Sekhmra had only just helped the girl up and couldn’t seem to shake her awake when suddenly a strange feeling filled the air around the girl. It was a kind of warmth, and all of a sudden a bright white glow began to emanate from beneath the girl’s skin. Whatever was causing it, it wasn’t natural, and Sekhmra hesitated to even call it light. It was like no light she’d ever felt before, and it almost seemed like it was trying to repel her. All of a sudden, she was knocked back by a massive wind, and the girl began to float in the air, her eyes glowing. The next few moments were a blur of lava and water and flying rock, and of people shouting and gasping. Sekhmra looked up from the ground to see the girl bending all four elements around her, barely able to believe her eyes. She’d heard legends from the castaways who’d washed up on the shores of her home and first revealed to them that the mainland existed. They’d taught her family their language and told them stories of people, one in every generation, who could bend more than one element. Sekhmra hadn’t believed them at the time- She’d only just found out the the other four types of bending existed, she couldn’t believe that someone could master them all. And yet, there was this girl, this timid little girl, who was doing it just fine. It was an impressive and deeply profound sight. Sekhmra could feel herself tearing up a little, although that may have been from the massive wind that the girl was stirring up. What had they called the people like her?
Ah yes. The Avatar.
But in a split second her awe turned to horror, as suddenly the girl sent the four elements that she was bending out like shockwaves. She was able to duck and barley dodge a flying ring of lava, but she could hear screaming coming from behind her. Her heart raced- she recognized the voices.
“Anila!” She cried out, but a cocoon of Earth formed around her, keeping her from running to her advisor’s aid. She found herself trapped inside with the loud Earth Princess, who had created the prison, and the Avatar, who seemed to be losing her strength. As she started to float down to the ground, she looked towards Sekhmra.
“Princess Sekhmra, your words and actions show much wisdom. Heed them well.” The Avatar said, her voice booming and genderless and larger-than-life. But fear and anger from being trapped were building up inside Sekhmra, and she could barely see her through small tears that began to build up in the corners of her eyes. “What does that mean?!” She asked frantically. “What did you do?!”
She girl’s strength faded, and she fell to the ground, where the Earth Princess rushed to her aid. Seemingly only realizing that Sekhmra was trapped with them now, she turned to her nervously. “Um… hi!” She said.
Sekhmra built up a huge ball of light on each of her hands, burning bright and red-hot with the power of her scorching anger. “Release me!” She screamed, and she let the balls of light explode, blowing the earth she’d been trapped in to bits. She turned around and raced towards Anila, who was leaning on the ground, crying over…
No…
Oh, no…
“I-I, s-saw the girl you defended blast a light towards him.” Anila was barely able to choke out through her tears. Sekhmra hadn’t seen the Avatar bend light, but Anila was probably hysterical and lost in her grief, and who cared about small details like that now? Gently pushing Anila aside, Sekhmra knelt next to her father and pressed the back of her hand to her face. Ripping the fabric of his shirt away, she saw a terrible burn that spread across his entire abdomen, the skin oozing and bubbling like metal in a blacksmith’s furnace, in a way skin never should. A small amount of blood came from the wound, and Sekhmra raised a hand to summon plasma from the stores the guards had with them… But didn’t. Cauterizing this wound would only make the damage worse. More tears welled up in her eyes as her father slowly turned his head towards her. He struggled to part his lips and call out to her.
“…Bright… as the nation’s largest sun…” He whispered, his voice shaky and weak.
“Shh, father.” Sekhmra urged him. Speaking would only make his pain worse, and was costing too much energy. She put a hand over his mouth, gently pleading for him to rest. Her eyes kept farting back and forth between Anila’s face, burned like he was and covered in tears, to the wound which seemed to get bigger and more heinous each time she looked at it, to her father’s eyes, which had always been so full of light but were now flickering, fading, into darkness. His strength was quickly fading, and the pain only seemed to grow.
“He’s not going to make it.” Sekhmra realized, her voice hollow and hopeless. She squeezed her father’s hand tightly.
“Father… I will do as I know you would want me to.” She whispered, looking into his dying star eyes, flames fizzling out. “I will become Queen. I will rule our people with grace and wisdom, always do what’s best for them.” She tried to keep her composure, but she couldn’t keep her voice from breaking as she made one last promise. “I will make you proud.”
Closing her eyes, she couldn’t bear to see him suffer in pain. Keeping one hand on his mouth, she put the other on the base of his skull. Even though her eyes were tightly shut, she still turned her head away from him. “I love you.”
A quick twist and his misery was over.
Anila cried out in anguish, crumpled and weeping over her father’s body. Sekhmra didn’t know where her sister was. She didn’t care. Her grief boiled in her stomach like a bitter poison, quickly becoming hot, turning into burning anger. The Fire Advisor called out for his guards to arrest the murderer. Sekhmra was not content with that. She wanted justice. Leaping to her feet she thrust hands, twisted like vengeful claws, toward the chests of plasma the Light Guards had for emergencies. They burst open and their white-hot contents rushed towards Sekhmra like a magnet, liquid light ready to burn and break and kill at her command. She bended it into jagged shapes in the air, into a long whip, and a large structure like a spiked sheild. Screaming in anger, she turned towards the weakened Avatar, still struggling on the ground.
Was she even really weak? Had she even been the timid and helpless girl she’d acted like before? Or was this all just an act, a ploy? Was this her plan all along, to have people think she was weak or good and use their trust to destroy them? She remembered the tales the men who had washed up had told about the Avatar: A hero who could last generations, who recreated themselves again and again just so that they could always come back and keep people safe. A being of goodness and equality, of all elements, of all people. The ultimate hero… That was what the Avatar was supposed to be. That was what the Avatar was supposed to be. So she couldn’t understand… This creature, pretending to be weak and broken in front of her… What was she supposed to be? Because she wasn’t a real Avatar.
With a massive heave, Sekhmra sent the spiked sheild of plasma towards her. With any luck, this monster that called itself the Avatar would be reduced to blood and ash.
@Bluecookies
@Bexs
@Kristi
@angelic (Thought you might want to know where we’re at so far ;))
