Part 3 - Chaos
Claire stared up at the sky-piercing mountain range above, slowly and obliviously whistling, "During Aang's time in The Spirit World, he found Avatar Yangchen high above the clouds... but how am I gonna get up there?"
"Are you forgetting you're here physically, young Avatar?" Vaatu said from her pocket.
Her eyes awkwardly widened, "Uh... nope, definitely didn't forget!"
She marched toward the base of the mountain, placing her hand against it and inspecting the structure with a curious gaze, "I think Earth-bending's going to be my best ticket up."
"Ooh, what gave you that idea?"
"The earth mostly."
She took a firm stance before thrusting her arms back and forth to ascend the mountain, "Good thing I'm not blindfolded this time..."
She eventually reached the top and hopped off her slab of earth, watching it crumble as she gazed out to the starry sky and the clouds beneath her feet, taking a raspy breath at the sight of it.
"Be wary; the air is thin up here."
Claire silently scanned around as a spiritual form began to materialise before her and take the shape of Aang.
"It's good to see you're alive, Claire."
She softly smiled, "Feels good to be alive!"
"And I must say... interesting way to deal with the Corrupted Spirits," he smirked.
She lightly winced, "Even you heard that?"
He nodded and chuckled. "Me and Seven hundred and Fifty-Three of your past lives."
Claire calmly scanned around before turning back to him and suavely flexing her arms, "Well... may not have been the best method, but it worked! ...I'm here for your advice... what do I do about Talos?"
"I'm aware of what your friend has done. I can feel the... pain he's inflicting upon the World and your friends..."
Claire's eyes widened, and her muscles tensed, "... What's he doing?"
"He's already mercilessly killed three of Republic City's Governors and two of your elemental Masters... one being my own daughter. And right now... I can sense that my friends are doing battle with him."
She stammered and steeled her nerves, "What do I do about Talos? I know I have to get rid of Raava, but... but... how do I do it? I can't just kill my friend like that!" she bewilderingly snapped her fingers.
"There is a Lion-Turtle which roams the world still... you could search for him and request the gift of Energy-bending."
A lump grew in her throat, "Energy-bending... and take away his bending?"
"Yes, without his bending, Demon infested or not, Talos would, in theory, no longer be a threat."
"He takes pride in his abilities as a bender... a bit too much pride," she muttered and dismally gazed at Aang, "Taking those away would be a fate worse than death for him!"
"All life in the two worlds are sacred, Claire. Even as Avatars, we do not have the right to take away a person's life, despite the vile atrocities he's committed."
"...I can't take his bending away; there must be some other way I can do this."
He heavily sighed, "Even so, try to... stride for a peaceful resolution. If you're looking for your other past lives, Roku may still reside near the swamp region."
He faded away as the Young Avatar heavily sighed and descended partway down the mountain, spying the swamp Aang mentioned in the distance. She ventured through the Spirit World and took in its various sights until Vaatu shot out of her pocket.
"Did you not say that you'd restore balance even if it meant killing your friend?"
She grunted and shook her head, "I know what I said! But..." She ruffled her hair and snarled to herself, "It's not something I want to do if there's some other way, alright?"
"As you say, Young Avatar, but there is little doubt in my mind we will find one."
Vaatu fluttered back into her pocket as she sighed and made way for the swamp, a dank, mostly brown area with puddles of murky Water dotted around.
The Young Avatar dived in with reckless abandon, "Roku?"
Silence met her call, but as she explored, a pillar of Fire ejected from the ground, and Roku appeared before her.
"Avatar! It is good to see you yet live."
She put her fists to her hips, "Do, uh... all my past lives think I'm dead or something?"
"We all felt what happened to you, and for a time... we weren't sure whether or not your friend destroyed the cycle."
She briefly sighed, "Sorry to put you all through that... but I'm alive, so if you wouldn't mind spreading the word, that'd be helpful."
He nodded as his face turned stern, "I assume you're here about The False Avatar in the Mortal World?"
"Yeah... Aang says I should seek a peaceful resolution, but I'm not sure if I can... Talos and I have never resolved things peacefully, at least not of our own will."
