CHANGE | CHAPTER SIXTEEN
𝐓he team stood outside Aiwei's house with Bolin trying to get a peek into the closed windows. If their assumptions were right, he might be inside his house or he had already escaped. Cloud hoped for the first option, but the old man was a truth seer, and they couldn't exactly compete with him when it came to truths and lies.
"He's not home. Or he's hiding in there. Or he's invisible," Bolin gasped, causing his older brother to look at him very skeptically. He made a sheepish face. "Probably just not home."
"We have to get in there and find some evidence that links Aiwei to Zaheer, otherwise Su won't believe us."
Team Avatar walked in and began to search his whole place. Cloud walked past Asami who flipped through a book on a table before she ended up in front of a normal bookshelf. Bolin appeared next to her, gaining interest in a jar on the bookshelf. He took it in his hand before Cloud could stop him, sighing in disbelief as she slapped her hands on her cheeks.
"Hmm, it's like a desert on a jar."
"Bolin, put that back!" Mako exclaimed, noticing the furniture in his hand. "We don't want Aiwei to know we were in here if we can't find anything."
Cloud ignored their bantering and bent down to check the books on the shelf, but none of them seemed out of place. However, her eyes caught something beneath the shelf. Scuff marks. She abruptly stood up but ended up hitting someone behind her. The firebender took ahold of her arms, balancing her. He glanced down at her with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Careful," Mako mumbled, the latter slightly nodding in response as she backed away. Then he also noticed the marks on the floor. "These look like scuff marks. I think this bookshelf slides open."
Cloud slid the shelf aside to reveal a cellar.
"Aiwei, you lying bastard," Cloud muttered under her breath, glaring at the sketchy cellar. Figures.
"What do you think is down there?"
"Could be a storage cellar."
Cloud shifted on her foot, hearing footsteps from outside before Asami could even warn them. "Aiwei's coming back! Quick."
The team ran off of the stairs and slid the bookshelf back where it was before Aiwei entered his house. Cloud tried so hard to remain nonchalant as she hurried towards her friends, her hands behind her back holding her glider.
"What are doing in my house?" Aiwei demanded. He obviously didn't look too happy seeing them in his home. "You are trespassing on the property of one of the highest-ranked officials in the city. You'd better have a good explanation."
"We do. We do. We actually knocked on your front door and we thought we heard you say━" Bolin nodded, lying through his teeth as he mimicked a higher-pitched voice. "'Come in, I'm in the bathroom!'"
"Bolin," Cloud hissed under her breath.
There was an awkward silence and Bolin changed back to his normal voice. "I don't even know why I'm saying that. You know I'm lying, and you don't even sound like that."
"We came here because things weren't adding up, and we thought you might have some answers."
"Sit. If you want to talk, let's talk over some tea." Aiwei gestured to his couch, and the group sat down. Then he started pouring green tea into a cup, turning his back on them. "Now, what is not adding up exactly? Hong Li was clearly lying and we found evidence in his apartment."
"But don't you think it's weird how young he is? How did he ever get mixed up with this group?" Mako questioned.
Aiwei trudged towards the bookshelf, causing the airbender beside him to nudge his knee with hers. Mako visibly stiffened. Her blue eyes slightly widened as she sent Bolin a look, who briefly raised his arms in defense.
"Perhaps through a relative, or maybe he was bribed," Aiwei mused. "We will find out those answers in time. But if wasn't him, who do you think it was?"
"We don't know," Asami responded, trying not to throw him off.
Aiwei still had his back turned to them. "You don't think I had something to do with this, do you?"
When the truth seer moved the jar back to its original spot, Cloud froze. She glanced at her friends, mimicking a knife slicing her throat, and mouthed, We're screwed. They could only shake their heads, hoping Aiwei wasn't too smart. Okay, she doubts that. He definitely already figured them out.
"We're just looking for answers."
"And you think you've found something, don't you?" Aiwei asked, fully knowing that they knew he was the culprit. He noticed the bookshelf had been moved and he paused. Team Avatar exchanged nervous looks with each other. "You have no idea what is coming for you, Avatar."
Within a second, Aiwei's tone completely changed and he didn't waste any time to metalbend his stairs upward. Mako firebends at the new wall while Cloud sent an air blast not after, but it had no effect. The group ran towards the wall as Korra began to metalbend into the wall, but she only made a small rupture.
"Come on, he's getting away!" Mako exclaimed, earning a look from the airbender who stood next to Asami, her hands gripping her glider tightly.
"I'm still a little new at this, so back off!" Korra finally managed to break through the wall, and the gang ran to the cellar and opened the door.
However, as soon as they entered, a bomb was waiting for them, which promptly went off. Thank the flying bison and all the cute things in the world━Cloud had a crazily fast reflex and she quickly airbent an air dome to protect herself and her friends from the impact. The dome encased all of them, which pushed the blast away. As the smoke dissipated, the truth seer was gone.
