Chapter 9: Weight of the World
Claire swiftly marched away from the Realm of the Face Stealer, finding herself back in the forest where she met Kyoshi, seeing a large stone in the distance, approaching and perching herself atop the stone, picking her leg off the floor and resting her arms atop her knee, letting out a heavy sigh as she gazed into the distance whilst a small Vaatu appeared on her shoulder.
"We should keep moving, Avatar. Talos may not wait long for us," Vaatu urged her, but Claire remained silent, surprising Vaatu.
"You're oddly quiet... is something wrong?" Vaatu asked her as she let out a disgruntled sigh.
"My past lives are telling me to kill my friend, and the worst part is... I kind of agree with them!" Claire exclaimed, placing her hands to her head in frustration.
"We cannot kill him," Vaatu explained, surprising Claire as she looked to the tiny Vaatu on her shoulder.
"... Come again?" Claire asked, raising an eyebrow to Vaatu.
"If Talos dies, then Raava will be forced to continue the Avatar Cycle, so she must sustain his life until we can take her back" Vaatu began explaining.
"Couldn't Raava just come back to me if he dies?" Claire sceptically asked.
"That is not how Avatar Kaishi's wish works. We are restricted to the cycle of Fire, Air, Water and Earth," Vaatu explained as Claire leant back on her stone.
"Talk about a confusing wish," Claire groaned as the tiny Vaatu sat next to her on the stone.
"It is what it is, young avatar... although we don't have to kill your friend to reclaim Raava, we must prepare for anything," Vaatu told her, breaking Claire's attention from the sky.
"But if I don't need to kill him... why should I prepare for it?" Claire curiously asked.
"After we take back Raava... there's no telling what may happen," Vaatu dauntingly replied as a brief silence loomed over them for a moment.
"Come, Avatar. We should seek guidance from more of your past lives before we make our return," Vaatu recommended.
Claire slowly nodded, standing up from her stone and walking away, returning to the mountains where she met Aang, scaling up the earthy mountains once more, reaching the peak and curiously inspecting her surroundings, spotting a floating man atop the tallest peak of the mountains.
"Is that one of my past lives?" Claire asked, pointing to the floating man. Vaatu inspected him, observing the man as he floated weightlessly atop the peak.
"I dare say, that's Avatar Laghima!" Vaatu exclaimed, recognising the man.
"I thought it was Guru Laghima?" Claire curiously asked.
"Yes, he was an Avatar we picked some four thousand years ago, but he is one of the Avatars who rejected the role, seeking to detach himself from the world and become a Guru instead," Vaatu lamented in an annoyed tone.
"Do you think he can teach me anything?" Claire asked as she lightly gestured to him.
"He can teach you something alright," Vaatu replied, looking over to Laghima
"LIKE HOW TO BE AN UTTER FAILURE OF AN AVATAR!" Vaatu angrily shouted as Claire jerked her head back from Vaatu, looking at him with a bewildered curiosity.
"I take it you don't like him..." Claire replied in a melancholy manner.
"No, Raava and I detested those who forsook Avatar Kaishi's wish. But you are correct... he can teach you one thing," Vaatu replied, his tone going from annoyed to begrudging whilst Claire nudged him to tell her.
"He might teach you how to unlock the ability of flight," Vaatu mumbled, detesting the thought of going to visit him.
"Flight... that could be useful," Claire replied, taking a short crouch and sprinting towards the edge of the peak as Vaatu faded back into her.
Claire leapt from the peak, unleashing jets of fire from her feet and propelling herself over to Guru Laghima, eventually safely landing atop Laghima's peak, a small staircase standing before her.
"Good thing Kang taught me that one," Claire told herself with a smirk, letting out a heavy sigh and looking to the ground as she thought, but she shook her head, focusing on the task before her.
Claire ascended the stairs, coming face-to-face with Guru Laghima, a wrinkly bald man with master air-bender tattoos coursing over his body. Red, yellow and maroon monk robes adorned his body, but his right arm remained uncovered, and wooden beads dangled around his neck.
"Uh... hello? Guru Laghima, is it?" Claire greeted him. Laghima opened his eyes, adjusting to his surroundings and looking down at Claire with a raised eyebrow.
"What brings a woman of the water tribe to my peak?" Laghima asked in a raspy, wizened voice.
"I'm the Avatar!" Claire informed him, lighting a fire in her palm to prove it to him, but Laghima blankly stared at her, closing his eyes once more.
"Ah, Avatars... slaves to the world," Laghima dismissively replied, the Guru's words taking aback Claire as she raised an eyebrow to him.
"'Slaves to the world'? The Avatars are born to maintain balance," Claire replied, crossing her arms.
"Exactly my point, girl. You Avatars are born and raised as slaves to learn the four elements and fight the battles of those too cowardly to do so themselves," Laghima told her in a melancholy tone as he reopened his eyes, Claire's arms dropping as she looked away for a moment before shifting her gaze back to Laghima.
"Well... someone has to do it, don't they? Avatar Kaishi wished for there to always be an arbiter of balance in the world!" Claire argued her point, but Laghima lightly scoffed.
"Why should an ancient relic of times long past influence the events of today?" Laghima asked.
"You're one to talk," Claire sharply replied, causing Laghima to raise an eyebrow to her.
"Begone from my peak, girl. You are but a waste of air within this thinly veiled space," Laghima told her in a disinterested tone, closing his eyes once more as Claire let out a begrudging sigh before walking away.
"So much for learning how to fly," Claire told herself as she sauntered down the staircase, wearily looking out to the clouds below her.
"If it's flight that you wish to learn about, perhaps I can teach you," A female voice spoke to Claire, surprising the young Avatar and almost causing her to fall from the cliff.
