Chapter 33 - The State of the Avatar
We have what we have. By this phrase, I did not mean the little that I could theoretically have left at that moment, but nothing at all. I possessed emptiness — that was the only way to describe my current position against Roku. The only place nearby where I could find land was at a sacred spring, where I was not allowed to go; crystals were easily subjugated or destroyed by the intense heat of the dense flames, they simply could not withstand the flow of energy and crumbled. Oh, and yes... the airship was gone. More precisely, it was gone within the confines of Agna Kel'a, the capital, but outside its borders, yes, there was a piece of sinking and melted substance somewhere. But there were silver beads... but to be honest, at the moment they are as useless to me as any ordinary sword.
Everything was blocked by a giant wall of power, and all I could show here would be defeated by a more developed ability to conquer. In the worst case, it would be blown away by the wind — against ordinary wind mages, it might have been possible to show something, but not against the Avatar.
"But he didn't touch the city!" flashed through my mind when I noticed that the manifestation of his boundless magic only affected the roof of the Chief's palace, and that was only because I had torn it to pieces myself when I was moving chaotically in a gust of wind, bouncing off the walls and beams in my path." "For him, the threat is not the whole world, but only me and, judging by the direction of his gaze, Azula as well."
There was also a problem with duration; it was unclear how long he could remain in the body. All previous "replacements" of the soul were done by suppressing Aang's chi, which is easy to do in this state. This is also the reason why he was replaced so rarely in the canon, and why Roku did not fight Ozai instead of him — no one could take control of his body. Now, Tui and La have "helped" with this, and it's worth mentioning that they did a better job than I did, but soon it will get even worse. In the canon, the spirit of the ocean was able to merge with him and turn him into a huge water elemental capable of creating entire tsunamis, which says something about Aang's ability to be possessed. Something similar will happen during the eclipse, and I don't know what the spirit of the moon will do, which in the canon, due to death, was unable to merge with the Avatar.
Will he become two, five, ten times stronger?
"Isn't that what they want? A possessed Aang will allow Tui and La to fully unleash their power, they will subjugate his body and destroy everything they deem unnecessary."
"Why do you serve them? - The realisation of how many deaths would occur during this process made me frown, calm down, and stare blankly at Roku." - Did you know that they were supposed to send a powerful tsunami to this sea a hundred years ago, which you barely stopped? And anyway, Azula is the continuation of your line! I'm sure now that we know this, we can come to an agreement?
"I knew and understood the truth long ago: spirits can see who disturbs the delicate balance of the world," his heavy, fiery words warmed the air itself, making it hot even surrounded by so much ice. "I didn't listen to them enough at the time and made a mistake, but now I will make amends. And I will correct the mistake of my kind.
The ice beneath my feet quickly began to crackle.
"Vibrations!" I couldn't see anything, but I had long been accustomed to feeling strange vibrations. My body jumped to the side, accelerating with a handful of sand I had squeezed and prepared in advance. Azulu was also thrown back, but she quickly stabilised and released a jet of flame.
Where we had been standing, icy needles burst out, cold death itself. The crackling continued, spikes popping up everywhere we were supposed to land. To make our death as unpleasant as possible, even ice floes began to break out of the ground, intent on crushing us. As soon as we found ourselves surrounded by thick ice walls, which in their structure resembled earth magic, I had only one option left: to encase myself in crystal and wait for the moment. But at that very moment, huge chunks of ice shattered, cut through by a thin layer of water. Katara, standing nearby, held a multitude of water tentacles around her, protecting us from the flying debris.
At the same time, a screech and a rumble came from Azula's fingers. Deftly attacking the enemy's blind spot, she almost repeated the canonical feat. Burning one of the chakras with lightning was perhaps the only, and very effective, way to defeat her, but the enemy's experience was truly terrifying.
The tightly compressed water surrounding him quickly froze, and the lightning shattered part of the barrier, but in the end, it helped him.
For this reason, I saw no point in using the rail now; a charged piece of metal could be stopped in a dozen different ways. And to be honest, it would kill Aang. However...
"Lightning... right now he's too strong and capable of blocking any attack of crackling electricity, but that's how we need to catch him," hundreds of possible scenarios that would suit me flashed through my mind in an instant, until a single puzzle came together. I knew how this fight would begin and how it would end.
"No matter how many of you there are, I will save the last portal and restore balance, fulfilling the Avatar's duty," Roku said, pointing his hand at us and beginning to charge a dense beam of flame. It was like a sphere of explosion mages, only it took longer to form, building up pressure. Sokka, Katara, Toph, everyone heard the rumble and knew it was the end.
