The field of purple flowers surrounding the spirit portal inside Republic City was exactly as Kuvira remembered them, when she stepped through to the other side. The sky was dark, yet soothing, with a combination of deep red and blue hues meeting together to create a streak of purple, while a gentle breeze fluttered the flowers like ripples in a pond. The last time she'd been here had been nearly eight years ago, when she and Korra had appeared after her spirit cannon ripped open the new portal.
Kuvira took a long look around, soaking in the scene as she recalled that memory. To think that such a moment would have been the start of something far more with Korra in the years to come. An impossibility, she would have called it back then, and yet that was exactly what had happened. The moment she and Korra had shared in these flowers had been so small, so fleeting, nothing but the tiniest of sparks falling onto dry tinder. Even so, in the following years that spark had grown into a raging fire. Friendship, love, marriage—an impossible dream come true.
If they failed to stop Sen, those dreams would fade as fire snuffed out by rain. Her dream, her life, and those of every human in the entire world. This trip into the Spirit World was not meant to be a nostalgic vacation, but a mission of the most dire importance, the most important any of them had ever undertaken. Failure here was not an option.
Kuvira looked over her shoulder to see Korra following through the portal behind her. She held out her hand, and Korra held it tight, a reassurance between wives that put both their nerves at ease. Katara appeared behind them, followed by Azula, and finally Mako, who had met them when they arrived in Republic City and wanted to see them off.
"You guys sure this plan of yours will work?" Mako asked, folding his arms across the breastplate of his police chief uniform.
"No, but we're all out of options," Korra replied. "We have to do this, and we have to make it work. We can't afford anymore failures."
Mako held a grim expression, but gave a nod of encouragement nonetheless. "Well, I'll be pulling for you."
"You sure you can't come with us?" Korra said.
"I'd love to, but I have to get back to the city and prepare our defenses."
Korra nodded. "I understand. Keep the people of Republic City safe."
"That is the goal. Varrick and Asami are both working on something that might help, too. I'll let you know if there are any changes in that." Mako offered a friendly smile, and extended his hand forward. "Good luck, Korra."
"Thanks, Mako." Korra returned the smile and clasped his hand, giving it a firm shake. He gave her a parting wave, and headed back through the portal.
"If you're done, we have to get going," Azula said, with an impatient glare. "There's no telling how much time we have left."
"Right, let's move." Korra glanced towards the east, focusing on a cluster of mountains. "The Spirit Library should be in that direction, although I'm not sure how far it is."
"You'll probably get there before I reach Koh," Azula muttered. "His domain is in the farthest reaches of the Spirit World. I'll be as quick as I can, but I make no assurances."
"In any case, we should plan to meet back here when we're done," Katara said.
Kuvira nodded. "But don't wait too long. If you make it back before us and we're not here, but you've found a way to stop Sen, you go on without us. We'll catch up eventually."
"Same goes for you lot." Azula offered a quick wave and took off running towards the west. "Now get moving!"
"Right," Korra said, as she broke into a sprint. "Let's go everyone!"
Jinora heaved a deep sigh as she turned the corner of the street. A frigid chill crawled down her spine, but she paid it no mind. Far more dire things to worry about than the cold of the South Pole. Korra and the others had left days ago to find the Mother of Faces. Days since she'd heard anything. Days since they'd had even a small glimmer of hope. Kya and the other healers were doing everything they could to keep the bodies of Sen's victims alive, but those victims were beginning to fade—a week at most, had been Kya's prognosis, perhaps as little as a few days. Any longer without their spirits, and they would die.
Over the past few days, Jinora had lost track of how many tears she'd shed, having cried herself to sleep every night since Korra and the others had left. With Sen no longer at the South Pole, she didn't have to be on guard. Didn't have to push aside her emotions or appear strong. She could simply be a young woman terrified for her father. As she made her way through the streets of the Southern capital now, there were no tears. She had no energy left to cry. Not in front of her boyfriend, at least.
"Do you think they're alright?" she asked, glancing towards Kai.
