55: Family meeting.
"Looks like you've been displaced this time, Vice Admiral Zhao," a voice whispered in Zhao's head as he watched in annoyance as the Southern Water Tribe people gathered around the supposed Avatar.
When he awoke from his deep meditation, he realized that they had left without him to meet such a transcendental figure, not even bothering to wait for him or leave a letter of warning.
So imagine his surprise when, after a rather psychedelic and enlightening journey, his spirit returned to his body to find that the goal of his mission had already been accomplished, but without his direct participation.
This was a hard blow to him, someone who sought fame. He wanted his name to be in the group of people who met the Avatar for the first time in 100 years, and even to be among the first to have contact with that person.
But no, no one bothered to consider him; in fact, he had long felt like an afterthought, someone who was only there in the background to aggrandize the supposedly 'important' figures in this mission.
No, he was less than that; he was just the driver who brought them to the South Pole, and no one bothered to tell the driver the important things. Zhao, being someone extremely arrogant and careerist, was brushed aside in this way, causing what little hesitation there might have been in him to be consumed by the growing darkness.
Yes, darkness. Though his spirits were low as he watched people toss the so-called Avatar Aang through the air, his body felt quite good, full of power and energy.
Being empowered with dark spiritual energy directly from Vaatu is an advantage few beings can have. Zhao felt invincible at that moment, but Vaatu's cold voice in his head brought him back to reality.
"You are nothing compared to the Avatar." Those words were like a bucket of cold water to Zhao, but he could understand why in no time.
With his new power, he could sense the extraordinary power in the Avatar, who was filled with a spiritual energy that was, of course, quite pure and soothing to others. For Zhao, Aang was like a torch near his eyes, uncomfortable to perceive.
'Aren't you afraid that he will perceive you?' Zhao thought, knowing that due to his current connection with Vaatu, Vaatu could perceive his thoughts and communicate a response.
"No, even Shisui's strange eyes can't sense me if I want them to. Just don't act in front of them and you'll be fine," Vaatu replied, making Zhao remember the things this spirit had told him.
Many spiritual beings had noticed the strange behavior of Shisui's eyes and easily deduced that it was an ability to perceive the aura, something that was not very common, but not rare either, since there had been people with such a gift throughout history.
Sure, no one knew the depths of Shisui's ability, but they could always take some precautions, couldn't they? So, Vaatu had made sure that the dark energy that had been implanted in his current dependents was not visible to normal aura vision; unless they were acting blatantly in front of Shisui, Vaatu assumed that Shisui wouldn't notice.
Only Vaatu, in his immense power, ignored an insignificant detail: he assumed that Shisui's ability was the normal aura vision that normally appeared in human history.
Shisui himself did not even know the depths of this ability, despite having it for two lifetimes, but he had developed it enough that when Zhao approached the crowd, Shisui was able to discern something.
To Shisui, Zhao's aura was unusually organized, unlike the normal state of human aura; this strange organization looked artificial, bizarre. In addition to the recent appearance of a dark spirit, Shisui simply smiled on his lips.
'What are you hiding, Zhao?' Shisui thought, but otherwise he paid no attention to the man, knowing that like snakes, this one would choose to remain hidden until he felt it was time to strike.
Shisui memorized the phases of the moon and knew that tonight was a full moon, so he was ready to enter the spirit world to talk to his mother.
What he didn't expect was that when he entered the spirit world, things would get even stranger than usual. He was not in the usual place where he always landed when he arrived in this world, but he was in what seemed to be the territory of a spirit.
He was on a beach, the waves pushing the sea water, darkened by the lack of sunlight, with only a huge full moon hanging in the sky. A dark sky full of stars greeted him, making the atmosphere a bit gloomy.
But instead of feeling fear or panic, he felt at peace, as if he were at home. He didn't know why, but it seemed like he was born to be here, and this place was as familiar to him as home. But as he came to this conclusion, a voice came from behind him.
"This is the home of all Waterbenders," a rather soft and sweet female voice said, but Shisui, always alert, quickly turned around, but was quite surprised to see the person in front of him.
A tall, dark-skinned woman with blue eyes, the characteristic features of the Water Tribes at the poles. But the most striking thing about the woman was her lush white hair, not gray like the elders, but a pure white that seemed to emit its glow, a brightness that resembled the moon.
Not to be outdone, the person in front of Shisui was Yue. he recognized her not only from the paintings he had seen of this woman, but also from the series he had seen in his past life, but his surprise was not that.
What surprised him was that Yue was standing next to Chang'e, his mother. Both women looked harmonious standing together, and when Shisui looked closer, he noticed that both his mother and Yue looked quite similar.
'Don't tell me...' As if Shisui's thoughts were reflected on his face, Yue covered her face and giggled slightly.