Even if the Avatar couldn't restore the full power of the Firebending, he would have enough power to shower us with this shit until we died.
But I not only maintained perfect composure, I also understood how to use earthbending. I calmly looked around. Spikes, glaciers, powerful flames, hurricane-force winds, the first destroyed objects, such as a fountain and a small annex to the palace, were already visible, but Roku still hadn't dispersed. The palace itself would soon collapse, and there, with horror and shock in her eyes, Princess Yui looked at everyone. "Stop..." I deliberately stood so as to shield her with my back, partly for my own benefit. Yui was blessed by the spirits themselves, so Roku was unlikely to attack me at the risk of hurting her.
"You're using dirty tricks, Sand Mage Dagoth," his glowing eyes froze for a second, then he almost spat the words out of his mouth. I was willing to bet he had many more accurate attacks, so while he didn't show them, I quickly continued.
"No tricks, I'm just suggesting we don't fight within the city limits. Let's go outside the walls, no one will interfere with us, and I won't be able to get to Tui and La. No matter how you see me, I don't want any casualties," he must have been familiar with this. Sozin took advantage of his weakness and desire to protect ordinary citizens and would not allow large-scale battles within the city.
Roku froze. He didn't know if he could trust me, so he looked at Yui. And from the way she was worried about me, who was under threat from her beloved and everyone else in the area, he quickly understood everything. The sphere of flame above his hand began to gradually dissipate; jerking his palm and shaking it, he finally extinguished the pressure without any threat to those around him.
"There is something positive in you. But it would be better if you gave up, you have no chance anyway, so there's no point in dragging it out. I would freeze your insides and kill you without any pain.
"Hey, if you kill me, you'll lose one person who has a connection with me. At least let me go with dignity," I shrugged innocently, finally giving the impression of a man who is capable of and willing to fight, but only to defend his honour. The Avatar waved his hand arrogantly, ordering me to move outside the walls. Azula also clung to me, as she was also scheduled to be killed, but I quickly stopped Katara and Sokka as they approached. "You have no business there.
"Do you even realise how powerful he is?" Sokka almost shouted. "He'll freeze you in an iceberg before you even realise what's happening."
"So be it," I said, transforming the pieces of jammite lying around into abrasive material, forming a compact sphere of sand and directing it towards my protected legs. I could accelerate its movement with jolts, but outside the city, that wouldn't work. Taking crystals with me would be a mistake, especially carrying them on me. At that moment, Azula prepared herself with a single nod of her head. To ensure that we didn't decide to take someone hostage on our way through the city and jumping across rooftops, Roku moved alongside us, watching our movements closely and ready to knock us all down with tons of water: at least now, with Katara not around, no one could protect us from that. Even so, the situation had improved dramatically.
And not because we didn't have to worry that not a single fucking house or innocent stranger would be harmed during our dismemberment, no. Once outside the city, we landed on a small ice floe and immediately came under Roku's indulgent gaze. He even relaxed — there was an incredible amount of easily accessible water around us and not a single gram of land, I didn't even have any crystals with me, our defeat was a foregone conclusion.
"I have replaced my anger with mercy: your honesty proves that you are not like Sozin. Nevertheless, you must answer for your mistakes," he stepped directly onto the water, changing its surface tension so as not to sink. Standing next to Azul, she nudged me with her elbow, still not understanding my plan.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry you want to kill me. Maybe we could sit together, drink tea and talk about a lot of things," she decided to try to wriggle out of it. The answer was a heavy shake of the head.
"The heart of any man is capable of lying. If I spare you now, you will turn against the world again later. The only thing I am willing to hear are your last words," he said, looking very serious, clearly unwilling to compromise. However, it didn't matter anymore. Enough time had passed.
"I want to say that Old Iron's power is truly great. Thanks to his soul, it has become much easier to disperse, control and change the properties of metals, and it has also become easier to control the branches. Do you know what substance contains both a lot of earth and iron?
"...
"Bulus... Iron clay! - A large amount of soggy, sticky, reddish substance burst out of the ground, raised from the bottom of the ocean. Yes, an endless source of earth was right under our feet, just beneath the thickness of the ocean. At the sight of it, Azulu instantly broke into a smile, spread her arms ravenously and released streams of lightning.
