A Legend of Korra Fanfic
By Sakura Martinez (aka SMTsukishiro)
Summary:
A promising engineering student. A mysterious woman capable of controlling the four elements. When their paths cross, the resulting collision not only changes their lives and themselves, but the fate of the entire world as well. [Korrasami AU]
Notes:
So, this chapter feels a bit bittersweet for me. Not because of what's in the chapter but on what happened as I was preparing to upload it. So, bear with me as I explain why it took so long for this update to materialize...
See, I already had this chapter ready a month ago. But I wanted to give my Beta Reader a massive dump of chapters. I was aiming on sending him 5 (along with this one) so I went ahead and began working on the rest. About a day or so before I decided to send it to him, that was the 22nd of November, a storm hit. Now, it wasn't supposed to make landfall in our area, but it did. And it ended up being the most powerful typhoon to hit this year. And we got to making sure everything was secured here. What I failed to notice was that I left the small window in my work area open just enough for water to enter through it. To make this depressing story short, the water ended up completely destroying my gaming desktop where I record my stuff for my channel and also write. I lost a lot of files, including three complete manuscripts, several videos, and those 5 chapters...and, to make matters worse, the backup drive I had also got short-circuited. The only thing I was able to salvage was my mouse and keyboard.
So, yeah...I had to rewrite this chapter from memory on my phone and I feel like I didn't do it much justice...though I hope it doesn't show in how I this chapter turned out(which is very much dedicated to two amazing people who made their support very much known: Strayfang and Kendra, thank you so much! And I'm sorry this isn't as great a chapter as I would have hoped to dedicate to you guys. I was making an artwork to give to you guys as well but I ended up losing that too, so I'm going to redraw it and figure out how to send it to you guys (if you'd allow me to send the artwork as an email, let me know, or if you have any other preference). I really am just thankful for your support on ko-fi! :)).
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this. I am still in the process of rewriting the other chapters (and still feeling depressed about the whole fiasco, haha, since now I have to figure out how to replace my desktop atop everything else) so it might take a while for me to update, but I am hoping to get 2 chapters out before the year ends.
The Legend of Korra
The Schism
Chapter 77: Revelations, Part 3
The afternoon was a peaceful one, the Light Spirit noted, with nothing of great importance occurring. Apart from the few times Korra's friends visited to check up on her—with Lady Asami doing so more than once, always finding the time despite how busy she was—Korra's room had been relatively quiet.
Though it was not asked to do so, the Light Spirit had taken upon itself to look after the unconscious girl. It was the only thing it could do, after all, powerless as it was in that moment: to watch over Korra and inform Lady Asami of any changes in her well-being when asked. And she asked quite a lot. Every moment she came back to their shared room, in fact.
Still, it was glad that Lady Asami could finally see and talk with it, worrywart as the Avatar's Chosen was. It was troubled that Korra might not agree with letting Asami obtain the Avatar's Gift. That would certainly have caused quite a number of problems, if Korra had been a bit more bullheaded.
But things had happened as they should. Everything was still right on track, all things considered.
The Light Spirit's beady eyes traveled towards its charge, insentient and unmoving. It could sense something was going on with Korra, even as she lay asleep and resting. The leafy appendages on its head twitched as it plopped itself closer to her.
It wasn't worried for Korra's sake. It didn't feel any malicious intent and Korra didn't seem at all perturbed by what she was witnessing in her dream. But it did leave the little Light Spirit curious.
What was the Avatar experiencing? It wondered. And how long will she be asleep?
The Light Spirit knew that, however long it was, they would have to wait. They couldn't, no matter the circumstance, wake Korra up. She needed to recharge—to regain even just a little bit of the energy she had lost—before the next leg of their journey.
Its musings were abruptly interrupted when the doorknob rattled and slowly turned, breaking the silence that enveloped the room.
At first, the Light Spirit thought that Lady Asami had once again returned to check up on Korra. That was how distracted in thought it was. It was also the reason behind the surprise it felt when it was not the Avatar's Chosen but Lady Toph instead who slowly made her way inside the room.