The other airbender offered a reassuring smile. "With everyone that went on the that mission? Kuvira, Azula, Lord Zuko, Katara, Toph, and we know Korra can handle herself. I'm sure they're fine. They'll be back soon with a way to kick this dark spirit's ass, you'll see."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Jinora took a deep breath and held it, unable to let it out. Instead, she held her hands to her stomach, wincing until she was finally able to speak again. "I just can't shake this feeling."
"What kind of feeling?"
"The kind of feeling that something bad is about to happen." Her fingers tightened over her abdomen. "It's like a sinking deep in my gut. Something spiritual, I think."
Kai reached out to take her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "You probably just ate some bad Water Tribe food. I mean really, who can survive on sea prunes? I guess the arctic hen isn't so bad, but still."
"No, that's not it. Jinora shook her head and sighed again. "I don't know, I'm probably overthinking things. Just worrying for no reason."
Kai started to say something, but stopped himself when they rounded the corner of the next street. Bodies littered the ground. There were dozens—men, women, and children alike. His mouth fell open, a tiny squeak of air escaping his throat. With a hefty swallow, he managed a hoarse, disturbed whisper. "Or... your intuition is spot on."
Jinora's heart skipped a beat as she approached, her eyes darting back and forth from body to body. Why hadn't she noticed until now? The streets had been uncharacteristically empty during their walk. She had assumed the reason to be because of the late night hour, but this? This was something else entirely.
"What happened to them?" Kai asked, kneeling down next to one of the victims—a young girl, maybe seven years old, lying next to her parents.
The pounding in Jinora's chest thundered. Deep down she already knew the answer, but a small, desperate part of her mind hoped against all hope she might be wrong. As she approached the nearest body, her gut sank in horrific confirmation. The man was still alive, but his eyes stared blankly forward, nobody home inside.
"Oh no…" Her eyes widened in horror as the revelation took hold. "Their essences are gone. Their bodies don't have their spirits anymore!"
"What?" Kai shot a look of equal panic towards her. They both knew what that meant. "Then Sen is here. He came back to the South Pole!"
"Very perceptive, child." The voice that replied was impossibly smooth, like silk and honey, and rumbled with a gentle echo.
Jinora spun around to find the source. A giant gejigeji stood behind them, towering atop one of the nearby buildings. Sen. She stared upward at the looming figure above her, rooted to the ground in quaking fear as the spirit leaped to the street with a thunderous crash. Kai managed a step backward and launched a wind blast at the spirit. Concussive air burst across the spirit's chitinous exterior with little effect, nothing more than a gentle breeze to the far more powerful being. Sen lunged forward with surprising quickness, swatting Kai to the ground with two long, spidery legs before the airbender could even blink.
"Gah, let me go you ugly bug!" Kai struggled to break free, but the spirit held firm, pinning him helplessly to the ground.
Sen chuckled, lowering his face in front of the young airbender. "Relax, child. This will be over soon."
"Kai!" Jinora leaped forward with a spinning arc of air, and followed through with a second, and a third. No matter what attack she threw at Sen, the hulking spirit didn't even flinch. She could do nothing to prevent the bright wisp of light from floating out of Kai's mouth. Could do nothing to stop Sen from consuming it. Could not end this nightmare. With his essence gone, Kai collapsed limp and unmoving to the frozen ground. Jinora's heart knotted, and climbed into her throat. "Kai, no! Kai!"
Sen answered her frantic calls with delighted cackling. The spirit turned his beady black eyes onto her and crept closer, legs clacking across the icy street. "There is no need to be afraid. This is the proper order of things. Your kind does not belong in this world, and I am here to set things right."
Jinora took a step back. Fear lanced through the deepest parts of her body, shuddering her breaths with rapid gasps. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening! Sen skittered closer and and swiped with one of his spindly legs. With a desperate lunge, she pushed herself backwards with a gust of wind lifting her feet off the ground. Still in midair, she countered with a whirling wind blast. No use. Sen merely squinted his beady black eyes, the only indication he gave of even feeling the attack as the air rushed over him.