Claire gazed upon the woman, seeing her adorned in orange and yellow monk robes covering her, as well as Master Air-bender tattoos coursing over her. Black hair flowed from the back of her head, whilst the front remained shaven.
"So... which past life are you?" Claire quizzically asked.
"I'm surprised. You recognise my statue but not me in person... well, spirit," The Past life replied as Claire briefly thought to herself, looking back through her memories and remembering her time with Guru Pathik.
"Oh! You're Avatar Yangchen!" Claire enthusiastically replied as Yangchen nodded.
"I studied Guru Laghima's tomes and poems, and found out the secret to his flying abilities," Yangchen explained, her tone becoming more daunting.
"So... how did he do it?" Claire asked, waiting for Yangchen to tell her.
"To fly, you must become unbound from the earth, letting go of all tethers, becoming weightless and able to soar through the skies," Yangchen explained, but Claire looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"So... no earthly attachments? I've already done that!" Claire sceptically replied.
"You may have detached from your loved ones, but they still tether you to the world," Yangchen informed her as Claire remained silent for a moment, thoughts of her friends and family flooding her mind.
"My friends... family... Khana, they still tether me to the world?" Claire asked, and Yangchen nodded.
"The False Avatar has already gained the ability of flight. Everything which tethered him he has either slain or has left his life. And if you cannot keep up with him, you will surely fall," Yangchen adamantly told her as Claire looked off into the distance, her heart heavily weighing upon her.
"If you still wish to unlock the power of flight, repeat these words before you face the False Avatar," Yangchen told her, briefly catching Claire's attention.
"Let go your Earthly Tether, Enter the Void, Empty and become Wind," Yangchen recited, fading away before Claire could say anything.
Claire looked down at the clouds below, leaping from the mountain and descending with jets of fire, silence looming over her as she descended, falling close to the ground before gently easing herself up with jets of fire directed at the ground, landing safely.
"Are you ready to return, Avatar?" Vaatu asked as Claire's teeth lightly jittered, her heart sinking, her eyes blankly gazing into the distance.
"How... can I-" Claire muttered, stumbling over her words.
"Defeat Talos? You must become weightless. Using the Fire Jets will drain your energy too much, even if you use the Avatar State" Vaatu replied as Claire stumbled forward, taking in a sharp breath.
"Is... everything alright?" Vaatu asked, unsure what was going on.
"Letting go of everything that tethers me to the world... means I'll be alone-" Claire muttered, confusing Vaatu as he remained silent.
"If you are to become weightless, you must let the ones you love go, or there is truly no hope against Talos," Vaatu sombrely replied, a tear breaking from Claire's eye, streaking down her face as she looked to her hand, her fingers rigid, her muscles tensing.
"I..." Claire muttered, the weight of her heart dragging her down to her knees.
"Ever since I was young, I've always had people around me, my parents when I was living at the North Pole, Talos whenever we got into trouble, The White Lotus when I began my Avatar journey, Kang when I came to Republic City and when we came to the Spirit World," Claire lamented, closing her tear-stained eyes.
"I've always feared... being alone, I thought I could face that fear when I left the White Lotus compound, but when I came to Republic City and found Kang, it's like my life was telling me I need someone by my side... and now, I need to let him, my family, my friends, and Khana... the first person I've ever loved... I have to forsake them just to fix the Avatar Cycle?" Claire lamented, her voice cracking whilst Vaatu remained silent.
"I... can't do it, perhaps I should just surrender you to Talos, and let him be the Avatar," Claire spoke in despair.
"No! We chose you to be the Avatar, we di-" "WELL YOU PICKED THE WRONG PERSON!" Claire cut off Vaatu with an agonised shouted.
Claire wallowed in her despair, but an odd chill spurned around her, her head perking up to see a black-robed figure looming over her, its black wispy hands cupped to its abdomen, its head concealed from view. The figure silently hovered before Claire as she gazed into the void of its hood.
"What... are you?" Claire asked as she felt her hair stand on end.
"I am known by many names. But to you, I am the Spirit of Death," Death informed her, its voice deep, soothing but menacing.
Claire gulped as she stood up, shakily standing before Death.
"Have you..." Claire spoke as her arms lightly raised, looking to Death as it loomed.
"You believe Raava and Vaatu made a mistake, I am here to make you a deal," Death replied, gesturing with his hands in a proposing manner as Claire looked to her shoulder.
"Vaatu, should I trust him?" Claire asked, but she received no answer, Vaatu had vanished. Claire looked back to Death, sweat breaking on her brow.
"I rarely do this for the living, but I am here to offer you... a second chance," Death informed her, Claire's eyebrows raising as she stood up straight.
"A... second chance at what?" Claire asked, focusing on the abyssal hood before her.
"A second chance at life... a life, where you are not the Avatar," Death told her, holding out its black wispy hand to Claire, as she weighed up his offer, a memory of her father creeping into her mind.
"This is a special little technique that you should only use when faced with something you can't beat," Joseph's voice echoed, the young Claire eagerly looking to him.
"What is it?" The young Claire asked as she bounced on the snow.
"Running Away!" Joseph heartily shouted as he ran, the young Claire chasing after him.
"That's not a technique!" The young Claire shouted.
"Well, it's working, isn't it!?" Joseph's voice echoed one last time as the present Claire looked to her hand.
"I'm... not cut out for this Avatar business... I know that now, perhaps this is for the best..." Claire told herself, reaching for the Spirit of Deaths hand, their palms touching as the black wisps of Death's hand coursed up Claire's body, her nerves going numb, eyes glazing over as she fell, her heart slowly stopping.