A long time ago, Avatar Kalkin disappeared without a trace, and with the absence of any successor, the world was gradually thrown into chaos. But the cycle has continued, for a new Avatar has emerged to restore order to the world, and soon, she would be revealed to everyone...
AVATAR
The Celestial Sailors
BOOK ONE: CHAOS
21: The Avatar is Revealed
Oboro couldn't help but admire Princess Kotono's boldness. Having served three generations of Fire Nation rulers, he knew greatness when he saw it, and if Kotono's skills, diplomacy, level head, compassion, and resolve didn't qualify her as great (and they did), then her command of this mission and the people around her easily made up for it. She had taken charge from the moment they set foot inside the palace, guiding the small band through the winding hallways and up the dizzying staircases, seldom stopping. Whenever they came to a dead end or a false room, she was undeterred; whenever an enemy attacked, she always attempted to talk or intimidate her way through...and most of the time, it worked. When it came to blows, she held her own; when others were hurt, she paused to see that they were tended to. In some ways, she reminded Oboro of Queen Beryl; in others, she was the exact opposite. It would be interesting to see what sort of rule she would implement in the future.
Ittou and Ku Sheng drove off several enemies as they rounded a corner in search of Beryl's whereabouts. They had finally made it to the third floor with only a few bruises and scratches for their troubles, and showed no signs of slowing down. Lark's Thunderhorn friend caught a strange scent and waddled after it, but came to a stop as the hallway turned narrow. Unable to go any further, Lark slid off his back as the others pressed on, whispering into the creature's large ear that he would be back soon. As he ran to catch up, Kotono jolted to a halt, covering her mouth in shock. There, sitting against the wall, a pool of blood surrounding him, his hand saturated red from clutching his abdomen, was General Jaedite. Kotono rushed to him without hesitation, cupping his pale, sweating face in her hands, and peered into his eyes, hoping she was not too late.
"Jaedite! Jaedite! Oh, Jaedite..." His eyes flickered, and he let out a feeble sigh. His voice was very weak.
"Princess... So you got out of...the prison. Are your...parents well?"
"Yes, Jaedite, we're all here. We're going to hold Beryl accountable for everything that happened! Lark, go find a doctor now!"
"Don't bother," Jaedite groaned as the boy darted away. "I don't have much...longer to live anyway. I'm just glad...I got to see you, before..."
"Don't speak like that," Kotono insisted, clutching his free hand to her chest. "Jaedite, I must beg your forgiveness! I was so wrong about you... So stupid...I, I had no idea... You're not a traitor, Jaedite, you're not!"
"There's nothing to forgive," he murmured, every second slipping further away. "The ruse worked. The Fire Nation is...avenged. In time they will be...whole again. I'm just sorry I..." He went limp; Kotono called out to him hoarsely, squeezing his hand. Jaedite only had strength enough to smile and look at her.
"You and your brother...will rule well, my...princess. When I look at you, I see...a great future for...our country. What do...you see when you...look...at...me?"
"I see a hero!" she cried out, but Kotono would never know if he heard her. General Jaedite's hand went cold in her grasp, and he passed beyond her reach. Kotono was wracked with sobs; she let out a soft howl as she put her forehead against his, issuing two teardrops. It took more willpower than she thought she had to stand up again and dry her eyes.
"There will be time enough later to mourn him. We need to end this. Oboro, could you please watch over his body? I will not allow it to be desecrated." He nodded solemnly.
"It would be my pleasure, your highness. I will guard General Jaedite with my life. Spirits be with you." They exchanged a torrid expression before Kotono turned around, suppressing all other emotions in her quest. Her brother stared at her with renewed awe and respect.
Now more determined than ever, Kotono allowed no obstacle to impede her. Even without the Thunderhorn to scare away their enemies, anyone who crossed their path was repulsed by the righteous indignation in her eyes. A master fire-bender would not have been half as effective as the princess, and whatever fool wasn't turned around by her stare was broken by her iron fist. They were forced to stop eventually, though, as the palace trembled and rocked all around them. The other Thunderhorns had long since quit their rampage, and Ba Sing Se was completely protected from earthquakes, so whatever was causing that shaking was a complete mystery.
