-The Apple—

"Korra?" Tomkin repeated.

"Yes?"

"What are you thinking about after…?"

"I think…" Korra's voice trailed off. She sat silently. "I think Aang had it easy…"

"We aren't facing an imperialistic nation, a tyrannical king or an unethical scientist. This is serious business. We are going up against our own creators. The ones who gave us life, who gave us their abilities, and who are now going to just take it away as if we mean nothing to them."

"What was the point of it all, Tomkin? Why did they feel we needed these powers of theirs at all? Each time they created a race, they gave select few of us these superhuman abilities. Why?"

"I do not know, Korra. Perhaps to help us survive, like it is believed. Perhaps they wanted us to advance faster…or perhaps they wanted us to remember that the Spirits are responsible for our existence. That they are in control, are to be feared. That they are the ones who decide if we shall prosper and survive, or die off without a second thought because we did not fulfill their expectations. We were not the perfect race that they wanted."

"And why?" Korra asked suddenly, "What race do they want? What race is perfect? How can they expect a world without violence, without conflict? These are bad things, sure, but they will always exist. You can't drive them out. In a way, they allow us to move forward, right? These things empower those who embrace love and kindness. Who fight for peace. It makes us stronger as we will always try to eradicate evil. I agree it is bad, but they are unrealistic in asking for nothing but eternal peace. Especially when humans have possession of bending…There are those among us who will fail. There are those who will deviate into the darkness. The innocent people in this world who embrace love should not have to suffer for those who turn to darkness." Korra was on the verge of tears. So many thoughts spun through her head. The Avatar's role to bring peace. Bending-the weapons of the mystical endowed on physical humans… Korra was dizzy and almost lost her balance. Why hadn't anyone known about this sooner? How would they? How would anyone in this world know about the ones that existed before them?

"Korra, I brought you to this place for very specific reasons. You needed to recover, and I was the one who would help revive you after Solomon's beating. I hoped that this would allow you to see what is truly important to you. To see that it is even possible that the things that cause the most harm can also be the one that heals. The Clasma, for example. The Clasma has degraded Republic City and angered the Spirits, but it has also saved you. So a balance exists, between these things, such that on one end they destroy, on the other they bring life. The Spirits are no different, as are the humans. But do either deserve to die? Do they deserve to live? I hope you had thought about these things, and during your recovery, you would discover the things that you believe are worth fighting for. The other reason…the same reason I trained you. I believe you can stop this cycle for good. I believe you can save the human race from destruction at the hands of the Spirits. I believe you can subdue Daya."

"And how would I do that!?" Korra yelled. She was crying now.

"Draining. It is more powerful than you might think it to be. You can suppress chi within humans, but it does not have to stop there. You are a god incarnated. You were made directly by their hands, and only you can be the one to stop them. You are one of them. You can use that power against the Spirits themselves. You can suppress the cosmic energy possessed by the Spirits. You can suppress her. You are the only hope this world has left."

The only hope left…

Daya

"I can't be all that is left…it is always…me."

It was always the Avatar. The Avatar solving the problems. Everyone turned to the Avatar when the world was in danger. She was expected to be its remedy. She was the ambassador of the all-powerful Spirit world. Like a parent to the children human race. It is how it has always been. For generations. But somehow, Korra still didn't want to believe it. Somehow, she felt that the world was forgetting the Avatar. That they were tired of turning to one person when the world was thrown off-balance.

But what could the humans do against the Spirits? Why was that their responsibility? Is that a fair fight? Do the humans have the power that a god have?

Does a god have the power the humans have?

It is not power that defines us, but rather the road we choose to take to obtain it. Did the Spirits follow this same road, or were they just born with this power?

But even greater than these questions was the question of rather the human race was even worth saving. Of course, Korra knew this was preposterous. She had convinced herself that it was worth it, but if she was able to stop all this, would people like Graft and Qu remain in power? Would the world be a subject to human tyranny? Would they even learn from the Spirit World's anger? They never seemed to learn from Amon's war…

At least humans can rise against other humans…but what about Spirits?

Korra couldn't get her thoughts straight. Nothing had a right answer. She was lost in the unknown, but Tomkin did his best to guide her. To help her clarify her decision.

"Korra, it was never my intention to make you do anything. The choice is up to you. There are…consequences to the things I am telling you. The things that you must do to save humanity. Consequences that I would never force you to accept. I am here to give you the facts, the encouragement, but in the end, the decision is yours to make. I am unlike the Spirits in that I believe in the freedom of humanity, that no superhuman entity should have any control over us. That is why I choose to ignore my bending. It is something that I do not need. It gives me superhuman abilities…but in the end, I am still a human. That is what I choose. Humans should never have to face a god. Gods live in infinite energy, infinite power. We live in a finite space, but in that world, we thrive, we work, and we gain power, and that separates us, makes us a different race from the Spirits, a different entity that does not belong in the same society. With that, I can do no more for you than tell you how to leave this place."

Tomkin walked to the edge of the platform.

"There are two ways out." He pointed out to a path across the sea made by the ruins of the building they had been inhabiting. "To the physical world." He then pointed down into the sea. "To your death. You can choose to return, or go as far from possible from this conflict. In that case, a new species would be born, and the cycle will continue."

Tomkin walked through Korra. A ghost. Korra felt the cold air as he passed by.

"Goodbye, Korra." He disappeared.

Korra sat on the steps leading into the sea. She could not see her reflection. She saw darkness below her. It scared her.

Consequences…

"Yes." A voice. Korra looked up and saw Shoogar and Raiken sitting on a rock, their faces veiled.