He pondered for a moment, "What I'm about to say may not be what you want to hear, but you must be decisive!"
She raised a sceptical eyebrow, "Could you, uh... elaborate?"
"Talos has brought Chaos upon the Worlds, and he has tipped the balance. You must show him no quarter until you have restored everything to its natural state."
Her heart sank at the sound of his words, "... Even if it means killing him?"
"I empathise with your plight, Young Avatar. But you must ask yourself, What is more important? The life of one friend or the lives of a thousand innocents?"
He faded away into the flames which summoned him as Claire stumbled back, silently sitting down on a thick raised branch.
"Quite the predicament," Vaatu abruptly said.
She hummed and stared off into the distance, "No kidding... Where would Kyoshi be?"
"She may still reside within the forests not too far from here."
Claire stood up from her branch and strode out of the swamp towards a massive forest in the distance. After a brief journey, she arrived within the woodlands, scanning around the foliage and bamboo of various green hues until finally spying a golden crown-like object in the distance.
"Kyoshi!"
She raced over to the object. But upon further inspection, she realised it was just a flower, frowning as her shoulders slumped.
"You called?"
The Spooked Claire twisted around and flailed her arms at the Kyoshi stood before her, "For a seven-foot woman, you sure are sneaky."
"I rarely get visitors, especially physically," she stared into her emerald eyes with a steely glare, "You're here about the False Avatar, aren't you?"
She tilted her head with a perplexed stare and smirked, "What, am I that obvious?"
"It's written all over you."
She awkwardly averted her gaze, silently waiting for Kyoshi to reply.
"Talos is a merciless warrior; we can feel every battle he partakes in, revelling in the chaos, pain and joy that swirls through his body, coated with pride and malice..."
She raised a sceptical eyebrow, "How do you think I should deal with him?"
"He has defiled the worlds and now spits in the face of balance. You must end his reign before he can cause any more damage."
Claire briefly sighed as her shoulders slumped with her arms crossed once more, "So... kill him?"
"He is your friend; only execute him as a last resort. But as long as you restore balance and bring justice... do with him as you please," she replied before fading from view.
She lightly shrugged and gazed into the distance, "Well... one more Avatar left."
"Yes... Avatar Kuruk. As far as I know, he still hunts The Face Stealer."
"He's been hunting Koh for five hundred years!?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Come, we must venture to the Realm of the Face Stealer if we hope to find him."
She softly nodded and carved a path towards the realm.
"Say... What is Koh exactly?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well... recently I've run into Demons, Spirits pushed past the point of no return... but is Koh one?"
"Spirits are not pure good; we are all varying shades of grey. Tis only when one allows negative emotions to overtake them do they tread the path of demonhood. And Lesser spirits are easier to turn to the depths."
"Lesser Spirits?"
"In our hierarchy, there are Lesser Spirits, the ones who roam the world, they understand your language, but very few know how to speak it."
"Then there are Greater Spirits such as myself, who play a role in the ways of the worlds."
"And lastly, there are Spirits who were once mortal and have shed their mortal coil to take up the role as protectors, or guides. Such as that Iroh fellow."
"Wait, you know Iroh?"
"Oh yes, he ended up setting up his teahouse above Raava's old prison. And during my regular check-in, I found him dishing out tea to Spirits... it suffices to say, my curiosity got the better of me... I have never met a mortal who could craft a brew quite like he does."
Claire smirked as Vaatu wearily sighed, "But to answer your previous question, and although it sickens me to consider him one of my kin, yes, Koh is a spirit."
She shrugged and continued her march until she arrived before an ugly twisted tree stood across a bridge of separate stone platforms. A thick fog loomed beneath them whilst a giant wolf spirit sat in the distance.
The Young Avatar shivered all over, "This place gives me the creeps..."
Vaatu fluttered out of her pocket, "Well, it's not exactly a holiday resort now, is it? And you best abandon those 'creeps', for if we encounter the Face Stealer, any form of expression will allow him to steal your face."
Claire lightly winced, "I'll keep that in mind."
