Author's Note - I'm back with Part Two of Bato's Nightmare! Let's begin!
Disclaimer - I do not make money by writing this: ON THE ECONOMY!
"I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil."
- Albert Einstein
"Hey, guys? There's a teacher's office here!" Sokka called from upstairs, and everybody followed. Aang came upstairs to find a door with the sign: TEACHER'S OFFICE. Sokka opened the door, and they walked inside, closing the door behind them. The Teacher's office was much better than downstairs, with windows facing the back of the building, with bookshelves and a desk.
Suddenly, they head footfall from downstairs, and everybody looked at each other, frozen in place. "Someone's downstairs..." Toph whispered, and Sokka turned to the desk and saw a letter, and grabbed it. Aang told him, "We'll read it later! We have to get out of here!"
"How do we do that, Twinkle Toes?"
"The windows!" Katara exclaimed, and Sokka understood. He pulled out his club and smashed the large windows, making glass rain on the ground below. They all heard the footsteps become faster, and closer. "Crap, he heard us! MOVE!" Toph shouted, and Sokka jumped across a small gap to a ledge, then landed. Katara and Aang followed, and just before Toph could jump, the door to the teacher's office burst open, and the innkeeper rushed in, saw Toph, and pulled out a knife. "Oh, shit!" The Earthbender screamed and the innkeeper ran forward, then she jumped across the gap and ran, the Gaang followed.
"What was that about?" Katara asked, panting. They were sitting on top of one of the buildings, since the hill was very close to almost all the buildings, including the school.
"That church and town hall must have something they don't want people to see..." Aang added, and shifted his eyes to the school, where the innkeeper stood outside, talking to a guard.
"Well, we're going to find out where that treasure is." Toph said, and felt every stare at her. "What? They must be hiding treasure! Hey, Snoozles, what does that note say?"
"Oh yeah." Sokka said, and pulled out the note from his pocket. He unfolded it and read:
"I think I'm on the right trail. Right now I have two places to go so I could find additional clues: The library and the church. What interests me about the library is that I was allowed to go through the literature in there but never into the east wing that I could clearly see from the outside but it's somehow blocked from the inside. I bet the key is at the librarian's desk. As I was allowed in there I had no reason to break into the place at night when nobody's there, but now I have to do that.
There is a small house west of the library that the old librarian uses, the path to it starts with a tunnel near the stairs and continues along the hillside, but that is guarded by the very same librarian at night. Anyhow, I'm sure I can sneak past him using the small path I discovered and get in through the window of his house. The path starts west of the main library gate.
Before I go I will write about the church as well because if I get caught this information may never see sunlight again. Although the whole town regularly visits the church, the children knew almost nothing about the spirits or the Avatar. (I'm not a fan myself, but the history class has that chapter in it) They also only let locals near the church. So it made me wonder if they were worshipping some false god or something. I'm going to take a look there as well as soon as the bridge guard leaves his post,"
"Wow, long note." Toph commented.
"Apparently, there's a small path that leads to the library, right?" Katara asked, and Sokka nodded.
"Alright! Let's get going!" Aang said.
They followed the path, which was surrounded by forest. In the distance, they saw a large, mansion like building, and Aang said they should visit it later. In the middle of the path was a little guard post. The guard was reading a scroll, so Katara, Aang, and Toph dashed past undetected, but Sokka slipped and fell, making a loud thud. The guard turned and his eyes widened, then began ringing a large bell.
"Crap!" Sokka said, and ran after the rest of the Gaang. Once he caught up, Toph Earthbended a pebble to strike him the the forehead. "OW!"
"Great job, Snoozles! You gave us away!" She shouted, and pelted him with another pebble.
"Alright, no fighting!" Katara ordered. "We have to find Bato, before the locals do."
Everybody nodded in agreement, and walked down the path.
"There's the library!"
The library wasn't cheerful either, with large iron bars surrounding it, and was build by bricks, with very few windows. The front gate was locked, so they began searching for windows. There was a rather large window in the back, which Toph shattered completely using Earthbending.
Once they stepped inside, it became dark. Sokka lit three candle and gave Katara and Aang one, while Toph forged ahead. Sokka walked around, and suddenly stumbled, while Toph grabbed him by the collar and stopped him from falling into a large crater. "Oh, spirits!"
