The Ocean Spirit does not often speak to humans. Even when it briefly inhabited the power of the Avatar, it remained committed to actions, not words. It can, however, be talkative when it comes to other spirits, even human spirits. And it is especially loquacious when a human spirit is its captive audience…
"Admiral Zhao, the Conqueror, the Moonslayer, the – what was it? – Invincible," La chortled gleefully, "what a distinct pleasure to have you here."
Zhao shook his head to clear the foggy dream of a giant, talking koi fish, realized he was encased in water, and tried in vain to swim toward what he thought might be the surface, but his limbs were bound by glowing strands of liquid. He exhaled a shout, but emitted neither sound nor bubbles and stared at La in confusion.
Malevolently, La grinned a toothy, fishy grin and circled round his prey. "Yes, Admiral. You who sought to rule the Sea, you who so brazenly tore the life from the Moon…you have been taken by the Ocean, and the Moon glows brightly once again. Your sins have been weighed against you, and I am your sole judge and jury…how unlucky for you that your last and greatest sin harmed Tui, but how lucky for me that I grabbed you before you could live with your infamy."
Forgetting that he could make no sound, Zhao attempted to protest La's choice of the term "infamy" (after all, he really had slain the Moon Spirit, which the Fire Lord would have found most impressive), and succeeded only in annoying the inky koi.
"Unfortunately, I cannot yell 'silence' at you since my power already compels you to it, but let me impress upon you instead the direness of your situation, power-hungry, impious Zhao. You have carried out many awful deeds, all in the name of your own greedy advancement, and your worst was undoubtedly the murder of one of the Great Spirits. That it was Tui specifically enrages me more than another Spirit's demise would, and you should know that the only reason I did not rend your soul into nothingness as soon as I claimed it is that Tui returned to the world because of another human's sacrifice."
Zhao made a skeptical face at La.
"You do not believe I have the power to eviscerate your existence, both physical and spiritual?" La murmured, whiskers encircling Zhao's throat.
Finding that now he could speak and ignoring the little voice inside his head telling him to be respectful to one of the Great Spirits, Zhao spat, "You chose to become a helpless little koi fish who needed the Avatar's power to do any real damage, and you expect me to believe that you're the sole arbiter of my fate?" He paused momentarily to assess just how small he was in relation to the koi. "Why are you so big? Or are you normal-sized and I'm somehow tiny?"
La released Zhao's throat and laughed, "You know that we Spirits exist and that we have power, yet you're still such a spiritual scofflaw that you can't even tell when you're dead?"
Zhao's eyes threatened to jump out of their sockets.
Snickering, La continued, "The rules of nature change when you leave your physical body. There are options for a soul's destination. I suspect, dear Admiral, that you will wish a million times over the remainder of your pitiful existence that I had simply obliterated you, or flung you ignominiously into the Fog of Lost Souls, but you see, there is a job which I need done, and you are a perfect fit." The diamond on the fish's head glowed as La made his pronouncement. "Admiral Zhao, your invaders' bodies pollute my waters. As it was your own sacrilege and greed that led those men here and resulted in their deaths, I curse you to become jikininki…defiler of corpses, cannibalistic necrophage, most odious of demons."
Shaking his head violently, Zhao struggled against his glowing bonds. He knew what jikininki were, but he hadn't expected a Water Spirit to know – the Water Tribes dealt with their dead in such a way that the corpse-eaters had no presence there.
"You know, Zhao, I am sure, that only a certain kind of soul can be turned into this vile creature. Unfortunate for you that you didn't think of that before angering a Great Spirit, bearing just that kind of soul. You will clean my ocean, disposing of the bodies of your men, craving their dead human flesh, and reviling yourself for it. My animal subjects will not aid you. And don't flatter yourself that I will release you when you have completed this task."
Zhao stilled his struggling and stared at La in horror. To be condemned to a jikininki's fate at all was unthinkable, but to have no end in sight ever…this was torment even worse than anything Princess Azula could devise.
La merely cackled delightedly and wove his whiskers around Zhao's limbs. Bringing his gaping fishy maw closer, he said, "There is only one way to release yourself from the curse. Do you know what it is?" In a mocking tone, La asked, "Did you read it in Wan Shi Tong's library?"
Face ashen, Zhao glared hatefully at the fish. Who knew spirits discussed mortals among themselves so glibly? But a koi whisker on his throat told him to speak, and he would not waste the opportunity on insulting the Ocean Spirit. "Only a holy man can perform the necessary rites to end the curse and free the stricken soul. Every Fire child knows that."
"That children in your country have need of such knowledge tells me that something is very wrong there, indeed," La retorted. "But it is also more complicated than that, at least in your case. Not simply a holy man, but one of pure spirit, is needed to unbind the evil desires from your soul." La smirked and the water around them bubbled and swirled as if in a cold boil. "I would tell you good luck, but I wish you an eternity of self-loathing and endless, revolting hunger." The glowing diamond brightened to a blinding white, and Zhao felt no more.