The White Lotus War

Chapter 8: No Answers, Just More Questions

Hitomi wasn't able to get to sleep. She didn't know if it was because of the car chase, because of her new crush on Gao, or because of how much she enjoyed the overall experience of the Fire Days Festival. Whatever the reason, she just laid there in her bed in the apartment she rented for the night. It was a two-person bedroom so Hitomi took up one bed while Yuko took up the other. The room was covered in Fire Nation style décor and furnishing, with red balloons and oddly shaped candles to celebrate the festival that just ended.

As Hitomi lied down on her back and stared at the slowly rotating fan, she thought about the things that had happened to her and some things that Shadow had said. She remembered him saying that the man behind, whatever was going on, was looked at as a purely White Lotus problem and they felt that the man behind this was their responsibility. But still, wasn't it the Avatar's responsibility to protect the world just like the White Lotus? Heck, it was more the Avatar's responsibility then theirs! I mean sure, the White Lotus play a huge role in world order and peace, and they're made up of great fighters like Shadow, but no matter how personal this problem was to them, the Avatar still had the right to know what was going on! Didn't she?

Hitomi was starting to get angry and she thrashed at her covers and pillows. All of this uncertainty was really starting to annoy her. All she wanted was for someone to fill her in! Was that really too much to ask? Hitomi didn't think so.

She started to worry that another war was going to start up. I mean, for what other purposes does someone build tanks for? She remembered the Chief and just how much he enjoyed being the cruel and evil demon that he was. She remembered becoming so enraged by him when he was willing to kill Yuko before the Avatar just to make her suffer the loss of a loved friend. She became so angry and desperate to stop him before he hurt Yuko that she went into the Avatar State. And then, nothing; that was the last thing she remembered about her battle with the Chief.

"Why?" Hitomi asked herself, "Why can't I remember anything?"

She remembered every single thing that happened the first time she went into the Avatar State, so why couldn't she remember what happened this time? It was like she had no control over the Avatar State. Hitomi heard that Aang had trouble controlling the Avatar State when he got really angry at something, but he was able to control it in the end and spare the Phoenix King's life. Why couldn't she go back in time and get Aang to teach her how to control it?

The wheels rapidly spun in her head. "Duh," Hitomi said to herself as she slammed her palm against her forehead, "I am Aang; I'm just a different version of him, that's all. I can still contact him if I meditate."

Problem, she didn't know how to properly meditate. The majority of her knowledge about the Avatar came from historical records about their journeys. She didn't really know all that much about the actual spiritual techniques of the Avatar or their journeys into the Spirit World; Hitomi never really got into the spiritual journey sides of the past Avatars.

"Still," Hitomi said to herself as she sat in her bed in a meditating position, "I'm made up of the past Avatars, so maybe something'll come to me if I sit here and at least attempt to meditate."

She closed her eyes, trying to block out every single sight, sound, feeling, or thought from her mind. She just breathed and concentrated on finding her way to the Spirit World. She didn't know what could've awaited her there, but she was determined to try and find a way to control the Avatar State.

Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…

When Hitomi opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of a vast desert! Underneath her was a tiled circle, made of something that didn't seem like any other material. Was this the Spirit World? Every time Hitomi read about an Avatar crossing over into the Spirit World, it was always described as an overwhelming forest of spirits. Was she somewhere else? It seemed unlikely, but the question didn't leave her head.

But she remembered this place from her dream. This was the place she saw all the past Avatars and Korra asked her to remember them. But, she remembered a path in her dream, not just this small tile circle. Still, that seemed inconvenient right now.

She stood up and called out, "Aang? Korra? Roku? Are there any Avatars I can talk to for a moment?"

She stepped off the tile and onto the sand. Immediately, a bolt of red electricity shot up from the sand and shocked her back onto the tile! What was that?

"Are you okay Hitomi?" asked a voice from behind her. Hitomi stood up and saw that it was Korra, still wearing her water tribe armor from before.

"Korra," Hitomi said without trying to hide any of the relief in her voice, "I am so glad to see you." She looked around at the desert and asked, "Is this the Spirit World?"

Korra shook her head and said, "The Spirit World is a place of its own where my spirit, as well as the spirits of other past Avatars, dwells with other spirits. A mortal can only enter the Spirit World during the solstices or at a location where the connection between the Spirit World and your world isn't as strong."

"So if we're not in the Spirit World, where are we?"

Korra looked around and, to Hitomi's surprise and discomfort, said, "I'm not sure. It appears to be a spiritual domain, but it's small and has no connection to the Spirit World or your world. It seems that the only connection this place has is to you and only you have access to this place. It also seems to drain you slightly from your other spiritual connections. This domain is strange to me and the other Avatars."

"Well, that's uplifting," Hitomi sarcastically said with a genuine look of fear in her eyes. She continued, "Anyway, I came to ask you if you could show me how to control the Avatar State."

