Chapter 34 - Epilogue
Carrying Aang's limp and cooling body in my arms felt very strange. And watching his head hang limply on my shoulder, like a newborn baby, was even stranger; Katara, who met us, turned pale at the sight. A jolt of electricity ran through her body, causing her to instantly think of the many outcomes that could have happened and wonder why the young air nomad had a huge burn across his chest, from which an unpleasant smell emanated. She did not start crying or throwing punches at anyone, but simply brushed the strands of hair hanging over her face and hurried to fetch water from the holy spring.
Her trembling hands immediately fell softly on Aang's stomach, and healing energy flowed through his body and the places where the qi points and chakras had once been. If she had only had ordinary water or snow, which could be found in any corner of the capital, all this would have been pointless, of course, because the injuries were like dominoes. The destroyed chakra in his stomach took the nearest qi points with it, followed by others, until they reached the other chakras in the same sacrum, spine, throat and forehead, destroying them all. But traces of all these places remained, now inaccessible, but the holy water worked wonders. Yes, slowly, but I advised Katara not to skimp on it from now on.
We had no need to dilute a few drops of this precious liquid with a barrel of ordinary sea water; we could have immersed the body in a holy spring. But first, we had to deal with those who were there. There was about half an hour left before the solar eclipse. After Roku left, the clouds he had gathered for his typhoon disappeared, and it became clear how close the moon was to the sun. Now the power of the waterbenders was growing with every second, and for the same reason, Katara's healing abilities were more powerful; at her peak, she could even restore Aang in a matter of minutes. But for the same reason, we had to finish quickly.
Tui and La definitely understood that they were also running out of time. If during the battle with Roku they had somehow intervened, trying to suppress my tsunamis or, conversely, strengthen Roku's waves, now they could be completely destroyed. It had happened once before, a hundred years ago, when the tsunami struck not only the cities of the continent, but also the northernmost pole. Why? What for? I desperately wanted to know. Hurrying to the green and warm oasis, I tried not to react to the warning of the spirit-prophet about the threat from the sea; I already suspected a possible crisis.
"Stop!" At the same time, someone was already waiting for me. Right on the bridge that crossed a very small river stood Princess Yui, spreading her arms to keep me from getting closer. She really believed that this would stop me, that I would at least jump over the river. I put my fingers on my hourglass and frowned.
"Princess... do you understand what will happen if we don't deal with the spirits? If we wait until a huge space rock blocks the star? I would say nothing, but this world works by strange rules. And those rules will destroy everything here.
"Did you ask them?" she replied, no longer so confidently. "I mean, again!"
Coming closer, he gently pushed her hand away with his body and walked to the lake. The water began to bubble and rise, once again forming a threatening tentacle.
"No... but I'll ask them now," I stamped my foot, violently throwing the fish out of the pool with the help of stone columns, my hands grabbing their fluttering tails, and the world around me... the world turned grey, and I felt a sense of viscosity, like jelly. I could hardly describe this feeling to myself, but contact with the fish made it incredibly clear to me how much the balance had been upset. The greyness was not a visual effect or a filter for a beautiful and dramatic picture; the world was truly held together by the power of certain spirits, which was why they could not all be killed. It was simply an objective fact.
Zhao didn't know this; his goal was to destroy one of the pillars of this world. An ordinary person with so many problems, a miracle, but all because of the stupidity of these two fish. They became mortal... and I wanted to understand why.
In an instant, the greyness gave way to darkness. The same darkness I had witnessed when the fish pulled my soul out and turned it inside out, only now I had invaded their world myself. Brave and able to see much more. And I understood that all of this was a semblance of outer space, the presence of which could be felt when the seventh chakra was opened. Aang himself walked through it, and before his feet was a bridge of pure energy. Before me, there was nothing, no path to past lives or the power of the higher spirit. Instead, there were two creatures, no longer fish, and thanks to the "enlightenment," I could see their true nature.
Interestingly... La, the spirit of darkness, the spirit of the ocean, I had already seen. In the canon, he merged with Aang, his nature resembling a monstrous, catfish-like creature. Glowing, made of water, apparently Aang's power had managed to reveal his true form.
But the spirit of light and goodness, Tui, resembled... me? A little changed, more rough and unpleasant, I would say cruel. I would have been stunned if I hadn't known that her nature was a perfect reflection of the myths and legends from the books of Wang Shi Tong. Not only does she control the tides, complementing her brother, but she also shines in the night, reflecting the rays of the sun, for her purpose is to reflect the true essence.
