Chapter 36.4- And so the Dragons Danced

I nodded, pleased that it worked as expected. All the while, Toji watched with a tilted head.

“Have you got him in the right state?” I turned to Amara and asked. She nodded, struck dumb for some reason.

“What? Cat’s got your tongue?” When she didn’t reply, I scwled but turned to the target. Long Feng’s eyes were glassy and empty. Just like he had described that they would need to me for the brainwashing to work. I wanted to ask Toji to handle the next step, but looking at ke told me that he would not be pleased to do it. He’d obey, of course, but I was not that type of leader. I struggled with his weight for a few seconds but managed to lift him with ease when I sent the heat running across my body. As I did so, I felt my head clear itself for the first time since I’d stepped into this cavern.

It was the darkness, I realised. Even trapped and overcome, Kah’s influence still stretched over the cavern. It was nothing overt. It was almost insidious with how subtle it was. It didn’t make me any less myself. It just made me more prone to feeling string emotions and allowing them to dictate my actions. That was why I’d felt panic when he’d said my name and not just fear. It was an amplifier of emotions. How fascinating.

I dropped the Dai Li leader at the foot of the spirit and pushed it closer.

“Assume the position” I ordered with a blank face, repeating the words as Long Feng had offered them. This was a statement he’d attempted to deceive me on no less than four different times. I tossed Toph a fond smile that she would never see but she had really more than earned her keep with me. Not like she ever needed to but the point stood.

The spirit’s form shifted as it wrappped its body around Long Feng. Its form suddenly began clearer. It was like it had a pocket in its midsection like a Kangaroo’s except it opened from the bottom and not the top. The pocket enveloped Long Feng until there was nothing visible of him except his feet. I felt the urge to recoil from the sight but stood tall.

“Long Feng was never truly loyal to the Dai Li. From the day he was recruited, he worked to undermine the organisation, until he met General Wu of the Fire Nation. He instantly became friends with him and swore to serve his family in perpetuity. He wished he could have helped the General with his siege and mourned when the siege was called off by the Fire Nation Prince. Upon General Wu’s death, all his love and loyalty which is so intense that he would rather die than betray him, transferred over to General Wu’s son, Natsu Wu. “ I dictated, and the Dreamweaver began to duo its job. Like Long Feng had said, the dreamweaver could rewrite memories to affect the emotions held by a target on any subject whatsoever. Vague instructions that had emotions tied to them were better as they gave the creature the room to tell a fitting story. It was also why I had not incuded myself in the narrative until the end. He was going to receive memories of building a relationship with my father. Those memories would be unfalsifiable because it wasn’t like he’d ever mention something that he’d expect me to know.

The room seemed to stand still as the weaver worked his sorcery. It took about half an hour for the dreamweaver to finish his work and when it did so, it retreated from Long Feng’s form, leaving the man stationary and covered in some sort of goop. I returned him to Toph’s platform, trying to do my best to prevent getting any of the liquid on me.