The group shrieked and shielded their eyes as the ceiling collapsed in front of them. A strange figure enveloped in white-hot light crashed through, surrounded by fire and water, tiles and stones orbiting around it, hair and clothes whipping in a wild wind. All of Kotono's fire fizzled out as she beheld something far greater, and she was astonished to see a pair of blazing white eyes glaring at her as the entity turned to face them. Then, strangest of all, the aura faded—stones falling, air settling, fire and water extinguishing—the creature touched down, and blinked quizzically. It was a girl slightly younger than her, with long blonde pigtails.
"Hiya!" she blurted, apparently just as bewildered as the group. "Have you seen a tall woman with long wavy red hair and a purple dress running around?"
"Um...no." Kotono was understandably shaken. What in the world had she just witnessed? Wait—could it be...?
"Say," said the girl as she noticed her surroundings, "where am I, anyway?"
"Um...the palace in Ba Sing Se," Ittou answered cautiously. "Queen Beryl's palace."
"I know, I meant which floor?"
"The third."
"Seriously?" she gawked. The girl moaned and smacked her forehead. "Darn it, I must've gotten turned around while I was following her! I was sure I was heading straight down!" Still reeling from the incredulous spectacle, Kotono took a tentative step closer.
"Ah, excuse me, but, uh...just who are you anyway?" The girl looked over and tittered nervously.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I totally spaced out back there! I'm Usagi Tsukino. Say, are you guys from the Fire Nation?"
"We are," Kotono said. She then took command of herself and announced boldly, "I am Kotono, Princess of the Fire Nation. This is my brother, Prince Ittou, and our companions: Lark, Salamander, and Ku Sheng."
"Whoa, the prince and princess?" she gawked. Usagi blushed as she realized her rudeness, and immediately bowed. Kotono laughed and assured her that formality was the least of her concerns today. They soon got to talking as "relative" equals and Kotono learned that Usagi, too, was after Queen Beryl. She also learned that the girl had fought the queen earlier...and had beaten her soundly.
"Very impressive," she chirped, "but I wouldn't expect anything less from the Avatar." Usagi's expression distorted, and she grinned sheepishly.
"You saw all that, huh? Yeah, I...I was in that stasis thingy that they go into sometimes. I've heard about that. I guess I really am the Avatar." Ittou blinked.
"You mean you didn't even know it?"
"Not until just a few minutes ago," Usagi shrugged. "I'm just as surprised as you."
I doubt it, Kotono thought to herself. She said out loud, "Well, regardless, there's no reason we should stay here any longer. Beryl's getting away."
"Yeah, I think she went down this secret escape chute that was in her throne room, and...oh!" Usagi threw her arm in the air and waved, but the injuries she had received from the fight with Beryl were all catching up to her. She winced, clutched her chest, and fell to her knees, just as two more people ran to the scene.
"Usagi! Thank goodness we found you!" It was Minako and Makoto; they gasped as they saw the hole in the ceiling and Usagi beaten half to death. Makoto immediately supported her friend as Minako asked what had happened here. She was filled in by the prince and princess, and was no less surprised to hear about Usagi's abrupt appearance and transformation. But right now there was something important to discuss.
"We've been looking all over for you," Makoto explained as she helped Usagi walk. "Rei and Ami are on the first floor. There's something you really need to see there."
"Can it wait?" Salamander said. "We're pursuing Queen Beryl now."
"Then you'll definitely want to come see this," she answered mysteriously. With that said, they found the lift—Usagi was in no condition to hobble down two flights of stairs—and made their way across the ground floor to the epicenter of the palace's ruin. The hallway was almost completely destroyed: everything was strewn about, broken, or smashed beyond recognition; Ami and Rei were kneeling down several paces away. They took notice of Usagi and ran to her, embracing her in silence. Rei brushed aside several loose strands of hair from her friend's face and tried to smile.
"You look awful."
"Yeah, I fought Beryl. Trust me, she looks worse."
"You don't know the half of it," she replied ominously. She guided Usagi to a mass on the floor; the other girl only needed to take one look before she covered her mouth in disgust. Tears bubbled in her eyes at the sight, and she turned around. Beryl and Kunzite, or whatever was left of them, were on the floor. Lark stood aghast as he studied the surrounding area; it did not take him long to figure out what happened.
"Oh, no...it's all my fault. If I hadn't let those animals out..."
"Don't blame yourself," Kotono hissed, immediately taking him into her arms before remorse could fell him. "What happened, happened. Beryl brought all of this on herself." Rei carefully approached Usagi, reaching out to touch her shoulder. She could feel her friend trembling, distraught beyond words.
