Chapter 51

Having faced his worse fear in the midst of the lost souls, Chen ended up wondering what left he had to fear. Death, betrayal, or losing everything. At any rate, he had no control over these things. As long as he'd done his best and didn't let foolish emotions get in the way, he would have no regrets. 

Now, there was one thing left to do, and it was to harass the power in case Unalaq did something bad already. That Asshole was a good manipulator, and he would play the naive Korra to do whatever he wanted. 

Chen flew out of the reach of the mist. He looked down, to the place he'd been at. He realised that he'd been in a similar place to hell. In hell, according to the Netflix Lucifer series, you are tortured by your guilt -- He wasn't very religious to know if that's a true religious source. 

Chen, on the other hand, had been tortured by his fears, guilt, past, and the only thing that he didn't want to see. Which seemed to be a worse hell. 

Chen flew to the dragon's place. He found it in no time. In this world, every spirit could unleash some kind of energy. Because of his mastery over his own, Chen could sense it. He soon found himself in front of a gigantic mountain, and the ancient dragon's titanic figures were easy to spot. It was staring at the sky, not seeming to wait for Chen to come back any time soon. 

Chen thought about something. The dragon didn't seem to be afraid of losing the bet, and he agreed to fuse with him despite its pride. In that case, the dragon believed that Chen would die the moment the two of them would fuse. If that is so, it was good news.

"Yo," Chen called. "Missed me." 

"Hold on." The dragon lowered its eyes to Chen. Silence took over the place for some time. It took a deep breath, blinked twice, and let its head nearer. "It has been five days… I thought you were gone forever." 

"five days?" Chen titled his head. 

five days. These were bad news. 

Looking at the dragon, he said. "I hope you didn't forget about your promise. Or does the dragon has no pride?" 

Even though the large guy didn't react, the mountain shook from its pressure. Chen had pissed it off for sure. But he didn't care. 

Chen had always realised that feelings were a weakness. You can feel pride, and thus, it's a feeling.

"I didn't. Well, since you seem to be in hurry. I'll grant you your wish." It then headed toward Chen. 

Its head, same as its large body, entered Chen.

He couldn't believe that he absorbed such a huge amount of power and size inside of himself. 

Chen felt his Chi raising, increasing. It was changing. His energy combined with the dragon's. 

Chen looked at his hands, a small aura covering them. Some scales started spreading. 

Internally, Chen heard the dragon's voice. 

"Now, prepare to die." It mocked. "I bet you didn't think that you would die…" 

Chen, not freaking out, lowered his head and sneered. Controlling the energy that was trying to kill him, Chen opened his Chakra points, allowing his body to get adapted. The scales vanished. 

"Wait, you're not dead. You're trying to combine your energy with mine… no, you are making me yours. I'm out of here." 

"Not on my watch." Chen could control the dragon's energy inside of him. 

He felt it was trying to leave his body. But not today. He controlled it and locked it inside. Chen could sense his Chakra points, and he focused all of the energy on his stomach, where the sea of his Chi existed. 

"Be happy. I'm the dragon avatar. You have your own avatar, that's an achievement" Chen patted his stomach. "You're going to swim inside of my pool, and I'll use your power whenever I needed." 

[Ding, A skill achieved]

[Avatar state: (level fixed)]

[Summon the power of the spirit that resides within you and use it]

[+Title: The Dragon Avatar

- Fire resistance 

- Fly

- Strong physical defence

-Breathing Fire ] 

Chen tried to go to his avatar state. He did it on the first try. Unlike the spirit Korra had, the dragon wasn't just pure light energy. It had physical power. That could be one advantage against the lack of energy the dragon had compared to the light and dark spirits. 

As his eyes turned red, Chen could feel his body's strength increasing. He opened his hand, and he lit up a purple flame. Its amount increased dramatically. 

He checked on his stats. His Chi points, in that state, had many numbers. He couldn't read it as it needed a mental effort. But on the good side, Chen had increased stamina. He had enough energy to fight for days. 

Turning off the Avatar state, Chen felt mental tiresome. It wasn't something worth mentioning. He could tell why Korra didn't use her avatar's state the whole time. This state requires a mental focus the whole time. You need to focus to stay in it. 

Chen turned his head. Goldie was next to him, eyes wide open as he stared at Chen. Chen extended his hand to him. Goldie, slowly approaching, pushed his head against Chen's hand. 

"I see that you can't talk yet." 

It nodded. 

Chen smiled. "Can you help me one more last time? I need to go to the Tree of Time." 

It nodded again. 