"Oh, hi," she said. The boys hopped across the rocks. Raiken was much taller than Shoogar. He was very lanky and made his way across a little more lazily than the playful hopping exemplified by the shorter, more child-like Shoogar.

"Hi. We never actually met." He hopped to the rock in front of her. "Shoogar, from the first world. And this is Raiken, from the second. He doesn't talk very much, and ignore the blindfold. His race didn't use their eyes. Oh, those swords you use weren't designed very well. I'll make sure you have a new one when you return to Earth, if you choose to do so. And maybe a new hood, too."

"Thank you," she said. "I don't know what to do, yet. I want to save the human race, I want to go after Daya…but Tomkin told me there were consequences. Why wouldn't I go after the force trying to destroy the world? Why wouldn't I want to save the friends that I love? Why wouldn't I want to end this eternal cycle of destruction and free the human race?"

"Because doing so would mean you would have to suppress Daya," said a voice behind Korra. She rose and turned to see someone she initially thought was Tenzin. She was surprised. She knew Tenzin was not the one who was supposed to be here. He wore orange and yellow robes. He had a beard. He had the bald head with the arrow tattoo. But his voice was not as deep as Tenzin's. It sounded younger.

"Aang…"

"He is right," Shoogar said. "You would have to end the Spirit responsible for the flow of cosmic energy from the Spirits to the benders."

"So why does that matter?" Korra asked.

"If you stop Daya," Aang said, "You will halt the entire world's ability to bend. Forever."

"Daya controls it," Shoogar said. "Rendering her powerless would disconnect humanity from the Spirit World's power."

Korra hadn't equated the two things. Daya had assumed control over all the streams of chi that flowed from people to the Spirits which allowed them to bend. What would the world be like without bending? Would they survive? Would they die anyway? Again, would it even be worth it…would there even be…this tyranny?

"Korra," Aang said, "this is madness. Fighting Daya is not the answer. Not only would you be ending the power to bend, which defines culture and our way of life, but you would be taking the life of a Spirit, one who created this world and gave every last bit of her energy to make sure the human race survived. You don't know what you would be doing. Think about how wrong it would be for the human to slay their suffering creator just so they could live. It would not bring the balance that we need. It is not the answer."

"It is the only answer," Shoogar countered. "You can't stop her any other way. You can't kill CHAOS. The only way to stop her is draining her."

"There is nothing else I can do? Nothing at all?" Korra pleaded.

"Draining a Spirit is essentially killing it. Killing a Spirit and ending the power over the elements. There would be eternal conflict between the Spirit World and the physical one. Even if you end bending, we still return to the Spirit World. We are still connected. The strife will always exist. There has to be another way," Aang stated. Korra couldn't tell if Aang was preaching this because of his nonviolent ways, or because he did not wish to see the end of bending. Seeing such power lost in humanity would not be easy for anyone…not even the previous Avatar.

"There is none," Raiken finally spoke. He and Shoogar were getting frustrated with Aang's stubbornness.

Korra sat in the middle. One had been her former life, the other two had directly become a puppet of Daya at one point and carried out, inadvertently, the operation that Solomon was now facilitating. She believed Shoogar, but she wanted to believe Aang. She knew he was wrong in saying there was another way, but she still wanted to believe that one existed. She didn't know what destroying bending would mean.

"You have my thoughts on this, Korra. It is up to you to choose the future of humanity." This was Aang's last words. They would stick with Korra. She would continue to be burdened by it, to ask herself what that future would be, and to find any rationale behind destroying bending. Why was she the future for a whole race? Why did it have to rest in her hands? Will it always be this way?

Korra didn't want to be here anymore. She had heard enough. This decision was irrelevant at the moment. Korra knew she had to return. Whether she would have to stop Daya or not, Republic City beckoned her. She had made a promise to her friends, to Asami, that she would return. She would do this no matter what. She would save her.

"I need to go. I must go now."

She looked up. Shoogar was standing at the entrance of the path back to the physical world. Raiken had his hand on Shoogar's shoulder. They looked sad. They were standing in Korra's way. There was still something Korra did not know. The reason that this mission was left up to her to choose. Korra walked toward them, but she already knew what they were thinking. The realization suddenly struck her.

Raiken turned to Korra. He didn't speak. He slowly walked past Korra and into nothingness. Shoogar turned to face her, "Korra," he said. He looked her in the eyes and Korra returned the stare. His eyes were golden.

They spoke to her, and she fully understood the much darker consequence that would come about if Korra were to subdue Daya.

He shed a tear, and Korra smiled.

"You know, then?" he said, slowly. "Daya used all of her energy. She used it all to give you your powers, to transfer the power of the cosmic energy that flows through her to you. But we, the Spirits of the Dead, the Spirits from the past worlds that she destroyed, our energy is under her control as well. She needed to create a human, and she used us. Our Souls. She uses all of her being to hold the bonds of our souls together in a single incarnated being. The prophet from the Spirit World. The Avatar. And if you suppress her…" he stopped speaking.

Shoogar hugged her. Suddenly she heard a loud boom. In the distance, huge waves formed. The water became violent. Ripples approached her and grew in size. In the distance, something had caused a huge splash. Tidal waves emitted from it. Something had risen out of the water and was moving fast in the direction Korra would be heading.

CHAOS had risen.

"We'll meet again soon," Shoogar said

Korra knew what was at stake. She knew what it meant to put an end to Daya. Bending would not be the only thing to disappear.

Korra would be suppressing the Spirit responsible for her own existence.