"My lordships!" The soldier slammed the double doors open, seconds later the guards posted outside grabbed him, trying to stop him from interrupting the council's meeting.
"I bring grave news- let me go!" He yelled.
"How dare you interrupt us!" The represent of fire benders yelled.
"Let him speak!" The air bending represented spoke with powerful voice. The guards let go of the soldier, who took a few steps forward and bowed
"I'm sorry to interrupt your lordships, but there is a matter you must tent too."
"What is it?"
"Roughly 20 miles off the coast, around 80 degrees, a giant black sphere has appeared. We have confirmed that there should be a small island there, but it has assumingly been completely enveloped in the sphere. One of your scout ships tried to enter it, but they disappeared into it and have yet to return."
"What?!"
• • •
Two years prior
"Master, what are these notes?" Li Arn asked, looking at the notes scribbled down on hundreds of sheets of paper, all in a messy stack on his master's large work table.
Li Arn had never been in this exact room before, it was one of the facility's many rooms meant for thinking up new ideas.
"Oh this" His elderly master said, entering the room and looking over the papers, "this is an old dream, I doubt you can find a single paper in here from after I turned 30.
"And what is it? These numbers, figures… I can't make heads or tails of it." Li Arn pressed on.
"I was young and naïve, I dreamt of inventing something not even thought possible. Much like the famous inventor of metal bending, Toph Beifong, so I began researching but came up empty. It is a decade of my life, wasted."
"But what was it? What did you theorize." Li Arn was excited at this point. What if he, a second pair of eyes, could find the missing key for whatever this is, possibly creating his master's masterpiece. Maybe then his elder master would acknowledge him enough to let him into The Forge.
"It was the idea that humans to artificially create new types of bending." Li Arn suddenly got very disappointed.
"But master, such things are already possible, metalbending, lightningbending, lavabending and bloodbending are all examples of this."
"You misunderstand me, Li Arn. Those you mentioned are under types of the four bending types: Air, earth, water, and fire. However, I am talking about creating entire new bending types, that does not fall into these categories, but creating a new line of benders."
"You mean like, finding a fifth element?"
"Not just a fifth. I'm talking about a technique to constantly create more: fifth, sixth, seventh, tenth, 20th, 100th, I could go on." His master dropped his cane a raised his arms "And unlimited number of bending types, a true revolution of life as we know it!" His voice got more exited as if he was holding an inspiration speech, it resulted in him falling backwards, landing hard on the wooden floor.
"Master!" li Arn shouted, and went to check for injures.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just got a little exited." He chuckled a little, "but never mind all and old man's ramblings. I spent a decade on this and didn't even come a part-inch closer to the answer."
He sighs deeply as Li Arn helped him get up. "It is my impossible dream."
"I promise to fulfil your dream." Li Arn vowed under his breath.
"Did you say something?"
"N-No sir."
That night, Li Arn couldn't sleep. His minds dwelled on few glimpses he had seen on desk. He kept wondering how to even start a theory of how to do it. Where would he begin? What bending would he even make? What was his options? He had all these questions, but no answers.
He should likely be thinking about his actual project, creating a new mix of clothes for air benders, so they would receive additional protection from falling, as they would fly around in the air, without losing any manoeuvrability.
He sighed and got up. He dressed himself in his work clothes, and left his room on tiptoes. He sneaked down the stairs, to the Thinkers Hall, a nickname for the four hall ways with rooms all around, each with a large table and a seemingly infinite supply of papers and ink.
He turned left and walked halfway down the second hallway, and slowly opened the door. It did not make any noise. Even the least used rooms had their doors regularly oiled.
He sat down in front of the mountain of papers that had not known the word "order". He sighed, took a random sheet, and began going through them all.
The light and piercing sound of the morning bell woke Li Arn. He had fallen asleep. He looked, about a dozen papers was on the table to his left. The only nicely stacked sheets in the room. The ones he had been reading.
The lack of order was confusing him. He yawned and stretched, then began the journey to the sixth floor. The cantina.
He ate, and returned to the room. Continuing his reading quest to make order in the documents. As he read them, he began ordering the papers. It was slow work, and although it was interesting to read, it was very difficult to understand… mostly because of the random dislocation of the papers.
