章節 91: Chapter 91 - The Talk
When Seras got back to her room, she wanted to goto sleep. However, there was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind telling her she is missing something. Even after a few minutes it doesn't go away, so she can't embrace that sweet feeling she desires.
"Ugh! Whatever, I'll just go to the Oasis now so I can collect my winnings." She phases through the floor.
In another part of the city, a cloaked figure was moving between the shadowy parts of the buildings. He was very silent and made sure to blend into his surroundings. When a small group of soldiers pass the alley it is in, he gives an annoyed sigh.
"Tch! It's much more troublesome than I thought to get to the Spirit Oasis." He looks up to find that he is very close to the palace.
'Although, all heroes have to go through their share of troubles.' He grins evilly as he once again moves forward.
The time between Seras leaving from the cell to her leaving her room, was only a few minutes. Katara just got to Aang and Sokka's room where she heard her brother Snoring. Aang was looking out the large window at the full moon.
He was too deep in thought to hear the door open so Katara saw the full look of a young boy who lost his home and has witnessed much death.
'Oh Aang...' she walks next to him.
"Katara?" He looks at her.
"....What are you thinking about?"
"....things...." he once again looks out the window.
"Is it about Seras?" When he doesn't answer, she continues.
"The deaths?" A tremble is her reply.
"....do you want to talk about it?"
"....I don't even know where to begin." He gives a large sigh.
"Then let's start with how you're feeling."
"I feel sad that all those people died. Angry that someone I consider a friend would be the one responsible. Guilty that I'm the cause of the war to begin with!" His voice raised with every sentence to the point that he was yelling at the end.
Katara stared at him with worry which made him take a breath. He leans against the wall and slides down with a sad look.
"I just feel so powerless....I thought that things didn't change much from when I was frozen, but it's like the entire world changed without me...I'm overwhelmed by it all."
"...." Katara sits down next to him and rubs his back.
Aang blushes for an instant but let's Katara continue. It's soothing for him and he soon closes his eyes.
Katara almost giggles as she watches him begin sleeping because he is still sitting against the wall. She picks him up and places him in his bed before heading to hers.
'Thankfully I did most of the chores in the village. Aang is really light.....but seemed fit as well.' She blushes before pulling the covers over her face.
In the spirit oasis, a shadow appears unnaturally from the ground and a figure appears out of it. Seras didn't have her usual smirk because of exhaustion.
"I'm here to collect my winnings." Her statement was met with silence for a few seconds before the two spirits turn into their human forms.
They had annoyed looks but they held their tongue. The two walk out of the pond and step closer to Seras. The Moon Spirit spoke first.
"Despite our feelings against you, we thank you for saving us and the Water Tribe." Seras was about to reply when the Water Spirit did so before her.
"However! We will not give you our blood." His tone was filled with derision.
Her eyes became cold.
"Why?" Her question filled the spirits with some fear but both shrugged it off.
"Because you didn't hold up your end of it." The Water Spirit waved his hand and a screen appeared from thin air.
Seras didn't understand what he was doing until an image appeared on the screen that was floating in mid-air. It was Zhao, in the palace hiding in dark corners all the while having a malicious grin.
"See? Someone entered the palace! You failed." The derisive spirit explained with unhidden glee.
The two spirits watch as Seras' cold eyes begin to fill with mirth until they become filled with laughter. She also voices such emotion making them very confused.
"What are you laughing about? You lost the bet and now you did everything for nothing!"
"Hahaha...you fools." She puts her right hand over her mouth while laughing.
""What!?"" Both yell in sync.
"Have you lived your lives for so long with not a single ounce of intelligence to show for it? If you remember, I said not a single 'Soldier' will set foot within the palace. That....thing is an admiral."
"You-!" Before the water spirit could continue, the moon spirit held out its hand.
"She's right. Although they are from the same nation, a soldier and an admiral are different. It was our negligence to not think about such a detail."
A few seconds of silence pass and the water spirit seems to deflate before clicking his teeth in annoyance.
"Fine....but know this, girl. I'll tell the other spirits about your conning ways and none of them will ever enter into a bet with you."
