"But what does being mischievous have to do with me slowly turning into a spirit? Is it because some of these beings have a playful nature?" Shisui asked this question, resting his hand on his chin as he sat on the palm of the Mother of Faces.
"Besides, doesn't it bother you at all that I killed Koh? It's your creation. I don't know if they're male or female, so I don't know how to refer to him or her. Every action has a reaction. I killed Koh. Why are you taking this so lightly? I don't accept the idea that we're all your children!" These words gnawed at the Sage because he couldn't quite wrap his head around them.
Didn't she see him tear her creation apart? Why was it so easy for her to watch that happen? Why didn't she punish or attack him? Were relationships between spirits different from those between humans? The Sage was afraid that his human cognition would be altered when he reached that new level of existence.
"You ask a lot of questions, Shisui," said Mother of Faces. Her faces showed different expressions at the same time, but she seemed only slightly annoyed by the Sage's inquiries.
"All young spirits are mischievous, just as human children are generally restless. Since you're undergoing a gradual transformation that will last decades or even centuries, you're experiencing the initial stages of this 'childish phase.'" One of the faces, the one on the far left, replied with a subtle smile, and interestingly, her voice was slightly different, softer and more maternal.
"You can control it. It's not as if it's a higher influence on your mind or a behavior that you no longer have a foundation for. After all, you were mischievous, capricious, and childish even as an adult." Another one of them continued, using a harsher tone of voice to show their displeasure with Shisui.
"Do you think a mother wouldn't be angry over the loss of her child? I am! Of course I am! But Koh brought that on themselves; they brought that ending on themselves. Ultimately, a mother's role is to bring a new being into the world, raise them, and help them stand on their own two feet.
But what if they don't learn? That's not something I can control!" This time, everyone responded aloud, each with their own tone and expressing different emotions.
"What do you want me to do, Sage Shisui? Do you want me to destroy your face and leave you as a being without essence, wandering through memories of your lost existence? I can do it. Nothing is stopping me. But if I did, how would I be any different from Koh?" The main face spoke this time, and the Mother of Faces gently touched Shisui's head, emphasizing her words.
"I can do it. We can follow the typical pattern: 'I will seek vengeance for the loss of my loved one. Let's fight to the death. Then we fight. I prove my superiority. You draw strength from the depths of your being. We end in a stalemate. Or you prevail for a moment. I flee. And I spend the next few centuries fucking you over. Fucking everything that surrounds you.'" The Mother of Faces began tapping the Sage's chest constantly as her tone grew increasingly angry.
"Is that what you want, Sage Shisui? Is that all you can see? Can't you consider that I am the one who has explained certain aspects of the world you are involved in?" To show how upset she was, the entity grabbed Shisui's clothes, lifted him, and held him just a few inches from her face.
"Don't you have anything to say?" The Mother of Faces waited in silence, wanting to hear a response from the sage, but he remained silent, deeply meditating on the spirit's words.
For some reason, however, he felt that all of this was simply a scolding. Yes, a scolding from a mother who couldn't fully understand her son's thoughts and was offering advice based on her own way of thinking and experience.
But Shisui could see that the Mother of Faces's words held a lot of truth. What had he expected? He had killed Koh, a troublesome being who had brought pain to many people throughout history and who had decided to torment him.
Had the Sage grown accustomed to having enemies because of his actions? He didn't consider himself perfect. He knew that everything he did would inevitably bring him enemies.
It had always been that way. He thought the Mother of Faces would be one of his enemies, but apparently not. He didn't regret killing Koh, nor would he ever. That being was scum who had brought it upon himself, just as his mother said.
However, the "cycle' the spirit spoke of made him think that he would never stop having adversaries, which would endanger his family in the future. In fact, his journey to Ba Sing Se was to fight a group of enemies who were already endangering his family!
Would he have to repeat similar actions in the future? Would he have to leave the comfort of his home and his partner from time to time to get rid of enemies who rose against him? He had no intention of staying silent and doing nothing!
He would intervene in world affairs as much as possible! This would inevitably upset certain groups of people who disagreed with him, which was inevitable since humans were like that. This gave Shisui a lot to think about, so he didn't respond to the Mother of Faces. Noticing that he was lost in thought, she returned him to her hand, and each of her faces smiled.
One of a mother's greatest pleasures is seeing her son or daughter begin to ponder her words. It meant he was taking her words seriously. Although changes might not be immediately apparent, her advice would take root and improve him over time.
"Thank you for your words," Shisui finally said, exhaling the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. As he offered his thanks, the Mother of Faces nodded before using her index finger to stroke the Sage's hair, which had grown quite long lately.
"Don't worry. But you must have noticed what I said, right? I came to you because I need to discuss some matters concerning you, Sage Shisui," Mother of Faces said, pulling her hand away from the human and waving it in the air.
Traces of spiritual energy followed her gestures, forming a circle in the air filled with squiggles and arrows connecting them. Over time, the projection transformed into a complex image: a diagram that confused Shisui.
He could see symbols representing the four elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. He saw the yin-yang symbol. He also saw the Eye of Raava and the Eye of Vaatu, as well as a happy face representing the Mother of Faces.
There were also symbols of the sun, moon, seas, stars, and earth. The more he connected the symbols, the more he understood the drawing. Was it a representation of the world? If so, what did the symbols he didn't understand mean?
"Humans use skulls to represent death, don't they? Sprouts represent life."