Sen made another strike with one of his many legs, but again Jinora continued to evade. She ducked and spun away, keeping just out of his reach on her way around him. One of the spirit's legs swept inches from her face, forcing her to slide low to the ground and dart behind him. She found herself at Kai's side. A single look told her everything she needed to know. He wasn't going to be waking up. He had no spirit left. A sickened knot twisted deep in her gut, bubbling her insides on the cusp of vomiting. First her father, now Kai. Who was next?
In the brief moment Jinora had focused on Kai, Sen darted up to her. With a sweeping strike, he swatted her across the backside and sent her spinning across the ground. Air burst from her lungs, jolting an intense numbness through her core. Desperate to right herself, she flipped over and fluttered back up to her feet. Too late. A pair of spidery legs wrapped around her arms and pinned her in place, flat against the ground.
"A slippery little airbender, you are," Sen said, with a hissing breath. "No matter. I have you now."
Jinora made a desperate struggle to tear herself out of the spirit's grasp, but he held her with unrelenting force. With a triumphant sneer, Sen forced his face in front of hers. This was it. She would be his next victim, and certainly not his last.
Pop pop... BOOM!
Explosive fire ripped across Sen's carapace, knocking him clean onto his side. His grip tore away from Jinora, allowing her to slip to safety. When he managed to right himself, he skittered around with a frustrated grumble to find the source of the explosion. His void-like eyes found a tall woman standing atop the roof of a building behind him, a woman with the sides of her head shaved tight around a long ponytail, and a painted third eye across her forehead.
"You!" Sen growled.
"Yeah, me," P'Li said, as she shifted her stance in preparation to unleash another blast.
"You were mine!" the spirit insisted. "I brought you back! You belong to me!"
"I'm afraid that doesn't work for me anymore." With a deep breath, P'Li leaned forward and unleashed another distinct pop pop of her combustionbending through the air.
Sen's massive form skittered away with shocking speed, evading the explosion seconds before it tore apart the ground where he'd been standing. He charged P'Li, crashing against the building with a powerful eruption of spiritual energy. The entire face of the building crumbled to pieces. P'Li jumped to safety towards the next building, only for a stray chunk of ice to crash into her shoulder. The impact sent her into an uncontrolled spiral on her way to the ground.
Seconds before she hit the street in a violent face-plant, a figure connected to a long metal cable swooped through the air towards her. Lin caught the combustionbender with a strained grunt and lowered towards the ground, setting them both to safety with a swinging leap. Several more individuals emerged into the open, racing out of the nearby alleys: Kya, Bumi, Eska, Desna, and Hari, all shifting into their bending stances, ready to fight.
"Pick on someone your own level of ugly!" Bumi called, pointing a challenging finger at the spirit.
"Jinora, fall back and regroup!" Lin called, as she righted herself and P'Li to join the others. "We'll attack him together!"
Jinora shot a desperate glance towards Kai, focusing her gaze on the blankness of his face, and the dead-staring eyes. The sight jolted a horrified quiver down her spine. Forcing herself to tear her gaze away, she ran to join the others. She might not have been able to stop Sen on her own, but perhaps if they worked together they'd have a chance.
"You fools…" Sen arose to his full height, glaring down at them all with hate-filled eyes, his multitude of legs spread out wide. "You believe you are capable of stopping me? You are but insects—a blight upon this world that I will cleanse!"
"We're insects?" Kya grimaced at the sight of the giant gejigeji. "Someone hasn't looked in the mirror lately."
Sen released an annoyed growl. "You will all perish!"
Sen lunged towards them. They scattered, each jumping in a different direction. Lin lashed at the spirit's carapace with her metal cables, while Kya, Eska, and Desna countered with a trio of water streams that coiled into a massive frozen spear. The impact rocked Sen off balance, forcing him into position to take the full brunt of another explosion from P'Li. With Sen vulnerable, Jinora joined Bumi's side. Together, they unleashed a combined wind blast that lifted the giant insect into the air. A mass of sand followed, coalescing into a giant clenched fist. Grainy knuckles cracked into Sen's face and sent the spirit spinning towards the ground. The sand then swept back to its owner in the shape of a solid cloud, allowing Hari to leap atop it.