She marched through the Realm of the Face Stealer and hopped along the stone pillars, but as she did, the Young Avatar came across a man in Water Tribe Attire laid down atop one of the platforms, lightly gasping and leaping over to him.
"I believe this is Avatar Kuruk!" Vaatu said.
She knelt beside him, slowly grasping his shoulder and shaking his spiritual form, but she received no response. Claire's heart raced as she gently turned him onto his back, his head dangling before facing the sky and revealing a head void of a face. Claire screamed and leapt back, almost falling off the pillar and flailing her leg to get back on before pushing herself up with a blast of air, her breath hysterical and her heart pounding as she gazed upon the faceless Kuruk laid silently on the pillar.
"Vaatu... any suggestions?"
"We must take him back to solid ground. If we leave him here, he will undoubtedly fall into the fog, lost forever!"
She hesitantly nodded, slowly getting control of her breath and picking up the faceless Kuruk, then quickly hopping back to the mainland and placing him against a rock.
"He's not, uh... dead, is he?"
"He now treads the line between life and death... so in a sense, yes and no."
Claire turned her gaze to the twisted tree, then back to the faceless Kuruk, "Is there a way to get his face back?"
"I have a feeling your Spirit-Bending may work, but to do so... we will need to confront the Face Stealer himself."
She winced and shuddered at the idea, but nevertheless, she hopped across the stone pillars once more, eventually making it to the front of the Twisted Tree and taking a deep breath.
"Remember... Emotions are prohibited."
She anxiously nodded and marched into the Lair of the Face Stealer, descending a set of stairs while keeping her wits about her.
"Koh, I know you're in here."
Soft scuttling radiated around the chamber, making the Young Avatar freeze on the spot.
"Relax your muscles, Young Avatar."
She took a deep breath and descended deeper into the Lair, eventually finding herself in an expansive room, the looming darkness making it more claustrophobic than it was. Claire carefully observed her surroundings, but the longer she stood, the more something scurried around her. She pressed her foot on the ground, trying to sense the vibrations, but nothing came of it, and as she continued scanning around, a giant centipede with a white face appeared before her.
"Welcome!"
Claire's muscles tensed, but she relaxed and gazed at the Giant centipede's white face with an emotionless stare before taking a brief bow, "I take it, you are Koh?"
"Yes, how could you forget me?" He asked as he slithered around her.
Claire's nerves stood on end, but she remained still as a statue, "I have never met you, Koh."
"Don't tell me your memory is that foggy; we met in your previous life."
Koh's white face blinked and changed to a woman's face with flowing black hair and amber eyes.
"As you say. But I have come to request that you return the face of Avatar Kuruk."
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that," he nonchalantly replied as he gazed up to the ceiling of his Lair, "You see, I've coveted his face for such a long time now, I can't possibly give it up. But you could always consult my dear mother for a new one."
Claire remained emotionless on the outside but quaked in her boots on the inside, "I cannot go to this... Mother of Faces."
Koh changed to a face with a short beard, shoulder-length hair, and deep blue eyes, "Then your precious Kuruk will have to be forever faceless. And besides, it's better this way. Now he's together with his wife... forever."
The Young Avatar's muscles tensed as her breath got caught in her throat, "...Trapping them between a state of life and death... that's no way to live, just another way to die."
She pointed to The Sinister Spirit and scowled, "You will return the face of Avatar Kuruk!"
Vaatu quietly groaned, "You idiot..."
Her eyes widened as Koh chuckled, his face disappearing to reveal a black void, "I never dreamed I'd get to add two Avatar faces to my collection... Any final words?"
Koh's distorted voice echoed throughout the Lair as Claire hesitantly smirked and confidently pointed at his void face, "You think this is going to be my Grand Finale? My father trained me in the perfect technique for situations like this!"
"Oh, now this I have to hear!"
"Well, first, it starts with the legs!" she patted her thigh.
Koh's body tilted.
"And with a quick pump of the arms..."
She grinned, "I..."
She swiftly twisted around, "RUN FOR MY LIFE!"
Claire sprinted like the wind away from Koh and leapt out of his Lair, but the face stealer gave chase.
"You knew the rules, Avatar! Your face is mine!"
