Ziggy's Corner: Chapter Five: Darkness is here, shadows are upon us, and the storm is getting closer to being unleashed. Poor Aang's world is about to be torn asunder by war. This chapter takes place two years after chapter four ends. Enjoy, because this is the last you will see of the good, honest, and decent king that Sozen has been until the very end of our little story.
Night had come to the Fire Nation, and not a very peaceful one at that. In the distance there were sounds of skirmishes between the Fire Nation's beach fronts, and the Earth Nation's kingdom's untied fleets. It was not exactly war in the true nature of the word, but the menace itself was ever present, ever growing, and was the talk of every city, town, and village of the nation.
Sozen stroked his chin as he stood on the balcony as he watched the multi-colored flares rise in the sky and explode in awesome sounds that were much louder than thunder. His wife lay in her bed, her face flushed with a fever that she was suffering from for over six months. He looked at her and sighed. Politics had taken its toll on both of them and with these attacks taking place to rid themselves of the blockade; it was also taking Sozen away from both his wife and his two year old son Kaori.
He walked into the bedroom, and dropped onto a chair, studying his wife as she labored to breathe. Many mystics and healers had come to help, but not one of them could fix whatever was making Jenai ill. What was more, no one seemed to understand how she had gotten sick to begin with, and that had made the young king very paranoid.
Sozen created a court to judge those who he considered enemies, and nothing else. Because he had done away with appeals long ago, at the start of his reign, those that were found guilty were more or less given a death sentence the minute the paper was handed over to the judge.
There were no more parades, no more gaiety in the government, although his popularity was still pretty much at a high rate, it was slowly slipping away. Sozen scowled, his bright orange eyes glowing in the light of the fireplace in their room and he sighed.
"What I would give to spend one minute of discussion with you, without seeing you like this," he said, his back turned to his wife. He half expected, half hoped for her to answer him, but she had lost the ability to speak a few weeks ago. Her last words were to tell her husband that she loved him, and he had been so busy with planning an assault to get rid of the enemy ships, he had barely taken time to acknowledge it.
He cracked his knuckles, hunched over in his chair as he listened to her gasp, tears coming from his eyes. Why had this happened? Because I don't believe in the Avatar, because I dared to dream of a better world, where people didn't need to rely on the superstitious beliefs of the organized religion? Is that why fate seems fit to have cursed me? He scowled and spit in the flames of the fireplace. Well then fate can go to the underworld with the Avatar. There was only one thing in this world that mattered, and that was justice, and justice could only be accomplished by control, by power!
It almost made him leap out of the chair as he thought about that statement. Hadn't he told that old Fire Sage that he had no intention of grabbing onto power? The Fire Lord batted his head back and forth and held his hands in it. No, power was a corrupter, he didn't need power, he just needed what control he had, and the love of his family.
A knock on the door dashed him out of his thoughts and he opened it quickly. His prime minister stood looking at the king. "Sire, the men have been forced off the beach; it doesn't look like the Earth Nation armies are going to take advantage and begin an invasion, but the men need direction."
"That's why they have generals for," the king snapped. He stopped and listened to the sounds of the night, sighing inwardly as it became all too quiet.
"They're not listening to the generals, sire, the men are so panicked that I'm afraid the Earth Nation might actually take advantage, and start a land invasion.
"This is ridiculous," Sozen roared. He looked over at his wife, his eyes turning misty as he stared. He'd promised himself that this would be the night he was with her, there for her in case there would be any type of breakthrough. "Have the generals threaten death to those who run," the king snarled.
The prime minister stood there, his eyes wide with shock, and he shook his head. "Your Highness, please, we're treading on thin water as it is, doing such a thing might bring a military coup. You could lose your throne."
"Do you think I care about that?" Sozen roared, pounding his fist into a table. "I want to be left alone with my wife, and no not a maid or other type of servant in my place; I want to be here for her myself!"
The fire had started to go out in the fireplace as the two of them stared at each other for a long time. The prime minister had seen this temper of Sozen's more and more often now that Jenai lay sick in bed, but he'd never seen it this worse.
"Fire Lord Sozen, Your Highness, I understand your grief sire, but think of the consequences. What will happen to the people under a military rule, or under Gai's rule with the Earth Nation. Think of the chaos that could ensue."
Sozen dropped to his knees, his hands clutching his chest. His head turned from the prime minister to his wife and back and forth, his lips quivering. He was being torn between his family and his duty to sustain peace and order in the world.
"Very well, tell my generals I will be with them in the next hour, but it will not be a long speech, I do not want to take too much time away from the queen."
"Yes, Your Highness," the other man said, bowing sympathetically to his king and walking away.
Sozen spent the next forty minutes by his wife's bed side, stroking her hot cheeks and staring at her with the worshipful gaze of a boy looking at a famous actress he had a massive crush on. "Be well beloved," he groaned.
He took a few minutes to look into the room of his son, Kaori, the tiny miniature of his mother, with the exception of Sozen's powerful glaring eyes, and stubbornness, and sighed. "Bell well my son."