Sen landed with a crash against the frozen street. For a brief, fleeting moment he didn't move. Jinora and the others watched and waited, remaining on guard in defensive stances. No way would the fight be that easy. Another moment, and Sen's legs twitched. Lin gave the immediate command to commence another attack, unleashing a second barrage upon the spirit. Fire, steam, sand, and debris crashed over their target, causing a billowing cloud to obfuscate the fallen spirit. They waited for the air to clear, and get a read on what state their foe was in.
Before the cloud could fully settle, Sen lunged into the open towards them. Lin raised a cable in defense, only for one of the spirit's legs to crack into the front of her armor. She launched airborne, spinning wildly across the ice. Jinora and Bumi moved in with another pair of air blasts. No effect this time. Sen turned into the wind and grinned at them, as a flash of red light glinted in his eyes. Twin beams of concentrated spiritual energy tore apart the ground at their feet and launched them into a nearby building with explosive force. Kya, Eska, and Desna moved in, guiding a massive torrent of water into the spirit's body to push him back. Still no effect. Sen laughed at them, stepping through the water as though it were little more than a harmless trickle. With another swipe of his legs, he knocked them away.
Another explosion tore into Sen's backside, but he barely stumbled off balance. A second followed, and a third, but still the spirit stood strong. Even with an added barrage of sand bullets from Hari's cloud, Sen remained standing. Turning to the two benders, another flash of energy burst from his eyes and sent them flying. Hari fell from his cloud into a snow drift, while P'Li rolled across the ice and crashed into the water of a nearby fountain. Another boisterous laugh echoed from Sen's throat, as he turned his sights on his remaining opponents.
"This isn't working." Kya struggled back to her feet, gripping a hand against her chest. "We need to try something else!"
"There is nothing else!" Lin took another stand in front of Sen, staring him down eye-to-eye. "Keep it up, or he'll run through this entire city and kill us all!"
Sen bellowed an amused chuckle. "You're all fools. You have no hope here. You cannot stop me. You cannot stop any of us."
On his cue, a water stream twisted out from behind a building and swatted Lin off her feet. Bumi lifted himself on an arc of wind in an attempt to assist, but another lash of water whipped him back. Kya, Eska, and Desna shifted close together in defensive formation, able to repel another pair of incoming torrents before the new attackers emerged. Two figures stepped into view, one a young woman with long dark hair, and the other someone the twins knew well.
"Father," Desna muttered, with an unamused glare.
"It is so not good to see you," Eska added.
Unalaq scoffed, and sent forth a spiraling water drill. "The feeling is mutual!"
Eska and Desna worked in unison to defend against their father's attacks. With every attack he threw at them, they countered and redirected right back at him in a rapid exchange of watery torrents.
Kya stood against the other woman, rotating a coiling water gimble around herself in preparation to attack. "And who are you supposed to be?"
"My name is Megumi," said the woman, calling her own ring of water around herself. "And you'll do well to remember it."
Sen watched the two sides clash with a delighted grin carved across his face, his beady black eyes following each shot of water back and forth. The twins held their own against their father, while Kya quickly overpowered the clearly less skilled Megumi. Still, even with his minions rapidly losing ground, he did nothing to intervene. He merely continued to watch, as though waiting for something.
The icy ground between the two sides erupted into a massive torrent, spiraling into a raging water spout that towered above the buildings. Kya and the twins paused, gawking at the display as they stepped back and raised their guards. Neither Unalaq nor Megumi made another move to attack. They simply watched and waited, the same as Sen. Moments later, the coiling water twisted and crashed downward towards Kya, Eska, and Desna. The three countered immediately to repel the attack, but despite their combined efforts they could not deter the water from its path. A crushing wave crashed over them and swept them away.
Kya slammed into a building wall and screamed, as a shard of jagged ice broke free and sliced across her ribs. Eska and Desna both soon joined her, rolling across the ground to a violent stop at the older waterbender's feet. The twins gasped through pained breaths, as they slowly pushed their way upright to their hands and knees. The reprieve didn't last long. Another coil of water whipped downward, slamming them once again into the ground.