"Lady Toph," said the chubby spirit in greeting, as it stood up, wobbling.
The Lady of the Swamp nodded her head to show acknowledgment, before asking, "Everything alright?"
The Light Spirit nodded its head a little too vigorously as it gave a chirpy answer, "Yes! Korra's still sleeping, but it seems something's happening within."
"Yes, I can sense it, too. That's why I came...just in case." Lady Toph admitted as she walked closer towards the bed where Korra lay.
"Are you worried that it might happen?" the Light Spirit cocked its head to the side in askance.
Another shake of the head. "Not particularly. It's too early for that, after all. I do suspect it has begun, although Aang is being pretty mum about it." She scoffed at the last bit of her statement, then muttered under her breath something about 'troublesome Air-Benders'.
Both the Light Spirit and the Guardian of the Elemental Spirit Core of the Earth glanced at Korra's sleeping form, the former's brows creased a little bit in worry.
If what Lady Toph said is true and it really has started, then Korra might... it let its thoughts hang in the air, unwilling to follow through with it.
Like the Four Elemental Spirit Lords and the Guardians of their Cores, there were others who had been watching over Korra ever since she was a child. Though their numbers were few—for trust and secrecy regarding the matter of the Avatar were a much more important thing than numbers—each of them were, not only given an important task in the grand scheme of things, but were also fervent in ensuring Korra's well-being, her safety, and her growth. The Light Spirit was one of those who had volunteered to watch over Korra.
But it seems like everyone put too much stock in the Four that she ended up losing much of her humanity, the Light Spirit considered, knowing how much of a handful Korra was and how so out-of-tune she was in the world outside of the spirits and Nia Bayou. Not even Lady Katara could balance that out.
In retrospect, the Light Spirit supposed that was the reason why they were worried about Lady Asami.
The thought of the one it had been with for a while, watching over the Avatar and the Avatar's Chosen, made the Little Spirit wonder how long the aforementioned person was going to keep herself away, especially now that Asami could see what was once invisible to her and hear things she couldn't before. Moreover, it wondered how long it could keep silent in the midst of all the things it was told to keep quiet about.
It was very difficult, after all, to keep hold of so many secrets.
That very thought propelled the Light Spirit to speak. "Lady Toph, maybe it's time for us to come clean."
Those words were enough to get the old woman's attention and for her to fully turn towards the small spirit. It took a while for Toph to speak, as she considered the consequences of doing as the spirit suggested.
"I understand where you are coming from," Toph's sigh was a heavy one. "But keeping these things a secret for now is important. Our enemy is getting stronger—craftier—and if we're not careful, everything might end up being for nothing. Your friend would be inclined to agree with me, if she were here as well."
The Light Spirit's leafy ears sagged for a moment. Despite seeing reason within the words the Lady of the Swamp had said, it still felt like keeping all the things it knew was wrong. Especially when most of them concerned the Avatar's Chosen. It felt like it was breaking Asami's trust, knowing the things that it did.
Still, the Light Spirit also knew that it had to trust the better judgment of those who knew more than it did. Unlike the others of its brethren, it was not omniscient to know things beyond its knowledge nor did it have any far-reaching foresight to predict how things would go if it were to go behind Lady Toph's back and divulge its secret to Asami.
So all the Light Spirit could do then was sigh and tamper down its reservations.
Silence filled the room then as Lady Toph made her way to a nearby chair, unceremoniously plopping down on it with a grunt. They watched as Korra's chest rose and fell with each breath, being lulled themselves.
The Light Spirit didn't know how long after it was—time, after all, moved differently for the Spiritkind—but when it came to, a blinding-bright light was emanating from Korra's right arm and the Avatar, herself, was groaning and restless in her sleep.
It quickly got itself upright again and was about to call out Lady Toph when a small movement told the Light Spirit that there was no need. The Lady of the Swamp was already aware of what was going on.
Looking at the old woman, the Light Spirit saw the intensity her unseeing eyes held as she 'watched' Korra.
"Our time is getting shorter and shorter," it heard Lady Toph murmur to herself. Then, she glanced at the Light Spirit and said, "Go get Asami. And hurry."
