Burn My Dread Complete
By Iain R. Lewis
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games.
"Clockwork maze, end unknown, in frozen time a staircase stands."
-- Burn My Dread
Month 6: Judgment
Yomotsu Hirasaka
"Just once, when we come into this world, I'd like not to be assaulted by horrific spirit smells and the noise of some hideous death-bird overhead," Sokka moaned. But the Spirit World didn't seem any friendlier than last time.
Crawling, creeping expanses of dark corruption seeped to the surface, bubbling out of fissures left in the wake of Ozai's ascension. The charred, cold smell of the ground was only overwhelmed by the overripe fruit that hung from the boughs above them, and the crystalized entrance seemed more threatening than before, cracks across the crystal surface seemed to etch a skull-like shape across their tips.
And Yue, too, seemed colorless and pale when they arrived, "It's good to see you all. We shouldn't linger. The creatures here are angry and deadly."
"And numerous?" Sokka asked.
"Oh, yes," Yue confirmed, "They're legion."
"That's bad," Sokka moaned. The others nodded, and Aang took to the lead besides Yue. She seemed lost in a maze of fragmented planes, shifting endlessly.
"Everything okay?" he asked her, and she nodded, coming back to her senses suddenly.
"It's just how strange it is, now. The Spirit World is different than you see, it's constantly breathing, but until recently, that breathing was very shallow. How should I put this -- it's like waking a platypus bear. It takes a while for it to stir, but once it's awake --"
"You think Ozai woke it up?"
"I'm afraid so," Yue said, "But I hope it's only my imagination."
"Don't be so gloomy!" Toph chastised, "We're here."
"Yes, I'm glad for it. The tower is -- different, now, too. The changes have taken a long time, but it seems to have settled."
"Iroh's at the top," Aang said, "Zuko, you can sit this out, if you--"
"No."
"But --"
"It won't be an issue," Zuko said. "Do you doubt me?"
"Yes," Aang whispered, but thankfully, it didn't seem to reach Zuko's ears. The Delinquent Prince hurried to the front, "Zuko?"
"Let's go," he said, simply, "We don't have time to waste."
The gate to the tower was the first, immediate difference. Metal spiked out of the door, wrapping it in wire and chain. Zuko pushed open the door, and the others entered. He closed the door behind him as he entered.
The clock still hung in the air, its hand stuck on midnight, but the rest of the foyer looked different. The winding stairs seemed to be falling apart, and at the center, a great staircase made of red stone led upwards.
The walls were painted with murals of great spirits. Koh in shadows, Oma and Shu together, the Moon and Ocean spirit in harmony, and many more. Aang paused. "This is different."
"It's not the only thing," Katara said, "Where's the elevator?"
"It is at the top of the stairs," Yue said. She pointed upwards, "You can't see it for the mist." Indeed, the fog was heavy, choking and it carried with it a purple tinge that made it seem wholly unhealthy.
They took their first steps upwards, and the stairs creaked under their weight. The elevator was bare, exposed, hanging up there, without a shaft. The pieces of metal that made up the long shaft seemed to hang midair beneath it, and the mechanisms underneath, apparent for all to see, where like clockwork.
They stepped inside, and the familiar creak fo the door and the deafening lock, and they ascended.
The floors between where they started and their destination were devastated, pieces of metal pierced through them, leaving small holes and shafts of light. Spirits lunged at them when they spotted the elevator pass, but they were too slow, and a few plummeted to the endless abyss below.
And then it stopped. The room seemed different. The shrine was broken asunder, and there were stairs laying beyond. Immaculate white and tiled.
Endless corridors, winding mazelike through the mist that permeated the holes in the wall, the rivets of steel encroached on the beautiful shrine panels, the Avatar Squad looked at the sight before them and knew they stepped upon holy ground.
"Well, this is different," Sokka said, breaking the silence.
"Yes," Yue agreed, taking the fore. "I came here to investigate, but I didn't dare proceed any further than this."
"This looks a little like the old Avatar shrines," Zuko commented. "I saw a few of them back home."
"There are probably lots of secret passages," Toph said. She kicked the floor, and a tile was sent flying upwards, "Okay, I'm good. Let's get going!"
"It's so quiet up here," Katara whispered, "I feel like we're trespassing."
"Get used to it," Zuko grunted.