Jinora crawled her way out of the building she'd been thrown into, staring at the scene with widened eyes. Three talented waterbenders, each taken out at once by a single attacker. But who? And how? Movement captured her gaze. Her eyes darted across the street, where she noticed another figure emerge to join Unalaq and Megumi. He was a well-built man wearing a traditional Water Tribe warrior's uniform, and a polar bear dog skin atop his head.
Jinora blinked, narrowing a glare at him. Why did he seem so familiar? She'd seen him before. She knew that face from somewhere. She knew that polar bear dog headdress. Spirits, where was it from? The revelation tore through her seconds later with the force of a boulder crashing into her gut. Her eyes flared in horror. No. No, that wasn't possible. Unless...
No, she couldn't worry about that right now. She had to get everyone out of here right now! "Everybody, we need to retreat! That isn't an ordinary waterbender! It's—"
Her words cut out, as a solid force struck her side and tossed her into the air. A dull pop erupted in her shoulder when she hit the ground, lifting a silent gasp of pain into her throat. With a heaving grunt, she forced herself upright. Her left arm hung limp at her side, burning with sharp lances of pain all the way down to her fingertips. Probably dislocated. Not good. Not good at all.
Any thoughts of pain vanished when she looked up to see another group of individuals standing before her. More of Sen's minions. Three more to be precise, these ones far more recognizable than the first. Her voice choked into her throat, rendered inaudible by sheer, stunned panic. Oh dear spirits, help them.
Bumi stumbled next to her with a look of confused horror stricken across his face, no doubt recognizing one of the figures well. "What? But that's… not possible. Can't be." Before he could say anything else, the man attacked with a swift airbending strike that sent Bumi rocketing through the window of a nearby building.
Kya stared at the same figure, her mouth agape. Impossible had definitely been the right way to describe it, and yet apparently nothing was beyond Sen's power. Struggling through the pain in her side, she sat upright and looked to the others. "Lin! We have to get out of here!"
"If we leave, everyone in this city is done for!" Lin shot back, as she staggered to her feet
"If we don't, then so are we!"
Lin stepped back and took a look around. Didn't take a tactical genius to realize how badly outmatched they were. Between Sen and his minions, they had little hope of putting up any kind of fight now. With a reluctant groan, she called, "Alright, everyone fall back! Get moving to—"
A sudden grunt cut out her words as a thudding force slammed her to her backside. When her eyes regained focus, she found the giant gejigeji poised over her, face-to-face.
"That's it, give me your essence," Sen said, as he opened his mouth wide. Within moments, a bright wisp of light floated out of her throat into the awaiting maw of the wicked spirit. He swallowed it, and licked his snake-like tongue around his lips in satisfaction. "Such a strong one, too."
"Lin!" Kya shrieked, an all-consuming horror searing across her face. She lunged to her feet with a cry of fury, and bent a watery drill towards the spirit. "You monster!"
Sen darted around the drill with incredible speed and pinned Kya to the ground. She didn't even have a chance to struggle before he did the same to her as he did to Lin, stealing her essence from her with a single breath. When he was done, she slumped motionless to the ground, her eyes wide in frozen terror.
"No…" Jinora buckled to her knees. She watched, helpless to do anything as Sen's minions rounded up the others. Eska, Desna, and Bumi fell with little resistance, wrapped in frozen bindings and dropped at the spirit's feet. He swiftly siphoned their essences from their bodies before finally turning his sights on her. Instinct told her to turn and run, and yet her body refused to comply. Fear gripped her in place. The power this spirit possessed—she could feel it, coursing through her like poison. It brought her heart to a thunderous patter, pounding against her chest like the merciless beating of a drum.
"Don't struggle, young airbender." Sen grinned at her, as he held her down and brought his face close to hers. "This won't hurt a bit."
The last thing Jinora remembered before a swift darkness took her was a massive explosion erupting against Sen's side. The impact threw her from his grasp into the snow, causing her head to carom hard against a solid patch of ice. Moments later, the world faded and slipped away.