"So this is what the legendary couple looks like?
They were silent. They just looked meaningfully at the creature that was predicted to destroy the world. That's almost what happened.
"Tell me what you see in me," Tui said wistfully. "Behind the mask of kindness and pacifism hid such a creature, and I saw it right away. But I hoped for the best.
"You could have saved yourself the trouble," I shrugged. "I always knew you weren't all good. If I didn't have a deal with my friend, you would have known a completely different Dagoth, perhaps driven mad by his power over time. But, as you can see, pacifism allowed me to keep my sanity and not show my less pleasant side, as you do, spirit of the moon.
"You've already shown your true colours, what's the point of trying to convince us otherwise now?!" The big doubt stamped its foot on the endless cosmic space. What quickly became clear to me was that this was apparently where the energy and strength of these spiritual creatures came from, perhaps something like a primordial broth? Higher beings like Rava and Va'atu appeared from somewhere, but this place is simply one side of the spirit world. I suppose creatures like Lady Tienhai, the woman Old Iron obeyed, are just people who long ago opened their chakras and learned to use the energy from here to increase their power. Well, that's what I thought.
"And I'm not trying to convince you of anything. On the contrary, I'm just laughing — because if I hadn't stopped you, you would have flooded the capital, wouldn't you? Why? Now and a hundred years ago, didn't you come to this world to teach people compassion and mercy? Then Roku stopped you, so why have you now decided to join forces with him?
"…Do you really want our answer? - Another me, or rather, a mirror image, spoke in a voice that was not mine.
A nod made Tui and La become more serious. I knew the answer; they had already hinted at it in our first conversation. But I wanted to hear it. In essence, I was literally holding them by the tails, my qi feeding these fluttering bodies, and now a battle of energy was taking place. Two against one, they were trying to subdue me, but Koh's strength and my seventh open chakra made us equal. Zhao, of course, acted more wisely, he put the fish in a bag, apparently understanding what direct contact could lead to, but he didn't need to fight them. He pressed down on them all with his energy, making them feel the frightening power of Kocha, who was eager to kidnap them. They spoke:
"So that what is happening now does not happen again," replied La, "You humans have already changed the balance of the world once by separating Chaos and Order. There had to be someone who would prevent this from happening again. Roku understood this and took our side.
"I'd rather hear about the misty sea in the spirit world.
"What about it?" snapped the catfish. He was the only one who spoke because he was often the instigator of all the trouble. "The misty swamp is maintained by me to transform people's vices into a punishing hand for those who want to change too much. And they punished them, for a very long time, until this Kuruk... a disappointment among all the Avatars. We had to turn to Koh for help. We opened the door for him here, at the North Pole. All for the sake of balance.
"We deserve to live too," added Luna.
"Yes... but only in their own worlds," I said harshly, finally becoming like my reflection. "I think Wang Shi Tong will be glad to know that the foggy sea will no longer cause any problems.
My energy flooded the place — the seventh chakra allowed me to use a fraction of the power available here, to be like a mortal, but already elevated above ordinary souls. And thanks to Koh, I resembled a devourer, capable of taking this very cosmic energy from another being and appropriating it for myself - Rust, Old Iron, and now the spirits of the moon and the ocean, from whom I tore off a piece, will not let me lie. You could say that thanks to this, it was possible to achieve the greatness of Lady Tienhai more quickly, or even become better than her.
The whirlwinds of energy with which we crushed each other until... Until my real body calmly knocked two fish together. They were stunned, and then the mortal shells were suddenly covered by my black tablecloth.
"Oh," I heard a shocked sigh behind me as I came to. Yui was still standing there with a frightened look on her face, her heart beating wildly, but now the reason for that was the extremely frightening and strange appearance of the spirits. The two koi fish no longer had faces... they had entered a state of limbo, after which I peacefully knelt down, gently reached into the pond and put the fish back in, and they began to swim, only not as frisky as before. The very balance that had stolen the colour from the flowers returned to normal, colours filled the world and made me smile.
Seriously, though, there was no energy left in them... almost. I left a drop, about the same percentage that was in Yui, so that they could support the Moon and the Ocean, because as practice from the canon had shown, even with a pitiful amount of power, Yui was able to replace the whole damn moon. But did I get new magic? Well, considering that the water didn't respond, the answer is obvious; the power was more spiritual. Yui also didn't gain any power from the fragment of the great spirit, but now I embodied yin and yang more strongly than Tui and La. And also horror, steel, and decay.
When I passed Yui, she took a step back, trembling, afraid to even be near me. It was as if I was emitting some kind of majestic but frightening aura.