"Heh, that's fine with me. Nobody can stop me from getting what I want." She smiles derisively making the Water Spirit angrier.
"Now that that is settled, we shall hand over your winnings." The moon spirit held out his wrist but before he could cut it, Seras stopped him.
"Wait, your blood is precious so I need to put it in a better container." As she says this, 4 wine bottles are produced from her inventory.
"...." neither spirit says anything as each fill two bottles completely.
The Water Spirit returns to its fish form while the other stays in its human form. It gives Seras, who is looking at he bottles with unmeasurable happiness, a stare before opening its mouth.
"The Mother of Faces has spoken to me and she wishes I pass on a message."
"Oh?" She looks at it in surprise.
"The words she spoke to as such: 'your actions thus far have changed the future. However, take solace in the fact that the general direction remains the same. If you stop now, things will be different, but if you continue, you will find what you seek.' That is all." The moon spirit gives a nod before returning to the Oasis in its fish form.
It says one last thing before it fully does its transformation.
"Also, you may bring the princess here in a week. I need to prepare before I can take my life force back from her."
'Hmm....I thought the same, but why is she giving me such preferential treatment? From what I remember she was a spirit that is strictly give and take. Equivalent exchange is her motto....' Seras thinks for a few more minutes but soon she yawns and feels extreme exhaustion hit her.
'I'll think more on this later, I need sleep.' She phases into the ground.
As Seras went to bed, in another part of the world, Zuko woke up to find Iroh by his bed playing Pai go by himself. The elderly man noticed his nephew's wakening and grinned before pouring a cup of tea for the boy.
"It seems you have many questions. Come, tea always soothes a confused mind." He gestures to the seat and Zuko does so.
After he takes a sip, Zuko looks at his uncle with a complicated look.
"Uncle."
"Hmm?"
"I wish to send a message to my father."
"Pfft! What!?" Iroh spits his tea onto Zuko's face making the prince angry.
He grabs a towel and wipes his face while frowning as Iroh calms down.
"What do you wish to say? I'll send it with my seal."
"Uncle." Zuko was touched because Iroh is only allowed to use the seal a total of 3 times after his banishment.
He already used it once to send the message about Seras. And now he is using it a second time just for him.
"Haha, what's the point of having it if I can't use it for my family?"
"...thank you." A few tears fall.
"It's nothing. Now, what did you want to send?" He pats his nephew's shoulder.
"I wish to tell him all about what happened to the soldiers and my situation for the past weeks."
"....Why?"
"I need to know." Zuko was vague but Iroh still nodded in acceptance.
"Very well, let's write it out now." Iroh grabs a brush and scroll before giving it to Zuko.
Zuko spends a long time writing the message and soon they send it on its way to the palace. After doing so, Zuko goes back to bed and Iroh stays on the upper deck while looking at the bright moon above him.
'I have a few questions myself for you, but your son deserves his answered more. I hope you don't make the wrong choice, Ozai.'
As the flag ship was sailing with the remaining ships, one on the outer edge was behaving quite strange. If anyone was closer to it, they would be able to hear explosion sounds and the unmistakable sound of objects falling into the water.
In a few minutes, the sounds die down and a lone figure was left on the ship. The man was Captain Li, huffing like he was out of breath.
"Those morons! I only wanted to send a message but they kept following that idiots orders! Thankfully the helmsman and a few others weren't as stupid as them or I wouldn't be able to sail this ship myself!" He yells but soon calms down and gets back to the task at hand.
'I need to send this message to the princess immediately. Thankfully she gave me this special messenger bird that only goes to her.' He goes to a cage and attaches a small scroll to it.
When he lets the bird out, he sighs in relief because his part is done.
'All I can do is wait for her reply and hope I haven't thrown my eggs in the wrong basket.'
"What have I gotten myself into?" He complains once again before heading to bed.
The next morning, Seras was woken up by knocking and her eyes snapped open with a dangerous look.
'I haven't slept for 4 motherfucking days! If there isn't a cataclysmic event, then I will kill whoever is behind that door!' More dark thoughts enter her mind when she hears Katara's voice.