"So, this is the great Spirit Library, huh?" Kuvira gazed up at the towering atrium as she stepped across the central bridge. Korra walked calmly beside her, while Katara trailed behind. The place was dark—darker than it should have been, even with few windows. Not a single one of the candles and torches lining the chamber were lit, shrouding the entire library in darkness.
"And Wan Shi Tong is somewhere in here," Korra muttered, with a sweeping glance through the shadows in search of the ancient spirit. "At least, he should be."
"Do you think he'll help us?" Kuvira asked.
Katara turned around to walk backwards, maintaining focus behind them in case anything tried to sneak up. "I met Wan Shi Tong once, a long time ago. He wasn't fond of humans then, and I imagine he's even less fond of them now. Under normal circumstances, I don't think there would be a chance of him helping us."
"Yeah, well these aren't normal circumstances," Korra insisted. "Either way, we have to try."
They continued their search throughout the library, moving from the central chamber to the numerous branching wings. Still, they found only shadows and dusty books. No sign of Wan Shi Tong or any of his knowledge seekers.
"It feels so empty," Kuvira muttered. "Where is he?"
"I don't know," Katara said. "Maybe he abandoned the library?"
Korra eased a disappointed grumble. "Let's hope not."
A shadow moved through the air, diving towards them. Katara noticed it moments before it swooped down with outstretched talons, and pushed the other two out of the way as the massive figure crashed into the floor where they'd been standing. "Look out!"
"Humans!" Torches along the walls erupted in response to the booming voice, bathing the library in a pale orange glow. A great black owl with a white face towered above them with his wings spread, pulled back in preparation to attack again. "In my library? Never again! You will all leave this place at once, or suffer the consequences!"
"Wan Shi Tong, please!" Korra ran forward, her hands raised in attempt to calm the situation. The owl lunged at her, but she threw herself around the side of a bookshelf, out of harm's way. "We need to talk to you!"
"Talk? I have no desire to talk with the likes of you!" Wan Shi Tong spun around and trained his sights on the next nearest person. With talons outstretched, he leaped forward. Kuvira fired out a pair metal cables to hook onto the top of one of the shelves and reeled herself out of the way. "The only thing talking with humans gets me is tricked and made a fool of. No more! Be gone, all of you!"
"We're not leaving until you listen to us!" Korra shifted back around the side of the bookshelf and glared at the towering spirit, meeting his predatory gaze.
"So arrogant, your kind." Wan Shi Tong's tone rumbled out with deep, unmistakable hatred. "You think you can wander in here and do whatever you please. No one comes to this library to show appreciation for knowledge anymore. You only want information to use against other humans. You wish to abuse this library, to abuse me. I won't have it!"
The great owl swooped forward once again, bent on ripping her apart with his talons. She didn't back down. Korra stood her ground and pulled the water out of the flask at her hip, hardening into a frozen shield at the moment before impact. Wan Shi Tong stumbled, as his claws scraped several inches deep into the ice.
Korra pulled the water back again and approached the spirit with an indignant glare. "Sen is free!"
Wan Shi Tong straightened upright and rotated his head upside down. He blinked at her, staring as though confused. After a long moment's pause, his head returned upright. "Explain yourself."
"Sen, the Spirit of a Thousand Faces? He's been freed from his prison and regained his full power."
Again, the owl blinked at her. His posture settled, losing its aggressiveness in favor of a more contemplative, almost understanding nature. "That is not a good thing."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Korra said, with an exasperated huff. "He's running rampant through the physical world right now, bent on destroying humanity."
"I see," the great owl muttered. "If that is true, then your world is surely doomed. How unfortunate."
"Great Wan Shi Tong, please." Korra took a few steps forward, gazing up at the looming spirit. "We've come for your help. Sen has already destroyed the Mother of Faces and Raava. We have no other way to stop him."
Wan Shi Tong blinked and leaned inward, extending his neck so his face could hover closer to Korra's. "He destroyed his mother, you say? And the Light Spirit?"
