Chapter 31 - The Looming Threat
Anubis said nothing for a long time, as if he had fallen into a hole.
I saw the fiery fall of enemies, their spineless fluttering over the expanses of my land, I saw armies lose their generals and half-witted monsters lose their hopes. Seeing the spirits of creatures gathered and ready for battle suddenly turn into lost lambs gave me the greatest joy, and the fact that they refused to continue fighting only made me feel tender and peaceful. But he never showed up.
I thought he would appear at least a couple of times during my stay in Ba Sing Se, but nothing happened, as if I had been forgotten. Or was it because I had achieved my goal?
I understood my aspirations perfectly well, and with victory looming, I was already shaping my own destiny. It all started with Oza, who, like thunder, swept across the sky on flying machines known to the locals as "Kitas".
The airships were truly the most powerful weapon of the modern age, better than any drill or fleet. Their ability to cross any distance at a consistently high speed allowed the Fire Lord to deal with one of the Spirit Army Commanders. He conquered the sky itself, thus clearing the way to the North Pole, for there would be no one to come to the aid of Tui and La. That is why I said that my plan was unbeatable. Seeing such a fierce genocide, the spirits, even though they were irrational creatures, instinctively understood who would cut them all down. And so Wang Shi Tong made his move.
I didn't know this part of the plan, but the spirit of knowledge, having calculated everything, understood that something had to be done about the cloud of guardians of holy places and other worshippers of spirituality. While we destroy the leaders, we must somehow deal with the army so that there are no deserters, bandits, and other enemies of humanity among the spirits. It was then that Afka stunned me with surprising news.
"He sent all the spirits of knowledge to negotiate with this zealous crowd about returning to their world? I understand that he wants to start his music box and advertise the possibility of travelling between worlds using his library.
"Wang Shi Tong is still very conscientious! "The fox girl snapped at me." He doesn't like the fact that the spirits may lose their faces and never bring new knowledge to the library again, so he plans to take the spirits from the swamp with him. Moreover, the return will be free, and if anyone wants to come back, they will have to pay with some valuable knowledge.
Scratching behind his ear, he glanced at the large lake near the Tsar's palace, where Koi fish swam, cleansing the water of all dirt. There were a lot of them, but when I picked up a pebble and threw it into the water, I saw that all the fish scattered eagerly away from the stone. And they no longer wanted to return to that dangerous place. And if you take not stupid fish with a memory of five seconds, but centuries-old spirits, then a logical question arises:
"Why would spirits want to return here if they are simply hated? I don't think anyone will forget the past war and want to regain their cult of followers here.
"You are completely consumed by thoughts of war, but my master is not. He continues to think about how to bring us peace," Afka sat down comfortably on my knee, staring intently at the lake, where the fish had forgotten about the threat of the stone and returned to their places, and at the city outside the palace, which stretched for miles to the horizon. "This land attracts with its beauty and unknowns. Many explorers of the human world would like to go to the spirit world to study it, and the same works in reverse. Wang Shi Tong is a clever owl and understands all this. He will force them to sign agreements, and only those who desire peace and knowledge will return.
Well... to some extent, it sounded like an idea for creating a world, and in this matter, Shi Wong could be trusted. There was only one thing I found difficult to agree with: I didn't want any war, because I wanted complete peace with someone I loved, preferably surrounded by people I could trust, and all in a safe place. And preferably with technological progress on the horizon that would make my life even easier, but to achieve that, I would have to wage a victorious war. And I achieved my goal.
Perhaps the war was not yet over and a couple of obvious spirits could still disrupt my plans, but thanks to enlightenment, I understood the truth and abandoned the framework. Perhaps I got the best option possible, I created the personality I wanted and got rid of the regrets that haunted me in my past life. I got everything I wanted. But what next? Now I had opened my seventh chakra and felt completely free. I sat in front of the lake and enjoyed life because nothing could break my concentration, but... the seventh chakra is only the beginning.
I used to think that with spirits inside my soul, I would not be able to achieve the enlightenment I wanted, that they were incompatible with the idea of renouncing power and earthly attachments. But if personality and the individual play a key role in the chakras, then it is up to you to decide what your new beginning will be and how you will develop further. The funny thing is that there was no longer any excitement gripping my body. I had achieved a logical result, and I didn't want to make a fuss about my achievements or tell everyone about them. That's probably why Anubis didn't show up again.
Only Afka knew, and only because I was writing a book that combined all my knowledge about the chakras. I didn't really want to, but Wang Shi Tong demanded it.
"By the way, about those who lost their faces. When are you going to see Tui and La? - Afka looked strangely at my gloomy figure," - They won't leave you, you'll have to take their faces too.
