Chapter Text
Raava’s avatar had been missing from the world for almost a century and the world suffered for it. The Fire Nation has burned the Air Nomads out of the sky, ripped the Southern Waterbenders from the water, and was in the process of conquering the Earth Kingdom, eating through their land like a hungry wildfire. The world was out of balance, so much so that even the most ambivalent spirits began to take notice.
(“Something is horribly wrong,” the oldest spirits murmur. “Something has gone astray. There is no balance, the mortal world is soaked in blood, yes, but this started long before Sozin’s time.”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Older spirits murmur in return. “War is chaos, but it leaves a trail of blood and order. Fire casts great shadows, but only because it is made of light. Raava lost her way long before the mortal world did. This is why her avatars have failed us.”
“They are felled by her pride.” Ancient spirits whisper.
“They are tainted by her vanity.” Ancient spirits murmur.
“They are RUINED by her bitterness.” Ancient spirits shout.
“They are brilliant for her determination.” A lone spirit, long neglected in a tree, voices, unheard by others.)
The world has never needed Raava’s avatar more, yet they are absent.
Ideas begin to take root in the minds of younger spirits, and slowly rumors of their plans reach older forces. Agni hears this idea and worries, he plans, then he backup-plans, then he worries some more. La hears this idea and laughs, she snickers until she snarls, until she stops to think. Tui hears this idea and wonders, she considers the consequences, considers the problem, considers the avatar, the mortals, and her estranged eldest brother in his cage. Kho hears this idea and scoffs, he thinks of it no further, but if he whispers it into the shadowy roots of a certain tree none is to be the wiser.
(Vaatu hears this idea and sees, he sees a group of brilliant people, a dawning era of peace, a revival of balance, he sees freedom, and suffering too, but perhaps those are one in the same.)
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It is decided that The Dark Water Spirit shall be the one to bring this idea before the eldest spirits. So, on the date appointed for gatherings of great and ancient spirits, The Dark Water Spirit stands before them with the minor spirits’ intentions.
“What do you have for us little spirit?” The Mother of Faces called out. In response The Dark Water Spirit held out a scroll. Oma took it from his hand, unrolling it so that the great spirits could read it.
“Let me get this straight,” said Shu. “You want us to pick a few human souls to TIE TOGETHER so that they can learn from one another?! Like the avatar’s past lives?! Moreover, you want US, THE MOST POWERFUL SPIRITS IN BOTH MORTAL AND SPIRIT WORLDS, to BIND our energy with them, similar to Raava?! AM I GETTING THAT RIGHT?!
La looked up with a bored look, that anyone who knew her knew meant trouble, and responded, “Well, you're missing the part where it’s more like a blessing and less of what Raava did, but that’s actually a great edition thanks for suggesting it.”
Tui cut in before her wife could anger Shu further, saying, “It seems that the other spirits want us to each pick a few mortals whom we believe can help the mortal world, and give the ones we choose our blessing and sponsorship. Then their minds and spirits shall all be bound together so that they can learn from one another and work together to accomplish peace. The bound mortals shall have a variety of skills and shall be able to communicate telepathically no matter the distance. This idea seems all well and good on paper, but I feel it is missing some important details.”
Tui leveled a look at The Dark Water Spirit, as if awaiting all the details the scroll had lacked. Agni, sensing the younger spirit’s mounting panic, was swift to cut in with his triple-checked revision of the scroll (admittedly most of his plan was based on the rumors he heard before this, but it’s the thought that counts). “If we give the mortals some time before we open the bonds, they will be able to develop personalities separate from each other, a good thing in the long run, and if we choose from a few ages, we will get an even better-rounded group. Also, if you want this to replace the avatar, they need to be able to bend multiple elements at a time, rather than just one each. Perhaps this ability could be gained when the bond is activated and can only be used when two of the mortals have a completely opened connection and are both focusing on the bending in question, of course the bending types used would only be the bending of the mortals involved at the moment of using it. This could be a good way to promote teamwork. To incorporate what La and Shu said earlier, perhaps we could attempt to bind the mortals with that of Raava’s current avatar. They are not dead, merely sleeping, and even if they never wake, the new mortals may still be able to access the previous avatars’ wealth of knowledge. To push this even further, and really to make it safely doable, one spirit ought to bind themself to these mortals in the same way that Raava has done, and that spirit can guide them and teach them to bring balance to the world. I hope that this makes the plan a bit more thorough, sister.”