"I will, I'm just saying --"
"Hey," Zuko said, not waiting for a response, "I don't see any spirits hanging around up here. Yue?"
"There are some," she said, "But they seem to be ignoring us. If we're quiet, we should be able to avoid unnecessary conflict."
"Aw, man," Toph muttered. She put her hand on a wall, and nearly screamed when it gave way. She rolled down a small slope, and found herself in a dark room. Candles were the only light, and they seemed muted in the miasma. Toph, however, never let herself rely on her spirit-side's sight.
She felt around her, the vibrations returning an image of the small passageway. "Guys?" she called out, but she received no answer. Across her comm, she got nothing but static. "Oh this is bad!" She banged on the wall from where she entered. "It must be a one way door. Anyone!" she shouted, "Can you hear me? I'm okay, but I can't get out!"
The candle-light flickered, and faded, and she fell into darkness.
But she wasn't alone.
"Who's there?"
"Toph!" Aang called out, but again, no answer. Zuko was examining the wall Toph was against when she cried out, but he had no luck pushing the panels. "Anything?"
"No," he said, "It seems like she just plain vanished."
"That's impossible," Aang said. Zuko gave him a cold look. "Not that I don't know you know that."
"This is the Spirit World, she could have just as easily been jolted back to real world. Of course, she might not be able to find her way back --"
"She's still here, close," Yue said, approaching from a hall with Sokka and Katara, "But I don't know how we can reach her."
"Could this have all been a big trap?" Sokka asked, looking pensive, and he smacked himself on the forehead, "How could we have been so stupid? I should have totally seen this coming."
"If this were Agni's doing, we'd know," Yue said. "He's different than other Spirits, his entire being seems to devour the surrounding, like it were aflame. This is definitely disconcerting, though. The miasma, too, seems thicker up here."
"It definitely does," Aang said, "I hope that it isn't poisonous."
"I doubt it," Sokka said, "We'd be feeling it by now if it was."
Yue brushed her fingers against the wall, and looked back the way they came. "I can sense something moving towards us. It's definitely coming for us. Its power is enormous --"
"That's really bad," Sokka stated.
"We have to find Toph!" Aang protested.
"We can't stand around, though," Sokka argued, "We need to get moving!"
"What kind of spirit is this? We can stop it --"
"No!" she said, "It's death -- it's coming closer!"
"A little blind girl, lost and alone," the voice taunted, "Real pathetic."
"Xin Fu!"
Toph's breathing stopped, she tried to find where the voice came from, but she couldn't. There was no speaker, just a voice, and an indistinguishable presence in the black inky void of the corridor.
"I beat you," she said, "You're dead --"
"Am I really?" Xin Fu asked. She stumbled through the darkness.
"Yes!" Toph said. "This is a trick, someone's playing with my head. And I'm not falling for it. I'm glad you're dead. You were a jerk, first of all, and then you kidnapped me and however many other people for that creepy centipede!"
"Is that doubt I hear?"
"No! You're dead and gone and nothing can bring you back. And good riddance!"
The ground beneath her trembled, bits of rock rose up around her and metal quivered as the stones around them shifted. She turned around, and she could feel him standing there, but it wasn't him, not as she expected.
He seemed incomplete, not whole, like parts of him had been crushed off. She stumbled backwards. "What are you, some kind of zombie?"
The floor rose up to strike her down and the Xin Fu creature was hot on its heals. She dispersed the attack with ease, but she was hoisted up by the creature. She never felt so tiny as she did then, dangling above the ground, in pitch black, completely blind and completely helpless.
She struggled, but no matter how she tried, Xin Fu wouldn't let go. "Cry out for help, your friends have abandoned you."
"No! They'll find me!" she said, "They'll find me and you'll be sorry!"
"I thought you didn't need anyone."
"I don't, but they'll find me anyway!"
He threw her hard to the ground, and slammed the earth with his fist. The ground spiked up, and metal began to fall, collapsing around her and encasing her. Xin Fu seemed to shuffle towards her. "Let's see you get out of that one, little blind brat."
She tried to bend the earth beneath her, but she couldn't get it to move in the tiny encasement she'd found herself trapped in. She closed her eyes, and held her breath. Metal, she couldn't bend it. The earth had been refined out of it through fire, another reason to hate that element, and she was pinned down beneath it.
She wanted to scream, but maintained her composure.
Then, it hit her.