Koh's distorted roar shook the realm as he slithered along the stone pillars.
"Nope! Not in a million years!"
She hopped across the pillars and returned to the mainland, only for Koh to ambush her, appearing and lunging for her face; however, she ducked under him as he soared past. The Young Avatar quickly pushed herself out from under him with a blast of air, but he slithered back around, trying to catch her once more.
But Vaatu shot out of her pocket, taking on his true form and slamming a Claymore into the Face Stealer, "Enough!"
Koh slammed and tumbled to the ground as his white face returned and gazed upon Vaatu.
"Spirit of Order! And here I thought you were a slumbering slave to the First Avatar!"
"Taunt all you like Face Stealer; you will not have this Avatar's face!"
Koh wriggled his many legs, "You know my rules, Vaatu!"
"I know your rules, Face Stealer! But I will not allow you to defile the Avatars!"
He slanted and glared, "Fine, have it your way, Vaatu. I know how uppity you can be when you don't get it."
"And know this Face Stealer. If you dare take the face of an Avatar, be they past or present, I will seal you away for all eternity where no mortal or spirit will ever find you!"
Despite his threats, Koh merely chuckled, "I can tell you're bluffing."
But Vaatu marched up to him and glared into his eyes, just inches from his face, "Try me."
Koh stared in surprise and slowly turned away to slither back to his hollow.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Vaatu snapped his fingers.
Claire threw her hand out as an ethereal tendril ejected from her, wrapping around Koh and dragging him back.
"You dare!"
She pulled his face back around to them, forcing The Face Stealer to change his face to Kuruk's before bringing her other hand up and unleashing a second Tendril, attaching it to Kuruk's stolen face.
"No!" Koh roared through the muffling of the Spirit Tendril.
She ripped Kuruk's face from Koh and passed his spiritual energy to Vaatu.
"And now, for the other one!"
Claire strained against him as she forced Koh's face to change, becoming the face of Kuruk's wife, Ummi, then latching a third tendril onto her face and ripping it out. She brought the second essence to Vaatu's hands and finally released Koh from her grasp.
"Now begone, Face Stealer. And pray we never have to cross paths again."
"There will be a reckoning for this, Vaatu!" He breathlessly replied before slowly slithering back to his Twisted Tree.
Claire shakily gazed at the essences in Vaatu's palms while she breathlessly watched Koh slither away, "That felt... wrong."
"I'm sure Kuruk and Ummi felt the same way when he stole their faces."
Vaatu marched over to the Past Life, shortly followed by Claire while her gaze remained locked on the tree for a moment longer. They stood before the faceless Avatar as Vaatu merged the essence into his form.
His eyes fluttered open, groaning as he held his head.
"Rise, Avatar Kuruk!" Vaatu said.
He slowly stumbled up with Claire helping him, "Avatar... you sound a lot different from when we last met."
"Oh, that wasn't me. This is Vaatu."
Kuruk's eyes slowly darted between the two as The Heavenly Spirit handed him the spiritual essence of Ummi.
"Go find your wife... and finally reunite with her," Claire said.
An odd warmth coursed over Kuruk as he held the essence, a tear unconsciously streaking out of his eye, "You... got her back from Koh?"
"As well as you, yes. Now go."
Kuruk nodded and departed with the Spiritual essence.
"Weren't we supposed to ask him for help?" Vaatu asked as he watched him depart.
"He was in no state for interrogation, besides. There are more Avatar's we can consult, ones much older and wiser."
Claire brushed her clothes down as Vaatu took his spherical form and slinked back into her pocket. She swiftly marched away from the Realm of the Face Stealer until she found herself back in the forest where she met Kyoshi.
She approached a giant stone and perched herself atop it, picking her leg off the floor and resting her arms atop her knee before sighing and gazing into the distance.
Vaatu fluttered out of her pocket, "We should keep moving, Young Avatar. Talos may not wait long for us."
Despite his protestations, Claire remained silent.
"You're oddly quiet... is something wrong?"
She leaned back and pinched the bridge of her nose as she laid her arm across her stomach, "My past lives are telling me to kill my friend, and the worst part is... I'm starting to agree with them!"
