People in the village were panicking. None of them dared go outside, but Violet and Luca could hear them crying out from inside their houses.

"My sister's gone!"

"My brother went to the haunted forest! I called out to him and tried to stop him but it didn't seem like he could hear me."

"My son! I have to find my son!"

"I think we need to go to the haunted forest," Violet said.

Luca bit his nails anxiously. "What if we disappear?" He'd heard stories about that place from the villagers. Nobody who went in ever came out.

"We won't. You're a powerful waterbender, and it's a full moon. We'll be fine."

Luca reluctantly followed Violet out of the village. His skin crawled as strange noises came from every direction. Haunting bird calls, the flutter of a beetle's wings…He even thought he heard faint screams and groans of pain coming from somewhere.

As they approached the forest, they saw her. An old woman, standing near the trees. A line of terrified villagers stood before her. She was moving her arms like a conductor or a puppeteer, and the people followed her movements. It was like a morbid, macabre ballet.

Luca and Violet ran toward her, then stopped.

"Alberto?" Luca gasped.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Alberto was standing next to the old woman, controlling one of the villagers.

"Alberto, what are you doing?!" Luca cried.

Alberto smiled. "It's called bloodbending! Pretty neat, huh?" He forced the man he was controlling to wave.

Luca felt sick to his stomach. "Alberto, stop!" Had Alberto lost his mind?

Alberto ignored his pleas. "So, what do you think? Is this enough power for you? Am I at your level yet?"

Luca winced at the reminder of the cruel thing he'd said. "Alberto, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I wish I could take it back…"

"It's too late for that," Alberto said bitterly.

Luca's heart seemed to shrivel up in his chest. "Alberto…" His voice came out meek and pathetic. "At least let these people go. Please."

"But it's so much fun," Alberto said. That made Luca's stomach turn. How could he take such pleasure in torturing these people?

Luca got into a defensive stance and tried to take on an authoritative and confident tone, as if he wasn't scared out of his mind. "Alberto, if you don't stop this, I'm going to have to fight you, and I don't want to do that."

"Go ahead," Alberto said.

Luca raised his hand. Water swirled out of his pouch, forming a long tentacle. He whipped it at Alberto, who jumped out of the way. Alberto jerked his hand forward, sending the man at Luca. Luca reluctantly withdrew. He didn't want to hurt a civilian.

He turned his attention to the old woman. He blasted frozen water at her, trying to freeze her arms or legs. But she was quick for an elderly person, and she easily evaded his attacks. She sent three villagers at Luca. He froze their feet, rooting them in place.

"Sorry!" he said. "I'll free you later, I promise."

He turned to Alberto. Maybe his friend would be slower and easier to attack.

He managed to freeze one of Alberto's hands, covering his fingers with ice to stop his bending. Without missing a beat, Alberto punched a tree and broke the ice. He sent the man at Luca again.

"Alberto, please stop!" Luca cried. "Hurt me, if you want. But let these people go. Don't take it out on them because you're mad at me."

Alberto shook his head. "Not everything is about you, Luca." His voice hardened. "They're part of this war. They deserve to be punished for what their people did."

"No they don't."

"Of course you wouldn't understand that," Alberto said bitterly. "You didn't lose your parents. You didn't lose anyone."

"And this is going to bring your parents back?" Luca said. "Terrorizing an innocent village?"

This seemed to give Alberto pause for just a second. Luca tried to freeze his feet to the ground, but Alberto managed to leap out of the way.

A man lunged at Violet and swung his fist at her. She dodged and prepared to send a gust of wind at him. Then the old woman pointed at her, and Violet gasped as an invisible force seized her. Violet slowly sank to the ground, her body moving with a mind of its own. She groaned. It hurt, like someone was pulling on her veins, trying to tear the blood right out.

Alberto gasped. He quickly tried to pretend he didn't care, but Luca saw the distress on his face. His gaze kept sliding over to Violet on the ground. Luca seized his chance to change his friend's mind, to make him come to his senses.

"Alberto, look at what you're doing!" Luca said. "This isn't you! The Alberto I know would never hurt people like this! Why are you letting her turn you into a monster?"

"She's not. It's just Fire Nation people. They deserve it." Alberto's voice was hesitant.

"Alberto, you don't believe that."

"What do you know?" Alberto said harshly. "You don't know me. She does."

Luca stared at him incredulously. "I don't know you?" Did Alberto truly believe that? "Alberto, we've been best friends for years!"

"But you've changed. And so have I." Alberto looked over at Moira. "She–she sees me, and she takes care of me. And she sees things in me no one else ever has…"

"Alberto, I see you! I always have!" Luca was crying now. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn't. I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it."

Alberto's expression softened just a little.

"You're my best friend, Alberto," Luca said. "And you always will be. No matter what, no matter how many things change."

Alberto stared at Luca for a few long moments, then lowered his hand slowly.

Moira came up behind him. "He's just trying to manipulate you! Do you really believe that nonsense? After the things he said to you?" She scoffed. "No matter what. He's just saying that because he's going to leave! He's going to abandon you for bigger and better things. He doesn't care about you."

Alberto tensed.

