Chapter 17: Confirmations and Confidence
Korra finished imprisoning Koh and Long Yumao - she noted with no small pleasure that the most ancient spirit had a chunk of missing carapace, and that a small groove was now present in Long Yumao's awful beak. The two spirits were still moaning loudly when a seemingly familiar small form embraced her - though it was not the small, white-haired girl she knew to be Raava, who was pointing at Long Yumao's beak and laughing.
When this small girl, apparently no more than eight years of age, finally touched Korra, Korra let out a surprised yelp - this young girl was Kuvira! Now she understood why Raava had seemingly blocked Korra from sensing who she was to help - even though she had saved Kuvira's life slightly over 24 hours ago, Korra had to admit her reaction would have been ... delayed by this knowledge.
Kuvira began talking with a lightness and animation she had never seen from the former tyrant before, saying, "Thank you so much for saving me again, Korra - that 'Koh' spirit was getting closer, and telling me I had a pretty and intimidating face! He made me shiver deep inside, Korra - I don't think he was there to admire my mug, even if he did call it unique." Korra's eyes widened, and she said, "You were very perceptive to be concerned, Kuvira - that ancient spirit's full name is Koh the Face-Stealer. The other spirit I just imprisoned is called Long Yumao the Opportunist." Korra paused, letting the look of terror leave the young Kuvira's face. Korra continued, saying, "Knowing him, he probably made some long, boring speech to you as Koh approached. Want to sit down next to me, and you can tell me about it - and why I was called here by Raava so urgently?"
Before they could move, she heard a slithering voice say, with a surprising amount of anger, "Yes, Long Yumao - you do have a nasty habit of making long, boring speeches. You even gave me one when you were trying to get my support. So far, I have exactly zero faces, and one chunk taken from my body - not even Avatar Kuruk managed to do that! He stopped trying to kill me, realizing if I died his precious Ummi's face would vanish with me. Speaking of faces - If you hadn't been so slow in alerting me of this 'Kuvira's' presence, perhaps I would have another FACE right now!" Koh pressed a blue, almost simian face with pronounced lower teeth against the wall of the prison, staring at Long Yumao in intense anger.
When Long Yumao recoiled slightly, Koh began to laugh wildly through the face of a savage looking monkey, saying, "If I could steal a powerful spirit's face, I'd have my first face since I entered into this stupid pact. One I'm starting to regret making with you, I might add!" Long Yumao turned to face Koh from within his own prison, and opened his massive beak wide, as a dark energy manifested itself just inside his mouth. As a large pulse left his beak, it made an all-too familiar deep "BWWOOOONG!" sound that made Kuvira yelp, almost as if in pain. The prison held, however, causing Long Yumao to do something Korra had never heard him do before - he cursed! Raava began laughing wildly, and a Kuvira who was now hiding behind Korra's chuckling body managed a weak laugh, Kuvira seemingly growing as she did so.
Noticing that both Koh and Long Yumao were wildly cursing at each other, letting out their frustration for not claiming Kuvira on one another, Korra grinned a predatory smile at the same time she saw Raava make a similar face - it was time to have some fun. Feeling that Raava had just re-entered her own body, Korra began to interlock the two large spirit's prisons with one another, breaking the yellow ribbons that separated them from one another once she was confident there was no escape for either spirit. They began to fight vigorously, Koh attempting to use his many legs to pin down Long Yumao's head, and the other spirit trying his best to get his beak at Koh's face.
A monkey faced Koh yelled, "No good, long winded, useless self-important serpent! Long Yumao - you haven't given me a single human's face!" managing to sink the long, dagger-like fangs into the side of Long Yumao's own face. Long Yumao howled in anger, bellowing, "Maybe if you had run to Kuvira instead of moving slowly at first for drama's sake, you'd have her face!" His powerful beak - which Korra noticed now had a new unnerving serrated edge - finally managed to catch Koh by surprise, tearing the howling monkey's face from Koh's body. The fierce face remained in Long Yumao's beak, seemingly lifeless. Koh's preferred black and white face returned, screaming, "You were supposed to get me new faces - not take one of my best away! Now give it back, or we're through!" Koh was now being toyed with - apparently, Long Yumao found it hilarious to play keep-away with one of Koh's most valued faces.
Content that both spirits were now fully occupied, Korra stopped laughing and turned to a wide-eyed Kuvira. Seeing that she once again had Korra's attention, Kuvira began to speak, but then a strange thought occurred to Korra. What if she could make the information transfer work in reverse? She held up a hand, explaining what she wanted to do to Kuvira, who said, "That sounds like a good idea - when you re-unite with the rest of your friends, you can use this 'information dump' to show them what happened to me before I entered the spirit world - in excruciating detail. I think Lin and Mother Suyin will find it very interesting." Curious about this odd new turn of phrase in regards to Kuvira's adoptive mother, Korra took a deep breath and placed her outstretched palms on Kuvira's forehead.
