Episode I: The Road to El Dorado

Part 2: The Lost Epiphany

As you might expect, retelling Korra's conversation with me to Alexandria, Chevalier, and Armsmaster wasn't exactly comfortable. I added details I hadn't mentioned to Armsmaster the first time too, so now they were on par with what Korra had told me, which wasn't a lot in the first place.

I'm a reincarnated soul capable of 'bending' the four elements with immense power, enough to stand up to Leviathan. I didn't, however, mention the fact that Korra believed I was responsible for the world. When that part of the story came, I couldn't help but omit it. I could lie to myself, to say that these heroes wouldn't believe it and so it didn't matter telling them. Truth was, and I was sure of it, I was afraid of them believing it. Would I be forced? Coerced? Or maybe they would help me, maybe they would do their best to give me all required tools…

The fear of assuming that duty, of facing that task, made me shiver.

In a nutshell, the Avatar was a figure whose responsibility was of protecting civilization while powered with the ability to manipulate the four elements. And Apparently, his or her power (now mine) came from a mysterious source other than a tumor in the brain. Korra referred to it as 'spiritual energy'—maybe, since we hadn't really had a very detailed talk.

"So, instead of a tumor in your brain, you're telling me your 'soul' carries your power?" Armsmaster inquired with a healthy amount of skepticism. "I mean, is that what she means by spiritual energy?"

Armsmaster wasn't the only one in disbelief at my story. Chevalier seemed outright exasperated too, and I didn't need for him to take off his helmet to see that. "Wait, wait, wait. Let's roll back to the iceberg. What you are saying is that Leviathan should stay inside the iceberg for two months?" Chevalier asked with a hand over the desk.

"Korra believed so." I told him. "But it seems Nilbog disagrees."

"Precisely, and who are we to believe?" Cheavlier continued, a hand on the chin of his mask. "Two different opinions from the most unlikely sources."

Alexandria looked to the side, in the direction of the one-way mirror. I think she was about to say something when Armsmaster interjected.

"He has to meet him." The tinker spoke, and I sensed some weariness.

Alexandria looked back at him and I felt she was shooting him a look. Difficult to read the mood when everyone around you was using damn masks, but it wasn't impossible.

Armsmaster tangled his hands together almost in a pleading gesture, "We have no choice."

I just stayed quiet as the official capes in the room had their silent conversation/debate. They couldn't even see each other's eyes, so I was quite surprised they could carry on this 'intimate' level of communication. It was clear this had not only been discussed previously, but it had failed to provide a conclusion.

Alexandria sighed and looked at me, "Give me a moment." And left the room.

A couple of seconds passed before any of us made a sound again.

"So, does she mean you won?" I asked the Armsmaster, but he declined to answer. Instead, Chevalier placed his elbows on the desk and leaned forward.

"Still an atheist?" he wondered.

I shrugged, "I'm more of a 'proof first' kind of guy. Haven't met this Raava yet, so…"

Chevalier hummed as he nodded.

The following moments of silence were somewhat painful as memories of my family resurfaced, but I didn't let it go out of control. I would never see them again. I would wake up again in a lazy Sunday to see my parents having breakfast on the kitchen, or my sister watching TV on our living room while she eats her god damn tasteless cereals. Never to hug my dad, or kiss my mom good bye before leaving home. Never again to receive a crushing hug from my sister after school. Those cruel facts, now a reality, started being engraved in my mind.

I placed a hand over my face and forced myself to talk, to distract myself.

"How do you know my family is dead?" My voiced sounded hoarser than minutes ago. I suppose that is only to be expected. This subject must take a toll on me, but maybe if I talk about, I can somewhat make it more ordinary, less difficult to approach.

It was Armsmaster who answered me. It seemed like he had practice delivering the cold facts to those who were looking for them. "Cameras got your parents entering a shelter that sank completely. Your sister disappeared shortly after Skitter contacted her. Help was on the way, and was there minutes after, but she was no where to be seen. Descriptions of a girl like her was given by some witnesses, that she was running towards your general direction. It's probable that Leviathan's large scale attacks may have gotten her in some way, since no traces of her have been found."

I was running my fingers through my head, pulling them as I heard Armsmaster tell me of how my sister might have gotten herself killed. Of course, there was another possibility. I asked the million-dollar question. It was for me. "Is it possible I killed her? My fight with Leviathan wasn't exactly contained, by either party."

Armsmaster didn't answer immediately. "We might never know."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, but I knew this wasn't over. This question would haunt me forever. My parents, it was understandable. I had no way of knowing which shelter they were in, so I didn't even dare to ask whether there was the possibility I am too responsible for their fates. But my sister's destiny… the probable answer was eating me already.

Alexandria returned, opening the door slightly and popping her head in. "James, follow me."