Chen got on Goldie's back, and it flew to the location of Vaatu. 

Chen remembered what the ancient dragon mentioned. 

It'd been five days. 

Upon thinking about that dragon, Chen closed his eyes and sensed his chi. He could sense his Chi sea in his stomach. And inside of it, a dragon was swimming. Chen opened his eyes, and he thought of laughing. But he had a job to do. 

He looked at the sky, and his eyelids shook. The second portal was opened as there were two pillars of lights heading to heaven. 

-x-X-x- 

"Why! Why isn't he coming out!" Asami yelled as she looked at the second portal. "It's been days." 

Unalaq smiled inwardly at the naive girls. 

Korra turned to him. "Uncle. Why Chen isn't getting out." 

During this time, Unalaq had noticed something. Besides Korra's identity as the Avatar, someone else was important to her. She seemed to like that firebender too much. It made it easy to manipulate her. 

Faking a concerned expression, he replied. "Korra, I'm afraid, that it's something this evil spirit." He pointed to Vaatu, "done. I think that you have to unlock something else to free Chen." 

"What's it?" 

"I've studied the seal." He said. "The evil spirit is depending on the tree of time to lock your friend inside the cosmic energy." 

It was a lie. But Korra seemed to believe it. 

She was more naive than her father. 

Unalaq wanted to laugh so badly. 

But saving the world and restoring the real balance wasn't a joke as his niece. 

"And?" Korra looked at him with some hope. 

The naive girl was thinking with her emotions. 

Why can't this get any harder? 

The only challenge he'd ever had was Chen. That man almost made his soul fade for some time, and he'd been able to bend energy. Thinking about him, Unalaq realised that Chen must be in the lost souls' fog. Spirits would always imprison humans there. If that were true, Chen would be tortured by his fears or worse memories over and over. 

"Uncle, tell me!" Korra yelled. 

"You mustn't free him," Unalaq said. "The only way to get him free is by unleashing the seal around the Tree of Time. Chen would come out when the harmonic convergence occure. But as a price, Vaatu would get out." 

"I can seal him again," Korra said, walking forward to the tree. 

How naive, Unalaq thought. He extended his hand to support Korra in her decision. 

"Don't do it."

She seemed to move against his order, thinking that she has control if she went against his claims. That made it easier to control her. 

"I will take responsibility." Korra stood in front of Vaatu. She extended her hand, holding the seal. "Before the harmonic convergence, which I don't know what it is, I'll seal him again." 

Vaatu, who had witnessed everything, had been silent for the whole time. The spirit of the dark had realised Unalaq's games, and it played along. 

The seal slowly started cracking. 

"Raava. You have chosen the wrong person to reincarnate into," talked Vaatu for the first time. "As for the annoying Shark Do Do Do guy, he's in the midst of the lost souls. Now that I'm free, let's begin our fight." 

Vaatu looked at Korra. A beam of energy headed at her. Korra, quickly reacting, flipped backwards. 

She turned to her uncle. "Unalaq. You've lied to me. Chen isn't here." 

"Oh, Korra. How naive can you be." Unalaq didn't show any expression. "The Avatars are so naive, and they don't deserve to be the spiritual leaders of the world. And you've proved that by releasing the darkest spirit. You're so easy to manipulate. Now, let's end your worthless era." 

"No way." Korra was shocked as she stared at him. She couldn't help but open her eyes widely. 

She would need time to realise what happened. 

It's the perfect chance to kill her. 

Unalaq raised his hands and summoned a few streams of water around him. He released them at Korra. The tips turned into ice spikes. Korra opened her eyes widely. The tips of the ice spears were close to her.

At that instant, a flash of lightning hit the water spear, breaking it into shreds. 

Everyone turned their heads. 

On the top of a cliff, a man was standing, his fingers pointed down. Above him, a golden dragon floated. 

Unalaq's eyelids shook. How could this be possible? He should be in the fog. 

"Chen…" Asami said, sounding in disbelief. 

"You… you aren't sealed," Korra said, seeming to be shocked. 

"You're more naive than I thought." 

Chen jumped off the cliff, landing on the ground and staring at Unalaq and Vaatu.

At that moment, something shocking happened. 

Chen's blue eyes turned red. 

Sensing the spiritual pressure, Unalaq realised that some spirit must reside within Chen. Although not as powerful as the light and dark spirit, it was strong, and Chen's skill, would make them more challenging. 

"You became an Avatar, yourself?" Unalaq muttered. 

"The Shark Do Do guy," Vaatu said as he turned to Chen. "I've to torture you so you can tell me how I get that shit outside of my head." 

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