Conversion

[POV: Amon]

I saw that creature in the mirror again. It stared back at me with its black orbs, the fire inside peering through the cracks of its unstable, shifting skin. I touched my face. Was it already too late? By then I'd understood the true nature of what was happening to me. It was no punishment, no illusion, for I had been warned. The spirits would do as they pleased with me. In my haste, I had allowed them. Not knowing how far they would go, I had allowed them. I had foolishly thought that I would please them with my own forces. But now I knew that their faith in me as a mortal was declining. That I would belong to them forever if I didn't complete my mission soon. Now I knew what they believed I had to become in order to carry on their will. And it terrified me.

A cry echoed through the corridors, outside my room. I turned away to listen. "Let me see him! Just let me see him!", a voice pleaded. Silence. My men had it all under control. I glanced back at the mirror and saw my scars. The creature was gone, but it was clear that my time was running out.

Someone knocked on the door. It was the Lieutenant. I put my mask back on and gave him my permission to come in. I watched him walk towards me, his posture betraying a rather unusual state of agitation.
"Amon, please excuse me for interrupting you while you are resting, but there's something I think you should know. Today one of our brothers was followed by a man who, I am told, has been trying to meet you in person for about six weeks now."
"An all-too-fervent admirer?" I asked, not quite meaning to sound as though I was not taking him seriously.
"Not exactly sir. You see, he's a bender. A fire bender. He's made several attempts to reach you after our rallies, but our people have always stopped him before he could get anywhere near you."
"I see, yes. A political assassin." I asked, unfazed by the possibility of there having been an attempt against my life. It was to be expected.
"No sir, nothing like that. Or at least, I don't think so. I can't be sure, but my instincts tell me this man isn't lying. That he's telling the truth."
"What truth, Lieutenant?"
"He says he wants you to remove his bending, Amon."

His words sent a shiver down my spine. That a bender should ask to be equalized. It was tremendous. Had our propaganda already been so effective as to convince the enemy? Perhaps it wasn't too late, after all. Perhaps there was still time for me to prove myself to the spirits.
"Do you know what it would mean, Lieutenant?" I asked, my voice almost breaking.
"Yes. This would be a historical day for the Equalists."
"Our first volunteer."
"Indeed."
"But you have your doubts."
"I do, yes. Like everyone else. Our brothers and sisters outside think he is planning to kill you. That it's all a ploy to get near you so he can strangle you with his bare hands. He seems rather hysterical, you see."
"Yet you think otherwise, don't you, old friend?"
"I believe that you should see him, sir. Because if what he says is true..."
"We're one step closer to winning this war," I said, completing his sentence.
"Yes."
"Bring him to me."
The Lieutenant nodded and exited the room. When he came back inside, he thrust the prisoner towards me. The bender's hands were bound and he seemed devoid of any signs of aggression. His long black hair hid part of his face, which was covered in sweat. His clothes were dirty and ragged. I instantly despised everything about his all-too-familiar appearance. It was like Tao had come back to haunt me. Only instead of insulting me for what I'd done to him, this man threw himself at my feet and begged.
"Oh, my leader, please have mercy."
He looked up at me, his eyes wild and wet and salvia running down the corner of his mouth.
"Untie him," I ordered the Lieutenant, who quickly proceeded to cut the rope with the knife he hid in his left boot.
Once he was free, the firebender immediately clung onto me, his trembling hands desperately pulling on the cloth of my tunic. I felt the Lieutenant move as though he wanted to intervene, but I held out my hand to urge him to stop. He nodded and lit his kali sticks instead.
"I have waited so long for this day. I have waited so long to meet you, and now, oh now, now I am in your presence. What an honour this is. What joy you bring me today, my leader," the stranger said.
A bender calling me his leader.
"What is your name, bender?" I asked.
"I am Cheng, my leader. Cheng the disgraced."
"And what is it that you want from me, Cheng?"
"I want you to - no, I need you to take my bending away. I beg of you. It has brought me nothing but misfortune and shame. I have hurt all the people I loved and found that I cannot correct myself. I've been attending your rallies, my leader, your powerful rallies. You've made me realize the source of my disgrace. My bending is an impurity and it has turned me into something I never wanted to become. So many times have I wanted to get up in the middle of your speech and ask of you to equalize me, but I was afraid, afraid my brothers and sisters would take me for an intruder and decide to kill me right then and there. I tried again and again to get to you backstage, to reach you, but I couldn't."
He buried his face in my clothes and clung onto me with even more ferocity.
"I am here now. And I beg of you, equalize me now, my leader. Purify me," he said.
I stood still, considering the pathetic creature before me. I did not want to feel so much contempt for him. He was not Tao. He was a bender who had seen the light. My duty towards him was to help him. Was it not what I wanted? Equalizing benders was an act of justice and mercy, not hatred. Initially, my ideals had stemmed from vengeance and rage, but in time they themselves had been purified. I was sure of it. After the spirits had given me their gift, my anger had vanished. I'd set aside my own feelings and embraced our principles. And now, I had the opportunity to push these beautiful principles forward.

Cheng began to sob. I kept looking down at him for a while, and then finally spoke again.
"Are you sure of what you're asking me to do?" I said. "There will be no turning back once it is done."
"I am, my leader. Please, rid me of my sickness."
Hands still shaking, he let go of me and turned around. He let his head fall back, offering me his forehead. His hair moved away from it, like a curtain gently unveiling a stage. An idea was born in my mind.
"Not so fast," I said. "I will equalize you, but on one condition."
Cheng turned back towards me and met my eyes.
"Anything," he declared.
"You will let me do it at the rally tomorrow, so that the world may witness your conversion."
He nodded, accepting without hesitation. I told him that he was free to go, and that all he needed to do was to show up the next day at the rally. He would be led onto the stage at the appropriate time. Cheng rose and left, thanking me a thousand times, and when he was gone the Lieutenant shared his concern with me.
"Shouldn't we have locked him up for the night, Amon?"
"No. We must make him feel as though this is his decision entirely. Do not worry about him not showing up tomorrow. I know he will. Besides, a man who changes his mind overnight is not truly converted. It would be useless to equalize him publicly by force."
"You are right," the Lieutenant replied after carefully considering my argument. "I bow before your genious, my leader."
"Tomorrow, the world will see that even a bender can embrace our principles. The Avatar will realize that the equation isn't as simple as she believed it to be. Who knows, one day she might even choose to give up her bending, and our final showdown might not need to happen after all. You did well to bring Cheng to me, Lieutenant."
"Thank you, my leader," he replied, slowly retreating from my room and then closing the door behind him.

I sat down on my bed, feverish with hope. I welcomed another sleepless night, consoled by the promise of the glory the next day would bring us.