Element Academy: The Light of the Avatar

Light...Page

It's like a dream-nightmare, a horribly twisted and unexpected one at that.

Gone. That's the word she used in her head every second Crystal and the others came to mind.

Now it's more like surprising. One second the air is thick with grief and shock, and then the next awe took the place of grief.

Bits of rubble roll down the pile, the sound and sight catching everyone's attention.

"What was that?" Page asks, wiping her eyes and turning back toward the debris. She knows she heard something moving.

Suddenly, a boom fills the air causing everyone to take cover. A dust cloud erupts into the air.

Just as quickly, a gust of wind bursts forth, shoving the wind and more rubble out. Page's dad tightens his hold on Page in attempts to protect her from the bits of rock that fly their way.

Hovering in a rushing sphere of air just above the pile are Crystal and a slightly panicking Mahoney and Jake. Crystal lifts her arms slightly causing the sphere to slowly lower the trio. Once they are mere inches from the debris, the sphere lets them go.

Mahoney and Jake slam down with heavy thuds, while Crystal lands gracefully on her feet . Her eyes are glowing bright blue with such a serious expression on. Her face suddenly relaxes and the light fades from her eyes as she closes them. Her body sways and she begins to fall.

"Crystal!" Mahoney reaches out and catches her before her head can hit the debris.

"Avatar!" Benders rush to the trios' sides.

Jacob comes up behind Page. "Come on, we have to find a way down from here."

Page continues to stare wide-eyed at her friend's unconscious form. Crystal has never stayed out for this long. Why would she be this tired?

Her eyes widen. Wait, did she have to go into that state more than once in such a small span of time?!

Page jumps to her feet, noticing a broken pipe spitting out water below. She bends it up and over, forming an ice slide down to the end of the debris pile.

"Come on." She jumps down, shivering at the chill of the ice as she goes but otherwise landing at the end unharmed. 

"I'm with her," Talula remarks before following after Page.

"We should take her back to Sterling Tower to get the help she needs. Once she gets better, we should talk about what to do next."

Jake looks down at Crystal being held in Mahoney's arms. "Just tell me this is all over, please."

"It will be once we track down Nathan and Jane, and all of the cameras they had positioned here," Talula answers. Her fists are clenched and trembling. "Listen up! I want all the bodies found, every camera found destroyed, anyone still alive arrested, and this place needs to be cleaned up and searched through. I want answers, we owe that to Crystal. So let's get going!"

Page elects to go with Crystal and the others back to Sterling Towers, while Talula stays back to help comb through the warehouse. Talula didn't have much time to go into details, but to think this whole thing was a setup to capture bending and the Avatar on camera.

It sounds like something bigger was going on. She can only hope that whatever it was, they beat them and that it's all over now. Now Crystal can finally rest easy about everyone's safety, and more importantly, they all can do the same in regards to her.

"She's going to be fine," Mr. Nagoya's private doctor declares after entering the full living room. "To put it simply, she's suffering from fatigue. A day or two of rest and she should be good as new."

A round of sighs rises up all around. She's going to be fine. It's the best news any of them have heard all day. No more worrying, just recovering and enjoying what's left of the summer. Who could ask for a better way to end this whole nightmare?

...

"No deaths reported for the Benders, but several injuries. Nagoya-Kirito has his men working on the warehouse side of things and peace talks are underway between the school and the Underground.

Despite it all, Nathan's plans of ruining the world only seemed to make things better for the Bending world. Not to say that Crystal didn't play a large role in everything. Seeing a child at the receiving end of a gun then getting kidnapped so none of them got hurt really helped turn the tides in the whole situation. Looks like the light of the Avatar really did pierce through the darkness of hate and war..." A smile. The tapping of computer keys. "How interesting..."