Once the flow of information began, at first Korra felt very angry - Kuvira had lied to her! She had tried to escape, after telling Korra she would come to be judged willingly! As soon as the visions began, however, she couldn't help but feel an immense sadness, in addition to the myriad of different feelings she was feeling through Kuvira. Korra felt her eyes water multiple times during the process, and when she saw Kuvira shatter that metallic monster, she screamed "Yes!" - forgetting to keep her hands on Kuvira's temple.
As soon as Korra's hands left Kuvira's head, she saw the small girl shift and return to her adult size. Even though she was smiling, much as Korra was, Kuvira grabbed Korra's hands and told her, "There's something else you need to see - Long Yumao told me something I figured you'd want to know. It chilled me to my very core."
Kuvira forced Korra's hands back onto her own forehead, and Korra felt Kuvira thinking of this unexplained encounter and her terrified feelings. Korra absorbed the information, finally letting her hands down in shock. She told a staring Kuvira, "You came very close to being Koh's first victim in this Spirit Civil War, Kuvira. You are a very lucky woman, that I came when I did. This other news, of Long Yumao's aspirations - if he successfully challenges Vaatu for this 'Grand Dark Spirit' title… he could end the Spirit Civil War almost instantly, and begin to enact his terrible plans on humanity. And 'ancient' - he might want a world order worse than the one Wan upset!" Korra turned, staring at Long Yumao, who was still playing keep-away with a furious Koh.
Feeling a tapping on her shoulder, she turned to face a slightly impatient looking Kuvira, who said, "Spirit Civil War? I've given you my information, Avatar Korra - now it's time you spilled some of yours." Korra hesitated to respond, and Kuvira laughed, saying, "I know you don't exactly trust me, but do remember - I did just shatter my evil half into a million pieces, and Raava wouldn't have called you to my aid, much less made a personal appearance on my behalf, if she thought I was the same monster who terrorized the Earth Kingdom and butchered the Swamp." Korra noticed something odd - Kuvira's normally tightened irises had softened, and the "Great Uniter" had tears on her face.
Just do it - you did spare her life when she was at her worst, after all.
Korra shrugged - what did she have to lose? If Kuvira decided to rat her and Asami out, people would just assume it was the ravings of a madwoman. She placed her hands to Kuvira's temple, taking care to send her the depth of information that Kuvira had let her take.
After she was done, she and Kuvira talked for what seemed like an hour, with the sound of Long Yumao and Koh squabbling serving as a surreal background noise. After they had talked about Korra's relationship with Asami for what must have been the fifth time - Korra found this odd, as Kuvira's little "gift" to Baatar Jr. made her think that purification or not, Kuvira had no romance in her soul - Kuvira stopped smiling, with a serious expression on her face.
Kuvira's eyes hardened back into their normal steely green, Kuvira stating curtly, "I noticed a rather large gap in time in your account, Korra - after Zuko's story about his sister, and before you left the Swamp. I think I know what it was about, too - and unless we do something to stop him, I get the bad feeling even more spirits will join Long Yumao's side. You will need to act covertly, however - brute force was never effective against my third - no, first now - in command, General 'Jinshu Kuangmai'."
Kuvira pointed at a stunned Korra's heart, and said, "I have something to tell you - I will only share it with Lin and Mother Suyin when the time is right, after I have regained their trust. No one else is to know until it is strictly necessary - this news, in of itself, would probably cause enough bad behavior in Republic City and the Earth kingdom to tip the balance of spirits more towards Long Yumao." Kuvira took a deep sigh of regret - as though she had associated with Long Yumao herself.
Kuvira, taking another deep breath, said, "When I was 're-uniting' the Earth Kingdom, I came across a desperate-looking rich couple who looked as though they had tried to raise a particularly horrible being. They looked at a large wooden cage in fear as I approached, yelling, 'No! Don't get too close, or he will do something horrible! Why, why oh why did we ever take him in…' while sobbing loudly. I ignored them, curious to see what would require a purely wooden cage so large and strong, and what it could possibly do to me from inside."
Kuvira shuddered, saying, "As I approached, I felt a vibration in the earth beneath my feet, but it was small - as though someone had poked a single, powerful finger against the earth. I held no fear in my heart - and this individual could tell. He told me, in a deep voice, 'I have heard of your exploits, Kuvira the Great Uniter - and you are the first person in my life to ever not fear me. Something tells me that this means we would be most… compatible.'"
Kuvira shook her head, and continued, "At the time, I was thoroughly intrigued - someone who knew of me yet did not fear me, who apparently thought himself my equal somehow. I told him as much, and he said, 'If you bring me those two cowards over here, I can show you why I dare to compare myself to your greatness, Kuvira.' A very small part of me railed against it - what I now know to be my conscience, the little voice that overtook Varrick and made him run away." Kuvira laughed painfully, as though this were going to be the last time she laughed for quite some time.
