Chapter 18

The boulder flying towards me splits into five parts under the guidance of my water tendrils, which then transform into an ice spear flying towards the king. A wall of earth rises in front of him, into which the spear embeds. With a command of my will, the spear instantly transforms into steam, condensing into a small orb.

Another command and the orb explodes, unleashing its force towards the wall, demolishing it and creating a shockwave that, as I sensed, knocked down the king as well. I immediately cease the attack and focus for a moment. Instinctively, my hand reaches forward, and Bumi freezes in mid-air. Bloodbending requires a moment to concentrate and focus before the opponent is brought under control.

I wonder, could another waterbender also using bloodbending break free from my control, or from the control of any bloodbender? I've never encountered such incidents. And can a regular bender overcome such control?

I pulled Bumi closer and then spread him out in mid-air. I saw and felt his resistance to my control, and I must admit, it was quite substantial!

I then twisted the old man's arms, a gruesome and unpleasant sound accompanying the action.

"Old man, tell me where Aang, Katara, and Sokka are! If you tell me quickly, I swear I'll do you no harm, just put you to sleep so you won't interfere with our peaceful and non-lethal departure from your city. So, for your own good and the good of your city and its inhabitants, I advise and strongly recommend you listen to me."

I spoke in a quiet, relaxed, soothing voice, ceasing to cause Bumi pain. I genuinely bear no ill will towards earthbenders, so I have no desire to kill them. Even with firebenders and their soldiers, my actions are more out of thought inertia. Though, deep down, I still remember the corpses of my village's inhabitants, my mother's burnt body, and my older brother bleeding out.

"Aha! So you're here for Aang! You must be Joe, whom he told me about?!" he asked cheerfully, his smile missing many teeth.

My hand automatically flew to my face. This young idiot told about me to the whole local king... just great! I felt like swearing...

"Never mind. Where are they?!" I began to twist the old man's right arm. "Answer quickly!"

"Do you think you have the strength?" he asked in a squeaky old voice, then continued. "I've heard about you. You're the killer, the maniac who became infamous north of Omashu for murdering Fire Nation people with particular cruelty, becoming the only known bloodbender... there's much talk about you! Are you really going to be Aang's waterbending teacher? Yes, he can learn a lot from you. They even say you're the best of all current waterbenders. And I see direct proof of that. But don't worry, I have no intention of harming Aang and his friends. After all, he's my friend too. It's been a hundred years since we last saw each other, but he was and remains my friend, so I wish him all the best. I'm only holding them because I want to teach him an important lesson. I want him to understand it himself. It's for his own good. And he won't come to any harm. I know my friend and what he's capable of. So, let me go and don't worry. You've proven yourself a strong bender, I won't send my people after you - I don't want their deaths."

Hearing King Bumi's monologue, I pondered for a moment and then released the bloodbending grip, allowing him free movement while still being ready to take control again. But nothing happened. The old earthbender walked barefoot to his discarded clothes, calmly dressed, then approached a table and began eating the food that had been brought about fifteen minutes ago.

Listening to my senses and feeling no one around, I couldn't understand where all the guards were. After all, this is the King! The city's leader! Where was his numerous guard? Even the criminal leaders I had killed had numerous guards. And yet, I sensed no one around!

Patiently waiting, I watched Bumi eat some salad. Soon after he finished, taking a fruit from the table, he stood up from his chair, waved at me, and headed towards the door. I followed him, always ready to attack, with water in the form of a tightly compressed ball of hot steam right behind me.

"Don't tense up so much; I told you, there's no reason for me to harm you. But you're all still headed to the Northern Water Tribe, right? Why, if you're already planning to teach him?" the old man asked, stopping and turning to me, squinting his eyes.

"Old man, I'm self-taught. My methods of learning bending differ significantly from all known ones. My methods require much more time, persistence, focus... but... I think my strength and skills speak for themselves."

"Yes, you're right. I'm over a hundred years old, I've seen the beginning of the war with the Fire Nation and its entire course, I've met many benders, including waterbenders, but none had abilities like blood control. Your water control is on a completely different level. And so, I don't understand why you and the others need to go to the Northern Water Tribe?"

"As I said, I have my methods of using bending. But I admit, in healing bending, for which the Northern Water Tribe is famous, I'm practically at the bottom. I can heal myself, which has allowed me to become physically stronger very quickly. But I can't heal serious injuries. I wouldn't be able to reattach a severed limb, not on myself, and certainly not on others. I want to acquire this knowledge. It will make me stronger. Better. And being able to heal others is also useful. Besides, I'd be interested in challenging the benders of the Northern Water Tribe. Aang will be learning there too. Maybe the locals have something interesting. Maybe there's something for me to learn as well."