As always, the Mother of Faces could sense Shisui's thoughts, so she gave him that answer, which helped him better understand the diagram.
"This symbol is cold. This is heat. These are emotions. This is..." The entity began to slowly explain each symbol, further expanding the Sage's understanding.
"And this is Dream. Don't worry, Dreamer is incapacitated and can't feel a thing. However, it would be best not to mention his name too much. Not because it would cause trouble, but because it's a taboo that might upset other beings." Noticing how Shisui stiffened at the mention of the name, Mother of Faces smiled mischievously, causing the sage to hesitate.
Was this some kind of revenge on the woman's part? It seemed so! At least it was a small joke and not something more serious. This made Shisui realize that perhaps a spirit's cognition wasn't so different from that of humans. However, he needed to investigate the matter further.
"So, I suppose all those symbols make up both the Material World and the Spiritual World, right?" Shisui asked. Mother of Faces nodded.
"Yes, and if you look closely, you'll see that many patterns repeat themselves: Generation and Restriction. Opposites that feed into each other: dualities or balanced combinations: Sun-Moon, Yin-Yang, Life-Death. Everything has its place here. But Shisui, what place do you think you have in all of this?" the woman asked. This caused Shisui to narrow his eyes.
"I don't know, but I suppose it would have to do with water and life, wouldn't it? After all, I've delved deeply into those concepts," the human replied, aware of his own ignorance and lack of knowledge.
"It's similar. You're becoming a spirit in your own right. You'll start at the very bottom, but you've already done things that a normal spirit wouldn't do. Do you know what's interesting about winter?" Mother of Faces asked suddenly, breaking off from what she had been saying.
"I didn't experience winter as a child because the capital where I grew up is in the caldera of an extinct volcano. But during my years of service, I survived several winters.
The most interesting thing about that season? In my opinion, it's how it forces life to pause, only to emerge with eagerness and incredible intensity in the spring."
Shisui walked to the edge of Mother of Faces's hand and looked at the ground where Koh's frozen body remained, emitting cold mist but showing no signs of melting.
"A good way of looking at it. Shisui, future spirit, with all you've done in this world, with all you've achieved, with all you've learned and used, tell me: What place would you represent here? What would you embody?"
Mother of Faces asked expectantly. If she had had eyes at that moment, she surely would have been staring intently at the human lying in her palm, eager to hear his answer.
"I... Hmm, this question really caught me off guard," said Shisui. He sat cross-legged with his hands on his cheeks, closed his eyes, and sank into a deep state of meditation.
This time, the sage immersed himself in a deep trance, reflecting on everything he was and stood for. But he went deeper than the Mother of Faces had expected. He reflected not only on this life but also on his past life.
He saw everything about Román. His upbringing, struggles, and suffering were caused by the Red Moon that bathed the world in its warm, scarlet light. He saw his troubled mind, his anguish from betrayal, and the pain of death.
But he also delved into his life before Román's, when he was called Steve. Swayed by his country's propaganda, Steve joined the army at age 18. He experienced war trauma and the sickening feeling of killing. Ultimately, he met an inglorious end at the hands of a Nazi.
He reflected on his previous life, when he was named Anthony. The industrialization of the world ruined his family, forcing him to become a vagrant at a young age. He later degenerated into a thief and was hanged for stealing food after enduring days of starvation.
He looked back even further, to the short life in which he was named Marcus. Due to a new outbreak of the plague, his young life was cut short at age twelve. He recorded the pain of the illness, the decay of his body, and the fleeting life he lived.
Before that, when he was named Albert and was a sailor in his country's navy, he died during a raid on a pirate ship when he was struck by a bullet fired by one of his targets.
He delved into his past lives until he reached a nameless era devoid of civilization. In that era, he was merely a figure seeking refuge in a dark cave, hoping to escape constant predators or beings that resembled him but were not like him.
He remembered his fear of the moon, his admiration for the sun that always rose, his despair every winter, and his longing for spring. He had experienced it all. All of his lives were revisited and examined as carefully as possible.
Time had become irrelevant to him. In his meditative posture, he sought answers to the questions of the Mother of Faces. Sparkles of chi emerged from his body, and with them, a vague image of a featureless figure glowing with blue light and holding a spear appeared behind him.
The image was blurry, but one could make out that it was Shisui. Mother of Faces smiled and nodded at him, though he didn't respond.
"I will embody the flow between life and death. The sprouting, the purification, the vitality, life itself, along with the coldness and stillness of death. I will be the lingering coldness that signals to life that spring is approaching." Shisui opened his eyes, but nothing supernatural happened.
The specks of chi around his body returned to him, and the image behind him vanished. He was simply a human transforming into a spirit. He stretched as he stood up.
"Excellent response. I hope you'll join us in the coming centuries or millennia. There's no rush. Take your time," said the Mother of Faces before setting Shisui back down on the floor.
"Enjoy the process," she declared before disappearing along with the dimensional shifts she had caused and Koh's frozen body. She left Shisui back in the hallway where he had previously fought.
"I'm so amazing! HAHAHAHA!" Shisui exclaimed, laughing wildly with his hands on his hips.
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AN: TheAnPlayer2 gave me a tip: Promote my original stories every 5 chapters. So, read my original novels: Steam and Heart, Lunar Mechanism, Blood Sequence, and Witch's Adventure. You may or may not like them, but give them a chance. c: