23 Speaking with the Elder

Before Michael stood the strangest creature he had ever seen in his life. It had three wings attached to a spherical body, three eyes in a triangular formation, and three horns on its head. Michael could only thank nature for the fact that this pise of shit did not have three hanging dicks, given the theme that this… thing followed.

"Okay, I assume you're a mischievous Spirit who likes to use some kind of psychological warfare, but did you seriously have to show yourself? I can't take you seriously anymore, you look ridiculus."

The teenager could hardly contain his laughter at the sight of the low, pig-like body of the Spirit. He even had a snout! Who gives the master of psychological warfare such an appearance!?

"Many have laughed at me, but not many have left me in their right mind, creature."

The spirit growled and Michael couldn't hold back any longer. His laughter broke the brief silence in the clearing and he had to lean on his staff to keep from falling.

"BWAHAHAHA! I'M THREATENED BY A HORNED PIG!"

Nearly crying, he noticed the pig getting more and more irritated. But Michael was able to calm down before the Spirit could reach the boiling point.

"Huu~ I won't apologize because you're a little bitch, and I don't like bitches. I can't believe you gave me nightmares." He muttered and turned to the Elder. "I suspect that you want to talk to me? Otherwise, Sylphy wouldn't have brought me here."

Sylphy jumped in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey! I'd bring you here even if she didn't want to talk! I can invite friends over even if they're human!"

The elder and the pig laughed, causing the wind around them to shake a little. The young Spirit frowned and looked between her elders, she just didn't understand why they were laughing.

"Excuse me dear, we're not laughing at you, we're laughing because he's as human as you and I."

Michael sighed heavily and lightly hit himself on the head with the staff several times. He suspected that he was no longer human, but hearing this from the Spirit felt like a death sentence.

'If they're not lying, of course.'

Sylphy, meanwhile, bombarded the Elder with a tsunami of questions that she didn't even bother to answer.

"He's a Spirit?! Say he's a Spirit, I know he's a Spirit, even if he doesn't feel like a Spirit!" She blabbered excitedly.

"Mah~ I bet she's going to say she has no idea what I am." Micheal moaned and slowly fell to the floor.

The pig was incredibly indignant and decided to let the whole world know about it. At least that's what Michael assumed because the Spirit screeched like a banshee.

"You vermin! How dare a murderer and a thief doubt the Elder's knowledge?!"

Michael only raised his head a little to look at the old woman's face and raise an eyebrow.

"Am I wrong?"

The Elder didn't answer anything and only sighed heavily, which raised the question of whether she had lungs. Given that she's just a flying face, Michael thought it was unlikely.

"You're right, I don't know what you are. I can only say that you definitely shouldn't be here, especially with such windy thoughts."

"This isn't the first time I've heard this, Elder. If you don't want to ask questions, then I'll start asking. Where is the crack that leads to the Human World?"

The Elder nodded in the direction of several fallen trees - which were not there moments ago - and a way back to the Human World appeared before Michael's eyes. It looked like it was a broken one-way mirror that opened up a view to another reality. The teenager almost couldn't believe that something like this existed, but quickly changed his mind because he literally met the embodiment of Death once.

His view of the world changed quite a bit that day.

"I'll walk you through the aisle, we can talk along the way." The elder smiled towards Sylphy and then frowned a little. "This conversation is just for the two of us."

Knowing that he didn't have much choice, Michael followed the flying face and noticed how the Pig tried to follow them, but was caught by Sylphy. He sent a silent thank you in the direction of his new friend and calmly walked towards the crack.

"To be honest, I expected it to be much more difficult to get out of here." Michael confessed while looking at his exit from the Spirit World.

"Not everything in life has to be a challenge, creature."

The Elder's etes turned towards the teenager with interest and her head shrank to the size of a human one. Her voice also became quieter and softer, like a summer breeze.

"Tell me, do you still want to free the Dark One?"

Michael froze, not for the first time today, and his eye twitched. Even with all the countermeasures, his mind was read like an open book. He didn't like it, especially considering that usually the main characters of fanfiction that he read were immune to such bullshit. Of course, he will deny until his last breath that he has read something like that.

"And what if I am? What difference does it make to you, Spirit?"

The Elder frowned and looked at him as if he was an idiot. A look that looks unchangeable even on the faces of the Gods.

"Then I pray that your reasons are enough to pay for them with everything that makes you yourself, child. Vaatu corrupts everything he touches, and no matter what you think, you will not be an exception."