With nary a question, the Light Spirit quickly did as it was told and allowed its body to dissipate to the wind in search of the Avatar's Chosen.
Asami had just rounded the corner, nearing her destination where she was to meet with Opal's father along with the other architects currently working on rebuilding Zaofu, when she found herself stopping dead on her tracks.
It wasn't due to some epiphany nor to a strong—yet fleeting—thought that caused her to, once again, take pause. It was more like a sudden punch to the gut. Though a lot less painful than the actual thing, it did leave her feeling rather anxious and uneasy for inexplicable reasons.
Still, the heir to Future Industries shook these feelings of trepidation away, forcing her mind to focus on things that are much more important at the moment. And so, Asami went on her way.
Reaching the makeshift meeting and planning room for Zaofu's rehabilitation, Asami found herself the last to arrive. After quickly apologizing for her tardiness—with her apology quickly being dismissed, with Bataar, Sr. telling her "We've just arrived ourselves"—the raven-haired, young woman made her way to the large table where various maps and designs for city planning laid scattered. It was when everyone had taken their seats that the day's meeting started.
Though Asami's architectural knowledge were still budding and her grasp on planning for a city such as Zaofu was close to non-existent, she was pleased to find that she could understand the scribbles and notes posted on the map and around the metallic surface of the table. She could follow what the people around her were saying and could quickly see where problems may arise from their suggested solutions even before they could deliberate on its viability. Asami found that she enjoyed learning about the subject and trying to put her knowledge to it to practice. The whole process reminded her of when she would envision a new project to undertake and a new invention to make.
For a moment, as the older men and women around the table threw ideas back and forth—agreeing on a couple while dismissing a few—the young heiress toyed with the idea of this being her calling; that perhaps she could bring something more—add something more—to her inventions, innovate them to be in line with architecture.
Perhaps once all of this is over and things have died down to a semblance of normalcy, I can pursue this, she thought to herself. She felt it was wishful thinking on her part, but she wanted to believe it was possible still...independent on whether or not she was the Avatar's Chosen and wherever else that would take her to.
Her musings were cut short when she heard someone faintly calling her name.
Shaking her reverie away, she looked over to the clustered group of adults and sheepishly said, "Sorry, I didn't hear that. What did you say?"
They all looked at her with bewildered expressions on their faces.
"We didn't say anything." one of them replied.
That, in turn, got Asami wondering. She was certain she had heard something. "I thought someone called for me," she added.
The architects and planners all looked at each other before they shook their heads and collectively, with various tone of voices, told her none of them did.
"Are you alright, Asami?" Opal's father asked no soon after everyone had gone back to what they were doing prior to Asami speaking. "Are you getting enough rest? Perhaps you're overworking yourself with your assistance here and keeping watch over Korra."
"I'm fine, Lord Bataar. Thank you for your concern, Lord Bataar." Asami replied, willing her face to not betray the confusion she hoped, similarly, was not evident in her voice. "I guess it was just the wind."
Lord Bataar looked at her earnestly then and Asami could tell he was really looking out for her, like a father would to his daughter. It tugged at her heartstrings and she remembered her own father. But, with that memory also came the worry and fear she had that something was amiss with him...that the things she had uncovered from the Shock Glove she had in her possession was not a red herring, but a breadcrumb to something much bigger and Hiroshi Sato was going to be at the heart of it.
She wanted to find out but, at the same time, she really didn't.
It took a second more for the Bei Fong Patriarch to finally accept Asami's answer and get back to his own work. He left her with the words, "You're more than free to take a break if you want to, you know, Asami".
It was all Asami could do not to breathe out a sigh of relief when he had left her to her own devices. Opal's father, after all, was perceptive and would be able to immediately tell she had been lying if she did.
As she got back to minding her own plans for an automated forklift system, the Avatar's Chosen once again heard being called. She raised her head to look around, but once again they were all minding their own business. No one looked—not even glanced—her way, much less called for her.
Before she could shrug it off as the wind playing tricks on her hearing and return to her own notes once again, she heard it. This time around, it was much louder.