"You said it yourself: he'll never respect you as long as he thinks he's better than you," Moira said. She leaned forward to speak in his ear. "So show him your true power! Bloodbend him!"

Alberto put out his hand, then stopped. Luca didn't try to run or fight. He just stood there, staring at Alberto with terrified eyes. There was nothing stopping him from bloodbending Luca right then and there. He could make him bow down, beg, do anything he wanted.

He couldn't do it.

Why? Because he couldn't do that to Luca. Because he knew it was wrong.

He looked at the villagers around him. What was he hoping to gain from doing this to them? They hadn't done anything to him. Even if they had, Luca was right. This wouldn't bring his mother back to life. It wouldn't make his father suddenly miss him and come home.

Alberto let his hand drop as a wave of shame came over him.

"Oh, what's the matter, Alberto?" Moira taunted. "Too weak to do it?"

"No!" Alberto snapped. "I just…"

"I thought you were stronger than this," she said. "I thought you had what it took to be my apprentice. I guess I was wrong."

Alberto looked down at the ground. "Yeah, I guess so." His voice was quiet, almost inaudible, but Luca heard it. Relief washed over him, and he wanted to hug Alberto.

"So ungrateful!" Moira said. "I took you in, fed you, gave you shelter, and shared my wisdom with you, and this is how you repay me?"

Alberto just kept his eyes on the ground and didn't reply.

"All right, then," Moira said, her voice dangerously calm. "If you're too pathetic to do it…then I will!" She thrust her hand toward Luca. Luca let out a strangled gasp as every vein and artery in his body tightened.

"Luca!" Alberto cried.

Moira blasted water at a tree, freezing it into a long icicle. Luca stumbled toward it. He tried to stop himself, but he couldn't. It was going to impale him.

"NO!" Alberto screamed.

Luca stopped just a half-inch away from the tip of the icicle. He pitched forward, nearly impaling himself anyway, then regained his balance.

Behind him, Moira screamed. He looked. She was on her knees. He watched in awe and terror as her hands were forced behind her back, twisting in painful and unnatural ways. Bruises spread across her arms as the blood vessels burst.

Luca looked at Alberto. He had both hands forward, his fists clenched as he kept an iron grip on her. He lowered his head and grit his teeth in concentration.

Moira looked up, her eyes blazing. "You'll regret this, Alberto! When everyone else abandons you—and they will—you'll wish you'd stayed with me!"

Alberto glared at her, tears streaking his face. "Shut up!" He shoved her down onto the ground.

Violet and Luca rushed at her. Luca quickly froze her hands behind her back, while Violet and the villagers fled. They returned with some Fire Nation soldiers.

Violet pointed at Moira. "She's the one who's been making everyone disappear!"

While the soldiers arrested Moira, Luca looked around for Alberto, a dozen sentiments dying to come out of his mouth at once. His heart sank as he realized Alberto wasn't there. His friend had vanished again.

Neither Violet nor Luca told the soldiers about Alberto's hand in any of this. Moira ranted about her young apprentice, but the soldiers ignored her.

Another soldier walked over. "We found her house in the woods. There were a lot of puppets. Creepy wooden puppets." He lowered his voice. "And human remains in the basement next to the meat grinder. It looked like she was using them for food."

Luca and Violet looked at each other in horror. Moira's words to Alberto rang in their heads. I took you in, fed you… Luca's stomach heaved, and he threw up behind a tree. Then he threw up again. The acid burned his throat, but he couldn't stop. Every time he thought he was done, it would hit him all over again. It looked like she was using them for food.

He finally finished when there was nothing left to eject. They slowly started walking back to the cave. Neither of them spoke. Both were too stunned. And they weren't ready to acknowledge it yet. Maybe if they didn't talk about it, it wouldn't be real.

Ian wasn't back yet. Luca looked up at the sky, as if their airship would suddenly appear on the horizon. He didn't know when they should be expecting them to return, or when they should start worrying.

Buzz and Woody were out somewhere, so the cave was empty. Luca and Violet slumped against the cave wall and sat there in all-consuming silence. It seemed heavy enough to crush them, while simultaneously sucking all the air out of the space. Luca wanted to run through the woods, screaming Alberto's name until he found him. But he didn't have the energy. He didn't even have the energy to cry. So he just sat there, staring at the wall, trying to ignore the rock in his chest.

Eventually, he fell into a fitful sleep. He tossed and turned as visions assaulted his mind. They were in the woods again, the total darkness around them suffocating him. He saw the evil smirk on Alberto's lips, the total lack of remorse on his face as he controlled the man's body like a puppet. He heard Moira's voice, urging Alberto to violence. He felt his limbs moving against his will, he saw the icicle coming closer, about to pierce his chest…

He cried out for help. Instead, Alberto just looked at him coldly and said, "It's too late for that."

The icicle came closer. Luca could see his reflection in it, distorted and ugly. He opened his mouth, also against his will, and said, "You're jealous that I'm better than you! You want me to stoop to your level but I won't do that!"

Luca woke up crying. Buzz and Woody were back, sleeping in the corner. Violet was still asleep too. He didn't want to wake anyone, so he covered his mouth as quiet sobs shook his body. I'm sorry, Alberto. I'm sorry.