Fool's World: The Start (ch. 30) (Patreon)

In a perfect world, we would have a grand fleet of nine ships and freed a total of a thousand prisoners. We wouldn't have taken any losses either. But, my entire existence was a testament that we didn't live in a perfect world. Freeing a thousand earthbenders assumed that each ship had been loaded up to capacity and they weren't. It also assumed that the Fire Nation would just roll over and let us take their ships. They didn't. The opposite, really.

Of the right ships we attacked, two had escaped and one was sunk. The two that escaped had been battleships and the one that was sunk was a prison barge. Not exactly ideal. We managed to free around four hundred earthbenders, of which about a hundred and fifty were old men and women and another fifty were too young to fight. Of the remaining two hundred, I expected most of them would want to return home rather than take the fight to the Fire Nation.

In terms of losses? They were light. Fifteen casualties, five dead for the Kyoshi Warriors. Losses amongst the prisoners were higher -- thirty casualties with fifteen dead. The Fire Nation got way worse off with two hundred casualties and a hundred dead. Mostly by my hand.

"We have a problem," I said, looking around my command room. I stuck with the sloop, for now. it didn't have the intimidation factor that battleships had, but it more than made up for it with speed. The battleships were turtles in comparison. "We have way too many prisoners," I told Rin, Nobara, and Suki.

All three of them gave me a matching look, telling me they figured out exactly what I was getting at. "We have over three thousand prisoners, and of them, nearly a hundred are firebenders. The good news there is that we have room -- we have two battleships and three prison barges, but they were meant to house earthbenders. Right now, we only have a matter of time before they realize they have us outnumbered ten to one."

"You're right, mass executions sound needed," Nobara prodded sarcastically.

"I'll go grab a plank and make them walk it then," I shot back, making Nobara roll her eyes. She was tense. Uncertain. She hid it well, but she was far outside of her comfort zone. She was a high schooler that fought cursed spirits, not people or decided their fates after we got a hard-fought surrender. "Keeping them is asking for trouble. They've been quiet so far, but that won't last forever. Releasing them in Earth Kingdom territory, well… that's going to cause issues on its own."

"We could throw the normal prisoners in the barges while keeping the firebenders locked up and separated," Rin pointed out, earning a slow nod from me. She was taking this more calmly. She had been the Second Owner of Fuyuki city. While the exact nature of the job escaped me, it was clear that it required making some hard choices. The kind that made something like this feel familiar.

Suki crossed her arms, “That buys us time, but it leaves the issue. What are we going to do with the prisoners?” She asked, looking at me with a measuring look behind layers of makeup. Or, I suppose it was war paint now. “You brought this up, Majima. What are you bringing to the table?” She questioned, sounding like she already knew she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“We sentence them,” I said, and that seemed to catch the three of them by surprise. “For their crimes.”

Nobara glanced at the others, a frown tugging at the edges of her lips. “How would that even work? What evidence do we have? How are we going to prove anything? It's not like they’re going to fess up just because we ask. If it was that easy, police wouldn’t be necessary.” She pointed out while Rin gave me a far more calculating expression. I could see her mind turning over what I could mean, and I didn’t want to leave her in suspense.

“I’m the source of all Evil, Nobara,” I told her, making her lips thin at the reminder. She really didn’t like it when I called myself that. “I can sort through the bad apples and trim the number down.”

“By killing prisoners,” Rin pointed out.

“By executing those that don’t deserve the life that they have,” I returned. “The ones that deserve it. If they don’t, then they won’t die. It’s as simple as that,” I said, already knowing what it would look like.

Suki didn’t look convinced, “And we’re supposed to just trust you on that? How do we know you aren’t murdering whoever you feel like to get the numbers down? That they actually deserve it?”

I didn’t really mind that they took issue with it. It betrayed that they were good people. About as good as I’ve ever seen. It also showed that I very much wasn’t. “Because I really don’t care about the difference between Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes. Same difference all around. For me, this is to course correct the world and scrape some scum out of the gene pool. No one in this world knows evil better than me, Suki. I know what's unforgivable and what's not.”

Rin nodded slowly, Nobara seemed on the fence while Suki leaned towards a no. So, I continued. “If you’re worried about me being unfair about it, I’m willing to do the same to the earthbenders we rescued. It’s not about getting a lower number of prisoners,” I told her, and the idea that I would weaken the war effort to make a point pushed Nobara over the edge. She gave a small nod.

Suki was on the fence. I could see it, but I made my sales pitch. If she didn’t like it, then she didn’t like it. There was nothing I could add that would push her my way. Instead, I waited for her to come to her conclusion. Her mind churned over the possibility, trying to come up with alternatives. When she kept coming up empty, or her alternatives kept running into the same issue, she asked, “How are you going to do it?”