She could feel small, hidden veins of earth deep within the steel, impurities that had been missed, and she wondered, briefly, what, if anything, could be done with it. But planning and methodical thinking were never Toph's strong suit.
She just acted.
"I can see it."
Katara's voice trembled as she spoke, and the others turned their attention to where she stood. It was in their path, and it seemed to move patiently, calmly through the tunnels. It appeared, at first, to be a woman in shape, but upon closer inspection, it seemed more of a corpse. Her body decayed, a mask attached to the face giving the only human feature to her body, the white robes frayed and stained yellow. She was covered in chains, and they restrained her arms, but only barely.
"This is, this is very, very bad," Sokka said.
"We fight it, we win, easy enough," Zuko said, drawing the dao blades and moving to strike. Sparks flew off his blade as they impacted with the corpse's frail arm, and yet, though his blade clearly struck, it didn't seem to remotely wound her.
"So, how's that plan working out for you?" Sokka asked as Zuko backed off. "I think we need to run like crazy."
"I agree,' Yue said, "This being, it feels like death."
Aang clenched his staff, "But Toph --"
"We're no good to anyone dead," Zuko commented. "I don't know why, but whatever this thing is, it completely ignored my bending and my sword." The corpse meanwhile looked at her arm, perplexed, and then, she responded, violently. She raised her hand and shadows enveloped Zuko, twisting him around and he was flung up into the air. She looked at him but a moment before casting him down the corridor. A door slammed down behind him as he vanished deeper into the catacombs.
And the creature turned to the rest of them. "We got to move, now!" Sokka said.
"Zuko's all right," Yue said, "But I can't find a path through the tower to him." The corridor he's down is sealed --"
"Let's go!" Aang said. "Run away!"
The group barrelled towards the corpse-woman, and it took her by surprise. She backed away, like floating on the air, and was shocked when they moved past her and down an open corridor. One group went to the left, the other to the right, and perplexed, she watched them move.
And began to slowly pursue the group that went down the left.
In the darkness, the silence of the secret corridor, the sound of metal bending came out deafening and thunderous. The crack, the steel contorting and crumpling as she struck it aside, and the rivets snapped in two.
She would have loved there to be an audience, but Xin Fu, his presence, seemed distant now. The candles had reignited, and she could see, if she chose to. The everlurking shadows flickered against the wall.
She had to find Xin Fu, and stop him. The passageway was narrow, she could barely put her arms out. The candles sat on small pedastals, and they flickered when she walked past. She could feel his presence getting closer.
And closer still, and very suddenly. A wind passed through the corridor, and the candles flickered one dying light out before being snuffed out by shadows. And she could feel him approaching again.
"I don't know how you escaped that!"
"I'm the best earthbender ever, that's how," she interrupted, coyly. "I'll be willing to give you a few pointers, Xin Xin."
Xin Fu -- or whatever resembled him, stepped forward and using his larger frame struck at her. Toph diverted the attack barely, moving only to find herself backed into the side of the narrow corridor. He smashed his hand into the wall just above her head, and the stones began to crumble, and candlelight filtered through the tiny holes.
She could see him.
She never really knew what Xin Fu looked like. She'd imagined him, though, a large, imposing sort, with eyes that could cut glass, and a fierce scowl. And she was surprised by just how much he looked like her memory of him.
She looked at him with working eyes.
And saw a series of vibrations.
"You're not Xn Fu," she said. She pushed him into the wall, and moved to a move comfortable position, "You're a spirit using my memory to play tricks on me. I don't know how you did it, but get out of my head!"
She kicked the stone tiles up and flung them at the memory of Xin Fu, who deflected them with ease and retaliated by knocking the tiles beneath her feet high into the air. Toph tumbled and rolled. "You're nothing, absolutely nothing," Xin Fu taunted.
"Get out of my head," she murmured, "I'm not nothing!"
She slammed into him, and when he tried to retaliate, his arm brushed against the wall. He snarled, cursed, and tried again, but the narrow hallway limited what he could do. He tried to kick up the tiles, but Toph slammed him off balance.
"You're too sloppy," she said, "A real earthbender would never get knocked off his feet so easily!"
He got to his feet, and started to bend the tiles up into the air, but he did not get far. Toph struck him first, the tiles stopped and dropped to the ground as her feet knocked him to the ground. "Who are you really?" she asked. "Answer me! How did you get into my head!"