Asami didn't have time to even look around once again, because before she could do so much as blink, something round and pudgy suddenly materialized before her almost slamming at her face. It was thanks to her somewhat-quick reflexes that she managed to pull herself out of the way. The act, however, left her unbalanced on the chair she was seating on that she ended up toppling over anyway.
For the second time that day, all eyes were on her. Unlike the first time around, however, she found herself blushing at her blunder.
"Asami!" Lord Bataar was once again by her side, repeating the question he had earlier, though with much alarm than before. "Are you alright? What happened?"
Asami's eyes were not on the older man, however, but instead was on the tiny little creature flitting around—as though being tossed about by the wind—just to the side of his head. Seeing the Light Spirit there left her flabbergasted and speechless, which made Lord Bataar even more worried.
"Maybe you should take it easy for today, Asami," he said as he reached out his hand in an attempt to help the young Prodigy up. "You have been pushing yourself far too much lately with your responsibilities."
"I—" Asami paused, still utterly confused by the Light Spirit's presence, before shaking from her stupor. "I guess I can take you up on your offer, Lord Bataar." She then smiled sheepishly before adding, "I'm sorry about this."
It was the older man's turn to shake his head. "Don't worry about it. You've done more than we could have asked of you with regards to Zaofu's rebuilding. Now, go. Rest."
Wishing not to risk further embarrassing herself, Asami quickly rushed past the older man to get her notes. Along the way, she inconspicuously snatched the Light Spirit.
She excused herself one final time before completely leaving the room.
Asami tried to walk in a pace that did not betray the fact that she had just been frightened by the chubby, little spirit's sudden appearance and worried at what that could possibly mean. The Light Spirit, after all, knew not to show itself to her when she was with others who didn't possess the ability to see it unless there was an update about Korra.
The young Prodigy bit down on her lip trying to hold on to the distressed query that was threatening to spill from her mouth. She had to wait until they were privy enough to hold a conversation without her looking like she was talking to herself.
It took a couple minutes longer before the halls thinned out of people and Asami allowed herself to walk a bit slower.
She took a deep breath before she looked down on the Light Spirit that had settled itself on her shoulder and asked, muttering under breath, "What were you doing back there?"
The Light Spirit, who had been looking at a far-off distance, snapped its attention back at the Avatar's Chosen, the leafy appendages on its head swaying with its and Asami's movements. It blinked once before telling the Sato Heiress, "Oh, Lady Toph asked me to hurry up and get you. It's Korra, she—"
Asami didn't wait for the Light Spirit to finish what it was about to say. The tone of voice it had used was enough to propel the young woman into action. She immediately made a run for it, heading straight for her shared room with Korra and Duo Xing. She moved as quickly as her feet would carry her and it was all the Light Spirit could do to keep hold on Asami's sleeves so as not to fall off. Its pleas for the human to slow down and calm herself fell on deaf ears as Asami's mind was already racing with all sorts of what-ifs.
Is Korra hurt?
Has she woken up?
Has the side effects Bai Hu spoke of taken effect?
All those thoughts and more danced and flitted across Asami's mind as people, upon seeing her distressed and panicked-looking, gave her a wide berth and ducked themselves out of her way.
Before long, Asami burst into the room sweating and panting. She didn't know what to expect upon her arrival. She had hoped, of course, but to actually see Korra, at that moment, awake and sitting with her back to the bed's headboard was enough for her adrenaline and fear—which had propelled her to move quickly in the first place—to be washed away by relief. Sitting on the plush chair Asami had taken to use whenever she kept watch over the sleeping Avatar was Lady Toph, whose eyes were closed, deep in though.
"Korra!" Asami made a beeline for the Avatar, her name expelled through the porcelain-skinned, young woman lips with a huge breath.
"Asami," Korra turned her attention towards Asami.
Though the deity-turned-human's eyes crinkled with a smile that matched her lips, the Avatar's Chosen could see weariness in them as well. It was as though the days spent with the Avatar asleep did nothing to ease her fatigue. If anything, it looked as though Korra was even more tired than she was before she lost consciousness after the battle to save Zaofu.
