The Origin of Roh-Shan

Sarsero

This was all wrong. It was wrong because it was right. And that, should be wrong.

Maita's new bedroom was spacious, but there was only one bed.

Her mother's bedroom was beautiful, and had its own bathroom, a skylight, and a bed for two but only half of it used.

Her grandmother's bedroom was bare, uncluttered. It had no scrolls and clay figures and knick-knacks from half a century of collecting, none of the little familiar sculptures and stones she and Roh remembered from their childhood.

Their kitchen had so many more features than their old one, but there were three chairs instead of five.

All these things that should be there... things that weren't... it should feel wrong. But it didn't.

She was old enough now that she should have her own bedroom, instead of sharing everything with her twin sister. Everything about her old house drew her right back to the image of a circle of dark red blood spreading across her father's temple. The floor bloody. The roof busted open. And flames that spread to each item individually, like fifty tiny fires agreeing to destroy everything at the same exact time.

A strong bender could have subdued the flames, but there were only a few of those in all of Ren Haru. And besides, the flames aren't what took her father.

It felt good to recall her old memories as consumed in flames. They can't drag her down if they're just ash.

And everyone knows ash feeds the soil and provides nutrients for whatever is growing in the future. Everything in Sarsero was fresh and bright and new.

So yeah, she felt a little bit guilty for loving it.

She walked down rows and rows of beautiful houses, with happy families inside, lush green yards and stone-paved streets. To be honest, she truly was surprised that Suley delivered on his promise. Sure enough, each family got their stack of cash and new house.

There was a faint nagging thought in her head, but she ignored it, stepping up to a doorway. She knocked.

A man answered the door, gently bouncing a baby on his hip. Perfect.

Maita held up a flier to show him. "Good evening, sir! I'm sure you're looking for a new daycare with the new move. I hope you'll consider W- uh, Lopekao Daycare, family-run for five generations and counting, with weekend hours, our care and attention to each child outmatches other local daycares, and so do our prices!"

He smiled and accepted the flier. "Thanks! We'll consider it."

"Thank you, sir. Have a nice evening!"

"You as well!" He closed the door.

Most of her interactions were this brief, since everyone was still getting settled. And she had to get used to saying Lopekao Daycare. They've always been called West Ren Haru Daycare, but of course that doesn't work anymore, so they named it after their new street.

Maita had less luck finding families with children in the next few houses. When she crossed the street though, she struck gold. A tired-looking woman opened the door. Maita immediately noticed three small kids running around, two teenagers on the couch who definitely didn't care about the kids, another school-aged boy sitting at the table drawing something with an ink pen, at least one baby crying, and two toddlers screaming at each other. She also noticed how spacious the house was.

Maita held up the flier eagerly, giving her spiel.

"Thanks, but I'm home during the day to watch them."

Maita handed her the flier anyway with a smile. "Well I hope you'll consider us if you ever need a day off."

The woman hesitantly accepted the paper, and closed the door.

As Maita walked down the path towards the street, she heard someone land in the grass behind her. She spun quickly, and relaxed as soon as she realized who it was. She recognized him from school. "Dagon. Hey."

"Maita." He greeted politely.

"Were you... on the roof?"

"Yes."

"Oh! This is your family! I knew you and Kota had a lot of siblings. Sounds crazy in there."

"Speaking of..." He looked around the neighborhood quickly. Dusk had just passed, and people had just started to light their porch lanterns. Nobody was around.

"Right. I saw your sister two days ago, as we were leaving Ren Haru."

Dagon looked surprised. "Haven't seen her in almost a week. But I saw your sister two days ago."

"Where?"

"Police station. She was escaping."

Maita nodded, not surprised.

"Are they together?" He asked.

Maita's heart skipped for a second, wondering if he'd seen the kiss too, or if he'd known something even before that, but she quickly realized he meant their location. "Oh, um, I don't know. Kota was looking for Roh. I don't know if she found her."

Dagon lowered one eyebrow. "You're not concerned about where your sister is?"

"You don't seem overly concerned about yours."

"My sister didn't just undergo a massive personality change. Roh's always been a goody-two-shoes, hasn't she?" And considering he watched her gleefully bash someone's head in the other day, frankly he was more concerned about Roh.

Maita shrugged. "Sorta. Maybe less than you think. You might change too if your dad was murdered in front of you."

Dagon didn't have an immediate answer to that.

But Roh had been best friends with Kota long enough for Maita to pick up on what her father did to his kids. "Well, maybe not your dad--"

"Your dad?" Dagon cut her off with his next thought.

She hesitated, then nodded grimly. "Let's just say I'm glad to put Ren Haru behind us."

Dagon looked uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how to act around a grieving person, but Maita was just fine.

"Let me know if you guys need a daycare service." She started to turn away.

"Wait! I don't understand. Roh just... ran off after your dad died, and you don't even care?"

Maita turned back slowly to look him in the eyes.

"Well, I didn't mean you don't care, I just meant--"

"She's got stuff to do, a world to save or something. It starts when they're sixteen, right?"

Dagon frowned. "What starts when who's sixteen?"

"You don't know who she is, do you?" She hadn't meant to wield the upper hand over someone like Dagon, who always seemed so cool-and-collected. But admittedly, it did feel good.

"What do you mean?" His eyes were wide. He stepped forward and right out of his hard outer shell. Curiosity took over without him even realizing.

Maita stepped forward too, not wanting anyone to hear. "She's the Avatar." She whispered. She stepped back, and resumed her normal voice. "So I assume she's out doing whatever those people do, and I'm mostly sure Kota is helping her. Part of her "team", if you will. So no, I'm not really concerned. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you, either. I don't think they're coming home anytime soon."

Dagon's expression only betrayed that he was thinking hard. Calculating.

She casually backed down the yard. "Stop by if you hear anything, my address is on the flier." She turned and carried on to the next house, briefly catching sight of Dagon as he braced his foot on a window ledge and jumped back onto the roof.

She'd intentionally kept it a secret that Roh had killed those four cops, but Dagon had also kept secret that he'd seen her murder another one.

The next few houses were rejections, and Maita walked back down the perfect little streets full of happy families. That same nagging thought from earlier came back. Looking around the town, she definitely couldn't ignore it. Everything was so perfect, but...

Perfect is not sustainable.

~//~