"You know... you shouldn't be any more afraid of me than you are of Tui and La," I said, stopping a metre away and turning half towards her. "I believe I have fulfilled my task of restoring balance by returning the spirits to their rightful places.
"What will happen to them now? - pressing her hands to her chest, she glanced at the fish, "How will they live now?
"Nothing. I did even better than before — their state of uncertainty makes them harder to kill. No crazy bastard will be able to stab them with a knife or burn them with magic; their bodies will sustain life in almost any condition. Until someone initiated tries to prove otherwise. You could say they're living dead.
"Ah!
With a smile on my face, realising that some things hadn't become foreign to me after all, I decided to finish everything quickly. Due to the approaching eclipse, I had to call my companions to the oasis, where the Avatar was immersed in water, and Katara used the enormous power of the local water to fill all the points of the bald boy's body. The energy literally reformed into lines, points, and new chakras. The burns on his body began to heal quickly, though they did not disappear completely. And his body gradually began to recover.
"Well, how is he?" asked a confused Toph, who could only hear Aang coughing and breathing heavily, but nothing else. And then I became curious again — was it possible to restore his sight? No, I don't mean that no one had tried it before, I knew that a holy spring alone was incapable of such a thing, simply because it also required the power of a high-level mage. Katara had been treating Aang for months in the canon, and she was working with chi, which helped the body regenerate faster, but the situation with the eyes was different. They cannot heal on their own and are not connected to chi. But during the eclipse, it could have worked.
I took Katara by the hand, making her flinch, simply because she wanted to focus exclusively on Aang, but then I placed her hand on Toph's face. The girl understood the silent hint herself.
"Huh? Where are you putting your hands? Take them away!
"Toph, before the eclipse is over, I can try to restore your eyes," Katara's quick voice abruptly stopped the girl's kicking. She froze, furrowed her brows, and clenched her fists.
"Your joke sounds cruel...
"Why not try? - Sokka, who was sitting next to the now-revived Aang, suddenly became enthusiastic. "The source managed to revive Yui, so I don't think sight will be a problem for him.
"The holy source is now at our disposal," I added, "We can use its power if we first make sure that its miraculous power is renewable. But it's not a pity to spend it on you. Besides, blindness doesn't improve your senses; they can be developed even if you can see.
Now we were in no particular hurry. Katara folded her hands over the trembling Toph and enveloped her head in a glow. Her darkening face was a reaction to some strange images and the light that was piercing her eyes, which she was not used to. Her hands began to cover her face, and fear began to form in her body. When Katara removed her palms, the little conqueror of the earth sat with a lost look on her face, looking at all of us in turn.
"What the hell is so bright here? That burning crap is going to blind me again," she said, her voice trembling with each word. Her fallen hands clenched the grass she was looking at for the first time, and two glassy tears fell from her newly restored eyes.***
"It's dark, painful and probably exciting... I don't know how to describe how I met my eclipse, even if you asked me to reveal my emotions at that moment in all their glory. Perhaps, after all, I felt complete satisfaction. Looking at the eclipsing sun, I thought only that it was finally over. I imagined the real faces of Tui and La and the reason they came into this world. There is something in it that can be loved, something I never felt before.
I think you'll be most interested to hear what happened next: Aang bravely accepted his clinical death and closed the portal, the location of which I had previously learned from the spirits. My friend Toph regained her sight and cried for a long time from happiness, delight and overwhelming emotions. She called Sokka a real jerk, just as she had imagined him to be. I worked with her a little to explain how to navigate this new and unknown world. It turns out that it's hard for a person to get used to normal vision when they've always seen everything as vibrations — she didn't like how limited it was.
The spirit thief Yoon came to me again to speak disparagingly about the spirits, saying that the Misty Ocean, which you had told me so much about, had begun to dissipate. The released souls, among whom were air nomads, finally found peace, their endless torment was over, and the precious sources of knowledge are now able to visit your library again. Perhaps Yun himself will come to you if you offer him peace. He's not a bad guy, and all he wants is to explore.
My future plans are to teach Aang how to protect his soul and form the Lotus I need, whose purpose will not be simply to support the Avatar. I suggested that he continue to serve as a bridge between the worlds, restoring relations with the spirit world so that you will have more guests, but this time the two worlds must not continue to conflict.
I will probably visit you myself soon. With gratitude for everything, your friend, Dagoth.
P.S. Now that the foggy swamp is gone, I can kill, right? Although, what do I care about your opinion? Nothing bad will happen now.