Asami let her breath even out, trying to calm herself, even though the concern she had felt over Korra was once again returning upon seeing the state she was in as she sat beside her on her bed. "You're awake," there really was no reason to state the obvious, but Asami wanted to say it nonetheless. "How are you feeling?"
She briefly wondered if Korra was going to tell the truth, or if she was going to act tough like she always did.
Korra didn't immediately answer, however. She contemplated on her answer with her eyes looking at the window of the room and the city that lay beyond.
Meanwhile, the Light Spirit had vacated its spot on Asami's shoulder and had waddled itself to where Lady Toph sat. When it had plopped itself on the old woman's lap, Toph opened her eyes and looked straight at the little spirit.
"What took you so long?" She asked amid the silence that had permeated the room as Asami waited for Korra to answer and wondered why Korra was taking her time to do so.
"I tried to quickly find Lady Asami, Lady Toph," the Light Spirit looked ashamed as it spoke, "but I had a hard time with the Wind. It seems like it didn't want me to ride along, which is strange."
"The Wind, you say?" Lady Toph's brows shot up in surprise upon hearing that. She hummed in thought before scooping the Light Spirit in her palms and standing up.
The scraping sound of the chair as she did so surprised both Korra and Asami—who were in a little silent bubble of their own—and caused both to look in unison at the sound's direction.
"It would seem that I'm needed elsewhere," Lady Toph told them and, without bothering to wait for a reply, began walking towards the door. "I believe you both need the time and the privacy to talk between yourselves." Just before the old Lady of the Swamp exited the room, she turned to give them one final look with her unseeing eyes—focusing more on Korra—and said, "Do make it count, Twinkle Toes."
Silence pervaded the air for a couple of seconds more after the soft click of the door closing reverberated in the room.
Asami let the silence sit for a while longer. Looking at Korra, who seemed much in thought—perhaps contemplating on how to navigate through to the brass and tacks of what is truly going on with her?—left the young prodigy to brace herself for whatever was going to be said.
A sigh soon escaped the Avatar's lips followed by: "I do not know how to properly answer your question". Though she spoke, her eyes were on her right hand—which, Asami noted, was shaking a little bit—the emotion behind them inscrutable. There was another pregnant pause before Korra finally put her hand down and looked at Asami to add, "On the one hand, I am awake, as you have said. On the other...I feel as though I am..."
...Running out of time? Asami wanted to supply, because that was what she was feeling ever since Bai Hu spoke with her. You're not the only one who thinks that, Korra.
She kept her mouth shut, though. It was difficult enough for Korra already, she didn't want to add into that, especially not when the shorter girl was trying her best to put her thoughts into words. Instead, Asami just placed her own hand atop Korra's as a way to say she was listening; that Korra could take her time; that she was there.
"I had hoped," Korra tried again, "that freeing the Elemental Spirit Cores would return my strength back to me. But after releasing the seals of two, all I feel is the fleetingness of my existence."
Something caught Asami's eyes then. At first, she thought it was just her eyes that were playing tricks on her, or perhaps it was the light of the room that was doing that, whatever it was she was about to simply dismiss it...up until she saw it once again: a weak throbbing of bluish-white light pulsating from underneath the sleeves of Korra's entire right arm.
The Avatar caught sight of what she was looking at. Instead of trying to hide what was going on with her, Korra pulled her sleeves up and revealed the bandaged arm that was hiding beneath.
"Korra, what—?" Asami gaped as she saw the strange pulsing light once again dance under the other girl's bandages.
"It has spread," Korra said by way of a reply. When she was met by the even more confused gaze from her companion, the deity-turned-human expounded, "I have, as your people would like to say, literally keeping it—what was it? "Under wraps"?—for a while now. It started when we released the seal on the Elemental Core of Fire and freed Suzaku. I did not know why my arm has turned out this way and neither did the old man, Zuko. He had some theories about it, but nothing concrete that actually helped. Kai knows about this as well, but I told him to keep it a secret until I could..." she shook her head once more, clearing her head from that line of thought and focusing on what was, instead, more important to share.