"I'm afraid unless we find a way to separate them, it is the only way."
Her eyes flared, "Separation! That's it!"
"You say that like it'll be easy. But, unfortunately, one cannot simply remove a spirit that has merged with a human."
She shot up and hopped off the stone, "But with Spirit-bending, surely I could!?"
"Is it truly a folly you wish to pursue?"
"If it means getting Raava out of my friend and saving his life, then yes!"
Vaatu silently fluttered as a resounding sigh emitted from him, "Very well. But do you have any idea as to where we should begin?"
Claire nodded, "We need to find Avatar Shen-Chao. The original Spirit-Bender."
"What!? That vile miscreant?"
"Vile or not, he'll know the ins and outs of Spirit-bending like no other!"
A brief silence loomed over them as Vaatu fluttered back into her pocket, "Come then, Young Avatar."
She nodded and returned to the mountains where she met Aang and scaled up the earthy monuments once more, reaching the peak and curiously inspecting her surroundings, but loud, boisterous laughter erupted from the highest peak as if a malevolent Santa Claus stood atop it. Her eyebrow flinched as she surfed on the earth up to the top, finding a hefty man with air-bending master tattoos coursing over his body, a braided beard springing from his face and leather padded armour over maroon robes. Ethereal shackles bound his limbs, and he sat cross-legged, gazing into a spiritual projection showing the robeless Khana battle against Talos.
"Khana!"
His head jerked around, his dark silvery eyes peering at her as he slapped his hands together and dismissed the projection, "If I knew I'd be having visitors, I would've turned that off sooner..."
She gazed at him and the shackles while questions ran through her head, "Sorry for interrupting... could you tell me where I could find Avatar Shen-Chao?"
"You're looking right at him! I must ask what brings a woman of the Water... no earth..." his eyebrows raised, "What nation do you hail from? Your appearance is all over the place!"
"Water Tribe."
"Ah, seems your people got better looking over the years," Shen-Chao got comfortable as his chains rattled, "Now what brings a woman of the water tribe all the way into the Spirit World and up to my prison?"
Claire took a deep breath, "I'm the Avatar, and I need your help with Spirit-bending!"
His eyes flared with delight, "Oh! Ho! ho! ho! My technique survives into the modern-day, how eloquent!"
She disconcertingly stared at him as he slapped his palms together and rubbed them with glee.
"...Now that I think about it, why did you... create Spirit-bending?"
He placed his palms on his thighs, "To cut a long story short, the leaders of the nations in my time were incompetent, incorrigible, and overall pathetic. So I devised a way to topple their rule, that being to raise an army of spirits and set out to conquer the World!"
Claire's eyes slanted in disbelieve.
"And would you believe it? I succeeded! I ruled the Four Nations in their entirety until my Death."
"Why would you do that? The Avatar is supposed to bring balance, not conquer!"
"But my dear, what better way to bring balance than to have the Avatar themself rule over all!?"
She silently gazed to the ground as Shen-Chao sighed, "I had planned to guide my successor to the throne of the World, but my pesky predecessors banished me from the Avatar Cycle and imprisoned me here."
"It took five generations of Avatars to revert what I did, and look at the World now! Thrown into Chaos!"
Claire shook her head, "I came here for your help with that, actually."
His eyebrows perked up, "Oh do go on, this I must hear!"
"Talos, my... friend, has taken a Spirit, a demon, into himself... and I need to find a way to separate them so I can save him."
"Separating man from spirit, truly an audacious task... and one you might be able to achieve. But I doubt this Demon will make itself vulnerable again."
Her interest and eyebrows rose.
"You seem remarkably uninformed for someone so adamantly willing to go ahead with such a plan, so I suppose I must explain. When a Spirit and human merge, their souls mix together to form something entirely new. But should one mix with a demon, their soul will become a corrupt amplification of their old self, and the Demon becomes a puppet master to them. The human believes they have free will, a grand illusion. But there is the rare case where a fragment of the soul diverges from the corruption, creating two souls in one body."
Claire nodded and mulled over his explanation, "So there could be a piece of the old Talos still in him?"
