Death...death...death...death...
"'Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you, all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.'" -from The Bhavagad-Gita, 11.32
AVATAR
The Celestial Sailors
BOOK THREE: DEATH
31: Angel of Death
Hotaru needed only a moment to asses the situation. Armies from every nation. The Avatar. Iblis. Some five or six miles between her and her enemy. Countless Lightbringers in the way. She surrounded herself in darkness and narrowed her eyes.
Auschwitz, the meaning of pain
The way that I want you to die
Slow death, immense decay
Showers that cleanse you of your life
Forced in like cattle, you run
Stripped of your life's worth
Human mice, for the Angel of Death
Four hundred thousand more to die
Angel of Death
Monarch to the kingdom of the dead
She swiped her glaive right, mowing down a dozen; she swiped left, shearing ten more; the darkness became animate, enormous claws that grasped and scraped, pulling her forward, consuming the light. A legion of Lightbringers bearing down on the Tellurians paused to see what this new commotion was, but froze stiff as the storm barreled their way, two black hands the size of Thunderhorns lashing at their brethren. Something screamed at them from the storm's epicenter, a wailing madness of dissonance; the screams manifested into a monstrous face, its gawking mouth ingesting them scores at a time. They fought back but their efforts were not only futile, but embarrassing; the dark hurricane continued its rampage unimpeded, growing even stronger as it snuffed out each light.
Sadistic, surgeon of demise
Sadist of the noblest blood
Destroying without mercy
To benefit the Aryan race
Surgery with no anesthesia
Feel the knife pierce you intensely
Inferior, no use to mankind
Strapped down, screaming out to die
Angel of Death
Monarch to the kingdom of the dead
Infamous butcher
Angel of Death
The Lightbringers were now focusing on this newcomer; barely any of them engaged with the Avatar's allies. Hundreds of them joined together to form titans; hundreds more carpeted the island as a united force, their radiance an unbearable agony. One of the titans launched itself against the storm, white-hot arms locking with an inky maelstrom of chaos. Eldritch energy crackled and surged; the land bent and twisted underneath them; plant life was demolished, stones rent asunder. The Death-Bender bellowed, and two more arms burst out of the whirlwind, grasping the titan's head and crushing it between them. More titans surrounded it; the black storm exploded violently, vaporizing every Lightbringer in the area and flattening everything else. Hotaru stood, took a deep breath, and wiped a stray hair from her face.
Pumped with fluid, inside your brain
Pressure in your skull begins pushing through your eyes
Burning flesh, drips away
Test of heat burns your skin, your mind starts to boil
Frigid cold, cracks your limbs
How long can you last in this frozen water burial?
Sewn together, joining heads
Just a matter of time 'til you rip yourselves apart
Millions laid out in their crowded tombs
Sickening ways to achieve the holocaust
Her glaive carved a crescent in the sky, arcing down to split a Lightbringer from top to bottom. She leaped, creating a second arc, crushing the ground as she landed, whipping her glaive at blinding speed. She spotted a cluster of enemies harassing water-benders, glowered; she darted over hill and stone, sniping hapless Sentinels, barreling into the cluster, a shadow dispelling the light. Her terrifying visage loomed over the water-benders for a moment before she jerked around, finding another target. The Death-Bender rode on a black mist, tendrils and claws screaming as she eviscerated her enemies. She lunged, killing two; swiped, killing three more; stabbed, piercing one more, slammed it to the ground. She took a step, wincing as the enemy ambushed her, squinting from the luminescence. The Lightbringer was stunned momentarily as a barrage of...something pelted it, turning around just long enough for the Death-Bender to strike. The barrage issued out two more projectiles: one she sidestepped easily, the other she caught neatly in her hand.
The radish merchant gave a start as he realized what he was doing. "Whoops! Sorry!"
Hotaru bit into the radish, then finished it off.
"Thanks for the snack."
Seas of blood, bury life
Smell your death as it burns deep inside of you
Abacinate, eyes that bleed
Praying for the end of your wide awake nightmare
Wings of pain reach out for you
His face of death staring down, your blood's running cold
Injecting cells, dying eyes
Feeding on the screams of the mutant he's creating
Pathetic harmless victims left to die
Rancid Angel of Death flying free
The ground beneath her erupted; the sky cracked open; the suns poured out a stream of Lightbringers; Iblis reared back, drinking in the darkness wrought by the Death-Bender, gurgling and bubbling white bile. The screaming souls of the suffering became her wings as she leaped and flew, the curved sickle of death glinting in the everlasting brightness. They battered against her; she flinched and pierced through; countless hundreds hurled themselves at her, a million candles igniting to cast away the night. The screaming intensified, innumerable wretches dredged from miserable depths, their brightest light casting a darker shadow. Tendrils mended the broken sky; claws pulled the earth together; darkness held back the searing rays. She was struck; she fell; she braced herself, was cushioned by a blast of wind, landed gracefully on her feet, crouching slightly as her body absorbed the impact. She stood, wiped the dirt from her face, spat, glared.