Korra took another intake of breath before she turned her attention back towards Asami, who was still looking at the faint display of lights that were moving underneath the bandages, and continued speaking. "Toph explained to me what it was. The consequence of undoing what my predecessor has done, she said."
Again, the Avatar's Chosen remembered something Bai Hu shared with her.
She didn't realize, at that time, however that she had repeated those words out loud until Korra blinked at her and asked, "What did you just—? How did you know that, Asami?"
Asami bit her lip. She hadn't intended to say those words aloud but now she had no choice but to come clean.
"Bai Hu, right when we were being whisked back to the entrance of the Cave of Two Lovers, he shared things with me; he told me to be ready...as the Avatar's Chosen," Asami began. "That is one of the things he told me. I didn't understand it at that time—what he meant—but he told me that you were carrying a heavy burden, one that is taking a toll on you. He told me that unlocking the seals were siphoning your very essence in exchange for bringing balance back to the Spirit and Mortal Realms."
Korra nodded. "The more we unlock the seals, the more I will be weakened by them."
Slowly, the darker-skinned girl began to unwrap the bandages around her right arm, which extended from her shoulder up until the ends of her wrist. The more the bandages loosened, the wider Asami's eyes got. Because where skin should be was nothing but a weak, pulsing, ethereal light. It was like seeing the surface of water as it is illuminated by the bright rays of a summer sun; a light almost crystalline though shifting between intangible and tangible in nature. And whatever it was that was happening with Korra's right arm—whatever that particular appendage of hers was turning into—was creeping further past her wrist as well, slowly albeit surely.
"Apparently, before I awoke earlier, my entire arm was emitting such a strong light that the old woman thought it would have attracted the attention of those who want to do me harm," it was said in a way that made it seem like it was not a big deal to the Avatar, her voice coated with a hint of amusement that didn't quite reached her eyes. "The first time I saw what was happening to me, back in the Fire Nation Capital, I have to admit it left me in quite a bit of shock, maybe even panic."
"Does...does it hurt?" Asami searched Korra's face for an answer even as she waited for it to be said.
Korra shrugged. "There are moments when it does and I had to force myself to move it. Other times it just feels like a dull, buzzing ache. It is, in a way, to similar to how the injury I got from the Dark Spirits feels like."
Despite all that was happening and all that was said, however, the Avatar grinned at her Chosen and said, "Don't worry, though, Asami. I will deal with this. I am the Avatar, after all."
There was something in the way Korra said those words, in the way that Asami saw proof for herself that what Bai Hu had said was true, in the way realization and reality struck her then. It was like something came crashing down on her and before she could stop herself—not that she would have, no Asami didn't think that she would have—the young heiress had thrown herself at the Avatar, wrapping her arms around Korra's neck without any hints of letting go any time soon.
Startled, Korra almost hit her head on the backboard of her bed.
"A-Asami? What are you—?"
"I want you to stop," the words were loud enough and clear enough to be heard, even when Asami's head was burrowed in the crook of Korra's neck.
"Stop?" Understandably so, confusion was evident in Korra's voice as she asked. Understanding Asami was, after all, hard enough already without the aforementioned human clinging to her as so.
"Unlocking the seals, restoring balance or whatever, I want you to stop." Asami expounded upon her words. She knew how selfish that sounded; knew that bringing balance and acting as "the Bridge Between Mortal and Spirit Realms" was something Korra prided herself as, it was who Korra was at her core. Be that as it may, Asami couldn't help but wish otherwise. Even if it was going against Suzaku, Bai Hu—even Lady Toph and Lord Zuko's—wishes. "I don't want to see you like this. I don't want to see you deteriorating in exchange for whatever Aang has done in the past."
Sadness, anger, lost, fear, loathing, longing...there was so much emotion within her that Asami didn't know what was at the forefront of it all. She just knew they were there.
There was another heartbeat before Asami heard any sound from Korra, and even another more before the Avatar finally moved her arms to wrap them around the one that was clinging onto her.
"I do not think that is something the Avatar's Chosen should say," Though Asami couldn't see it, she could feel the smile in the way Korra said those words. "Should you not be the one cheering me on to 'do the right thing', save people's lives and all of that?"