I told her.

…

I stood at the edge of the pits to a prison barge that was packed with near two thousand Fire Nation soldiers. Every single one of them was hurling curses and vitriol at me, but that's all they had. They had all been stripped down to their loincloths, which was apparently the underwear of choice here, but they weren’t bound or gagged. There wasn’t a point there. Preventing an escape wasn’t exactly my intention with this.

It was two birds with one stone, really. It wasn’t how I thought I would be going about things. I spent most of my existence influencing evil deeds, and here I was, going to punish that same evil that I seduced humanity into committing. It seemed more than a little hypocritical. All the same, it was getting me what I wanted to avoid more fights in the future -- a terrifying reputation, and it drastically cut down the number of prisoners that we would be dealing with. According to Suki, only the firebenders had any real value, and they were all officers. The footsoldiers were chaff in comparison.

Bringing up a finger to my mouth, I used my canine teeth to puncture the skin. Before I remembered that I was Angra Mainyu, my blood had been red. But, that had been when I was just a sample size for a much greater whole. Before I had the full weight of my curse. Now, instead of crimson blood that wept from my broken skin, it was a pitch-black ichor. For curses were my blood.

Holding my hand out, I turned it upside down to let a single drop of my blood fall into the pit below. It fell a long way, somehow missing the cluster of bodies below me, before splashing on the ground. Only instead of a drop of blood spreading, it was a tidal wave of curses. Each one commonly found in war -- rape, murder, mutilation, extortion, and more senseless cruelties. The screaming began as those curses took root in those that performed them while washing harmlessly over those that had never committed those evils.

“It won’t be the curses that kill them,” I told Suki, who looked like she was about to lose her lunch. “The curses just make them suffer what they inflicted upon others. If they die because of it then it means that they did it so often and repeatedly that they couldn’t survive it,” I said, turning away from the scene. Already, over a hundred had died outright because of the evils they committed. “That’s on them.”

Suki, on the other hand, couldn’t take her eyes away from the pit. “I didn’t really believe it,” she muttered to my back as I walked away. “I didn’t believe that you were the Source of All Evil.”

“Seeing is believing, isin’t it?” I responded, knowing exactly what was going through her head. Disbelief. Fear. Uncertainty. It was the moment movies always tried to portray but never quite managed to capture it -- the moment that you realized the man across from you was a monster. “We’re sending the ship towards the Fire Nation defense fleet. It’ll be a loss, but we don’t have much use for a prison barge, and everyone that survives… well, I’m guessing their not going to be willing to fight.”

“I thought that you came here to stop being Angra Mainyu? Do you really want to do this?” Suki said, following me towards the bridge down to my sloop.

"I did," I admitted to her, my tone flat. I spared her a glance over my shoulder when we stepped on board my ship. The bridge was unhooked and the prison barge began to make its trip to be discovered by the Fire Nation. There, the Fire Nation would discover that horror show in the pit -- hundreds dead and a thousand traumatized. Those that lived would tell the story. They wouldn't be believed at first. But, when it happened again? And again? And again?

That story would take a life of its own eventually. The rumors would be whispered about in hushed breaths just behind a prayer that they wouldn't encounter me. Eventually, they would get to a point that people would invent stories to tell about me because I was that terrifying.

"It's not really working out for me," I told Suki. "I'm trying to look at this as a three steps back so I can move forward thing. Otherwise, I'd throw myself in the ocean and just be done with it," I added, leaving her speechless because she had no idea how to respond. That stupid cup brought me here because this was where I would get to not be Angra Mainyu. And, so far… I'd definitely say that I've regressed a bit. All so some punk kid wouldn't have to shoulder the weight of the world because these idiots were self destructive morons that couldn't function without an Avatar holding their hands.

"Set sail for Omashu," I said, continuing on. Lack of progress breaking my curse aside, we had taken a huge step forward to starting a resistance. Now, we needed a hub of sorts. A place to supply, a place to drop off prisoners, and a place where recruits could gather.

We had five ships -- two battleships, two prison barges, and a sloop that were manned by a few hundred each. Of which, less than two hundred were fighters. So, right now, most of the ships were dead weight. We can't man them properly and without any firebenders, we couldn't even fight with them properly. The prison barges weren't meant for combat at all. If they were, they wouldn't have been guarded. I anticipated that, though.

The ships would be useful in a way beyond combat.

After all, what better way to get an audience with a king than bringing the head of a great beast that had polluted his waters?