When I left the interrogation room, I took notice of the kind of eyes I had on me through that one-way mirror. There were at least 8 individuals well dressed up, black tie and everything, as well as around 4 or 5 military officials, but all probably from different branches by the slightly different colors of their uniforms. I couldn't really catch any more details as Alexandria turned opposite to them, and I did my best to remain behind her. As I heard Chevalier and Armsmaster's voices distant, I realized they had stayed behind.

Our destination was a large black box inside an underground hangar, but not just any hangar. It seemed it was currently being used by the military. Inside this gigantic room, thousands of soldiers were performing their duties. Trucks were leaving and entering through the tunnels, cargo coming and being taken away. Men yelled orders left and right, and Alexandria made sure to keep me close to her so we could get through the masses of soldiers. She grabbed my hand, with a grip I wouldn't be able to free myself any time soon, and kept a steady pace for me to follow.

This black box was around 9-10ish inches, and whether its height, its length should be the same. Its colors, however, weren't so simple to determine. I'm sorry, did I say black? I meant blue—no, dark blue. Isn't that called navy blue? Wait, what am I talking about? It's clearly green-yellowish?

I felt my legs give to a strange weight, and Alexandria grabbed me under the shoulder. "James, what is it?" She asked, and I sensed worry.

"What you mean, aren't you feeling it? Just me?" I had my hand over my forehead and I felt it warm. The feeling of sickness definitely increased when I gazed again at the mysterious container in front of me.

I heard some commotion behind me, but I was too distracted initially to pay attention. That was when suddenly a new pair of hands found their way to my cheeks, and my eyes found Panacea. From where the fuck did she come from?

"So, what's wrong?" The voice was male… Armsmaster?

"It's what we discussed, again!" Panacea was distressed, but fortunately, I started feeling better.

"Gentlemen, ladies, what's the problem?" who was this?

"S-s-s-sir! I'm not sure!"

"Sir, it is not safe for you to be this close—"

"Most things in life aren't really safe, Chevalier. The boy and the creature have been cleared from any biohazard danger. Is he ready or not to board the IC?"

I turned to see who we were talking too. My eyes, who had lost their focus, were returning to me, and I finally managed to make out the military man in a uniform. He was in his forties, fifties maybe. Difficult to say. He was in good shape despite the greying hair, and he was also quite tall.

"I apologize, you are?" I said, extending my hand.

He shook it. "General Hammock, boy. I take it you are James Flores?"

I nodded.

"Good, let me explain what happens now. Now, we are in a bit of time crunch, so sorry for hurrying you if it feels like. Because we are." I nodded, and the General didn't skip a beat as he pointed towards the containers. "The IC is divided in two rooms. Supposedly, it blocks all parahuman powers while allowing our teams to measure every god damn useful observable. This unit allows two parahumans to be observed, but guess what, Nilbog's monsters claims he can communicate with you anyway. Plan is to get you inside, while the creature is on the other side, and observe every single particle while supposedly, he shows you proof that Nilbog can teach about how to terminate Leviathan, permanently. Did I lose you anywhere?"

"No, sir." I assured him, and the man raised his hand, striking his palm on my back and he got closer to me.

"How you feeling, boy?"

"I'm okay, sir."

"So, what was that just now?" He asked me immediately. "You almost fainted right there in front of our eyes, and you seemed perfectly fine inside the interrogation room."

I breathed in. "It's just a lot to take in. I'm good to go inside, sir."

"Are you really?" He wondered, arms crossed. "You seem a bit green."

"I just don't go out very much into the sunlight… sir."

Whatever I had just felt, it had been extremely worrying, but I didn't want them to know what I thought. I knew, somehow I knew by a strange instinct, that the sudden sickness had been cause by whatever Nilbog sent, that awaited me inside this large container. But that mattered no longer, because in these brief minutes between the interrogation room and the walk to the hangar, I had made up my mind I could very well be my sister's killer. It had actually sank, a weight against my heart.

In parallel, thought of killing Leviathan was extremely appealing. Of course, for he could be as responsible as I was. If Nilbog could teach me how to kill Leviathan permanently… well, could he? I wanted to find out.

So, just put me inside the goddamn 'IC', whatever that is supposed to mean.

"I'm ready to go, sir!" I exclaimed again, nodding at the same time for emphasis.

Panacea placed a hand on my neck and she gave Armsmaster, Alexandria, and the general a nod. "He seems fine, for now."

General Hammock's words echoed. "Let him in."

The door to the container depressurized with a loud and prolonged whistle, finally opening with me at its doorsteps. I didn't look back before entering.

Inside, I found a large room with an extremely dim light. It was probably colored in white, but the purplish led painted it pink. Once I reached the center, the outside door closed, and afterwards, two more layers came out of the wall, sealing me completely from the outside world.