With resignation, she continued, "When I dragged what I assumed to be his parents kicking and screaming closer, they pleaded with me, and I ignored them, thinking nothing would happen to them - certainly not at the hands of their own adopted son. However, when we got within fifty feet, they jerked violently from my grasp into the air, suspended by some unseen force. The figure inside the wooden cage said, 'See, Kuvira? THIS is my great gift. I call it 'blood-iron bending'.' He jerked the couple closer, saying, 'I have half a mind to just stop the iron in your blood right now, like I did to those animals on that fateful day so many, many years ago - but I think I have a better idea.' He turned to me, and said, 'Kuvira, I will lend my specialty and other strengths to your cause, so long as you make sure these two wretches never see the light of day again. IMPRISON THEM - like they did me!' Though that same small voice objected, I accepted his conditions, locking up his adoptive parents in a special jail. I believe they both died shortly after - apparently from heartbreak."
Kuvira acted like she wanted to commit seppuku over what she had just told Korra, but Kuvira continued, saying "He rose quickly through the ranks, as not only was he a powerful bender, he displayed tactical and political acumen that rivaled my own. He also used fear and his horrible talent very effectively - there were a number of incompetent officers who stood in his way to greatness who had 'strange' asphyxiation deaths. I never let him rise above third in command - I did not think that Baatar Jr. would take kindly to being outranked by a mysterious stranger, and General 'Jinshu Kuangmai' seemed rabidly loyal to me. At times, I felt myself attracted more to him than Baatar Jr. - I used to think Baatar Jr. was a sappy, weak romantic, good only for technical prowess and company, while 'Jinshu Kuangmai' was a man closer to my old self."
Again, with this constant old self talk - Korra could only hope Kuvira wouldn't be crushed when she saw that the world would still demand justice to be served. Korra gently told Kuvira as much, and Kuvira looked down to the ground, saying with resignation, "Yes, I am aware that protocol must be followed, and to be honest, after all those horrible visions and almost losing my sanity, someone's hateful glare or sitting in a prison cell won't bother me. I want to atone - remorse…" Kuvira looked up, with slight tears in her eyes, "I just hope that you can convince Lin, and most of all, Mother Suyin, to forgive me - if she rejects me forcefully, I might just snap like Azula did." With this last word, Kuvira began sobbing, and Korra reached out to hug her - half to comfort her, half to selectively gather some of Kuvira's feelings and words to "show" Lin and Su later. Apparently having noticed the strange interaction, Kuvira sniffed, and said, "Good idea to show Lin and Mother Suyin this - maybe that will make it easier to believe I have changed."
Korra broke the hug, thinking that Kuvira was done. She made to place her fists together and take them both out of the Spirit World, but Kuvira said, "Wait! There's one last thing I need to tell you. Until recently, this 'Jinshu Kuangmai' and his true identity were a secret from me, but a spy of mine managed to finally obtain a valuable set of documents. Apparently, the couple had hidden a set of instructions deep within the surrounding woods in wooden boxes. These instructions appeared to be from the boy's mother, as they talked at great length about how he was to be raised with extreme discipline, and that they would likely need to drug him if he ever got really angry or threw a fit - even at the age of four. They also contained instructions for that wooden cage - it was made with no nails, yet was to be strong enough 'to contain a platypus-bear'. In what must have been the final box, there was a piece of paper with the neatly written words 'I love you - I just wish you'd be nicer. Tonga - stop using that awful ability already! Love, Mom,' and a relatively small smudged hand print beneath it. This box had a familiar family crest carved on its outside - the Beifong family's flying boar."
Korra took a jagged, stilted breath - so Toph's son had joined Kuvira's army after all, and he was now in charge of it! This time, it was Korra who cried, hugging Kuvira tightly. Seemingly without effort, she felt the information she had promised to keep secret for Toph flow to Kuvira. Kuvira began to sob after the information flow stopped as well, asking, "Why didn't I turn good sooner?"
As Korra felt herself hug Kuvira so tightly, she felt a familiar feeling - the same that she had for Mako. After what seemed like an hour, they both collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. Before she could nod off to sleep, she felt a surge of energy, and then a light tap on her shoulder.
Raava's human-y form was pointing at two large forms, seemingly about to break some odd chains that bound them. Korra suddenly remembered that she was in the Spirit World - and apparently, Koh and Long Yumao had put aside their differences, and were trying to break free! Raava said, "Unless you really hate having a face, I suggest you both leave - and now!" Korra heard a surprised gasp come from Kuvira's body, and the enemy turned friend vanished. Korra half felt like ripping those two awful beings in two with another blast, but Raava smacked her across the forehead. Once back inside her chest, the spirit said Now isn't the time for heroics, kid - your body is about to be back in Republic City shortly. Why don't you take a nice nap...
Korra felt herself back on Druk's back, next to a wide-eyed Asami. Before Korra could think, Asami kissed her on the lips, saying once she had withdrawn, "Nice to have you back, Korra. Why don't you tell me about what just happened?" Still knowing that Zuko was near, Korra did the information dump on Asami, who moaned in pleasure after it was over. Korra felt an odd sensation as well, and realized something with a start. They had felt as one body, one mind, one soul - this time, without any interruptions by an uncontrolled Avatar State. Korra wondered, as she began to drift off to sleep, slumped over Asami, whether it had been the information dump's doing or her feelings for Asami.
A small voice giggled A little bit of both - though more the latter as she faded.
End part 3