"And this is why you must be diligent in your fight, in having nerves of steel, and a resolve as hot as any of our volcanoes," Sozen said, finishing his speech to his forces. "The Earth Nation Kingdoms and the treasonous Gai must not be allowed to attack our forces, endanger our way of life, or trample on our beloved ones. For their sake, not for yours, or your king, must you be stronger than the gods." He stared into the dark field, the night covering everything in shadows, and then grinned with relief as the men before him shouted with jubilation and renewed hope.
It had taken him longer than he wanted; the generals were in an uproar, the men screaming like children. Three thousand of them had been killed, and there were only one hundred and twenty left. That wasn't much of a loss, but it had been the senior members in the field that had died, leaving the freshmen to deal with the battle. He didn't want to listen to his generals' cries and pleas for a draft, but things were looking bleak.
"I'm sorry, but I can't force our people to stand up against this weight," he said, shaking his head.
"You have no problems forcing them do to a lot worse than that, now a days," one of them grumbled under his breathe. He shivered as his king glared at him with frozen eyes. "Your Lordship, I . . .," the man was dead before he could say another word, none more shocked than Sozen himself, fist smothering in hot flames.
"I-I apologize for that, gentlemen," he said, his legs shaking as he stammered to get to his feet. "I have no words that can justify what I have done here tonight, but," fear rushed through his body, fear of losing his throne, of losing his chance to correct a "corrupted" religion's reign over a world in darkness. "For the good of our people, this must remain a secret," he said. His eyes glazed over and he looked down at the men he had just been sitting next to, most of whom had gone to the academy with him. "He was, killed in action, and will be given a hero's burial."
"Your Lordship?" one of them asked, not daring to take it any further.
"He died leading our men into combat in the defense of our glorious country against the villainous Earth Nation." Sozen tried to swallow many times, and found it hard, sweat poured down his forehead, his heart pounded against his chest, and he could not stop backing away from the war table. The war table, war, what an evil word if there were was one, but at the same time, what a delicious, intoxicating flavor that evil was.
"Fire Lord Sozen, are you feeling all right?" another of his generals asked.
"I'm fine," came a high pitched voice. "Now if you don't mind, I intend to visit my wife."
Karma had struck yet again. His skin was pale as he stared at the bed, empty of any life, no signs anyone had even laid there just hours ago. "Say again?" the king asked.
"Your lordship, the queen died just shortly after you left, I am very sorry." The prime minister took a step back from the other man and lowered his head. "She will be completely missed."
His chest rose and fell and he looked at the minister, his eyes turning dark as he stared. His lips trembled and he began clutching his fingers. "She was poisoned, wasn't she?" he asked. It was not his voice; it was oily, crusty, and echoed through the halls. Sozen stalked toward the minister, his gaze turning to one of predatory anger. "You did this, didn't you?"
"S-sire?" the other man walked away, gulping on air.
"You didn't want me to be around her, you were jealous." His chest rose and fell more and more rapidly and his skin was turning bright red, redder than flames. "You and all those bureaucrats who claimed to help me with the people, all you cared about your jobs." He began drooling, and he growled like an artic panther. "You, you filthy bureaucrats are nothing but scum, allies to the Earth Nation."
His fists glowed with flames and he lurched forward, incinerating the prime minister as neatly as he did with the general who dared snip against him. Oddly the clouds seemed to drift from the sky as the other man died, and caught the mad king's attention. He frowned, ignoring the corpse, and slinked toward the balcony, his heart aching for the arms of his wife, his mind dissipating in jumbles of worries and concerns. How would he explain this? And what if war would break out in its entirety? If fate was kind, if it wanted to prove that it still cared of this man who only wanted to make the world a better place, then it would allow him a sign.
And there, in the dead of night, glowing brightly with orange and red flames, streaking through space, like it was possessed by his dead wife's spirit and racing towards his arms yet again, there was the sign. It was a huge massive comet; that though millions of miles in space -- was still radiating heat down on the surface of the planet. Its brilliance sparked a dark light in Sozen's eyes. Its rays were like shadowy keys that unlocked a door in his soul that he had no idea even existed. At last, a moment of power, at last revelation that he knew he could not ignore. It was as if the comet was singing to him, like a siren leading him not to the rocks, but to his destiny.
He stretched his hands out to it, letting its heat stroke his skin, letting it warm him. His muscles tighten, his power increased, and he knew without a doubt that power was the answer to his question, that it indeed would help him to pass judgment on the world for its sins against him. There was a momentary pause, power was the answer? The world has sinned against him? What about order, about his people, the reasons he had taken the throne from Gai? Then he smiled savagely, and pushed the weaker part of his mind into the shadows. From now on, the future belonged to strength, to rage, to vengeance.
I warned you, it was getting darker. And now the storm is here. All out war breaks out next chapter, stay tuned. Because I don't have direct access to the Internet, the next chapters will come our around November/December, unless something unexpected and unfortunate happens. See you then!