"I never meant for this to happen," Usagi whispered. "I mean, I know that we had to confront Beryl, and I know that she had to answer for everything she did, but...I mean, she was still the queen, wasn't she? She did great things for this country; people liked her, admired her. She...she said she was related to the Avatar; we could've negotiated something, talked it over like adults. We...we were even talking when I first ran into her, she and I—we were talking to each other, trying to...trying to solve everything. I know she was responsible for the attack on the tournament; I know she tried to kill Motoki; I know she put you all in jail, and probably killed more people and did more evil things than any of us know about...but this wasn't what I wanted! I thought...we could work our way past this, and... And now she's dead, and Kunzite's dead, and, and, she told me she killed Zoicite... There's been so much death and destruction, and I never wanted any of it!"
Her stomach churned with bile, and she excused herself, running off in spite of her injuries. Nobody could blame her for her reaction. This was a grisly affair, a wretched end for a great woman. No doubt the fallout of all this would affect them for months, perhaps years to come. There were no clear answers, no easy solutions, no way to have everyone smiling at the end. All they could do was pray over their bodies, with Rei leading them in an ancient Fire Priestess chant.
Even the years of a man's life
Is short compared to that of this world
Life is but a dream, a vision, an illusion
Life, once given, cannot last forever
Life, once given, cannot last forever
…...
Usagi felt very nauseous as she distanced herself from the wreckage and death. Disgust over what she had seen and experienced was overwhelming her; she hastily searched for a washroom to relieve herself. She remembered seeing a few in her earlier search, and ducked into the nearest one, thankful that it was empty. She shuddered as she threw up the last of her bile, feeling no better than before. Adding onto her distress were her numerous cuts and bruises, and she mentally berated herself for not asking Ami to heal her. Well, there would be time enough for that later; for now, she cleaned herself and took a few moments to recover.
Queen Beryl was dead! Usagi could still scarcely believe it. A tiny part of her was glad she had not been directly responsible for the woman's demise (even though her actions had driven the queen towards it), but all the same, she wished she could have avoided it. What would become of the Earth Kingdom now? How would its people react when they learned their queen was dead? Kunzite and Zoicite were gone as well; what would become of their domains? What happened to Mamoru, and what of her family? She let out a little groan and wiped her face. This was not how she expected things to turn out.
Usagi exhaled gravely. There was also the matter of the new Avatar. She still couldn't explain how she had entered into the Avatar State, or even remember much of it, but Kotono and her gang had witnessed it firsthand, and so had her friends. She knew they'd never lie about something like that, but...how was it possible? If Kalkin, an earth-bender, had died, then wouldn't his successor be a natural-born fire-bender? Yet Usagi couldn't so much as light a match on her own. She hadn't even been born in the Fire Nation—nowhere close to it—so how could she be the Avatar? It was all too much to take in; she just wanted to collapse and escape from all this for a few moments. The best she could do was leave the washroom, one painful step at a time.
Usagi came to a halt as something small and black darted past her. As troubled as she was, she would have recognized that little furball anywhere. She was about to run after it when she looked in the direction where it came from, and felt her heart burst as she saw her mother, father, and younger brother in the hallway. The two sides stared at each other in disbelief for a moment before Usagi ran towards them, heedless of her injuries, and threw her arms around them all, sobbing for joy. She kissed them, she cried, she held them tight—yes, even her pesky little brother—she never wanted to let them go. At that moment, all of the fear, horror, doubt, anxiety, disgust, and sorrow that had built up inside her was washed away.
When she finally relented her embrace a little and took a good look at her family, she noticed someone familiar with them, and her life became complete. Mamoru was standing off to the side patiently, offering a kind smile. Tears formed in her eyes again and the two threw their arms around each other, trembling with happiness. Usagi completely forgot about Beryl, the Avatar, sickness, and even her bruises: nothing else mattered. She might have even kissed him if her family hadn't been there watching.
"My lady," Mamoru whispered, caressing her face. Even he was crying. Usagi just shook her head.
"It's good to see you, too." And then, at the exact same moment, they said, "Do I have some big news for you!"
"Go ahead, you start," Usagi tittered, too happy to feel anything else.
"Ladies first," he insisted. She took a deep breath, beaming.
"All right. Um...Mamoru, mom, dad...I don't know how else to say this, but...I'm the Avatar!"
All three of them jerked back in surprise. Shingo just snorted.