"Is that the best you've got?"
Angel of Death
Monarch to the kingdom of the dead
Infamous butcher
Angel of Death
Angel of Death
The air-bender who had saved her—Yuichiro, of all people—ran to check up on her. He recoiled a little as the petite visage of death glared at him behind frosty lavender eyes, but she softened enough to bow and thank him.
"I need to confront Iblis," she announced, looking towards the glowing epicenter of the world's dilemmas. She looked back at Yuichiro: "Going on foot is overwrought with obstacles. Do you have an air-bison I could borrow?"
"Um, no, not with me," he sputtered. Yuichiro lifted a shaky thumb, pointing behind him. "Fan Yu is off fighting with the others. I...I'm just running around where I'm needed."
"I see. Well, thank you for—" A cry startled her; she twisted around to see three people surrounded by the enemy. Hotaru quickly excused herself and dashed off, swinging through their ranks. The Lightbringers took notice of her immediately and attacked as one, shunning her darkness with their searing light. Pain, pain; she grit her teeth and glared. They were many and she was only one, but they were the wheat while she was a sickle. She swept the enemy aside, burned and bruised and breathless, wiping some dirt and more than a little blood from her face. The three people gawked at her; one called to her from the depths of joy:
"Hotaru!" It was Shingo. She faltered, physically and emotionally, startled and delighted. Kenji and Ikuko immediately helped Hotaru stand while Shingo hovered, not sure whether he should embrace the girl or leave her be.
"What are you...doing here?" she managed. He balled his fists and stared back with an iron countenance.
"What do you mean? Everyone's here! We're all fighting together to put an end to this."
"But it's...dangerous. You...you can't..."
"It's better than standing around doing nothing! Besides, Usagi's the Avatar! We're not just gonna sit back and let her... Let her..." He trailed off, frowning, glancing down. A slow smile crept onto Hotaru's face as she understood.
"Shingo, do you know this girl?" Ikuko said. His cheeks flushed a little.
"Uh, yeah. This is...uh, Hotaru. I, uh, told you about her, remember?" It took a moment for Ikuko to connect the pieces—but when she did, she brightened up as only a mother can, when she hears her son has found love.
"Oh! So this is Hotaru! My, Shingo, she's very pretty!"
"And pretty handy in a fight, too," Kenji observed. He went to examine her glaive, but Hotaru jerked it away, causing him to backpedal.
"Sorry. I'm the only one permitted to wield this. If anyone else touches it..." She trailed off ominously, and was quiet for a moment. Before anyone could break the silence, a shaggy air-bison and his equally-shaggy rider came bounding by.
"Yo, I found him! Do you still need a ride?" Yuichiro waved atop his mount, who brayed impatiently. Hotaru extended a tentative hand, which the creature sniffed and grunted at. Shingo fared better, gaining the creature's admiration with several scratches. Hotaru smiled sadly at the young man for a moment; she knew that once she mounted this creature, it would be a one-way flight to her destiny—and possibly her destruction. There was so much she wanted to do and say, but instead, she...
"Mr. Tsukino, Mrs. Tsukino, it was a pleasure to meet you. You've raised two very remarkable children. I...I'm glad to have met them both. If...you will excuse me." She bowed deeply and took Yuichiro's hand as he helped her up. Shingo called out to her, Wait!
But Hotaru was already on her way. The tips of her fingers gracefully brushed against his before she left him again. No other words were exchanged.
…...
A flood of Lightbringers were testing their mettle against an actual flood. Oomari and the northern Water Tribe were trying to hold them at bay while Nephrite and the king's elite launched artillery. They had given up trying to maintain one large wall, and were now digging foxholes with smaller barriers. The strategy had worked briefly, but now the surge of enemies had grown too large. That they could weather the anger of the ocean itself spoke to their sheer numbers—and tenacity. Nephrite literally threw everything he had at them, and yet was powerless as barrier after barrier was breached, and many of his soldiers were forced to retreat—or killed. Oomari himself fought bitterly, taking control of the entire flood by himself at one point, bending and weaving a tsunami, wiping away thousands...but it wasn't enough. In the end he was overwhelmed, and the defenses were breached.
"Fall back!" Nephrite shouted. "Fall back to Lord Kuni! You there, Avenging Shadow!" He shouted at Gurio, who was helping the wounded evacuate with Naru. "You lead the way! Get everyone to Kuni and Iku! I'll cover you."
"But what about," Naru replied, before Gurio interjected.
"Do what the man says, Naru! He's a General, he knows these things!" Gurio glanced back at Nephrite, shouting, "Yes sir, right away sir!" He took Naru's hand and waved for everyone to follow, a black beacon in a world bleached white. She still protested, even Nephrite stared down a titan. Both of them screamed as a white lance pierced his chest, and though Nephrite fell to his knees, he remained steadfast.
