The Revelation - Part 2

"We've been out all night. No sign of them," Korra sighed, stopping Naga, who was panting with Pichi curled up on the back of her neck. 

"We've gotta keep looking. But where?" Mako questioned, visibly tired with Pabu asleep on his shoulder

They both turned in another direction, eyes closed in disappointment. Suddenly, Korra erected herself, and her eyes sprung open.

" I have an idea!"

With a determined look on her face, she pulled Naga's reins, and they started moving again. Soon they were in Republic City Park, which was covered in the morning fog.

They pulled up to a fountain, allowing Naga to get a drink. Pabu climbed over Pichi to the top of Naga's head and took a drink, too.

"The first day I got into town, I ran into an Equalist protester over there" Korra pointed to a spot by the grass.

"And you think they'll know where Bolin and Elira are?" Mako asked

"It's our only lead right now," Korra replied, slightly disappointed

A little while later, Korra and Mako sat with their backs against Naga's side. The polar bear dog resting underneath a tree at the side of the fountain with Pabu and Pichi asleep atop her saddle. Mako had his eyes closed, and arms crossed while Korra was looking around, slightly uncomfortable.

Eventually, she turned to Mako." So...why are Bolin and El running around with the Triple Threat Triad, anyway?"

"Well, Bolin and I ... we used to do some work for them back in the day" Mako replied, looking uncomfortable. "El knew but didn't particularly agree."

"What? Wha- Are you some kind of criminal?" Korra accused

Mako glared at her, defensive and angry "No! You don't know what you're talking about. I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the street; I did what I had to do to survive and protect my little brother. And although she didn't like it or agree with what we were doing, El at least understood why we were doing it."

"I'm sorry. It must have been really hard" Korra said sympathetically"... Can I ask what happened to your parents?"

"They were mugged by a firebender. He cut them down right in front of me. I was eight." Mako explained with a sigh

"Mako ..." Korra muttered as the firebender pulled his scarf over his mouth, consolingly

"Bolin's the only family I have left. If anything happened to him ..."

"...And El?" Korra asked

"Bo and I met her as kids. We'd been caught trying to steal some food from a store when she spotted us and helped us get away. She helped us out when no one else would," He explained 

"And you've been best friends ever since." 

"Yeah, we have", Mako smiled "She's like a little sister to me. So I try and look out for her as best as I can. Like being the responsible one so she can have a little fun and mess around. Not having to worry about her dad or all the expectations put on her." 

"You're a good friend, Mako" Korra smiled softly. 

She had noticed Elira always seemed a lot more relaxed when she was around the two brothers. Yes, she acted carefree around her family, which of course was the reason for most of the arguments between her and her father. But with Mako and Bolin, she would laugh a lot harder, smile a lot wider...

 She was more...herself.

*

Elira groaned and winced as she finally woke up, having been leaning against a wall. Her head was pounding, and she felt weak, almost...numb.

"El?...El!" The groggy airbender was suddenly engulfed in a hug by Bolin. "Are you okay? You scared me, airhead!"

"I'm...I'm okay, I think. What happened?" Elira replied, pressing a hand to her aching head. "Last thing I remember was these creepy masked dudes busting into the Triad base." 

"Yeah, the Equalists ambushed the base. I had my back turned, and one of them came at me from behind. You stopped them but got yourself knocked out with chi blocking," Bolin explained "You shouldn't have done that, El. You could've been hurt a lot worse." 

"Hey, it was either you or me! Besides, it doesn't matter now, since we're both in this mess," Elira replied before she glanced around at their surroundings, it was a dark cell crowded with other benders scattered around. 

"Where are we?" She asked

"I have no idea. Some sort of secret underground hideout?" Bolin guessed

Elira then chuckled softly "Mako's gonna kill us, huh?" 

"Most likely" 

The duo suddenly tensed as two masked Equalist guards passed by the cell. Peering in to make sure they were all where they were supposed to be. One of them looked right at El, staring at her intently and causing Bolin to wrap his arm around the girl protectively as they both glared at the guard. 

After a few agonising minutes, the masked guards walked away from the cell, and the duo let out sighs of relief. 

"That's if those guys don't beat him to it", Bolin muttered, looking nervous. 

"Hey, there's no need to be scared, right? I'm sure Mako and Korra are out there looking for us as we speak. They'll find us. Without a doubt," Elira smiled reassuringly at the boy beside her. 

Bolin didn't say anything, he just interlocked their fingers as they rested on their knees. He knew his best friend better than that. He knew that after seeing how much her siblings looked up to her, Elira learned to hide her fear behind comforting words and reassuring smiles. So should they ever be in a scary situation, they could look to their big sister and know everything would be okay. 

But Bolin knew better. He saw right through her smile and knew that inside, she was just as terrified as he was. 

*

It felt like hours had passed before the duo were finally taken from the cell with their hands bound tightly with rope. 

"Where are you taking us?" Elira demanded as they were placed in the back of a van again. 

"Shut up, bender scum!" One of the guards snapped slamming the door leaving them in darkness. 

"Rude" Elira scoffed, shaking her head. 

She could feel Bolin beside her and linked their fingers behind their backs as best she could, in order to keep him and herself calm. After a short, dark and silent drive, the van stopped and the doors were swung open again. The Equalists grabbed the two teens, along with the rest of the benders and hauled them into some kind of rundown factory. 

 They were brought onto a stage with the other benders, where what looked like hundreds of people had gathered. Elira's eyes widened when she saw who was waiting for them on the stage.

Amon, leader of the Equalists!

The benders were forced to their knees on the stage and Elira began looking around, trying to find a way out of this.

"Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing nonbenders. But his reign of terror is about to come to an end." Amon announced to the crowd " Now, in the interest of fairness, I will give Zolt the chance to fight to keep his bending"

One of the guards took off the rope binding Lightning Bolt Zolt as Bo and Elira shared a worried glance.Amon moved away from Zolt and the Equalist guard pushed the man in the opposite direction Amon took to bring some space between the two fighters.

"You're gonna regret doing that, pal." Zolt sneered arrogantly before directing a fire blast at Amon.

Amon nimbly dodged every blast that Zolt threw at him, gradually getting closer.

Zolt then surged forward while generating lightning, firing the bolt at the Equalist leader who ducked underneath it, grabbed hold of Zolt's wrist, and twisted it around and away from him.

The lighting crashed into the stage, before hitting the ceiling as Amon turned his hands further away. He grabbed Zolt's neck before moving to press his thumb to the centre of the man's forehead.

Elira watched with wide shocked eyes as the crackling lightning changed into a large fire blast before stopping entirely.

Amon let go of Zolt, who collapsed weakly onto the ground. Zolt attempted to firebend at him but to no avail; he crashed back to the ground before the feet of the Equalist leader.

"Wha ... what did you do to me?" Zolt stammered

"Your firebending is gone. Forever. The era of bending is over. A new era of Equality has begun!" Amon declared making the crowd cheer

One of the Equalist guards released the second captured bender, Shady Shin, and kicked him forward to face Amon. Elira watched, becoming more and more scared with each bender who was forced to face Amon and lost. She tried to loosen her bonds but they wouldn't budge. Another bender went up. Another bender lost their bending until finally, the masked man turned to her!

"It seems tonight, we have a special guest with us. Master Elira of the Air Nomads!" Amon pointed to her

The crowd booed and yelled insults at the girl as the Equalist guards grabbed her, hauling her to her feet and pushing her towards the masked man after releasing her wrists. 

She held her hands up in front of her, having dropped her glider back at the Triad headquarters. 

"El!" Bolin yelled trying to run to her but was quickly retrained by more Equalists.

"Get away from him!" Elira yelled, using her bending to send the Equalists back, away from her friend.

The crowd gasped as the two best friends ran to each other, Bo taking El in his arms tightly. They were the only benders left on the stage! 

"Uh, hello, Amon, sir" Bolin attempted a goofy grin at the Equalist leader, " I think there's been a big misunderstanding"

Amon ignored him and moved forward. Elira's eyes hardened and she raised her hands, ready to protect her friend if need be. 

But before anyone could do anything an explosion shook the building and steam poured into the room engulfing everything in its path, clouding everyone and everything.

Bolin and Elira looked around in panic. They began backing away when Elira felt the air shift behind them.