Li Arn spent days in the small room. Reading and sorting in an endless seeming cycle. Shortly before a month had passed by, he had finally sorted the thing, and a few days later, he had read the entirety of the notes.
"This," He whispered to himself as he put down the last page "is genius. He stood up, knocking over the chair "it's missing a key component but this could work" Li Arn was exited to whole new levels.
He grabbed few dozen blank pages and a fresh bottle of ink, and got to work, In the span of a week, he would sketch a hundred different machinations that would – theoretical machines that would allow the creation of new bending.
But none one them seemed to have that – key component – that his master, and now him, was unable to find.
Months became seasons, and Li Arn suddenly noticed that an entire year had gone by.
He sat still in the chair, looking at his newest finished sketch. He placed the warm cup of tea on the table – slamming it might be more accurate.
"This is impossible" He said in frustration, by accident he knocked over the cup and spilled the entirety of its contents over his sketch
"No no no no." He yelled, trying to save the papers as much as possible. He dried the table and carefully placed the papers back, carefully examining them for mistakes. As he did so, his eyes widened
"This… this is it!"
The tea had changed his sketch, removed some and even added some things, changing the entirety. Li Arn quickly got another paper and sketched down these changes, it took only minutes but it felt like hours.
"I did it, this is it!"
Li Arn stood up so fast the chair once again fell, how it had not broken was beyond him… normally. Right now he rushed out, forgetting to walk silently and closing the door, instead he rushed up the stairs, until he reached the top floor. Until he reached his masters office.
He ran over and knocked the door "Master! Are you there?" Shortly after, the door opened
"Avatar's mercy boy, what's with the hurry." Li Arn walked passed him and cleared the desk, knocking over the elder man's things "what are you doing?"
"I've done it master. The bending thing we discussed. Your dream, I've done it." Li Arn was unable to contain himself. "Look, look."
The old man looked over the papers, carefully studying every detail.
"Li Arn…" he began, looking over his young prodigy. The hair looked thin and thick dark lines lay under his eyes. "Have you even considered what you have made?"
"What do you mean?"
The old man held forward a paper "Read it, slowly. Out loud.
Li Arn took the paper and began "… to harness the unique energy required to power the capsule, a living specimen of the same species is required. I theorize that neither must be capable of bending…"
Li Arn suddenly realized: he had theorized that human sacrifice was necessary for this to work.
"I want you to go back and burn every last sheet of paper in that room, and then scatter the ashes over the ocean and the wind." The old man sat down and sighed "And you will never speak of this again… Now leave me."
Li Arn was in shock. His master couldn't possibly make him abandon this… it was both of their life's work. How could he just abandon something he had devoted his entire life to?
No, he could not, would not!
"I'll complete the legacy that you have sworn to forget" Li Arn vowed under his breath.
• • •
Hours prior to the appearance of the black sphere
Li Arn leaned against the target metal capsule. He was out of breath. "Only a few hours… huff huff… until the super moon is at its peak."
He had spent the last year, preparing his invention for the super moon. Normally he would have done extra calculations and such, but he refused to wait the many, many years, until it was done.
The machine consisted of three platinum cylinders. Two of which was capsules to be entered by the two specimens. The third type connected the two, and depending on its settings, turn one specimen into Bending Energy and transfer it into the other specimen, granting it powers from an unlimited number of choices.
He was on a small forest island, hidden in a valley obscured by the mountain. The island was inhabited by a small group of forest folk, but they knew not of Li Arn. Only then could he be sure to get one of them to be his second specimen.
He went to take a break in the cottage, the young girl had taken "refuge" in the corner of the room, trying to curl up as much as her tied up form allowed her.
"I am sorry, you know. But this is more important than both of us." He ate, and placed a bread for her to eat. She did not speak, as she had ruined her voice, screaming for help.
Li Arn stood back from his creation. He had no time to double check it, but he was confident. He might have rushed it but the finer details shouldn't matter in the end.
He went into the cabin and grabbed the girl. "Come on now."
"N-no."
"Don't struggle"
"I'm scared."
"Don't be, it's for science."
"I don't want too."
Li Arn was annoyed and throw her into the capsule and closed the door "It's too late now."
He pressed the button for it to start in 30 seconds. Then stepped into his own capsule.
As it counted down to 0 he shouted, as the machine booted up
"I might not know the powers of bending, but benders don't know the power of science!"