I had already created a tsunami once by affecting the ground beneath my feet, and now the process was similar, except that I needed to lift the ground itself, not just sand or shale, but Bolus. This substance appeared in places where volcanoes had once erupted or tectonic plates had broken through, and could often be found in the seas near the Archipelago of the Fire Nation, usually in large cracks or canyons.It was not worth thinking that the magma erupting from the bottom of the ocean quickly rotted there; this process brings many substances to the surface, which, when they react chemically with water, form a substance that is so useful at the moment. Its peculiarity lay not only in its high iron oxide content, which made it difficult for ordinary earth mages to control, but also in its ability to become a useful substance when fired - terracotta.
"In ancient times, there was not only the great General Cheng, who was known for his control over crystals," I recalled from history books I had read long ago, and smiled broadly. "There was also the equally famous General Terracotta, who was considered a monster because his favourite material was extremely resistant to high temperatures. He became famous for creating an entire Terracotta army!
Terracotta could withstand temperatures of one and a half or even two thousand degrees, and under my power, fire would be completely unable to melt any of it. Creating a large plateau around us, I easily formed many ceramic figures on it. True, controlling an entire army may be cool, but it would be more suitable against an army of the same kind, not a superbeing capable of blowing them all away.
I needed an army for two reasons. Such a large number of terracotta figures would be difficult to subjugate, which meant that most of them would remain under my control. I created an army that far surpassed Terracotta's, considering the amount of iron in them. Roku simply couldn't destroy them all at once. They were also needed to distract Roku and make him look at the creatures with their hands raised. Only then did a mighty creature rise from the ground, someone like the titan Atlas, whose figure could hold up the sky itself. A clay golem, whose figure and body were created with complete architectural knowledge. Its smooth movements were ensured by a technique stolen from Yuna, which made the material elastic.
"We don't have much time," sand flowed towards me from the bottom of the sea, quickly heating up and turning into glass, then cooling down and forming a kind of hourglass. My understanding of how these clocks worked, which had been stored in my mind since childhood, allowed me to make a timer that lasted eleven hours. I had to win before that time was up, or else I would have to give up on life.
"It's useless," said Roku, and the circular motion of his hands caused the surrounding water to gather strength and freeze, enveloping us in a large iceberg in almost a second.
"Now it's not a problem," my Titan's strengthened willpower made him wave his arm, breaking the approaching iceberg. This was a new sight for Roku. The next moment, he landed on the ground with a crash, sending a shockwave that scattered the nearest terracotta soldiers. Even after regaining his footing, he struck out at the giant with his hands, intending to knock him down. But the ceramic soldiers didn't care. They recovered and immediately attacked Roku, who was standing next to them.
They were broken, but they regrouped. If someone was miraculously turned to dust and scattered in the wind, new ones appeared from the clay beneath our feet, and even the injured Titan had already recovered and was bringing his giant fist down on the head of the foolish Avatar.
"It's getting hot," Azula stood up sharply in front of me and blocked a powerful explosion. I myself saw the attack preparing from the movement of his chi. Roku formed the very bomb he had wanted to destroy us with earlier. The fireball rolled across the arena, and we were hit by a shock wave. This parody of Ignition was almost more dangerous than the explosion itself. But who would have thought... no one was hurt.
When Azula dispersed the ball of flame surrounding us and we saw the Terracotta Army, which had suppressed part of the charge, they were all fine. They had withstood the high temperature with complete calm and continued to attack. Only Titan had his arm and part of his body torn off by the explosion, but as I said, they didn't care. The reddish immortal warriors rushed headlong at the enemy, even grabbing their legs and arms, the hems of their long robes and beards.
"Come on, now you can find the moment to strike with lightning," I patted Azulu on the shoulder and nodded confidently, forcing her to merge with this uniform mass of soldiers to wait for the right moment.
"You don't realise the power of the elements!" A powerful gust of wind swept through the area and began to blow my kids away, but even then their feet began to merge with the ground, and they continued to move. Realising the futility of such a light breeze, Roku formed a tornado in the middle of the battle. A real cyclone tore the soldiers' legs off and sucked in every little soldier, restricting even the Titans' movement. Such force could easily destroy an entire city.
But I made Roku see the futility of his efforts by increasing the speed of the soldiers and, accordingly, the energy flowing into them. They managed to get close and die, but they jumped up again and rushed forward to leave at least a scratch on the enemy.The real threat was the tsunami rushing towards us. The torrent of water was more dangerous than a glacier because we couldn't grab hold of it or simply break it like ice. Once we were all flooded and swept into the sea, the battle would be over, but that's why I needed all these endless supplies of clay.
