"What were you planning, Father? Did you plan to live another twenty years and remain king until your death? To deny me the throne that should have been mine decades ago? Or were you simply going to cling to it and never allow me to achieve what you've always denied me?" Zhuge asked, spear in hand, moving slowly forward as he adjusted his stance.
"If you were even a third as good at governing as I am, I would have handed the position over to you long ago. But you'll just be a puppet for those greedy nobles who only think of themselves," replied Bumi as he chewed the sweet crystal, savoring its flavor.
"Excuses! How could I have allied myself with you if you'd deigned to be there for me? To give me advice? What if I'm not as good as you? Haven't you lived this long? You could have advised me during my reign!" Zhuge was angry at his father's words. As if reacting to his emotions, the strange glow around Zhuge's face intensified.
"But you never trusted me! You never advised me. You just looked at me with that same disappointed expression, shaking your head silently, hoping I would understand. What do you think, Father? I didn't understand a thing! No one explained what I was supposed to understand!" The prince shouted, his emotions overflowing and raw. That ominous glow intensified.
Unbeknownst to Zhuge, a small wrinkle appeared on his rejuvenated face. He was unable to see himself, literally and metaphorically. His inability to recognize or assess himself stemmed entirely from what he considered to be his father, King Bumi's, poor parenting.
"Zhuge, have you forgotten all the times I gave you advice and warnings about your lifestyle? Don't you remember when I pulled you aside to scold you for your bad attitudes without embarrassing you in front of your friends?
Or do you simply remember what pleases you, making you comfortable with the fact that you've sunk to the bottom all on your own because of the many mistakes you've made throughout your life?" Bumi's words made Zhuge look at him in disbelief. He couldn't believe what his father was saying.
Weren't those the moments he hated so much as a young man, when his father 'meddled in his life' and 'insisted on things that annoyed him'? Zhuge tried to recall his father's words, but in every memory, he only felt annoyance, stubbornness, and arrogance.
'I'm a grown man. Why should I listen to you?' 'Smoking this weed is good for me. My friends do it. Why is this old man bugging me about not doing it?' 'That girl is so hot! Who cares if she's already slept with all my friends? I want to fuck her! Marriage? When I'm king, I'll have a harem of beauties!'
He remembered the frivolous thoughts he had when his father scolded him. His father had explained things to him, but he hadn't listened and had dismissed them entirely.
But even knowing that, those negative feelings wouldn't just disappear. He had already made up his mind. He had made a grave decision that had driven him to this point. He was now pointing a spear made of rock, compacted by earthbending, at his father.
It was a technique that Bumi had personally taught his son while training him in the art of manipulating the earth element. Now, here he was in his father's room pointing a weapon at him, using what he had learned for his own benefit.
Zhuge's face contorted as he thought about all this, and another wrinkle appeared on his young skin. His mind searched for an excuse, something that wouldn't leave him feeling empty and directionless.
"If your mother were here, she'd hug you and cry, blaming me for everything. She loved you so much. She overprotected you. She spoiled you. She rejected all the discipline I tried to teach you. But deep down, I know she only did it out of love, not malice. If there was anyone she hated, it would be me," said Bumi in a serious tone, his voice breaking as he spoke.
"Don't drag Mom into this! It's not her fault! It's all your fault! YOURS!" Yes... You're the cause of all my suffering, Father. Today, I've come to settle this." Zhuge smiled maliciously. The glow around his face intensified as he shifted into attack mode.
"Die, Father!" the prince shouted as he used earthbending to slide forward, spear raised, aiming for Bumi's heart. However, this king wasn't going to go down without a fight. He stomped the ground, thereby regaining control of the crystals he had recently summoned using earthbending.
Two enormous crystal spikes shot up on either side of Zhuge's intended path. They extended toward him, their sharp tips threatening to impale him. But the prince merely waved a hand. The ground transformed into sand, surrounding him and cushioning the stabs. This allowed him to press forward.
The royal chamber where Bumi slept was enormous, larger than the home of an average person, built entirely for the king's comfort. Because of this, even though they were speaking to one another, the distance between father and son was considerable.
But that was nothing a martial artist, an Earthbender, no less, couldn't overcome in a short period of time. No matter how many obstacles the king placed in his path or how many projectiles he fired at him, the prince kept advancing. He was determined to take his father's life and claim his rightful place, along with all the benefits he had longed for since he was young.
Bumi had to admit it. Seeing the determination in his son's eyes, even though it was to end his life, gave him a hint of relief. He had always seen how easily his son was influenced by others.
Zhuge rarely did things because he truly desired them; rather, he had been taught or guided to do them. This applied to his friends, the nobles, and the women he had slept with.
Zhuge was the least Earthbender-like Earthbender he had ever met. Perhaps that was why he was exceptionally skilled at manipulating sand, which was fluid like him, rather than stone, the usual object of Earthbenders' manipulation.
His mother had taught him this technique since she belonged to one of the desert tribes that depended on this ability to survive in their hostile environment.
