Chapter Text
Once upon a time, an Avatar named Korra broke the connection with Raava's past incarnations and started a new cycle of Avatars. Korra was the first to open a portal between the human and spirit worlds. Since then, much has happened... Many things have changed, but sooner or later, the balance is lost, and the world awaits the next Avatar. However, what if the Avatar... is never found?
The road to the castle was not a straight highway, but a labyrinth, where the King's power was felt in every detail: in the wary silence of the alleys, in the graffiti of a crude crown on the walls, in the rare passers-by who hurried away with their eyes downcast. And also in his guards.
They came out onto a more or less wide street when two appeared from around the corner. Not the giants that had chased them before, but just as rough, in worn armor made of compressed earth. When they saw the group of strangers, they instantly became alert, their hands reaching for their batons.
Susie took a fighting stance without saying a word. The flames hadn't ignited on her fists yet, but it was only a matter of seconds. Her whole posture screamed, "Finally, something understandable!"
"Susie, no!" Ralsei stepped forward, trying to get between her and the guards. "We can just explain!"
But there was no need to explain. The guards, their eyes squinting, noticed Lancer, who jumped forward and waved at them happily. Their tense postures relaxed instantly. They bowed their heads in a casual but unmistakable gesture, not out of respect, but out of recognition of their status. Without a word, they turned and strode away, as if a group of four teenagers (one of whom was fuming with rage) were just part of the landscape.
The fight did not take place. The threat has dissipated. But the poison remained.
Ralzey turned to Susie, his face expressing not relief, but reproach.
— Susie, you can't solve all problems with your fists!
He waved his arms (paws?), and there was an unusual sharpness in the gesture.
Kris, watching from the sidelines, just folded his arms across his chest. He was a spectator in this performance.
"Why not?" Susie snapped, not fully straightening up. "They were the ones who attacked me first!"
"They're the guards! They're protecting the territory!" Ralsei's voice rose in frustration as he struggled to make sense of her actions. "And you... you just started attacking!"
"It wasn't just like that! It was self-defense!"
"Self-defense?!" Ralsei couldn't stand it anymore. He pointed back at the retreating market. "What about that 'nice' man behind the counter? Was that self-defense too? You were ready to burn him for pushing you!"
Susie rolled her eyes with such annoyance, as if she was trying to see her own brain.
“I was hungry,” she muttered to the side, as the weakest and most ridiculous excuse in history. She was distracted, unfolded the map, rubbing the top of her head. “Where are we going at all... This castle, damn...”
“Don’t get off the subject!” For the first time, Ralsei’s voice sounded real, not feigned severity. He took a step towards her, and there was a fire of conviction in his usually soft eyes. "It's important, Susie! Your power... That's not what she's for! A hero shouldn't...
He didn't finish his sentence.
Susie whirled around. Her movement was as swift as a whip. She didn't just look at him—she stared, and her pupils shrank back, turning her yellow eyes into two narrow, glowing slits in a dark tunnel of rage. She didn't scream. She spoke softly, but every sound was sharp as a blade, burning hotter than any flame.
"Listen, you little bitch."
She jabbed the rolled-up card into his chest, forcing him to take a step back.
"Shut up. Stop giving me your damned moral lectures. You've never lived here. You don't know how things work around here. There's no 'please' or 'sorry' here. It's either you or you don't exist. You're not my father! Don't you dare tell me what to do. Not ever."
Her words hung in the air, heavy and sharp. Kris, feeling the icy wave coming from her, instinctively stepped back even further. Ralsei froze. All his fervor, all his belief in dialogue and kindness, was shattered by this wall of absolute, cynical denial. His face was not filled with anger, but with something worse—confusion and fear. Fear not of her power, but of the realization that there was a chasm between their worlds that he could not bridge with words.
Lancer, standing to the side, was the only one who looked completely satisfied. He was staring at Susie with adoration, as if she were an erupting volcano.
Susie, her eyes fixed on Ralsei's white face, grabbed Lancer's arm and pulled him closer.
"You're a prince," she said, her voice returning to its usual rough tone, but this time it sounded like a condemnation. "You should know the way. Come with me."