I formed walls in the path of the tsunami and mixed the substance with water, forming a suspension that obeyed me, not Roku, who was struggling with it. If that wasn't enough, I raised magma walls, from which the water simply evaporated, and used it as the main source of defence against the water and ice.
"Now steam too?" The red-hot steam that he was trying to bake us with grinned at the surrounding battlefield. But I had long since covered myself and Azulu in terracotta armour, and Roku couldn't even tell where we were. But I could easily locate him and continued to attack him mercilessly.
An hour, five, ten... the sea in front of Agna Kel'a changed beyond recognition; it seemed as if two Avatars were fighting here. I smashed the seabed and caused tsunamis, raising more land, which formed an island mixed with giant ice blocks. Above us, due to the terrible weather conditions, there was a heavy snowfall, interspersed with thermal currents and volcanoes that were almost breaking out of the ground. If even one of my moves was not clever enough to withstand the overwhelming power, the battle would have been over.
The sky was covered with clouds, and I couldn't see the sun, but I knew very well how much time was left. Unfortunately, it was impossible to catch Roku the way Sozin had done. He had become much more prudent over the hundreds of years he had spent as a spirit, and more callous. Only one detail in this whole plan pleased me.
"You're tired," I said, standing on the large terracotta mountain that had once been my Titan, gazing down at the panting, blood-covered Roku. I didn't even have any bruises, but not because I was so strong, just because the healing magic and water from the holy spring helped me recover even after the harshest blows from this creature who was so angry at the world.
"You can't beat me... you're only still standing because of the power of the spirits," he replied mockingly, still calmly controlling Aang's body.
"I can keep going for a long time... but I suggest we end this. Show me the power of your lightning. If I survive it, then I can deflect it. I don't care if you can block it yourself if the attack comes back. No means I win. Yes means it's the end for me.
"Go ahead," he nodded confidently, absolutely certain that he could survive. Until now, he had not made any concessions, but he was not really sure that his body could withstand further fighting. Raising his hands to his head, he created a powerful discharge that ran along his arms, all the way to his elbows. "That's it, your life is over!"
Due to its instability, the electricity split into branches, but rushed straight towards me. However, just a couple of metres away, it suddenly disappeared into the ground.
"Fallen? You know, that sometimes happens with magic!
"Then you won't survive this," he raised his hands above his head, the lightning bolts became three times thicker, obviously taking a lot of his strength, but even that didn't help. The electricity deflected, and we continued to stand in complete silence, like two fools.
"Maybe one more?
At that moment, the discharge hit me without warning. Roku hadn't charged it, so it was smaller but faster. Yes, the lightning struck the ground.
"Enough joking around.
"Okay, okay... I just needed more lightning, and to keep you on the ground for a while, and that was only possible because you were tired," a slight smile made Roku frown sharply and look down at his feet. A strange rumbling sound made him open his eyes in disbelief. Suddenly, like a cobra, lightning shot through the ground and pierced Roku's chest, causing him to stagger and open his mouth in an attempt to catch his breath.
"How is this... possible..." He fell to his knees. His feet touched the very ground that had somehow accumulated all that electricity and returned it as if in revenge. At that moment, Azula emerged from the ground next to him, climbing up the steps. She ran her fingers, which were tingling with electricity, over his ears and hair, then smiled.
"Grandpa, you have a rather weak and outdated understanding of lightning. Modern concepts of electricity allow us not only to throw it in different directions, but also to store it in batteries," and before his eyes, Azula began to juggle lightning, calmly passing the increasing volume of electricity through herself. There it was, the possibility of using magic with only knowledge from scientific circles. And things weren't going smoothly with the ground either. In theory, the lightning that passed through it should have dissipated, but even here, things weren't going smoothly.
I increased the electrical conductivity of Titan's body, no matter what material it was made of, Azula could easily conduct the discharge through it. And it could be sent to her just as easily. Of course, not all the electricity was preserved in this way; a lot remained there, in the ground, which is why so much lightning was needed. In reality, God willing, only a tenth of it hit Roku.
However, there was no one left to explain it to. Roku had already evaporated, literally turning into mist. And Aang... he collapsed on the ground with a large burn on his stomach that caused his muscles to contract and, accordingly, his whole body to twitch. All his chakras were burned...
"Now let's let Katara heal him," I said, raising my gaze. I was as cold-blooded as possible, because I had no attachments in the true sense of the word. Only a dry understanding of the completeness of my mission.