"Watch out!" She cried, pushing Bolin out of the way as an Equalist tried to grab them.

Elira went to blast them away but suddenly Mako emerged out of the steam from behind the Equalist, grabbed a hold of them, and threw him away over his shoulder.

"You two all right?" He asked the pair

"Mako!" Elira sighed in relief

"Yes! Mako! I love you!" Bolin cried.

He moved forward in an attempt to hug his brother, but Mako seized him around his neck and dragged him off into the steam as Elira followed close behind.

*

The trio burst through a door, emerging from the balcony exit and ran over to a ladder.

They began climbing down when suddenly an Equalist fighter, Amon's lieutenant, appeared at the top twirling his kali sticks.

He slammed them into the ladder, sending an electrical charge through it. The trio screamed in shock and pain before they fell, landing with grunts.

The Lieutenant jumped down from the balcony, his kali stick charged.

As he landed, he immediately released the charge, forcing the trio to jump away. The three jumped to their feet, having pushed themselves out of the way of the Lieutenant's attack.

Mako raised his fist and goes on the offensive, launching a fire jet at the crouched Lieutenant.

The Equalist ran off to avoid the blast before attacking Mako with his kali sticks, electricity trailing behind them as he rapidly swung them around. With a few fast hits, Mako was floored, and the Lieutenant turned to Bolin and Elira.

Bolin flipped over and used his own momentum to hurl a slap of earth at the Lieutenant with a grunt of focus, who jumped up, twirling out of its path. He does a similar evasive manoeuvre to avoid a blast of air Elira sent at him before charging at the two.

The duo looked alarmed for a second before Bolin conjured up a large earth wall to protect them.

The Lieutenant performed a round-off, before backflipping and somersaulting over Bolin's wall.

He landed behind the two and delivered several quick hits with his charged kali sticks, the Lieutenant jabbed them with the two electrified kali sticks and electroshocked them until they fell to the ground.

Suddenly, Mako emerged from beside the wall, using the adjacent building to push himself off sending a fire slice in the lieutenant's direction.

The Lieutenant dodged, and Mako kicked out another fire slice while grunting in effort, knocking over Bolin's wall with his attack.

The Lieutenant charged Mako again and after a quick exchange of some blows striking air from both parties, the Lieutenant landed a hit with a kali stack in Mako's stomach, flinging him back with a grunt of pain.

As Mako was pushed up against the wall, the Lieutenant charged and twirled both his weapon sticks, jabbing Mako's chest, electroshocking him into unconsciousness.

Mako slumped to the ground as well as the Lieutenant stood over the three downed teens.

"You benders need to understand, there's no place in the world for you anymore." He sneered

Suddenly, a pillar of rock shot up beside the Lieutenant and thrust him brutally against the building.

He slammed hard against the metal, his two kali sticks knocked out of his hands, and he fell onto the ground.

As he tried to stand, he looked up to see Korra standing there in an earthbending pose.

"I wouldn't count us out just yet"

The Lieutenant collapsed and Korra whistled sharply "Naga!"

Naga barked in the distance and the polar bear dog immediately came running from behind a building, jumping down the last of the ramp with Pichi flying overhead.

Korra walked over to Mako as he struggled to get up and helped him to his feet. More Equalist fighters stormed the area from the balcony as Korra and Mako ascended onto Naga. Bolin and Elira sat up, both slightly dazed. Elira smiled however when Pichi landed beside her, chittering worriedly. 

"Hey, Pich'. Thanks for coming to get us" She scratched behind the lemur's ear making her purr.

Bolin suddenly screamed in fright and moved his hands protectively as Naga ran up to them.

Elira used her bending to flip herself into the saddle behind Mako while Naga grabbed Bolin's collar and dragged him off.

"Hah ... Oh ... Yah ... Stop ... I want ... to be ... on ... your back ... please!" Bolin cried, bouncing with Naga's strides as they bolted down the ally way and escaped to safety. 

*

Elira couldn't express how relieved she felt when she finally returned to the island later that night. She was quick to run off into the temple, with Korra following behind her. She let out a sigh of utter relief when she saw her parents talking with a couple of White Lotus sentries.