"Yes. We were there, we saw it happen."
"However did he manage that?"
"He used a spiritbender to weaken the Mother of Faces so he could steal her essence, and as for Raava, he…" Korra paused, averting her eyes for a brief moment as the memory came back to her. This wasn't the first time she and Raava had been separated from each other, but this time had been even harder to endure. The pain had been deeper, as if searing inside her very soul. "He ripped her out of me. I couldn't stop him."
"Out of you?" The owl's head tilted again, rotating sideways as he stared at her. "You are the Avatar, then?"
"Was the Avatar. Now, I'm… Well, there is no more Avatar." She heaved a deep sigh, and lifted her gaze back to the ancient spirit. "Wan Shi Tong, please, we've come for any information you can give us, any way we might stop this monster from ending our world."
"Hmm, I suppose your plight is understandable." The great owl brought his head back again and straightened himself. He stared at the former Avatar a long while, as if contemplating her request. Moments later, he let out a defiant scoff. "Regardless, I have no interest in helping humans. You brought Sen upon yourself. Now, you... how do you humans say it? Ah, yes. Reap what you sow."
Korra's eyes flared, as a numb jolt tore down her throat into her chest. "Wan Shi Tong, please! Sen will destroy everything in the material world! Humans, animals, the very fabric of everything we've built. He'll transform it into his own Spirit World!"
"How very unfortunate for you. As I've already said, I do not help humans. Now be gone. Leave this place and do not come back."
Korra fumbled for words. She opened her mouth to retort, to make another plea, but any semblance of coherent thought evaporated along with their final vestiges of hope. She managed only a hoarse squeak, before the owl turned around and began to march away.
"Oh, so that's it?" Katara ran forward and yelled at the spirit, her voice biting out in a distinctly scolding manner. "You're just going to run away?"
"I am not running anywhere," said Wan Shi Tong, glancing over his shoulder. "This conversation is over, and now I am going back about my business."
"I don't mean from us. I mean from Sen." Katara planted her hands on her hips and glared at the owl. "Are you scared of him, is that it? You don't want to get involved because you know he's too powerful?"
Wan Shi Tong turned around again and glared knives at the woman. "Little girl, I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things. I am scared of no one. Sen is in your world, attacking you humans. It is no business or any interest of mine."
Kuvira glanced back and forth between Katara and Wan Shi Tong, gradual understanding dawning across her face. She stepped forward and added, "What, you think he's going to stop there? Have you forgotten what he did before he came to the physical world tens of thousands of years ago?"
The owl's eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you getting at?"
"Before there were humans for him to prey on, he absorbed other spirits. Killed them, erased them from existence. Any spirit he came across. Do you remember that?" Kuvira look to Korra and offered a simple nod, channeling their tactic with nothing but that silent look.
"Of course I remember," Wan Shi Tong insisted, with a sharp bite to his tone. "I was there. He destroyed many spirits I knew."
Korra stepped closer. "Then you should know what's coming for you once he's finished with us. You really think he won't come back to the Spirit World? You think he won't go after other spirits again? He will tear through this world, destroying everything in his path. How long do you really think it'll be before he comes for you? If you think you can stop him on your own, then I guess you have nothing to worry about, but something tells me you know better. If we don't stop him now, no one will."
Wan Shi Tong stared at them a long while, once again mulling over their words. His eyes continued to narrow, until they appeared to almost close shut. Straightening himself to his full height, the great owl at last relented with a deep sigh. "Your logic is... sound. Very well, I will help you. Come with me. I may have the information you seek somewhere in the deepest recesses of this library."
Azula paused in front of the gnarled, upside-down tree that marked the entrance to Koh's domain. So many years since she'd last been here. In a way, her first visit had been both the beginning of a new life for her and the beginning of the end for everything else. Had she never come here, she never would have found Sen's essence, and she never would have taken it for herself, thereby ensuring his wrath. On the other hand, she never would have made it out of the Spirit World if not for Koh's help, and never would have grown or changed as a person. That meeting had been the sharpest of double-edged swords for her.
