The Avatar's Master

27. Guided by Spirits

The librarian and teenagers moved the large table where they were researching the macabre aside, and pulled away the rug underneath it to reveal a symbol painted on the floor with five points.

"Republic City is a now soft place between worlds, the spirit portal offering only a definite passageway to the beyond," the librarian began. He was focused in manner and spirit.

The teenagers and Mako and Bolin stood around with candles and the redhead, a firebender, came around and lit them before returning back to her spot. Bolin was visibly spooked by the whole affair, but he toughened up to support his buddy Korra, who had been positioned in the center.

"How are you able to do this? Who are you?" Korra found herself wavering.

"I was a professor of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University until after Harmonic Convergence, when I relocated to Republic City." The librarian splashed scented oil and water on the Avatar. "By an ancient order, I'm duty bound to protect this realm, and my charge. In essence, I'm a seer."

"What's that? Your charge?" Korra should have asked these questions before promptly jumping headlong into an exorcism.

"He's an earthbender with subtler powers," the firebending teenager said.

Meantime, wolfspirit boy remained taciturn, an almost Zenlike calm keeping him grounded.

Korra and the brothers wondered what subtler powers meant, especially Bolin, an earthbender himself.

"It means I can feel soft spaces between realms, and I can create pockets of worlds to hide or store things in, including – theoretically – dark spirits." The librarian cleared his throat, pointed at the symbol on the floor. "the four points at the side represent the four elements – earth, air, fire, water. The fifth point is spirit; sometimes we see it represented as metal. We will focus on that point to exercise Vaatu."

"Then it'll be like stuffing Vaatu under a rug, kinda like this symbol?" Mako said.

"So to speak, yes," the librarian confirmed.

"I have an idea of what you're going to say next," Korra began. She was the Avatar long enough to see it coming. "I must exercise Vaatu myself."

The librarian nodded. "Indeed, and I will create a pocket for you to send him to. No one here is nearly powerful enough to siphon Vaatu out of you, your reflexes alone could trigger the Avatar state and destroy the building. You're like an unstable ticking time bomb -- your spiritual energy is all over the place."

"What does that mean?" Korra said.

"Your spiritual defense weakens the sicker you become in mind and body. And it creates a feedback loop, a self-fulfilling prophecy. It can be quite dangerous for someone as powerful as you."

"How human," wolfboy said. "Well, except for all that epic Avatar stuff."

The librarian nodded. "As above, so below."

"As within, so without," Korra found herself saying. She shuddered at the thought of what was within her.

"Let's begin before the candles melt," the Librarian said.

Everyone in the room steadied themselves for the ritual, and the librarian took slow, powerful breaths, performing an earthbending style that none of Team Avatar recognized, though its movements seemed to blend air and earth forms. The librarian spoke as he moved.

"In the beginning, there was chaos, oneness. The elements separated, heavy material falling to create the earth and lighter, subtler elements floating above to create sky."