"You're right. We have to make it before the solar eclipse," I lazily took the calendar with the date marked out of my bag and saw that there wasn't much time left before the two Koi fish would gain their ultimate power. I don't know what they were planning and why they hadn't attacked yet, but those two fish weren't planning anything good, that's for sure. Considering that most of the really important cities are located by the sea, one can only imagine the fury with which they would descend on the world during the eclipse.
I'm sure I'll need Anubis' help. Where are your elections?
"You can manage without me."
The answer was not at all what I had expected. I was taken aback and smiled as if it were a good joke, but Anubis did not rush to refute it.
"You have come a long way from a pathetic weakling who could have been ruined by ordinary cigarettes to a true master of your own life, independently determining your own destiny. You can already see how to avoid failure, and your strength allows you to cope with anything you want. You have achieved what you wanted. And I have repaid you for your help."
My heart remained calm, even though my brain struggled to comprehend these words. Was this possible? Failure was still following me, and any step could turn against me. Could it be that the ability to stand against such problems like a bastion, turning every failure back to my advantage, made Anubis say these words?
Yes... now I see many more cause-and-effect relationships, and Anubis' options, which I couldn't understand at all before, are now crystal clear to me. Even the reason why I became an earth mage! It is the only element that could allow me to stand against the whole world like a monolithic wall, and it is its protection that made me who I am today.
And now all of that rests on my shoulders.
"So, I have to take the last steps myself, without anyone's help," I smiled serenely, catching Afka's strange gaze. She didn't understand the nonsense coming out of my mouth, so I had to stroke her behind the ear. "Pack your bags. We're going back to the North Pole."
***
My farewell to Tai Li and Suyuki was quick and not particularly emotional. I knew that when I returned to them, our lives would change for the better, no one missed each other, everyone was just looking forward to it. Besides, the girls continued to do important work and no one should have been distracted by travelling with me.
As for the journey... I was no longer afraid of ship expeditions. I would have gladly boarded any technological marvel, even if I had to make sure beforehand that it had no manufacturing defects, but I received a better offer. Instead of travelling to the scene of my future crime by sea, Azula suggested we ride a flying "whale". There aren't that many airships in the Fire Nation yet, but their production could increase exponentially with each passing day, and one of them landed not far from the restored wall of Ba Sing Se to lift us into the sky.The captains and other workers of this flying death trap, upon seeing me, rushed to check the integrity of the airship and carefully monitor the gas tanks, propellers, stabilisers, and rudder. Apparently, they were afraid of rumours that I always break everything. Azula, in turn, stood on the front bridge and looked at the world as if it were her own, admiring the opportunity to strike whatever she wanted. When we rose into the air, her hair fluttered in the strong wind.
"Isn't Avatar at the North Pole right now?" the girl blinked when I stood next to her on the bridge.
"Yes, he's dealing with the passage to the spirit world. The path to the North should be the last, but at the same time the most dangerous. I'm sure Tui and La are seething with rage, but they're holding back their power until the eclipse.
"It would be foolish of them not to try to stop us from reaching the North. They only need a week, right?" I nodded. The eclipse was scheduled to begin the following week. That's bad because time is running out, but we did everything as quickly as we could," After the moon covers the sun, the capital of my nation will definitely be under attack, and I don't even want to think about the other cities and ordinary islands. What do you think they'll do?
Furrowing my brow, I stared silently at the space in front of me, but Anubis did not speak. The spirit of prophecy also did not mention anything specific, only informing us of the presence of some ephemeral problem, but what that would be, who knows. Although...
"The fact that we're flying to the Pole while the Avatar is there is our biggest problem.
"Huh? Why is that? Aang seems to be firmly on your side, and besides, if it comes down to it, I can strike him with lightning from behind, if necessary," she said innocently, swaying slightly as if she wasn't suggesting to kill my friend.
"It's a threat that's easy to predict but difficult to deal with — it's Aang who poses the threat, and the problem will become even greater if we find ourselves in the North during the solar eclipse. In that case, the spirits will even be able to share their power with him... you don't want to see what happens then.
"We'll get there first. I'll order everyone to fly at full speed. We'll stage a total massacre.
"Remember that I can't use my full power at the poles? It's a well-thought-out trap. It's in the spirits of the Moon and the Ocean's best interest to drive me into this freezing branch to cut off all my power. They didn't take one thing into account. I absorbed Old Iron, and I have a huge airship at my disposal.
"You don't want to...
"I really want to.
Thanks to the fact that all the plans are being carried out on schedule, I can't come up with anything extra. I have to take a risk and use whatever means are at hand, even if it causes the princesses of different countries to have a heart attack!