But Xin Fu didn't answer. The vibrations began to fade, and she backed away. He deteriorated, the feeling began to reveal nothing but a shambling fetid shell. it wasn't human, but it seemed to be made in the appearance of one, made of corruption in the shape of a corpse.
Then, it melted into nothing.
And a great cry caused the tower to shudder, like a woman in pain.
Toph backed away, and the candlelight from the lanterns reignited. She replaced her blindfold and walked further down the tunnels, muttering to herself. "This is why I'm going to keep this dumb thing on from now on."
There was a large fire a few feet away, and when she arrived, she could feel more vibrations of those creatures from deeper within the hallway she stood in. They seemed focused around someone, also further in, but she couldn't make out who from this distance. "Guys, I'm okay, but --" there was still nothing but static on her line. "This is just perfect."
She saw no other way to go, so she hurried down the passage.
Aang jumped when he heard that cry. He looked over at Sokka, who shrugged. They'd been separated from the girls, and though their comms were filled with static, they continued to listen in hopes that it would break.
"I don't think that was one of the girls," he paused, and added, "Or Toph."
"Then who?"
Sokka peered around a corner, and took a sudden, stumbling step back, "I think I know who it was."
"Who?" Aang asked, and he saw Sokka point around the corner. Aang peeked around it and stared. The corpse-woman stood there, catatonic, her mask cracking. It seemed frozen, it did not move or react to Aang's shocked gasp.
"What's it doing?" Sokka asked, frightfully.
"Nothing. It's just -- frozen stiff."
"Wait, really?" He moved out of hiding, and taking his sword, poked her. It deflected the attack somehow, and the sword nearly caused Sokka to fall on his back. "Okay, that was odd. But it doesn't seem to notice us."
"We should hurry and find the girls," Aang suggested.
"Good plan, leader. Take the lead."
"Okay!" Aang said, excitedly, and they ran past the frozen creature. The corridors, obscured in the miasma, wandered on endlessly. On the other end of the catacombs, Yue stood before a door, and traced her fingers around the spiralling design.
"It won't open?" Katara asked.
"No, something's keeping it closed," she said. "I wonder what."
"That thing, maybe? I wonder what it is."
"I've been thinking about that. It feels like Agni, but less so. Perhaps it's a piece of him that is guarding the halls. Iroh may have opened the path, but there is little else he could hope to do."
"A part of Agni? This is just a part of him?"
Yue nodded, hesitantly, "A very small one."
Katara took a quiet, heaving breath, and said, "We're in big trouble. She split us up, and we don't have anyway to communicate to them. And that scream -- do you think it was Toph?"
"No," Yue said, "Toph screams louder."
Katara paused, and then gave Yue a dirty look, "That was a joke, wasn't it? At Toph's expense, too."
"Maybe," Yue said, bashfully, "It could possibly be seen as such!"
"Yue, we're a bad influence on you." The two girls laughed, and when the laughter died down, they were once again confronted with the enormity of their task. "So, we have to stop her, but how."
"That's a good question. I didn't sense any weaknesses. But -- I'm not sure how to explain this. The memories in this tower, they have a distinct feel to them. That's how I'm able to tell a floor may show us one."
"Okay, I got you. It's like, if I smell pickled sea prunes, I know my brother bought some from Cabbageway."
"Pretty much," Yue said, "It's been so long since I've smelled pickled sea prunes --"
"You were saying?" Katara politely interjected. Yue looked flustered for a minute, then, she regained her composure. "About the memories."
"I feel like this spirit is feeding off of those memories. It's as though Agni has been the one showing us these glimpses of the past. Perhaps that's what Hue meant. That memories are an illusion."
"Well, this is Agni's coccoon, right?" Katara said, "That's what Sokka thinks anyway."
Yue frowned, and shivered, "He waits dreaming in his house, dread Agni." She frowned, "Yes, I think that sounds right. He's sleeping, somewhere deep within Yomi, waiting to awaken and destroy our worlds, and this fragment of himself is the dreams he's having." She shivered, and held herself, "He dreams of death."
"No wonder you were so -- vehement when you met Tenchi."
"I -- yes, he scared me, quite a bit."
She was about to say more when she noticed the coming footsteps, "What is it?" Katara asked, and she followed Yue down the hallways. "Yue?"
