The Highest Bidder

Chapter Two: With a Will

I once was told by a wise old man, who specialized in the Divination Arts, such as fortune-telling, tarot cards, palm-reading, astrology signs, and everything else that could be categorized into that sort of phenomenon. One of the few concepts that he believed was that the meaning of a name had an impact on the behavior and the nature of an infant; and from the moment that the umbilical cord was cut, the name would take effect into the skills of the child. One circumstance that he gave me, purely hypothetical, was that if a child was named Areli (courageous, virtuous, and beautiful) then the child would grow up to be a champion of the nation, hold true to her beliefs, and of course, be quite easy on the eyes.

When the old man deciphered my name, he instantly believed that I was a convict. And, to be quite honest, he wasn't too far from the truth.

Mura: Any variation leading to unbalanced situations; Mura exists when workflow is out of balance and workload is inconsistent and not incompliance with the standard.

My name is Mura Lynn, and I am charged with treason, espionage, and obstruction of justice; and I am also a suspect in several homicide cases. Because I cannot shortly explain why these charges should be pardoned, I was ordered by the court of law and the standard judicial branch to write down the events that took place from the very start of where my journey began. Incidentally, my journey starts with a young man who was sent on a fool's quest in search of an Avatar who had been missing for one-hundred years, the former Fire Lord Ozai's Prince Zuko—who, by the way, is now the Fire Lord over his beloved nation.

Although my late actions have helped Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko reclaim their rights as King and the balanced force of the four nations, my actions in the past have given the law and order some question of where my loyalties lie. This is understandable on my part because, honestly, I'm not sure where they lie either.

Let me clarify one thing before I begin my defense, and I want this absolutely understood:

I liked each person that I allied, and—quite ironically—I liked the people that I formally betrayed. Each Firebender that I assisted had the passion that I admired in a fighter; each Earthbender accompanied a firm stand that I always looked upon with similar awe. Each Waterbender that I met showed incorruptible love for their families and loved ones; and I admire Avatar Aang for his Airbending abilities and overall understanding of what it means to understand both sides of an argument.

The war that I participated in—on both sides—was a simple thing that I enjoyed, merely because it helped me get what I wanted out of life. Distractions make it very simple to take invaluable jewels from a safety box; and it lessens the heavy security for when I sprung a helpless man from jail, sparing him a death penalty that he was sentenced for a crime that he did not commit.

I am the sole underbelly of law and order. I am neither right, nor am I wrong. However, it is not I who judges the right and wrongs of this world; and even if I'm freed from my cell or if I am put to death for my so-called crimes, I know that I was a willing participant of the war, and I know that I made justice happen when it could not be demonstrated by higher beings than me.

So, if you can bear with me for a longer, detailed story—full of dialogue, explicit detail, and even a meaningful recollection of my thoughts and feelings—perhaps I can explain to the jury and to my peers why I did what I did.

The reason why I am the odd one out in these circumstances is because I am not a bender; by this, I define 'bender' by having the ability to control the elements, which of course are water, earth, fire and air. I am a telekinetic; I move objects—or people—with brain waves, and it can be helped by using my limbs or by a nod of the head. These actions correspond to my thoughts, and it makes it easier on my mind to devoid it of hard concentration.

By this line of story-telling, I want the audience to know that because I am a telekinetic, it was an often occurrence in my life that it frightened quite a few people, and I think it still does. It's a peculiar ability. I haven't met a single person who can do what I've done; and when I write this, I do not mean for it so sound boastful. Telekinesis, like bending, is not an easy ability to master. It takes practice.

So to let the audience understand that I am not a sorceress who isn't bound my limitation, I would like to take the opportunity to give a quick explanation of what I can do with my powers, though I won't go into full detail of why I would use them.

First of all, free will is a basic factor in telekinesis. Like a person who is bound to a conscience, my powers cannot be fully performed if I doubt that the target (or victim) is innocent and doesn't deserve a so-called punishment. For example, if someone ordered me to vandalize a man's family heirloom, I would personally be unable to do it because my thoughts react negatively upon my actions. Therefore, the act is ineffective.

Along with free will, concentration is a major factor in my performance. Easily said, it is quite difficult to levitate an entire ship if a man is trying to stab me in the heart with a knife. Anybody could see why I wouldn't be fully concerned about the sinking 'Titanic' if I was being assaulted by a crazy, homeless man.