"Oh yes, there is! Just earlier during one of his marvellous battles, a green-robed warrior bashed his head in and seemed to bring back his old self for a brief moment."
She excitedly gasped and smiled, "then please, Avatar Shen-Chao! Please, teach me the technique to save him."
He wryly smiled and chuckled as a daunting fear grew in Claire.
"Oh... I don't know. You'd have to do something for me first."
She hesitantly clenched her fists, "I'm listening..."
"Free me from these chains, allow me to re-join the cycle, and all my knowledge will be available to you!"
She stammered and weighed up the choice, "...What would you do if I did?"
"Who knows, Young Avatar... I've been locked up here for so, so long, I wouldn't know where to begin!"
She gazed at his callous face as she shook her head, "... No, no... I can't... risk the worlds falling into the hands of one person again. Too many people have tried that already."
He scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Oh, very well. Tis your loss. Go on, kill your friend! And I will gleefully watch every blood-soaked minute of it."
She scowled and leapt from the mountain, descending with jets of Fire as a silence loomed over her. She dropped and fell close to the ground before gently easing herself up and landing safely.
"Are you ready to return, Avatar?"
Claire's teeth gritted as her heart sank, "How... can I-"
She stumbled forward and took a sharp breath.
"Is... everything alright?"
She roared and spun around, punching the mountain and shaking the earth with each strike, "Kill my friend! Kill my damn friend! That's what everyone's telling me to do, and the moment I find a way to avert that, I'd have to risk letting a man more insane than Aislinn free!"
She pounded her fists against the mountain, shaking and quaking it until her knuckles turned red, "Why did I have to be the Avatar!? Why couldn't it have been Talos!? Or screw it, someone of the Southern Tribe or even the Foggy Swamp Tribe!"
"I never wanted this! I never wanted any of this! Talos was always the one dreaming of the day he'd be Avatar, not me! Why did it have to be me!? Why did I have to get all this shelved on me!?"
She slammed her bloodied fist into the stone a final time, "WHY!?"
Her voice boomed throughout the terrain as she slumped to her knees, wallowing in her despair as the earth rumbled and Vaatu's white spark departed, "damn it, I never wanted this... I never wanted this."
She rested her head on her arm as an odd chill spurned around her. She perked her head up and spun around to find a black-robed figure looming over her, its wispy black hands cupped to its abdomen and its head concealed from view. The figure silently hovered before her as she gazed into the void of its hood and her hairs stood on end.
"What... are you?"
"I go by many names and many forms; I have existed since the beginning of time, I have no end, but end all that begins. I am Death."
Claire gulped at its soothingly sinister voice as she shakily stood before it with her arms slightly raised and her eyes affixed on the looming black figure.
"Have you..."
"You believe your existence as the Avatar was a mistake? I am here to make you a deal."
Its hands gestured in a proposing manner as Claire took a shaky breath, "Vaatu, should I trust 'em...?"
But she received no answer as the chilling air cloaked her, and sweat broke on her brow.
"I rarely do this for the living, but I am here to offer you... a second chance."
Her eyebrows raised as she stood up straight and focused on the abyssal hood, "A... second chance at what?"
"A second chance at life... a life where you are not the Avatar."
It held out its wispy black hand to her as she weighed up his offer, a memory of her father creeping into her mind.
"This is a wee special technique that you should only use when faced with something you cannae beat."
"What is it?"
"Running Away!"
"That's not a technique!"
"Well, it's working, isn't it!?"
Claire nostalgically stared at her hand and faintly smiled at the memories before slowly reaching for Death's hand, "I'm... not cut out for this Avatar business... I couldn't even defeat Aislinn, so what chance do I really have against Talos and Raava..."
She reached out for its hand as she took a final shaking breath, "I'm sorry, everyone... but this... this is for the best. I know that now..."
Their palms touched, and the black wisps coursed up Claire's body, her nerves going numb and her breath choking her as every memory of her journey faded and shattered.
The memories of her time at the White Lotus compound reduced to nothing.
The recollections of everything she and her friends did, turned to ash.
Every echo of her life left as her eyes glazed over and she fell to the ground, her heart slowing to a stop.