"I'm trying to save yours!" Asami retorted with such forcefulness that left Raava's human incarnation taken aback.
Korra let a second pass before she responded with, "Will you be happy if I did? I cannot imagine, not even for a single moment, that you would be. Not when we would be trading the safety of all with that choice. You say that you are trying to save my life, I can say the same to you. Even if this is not my responsibility to bear, I would still have it just to ensure that, at the end of all this, you would be safe: from the Witching Hour, from the Dark Spirits, from that woman Kuvira...safe from all the dangers plaguing us right now." In a much smaller voice, she added, "I am...frightened...of what will happen if we stay the course, that is something I can admit to you. However..."
The Avatar shook her head once more, the act messing her already messy hair further out of the wolf's tail it was tied up into. "I do not know when the lines have begun to blur. I do not know when my thoughts have shifted, but...I find myself doing the things asked of me, not because of the title that I bear and all that comes with it, but because of you, Asami. I am doing all of this for you. Only you. Perhaps, that is selfishness on my part, but I feel like I can keep going as long as I think that...as long as I think of something...concrete."
Her grip on Korra tightened at those words, though not enough to hurt the other girl. Asami burried herself deeper into the embrace. "Please don't say that. It would make me feel like you're going to disappear because of me."
"Nonsense!" The Avatar barked a laugh, as though the thought truly was laughable for her. "While it is true that unlocking these seals are siphoning my energy and leaving me weaker and drained, I am not going to disappear on you any time soon, Asami Sato. You have my word on that."
She wanted to believe. Asami wanted to allow herself to hope that what Korra said was true. And yet there was a feeling at the pit of her stomach that made her feel dread rather than hope.
He grinned to himself as he wiped the dust and dirt from his face and his clothes—which didn't really do much. It was a lot easier this time around. There were no guards to contend with. There was no need to sneak around as much as he did at the palace.
He didn't even have to climb down the large, gaping hole on the ground where the golden beam of light was emanating from.
Taking the twin vials from his pocket—one empty, the other full to the brim with a liquid-like substance he could not identify—the Mercenary couldn't help but think it really was a piece of cake.
Like before, he did what his hooded, masked employer had asked him to do: dump the strange contents of the vial into the beam of light and fill the other vial with contents from the beam afterwards. Considering how nothing bad had happened to him when he did it the first time around, Mako didn't have any reservations.
What he had, however, was the desire to get this current job over and done with and haul himself out of the Earth Kingdom. It was a place he never wanted to go back to.
Too many memories.
As he filled the vial, he couldn't help but be unimpressed with this beam of light. Unlike the ones back at the Fire Nation, this one didn't really make him feel...anything. For a moment, he wondered if it was because he was just desensitized at this point of all the weird and otherworldly crap he has been thrown into and has found himself in ever since his encounter with that Sato girl, the so-called Avatar, and that Bei Fong.
Maybe.
But, quite honestly, he no longer cared.
He was getting paid a lot, after all. Not to mention he had these cool, new powers. He didn't have to constantly worry about watching his back because of them.
As soon as the vial was completely full of the now-murky substance that came from the beam of light, Mako quickly recapped and sealed it before placing it back securely inside his pocket.
"Now that that's out of the way," he muttered to himself, lips quirking upwards at the thought that followed, "time to go visit old Hiroshi."
Chapter End Notes:
And that is a wrap. So...what do you guys think? Korra's secret is out...same goes for more on what Bai Hu told Asami.
There are two chapters left for the Earth Kingdom Arc. Again, I'm going to try really hard to get these out before 2020 ends. I really think I can squeeze it in the middle of finding a new job, trying to find a way to get a new desktop, and working on my YouTube Channel. Haha... *sigh* I think I got my work cut out for me.
Anyways, if you guys wanna help out you can go to my ko-fi page and/or my YouTube Channel (links are in my bio). Thank you once again for reading (and for your comments, though I am having a hard time replying to them all, I do read them and they make me happy), and I'll see you all in the next chapter!
Until then, dream on; fly on!
(P.S Belated Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!)