Bumi then set out to confront Zhuge, even though he didn't like the idea. However, the difference in physical vitality was apparent and something the king's experience couldn't overcome.
The crucial battle between father and son was about to reach its climax!
...
Meanwhile, Koh was enjoying its own feast. It tore the faces off of every human it encountered in the castle, leaving them as mere shells of what they once were. They were unable to do anything to stop it.
It had approached human settlements before, but this was the first time it could wield its power so freely and without fear.
It knew the Avatar was here, but as far as it knew, the Avatar was young and had barely begun to master the last three assigned elements. He wasn't Kuruk, an experienced Avatar in spiritual combat; nor was he Kyoshi or Yangchen, both of whom were monsters.
However, Koh quickly grew tired of this frenzy since those faces belonged to irrelevant people of no real importance to the world. This diminished the pleasure Koh felt in stealing their faces.
So it decided to go for the most important ones, the main courses. As the spirit twisted through the castle's corridors, heading in the direction Zhuge had indicated, a spear of ice shot toward it.
Koh moved its head to dodge the attack, but the projectile struck its body. However, it wasn't just an ice spear. As it remained embedded in the spirit's body, it began to glow golden, causing it to scream in pain.
"The purification doesn't just eliminate Vaatu's influence. It actually attacks spirits in general, just with less effect," a man's voice echoed in the hallway's darkness, dimly lit by torches on the walls.
Koh's face changed to that of a young man. It focused on the figure that had emerged. It didn't need to recognize him; it could feel his vibrant chi and deep impulse to crush everything.
The Sage Shisui. However, something disturbed the spirit. The human wasn't hiding his emotions, and Koh could tell it wasn't out of carelessness. He simply hadn't bothered to hide his expression to avoid being read.
"Surprised? Though I can't see it on your face, your aura is full of surprise as well as many repulsive things and auras that don't belong to you," Shisui said with a smile. However, this gesture didn't appear in his narrowed, fox-like golden eyes.
"HAHA! Sabio, Shisui! It's a pleasure to behold that beautiful face in person! But now...it's mine!" Koh shouted, unleashing its ability and wanting to steal that delicious face to add to its collection.
Its body trembled with excitement at the thought. Even its segmented body gradually readjusted, emitting clicking sounds because of the wait and anticipation. It would wear that face for years without changing it. This was one of the best moments of its life!
But then, it felt that nothing had changed. Koh checked the faces it had stolen but couldn't find Shisui's. Thus, its attention finally turned to the outside world. It saw that the Sage Shisui still had his face, which wore a mocking expression.
"Your next line will be, 'Why can't I steal your face?! This is impossible," right?" The Waterbender pointed at the spirit, who instinctively repeated exactly what he had said.
"Why can't I steal your face? This is impossible! Huh?" Just as Koh processed what had happened, specks of chi emerged from Shisui's body as the energy coursing through him enhanced his body.
The Sage's figure vanished momentarily and reappeared in front of Koh's face, which had transformed into that of a young girl. However, the Sage didn't hesitate. He struck the face with his fist, causing an explosion by reacting with the chi floating around it.
The force of the blow and the ensuing explosion sent the spirit reeling backward, groaning in pain. Shisui then produced one of the water droplets he carried with him. Without making a big show of it, he simply broke the surface tension of the droplet, creating a small hole.
The pressure difference released a thin stream of water that struck several of Koh's raised limbs. The stream shattered his legs and continued on its path, wounding the spirit's shell and penetrating deep into it.
But it didn't stop there. The water began to emit a golden glow, characteristic of the purification technique. Something strange happened: the face Koh was using detached from his body and turned to ash!
"I just wanted to hurt you. I never thought... Hehehehe. HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shisui began to laugh uncontrollably, and energy manifested around him as small lights that never stopped orbiting his body.
As the Sage laughed, an extremely blurry and barely noticeable image of a blue figure with no distinct features appeared behind him, except that it was holding a spear. This lasted only a few seconds, leaving Koh stunned with a new face that once belonged to an excellent dancer from the Fire Nation.
"You! How is it that...?" The spirit couldn't finish the question because Shisui closed in on it again, striking it once more. This time, hot steam surrounded the sage, enhancing his physical prowess.
The steam propelled his arms and legs as if they were turbines, accelerating his attacks. This made every blow he landed extremely powerful. With his enhanced prowess, he shattered every limb Koh tried to use against him.
He also managed to avoid being struck by the creature's heavy body. Meanwhile, the steam released from his body filled the entire hallway and condensed into drops of cold water that fell onto Koh's shell.
"Stop, human! Don't you know who I am? I am Koh! Koh the Face Thief! My mother is the Mother of Faces! She'll find out about this!" The spirit shouted, covered in wounds. But his words only caused the Sage to laugh even louder.
"That's why I'm beating you, you bastard! Besides, I'd rather deal with your mother. She's sexy and easy on the eyes!" Without realizing it, the Sage echoed Vaatu, which frustrated Koh.
Why were powerful people obsessed with their mothers' beauty?