Korra smirked and asked, "You think you can "just control it"? The Avatar State takes years of patience and concentration in order to be mastered. You can't just learn how to control it the same way you can learn how to ride a bicycle. It took me years to just connect with my spiritual side. You don't want to know how long it took me to master the Avatar State; I was almost this age when I finally had it down."

"I just want to make sure I don't hurt anyone." Hitomi pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but learning how to control the Avatar State is a task that you must complete by your own efforts. Aang did it on his own, I did it on my own, and you'll do it on your own. I'll assist you whenever I can, but mastering the Avatar State has to be done solely by you."

This wasn't the response Hitomi wanted when she entered the Spirit World, or whatever non-Spirit World Korra said this was suppose to be, but she took what she could get and just accepted it. She was now actually more concerned about this domain. It seemed that Korra was very disturbed by the very existence of this place and that was very unnerving for Hitomi.

"I have another question," Hitomi began, "Why is it that I can't remember what happened the last time I entered the Avatar State? I remember what happened the first time I went into the Avatar State, so why don't I remember?"

Korra answered, "I'm not sure, but I believe this domain is somehow the cause of it. Try stepping out onto the sand again."

"No way!" Hitomi exclaimed jumping back a little; she may not have remembered what happened during her last trip into the Avatar State, but she knew perfectly well what happened last time she put her foot in the sand!

"It may sound crazy, but I believe that when the negative energy is released by your spiritual entity, this domain starts to become smaller and your connection to your spiritual side becomes stronger. By walking your entity across the sand, another barrier may be released from around this domain."

"But it'll shock me!" Hitomi knew that excuse wouldn't dare stick with Korra. Hitomi eventually gave into one of Korra's glares and she slowly made her way toward the sand. She looked at the sand with fear, unsure of whether or not Korra's suggestion would actually help. Still, she quickly jumped out onto the sand. Red lightning shot up from the ground and instantly started shocking Hitomi, causing her to scream in agonizing pain! Despite her pain, she slowly walked through the sand, each step hurting more than the last. She was sure she was going to die if she kept it up.

Then Hitomi sank into the sand and landed on a metal floor! She looked up and saw two guards holding down a man wearing Earth Kingdom garments as he struggled to get out of the seat they were holding him down in! What was this place?

"Oh, hello Hitomi." a chipper said from behind her; a voice you would hear from an old friend.

Hitomi looked behind her and saw a tall man with very short blond hair and golden eyes look down on her with such delight and yet so much fear-striking authority. He was wearing a white jacket like a scientist would wear and he was holding a container with a needle. He smiled a nice yet horrifying smile at Hitomi that just made her skin crawl with fear.

"I see you're making progress on your Deletion," the man said with a brighter and yet even more terrifying smile, "Good for you!"

"Who are you talking to you maniac?" yelled the man being held down against his will, "Are you going even more insane you monster?"

"Please ignore him Hitomi," the man said ignoring the captive, "He's just a little project I have going on. It's nothing for you to worry about."

"Are you talking to an imaginary friend?" yelled the captive, "Well imaginary friend, please tell this lunatic to let me go! I'm not going to end up like your other "pets"! I won't let you turn me into one of those creatures!"

Hitomi was rendered speechless by the entire scenario she was just placed into. A strange man who was the physical form of terror was having two men hold down a captive while he just casually had a conversation with her! And it seemed like he was the only one who could see her!

As if he read her mind, he said, "You must be wondering why I'm the only person who can see you. Well, I won't spoil that surprise for you just yet. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an experiment to continue. You may stay and observe if you wish."

He then proceeded to pass through Hitomi like a ghost! Hitomi watched as the man injected something into the captive's arm that made him shriek in pain! Hitomi yelled at him to stop and punched and kicked at him, but it was like fighting a ghost!

The man sighed and said to Hitomi, "You're beginning to bug me. I promise we'll have our confrontation in the real world, but for now, just go back to your world."

That was the last thing Hitomi heard before she found herself back in her room.

One minute passed, two minutes passed, ten minutes passed, thirty minutes passed…

She just sat there in her meditative stance, frozen in fear and confusion, for almost an hour before exhaustion got the better of her and she lied down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning lying on her belly, she was still thinking about the weird things that happened to her after she meditated. In fact, she was wondering if it was all a dream. No, Hitomi admitted to herself, the pain and fear was far too real.

She got up and turned around to find several men pointing their fingers at Hitomi, showing that they were fire benders who knew how to summon lightning! Hitomi was stunned in place when she saw an unconscious Yuko being held by a young man she had met before.

"I'm terribly sorry Avatar Hitomi," Gao said to her, "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to sleep a while longer."

One of the men to the side of Hitomi struck her on the back of her head, sending her into unconsciousness.

Yes! Chapter 8! Done! Thank you for reading and I hope you love the story so far! Please leave me a review so I know how you feel about my story! Until next chapter!