"Aang, Sokka, they're just ahead!" She ran into a coridor, and collided soundly with Sokka. The boy reached out to steady her and she smiled, "Thank the Spirits, you're all right."
"You guys made it okay," Sokka said, trying to contain his excitement and relief. "Have you seen any way to reach Zuko yet? What about Toph? We need to get up to the next floor, and fast--"
There was an echoing bell in the distance, and the halls grew darker. Candlelight flickered in the lanterns, leaving only a steady red pulse that lit the halls barely enough to see in the miasma. The bells, the temple bells, were getting closer.
Along with chains. "Oh come on!" Sokka shouted, "What's with this thing."
"It's a fragment of Agni, his dreams," Yue said. "It's the source of all the memories in the tower."
"That's just perfect," Sokka moaned. "Aang, are you sure we can't get any Avatar power to break that thing?"
"I don't think that'll work," Aang said, "After what happened with Azula."
"Then what do we do?" Sokka asked. "It seemed invulnerable to everything."
"It does seem to have no weakness --" Yue paused, and gasped, "That's odd. It doesn't feel as strong as before." The chains in the distance grew louder with every clang of the cloister bells. The miasma grew thicker.
Zuko couldn't think.
The voices were so loud now, those taunting, angry voices. "A traitor, through-and-through," Zhao said, "So what if that big fish dragged me under. You wanted that, didn't you? You enjoyed every second of anticipation, wondering how long it took before I couldn't hold my breath."
"No, that's not true," Zuko snarled, "I tried to help you!"
"Pity? I think not. If you really wanted to save me, you would have jumped in after me. You're glad you got rid of me."
The room was heated by the flames in the distance, and he ran to them. The corridor was long, empty, and wide. He couldn't feel the other side of the hall no matter how far he stretched his arms in the pitch.
"Running away to daddy? Oh, that's just rich."
"Shut up," he said, "You're not real. You're dead!"
"But Tui took me, even if I died, my Spirit lives on here, in Yomi. You remember the conversation we had that night. How the spirits of the dead were drawn to this place? Exactly. This is where the dead go. They all suffer, no matter how good or bad they were in life. Don't let your pathetic morality conflict with reality."
"No, that was just a lie, to keep me from learning the truth."
"The truth is, Zuko, the only one who told you lies was you," Zhao taunted, "You're just too naive to accept that. But you will, when you join us, soon. Along with the rest of your friends."
He was almost to the flames -- and they burned him as he approached. "What the --" he backed off. The appearance, that immaculate, god-like flame, in the center his father stood, covered in fires he couldn't quell.
"Zuko."
"Dad?"
"Now do you see your uncle for what I've always said he was?" he asked, the fire was burning away his fingers, leaving nothing but bones. He could smell the cindered flesh, it was like a memory being drawn back from the darkest reaches of his mind.
"You did this to yourself," Zuko answered, hollowly.
"Is that so?" Ozai pointed to him with skeletal fingers, the frayed ends of his robes were raging aflame. "Is that really how you think?"
Zuko shuddered. "You lied to us."
"To your so-called friends? Yes. They were weak, they couldn't bear to do what had to be done. This was clear when they dared negotiate with a monster. But you, and your sister? I would never lie to you. You just refused to listen."
"You were wrong. You were always wrong."
"No. I am the Phoenix King, never apologise, never admit you're wrong." That familiar mantra, the family motto. "I must admit, I'm proud of you, I didn't think you had the guts. But you pulled it off. Your sister in a coma, myself dead, burning away forever in Agni's fire, and you, the lone heir to the Phoenix Group. I couldn't have done it better myself."
"I didn't, I didn't do that -- wait."
Something he said didn't sit right.
"You're pathetic, Zuko. You're the richest man in the world, the most powerful, and you're still quibbling over details." Zhao's voice taunted him in the darkness. He could see, just barely, a face, tinged blue, from the light of the fire.
"Details?"
"What does it matter how your father knows, he's achieved what I'd only dreamed of. He's a god."
"No, I didn't say anything about that -- what's going on!"
He bended a flame in his hand and it burned bright, revealing the room and showing him everything. The bloated Zhao, the skeletal, burning remains of his father, they seemed somehow off.
The fires, however, felt real, and they were burning all around him now, their tongues flicking at his skin, leaving behind marks that burned with a cold heat.
And in the distance, another figure, in a boy's school uniform, stomping towards him at a frightening pace.
