A long time ago, a great evil was averted through the actions of the Primordials, ancient beings of enormous power who created the world and brought it to order. To prevent such an evil from coming about, a scion of light named Iblis was created to maintain balance, and for countless eons, this guardian performed his duties well. But time corrupted his spirit, and he abandoned his charge so that he could mold the world as he saw fit. In response to this, the great spirit Raava joined forces with the Guardian Kings, last and mightiest of the Lion-Turtles, to work outside the Avatar cycle and bring about one who could put an end to Iblis's designs, and restore balance once more. Her Avatar's name is Usagi Tsukino, a warrior of love and justice, and this is the moment where she either fulfills her destiny...
Or fails it.
AVATAR
The Celestial Sailors
BOOK THREE: DEATH
33: For the Balance
A bright flash of sparkling light exploded in the sky, vibrantly hued with every color of the rainbow. Ann gave a little gasp as she saw it.
"That's Ael's signal! The Avatar's made it!"
"Thank goodness!" Kasei Hikawa huffed, reigning his dragon in as it staggered away from a Lightbringer advance. "Now all that's left to do is wait until she finishes him off! And that should only take...uh, how long?"
"We do not have the luxury of waiting, High Priest," said Hakim. His sand-benders still pressed the assault, even as more people were giving orders to retreat. "There must be something we can do to speed the process up." He let out a cry and stabbed a group of enemies with sharp sand-prongs, but their numbers were replenished just as quickly.
"Well," Saeko Mizuno offered, "we could cut the enemy away from the source and keep them off her back." The others looked over: sure enough, a horde of Lightbringers had broken off from the main group and were amassing toward Iblis. As powerful as the Avatar was, if that many swarmed her at once, she'd be finished.
"Good idea," Bodmall concurred. She reared up on Red Hare, her countenance both terrifying and inspiring. "I'll send the word to my people. You all rally your troops and have them surround Iblis. Don't let a single one through!" Without saying another word, she spurred the king's horse to a full gallop, calling to the wind and the earth for the Fomoriians to gather. Liath heard her, and raised her barbed spear, ululating a battle-cry. She broke through the enemy forces like a wedge and was the first to the scene, shredding anything in her path. Conch shells from the Water Tribes sounded; shofars from the sand-benders and the southern Earth Nation rang out; flares were sent up from the Fire Nation. The Avatar's army, as weary as they were, stirred themselves to life and gathered around Iblis, forming an enormous wall around him. Everything before them fell under their might; everything behind them quickly surged as a singular unstoppable wave of fiery light. Every last arrow and spear was spent; every bender wore themselves to exhaustion fighting; the radish merchant shot every piece of produce he had brought with him. Captain Scum fell as he was perforated, but swore and swung his sword as his crew rushed to his side.
"Avast, ye blackguards, I ain't buried yet! As long as me legs hold then the rest is fit to fight! Lash me to one o' them stones so I may die on me feet! With a will, lads!" His crew wasn't sure what to do at first—their captain was burned and bleeding badly right in front of them—but Mathena and Suo gathered him in their arms and quickly ran for the sturdiest pillar of rock they could find.
"You heard him!" she roared. "Make sure he's tied tight! Rutherford, can I lend ye my spear? It flies straight and true and always comes back when—"
"Nay, dear Hanmyo! All's I need is a sturdy ship and a star to sail under!" She blushed a little as she was called by name, and tried to subdue it as she helped tie him to the pillar. Captain Scum let out a heavy groan, sagging under the heavy weight of death. He could barely hold onto his sword.
"Ca...captain..." His crew gathered round. Scum saw the fear and grief in their eyes, and spat indignantly.
"Listen up, ye ninnies! Who's the filthiest, dirtiest, most deplorable motherless sons on the high seas?"
They just grunted and stammered. Scum nearly broke out of his restraints in anger.
"I ain't prone to stammerin', ingrates! Who...is...the worst...ever...born?!"
"Uh...w-we are, sir."
"Pox upon your lips, ya craven wretches! Who mocks the devils?"
"W-we...we do, sir."
"Who spits at angels?!"
"We do, sir."
"Who drops their drawers in the presence of emperors and kings, and don't give a rip what they think?!"
"We do, sir!"
"Who strikes terror in the hearts of the Spirits themselves?"
"We do, sir!"
"Who's going to win this fight and compose songs about it?!"
"WE WILL, SIR!"
"Who's gonna sing em' at the toppa their lungs until even the temples and shrines are tremblin' with em'?"
"WE WILL, SIR!"
"Who's the absolute worst scum that has ever lived?!"