"Mom! Dad!" She yelled, running towards them

"Elira!" The couple cried with relief and happiness, embracing their daughter tightly

"Thank goodness. I was just about to send out a search party" Tenzin explained

"We were so worried about you" Pema added, looking over her daughter for any injuries and glancing at Korra over her El's shoulder "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

The two teens glanced at each other, still shaken by what had occurred. Pichi chittered sadly and nuzzled Elira's cheek to comfort her. 

"Girls, what happened?" Tenzin questioned, concerned. 

"We were at an Equalist rally. We saw Amon" Elira replied, wrapping her arms around herself. 

" What?" Tenzin gasped, sharing a shocked look with his wife. 

"He can take people's bending away. For good." Korra explained

"That's ... that's impossible. Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability" Tenzin stated

"Dad, we saw him do it! He would have done the same to me and Bo if Korra and Mako hadn't shown up!" Elira exclaimed

"I believe you." Tenzin placed a hand on her shoulder " I don't know how Amon has achieved this power, but this means the revolution is more dangerous than ever. No bender is safe"

*

Later that night, Elira was trying to drift off but sleep just refused to take her. She tossed and turned, but it just wouldn't happen. Her thoughts were racing too much for her to settle and she couldn't get the image of Amon's haunting masked face out of her head. 

Hearing movement outside her bedroom door, the teen tensed and her eyes snap open in alarm.

She remained still.

Listening.

Waiting.

Preparing to defend herself. 

"Just knock" A voice whispered from behind the door. 

"Why do I have to? Why can't you?" Another hissed back 

"Because" The other voice replied 

"But what if she's asleep?" Another cut in

"That hasn't stopped us before" The first voice replied before the door slid open revealing her little brother and sisters standing there in their pyjamas. They poked their heads in hesitantly, unsure if their sister was in fact asleep. 

El sat up and smiled softly at them. She knew exactly what they wanted.

She gestured them over with her head "Come here, guys"

The kids grinned and rushed to cuddle up to their big sister. Ikki and Jinora were at her sides while Meelo was on top of her in her lap.

"Can't sleep?" She asked, wrapping her arms around them

The kids shook their heads. 

"We were worried, El" Jinora replied as they all settled under the covers "You were gone for two whole days" 

"Hey, there's no need to be scared okay. I'm alright, I'm home, I'm not hurt" Elira reassured them 

"Did you at least beat up the bad guys?" Meelo grinned at her 

Elira chuckled "Yes, Meelo. I beat up the bad guys" 

"Were you scared?" Ikki wondered 

"...Course I wasn't. Those guys have got nothing on your big sister" Elira laughed, tickling the kids making them laugh. 

"El, can you sing to us?" Meelo then asked 

"Yeah, can you? Can you? Pleeaasssee?" Ikki added, grinning 

Elira smiled at them. "Of course"

She went silent for a moment before she softly began to sing

"Leaves from the vine. Falling so slow. Like fragile tiny shells. Drifting in the foam" She sang, softly stroking Jinora's hair soothingly. 

"Little soldier boy. Come marching home. Brave soldier boy. Come marching home"

Meelo let out a yawn as his eyes drooped, slowly being lulled to sleep.

"Ash in the snow. Falling so slow. Like fragile broken hearts with no place to go"

The little boy's eyes finally closed, snuggling into his sister as small snores escaped his mouth.

"Little soldier boy. Taken from home. Forced to fight a war. That was not his own. Little soldier boy. Cold and alone. Brave soldier boy. Never made it home"

Ikki rubbed her eyes sleepily, cuddling into El's side as she smiled down at them softly. 

"Leaves from the vine. Changing so slow. Like empty fallen souls. Looking for a home. Little soldier boy. Thought he could soar. Brave soldier boy. Fallen in the war"

Ikki then too fell asleep, leaving Jinora the last one awake, smiling as she listened to her sister sing. Elira smiled down at her.

"My little soldier boy. I need you home. Brave soldier boy..."

Finally, Jinora's eyes finally fluttered closed at the lull of her sister's voice. Clutching her tightly as she fell asleep. Almost as if she would disappear into thin air if she didn't.

"Come marching home..."