Putting the last full stop in my message, I smiled at the short piece of paper, thinking that this was probably not what Wang Shi Tong wanted to see. He probably imagined that I would be bursting with philosophy and other things, but no. I had saved my tall tales and eloquence for the heads of all the states who would learn about the new world philosophy from me.
"Tell me later what the owl was thinking," he said, passing the rolled-up scroll to the fox, who responded with a meaningful look.
"Do you think I'll come back?
"Where would you go? - I shrugged my shoulders casually," - We still have a lot to do, and if the owl bothers you, I'll come personally and make you give me back my warm fox scarf.
"No way. Wear your usual one," Afka rolled her eyes, snatched the scroll from my hands with a jump, circled around me, rubbed against my leg, and disappeared abruptly. I was left completely alone at the foot of King Bumi's palace in Omashu. From here, there was an excellent view of the sprawling buildings and factories, the city preparing to welcome guests from the Fire Nation and the Northern Tribe.
My team, along with the Avatar, was now divided and also preparing for a new world. Sokka stayed with Princess Yui and prepared to accompany her to the meeting of all the leaders. Azula, Aang, and Katara headed to the Fire Nation to negotiate new terms, and Ozaim accompanied him to the summit. Toph stayed in Ba Sing Se, which I had visited before arriving at Bumi's palace.
The girl wanted to get to know Tai Li better and learn new magic tricks and, most importantly, learn to read, because the only thing that interested her was my work on magic. And I...
"How's it going, old friend?" I asked, entering the palace and meeting a smirking Bumi.
"I'm still in my prime," I replied, offended. "I'll answer that right now — no, not your request.
"Hmm... so no? - I bowed my head, not particularly upset. "It would be useful to learn your strategic and managerial experience, which allows you to solve most problems, in order to lead Lotus. Perhaps the most interesting task would be to solve the problem of unprecedented poverty in Ba Sing Se.
"...You know how to hit," he almost popped his eye out of its socket to look at me twice, "Well, since you plan to use your knowledge for good, I'll take you on as my apprentice! Are you ready to spend a hundred years learning the basics?
"Grandpa, you won't live that long..."
Yes, as was clear, creating a dream world would require not only victory on the battlefield and the forced subjugation of states, but also hundreds of years of practice and making the right decisions. I had to somehow reduce conflicts between citizens of different nations, accelerate their assimilation, and at the same time avoid the mistakes I knew from the canon:
The humiliation of non-mages and the formation of equalizers; The continuing misguided policies of Ba Sing Se, which would crave conquest and subjugation; problems related to jobs in new factories, and most dangerously, the release of Vaatu. Of course, everything had to be dealt with in order, and some things had to be left to future Avatars, for which a strong Lotus was needed.
I couldn't find a more pleasant teacher than Bumi for such tasks. Some of these issues began to be resolved by me as I learned. To begin with, it was necessary to build at least schools, or rather monasteries for the order. Toph and Magician of Fire Gyano became his first young disciples, who understood perfectly well what they were required to protect and what kind of world to support.
Lotus would also become a place where future Avatars would receive teachers so that outsiders with dark plans for Aang or capable of swaying him towards one of the nations would not be able to influence him. Along with this, I decided to continue the tradition that Yun and I had gone through - to create a powerful friend for the Avatar who, if necessary, could replace or stop the latter, and preferably become a loyal ally in future difficult battles.
There could have been many "buts" in all of this, to the point that the very foundation of Lotus would sooner or later rot away, but that is why I cultivated the right people, capable of opening their chakras. Such people will never abandon their position and will always strive for philosophy. One of the candidates for the role of Lotus was the swamp guru Hugh.
"You were hard to find," I said, finding an old and very dirty man in one of the forests, realizing that he hadn't changed at all. He was sitting under a large tree, eating nuts and grass, but looking at the world with an empty gaze.
"Dagoth. What do you want from me again? He didn't look aggressive or angry at me at all, even though his tone tried to prove otherwise. Instead, I saw a lingering depression. I thought a lot about where he might lead me and whether he was still angry with me, but I came to the conclusion that after the destruction of his ideals, he probably never formed new ones.
"Perhaps I could offer you a new opportunity to fulfil yourself? Your essence craves new goals, but you can't find anything like what you had before. So help me. Help Avatar.
"How? With the ability to crack nuts or track down stupid protein-burunduks for the winter, who forget where they hid their loot? - The man clenched his fist, and all the plants around me moved, creeping menacingly around my feet, but did not attack.