"It's a trick!" she was shouting. "Whatever you're seeing, it's all a trick!"
She repeated that in a loud obnoxious voice.
"How do you know she's not a trick, too, Zuko?" Ozai asked, behind clattering teeth, "How do you know we're not the only real thing here?"
"They're going to read your mind or something," Toph said, calling out to Zuko, "But you need to remember they're not real."
Zuko closed his eyes. "Are you sure you're not a trick yourself, Toph?"
Toph stumbled, "What'd make you say that? I'm real. I'm the realest thing you'll ever meet!"
"Tell me, what number am I thinking of?" Zuko asked.
"Like I'm going to know that. Six."
"That's right."
Toph frowned, "Okay, I got lucky. That doesn't mean I'm reading your mind, though. I got it, I got it. When was the first time I ever saw you?"
Zuko hesitated. "I don't really remember that well. Wasn't it -- it was the night I moved into the dorm. I'd only seen you around school before then --"
"Wrong! First time I saw you, with my feet, was when Katara led that jerk Jet to you and you totally beat up his whole gang in like three minutes."
"I remember that -- you were there?"
"I warned you about that one guy!" Toph said.
"That was you?" Zuko frowned. "I didn't really think anything about it --"
"And thus, I can't be a figment of your imagination. Unlike these two." She pointed at the shambling corpse spirits. "If you strip them of their illusion, they're nothing."
Zuko frowned, and looked at his father's immolated body, and then at Zhao's pale blue face. "You're right," Zuko said, "They're not real. My father would never be proud of me." He frowned, and Toph moved to knock the closest down, and Zuko chopped the one behind him in two with a single slice of his Dao Blades.
"There, that's that -- what the --" there was a horrifying screech in the distance. Toph stumbled and tried ton regain her composure, "That thing scares me half to death."
"Tell me about it. I thought someone died," he said. "Come on." He lit his hand ablaze and pointed forward, "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah, but no offense, that way's where I came in."
"And?"
"There's no way out."
Zuko paused, coughed, and turned around, "Let's go!"
The creeping figure of the corpse woman stopped dead in her tracks as she stared down the corridor at the Avatar Squad. Aang took to the front, and Sokka stood behind him. Katara readied her water around her and the three stood protectively before Yue.
The spirit was about to strike when she seemed to shudder horrifically, and then, she grasped her face and screamed. The mask began to shatter and crack, dropping to the floor with a quiet clink.
She stood, unmoving for a minute, her hands covering her face, and the bits that peeked out were rotted and fetid.
"This is our chance," Yue said, "Strike now!"
"Right," Sokka said. He moved to strike and to his surprise, instead of mysteriously deflecting his blade, the wraps of chains were cut asunder by it, and the creature moved back, stumbling in the air, as if she was unbalanced by the chains falling to the ground.
"There!" Aang said, "I see an opening!" He moved to strike himself, running across the walls to get the perfect angle. He swung his staff, and a great blast of air knocked her into the opposite wall.
She crawled to her feet, and pulled back ugly, wormlike strands of hair from her face. If that face had once contained a single measure of beauty, time and rot had it robbed, leaving nothing but the barest of skin, which was ashen and without blush.
Yellow eyes surveyed the group, and she made to strike, black shadows coalescing underneath Sokka's feet. "Move, Sokka," Yue called,
He looked down and started to move when he suddenly fell through the floor. Yue reached out to grab him but Katara held her back. "Be careful," she said, "She looks ready to strike back."
"Yeah, uh, could you hurry this up," Sokka said, barely grasping at the floor, "Because there's like a bottomless pit I'd really not want to fall into."
"Aang and I will distract it, Yue, get my brother up when she's busy," Katara said. She splashed water into the corpse-woman's face, and the fragment of Agni stared at her, mystified. "Yeah, that was just to get her attention," Katara said.
"Sure it was, sis," Sokka said.
"Look, I'm a little stressed here, Sokka."
"Oh, I can totally relate. Death-pit, and all."
"Please, don't distract me, Sokka," Katara said, sharply, She waved her hands into a careful stance, and the water that splashed against the creature's face sharply froze, and she howled in shock and pain.
"I got her," Aang said, bending the tiles beneath her to smash into her face. The corpse-lady was pinned against the wall, and black shadows coalesced at her finger tips. "Now, Yue!"