"What's wrong-wow. Why is there just a random big hole in the middle of the room?" Katara asked, then looked up. "And why is there a hole in the ceiling!" Sokka just backed away, and Aang called from behind a bookshelf, "Hey guys! I found the librarian's study!"
They walked in, but found nothing of use. They walked back out, and Aang peered into the crater, then jumped into it. "Aang!" Katara yelled, but then Aang called from below, "Guys! Come see this!"
Carefully, they climbed down, and Sokka saw a large slab of some unfamiliar black rock. Toph stepped forward, and placed her hand on it. "Obsidian."
"What? I didn't know the Earth Kingdom even had obsidian..." Aang commented, then climbed out the opposite side of the crater, and helped everyone out. After looking around the east wing, Aang exclaimed, "Aha! I found a hallway!"
They walked down the dark corridor, and opened the door at the end. Inside was a small room, completely filled with books. In the center, was a desk. Sokka got closer, and noticed there was a piece of paper sticking out from underneath a book. Bato must've hidden it so no one else would find it! He picked it up and read aloud:
"These things I have read about... I can't even start describing them! My hands are still shaking. I had discarded them as horror stories, but after what I've figured out so far I have to believe. Ancient deities, alternate dimensions, witchcraft, people merging with these alien beings! The more I think about it, the more sense it starts to make.
At first I thought their appearance of the locals was a result of inbreeding, but this is something on an entirely new level. I must hurry, take the book I left on the desk with you. I must make it to the church. The main doors are locked but I'm pretty sure that the priest's house has a back entrance into the church.
Makes me think why do people always add a secon...
OH SPIRITS! Something just fell through the roof! I will go check it out...
IT DIDN'T COME FROM THE SKY BUT THE GROUND! I MUST HURRY..."
Everyone stood in silence for a minute, then Sokka said, "We're getting Bato and getting out of this hellhole..."
They ran out of the room, jumped the crater, and just before they exited through the window, Toph stopped them. Angry voices came from the outside, along with light from torches. "Crap!" Toph whispered. "How did they find us?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't matter! We have to get to the church!" Sokka whispered, and watched as the distant lights got closer and closer to the window. "OK, when I say run, run as fast as you can to the woods."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and they walked closer to the window. Just when he heard the locals talking, he said in a harsh whisper: "RUN!"
The second they stepped outside, the locals freaked out. Sokka soon discover that they were armed with bows, but it was too late now. He dodged the arrows and sprinted to the forest. The rest of the Gaang bended the arrows away, and Aang then blasted them back a few feet. Sokka yelled, "Keep running!"
Unexpectedly, an arrow flew from the roof of the library and towards Sokka. At the last second, he jumped out of the way, but the arrow struck into his hand. He cried out in pain, and saw the innkeeper on the library with a crossbow... reloading it.
The stone roof underneath the innkeeper caved in and he crashed into a bookshelf, thanks to Toph. "Don't just stand there Snoozles, RUN!" She shouted, and made a large wall between the Gaang and locals. They ran into the forest, and stopped when the locals were out of sight.
Katara started working on the arrow stuck in Sokka's hand, and asked ,"Should I get another arrow to get this arrow out?"
After what seemed like forever to Sokka, the arrow was out, but the warrior himself was exhausted. "Oh crap!" H said, and everyone gave him questioning looks. Aang asked, "What?"
"Our stuff! We left all of our stuff at the inn!"
"What?"
"The maps, supplies, all of it's at the inn!"
"Oh no, how are we going to get it back?"
"Can't we just, you know," Toph asked. "Go back and get it?"
"What? Those villagers would kill us!"
An explosion echoed out into the forest, and everybody froze. In a second, Aang was sprinting away, the others in pursuit. When they reached the end of the forest, Sokka brought his non-bandaged hand to his mouth. The inn's ;left side had exploded, and debris was scatter in town. Villagers with torches and bows and arrows stood a few feet away, near a wooden platform, with a horrible instrument on it. The villagers were standing by some gallows.