She didn't even look at Kris. Grabbing Lancer with one hand and lifting him easily as if he were a kitten, she took a step back. Two jets of dazzling flame erupted from the soles of her boots with a short, furious roar. The explosive force propelled them both into the air. She deftly hooked her free hand onto the ledge, pulled herself up with a jerk, and disappeared onto the roof without a backward glance. A second later, all that could be heard was the sound of heavy footsteps retreating across the tiles.
—Susie! Wait a minute! Ralsei shouted into the void, but his voice, full of pain and helplessness, was lost in the echoing silence of the deserted street.
He slowly lowered his head, his shoulders hunched. The card she had poked at his chest landed on the dirty stone at his feet. The trio broke up before they could form properly. The Guide and the Air Mage were left standing among the strange walls, while the Fire Mage went off into the unknown with the Prince of Darkness to search for the ghost. The prophecy seemed like more than just a delusion; it was an evil, mocking joke.
Kris approached, picked up the map from the ground, dusted it off, and looked in the direction that Susie had disappeared.
"Well," he said without emotion. "Should we follow her?" Or do you have a scroll that tells you what to do when your heroes scatter?
The question hung in the air, and there was no answer to it in any of the ancient scrolls.
The silence after Susie's departure was thick and awkward. Ralsei walked forward almost mechanically, his gaze fixed on the dirty stones beneath his feet rather than the path. Kris walked alongside him, maintaining a respectful distance but never falling behind. He now had the castle map in his possession, rolled tightly in his hand.
"I don't understand," Ralsei began quietly, his voice sounding lost, like a child who had been lied to for the first time. "Why was she so angry? I was just clarifying... what she should know. She should be better. It's important for a hero..."
He was talking more to himself than to Kris, trying to put his confusion into words.
"It's easy," Kris said, matching his step. His voice was calm, analytical, and non-judgmental. "You tried not to clarify. You tried to impose your opinion. You tried to tell her how to live her life."
Ralsei looked up at him, his big eyes full of genuine bewilderment.
"But I wanted to help! To keep her from hurting herself and others! Is that wrong?"
"It's not wrong. It's just... inappropriate," Kris shrugged. "Ralsei, we're teenagers. Look at us. Look at her. You came here with a lofty idea of heroes and destiny, but she lives here in this shit, where every day is a struggle. Her "should" was to survive, not to live up to some ancient scroll's ideals. She didn't like you, a stranger, lecturing her like you knew her life better than she did.
Ralsei froze for a moment, digesting the words. Then he rubbed his neck, his ears drooping.
"Oh. Yes... you're right. I hadn't thought of that. I was blind." He looked at Krist, guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Kris snorted, but not unkindly. "You'd better apologize to Susie. Unless she burns you at the stake when we find her."
He glanced to the side, scanning the intersection. His gaze swept across the dark, narrow passage between two dilapidated buildings. And there, in the depths, where even the daylight struggled to penetrate through the web of ropes and old debris, something glimmered.
Two points of light. Red. Not reflections—they glowed from within, a steady, unfriendly radiance, like smoldering embers. They were at human height and they were looking straight at him.
Kris felt a chill run down his back. They weren't animal eyes. They had a sense of awareness. Of observation.
He took a step towards the alley, trying not to make a sudden movement. The eyes didn't blink. They just hung there in the darkness, unmoving. Kris narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the shape of the figure, but there was nothing but those two blood-red dots. Just a dense, almost tangible shadow.
And in the next moment, they were just... gone. Not retreating, not hiding—disappearing as if they had never been there. The dark passage was just a dark passage again.
“Are you all right?” Ralsei asked worriedly, noticing that Kris had gone still. He moved closer, following his gaze.
Kris slowly let out a breath, forcing his muscles to relax. He didn’t know what it was. A spirit? No, the Mock had a different, more chaotic energy. One of the King's men? Perhaps. But those eyes... There was something inhuman about them. Something old.
He turned to Ralsei, hoping his face didn't give anything away.
"Yes," he said, too quickly. "Let's keep moving. Everything's fine. It was just a feeling."
But he took one last, quick look down that alley before he set off. "Normal" was far from the truth. In addition to the spirit, the angry Susie, the vengeful guards, and the mysterious King, there seemed to be something else in the area. Something that was just watching. And that "something" had just noticed them.
He gripped the map in his hand tighter. Their goal was no longer just to catch up with Susie. It had to be done quickly, before the shadows in the alleyways decided to take a more active interest.
(To be continued...)