--History--
Steve stared at Director Strongman in shock, struggling to process what he had just said. His father had founded the Bending Alliance?
Thaddeus Wellington had disappeared from Steve’s life before he’d had a chance to know him. He had been only a few months old when the man had left his family and had never returned. The earliest memories Steve had were of living with Laurel and Grandma Lily in Ohio. There was nothing in the house to remind him of his father, and the women never spoke of him. Till date, he had no idea if the man had abandoned them, died in an accident, relocated to another country or run off with another woman.
Back in Ohio, not having a father hadn’t meant anything. Steve had Laurel and his Grandma and they showered him with as much love and care as he needed, and the kids there hadn’t cared. However, in New York, the story was different. Laurel was busy, and the kids were vicious and obnoxious. Mostly, Steve couldn’t care less, but some days it did get to him, and he spent more and more time wondering about his father. If he was feeling bad, he would envision Thaddeus Wellington as a sort of low-life, a good-for-nothing, selfish man. What other kind of person could just leave his family? Other times though, he would make up stories –maybe something terrible had happened to him and he couldn’t return. Neither Laurel nor Grandma Lily would talk about it, so he didn’t know for certain. Over time, he had accepted that he would never know the truth.
Until now.
“Sixteen years ago,” Director Strongman continued, “Thaddeus had a vision. He saw the re-emergence happening and knew the new benders would need guidance and training. He also saw something else, something terrible accompanying the re-emergence and knew that sooner or later, the world would need us. So he travelled around the world, searching for any benders he could find. And he succeeded. He convinced us of the advantages we would have in working together towards the greater good, and how the world needed us. He told us his vision and we believed him. We believed in him. And why would we not? There is no man who would see Thaddeus and hear him speak and not see immediately how good he was. The sacrifices he made!”
Steve couldn’t say a word. No one had ever talked about his father like this. No one had ever talked about his father, period. The Director took a few steps forward to one of the sculptures on the wall. Steve followed him and peered at it. It was a strange one: there was the depiction of the torso of a man above, with his arms spread out wide. Beneath him and under the arms were four men, each depicted as a torso resting on one of what Steve recognised as the rune for the elements, air, water, earth, and fire. Beneath these were much smaller people, so many that Steve couldn’t count. Encompassing everything was a circle made up of the elements, each taking up a quarter of the circumference. Steve felt something slowly bubbling up within him. It took him a moment to recognise the feeling. It was joy.
Strongman traced the sculpture lightly as he spoke. “After Thaddeus brought us all together, he appointed four directors to oversee the affairs of the alliance. The directors were the strongest benders and those with the most influence in the organisation, all from different parts of the world. I am but one of the four. Another, based in Britain, is young Chris’ father, Sir Robert L. McGregor.”
“One of the biggest captains of industry in the world is a bender?” Steve asked in surprise.
“Not just a bender, but one of our leaders and the source of most of our funding,” Strongman replied with a small smile.
Steve suddenly understood Chris’ place in the Alliance. But there was one thing the story had not explained yet. He turned his gaze up to the director. “What about my father?” He asked. “Where is he? Is he still setting up the Alliance?”
Strongman looked at him sadly. “Unfortunately, no.”
Steve felt his spirits plummet as he saw the Director’s expression. “What do you mean?” He asked in a small voice.
“Not long after the alliance had found its ground and bearing, there was a disagreement within the organisation which led to a schism. Two of the directors didn’t agree with Thaddeus’ plan to stop the terrible event he had foreseen, and believed the only way to really prevent it was to kill the Incarnate as soon as he came of age.”
“What?”
“There was a big fight –Thaddeus could never agree to such. And then they did something none of us could have thought they would: they killed Thaddeus Wellington.”
Steve felt a lump in his throat and realised there were tears in his eyes.
“Then they went their own way and formed a new organisation of their own with those who agreed with them, calling themselves ‘The Solution’. Benders of the Solution believe that they are the new power and should rule over the non-benders.But they know that the Incarnatemight stop them, so they say his supposed wisdom will be the cause of the most terrible event mankind has ever known and that he should be killed. Fortunately, Thaddeus never told us who the Incarnate was or even that he knew who it was, and he never told us he had a family, so nobody knew your identity. For the past decade and a half, both sides have been working hard to find the Incarnate –us to protect and train him, them to eliminate and destroy. We learned of your existence only a few months ago.”
Steve frowned slightly, tears still in his eyes. “Why couldn’t the other directors protect him? I thought he was your friend? Your dear friend? You didn’t even know his family!”
“We did try, Steve. Believe me, we tried. And he was our friend, but we respected his privacy also. Your existence, and that of your mother, came as a shock to us. He must have known you were the Incarnate –his own son, the world’s last hope, which is why he kept you a secret.”
There was moment of silence. Steve worked to get his breathing calm. He shook his head and looked up at the Director again. “And he foresaw something terrible?” He asked quietly. “What was it?”
“That will be a discussion for tomorrow. Tonight, you need your rest.”
“And I’m supposed to be the one to stop it? I can’t even bend. At least not yet, and I should be the master of four elements.”
“Actually,” Strongman said. “You might not be a bender at all.”
“What?” Steve gasped. “I thought I was the Avatar!”
“Not the Avatar, Steve. The Incarnate. The children’s show doesn’t get it all right. The only thing we know for sure is that the Incarnate has access to the wisdom and experiences of all the past Incarnates and in that way, the wisdom of man gathered from ages past is not lost. The other parts, not so much. You can be the Incarnate and still not be a bender of any element. And someone doesn’t need to be the Incarnate to bend more than one element. There are some who bend two. We call them double benders.”
The director walked away from the wall. “I am one of those.” He said.
In a sudden, swift movement he stamped his foot on the ground, bent his knee and jabbed his palm up. A jagged piece of rock rose to his chest height. He squeezed the hand into a fist, and as Steve watched in amazement, a burst of flame covered the rock, blazingly bright. The director opened his fist and turned the hand palm down, and the fire around the rock went out. He let his hand fall along with the stone and turned back to face Steve.
He smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Incarnate. Just get your rest. Tomorrow, you’ll meet the rest of the Alliance, and get all the remaining details.”
Steve nodded.
Director Strongman raised a hand and beckoned to one of the ninjas. The boy stepped forward briskly. “Take the Incarnate to his room,” He told him. “And get him anything he needs.”
The ninja nodded and turned around, walking quickly towards one of the doorways. Steve followed, then hesitated and turned back around.
“Director, about my mother… She’ll be in danger from the Solution. Can we do anything to protect her?” He inquired.
Strongman nodded. “Some of our benders are currently watching her. After what has happened tonight, they will bring her in and we will take care of her here at the Alliance.”
“Thank you, sir,” Steve replied. He nodded once and turned to follow his guide. Suddenly, he felt exhausted beyond belief. It had been a long night.
Watch Here for the Next Chapter: 'Council'!
The Lost Legend series is fan fiction based off Nickelodeon's Avatar franchise.
Find more of my original works as Peter M. Ogwara on Amazon!
