Avatar: Mage of All Elements

POV Meeting of the leaders

«I told you so», Zuko said glumly. They had managed to get a broadcast of the military signal, so they were aware of what had happened to the fleet «If we had stayed out of it, everything would have been fine.»

«It's too late to talk about it», Raiko said, a little shocked, «What are we going to do? With that kind of power, he'll win.»

«And you doubted it?» Zuko wondered.

«To be honest, yes, we did», Lin already spoke.

«And for nothing. After all, he was the one who trained your grandmother and your mother», he looked smugly at everyone, «You don't have to do anything. Stay out of it and you'll stay alive.»

«But there are people dying out there!» Korra couldn't help herself.

«You want to die too?» she raised an eyebrow at Zuko, «Then go and protect the Empress. Come on, what are you waiting for? He's going to attack today or tomorrow, won't you make it to Ba Sing Se in time?»

«And I will!» she flipped out and ran out of the meeting hall.

«And why?» asked Raiko.

«She would have been there anyway», he shrugged, «Maybe that way she'd have time to save someone.»

«She could get herself killed», Lin shook his head.

«Are you suggesting we lock her up in the south again?» asked Zuko to Lin.

«It wasn't up to me then», she hissed angrily.

***

It took me some time to recover, but I was having a hard time mentally here. I've killed many innocent people just for following orders. They didn't know what they were doing. It made me feel bad. It wasn't until the second day of rest that I came to my senses. No matter how much I wanted to, I had to go through with it. So when I woke up, I carefully moved Azula off of me, got up, and got dressed.

«Are you coming back?» Azula asked quietly.

«I will», I mumbled and walked out, «Just wait.»

The Kyoshi warriors immediately jumped up while I just nodded at them. It's about time. One step and I flew down. Concentrate and go.

I flew for eight hours. I landed right in front of the palace. They were waiting for me. There must have been a thousand and ten soldiers here, and they all looked at me unkindly, because they were mages. I hadn't waited a few seconds when Korra ran forward.

«Yoko, please stop!» Korra shouted at me from a distance and came closer, «I don't want you to kill.»

«And I wanted to be left alone, but the Empire fleet thought otherwise», I shrugged, taking control of the land with all my might, «I asked to be left alone. But they wouldn't listen. Now I'm giving them an ultimatum. Either the Empress comes out here and takes the consequences, or few will leave here alive. One life in exchange for thousands. I'll give you one minute.»

Korra hesitated. On the one hand, there are realistically a lot of them, and more mages are arriving at the palace every moment. On the other hand, she knows my power and fears me. Finally, the desired effect has been achieved. Now it will be easier.

And she didn't disappoint me and went into the palace. Of course, she didn't manage it in one minute. Not even in two. And I waited. The mages kept arriving and there were already about twenty thousand of them. But still Korra came back.

«And how?» I asked indifferently.

«She refused», she lowered her head.

«Then leave», I shook my head, «You don't need to see this.»

«I can't», she muttered softly, «I promised to protect the innocent.»

«Then you become my enemy too.»

One impulse and Korra is blown far into the palace. Now to business. Focus. A pulse and a huge wave spreads out from me, knocking everyone off their feet. Another pulse and another wave buries most of the mages in the ground. Another, and the ground compacted, turning red. Eighteen thousand mages were gone.

Immediately after that, Korra flew out of the palace in her Avatar state and began to shower me with four elements. I calmly dodged and killed the remaining mages.

Half an hour later, the mages were gone and the Avatar was exhausted. I was tired, but I still had my strength. I walked up to her and hit her on the back. She was no longer a fighter. I picked her up and placed her on my shoulder.

«Why?» she asked murderously.

«I have something to protect and something to fight for», I said tiredly, walking into the palace and occasionally waving off the guards.

«But so many deaths.»

«And it could have ended with just one», I shrugged lightly.

«This is anarchy.»

«This is war.»

The Empress found herself in the throne room, surrounded by a crowd of guards. I put Korra in front of the door and went in myself. The whole palace was a work of art, and the throne room was its heart. The Empress was afraid. Very scared. But she kept her face.

«You could have sacrificed yourself to save the lives of thousands», I said calmly, releasing the power of the earth, «But you chickened out», I muttered, taking control of the blood of all the guards.

Even though they were essentially innocent, the lesson should be understood by all, and so a few swings and the entire guard fell corpses. Brain hemorrhage. I, on the other hand, calmly walked up to the Empress and looked her in the eye.

«Anything to say?» I asked tiredly.

«You're a monster», she said, already crying with fear.

«Maybe», I agreed, taking her by the head, «But I'm no stranger to human vices», and snapped her neck.

There was one small thing left to do. I walked over to Korra, put her back on my shoulder and went down to the lower levels. There I found the control room and had the workers prepare me to broadcast to all of Ba-Sing-Se, and if I could, to the entire Earth Empire.

***

Tension was high in Republic City. Rumors of war had already spread, but chaos had been averted. Suddenly, across the waves of the Earth Empire, the broadcast stopped and an unfamiliar voice was heard.

«Hello, citizens of the Earth Empire. A few days ago, war was declared on a small island called Kyoshi. I am its leader, Yoko. And as leader, I declare that the war is over. The land fleet has been defeated, as has the army of magicians. The Imperial Palace has fallen, and the Empress has been killed by me personally.»

With that, the broadcast stopped, and there was a ringing silence. This broadcast was heard not only in the Earth Empire, but also in the Republic, the Metal Clan, Kyoshi Island, both poles, and the Fire Nation. The whole world heard the terrible news.