"WE ARE, SIR!"
"WHO'S DEAD PROUD OF IT?!"
"WE ARE, SIR!"
"What are we, men?!"
"PURE SCUM!"
"I can't hear you!"
"PURE SCUM!"
"One more time!"
"PURE SCUM!" They all began chanting, Pure Scum, Pure Scum, over and over again, fighting back the enemies, as their captain stood beaming, his arms flailing slowly, uselessly, until they hung limp.
"That's it," he murmured, "them's me boys. Pure scum to the end."
A tear fell down his weathered face, and Captain Scum was lulled away by cries of Pure Scum, Pure Scum.
A threadbare standard of brown, green, and yellow flashed in the blinding light as Motoki rallied his people. Badger-moles snarled and raised impassable pillars of granite. Tellurians cut gorges and launched boulders. Unazuki roared a challenge, swiping a halberd until it broke. Mamoru joined him, looking pale and shaky, but tried to smile as he clasped hands with his oldest friend. Men and women fell left and right as the enemy surged against them. Bodmall, commanding the elements with a strength and skill surpassing the Avatar herself, was struck hard and fell. Liath fought through waves of Lightbringers to be by her side, herself bloody and burned and weary.
"My lady!" Mamoru called. "Are you all right?" Without her saber-tooth deer headdress, the derwydd of the Fomoriians looked vulnerable, frail, anticlimactically human. She clutched her side, gritting her teeth in agony even as her expression remained jaded and dull.
"Yeah, I've been better! Hey, your horse is around here somewhere, Armed Servant. You should...ugh, call him and...mount up. If you're going to make one last desperate stand, you should...ugh, look like a king..."
"Hey, come on," Liath encouraged her, "don't act so dramatic. You've been through worse, you old goat." Bodmall grinned but coughed up blood.
"Are you sure? Heh, I really must be getting old if I can't...remember being in worse pain. Heh, heh, he—kff, kff!" Mamoru stared up at the battle as Liath tended to her. The enemy forces continued to push; the Avatar's allies fought bitterly; their numbers dwindled as the Lightbringers were replenished. It was looking very bleak. He reached down and clutched Bodmall's hand, his eyes intensely expressing what could not be said. She nodded and patted his hand as the light faded from her eyes—but it just as quickly revived as a shadow overcame the sun.
"Look!" Unazuki called out. A Lightbringer titan was knocked to the ground by something large, and hundreds more fell with it. Mamoru's eyes widened as a white feather drifted down; a cacophony of screeches, howls, and otherworldly noises sounded a battle-cry. Wan Shi Tong had arrived, with a host of Spirits at his side.
"We are here!" cried the mighty scholar, sweeping aside the Lightbringers like chaff. "I apologize for the delay; they had quite a time convincing me to fight." He gestured over to the other spirits, one of them a gargantuan serpent with the head of a wolf. It devoured Lightbringers as it circled around the Avatar's allies, acting as a barrier between them and the enemy. A colossal mantis with the head of a bear was cutting down swaths of Lightbringers with its sickle-arms; an enormous panda creature was knocking the titans down like they were made of straw. A tear came to Bodmall's eye and her face glowed with joy.
"Well I'll be!" she exclaimed. "I never thought I'd see such a thing!" She laughed quietly to herself as the army of Spirits tore up the battlefield; Wan Shi Tong glanced over at her for a moment before she sighed and closed her eyes.
…...
In spite of the war going on below her, in spite of not even knowing if her friends were dead or alive, and in spite of the weariness and the injuries stacking up beyond her limitations, Usagi smiled with relief.
"It's good to see you again, Hotaru. I really missed you. How have you—"
"We don't have time for idle banter," she replied coldly, turning her back on the older girl. "The sooner we neutralize Iblis, the sooner everything can be restored. Come." She took a few steps forward, clutching her glaive diagonally, laser-focused on the task at hand. Usagi hung back, a little stricken, even though she knew Hotaru was right. She took a shaky step forward but paused as the other girl halted and turned her head. A faint smile temporarily graced her stony features.
"It...is good to see you as well, Avatar. ...Usagi." She continued, Usagi following close behind, a considerably greater spring in her step—and good thing, too, as crossing the summit of any Lion-Turtle was a daunting task. Iblis must've been at least a mile long from head to tail, and so huge that clouds, if there were still any left in the world, would have brushed against his shell. The atmosphere was mercilessly thin and made even the simplest actions a challenge, as Usagi struggled to breathe. She got dizzy, felt faint, almost collapsed several times. Hotaru never left her out of sight but never paused to make sure she was all right. She seemed absolutely indomitable, unaffected by fatigue or hesitation or even physical limitation, a human in appearance only. Usagi tried to bend some air into her lungs but found her abilities nullified.