Yue scrambled to offer Sokka an arm. He took it, graciously, and as he was pulled up, they could hear Aang and Katara cry out in pain. As Sokka stumbled to the safety of the floor, the hole closed, suddenly. "That was close," he muttered, looking over to the battle.
Chains wrapped around Katara and Aang was pinned to the ceiling, bobbing around in the breeze.
The spirit looked at him, and then, turning around, moved close to Katara, staring deep within her with horrid yellow eyes.
"Stay away from my sister!" Sokka charged, and his attack caught the spirit by surprise, knocking her into the wall, and pinning her behind his sword. "I don't care what you are, I won't let you hurt my friends."
"Go, Sokka!" Yue cheered. "You're amazing!"
The corpse spirit grabbed his blade and wrapped her fingers around it. She pushed back, the sword slicing into her, releasing more miasma into the air as it did. Sokka was blinded. Stumbling back, a bit, he let go enough pressure for her to push him down. Within moments she was atop him, jaw opening wide.
He pushed back. "I don't know what mouthwash you use, but I think you need to buy something stronger, like formeldahyde."
Aang kicked himself against the corridor, trying to move himself just slightly as he dangled overhead, the black chains seemed to be draining him, but he wouldn't give up. Waterbending was all but impossible like this. Airbending would lack the control necessary.
Earthbending --well, looking at his feet dangling helplessly feet above the ground, that seemed like a wasted effort.
That left one option.
He took a breath. Firebending.
To his surprise, when he exhaled, the breath was hot, but not yet fiery. It was close, but right now, he needed it to work and in spades. He needed to buy time, and he did the only thing he could think of. "Hey, lady!" he called.
The spirit was distracted, craning her neck, disgustingly with skin flaking off as she did, to look at Aang.
"Check out what I can do!" he put all his concentration into this exhalation. Fire poured from his lungs. It barely singed her, but the reaction was unlike anything he expected.
She jumped five feet back, and hovered back. Seemingly retreating, she seemed to scramble for a way to hide her face. "She's getting away," Yue cried, "Sokka, are you all right?"
"I'm okay," he said, "Just nearly got to make-out with a dead girl."
"That was impressive, Aang," Yue cheered, "Agni isn't any match for us as long as he's asleep."
Aang laughed nervously, "Uh, okay, thanks." He looked at the black chain that hung him above the ground, "Do you think you can help us out of this?"
Katara yanked on the chains that bound her hands, "Please?"
"Give me a minute," Sokka said. "I'm having a little trouble seeing right now, so you're either going to have to wait, or hope I can hit the farside of a hut in summer-time with the sun in my eye."
"We can wait!" Katara suddenly said.
"I hope that creature doesn't get too far," Yue said, "We had her on the ropes, too."
It didn't get far.
Zuko drew his blades as he heard the sound of someone running down the halls. Toph nodded, and backed against a wall. They hid, in wait, an ambush in waiting. There was a sound like heavy cloth dragging against the floor, and a light patter of something hard and hollow hitting the tile.
Zuko nodded to Toph, and then, pausing, tapped the floor once. She nodded back, and the two of them prepared to strike.
The corpse spirit did not have a chance to defend herself against the flying tiles, pushed back against the wall.
She saw the fiery blades coming down on her, and eyes, wide with terror, closed as she dissolved into miasma.
The tower seemed to stir, slightly.
"That thing's gone," Zuko said. He frowned. "Do you think it's dead?"
"Who knows," Toph said. "What was that thing, anyway?"
"Wish I knew." He scanned the halls for signs of the others. "Maybe you can find them using your Earthbending."
"Yeah, maybe --" then they heard Katara shriek. "My earthbending tells me they're that-a-way."
"Incredible."
The two ran down the hall, to see Katara glaring daggers at Sokka while she rubbed at her hands. "You nearly cut me in half!" she yelled.
"How was I supposed to know the chains would do that? You can't blame me for that. You just can't."
"Well, now that they're gone," Aang said, laying on the floor, "We should try and find that spirit and finish her."
"Too late, we beat you to it," Toph said. "Zuko and Toph, Master Spirit Slayers."
"Go team," Zuko muttered.
"Where have you been, Toph?" Katara asked, looking her over, "Let's see, you've got a few nasty cuts. Looks like you got pulled under a pile of rubble."
"Yep."