"He's gone."
"Oh, come on!" Cloud groaned, throwing her arms up in disbelief as she glanced around the destruction. For the third time, the person who they thought was their ally, was just another lying prick who wanted the Avatar gone. Here she thought something was actually changing.
Being the Avatar must be hard, no matter how enticing and exciting it sounds. If you exclude the power and the glory; being the Avatar was a blessing and a nightmare at the same time. But Cloud had never seen Korra take those things to heart, or she was just doing a pretty good job at hiding it.
Cloud didn't have a reason, but she suddenly thought about it. Like, imagine an old group of criminals wanting to get rid of you ever since you were born. How cruel is that? Korra barely even knew about their existence, and they had been wanting to kill her ever since.
She had no idea how Korra could be so at ease and determined to find the fugitives who wanted her dead. It might sound insane, but that's what Zaheer's group wanted, and he'd do anything to succeed, even if it meant taking down everyone and everything in his path. He was a dangerous man blessed with a powerful ability.
"Look, he must've escaped through there," Korra exclaimed, seeing a small opening nearly covered by debris. "Help me clear it out!"
Cloud stood back with Mako on her side since they couldn't do much of help while Bolin and Korra started digging the debris out with earthbending to reveal a tunnel entrance. Lin and Suyin suddenly ran into the room, both looking like they'd just run a marathon. They looked appalled at the destruction but were relieved to see them all right.
"What happened? We heard an explosion."
"Where's Aiwei?
"Your trusted adviser is the one who betrayed us," Korra said furiously. "He was lying about the guard."
"What? No!" Suyin said, her eyes wide in disbelief.
Korra pointed at the tunnel behind them. "We confronted him and he bolted through here."
Lin stepped forward and used her seismic sense on the tunnel. "He must have collapsed the tunnel behind him."
"And he rigged an explosion to destroy any evidence that might have been here."
"This is where Zaheer got in and out. Aiwei was the traitor."
A saddened look flashed upon Suyin's face. "I... trusted him."
"I'm sorry, Su," Cloud sighed, sending her an apologetic glance.
"Is everyone okay?" A certain guard ran into the room, the metal armor she wore clanking together. Kuvira glanced at each of them, assessing the damage altogether.
"Aiwei is a fugitive. Get all available guards to search the mountainside, and find out where this tunnel exits immediately!" Lin ordered, and Kuvira quickly obeyed, running out of the room as the chief of police walked towards her little sister to comfort her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
The group waited in Suyin's office, some of them were sitting on the couch while some remained standing with their arms crossed over their chest, anticipating the worst. Cloud, however, was not a big fan of waiting, and all she wanted to do was chase after that man who was working under Zaheer the whole time they were there.
Cloud never liked two-faced people. She had enough of those ever since she came back to Republic City. Suddenly, Kuvira ran into the room, bearing news. Hopefully good ones.
"What did you find?" Lin queried.
"We located the end of the tunnel, but there's no sign of him. Just some fresh tire tracks."
Mako pushed himself up from a cabinet as he was leaning over it earlier from behind the couch where the Beifong sisters sat across the four of his friends. He scoffed. "He had an escape plan all ready to go."
"I trusted him with my life," Suyin muttered as she leaned over her knees, a conflicted expression on her face. "I thought we were family, but it was all a lie."
"Whoever these guys are, they're more powerful than we thought, and more dangerous."
"That's why we have to find them. We're going to hold off our search for airbenders and hunt down Aiwei. Naga can track his scent."
"And I bet if we find Aiwei, we'll find Zaheer," Asami added, and Cloud nodded in agreement.
However, Lin didn't seem to like the idea of them hunting for the man who could possibly lead them to Zaheer. There were too many possible risks. It was basically like giving themselves up as bait. Cloud wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was better than nothing. Besides, Cloud believed in her friends.
"No! We're not hunting this group. There could be other secret agents in other parts of the world looking for you right now! I'm taking you back to Republic City, where I can protect you."
"If I wasn't safe here, then I'm not safe anywhere. I have to stop them!"
Their loud argument went back and forth until Suyin decided to agree with her stubborn sister. Korra rather took it better than Cloud expected, but at least the yelling was over. She wasn't exactly a fan of loud noises. Back in the apartment where the team was staying, a knock was heard on the door, and when Korra opened it, Suyin was standing outside their apartment, a newly determined look on her face.
The woman ended up letting them leave her city to find her former trusted advisor, giving them keys and a vehicle to drive. Cloud had a feeling earlier that it was all an act so Lin would believe the scheme, therefore giving them enough time to go out without being noticed by the grouchy woman. No one wanted to see Lin angry again, so they left as quietly as they could.
Cloud only hoped they were doing the right thing.