"Hey, what gives?" she wailed, falling to her knees in bewilderment. "I can't do any bending at all! I can't even go into the Avatar state!"
"The Lion-Turtles neutralize all forms of bending, save their own," she explained. "You won't be able to go into the Spirit World, either."
"Oh, that sucks," she grimaced. "I guess I won't be much use to you, then."
Hotaru smirked. "Says the woman who bragged about fighting Beryl and breaking out of a prison." Usagi grinned sheepishly.
"Yeah, but I had a lot of...help." She paused as she realized what she just said, and who she was with. Hotaru smiled warmly and offered her hand.
"Trust me, Usagi: I wouldn't have asked for your help if I knew I wouldn't need it." Usagi took her hand and stood again. "Now save your energy, we have a long way to go."
"But you can move around really fast, can't you?"
"I move through the darkness." She gestured around her, adding, "Do you see any darkness here?"
"Um, no."
"I'm containing what little is left inside me, until the moment it is needed." Usagi didn't need anyone to explain when that "moment" would come; it was the summation of her existence as Raava's Avatar—no, the Avatar of the Lion-Turtles, of Vainamoinen, of the world itself. What she was supposed to do during that moment was still unclear; she just hoped she wouldn't mess it up.
A terrible groaning sound roiled like thunder, and the skies seemed to brighten even more. The lone sun grew larger, stronger, as the last of the world's shadows were stolen away. Usagi limped close to the edge of the immense summit and watched as a thick strand of gelatinous black smoke rose up, piercing Iblis directly on his shell, only a stone's throw away from where they were standing. The groaning became a roar as the black strand was fully absorbed, and Usagi's stomach churned as a number of indefinable shapes emerged from the place where the strand had struck. For an instant, they hovered there, an unstable mass of writhing, living energy. Then, just as quickly, they ignited, forming into the Lightbringers, launching themselves away from their creator on beams of light. So, that's how it was done.
"Freaky," Usagi whispered.
"Be on your guard," Hotaru warned her, clutching her weapon tightly. "It won't be long before Iblis realizes what's going on and sends them to attack us."
"Umm, he's got like a million people fighting those things," Usagi muttered bashfully. Hotaru just glared.
"Yes, but it's only a matter of time..." True to her word, another strand of darkness struck the shell...only this time, the formless masses that emerged didn't become Lightbringers: they took notice of the invaders and lunged. Usagi instinctively attacked with a fire-bending thrust, only to shriek as she forgot about her handicap. Hotaru rushed in to save her, ruthlessly swiping at the formless masses. A blood-curdling groan emitted as the shape was cleaved apart and wilted away, but more rose up to take its place. Hotaru grabbed onto Usagi's wrist tightly as she stared intensely:
"We have to keep moving! Towards the head!"
"Yeah, but..." Usagi was huffing and wheezing before she had taken three steps; a minute later and she felt like she had run around the palace at Ba Sing Se; thirty seconds after that and she collapsed, heaving and pale. The masses wasted no time in surrounding them, but Hotaru defiantly stood over her companion, black flames crackling around her body.
"Come at me if you dare! I'll show you why the weak fear the night!" Her glaive glistened in the bright sun, cutting the masses like an ax through gelatin. As loudly as the entities moaned, they never seemed to be in any real pain—and even if they were, it didn't stop them from reforming and attacking. One of them grabbed Usagi's leg; her eyes went wide as a sensation beyond pain or fear overcame her. She kicked at the shape, dislodging it, and stood, coughing for air. Now she was the one encouraging Hotaru to run, limping and choking, fueled by desperation and the desire to see an end to all this madness. The shapeless beings multiplied and surrounded them, silently grasping and groping. Usagi punched one but the sensation caused her to shirk back and clutch her hand. She couldn't describe the sensation, except that it was "wrong", unnatural, and it made her feel terror and weakness like nothing else before. Her threadbare shoes did little to protect her as she kicked another one; the masses grabbed hold of her hair and the buns unraveled, sending a wave of flaxen out to billow in the thin atmosphere.