"Seras? The Chief invited us to breakfast and he wanted you there too."
"....I'll be there." She sighs before replying with a groan.
'I can't get mad at her....'
"Ok!" Katara's voice immediately became happier as she walks away.
In a few minutes, Seras was done getting ready and she heads to the banquet hall where they held the feast. However this time, only Arnook, Pakku, Yue, Hanna, and Kahn were there along with the gang. Katara waves Seras over with delight, Sokka was busy stuffing his face, and Aang was just moving his fork back and forth.
When Seras arrived, Arnook stood up which was followed by his family and Pakku.
"Ms. Victoria, thank you for coming. I'm sorry that I disturbed your rest."
"It's ok, I'm basically recovered anyway." She sits down while saying this.
"That's good. The main reason I asked for you was because we captured a man who was in the palace. He claimed to be the Admiral in charge of the invasion but we had no way of verifying it."
"Large sideburns?"
"Uh, yes."
"Angry scowl?"
"Yes?"
"Holier than thou attitude?" As she asked this, Yue giggled.
"Yes to that too." He gives a small smile.
"That's him then. Can't fake it." Seras shrugs and starts to eat her meal.
The princess and her mother giggle along with Katara as Sokka and Aang have an uncomfortable look. Seras saw this and knew she needed to do something about it.
'I need to deal with Aang first, Sokka needs more time.'
After breakfast, the northern water tribesmen left the gang on their own and before Aang could leave, Seras steps in front of him.
"We need to talk."
".....ok." He nods with some fear.
Seras leads him to her room, all the while neither speak a word. Katara originally wanted to go with them, but Seras shook her head in denial. When they got to their destination, they sat opposite to each other.
After a few awkward minutes of silence, Aang opens his mouth.
"So~-"
"Ask me." Seras interrupts him.
"What?"
"You obviously have many questions about what has happened yesterday. So, ask me. Only by talking about it can we move past this."
"....." Aang goes silent.
Seras what's another few minutes as she watches the boy clench his hands and his face morphs from sadness, to confusion, to anger, and it repeats until he opens his mouth.
"Why do you seem so unaffected by the deaths you have caused?"
"Because I am a monster." She states immediately making the airbender's mouth go slack.
"Huh?"
"A monster. A being that can only be described as evil or disgusting. Their very existence strikes fear into the hearts of many."
"....but all those people! They were humans! People with children, with wives and husbands! They shouldn't have been killed like that!" His anger finally revealed itself.
"And that is my burden to bear. My actions have caused the deaths of thousands. If I wasn't here, you would have been the one to do it." When she drops that bombshell, Aang immediately denied it.
"No way! I'm a pacifist! I would never do such a thing!"
"Not consciously." She shrugs nonchalantly.
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
"Originally, Zhao kills the Moon Spirit and you enter the Avatar State. You merge with the water spirit temporarily to become a large beast made of water. You go around the tribe and kill every single fire bender by drowning them."
".....th-that can't be true! I wouldn't...it's not true! I wouldn't do such an evil thing!"
"Evil?" She laughs incredulously while realizing what the problem is.
"Yes! Evil!"
"Then what should you have done? Sat them down and have some tea?" After asking that she pounds the table between them.
"Your Naïveté truly astounds me! Even a child realizes that you can't speak when someone is trying to kill you!" After yelling this she sees Aang look down in sadness.
Seras gives a large sigh as she calms down.
"Aang." Her tone was gentle.
"Do you view the world as black and white?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do good things only happen if good people cause them? Do bad things happen because bad people do them?"
"Isn't that so?" His head tilts.
"No. The world is rarely ever so clean cut."
創作者的想法 
crazy1324
crazy1324 I don’t own Avatar or any of its characters. However what I do own is this version of seras and the Alternate reality she creates by being there. Yes, that’s all mine....ALL OF IT!
I originally wanted to post a chapter earlier in the week but I realized the chapters I wrote were too long. So I condensed three into one and this is it. However due to that, it seems rushed. So, If anyone has any questions please ask.
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