"Yeah, right!" Mamoru, however, looked upon her with conviction, and laughed warmly.
"I fully believe you, my lady. You must tell me how you came across this amazing discovery."
"Yes, that would be nice," her father added. "I'd certainly like to know how my daughter came to be Kalkin's successor, especially since she's never been able to bend."
"I know it sounds crazy, dad, but trust me." Usagi shook her head, still smiling and weeping, so full of warmth that it was overflowing. "I...I faced Beryl and entered into the Avatar State, then I chased her off. We...we don't have to worry about her any more."
"Oh my goodness," her mother gasped, covering her mouth. "Does that mean you..." Usagi shook her head.
"I followed her, but...well, since this is me we're talking about, I naturally got lost along the way. Beryl was...trampled by one of the Thunderhorns she kept. General Kunzite of the Northern Air Temple was, too, and General Zoicite of the Southern Water Tribe is dead as well."
"Oh, my goodness," her mother exclaimed, cradling her child close to her. "You've had quite a day, my darling." Usagi smiled, allowing herself to be pampered. Her eyes glistened at Mamoru.
"I'm sorry, Mamoru, what was it you wanted to tell me?" He just offered a humble chuckle. After hearing about all of Usagi's exploits, announcing that he could very well be Endymion III, the True Earth King, seemed pitiful in comparison. He concealed the royal genealogical records he found in the library deeper in his uniform, deciding to keep them secret a little while longer.
"It's not important right now."
…...
The fighting outside settled quickly as the palace's main gate opened, issuing captured soldiers, officers, benders...and the brave men and women who had stormed inside. Kinsei, Kuni, Iku, and everyone fighting let out a weary but victorious cheer, but were just as soon silenced as a somber procession of pallbearers emerged from the palace. Oboro, Ku Sheng, Salamander, Lark, Ittou, and Kotono bore the body of General Jaedite; Kuni and Iku both gazed at him sorrowfully as he was brought before them. The whole city seemed to fall deathly silent as Kunzite and Beryl followed, with Usagi helping to bear the queen. In spite of everything that had happened, she felt it was the least she could do.
"So, it is finished," Kinsei said, shaking his head as Kunzite and Beryl were laid down. "As shamed and chagrined as I was with Kunzite's behavior, it still pains me to see such a great air-bender fall. May he receive solace and penance in the next life. As for me, twenty courageous air-benders lie dead. I did not wish to see Beryl die too, but perhaps she has now fully paid for her transgressions. May she, too, find solace and penance."
The entire procession bowed respectfully and maintained a long moment of silence. Finally, Kinsei smiled and pulled his daughter in for a gentle hug. Rei and her cousins were reunited for the first time since the tournament, and Makoto gasped for joy as she noticed Motoki and a few soldiers of Omashu in the mix. His story would come later, he promised; now was a time for restoration. Hearing this, Usagi—with her family close at hand—approached the King. She performed a little curtsy, and he bowed.
"Your majesty, there's one more thing I'd like to add to all this, if you'll permit me?"
"With all my heart." Usagi thanked him, looking first to her family, then Mamoru, then to the four friends she had made during her long journey. They grinned proudly at her; she nodded, drew in a deep breath, and cast a warm white light as she hovered in the air, her eyes radiant, earth and water cascading with fire and air. For the first time in over sixteen years, the Avatar had manifested in front of the entire world.
"By the Spirits," Fire Lord Kuni gawked. "Is it really true? Is this girl the new Avatar?"
"It would seem our quest to find her has come to an end," Iku said, as she held his arm close.
"Oh, Kalkin," Oboro whispered, tears forming in his face, "thank you, my friend. Thank you for letting me live to see this day..."
"So unfair," Shingo grumbled. Kinsei laughed gently.
"Do not envy her, lad. The Avatar has always been destined to face hardships the likes of which we ordinary folk have no concept of. All the same, I'm flabbergasted that a former prisoner of mine is now the new Avatar! Well, Motoki, what do you say?"
King Motoki Furuhata was at a loss for words. He finally chuckled and said, "It seems we have a new Avatar in our midst. All hail Avatar Usagi." Kinsei, Kuni, Iku, Oboro, and everyone else grinned, and raised their arms in cheer:
"All hail Avatar Usagi! Long live the Avatar! All hail Avatar Usagi! Long live the Avatar!"
The end of "The Avatar is Revealed"
Next time: the final chapter