"Go!" he gagged. "This is...my duty, and I will...follow it to..."
"General!" Naru screamed, but there was nothing she could do; Gurio took her and the survivors away from the carnage, just as the titan loomed over the wounded General. A trickle of blood gushed out of his mouth as he grinned, and formed the biggest spire his waning powers could muster.
"Well, Jaedite, it looks as though we'll be having dinner soon. Long live King Endymion." Nephrite let out a roar and thrust the spire at the titan, ramming it with such force that it burst out the other side. The colossus groaned and collapsed, Nephrite closing his eyes peacefully as the dying pillar of light fell upon him and exploded in an all-consuming blast.
Fire Lord Kuni saw the destruction, and bowed his head, saluting Nephrite in Earth Kingdom fashion. His own troops had to work double time now that the battle was drawing out: no rest, no breather, no end to the fighting. A million souls and more had crowded onto this island, yet they were still being overrun: the light was everlasting. If the Avatar didn't do something about the source and soon...well, Kuni and his wife were prepared to go out in a blaze of glory, but he couldn't bear the thought of his children following them.
"Iku!" he heard a voice bellow, and his spirits were lifted a little as he saw Sifu Kinsei swooping in. He looked battered and threadbare, but still quite hale. "We've taken back most of the airspace, but my scouts noticed some nasty business over where Oomari was. Think we could borrow a few dragons and Thunderhorns?"
"What do you say, Kuni?" the lady asked. "Can we spare a few and hold our position?" Kuni studied his surroundings grimly. Right now they were just barely holding onto a stalemate. Spreading themselves any further would put everyone in dire straits, but Oomari had been holding a key position for a long time. If that were to break, they'd have three times the number of enemies breathing down their necks.
"We hold our position," the Fire Lord announced. "Kinsei, you'll have five dragons led by Oboro, and seven Thunderhorns led by Kotono. I'm afraid that's all I can spare, my friend."
"That's plenty!" Kinsei laughed, slapping his broad belly. "I've got twenty bisons still hungry for war. We'll route those blackguards before you miss a single tusk or scale!" He gave a loud whistle and a gray furry mass swooped in, one of its horns broken off. Kinsei mounted it and waved, rallying the dragons and Thunderhorns to Oomari's position. Before he could get very far, though, he noticed a large portion of air-benders and their bisons suddenly cornered by a massive group of Lightbringers.
"Och, you bedeviled specters, can't ye give it a rest? Oboro, princess, can ye handle Oomari's rescue without me? There's a fire needs blown out!"
"Make it quick, Sifu," Oboro called from his dragon. "It looks serious over here."
"It's serious everywhere! Don't worry, I've got the swiftness of the wind on my side!" Kinsei whistled for his bison to double back, flying over Kuni and Iku's heads to assist his acolytes. He was stricken to see Ao and Blie Xiu both dead, their bodies loaded onto one of the bisons, along with several others. Rage overcame Kinsei and he unleashed a torrential storm, blowing the Lightbringers away with such force that they dissipated immediately. More surged after him, but he fought them off with an insatiable passion, bellowing and roaring like a man possessed.
During a brief lull between waves, Kinsei heard a familiar voice call out to him; it sounded like his daughter. He had been deaf and blind to everything else during his rampage, and so he paused a moment to make sure his ears weren't playing tricks on them.
"Daaaaad! DAAAD!"
That was definitely Minao. He roared indignantly.
"How many times do I have to say it?! It's Sifu Daddy!"
"Get out of there, you fool! RUUUNNN!"
Kinsei gawked for a heart-stopping second. He hadn't noticed how much brighter it was getting, or how hard the Lightbringers were working to keep people pinned down; he had only cared about saving his fellow air-benders. Another second ticked off. He noticed the brightness, and the trap, and where the radiance was coming from. Iblis was drawing in all the light into a single focal point, so blinding that Kinsei couldn't keep his eyes open, even when facing away. He had no idea what this portended and had no intention of finding out. Another second passed. He had only an instant to act. Drawing upon every measure of strength he had, and much that he did not, Sifu Kinsei let out an earth-trembling shout, thrusting his arms out and issuing the most powerful blast of air he possibly could. The surge knocked every bison and bender back with so much force, there was nothing left to stand in the way of Iblis's attack—nothing but Kinsei. He stood silently as the light overcame him, and for a moment, thought he could see the smiling face of his long-departed wife.
When the blast cleared, there was nothing left but a deep hollow of scorched earth, and a few bits of rags caught in the wind. The other air-benders were paralyzed with shock at what they had just seen.
Minako Aino just stood there, eyes fixed at the spot where her father once stood, glazed over and numb.
The End of "Angel of Death"
Next time: "On the Shoulders of Giants"
Author's notes:
The song is "Angel of Death" by Slayer. Obviously nothing else would suffice.