eighteen [action]

[imatreenow]

[Friday afternoon finds Mithos dragging a granite statue through the streets of Luceti. It will look familiar to those who can claim Aselia as their home world, carved adoringly in the likeness of a young man wielding dual swords. The figure is planted atop a base that bears a plaque engraved with the simple honor, "The Hero Lloyd Irving." All together, it stands at about three and a half feet, scaled down from the original model.

For Mithos, it's a bitter reminder of things that could never have been. Its sudden appearance in his house had been an elbow nudging him sharply in the ribs, an obnoxious stage whisper prompting, "Hey, remember that time all your hopes and dreams were crushed?"

Yes, yes he remembers.

Which is why he had to get rid of it. The first day, he dragged the statue behind the house, let it topple into the river, and watched the determined stony face sink below the surface. The next morning, it found its way back to his living room. Each day, he drags it farther away, and each morning it proudly comes back.

His route today takes him up from the south end of the village through the north end and into the woods. The farther away, the better.]

Comments

[imatreenow]

And what if there isn't another way? You can't save everyone. You can't find a perfect solution for everything.

[savedtheworld]

Even if I can't save everyone doesn't mean I shouldn't try. And- and I can try to find solutions as close to perfect as possible.

[imatreenow]

[He scoffs.] You sound just like him. [His tone makes it clear that this is not a compliment.]

[savedtheworld]

Like who? [Even if it doesn't seem too hard to guess with the way the conversation started.]

[imatreenow]

Lloyd.

[savedtheworld]

[Yep. Aang glances at the statue again. And he finds himself reminded of the statues of Roku and the other Avatars at the Southern Air Temple. And the giant statue of himself that he's heard will stand in the future. Then he looks back to Mithos, pensively.

If it was the Professor giving that comparison, it would be one thing. But given what he's heard about Lloyd's actions now, he doesn't know what to think.]

But I don't want to fight you.

[imatreenow]

He said the same thing. [His words aren't full of vindictive anger as much as they are simply emptied and cold.]

You disagree with me, do you not? Raine must have told you about me. I don't know how much she said, but you must know something.

[savedtheworld]

[And Aang starts to get the impression that this killing isn't as clean-cut as Mithos suggested. There has to be more to it.]

Not a lot. [He was hesitant; he didn't want to put Raine on the spot like this, but he also knew that lying to Mithos could set him off.] Mostly that... you're not safe. And I want my friends and family to be safe. That's all. I don't want trouble.

[imatreenow]

[Not safe. That means Aang will stay away. That’s good. That’s what he wants. But that doesn't mean Mithos will stop being wary of him.]

I didn't want trouble either. All I wanted was a world where my sister and I didn't have to be outcasts... Lloyd wouldn't allow it, though.

[He's twisting the truth, throwing words that will push Aang away, and then tossing in pleas for sympathy that he knows will go unanswered. Part of him knows he's twisting the truth. But he also knows that, at the root of it, that's all it had been about for him. A world for him and Martel...]

[savedtheworld]

[Raine had warned him to be careful of what he says. His eyes still widen briefly just at the idea. But he trusts Raine and Lloyd. He knows there has to be more to it than this. And Aang tries to pick his own words carefully, but some emotion winds up driving them anyway.]

I don't know about that. All I know is... no one has to be an outcast here. [Pause] Unless they wanna be.

[imatreenow]

I don't believe that.

I've never felt like I belong in this village. [He had belonged in Sayo's apartment, and he had belonged wherever he could be with Kaori, and in his house with his sister. But all of those spaces are empty now. Gutted. Even if he's never felt the hostility he still expects from the humans here, the imagined scorn that leaves him wary of everyone he sees, he knows a wall separates him from the rest of them.]

I don't expect you to understand. Why would you? You live in that house full of your companions. You admire people like Lloyd. You have your naive ideals because you don't know what the word reality means.