"With this. Let's unlock magic in a new way and reveal the power of plants to this world. Become the teacher you've always wanted to be," I said, extending my hand to the sullen guru. I may have received a ton of discontent, but I still managed to get a handshake.
The candidate in the form of Zuko was also an excellent addition.
And so on. Training with Bumi gave me the knowledge of how to achieve my goals more easily, and I could test it on things that seemed problematic to me. The desert, which could be repopulated with wildlife thanks to plant magic, the holy spring in the north, which could be used for useful activities, and with it the restoration of the city after Rok's rampage, the revival of the sun mages and the taming of dragons, the crazy old women with blood magic who had to be captured and interrogated to learn new ways of magic, and, finally, the move to Ba Sing Se.
The world was changing rapidly.
"Are you satisfied?"
As I was preparing for an important meeting and gathering papers in my room, right in the palace of what was once the most protected city in the world, I froze in confusion. Anubis! It had been so long since we had seen each other.
"I'm doing a lot to make sure it stays that way," I smiled calmly and straightened my back. "It would take me hundreds of years to realise all my ambitions, but I think I've made a start. Yes, the most important things are done.
"This world treats the souls of the deceased more responsibly, and life after death can be built as you wish, although, given your development and absorption of other spirits, you yourself will sooner or later become one of the highest."
"So, my patron has denied me further reincarnations?
"Are you not pleased?"
"Quite the opposite," I said, looking at the pile of papers, the mere existence of which filled me with awe. I adjusted my loose kimono, which I was not ready to exchange for a suit even on such a day, and headed out of the room. At the exit, I was met by Suyuki and a group of her friends, who escorted me to a large hall with a glass dome roof.
My appearance silenced the guests, over a hundred completely different people from practically every walk of life, who were waiting for me alone. Standing at the central podium, I smiled.
"This is the fifth summit of the united republics, which we are holding in Ba Sing Se to discuss further development," I said, standing in the middle of a large room filled with tables and large podiums, looking at the tables divided into four sections. At the head of the first section sat a smirking, satisfied man in red and black clothing, with his beautiful daughter on his right and his cold-looking son on his left.
"Master of Fire Oza is ready," he nodded.
His gaze fell on the next person. A young man with a tuft of hair on his head and a small beard, whose features had become significantly coarser since his youth. To his right sat a white-haired beauty with an extremely gentle gaze.
"The leader of the Northern and Southern tribes, Sokka, is ready.
The strangest was the next man, a pigment-spotted old man who, nevertheless, did not even look old after so many years. To his right sat, who would have thought, a slightly grown-up and therefore much prettier girl from the Beifong family.
"King of the land and city of the united nations, Bumi is ready," he said with the utmost delight and pathos. But he didn't finish. "And to my right is the heiress, ha ha ha!
Silence fell in the hall. No one paid any attention to him, focusing on the last person.
He didn't need an introduction, nor were any greetings required of him. Nevertheless, he stood up and nodded peacefully to everyone. Aang, now grown up and wrapped in muscles, was dressed in the robes of the air nomads.
"Ready.
"I declare the discussion open, and I am glad that after four previous meetings, we have finally achieved at least a sober relationship with each other.
Everyone looked at Ozai, whose meetings had been the reason for the previous summits. Attempts to blame his ancestors, accusations of real deeds, everything was resolved. But how did he get out of it, that cunning and charismatic dragon? If Zuko were in his place, his entire nation would now be paying off debts. And if it weren't for me and Bumi, his character would not have been whitewashed and made equal, showing that without him, this whole world would be impossible. But now, for the first time, we were ready to take the next step.
"Tai Lee, hand out the papers to everyone," he said, handing the folder to the smiling girl who was almost floating above the floor, and watched intently as my wife carried out his request. "Now that we have normalised communication with each other and ended the barbaric battles, Wang Shi Tong proposes to restore the old traditions of knowledge exchange, but only those that he himself deemed worthy of passing on to people. The price was information about antibiotics, radio and cars. Minister Afka was ready to provide details.
The fox, whose fur and tail seemed whiter and fluffier than ever, jumped onto my shoulder and began her snorting but undoubtedly touching speech in the language of the spirits. But the rulers of all nations understood her perfectly.
The commotion that ensued was impossible to calm, and Oza, Bumi, and the other observers felt a sense of awe. The reaction was the same as if the people of our world had gained access to the great library of Babylon. The world was entering an era of technology and rapid progress.
And I still had a lot to do. However, I had finally found my peaceful, quiet and developing corner of the world, close to my beloved.