"Looks like my Little Bunny got the message," Chang'e said, making Shisui feel a little embarrassed at the way his mother called him.
"A smart boy, no doubt, he deserves to be your son, big sister," Yue said, finally confirming Shisui's thoughts.
Yue was his aunt! His mother was the royalty of the North Pole! He was a damn prince! Shisui, feeling surprised for the first time in a long time, just sat on the sand and looked at his mother and aunt without saying anything.
"Has the mouse eaten your tongue? Say something!" Yue, who wasn't very familiar with Shisui, walked over to him and leaned down, urging him to say something.
"I never thought I had a good origin, I always thought my mother was a 'pole farmer', imagine the surprise of those bastards..." Shisui mumbled, remembering some bad things that had happened when he was a child.
"Looks like you didn't have as good a time as those rumors about you make it seem." Yue felt a little uncomfortable as she understood the implications of Shisui's words, but Shisui refused.
"No, those guys are just a minority of losers," Shisui, showing his adaptability, quickly found the good side of this situation.
"You were telling me... this is the home of all Waterbenders?" asked Shisui, who stood up and looked around.
"This is the territory of the Ocean and Moon Spirits, when they still resided in the spirit world," Yue said, pointing to the giant moon in the sky.
"The gifts of Waterbending originated here and were given to the humans who had affinity to them, before a certain cataclysm caused the humans to isolate themselves in four special places, where they had to hand over their gifts to four special guardians." Yue didn't delve too deeply into the history of the past, but from the knowledge he knew, Shisui was able to put together a small timeline.
Before humans lived in the Lion Turtle, humans were like this time, born with an element, but it seemed that the way they operated was different.
Shisui noted the 'affinity to', that is, affinity to an element. Who knows if in ancient times, when there were so few people compared to today, all or the vast majority of people were attuned to a particular element.
To some extent, that would explain what happened in the Legend of Korra, with the awakening of so many Airbenders; they were akin to that element, they were not necessarily descendants of Airbenders like Avatar Aang's son, Bumi.
In that case, this phenomenon could be a natural occurrence from that distant past. Then maybe Vaatu won back then for X reason? Who knows, but humans had to live isolated from the world on the back of the lion turtle.
Then the elemental system changed, and you needed the permission of the 'Guardians' to use an element. Until the arrival of Avatar Wan, the first of all, who overturned that system and led to what is happening today.
After thinking about all this in a few seconds, an idea came to Shisui's mind, but it would have to be implemented step by step in the future. But for now, he didn't want to think about plans, ideas, or big goals.
"So, tell me about yourself," Shisui said, making Yue smile at him.
"Only if you tell me the truth out of so many rumors, is it true that you rode a 100-meter-long water dragon?" Yue asked with some childish interest in her eyes, while Chang'e sighed heavily.
"I will never understand where so many crazy rumors about my son come from, even in the spirit world, some strange stories have started to spread," Chang'e commented, making Shisui curious about what kind of gossip was spreading in the spirit world.
But since he had to answer his aunt first, as strange as it might sound to think of such a young woman as his closest relative, Shisui began to tell Yue his life story, although she was constantly interrupted by her asking him strange questions, always related to some rumor.
"No, Auntie, I can't see the future from puddles of water..." Shisui answered one of Yue's strange questions for the hundredth time, and for the first time, Shisui felt the same tiredness as Azulon in the past when he asked him so many questions.
"But you know that Waterbending technique that allows Waterbenders to see places with water, right?" asked Yue with a raised eyebrow, causing Shisui and Chang'e to look at her questioningly.
"Is such a thing even possible?" asked Chang'e, causing Yue to nod.
"Well, I guess it's something I can do because of the essence sharing with the Moon Spirit, but I can see distant people or places with water, but I have to know them first.
Before, I couldn't see my nephew because I didn't know him personally, but now that I even know his past, I can observe him, hehe". Yue's last laugh made Shisui shiver, and remembering what would happen when he came out of his deep meditation tonight, he felt that he should give Yue a warning.
"The time difference between us is quite large; when it's daytime at the South Pole, it's nighttime for you, and vice versa. You know, I meditate at night and I have a fiancée..." Shisui stopped explaining when he saw the strange looks Yue and Chang'e gave him.
"What did you say you did at night with your fiancée, Little Bunny?" Chang'e asked sternly, causing Shisui's neck to shrink, although a smile appeared on his face.
This kind of situation had never happened to him in this life, so although he was embarrassed, he was happy to interact with his mother. But it was Yue's words that made him want to drown in the nearby sea.
"You have touched the concept of 'Life', be careful, normal contraceptives are no longer useful for your 'Vital essence', maybe you will be a grandmother in the future, big sister," Yue finally burst out laughing, especially because of the face Shisui made the moment he heard those words.