"James, do you hear us?" the voice I heard was slightly distorted by the digital medium, but the words were clear enough.

"Yeah, I hear." I confirmed.

"Ready to start?"

I nodded.

From one of the wall, the wall broke in half, opening up in a large window. I didn't need to get close to know the glass was thick. By looking at the borders of the window, it seemed like it had at least 6 inches. Probably wasn't normal glass too, but I didn't waste more time thinking about the window.

There was a creature on the other side, in a room much like mine. It had its legs crossed, and I realized they looked amphibious. Taking into account the rest of the body, which was barely covered by rags, Nilbog's envoy seemed to be a humanoid frog, but with its mouth crooked instead of straight, ending slightly lower than when it began.

The thing croaked.

Take a sit.

"Why?"

It croaked again.

To show you.

I looked around, that strange voice ringing inside my head without coming from any direction. I felt like I didn't need my ears to hear it.

"James, did you speak with it?"

"You didn't hear it? I asked, my eyes still on the thing. It had large irises, but they didn't seem to be looking at me, or anything at all. It's like the creature is staring at opposite directions, eyes unfocused.

"We heard it croak. What did you hear?"

My heart started beating faster, and louder. I took a sit on the cold floor, crossing my legs just like the frog.

"James?" I heard the speaker again.

The frog closed its eyes and placed its arms over its knees. I did the same.

I heard two croaks.

Your heart, calm it. Calm it so you can see.

The speaker went on again, but I was too distracted to register its words.

My heart slowed down, but it kept itself loud. I could hear each beat, each thud against my ribcage which shook in response.

And then I felt myself reaching the beyond. A sensation unequal to all others. As my body lost all its physicality, the concrete world melted away from my surroundings. A pallet of colors invaded and washed away my thoughts, and from my very own skull, my attention was kidnapped to a new world, a different age. As a newborn turtle that leaves the beach and joins the ocean for the first time, I knew I was gazing into my future, and such future was also a mirror of my past.

Four nations share a globe. They've been guided for thousands of years by an entity beyond comprehension in order to coexist permanently. From the memories of Wan, the first of us, I travelled and witnessed my past lives. So many names, so many individuals, so many experiences, so many stories. I couldn't comprehend most of it immediately, and I didn't dare to say that one day everything would make sense. To watch a collection of lives in such a cruel and invasive way gave neither the right to see, nor the right to understand, and I didn't fight it. I let it go, let it reach the end of roll, passing by the latest of my kind, but this I could not ignore as well as the others.

Roku, an Avatar whose mercy and friendship was abused, and his indecisiveness to act led the world through a world war.

Aang, an Avatar whose existence became as much as a curse as it was a miracle. When young, saved the world, but as he got old, his conservative and traditional views blinded him from the problems that were to be.

Finally, Korra, whose life and duty was dedicated to a new world order, where the Avatar was impotent and at the mercy of a rising industrial society, which was both increasingly individualist and nationalist. All the while keeping the material and spiritual worlds in balance, against the worst odds if necessary.

Well, it wasn't over yet. It actually ended with memories of my life—of my last 18 years: My mother taking care of me and of my sister as a single parent. My father teaching me how to ride a bike when I was four in the streets of Mexico. Of my uncle, arriving home with his shirt red of spilled blood and voice full of terror. The first day my sister went to school with me. My mother's second marriage. My stepfather helping me with my exams. Of myself working as in my first internship. Leviathan, and seeing my sister for the last time.

Somehow, in this space between spaces, I saw myself standing as if the air was enough to support my weight, and right besides me was Korra. She had tears in her eyes, just like me, albeit for different reasons.

Her hands were cupped over her mouth, and she muttered between them quiet, timid hiccups, "I thought—I thought I had lost it."

And then everything turned dark. I realized we had returned to the special containment room, Korra standing right besides me while I was sitting on the floor, my legs crossed.

A croak.

Do you see?

I looked at Korra, and though her eyes were wet, full of emotion, they were still indecipherable.

"Ok." I breathed out, my voice shaken but under control, "I'm coming, Nilbog."

"Nilbog allows two escorts. Obviously, they will have to agree, but for now, who are you thinking of?"

I sighed. "I suppose the risk is to high for me to take Alexandria."

I received a nod, "If anything goes awry, it would be indeed too much to lose her."

I acquiesced. No one wanted to risk a member of the triumvirate in a suicide mission. It made sense, and it was no problem. I had another candidate. "Armsmaster. He's fought the guy before." I couldn't read his face, and at his silence, I continued, "And Skitter. Definitely Skitter."

A/N: I understand this small chapter isn't exactly tasty, but I didn't want you guys to wait anymore for something I had already written. At least you get a sneak peak at what's coming. Next chapter comes in the next three weeks. Thanks for the reviews.