…

“Ahh, the grand city of Omashu. It is quite beautiful! I see that it has repelled all Fire Nation armies with good reason,” Iroh remarked to me as we sat at the edge of a long, narrow, spindly walkway with nothing but a straight drop down of several hundred feet. Something that I’m guessing was entirely unnatural. The city of Omashu itself was located on a mountain with man-made valleys all around it, carved out of the mountain top to create three peaks while high flat walls marked the straight drop down.

“Does the Fire Nation really not have a single earthbender working for it?” I asked Iroh, keeping an eye on the guards at the other end of the winding walkway that was just large enough for three people to walk shoulder to shoulder. “Seems like bit of an oversight.”

“I agree,” Iroh said, cupping a steaming hot cup of tea in his hands. He was surrounded by all sides, and I kept a close eye on him, but Iroh was probably the most agreeable prisoner out of anyone that had ever been taken prisoner. His grandson Zuko, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Even without me listening to my influence over him, it was painfully obvious that he planned to escape and take as many of us down as he possibly could. “Now, rather. When I was a general of Fire Nation armies… hm… it is very difficult to trust someone that is willing to betray their home.”

“You don’t need trust. Just leverage,” I pointed out, making Iroh stroke his beard with a hand as he looked out at the city of Omashu. It was a large one filled with several hundred thousand people. I had no clue how they could be sustained given that there was nothing but rock in every direction with no soil to speak of. I could sense that Iroh was thinking how to crack the city, but it was an idle thing born of habit rather than desire.

“I’m sure that there are many who would agree with you,” Iroh said, making it clear that he wasn’t one of them.

It seemed the idle talk was enough to make Zuko snap, “Uncle! Stop making small talk with our captors! We’re going to be imprisoned in Omashu!” He bit out, grumbling darkly while he glared daggers at the back of my head. He and every other prisoner that we had brought from the ship -- all firebenders. We had a hundred at this point. Though, the only ones that weren’t bound and gagged were Zuko and Iroh. Royal treatment. That being said, I was about to gag Zuko anyway.

Iroh chuckled warmly, “Zuko, I have been a prisoner far more times than yourself, my grandson. Small talk is exactly what you should have with your captors. You will learn a great many things from them,” Iroh said, taking a pointed sip from his tea.

Zuko snarled but he was cut off when we finally caught a glimpse of movement from Omashu. The massive seamless gate began to slide open, revealing three layers of thick stone that was ten feet deep each. He tensed when he saw that it was Rin and Suki with a huge escort of Earth Kingdom soldiers. I relaxed ever so slightly -- I hadn’t picked up on any malicious intent coming from within the city, but it was a relief to see that they were fine. Based on their expressions, all both of them seemed pleased.

Everyone was silent as they approached and I walked to the start of the bridge to greet them along side Nobara. “Well?” I asked them, earning a sigh from Rin.

“The King is a senile old man, but he’s agreed to take custody of the firebender prisoners. But, he wants to speak with you to hammer out details,” Rin informed while Suki began helping the earth kingdom soldiers secure the prisoners. “I thought that the Kyoshi Warriors would give us legitimacy, but I would be careful, Majima. The king is half mad,” she added.

I had hoped to avoid a face to face conversation on account that I didn’t exactly have a friendly face. Still, it sounded like we got our foot in the door. The earthbender prisoners were freed and sent to the city, they were taking the prisoners -- all that was left was getting the support that we needed.

“It won’t be the first time I’ve dealt with a mad king,” I remarked.

It took some time for the prisoners to get transferred over with all of them so thoroughly bound. There were countless eyes on us as we entered the city in earnest, revealing a city that was built into the mountain as well as on top of it. Despite my concerns about how they could feed such a city, I saw that it was absolutely thriving, complete with a earthbender based mail system. The people seemed happy, and there was an air of celebration as families were reunited or people just happy that the Fire Nation had a tough day.

Iroh seemed pleased with what he saw while we made our way to a grand palace that was at the tallest peak of the city. Earthbenders were needed to open the doors, revealing a long hallway that was divided in half by a dark green carpet that led directly to an old man in a throne across from me.

The guy was ancient. Wrinkled leathery skin marked with liverspots, bushy white hair that was everywhere but the top of his head. The rest of his body was hidden underneath a green robe that displayed a deep slouch. He smiled at me, revealing white teeth yet he was missing a few.

“Oh! Scary,” the King of Omashu remarked upon seeing me, giving an exaggerated shudder. “Did you write all that on yourself?”

“Nah. Village did,” I answered, cocking an eyebrow at the opening. His eyes held an insane glint in them, but also pity. “You wanted to speak to me?”

“I wanted to see you!” He nodded before a slow chuckle began to shake at his shoulders and his smile began to grow. “But first… I believe you will need to pass three deadly tests to decide if you’re worth speaking to!”

Huh. Well, this was going to be interesting.