So, with that, I can describe my so-called 'weaknesses'.

As assumed by outsiders, I have the ability to levitate objects in the air; by levitate, I define it as being able to make a pitcher of water hover in the air a few inches off the table; as opposed to hoisting a castle clear off its foundation and pitching it into the ocean.

I also have the ability of what is called 'telekinesis maneuver'. It's often associated with a flick of a finger or a simple head nod; it's more or less like when dice fall onto the table, I could nod my head to the side, and a face of the selected die would move accordingly. This example is outright cheating (and it's a way to make quick cash).

Telekinetic grip is an ability that can be used when a friend of mine is buried head deep in the sand, and I keep the tide from swallowing his face. Ah, and here's a little fact for the benders who are hearing (or reading) this story.

Benders quite easily hold fast to their elements: Earthbenders can bend sand; Waterbenders can bend snow or rain, and it goes on. I am a telekinetic, and my mind has to focus on every drop of water of that rain, or each grain of sand in the desert. It takes a lot of mind power to hold still an ocean, which is very difficult to do—I tried. In order to so-called 'bend' water or sand, I have to remain in full physical contact; this would mean that in order to stop the tide from drowning my friend, I'll be in the water with him. Stepping out of a bay would make me lose all control, thus drowning said companion.

I am capable of the well-known push and pull, which is like yanking a book off a shelf or sliding a cup across the table. I am also capable of the compression and destruction of an object: crushing a metal chair into a steel ball or exploding a table all together. Exploding a table, of course, would be concentrating on each molecule inside the frame and bursting the object in result.

The last thing that I can do is the sixth sense of a telekinetic, which is called Spatial Sense. This refers to the ability of what benders and non-benders recognize as telepathy, and younger generations will understand it as the act of mind-reading. Spatial Sense gives me the awareness of a body or bodies that are located around me, whether they're hiding or not. However, this ability deafens the sharp wit to know whether the body is a beast or if it is human. I can sense if someone is close by in a matter of only within a few feet of me. Ah and here's another thing: Spatial Sense gives me insight into a person's brain waves. Naturally, I can't actually understand thoughts (and I don't want to) because it's an invasion of privacy, and I personally don't practice it. However, Spatial Sense makes me a walking lie detector. There's a limitation to that too: if a person is especially strong-willed or perhaps too naïve or ignorant, I can't read their mind.

As many of you have probably heard, Azula was quite the liar; she was also very strong-minded and aggressive. Although she could lie to me, it would be very hard to detect it because her thoughts would be reading that her lie was actually the truth.

Those are just a few things that I am able to do, and with that, here come my limitations.

One of my weaknesses is that I can only move objects that I can see. By this line of reasoning, I can push open a door, or blow it up; but the odds of me being able to go inside the lock and turn the gears are highly unlikely. I can't see the inner mechanisms, so it's quite improbable that I will be able to move it at all.

Compression of an object, or destroying it all completely, requires mutilating the object in its original form. This takes more concentration in order to manipulate the molecules, and also, it's quite time-sensitive. To put it in a blunt example: it's a lot easier to throw a metal bar at a guard than to try to mold it into a silver bullet.

Telekinesis is mind-over-matter, so it is not surprising when I explain that a long period of using my powers without any break gives me a mind-numbing migraine afterwards. It's quite painful and requires medical attention. And I assure you that I would be irreparably useless in a time of need if something would happen during recovery. Honestly, would you want to fight the day with a throbbing pain in the back of your head?

I can move physical objects, but I've learned that I can't levitate, explode, destroy, or manipulate items that have magical properties. This includes benders. Talismans, amulets, magic jewels, crystal balls, wands, alchemy products, or books including sorcery tips are off the list.

Lastly, my mental stability impacts my powers. Depression and rage can undermine or overdo my intentions: I can either do too much to the point of destruction or do so less that I've absolutely useless in a paper ball fight. Oh, and one thing to note: mental instability, such as the state that Azula currently resides, can terminate my telekinesis infinitely. I think the last bit is a gift from the Gods, so that if I were to lose my mind, the world wouldn't suffer for my indiscretions.

Well, now that I've no doubt given the entire world every way on how to make me vulnerable, I shall start the start of my journey in Chapter Three.