On the platform was the innkeeper, bloodied and bruised, and his hands tied behind his back. A noose was around his neck, but the innkeeper was staring at the inn, horror plastered on his deformed face. The guard walked up onto the platform to a nearby lever, and announced to the villagers:
"Behold, my brothers, the man who failed to defeat the dogs that have entered our glorious village! We have partially destroyed his foul home and workplace, and now will give his soul to our master!"
The innkeeper began screaming in protest, but the villagers shouted to kill him for his 'crimes'. The guard placed his hand on the lever, and brought it down...
The Gaang turned away, as the atmosphere shifted from horrifying to sickening, as cheers of delight rang out, and a strangled cry of death.
They waited for the villagers to leave, and then they snuck down from the hill. Hiding in shadows, they watched the locals walk by, shivering at the sight. They reached the half ruined inn, and entered. A huge, gaping hole tore open the left side, and they carefully walked up the cracked stone stairs. Sokka quietly thanked the spirits that the place was made of stone, not wood, or the place would've burned, along with their stuff.
Their room was also blown open, but the bookshelf had fallen and sheltered their belongings. Once they retrieved them, Aang said, "Come on, we're heading to the church."
"What?" Sokka screamed, but Toph then cover him mouth, and whispered, "Shut up, Snoozles! If those creeps catch us, there're going to be arrows in many other places instead of your hand!"
Once she removed her hand, Sokka whispered, "Why are we going to the church? Those guys will kill us on the spot!"
Katara said, "Well, do you just want to leave Bato here? Trapped with these...these monsters?"
Sokka fell into silence, then told them, "OK, but we wait until nightfall. We'll hide in the attic until then."
"Up there? With that rotting pile of cap?" Toph asked, becoming a little green. Sokka then asked her, "Well, do you want to be shot with an arrow? Come on."
The Earthbender sighed, then followed him to the attic. None of it looked disturbed, so they sat down, a few feet away from the rotting carcass. Sokka began to doze off, and finally fell asleep.
He woke up to the sound of screaming.
His eyes flew awake as Katara froze something to the floor. He blinked. Is that...a skeleton? The skeleton then moved, shattering the ice. Toph armored herself with stone from the walls, and sent a powerful punch to the monster's head. The skull snapped off, straight into the coffin, while the rest of the skeleton fell to pieces into a pile of bones on the floor. The coffin was wide open, and a rotting hand suddenly gripped the edge of the coffin.
What came out reeked of curdled blood and rotting meat. Katara screamed, and Aang took a few steps back, and Sokka was frozen in place on the floor. Only Toph seemed unaffected, but underneath the earth armor her heart flipped when her feet sensed the creature.
The creature in front of them seemed like it was huge chunks of rotting meat and organs, loosely held together by a single small intestine, like a mummy. Ribs stuck out of its back like horns, and a spine stuck out from the back of the creature, while six skulls were embedded on the creature's torso. It had six legs and hands holding up from the ground, and it's head was an upside down face, with an eye hanging out of its head, the other eye bright red, nose ripped off, lips painfully stitched together, and only bloody stubs for ears.
It let out an inhuman roar, causing then to cover their ears. The stitches on its mouth suddenly ripped open, reveling many rows of deformed teeth, and it screamed in many distant voices, "WHERE IS MY FATHER? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?"
It ran forward, and Toph sent chunks of rock at it. The pieces of rock simply stuck into its organs, and some even fell onto the floor, spurting blood everywhere. Toph then brought down pillars of rock, but the creature dodged and ran straight at her. She jumped out of the way, as it charged past, and landed a punch onto its head. To her surprise, the thing exploded, making blood and gore fly everywhere.
Toph's armor shattered and she flew into the wall, head first. The creature was not a smoldering crater or blood, and Sokka backed away. Aang turned away, holding his stomach, while Katara ran over to Toph. The Earthbender was in shock, covered with head to toe in blood. "Toph? Toph? Are you OK?" Katara asked, and suddenly, Toph turned away and vomited.
"I'm...ugh...fine..." The blind Earthbender groaned, and stood up, shaking. "Let's get moving..."
Sokka stood up and helped Toph down the stairs, not believing what just happened. Katara and Aang followed, eyes darting around if Katara's screams had alerted the villagers. Something was very, very wrong with Calmere...
END OF PART TWO