing Se. My wife, Asami Sato, is the head of Future Industries. She's in the city too because she's going to rebuilding the things that have been destroyed here. And I'm here because throughout this entire process, we need to maintain balance between the humans and the spirits. As the Avatar, it's my responsibility to make sure that's done. But the problem is that there is a lot of work that needs to be done about that, and I'm only one person. So in Republic City what we did is created a new branch of the Republic City Police Department and we trained them how to deal with the spirits, too. Are you following me so far?"
The group nodded, listening raptly.
"I went to the Ba Sing Se Police Department…" she continued, but she was interrupted by the Dai Li. All of them made disapproving hisses so silently that it would have been inaudible had they not all made the noise at the same time. "What?" she asked.
"We do not like the BSSPD," said Chen, anger flashing in his green eyes. "Their ways are deplorable and dishonorable. They are an affront to our city."
Korra smiled at his righteous anger. As strange as it seemed, she was actually pleased to hear this. It meant that the Dai Li had standards of honor and duty. "I couldn't have said it better myself," she said.
"I apologize for the interruption, Avatar. Please continue."
"Don't apologize. This isn't a lecture, it's a conversation. Feel free to comment or ask a question about anything. Anyway, as you might have already guessed, the BSSPD is a no-go. I won't get in to the gritty details, but let's just say Chief Saigon is probably going to have to replace the door to her office." Though he didn't say anything, Korra could have sworn she'd seen a glimpse of mirth on Wei's face. "This happened yesterday morning. And then after I left the station, you guys attacked me."
"We apologize for attacking you," said Chen, "but it is our way."
"No problem," Korra said, waving the apology away. "People attack me all the time. But the point is that when you told me you were loyal to me, I decided it might be a good idea to turn you guys in to my spiritual helpers."
Chen turned this over in his mind. "It is a most unusual request," he said. "We have not worked such an open-ended assignment in many years. Usually we are asked to do quick work." Korra understood 'quick work' to mean things like theft, kidnapping and assassination.
"Does it sound like something you think you could do?" asked Korra.
"With practice," replied Chen.
Korra hoped he was right about that. She wasn't sure how to ask about that unsolved problem on the list that she and Asami had made. She decided on saying: "Have the Dai Li ever dealt with matters of the spirits before?"
"Oh, yes," said Chen. "Not for several generations, but the legend goes that the original agents, who were trained by Avatar Kyoshi herself, often interfaced with spirits."
"But none of you have done it?"
The Dai Li agents shook their heads. This could either be good news or bad news. It showed that at least the history of the Dai Li did include spirit work, but it wasn't clear whether the present-day agents would share that skill. Korra found herself asking the same question she'd been wondering about the night before in Asami's office. "How do you pick your members?"
"We are selected at a young age by our master. While under the employ of the royal family, teachers in Earth Kingdom schools were asked to notify the monarchy of any promising youngsters. They look for certain qualities that are necessary to be an agent of the Dai Li," explained Chen.
The use of the term "employ" was curious to Korra. Did they consider themselves to be hired by Korra? Chen had ever said anything about being paid for their loyalty to Korra, but were they expecting payment? She'd want to inquire further about that later, but right now she focused on her original line of questioning. "What qualities?"
"The first is earthbending abilities. Each of us are exceptionally good earthbenders. The second is dedication. A member of the Dai Li must be devoted to the group. And the third is a little more difficult to describe. We call it Fortitude. It is strength of will. It is an unflinching sense of self."
"Who decided on those qualities?"
"It was the basis on which Avatar Kyoshi chose the original agents," replied Chen.
Very promising, thought Korra. If the royal family used the same guidelines to recruit Dai Li members that Kyoshi had, it was reasonable to believe that every generation would have the gift of spiritual aptitude. The only way to find out for sure was to get the Dai Li out in to the city and give it a shot. But it would wait till later, because she had more she wanted to ask. "What did you mean when you said you were 'under the employ' of the royal family?"
Chen took a lot longer to consider his answer than Korra had expected. "This is not an easy question. For this we must discuss events that took place well over three hundred years ago, when the Dai Li was new."
"Go ahead and tell the story," said Korra. "We've got plenty of time."
"As you wish," said Chen. Everyone in the group shifted around, getting more comfortable to listen to the story. "Avatar Kyoshi created us to maintain order in Ba Sing Se. She trained us rigorously so that we could be strong, stealthy, and effective. While Avatar Kyoshi was alive, she was our master and our leader. We were feared, but we were respected. We were honorable, like the Avatar herself." Chen's expression became dark and clouded. "But after her death, we were left to royal family by the Avatar. At first we continued in our ways, but as the royal family became corrupt, the Dai Li did as well. We requested payment for our services. And as time went on we requested more payment, and more and more, until eventually we were unrecognizable. We knew it was happening, but did nothing to stop it.
"However, Avatar Kyoshi was wise," Chen continued. "She always gave us the order that we must serve her as master as long as she lived in Ba Sing Se. It was our creed to do so. The Dai Li always knew that should the Avatar ever return to live in this city, we must continue to serve our truest master. The royal family could never lead us as she did. We lost our way without the Avatar's guidance. We became corruptible. As each new member was trained, they lost their Fortitude. They traded it for more wealth and power.
"But over the last year, there has been a shift in the Dai Li. We have lost almost all of our brothers. We used to be sixty strong, but have since dwindled to just us six."
"What happened to the rest of you?" asked Korra. If there were more Dai Li agents out there, it would be great to get them on board. They could certainly use the help.
"We do not know. They disappeared one by one. Some mornings they were gone when we woke. Some evenings they did not return from assignments. But no one has gone missing for quite some time now. It seems as though whatever came over our brothers and sisters did not come to us."
Korra wasn't sure what to make of this. "That is very strange," she said, although "strange" was an understatement. Terrifying, unnerving, or unbelievable might have been better words to use.
"It is. If I may be frank with you, Avatar Korra, we six believe that it is predestination," said Chen.
"How so?"
"We believe it was predetermined that you would return to Ba Sing Se to end the downward spiral of corruption on which we have been stuck. We believe that us six were the truest members of the Dai Li, and that is why we have been spared. Our Fortitude is still with us, and so we are left to return to our eternal master, the Avatar."
For the first time, a member of the Dai Li other than Chen spoke up. "If I may, Avatar Korra," said Zhang, "perhaps it is also predetermined that our purification coincides with the arrival of the spirits in Ba Sing Se."
The other members of the Dai Li looked at him. "It could be," said Wei.
"It must be. The dissolution of the monarchy and the arrival of the spirits are the only things to have changed in Ba Sing Se since the time of Avatar Kyoshi," chimed in Jun. It seemed that Zhang's comment had brought the other members of the group courage, and now they were all eager to participate. Korra smiled encouragingly at them.
"Well, I don't know much about predestination, but I like that you guys are so open to this idea. I was worried you might find it insulting, or beneath your station, or boring, or something like that," she said.
"Do not worry about us, Avatar Korra. We are amenable to the task," Chen assured her.
Later that afternoon, Korra watched as the six members of the Dai Li picked their way carefully through a jumble of spirit vines, hoping to meet some of their new spirit neighbors.
By the end of the day, Korra and the members of the Dai Li were on a first name basis with every spirit in the area, and Korra decided the very first thing she was going to do when she got home would be crossing off that pesky "spiritual aptitude" problem.