This time would be different. This time, it was all or nothing. She needed this spirit's help, or her world and everyone in it would end. Doubtful this meeting would go in her favor, but she had to try, didn't she? They were out of options. With a deep breath and a cold glare, she entered through the doorway and journeyed down the winding steps into the underground temple.
She wasted no time with caution or subtleties. They both knew he couldn't steal her face, since Sen had been the one who gave it to her in the first place. Instead, she marched into the center of the chamber and called aloud, "I know you're here, Koh! Come out. I need to speak with you."
Within moments, the centipede-like spirit skittered out of the shadows. He approached from the ceiling and made his way along the wall, allowing the top half of his body to hang down in open air so he could look at her, face-to-one-of-many-faces. The one he gazed upon her with now was his default face—pale white with deep blue markings around the eyes.
"Ahhh, if it isn't the Fire Princess, Azula," Koh said, with an almost amused lilt to his voice. "It has been a while. Come back to exchange pleasantries with the Face Stealer?"
"Hardly. I've come to request your assistance with something."
"Oh, you need my help? I should have guessed." Koh eased a sigh, switching his face to that of a young woman with long dark hair. "Visitors only come here when they need something. And what reason would I have to offer you my aid?"
"It's your brother," she explained. "Sen. He's been freed from his prison, and we've no way to stop him."
"Oh yes, I know this." Koh crawled farther down from the wall, lowering himself fully to the ground. "I sensed it from the moment his prison shattered. I'm afraid there is little that can be done about it, now that my mother and Raava have perished."
Azula faltered momentarily, raising her eyebrow. "You already know?"
"I know many things. I may not leave my domain, but I keep watch on both worlds. My presence is far-reaching."
"Then you know we're running out of time. Sen will obliterate the physical world, and when he's done with us he'll come here. Spirits and humans alike are all at risk of complete annihilation."
The Face Stealer bellowed a throaty chuckle. His face again changed, becoming that of an older man, wrinkled with a long gray beard. "Such a perilous thing, to face one's own destruction. No matter, I'm afraid I can't help you in this."
Azula's throat knotted, but she didn't let her desperation show. She let a firm countenance take over, aggressive and domineering. "This is your brother. You were charged with guarding his essence, but you decided to give it to me. It was your negligence that led to this!"
"My negligence?" Koh's face morphed again, this time to a young child's. The way it contorted with vile disdain was unnatural and chilling. "Tell me, Azula, how did Sen's essence come to leave you and find its way to his prison? Was that my doing? Or your own failures?"
"Don't you talk to me about failure! I know more about that than you ever will."
"Exactly my point. This is your fight, not mine." Koh's face returned to its default form. He turned away from her, legs clacking against stone as he crawled back along the wall. "Whatever happens, I cannot step in."
Azula took an aggressive step forward, blue flames igniting around her fists. "So you're just going to sit here while your brother destroys everything? What about when he comes here? What about when he comes for you?"
Koh uttered a quiet sigh. "My domain cannot be breached by the likes of Sen, no matter how powerful he becomes. This part of the Spirit World actively repels him. I cannot be touched here, not by him. So you see, I've no reason to risk myself for you humans."
Restraint evaporated. Azula's flames exploded, towering to the ceiling in her palms. If she couldn't convince this stupid spirit to help them, perhaps she could threaten him into it. Threats had always worked for her in the past. "You lousy, disgusting sowbug! If you don't help, I swear I'll—"
"You'll what? Threaten me? Attack me?" Koh twisted his body around so he could glare at her. "Come now, I know you're smarter than that. Is that really something you want to risk now, with my brother bearing down on your world? I believe you have far more important things to take care of, isn't that right?"
He was right, of course. If Koh's mind was made up, no amount of fire or lightning would force him into it. Even if she managed to kill him, she would only waste time—time they didn't have. With a defeated huff, she let the flames in her palms extinguish and turned towards the exit. "Fine then, but this isn't over. When we're done with Sen, I'll be back."
"I'm sure you will, Azula. In the meantime, enjoy the final moments of your world."