Hotaru was fighting ferociously against the masses, but even the Death-Bender was having difficulties. Whatever these things were, they didn't die, and they didn't hesitate, even when facing the darkness. Usagi roared as several grabbed her; Hotaru tried brushing them off but the darkness was failing her. She felt her life ebbing away, her vision dimming, the voices of the world growing quieter. She noticed Iblis absorbing another stream of shadows into himself and got an idea. Before the black band could impact the surface, she stood directly underneath it, opening herself up to it fully. The darkness struck her like a falling meteor; she felt completely renewed, overflowing, explosive. Unable to control the surge of energy, she released it, banishing the masses. Her skin smoldered with black plumes, and smoke issued from her eyes and nose as she bent down to help Usagi. Where her hand touched, a dark print remained.
"Get off me!" Usagi screamed, jerking away. She and Hotaru stared at each other in unblemished fright for a moment. Finally Usagi sighed. "It's just you. S-sorry about that. Oh, your face..." Hotaru tried to speak, but black bile gushed from her mouth; she bent over, retching, a fluid like oil puddling beneath her. Now it was Usagi's turn to tend to her, but as she touched Hotaru's shoulder, her hand sizzled with vitriolic alacrity. Hotaru gestured for her to stay away, ooze pouring out of her nose. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her glaive tight against her chest.
"Go," was all she could manage, her voice a melange of otherworldly noise. She staggered forward, giving Usagi no choice but to follow, but collapsed soon again, vomiting and keening. The masses returned. They didn't dare go near Hotaru, so that only left Usagi. She couldn't stay, or else she'd be overwhelmed, and she dared not go, or else she'd leave her only companion to a fate worse than death. Hotaru gestured for her to come close, and forcefully placed her glaive in Usagi's hands. Her skin immediately burned; she felt the flesh rot and the cells die, the bones turn to dust and her blood curdling into a noxious slurry. Death coursed through her nerves and threatened to burst out of her arteries. Raava awoke to protect her from the worst of it, but now she was forced away, separated from the wailing mass of un-humanity that had once been a friend.
"Do it!" she heard the creature gurgling. Usagi hesitated. She turned around, saw that she was only a few steps away from Iblis's head. She could hurry over, plunge the glaive into his weak spot, and end it now. Every second wasted was another life lost, and the pain in her hand was so great that relief was all she could think of. Just do it, she told herself. Get rid of it and come back later! But the screams, the mad wailing, the whirling vortex of darkness surrounded by unforgiving shapeless abominations...
Avatar. She heard Raava's voice. She felt comforting hands on her shoulder.
Usagi.
Forget about destiny. What do YOU want?
We trust you.
We know you'll do the right thing.
It's what we would have done, after all.
Usagi...Usagi...
The tears could fall wherever they pleased. Her unkempt hair billowed and battered against the storm as she trudged back in. With one hand she held tight the world's hope, and with the other, she repulsed the darkness and the light, and took hold of the Death-Bender's hand.
"No, Hotaru," she announced, "I won't do this alone. I'm not abandoning my friend." An amethyst eye pierced the black radiance, tears clearing the veil as a hand shakily rose up and held tight. Usagi put the glaive in Hotaru's free hand and together they bore it across the back of the Lord of all Lion-Turtles, leaping off the edge of the shell onto his exposed neck. Raava's light fought back the darkness and Yanluo's darkness kept them safe from the light. The two women looked at each other, nodding, ready for the end. Their foe sensed his doom an instant too late. Alone they would not have had the strength to pierce Iblis's skin, not even with the glaive of the Death-Bender, but together, they sank it in, blade and shaft until nothing was left.
The mountain of light gave a start, jerking in shock. The pain was swift and soft; the end, softer still.
…...
Minako was a woman possessed as she fought the Lightbringers, ignoring torment and danger in her single-minded drive. She was bleeding heavily as she whirled around to attack another, but before the blow could land, the entity was violently rent asunder, sending her flying back. Ami caught her, and as she recovered, noticed that Lightbringers were bursting apart everywhere. Hundreds clutched their heads or spread their arms or raised their fists in anguish before dissolving; titans tumbled over and exploded; legions evaporated like mist underneath the sun. Everywhere she looked, the Lightbringers were dying...and they weren't coming back.
Fire Lord Kuni reared up in surprise as his foe split open. King Motoki, beating back five at once, was left clutching a melting halberd as his enemies were dispersed. Boris let out a shout as dozens were leveled in an instant. Saeko Mizuno, cradling the bodies of fallen Water Tribe warriors, stood gawking as the living flames were extinguished in droves. Ael and Ann could only watch in awe as the Lightbringer army died en masse. Everywhere they looked, thousands of shining sentinels were disintegrating.
Iblis's eyes flared open, even as the light faded out of them. He tried raising his head one more time.
"For...for the Light..."
"No," Usagi replied, her voice gravely and worn: "For the balance."