"Let me fix that up," Katara said. The water washed over Toph, who squirmed. "Relax, it won't hurt a bit."
"Oh yes it will," Toph protested. "I'm fine. Ow! That stings!"
"That just means it's working," Katara answered. "Zuko, you've got a bit of soot on you--"
"Yeah, that's fine."
Toph wiggled out of Katara's grasp and walked over to Aang, "Get up, Twinkletoes. We got things to do, you can't keep laying around all day."
"But I need a nap," he moaned.
"We need to get a little higher," Katara said, "But we should take it easy."
"I agree," Zuko said. "I don't want to face anymore zombies."
"Yeah, memory-leeching zombie spirits," Toph muttered, "Totally not fun."
"Well," Yue said, "The door appears to have unlocked."
"Let's go, then," Sokka said. "We don't have time to waste."
The miasma only got thicker as they climbed. The next few floors were filled with narrow passageways, and spirits, shaped like birds, descended upon them. They appeared through holes in the walls.
Aang peered through one, and saw nothing but black storm clouds through the thick fog. "We're really high up," he commented.
"Yes, we are,' Yue said. "We've climbed another four floors."
"How much further do we have to go on? My feet are killing me!" Toph whined.
"Only another floor,' Yue said. "But I sense something strange -- another memory."
"Does that mean that creature's still alive?" Katara asked. She shivered, "That's horrible. I don't want to think about having to fight it again."
"I don't think so," Yue said, furrowing her brow. "We'll see."
"I hope not," Sokka said, "I'm tired. If I see another bird coming at us, I swear I'll scream."
A bird descended from the ceiling, almost as if to mock him for his transgression. He screamed and sliced it in two. "Far be it for me to agree with Sokka," Zuko added, "But we should hurry. Yue, where's the stairs?"
"Just ahead," she said. "We're almost there. Hold together just a little while longer."
The Avatar Squad trudged towards the door. They looked exhausted, broken, and ready to fall apart. But they carried on ahead, pulling the door open and walking up the cherry red stairs. The miasma was so thick as they climbed that they all nearly stumbled when they tried to reach a step that wasn't there. Sokka stumbled into a door and pushed it open.
"Come on, follow me! Don't be distracted!" Iroh looked over at Kya Floes' body on the floor. The explosion -- he didn't want to look at it any further. He said quietly a few words, and turned back to the looming form of Agni.
He moved on two legs, but his large arms scraped against the floor as he chased Iroh, almost as a playful puppy chases a stick.
There was another siren, and an explosion rippled through Agni, and he seemed to absorb the fires and move towards Iroh.
"This spirits-forsaken thing better work, for all our sakes," the old man said with a heavy sigh. "That's right! This way!"
He wasn't young, and he supposed he should have expected what happened next, but the cry told a different story. As Agni lunged, he tried to move, but his back suddenly gave. He stumbled, barely out of where he stood.
Not far enough to avoid Agni's arms. The Spirit grabbed him and stumbled forward, teetering before the gateway.
Iroh smiled, wryly, "So this is how it must be," he said, "So be it."
And he grabbed the floor with his feet and pushed himself back.
He tumbled into the gateway, Agni in tow, just as another explosion caused them to hurtle forward with a great degree more force. The gateway closed, the explosion tore apart the laboratory, and the miasma parted.
In this room, there were charred remains of machinery, and they seemed to be placed about as though tossed in without a care.
Zuko looked at the scene before him, replaying the memory that had appeared in his head. "Uncle -- he did all of this to save us."
"And yet," Yue sighed, "Now he's become tied to the very spirit whose purpose is to destroy the world he tried to save. Zuko, I'm sorry."
"No," he said, "It's all right."
Katara smiled at him, weakly, "Your uncle was a hero, Zuko. I'm sorry we ever doubted him."
"Me too," Zuko said, "I never should have."
"Okay, we're all gushing over Iroh," Sokka said, suddenly, "But I'm like dead tired, here. Maybe we should have this conversation tomorrow, when we're all rested."
"Yeah," Aang agreed. "I think so."
"Right, sorry," Zuko muttered, "Let's get going home."
To be continued.
Author's Note: The title of this chapter comes from the name of the slope that leads into Yomi in Japanese mythology. The spirit was in turn inspired by whom the boulder at the end of the slope was placed for. Fun little research project for you all! Delay was caused by thunderstorms, lost power last night.