"I see. So, you're also seeking knowledge there? Ha-ha-ha!" Bumi laughed and turned around the corridor again.

Walking through the corridor, our conversation with Bumi continued. It became clear several things about him. First, he's very intelligent. Second, he's acquired a lot of wisdom in his life. Third, he's a bit off his rocker. Not in a harmful way, just slightly, but his speech sometimes veers into madness. During our conversation, I also learned why he needed Aang.

Unexpectedly, we encountered Aang.

"Joe!?" he asked, his eyes darting around.

"It's me, Aang, me. Imagine, while I was walking through the city intending to buy some spices... I unexpectedly saw you, flying on a stone cart, destroying the stalls of food and spice vendors. Especially upsetting was that the stall where Black Hot Pepper was sold was destroyed by you, and I couldn't purchase such a wonderful seasoning, thanks to you it was scattered all over the street!"

"Um, sorry, Joe, but I really wanted to ride the chutes, I couldn't resist! I convinced Katara and Sokka..." Aang began to apologize.

"Aang, it doesn't matter anymore. You got into trouble because of your own foolishness, now you have to deal with it on your own. Your turn."

I nodded to King Bumi, who politely asked not to be called by his name. He said it would be part of the trials he organized for Aang.

"So, your first trial is a question. What do you think of my outfit today?" he asked with a benign old smile.

Aang was momentarily taken aback, while I internally laughed, trying to keep a straight face. In my past life, I knew a few guys who ended up in a psychiatric hospital. They had some kind of personality disorder or something else. But the fact was that they were mentally unwell. My acquaintances and I suspected this for a long time, and after they were institutionalized, we often visited them. That slight seed of madness in their eyes, in their speech... they were incredible personalities! You would never get bored with them.

Even when everything was bad, when you found yourself in a hopeless situation, one of them, and they were brothers, found an utterly unreal way out. And sometimes they really worked. Not often, but not rarely either!

Bumi reminded me of those two psychos. He too had that spark of madness, that which makes one see reality differently from others. Geniuses are madmen. Not all madmen are geniuses. But by their nonconformity and different view of the world, they sometimes deserve the title of genius. King of Omashu was one of them. A strong earth bender, very strong, a bit of a madman... it's a pity that his madness doesn't allow him to see all the possibilities and dangers of earthbending. He uses it like all other earthbenders I've met. Throwing bigger rocks, walls, stone bridges. He probably has some original techniques up his sleeve, but I haven't seen them yet, only the fissure.

Maybe all these factors made me somewhat believe in him.

As I pondered, Aang was led to another room, stimulated by the threat of losing his friends, who had rings made of some crystal that grows very fast placed on their fingers. By evening, they were expected to be encased in it.

At that moment, I tensed up. I didn't want Aang to lose his friends while I did nothing. They hadn't put a ring on me. I wasn't interfering with Aang's trial, and I did want to teach him a lesson—no need to talk about me to every stranger!

However, Bumi noticed my tension, or perhaps he decided on his own, and quietly told me, so others couldn't hear, that the crystal was made from candy, even giving me a small piece to taste, while he bit off a big chunk himself. It was indeed tasty.

"Joe, can you help?" Sokka asked me in a whisper, coming closer, his fingers already covered with the crystal.

"Of course, what are you talking about, Sokka!?" I replied, indignantly. "I could take out everyone here except for you... but I won't do that."

My calm conclusion confused both Sokka and Katara, who was listening in.

"What? But why!?" Katara asked.

"Because I already tried to help you. Right from the start, I told you not to get into trouble. But you rejected the help and didn't listen to me. The result? All this fuss started. Now get yourselves out of this mess - I'm not your helper here. And they're not attacking me, so even here, there's no motive for a fight. Am I making myself clear?" I asked sternly, shifting my gaze between Katara, Sokka, and Aang.

Their response was only silence and lowered heads from all three.

"Especially disappointed in you, Sokka. You said you'd watch over them, and you ended up as an accomplice. What does that mean? Your word means nothing? Now I'm inclined to believe exactly that. Good luck with your trial, organized by the respected King of Omashu, Aang."

Enjoy reading, and don't forget: for every 200 Power Stones you donate, I'll post an additional chapter.