Something in the back of Michael's head told him that this was the truth that he had always known, but refused to see. His sticky hands just wanted to steal something important for the Lore of this world and see how the universe is trying to fix the mess that he created. Of course, most likely he would find the World Gates before anything interesting could begin, but the idea itself was pleasant.

"If Vaatu gets into the human world again, he will stop at nothing to get rid of Raava. He won't accept you as an equal or build a friendship with you, he'll just see you as another puppet."

It was the first time the Spirit had spoken to him without veiled riddles-apart from Sylphy-so he decided to listen. But in the end Michael decided to change the subject, he had a couple of questions after all.

"How exactly did Gotl block my Bending? How did I get Waterbending back and how do I get Airbending back?" He blinked and snapped his fingers, remembering one unpleasant thing. "And how did that pig know so much about me?"

The Elder's face hardened and Michael prepared himself for a long lecture.

"Gotl allowed you to touch the Lake of Emotions, but even before that, he was imperceptibly sending steam coming from the Lake to you. It clouded your mind and gradually blocked your connection with the elements. It will pass through time, or if you return harmony with your inner element. If you want to regain Airbending soon, then you need to find your inner freedom, the path of least resistance."

Michael tilted his head in confusion, remembering the words of Octo-bitch that left him with so much insparation, he didn't know what to do with it. Why did they say the same thing? And if the path of least resistance is the key to understand the air, then how exactly did it help him get Waterbending back?

But he decided to wait until the end of the lecture like a good boy, because interrupting is rude, especially when you are given important information.

"The Spirit you call a pig… he doesn't know anything about you. Savvat can only imitate the voices of others and nothing more."

Michael tilted his head in confusion and frowned.

"Then whose voice was it?" He asked.

"I can't tell you that. He always responds to his name and if he sees you here… Well, you'll never get out alive."

Slightly creeped out, Michael promised himself to learn how to kill strong Spirits as soon as possible. He didn't want to be exposed to these bastards, especially since he wouldn't be lucky enough to learn their weaknesses like he did with Gotl.

"Okay. So I need to do some kind of spiritual exersise to get my Airbending back, find out the name of the Spirit that is 'watching' me, and figure out why that Spirit Octopus is such a cryptid bitch. Did I miss anything?"

If the Elder was amused, she didn't show it. The Spirit just nodded to herself and looked directly into Michael's eyes, as if searching for his soul.

"You forgot to stop thinking about stealing the Dark One. It won't do you or the world any good."

Turning to the crack, Michael did not notice how the Elder called Sylphy to her, the young Spirit immediately flew to her side. She looked sadly at her new friend who was about to leave and sighed heavily, attracting the attention of the teenager.

Sylphy's cloud hair was dark and sometimes you can see a flash of lightning in the clouds. Michael understood perfectly well why Friendly Spirit was in such a mood, but he couldn't do anything about it. He needed to return to the Human World.

"Hey, Sylphy." He took her hand and squeezed it gently, trying to get her attention. "Don't be sad. I know that you only have to wait about five decades before you can make more friends."

Sylphy perked up and her hair began to shine from the inside, the former thunderstorm turned into a bright dawn. Michael also increased the speed and number of thoughts in his head so that the Elder could not understand what exactly he was thinking. Although even if she finds out about the future, it won't matter so much. With Michael's presence, enough things have already changed in the world to make his information useless.

"Really?!" She squeezed his palm in response and squeaked, making the winds around her sing with happiness. "Wow! And how do you know that I will be able to make more friends?"

Michael laughed softly, looking at the interest in the Spirit's eyes.

"I can't tell you that. You'll have to see for yourself when that moment comes."

Rolling her eyes, Sylphy pushed him towards the crack, but there was a smile on her face. She was sad to let her friend go, but the promise of a better future sounded better than nothing.

The elder flew up to Michael and stopped next to him.

"Are you ready to go back to the Human World?"

He just nodded, blinking a couple of times because of the warm wind that blew at him from the crack.

"I'm always ready. Do you know where I'm going?"

The Elder thought about it, but shook her head. The worlds of Spirits and Humans were separated for about ten thousand years, of course she didn't know what was on the other side.

Michael put his hand on the surface of the crack and immediately felt a strange not quite solid barrier. The sensation on his hand was not like glass or film, rather he felt as if his hand was being pushed away by an invisible hand identical to his own.

He felt a push on his back and immediately began to fall through the crack, stumbling forward due to the sudden movement.

"Goodbye, Michael! Good luck to you!" He heard Sylphy's voice before the crack exploded into an ocean of shards.

Now in the Human World, Michael took a deep breath and looked around, immediately noticing that he was next to some kind of city.

"Well, it's time to find out where I am." He muttered and walked towards the city.