Tui nods, she has suspected her twin had some plan for this already, as she knew he was desperate to find a way to get the Fire Nation to realize that they did not follow the will of Agni, but rather that of generations of madmen. The other great spirits were whispering, however. Finally, The Mother of Faces stood and addressed The Dark Water Spirit. “The elder spirits want nothing to do with this foolish plan, and we will not act upon it. However,” The Mother of Faces glanced to where La, Tui, and Agni sat “If some in our number wish to act they may but know that whoever does will bear the consequences if it goes wrong. That is all we will hear on the matter.”
With that declaration most spirits moved on, leaving The Dark Water Spirit standing beside Agni, La, and Tui.
“We’ll do this for you, but we will do it our way, and none of the younger spirits shall interfere if they doubt our actions. Is this acceptable to you?” Tui asked.
The Dark Water Spirit nodded and vanished into the shadows to deliver the news.
“Okay so what’s the plan?” La asked with a clap of her hands, far too cheerful for the rather grim atmosphere around them.
Agni turned to face her with a grim expression, “Aside from what I just detailed? Simple, Vaatu. We need a spirit to hold these connections and to guide this group on their journey. Who better to do this than one of the spirits of balance himself? Besides, I think we’ve all seen enough of a world dominated by Raava.”
Tui nodded with determination, while La’s face curled into a shark-like grin. “Finally,” said La, “I’ve been waiting for this for years. Let’s break him out!”
“La!” Tui hissed, “A bit more discretion, please, we can’t let anyone know we’re doing this. The others will have our heads. They might not love Raava as much anymore, but there is no way they would allow us to release the spirit of darkness and chaos back into the world. So please, for the love of the realms, don’t go speaking our plan in such a loud voice!”
“Shhh, both of you! Don’t you see where we are?” Agni pushed between the fighting couple and pointed to a few yards away from where he had transported them. As usual, they had been too busy arguing to notice the change in scenery.
“Oh,” said La, pulling Tui close, “we’re here.”
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Vaatu hadn’t had visitors in a very long time. Centuries in fact. And why would he? History is written by the victors, and as such he was portrayed as a villain. Perhaps there is something to that, or course, and in retrospect he definitely should have been more thoughtful in his wording of certain things but was he really a villain deserving of this. No, he thought not. (“Yes,” his mind whispered, “You deserve this pain. You have failed. The world is drowning in blood, Raava cannot bring balance alone, yet you fought her plans at every turn. Perhaps if you had simply allowed her to have her way, you could have changed the outcome of this Raava made world.”) Despite all of this, he really wasn’t all that surprised to see his younger siblings standing before him. (Agni is so much taller now. He looks tired, it’s because of the war isn’t it. He shouldn’t have to try to wrangle the Fire Nation alone. Raava’s last avatar really did him no favors. Tui looks so determined, so much like Raava. She’s grown up so much since I last saw her. La looks older too. I always liked her, I’m glad she married into the family. She was such a funny kid. She looks so beaten down now. They all do.) Vaatu drew himself up and spoke, “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
Agni was the first to speak, “We have a proposition for you. Brother.”
Vaatu’s smile was all teeth at that.
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La wasn’t sure how to feel when Vaatu accepted their proposition right away. On the one hand it was good for their plan, but on the other… she didn’t know what was on the other. (He was leaving them again just like that? After almost twenty thousand years away from them over a petty fight with Raava he was leaving again? When would she get her brother in all but blood back? He was the reason she built up the courage to confess her feelings to Tui. He was the one who stood in for her nonexistent family at the wedding. He promised he’d try to be back soon. She never cared if that meant Raava would vanish for a few hundred years, not if she got to keep her family. Raava had been family once too. Yet Vaatu would leave them again so easily! She missed him.) It seemed like Vaatu was making a rash decision, but what could she do about it? They needed him to agree if they wanted the plan to work, so she would just have to put her emotion aside.