[savedtheworld]

[He knows next to nothing about Mithos's past in his village, aside from Raine's mentionings of past conflicts. But he knows with how friendly everyone is, it can't be hard to coexist peacefully.]

Don't you say that. I know what reality is. Reality's why I ran away and came back to find out a hundred years had past and I lost my entire people to the Fire Nation. And I almost gave up those ideals to save the world. I had to consider taking a life to end the war. But I didn't, and I still stopped it. You know why? I learned that ideals and reality can go along sometimes. Not all the times, but sometimes. Reality means that I have companions who are all broken in their own ways, who've all had reasons they could have used to leave me, but our ideals mean we stay together and get through these problems.

[imatreenow]

[His glare has sharpened, and his voice is broken glass - dangerous, ready to draw blood, ready to be ground to dust.] My companions turned their backs on me the first chance they got. That is reality. I dreamed of a world where my sister and I could be accepted and everyone could live in peace, long before Lloyd came along. It was for the sake of that dream that I fought to find an end to the war.

I found a way. I had the power to split the world in two, so it could be preserved on the limited mana supply until the Great Seed had a chance to grow. I could do all of these things, and I thought my dream would soon be reality...

I could do all of these things, but I couldn't do anything to change people's hearts. We were betrayed. My sister was killed. A world free from discrimination...a world where I could live freely with my sister, where we didn't have to live in constant fear because of what we are - that world didn't exist. There was no place for my foolish ideals, just as the was no place for me. That is what reality means.

*spends 20 years thinking up how this is responded too*

[savedtheworld]

[Once Mithos assumes that violent look and begins speaking, Aang's own face softens. Part of it is fear, that he's gone too far - he's pushed Mithos. This could go very, very wrong. And at the same time, he's feeling a sinking pit at his stomach, trying to process Mithos's story.

Mithos tried to save the world... and it cost him too much. Aang knew he himself was lucky - that he was able to beat Ozai without bloodshed and his friends all survived their individual battles. But what if they hadn't?

Aang is deflated, his will to argue draining with his hope and his anger.]

Mithos... I- I didn't know...

[That anonymous person on the journals once mentioned losing a sister. Surely that must be a coincidence.]

it's cool, I did kinda throw a surprise villainous monologue at you

[imatreenow]

[For a moment, he worries about the tentative wall between the person speaking to Aang now and the anonymous person baring his heart over the journals. The pain he felt that day is sharp in his memory - in part because it hasn't subsided since then - but the specific words he wrote are blurrier.]

So don't preach to me like you do know.

it happens

[savedtheworld]

[Aang remains tense, careful. Not only is he afraid of upsetting Mithos further, but he also just feels sympathy for him.]

Y-you're right. I know pain, but... not in that way.

[imatreenow]

[Then there's nothing more to say.]

...I never want to set eye on that statue again. Remove it and I'll have no reason to return.

[savedtheworld]

[He gives a simple nod.]

I will. I'll do my best to hold onto it. It won't leave the house under any of our wills.

[He shifts the earth beneath the statue as an easy way to get it moving. Then he pauses as a thought comes to him, and sheepishly turns back towards Mithos.]

Just to be clear - you're okay with the statue of Sokka's head, right?

[imatreenow]

[He watches in stony silence, itching to just leave and end this.] I don't care about that.

[savedtheworld]

[He averts his gaze with a quiet nod.]

Okay. I'll be on my way. [And he goes back to moving it. Only hesitating once to turn back towards him.] I- I hope you...

[But he doesn't know how to finish the sentence. What should he hope for in Mithos? A good day? A better life? His sister back? Aang lets the sentence trail off, then quickly turns and resumes his statue-moving.]

[imatreenow]

Don't bother. [He doesn't need Aang to finish that sentence, because it doesn't matter what Aang hopes for him.]

[savedtheworld]

S-sorry.

[He said quietly as he bowed his head and continued moving.]

[imatreenow]

[He watches for a moment with steel eyes before sharply turning away, to cross the street and withdraw into his house.]