The Scion of Lugh watched helplessly as his children died out, their light extinguishing forever. Clarity came at last before his own candle was blown out.
I failed, didn't I?
Yes, he heard his lord father, the Primordial Lugh, answering. But that is not such a bad thing. Come, my son. Rest.
Iblis's head sank, and slowly, his eyes closed.
As the Lightbringer army faded, Mamoru gave out a cry and pointed up to the heavens. Jagged black tendrils were snaking over the sun, hairline cracks that slowly opened to fissures. Then, like a glass sphere put under too much pressure, the false sun shattered, its pieces hurled through the sky, dissolving until there was nothing left but Night. A cheer rang up from the crowd, but was just as suddenly silenced as Iblis—or rather, his body—gave a lurch, a shudder, and violently erupted. The light lingered for a minute, then faded, and all was quiet underneath a starry sky.
Mamoru didn't even feel the tears streaking down his face.
"No," Minako warbled, covering her mouth in shock, "no, no, no..."
"Come on!" Makoto gestured, sprinting towards the epicenter of the explosion. The rest of Team Avatar followed, Rei and Ami and Haruka and Michiru, Mamoru galloping ahead of them. There was nothing left of Iblis now, nothing at all, except a large imprint where his body had once settled. It was so deep that Mamoru had to abandon his horse and slide down; he was sprinting the instant his feet reached the bottom, yelling for Usagi the whole time. The rest of Team Avatar caught up with him, spreading out to help the search. Rei skidded to a halt as she saw something approach them in the haze.
"Look!" She raised a fire to help see better. In the distance, a misshapen mass was staggering towards them, its gait slow and off-balance. Mamoru and the girls carefully drew closer, but came to a halt as they saw what it was. Bleeding, battered, bruised, and filthy, was a dark-haired girl, barely recognizable, limping shakily, carrying a large burden. The girl was Hotaru, her eyes glazed over and glossy; the burden was Usagi, hair unkempt, limbs dangling, appearing lifeless. One of her hands was shriveled and smoking; her eyes were closed, her face even paler than her bearer's. The other girls gasped; Mamoru wept, and approached stiffly. Hotaru stumbled a little and bent down, releasing her burden, and sat, fatigued beyond all limitation. Team Avatar rushed to their fallen friend, sobbing profusely, holding each other, unable to gaze upon her and unable to look away.
"Oh, Usagi," Mamoru croaked, his cheeks scarred with tears. He cradled the girl's unresponsive head in his hands, holding her close to his chest as he trembled. Carefully, with all the reverence he could muster, he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"GAT-CHOO!"
And promptly got sneezed on, covering his face in mucus. Something groaned.
"Ooouuuffff...not again."
Mamoru blinked in astonishment. The other girls shivered, not daring to hope. Hotaru smiled faintly. Usagi just groaned.
"Sorry about that. I guess you...really are a...snot-rag now." She grinned feebly, and Mamoru wept again, out of sheer happiness. The girls laughed tremulously; he touched her face; she beamed with a light all her own. Her voice was barely a whisper. "I'm okay, just exhausted. Is Hotaru...?"
"Yes," she confirmed, sobbing uncontrollably. Slowly Team Avatar formed around their fallen friend, content to laugh and cry and do nothing else.
…...
A pile of rubble and ashes was forcefully expelled as a fiery demon lunged out, spewing fury and death.
"Come on out, Lightbringers, show yourselves!" It slashed with a terrible sword, breathing fire, lusting for blood. It lunged, "Where are you, you monsters?! I'll kill every last one of you! Come on, show yourselves! Where are you, Lightbringers!?"
"ALL DEAD!" And he stopped, just as his sister stared dauntlessly down at him. For a moment, the demon trembled, incredulous. Then, he became a boy, fell to his knees, and wailed. Kotono knelt down with him and held him close, weathering the storm for as long as it took. A weary badger-mole approached them, its rider's face caked with blood, bearing a broken Earth Kingdom standard, her armor in pieces. Unazuki took one look at the siblings and immediately understood.
"It looks like we won," she proclaimed, sounding hollow. Kotono caressed her brother's hair as she looked up at the sky, at the blessed night they had fought for, alien for so long that she had almost forgotten what it looked like. Then she saw Unazuki and the battlefield: the ruination, the carnage, the countless fallen warriors—and friends. Salamander, Ku Sheng, Kartta, Oboro...Lark... Her eyes met Unazuki's as Ittou sobbed.
"Yeah. This is what victory looks like."
The End of "For the Balance".
Next time: "And What Came of It"