“We need to choose what mortals to bind together.” It was Agni who spoke, voicing the last part of the plan that they could put into action now. “Ideally they will be a mix of people from all the nations, some benders and some not.”
Tui nodded at that, “Yes, and I know you mentioned a few different ages, so how about we pick a number of souls, and choose mortals to fill that quota over time? Maybe we only choose one, right now.”
“So, like, eight?” La suggested, “Two from each nation.”
“No.” Vaatu interrupted, “The only remaining Air Nomad is Raava’s avatar, though there are some with air in their blood. I feel that to get a true spectrum of people, more than just eight are necessary. I suggest nine, plus Raava’s avatar, making ten in total.”
“Okay,” La begrudgingly agreed, “And how do you propose we decide what nation gets what number of mortals? In case you forgot, ten isn’t divisible by four.”
“Simple, three from the Fire Nation, three from the Water Tribes, and three from the Earth Kingdom. Then Raava’s avatar represents air. Or perhaps one of the ones from the Earth Kingdom could be of Air Nomad descent, there are a few nomad lines that are still alive, though they aren’t benders.”
“Alright,” Agni said, “Ten it is. Tui, I know we suggested we start with only one, as a bit of a trial run to work out some kinks. Do you have someone in mind?”
Tui smiled mischievously, “In fact I do.” With a snap of her fingers the four spirits now stood, invisible, in the Fire Nation royal palace. “Crown Prince Iroh is expecting an heir, though he and his wife haven’t realized it yet. I propose we make the little royal as our first chosen mortal. He is well situated to take control of Fire Nation politics after all.”
Agni took a step closer, a little surprised by his sister’s choice. “So you want to bless him? Wouldn’t that make him a waterbender?”
Tui laughed, “No brother, you’re going to bless him. We can’t have a waterbending Fire Nation royal, now, can we?”
Agni still looked uncertain, turning to La and Vaatu for support. La merely shrugged in a way that seemed to express her disinterest but was more likely intended to show support for Tui's plan. Vaatu spoke, saying, “I think Tui is right. The child will be well positioned for the future, and any strangeness that comes from being the first involved in this plan will likely be written off as a ‘sign from Agni’.”
Taking a deep breath Agni nodded and reached towards the pregnant princess to bless the child. At the same moment Vaatu began to pour a tenth of his essence into the unborn soul, pulling part of his connection to Raava in with it. La and Tui, meanwhile, were doing what they could to bind this unborn soul to that of the sleeping avatar, deep within La’s ocean. When it was done, they all breathed a sigh of relief and hoped that everything would go well.
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Raava felt the change in her twin’s essence. Not only that but she felt a change within the spirit of her own avatar. Was… was Vaatu doing something to her avatar? HE HAD NO RIGHT! She had won the world for these ten thousand years, and yes, it may have not been an entirely fair fight, but it wasn’t exactly cheating either. If anything, Vaatu was the one with an advantage, Wan had been just a puny mortal after all, he should have been easy to destroy. Vaatu never wanted to hurt mortals, she used to love that about him. When did that stop? But she had won. She had remade the world in her image, and she was not so blind to what it was becoming now. It was glorious. The Fire Nation would win the war and bring about a new era of light and order peace. The ends justify the means in this case. When did she start thinking like this? This is horrible. The war is horrible. Is it too late to stop thinking like this? (All she’s given up will be pointless if she stops now) She sounds like everything she hates. It’s almost a shame this avatar didn’t drown as she had intended, it would have been better for everyone. No, no, she’s glad little Aang is alive. She really is. No matter, if Vaatu really did do something to her avatar she'll soon discover it. She missed Vaatu. He can’t hide anything from her for long, after all, the light beats back all shadowy places eventually. The darkness can hide, but the light deceives (she deceives no one more than herself).
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Several months later Prince Lu Ten of the Fire Nation takes his first breath.