Avatar: Psalms of Spirits

Chapter One – Voices

By: Rynnescent

Disclaimer: As much as I wish I could... I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters.


Location: Fire Nation Prison – Outskirts of the Fire Nation Capital

It was a prison; it was supposed to be dark and silent. It was supposed to have been a place where one would not want to be. It should not have been a place, for those who had committed wrong, were to be allowed happiness. For the very most part, it should have very well been hell while one was still alive. Perhaps that was not how all chose to see it, but it was nothing short of that very example towards one individual in particular. The cell was quiet to the point where a guard might have believed a prisoner to be dead; yet the slight twitch of movement through cramped and aching fingers proved otherwise. It was simple to say that perhaps death would have been more welcome to the prisoner; surely any place would be better suited than here, where she was nothing more than thought of as the regular, filth that grew upon the walls or resided around the abysmal bathrooms. The fingers had twitched once more and the arm they were connected to moved slightly causing a slight ringing to echo within the trapped one's ears. The ringing noise came from the movement of chains, in which bound the criminal; bound to the wall that held its victims tightly so.

There was the faintest moan that signified that the prisoner was female and her head lifted slightly as she seemed to return from what might have been sleep. Her eyes fierce even though for one such as herself, it meant very little; here she could not be feared as she once was outside of these walls. Within those fierce eyes also like the look of anger and grief. She despised what had become of herself… and she despised those who had placed her here. There were many to be honest, but only a short few registered as the main culprits. A small group as they had been all those years ago. Perhaps they still were but she could hardly care; it would only be easier once she was free of this place to kill them all. Let them be together so that when she was free, she may tear them apart. Two years later and all that was upon the once princess' mind, was revenge.

"They will all pay… especially that water tribe peasant."

You wish to return to what you once were, Princess?

Her head had turned fiercely as she glared around the confines of the cell. No one… It must have been her imagination, simply playing tricks on her again. Her dear brother had said she was going insane; tch, what did that fool of a traitor know, though?

You wish to avenge yourself and the Phoenix King for having all you desired, taken from you.

Her reaction was not as the first; the words, even if they were part of her imagination spoke the truth. There was no sound for a moment, before she whispered her answer: "Yes."

I am in need of your power, my princess. I will give you your chance to do so as well as the ability to do it, if you will aid me in my goal.

Her head lowered slightly. She had not been called such in years; the feeling that came with such words being spoken to her was primarily shock. She was overcome with a feeling of confusion, primarily because she understood nothing of why this was only happening now. It must have surely been her imagination… a trick… something. This could not be suddenly happening to her now. Why would such things present themselves as easily and on a silver platter as this did?

Because I need you, my princess. There are things that only you can do and I desire them done for the greater good of this world.

"... what is it that you want from me?"

In due time, you will learn of them all, but your greatest accomplishment will be that of killing the Avatar.

She could hardly hide her shock at the words, yet she shook her head. Her teeth ground hard against each other as she grew wild and was suddenly struggling against her chains. "Do not toy with me… my own father could not defeat him during the Comet's appearance. You would only be sending me to die in such an attempt."

In time, the Avatar will be nothing but a mere child. Are you to imply that you cannot handle, even that much, my princess?

Her voice still held within the whisper that was as sharp and menacing as she could possibly produce; "stop insulting me. If I help you… you will make things right for me?"Her eyes lifted upward toward the ceiling of the cell as if she believed she was speaking out to a God.

Beside me is where you shall be once my plan is fulfilled; higher than the Phoenix King and stronger than such, even without the comet over yonder.

"What did you mean by the Avatar being nothing more than a mere child?"

That is something you need not worry about, right now. If you are to do my bidding, then everything will fall into place for you.

"Release me then; I will serve you until the time where I can stand beside you."

Location: Ba Sing Se – Council's War Room

Impossible... It seemed to be the most fitting word that could come to mind in a situation like this. Yet even as the word was repeated over and over within the mind, there was no changing the fact that it was truly happening. He was unsure as to why he was thinking this way to be honest; more than anything, he should have been happy that it was all finally happening. He should have been proud of the events that had taken place; it was just… difficult, to finally accept that everything was truly going to be alright. Difficult to accept that after being gone for one hundred years, the 'young' Airbender and Avatar, Aang had been able to return and bring balance to the world. He had returned and witnessed what his disappearance had done to the world; a world ruled by fear and chaos… yet he had changed all that and now he was here, witnessing the treaty between the four nations.

"Avatar Aang, what are your opinions on the finalization of the treaty?" The voice spoke with a hesitancy that was caused through doubt. As if anyone could bother to blame the elder however, as one took a glance upon the individual, which was indeed The Avatar. All heads turned to watch the nonchalant attitude of the young Airbender, who seemed only too busy, enjoying himself: the miniature sized ball of air spinning around in circles before him, vanished suddenly, as his attention seemed to have been caught finally.

The bald monk, blinked precariously as he glanced up to meet the gazes of many elders within the room; there was a slight tinge of embarrassment, though he could hardly be blamed for his actions, he thought. The process of perfecting this treaty had been underwent for the better part of a year now and it was with the greatest restraint, that the Airbender had not reverted to his previous ways of mischief in pulling pranks on the figures that seemed all too eager to drag this out, more than, he believed was honestly necessary. Throughout the entirety of the drawing up of the treaty of the Four Nations, these elders seemed to have focused their attention primarily on the Fire Nation… a fact that, though Aang could understand, was not too happy about. He had been too ready to speak for the nation but the prospect of tilting his 'allegiance' in the favor of the nation that was under rule of a great friend, did not seem to sit well, with others.

"My opinions… are that we have honestly spent more time than I believe necessary. It seems all rather unneeded, considering the position the Fire Nation is willingly putting themselves in to please the other nations, and that has been your biggest concern, hasn't it?"There was a slight murmur at his words, yet Aang thought nothing of it as he closed his eyes and continued. "I understand that you are still weary and quite rationally in doubt of Fire Lord Zuko, yet you have also taken no real consideration of my word regarding such. It is unfortunate to resort to such methods but I need remind you that it was Fire Lord Zuko who taught me Firebending, with which was very crucial to my defeating the previous Lord… or King, Ozai."

A continue of murmurs as they began to speak amongst one another. Aang knew along the lines of what they were saying; doubt and fear would not be so easily erased from the minds of most of these elders. Meanwhile, Aang's eyes opened to see the silent thanks of the two elders, which represented the Fire Nation. A small smile and nod of the head, before a sigh escaped him. Such a troublesome process this all seemed to be; it seemed as if this would continue for all eternity, though Aang was usually one to be prone, to such boring events as these. Yet, he had to be here. Not simply because he was The Avatar, but also because he was the only individual who could speak on behalf of the Air Nomad Civilization. Being the last Airbender, was never something Aang was particularly proud of; happy of course, he was that at the very least, his people had not died out completely; would it be likely that Aang could begin the reconstruction of the free-spirited nation?

His thoughts were interrupted at the slight "ahem" and Aang glanced to his left, in which an Earth Nation representative was glancing at him. It seemed as if they had perhaps reached a conclusion as the elderly woman glanced towards the others – all of whom gave her a nod of approval – and then back towards the spiritual figure beside her. "Regarding what you've said, Avatar Aang, we believe you to be right. We have spent far too long upon such matters as these, and for a while, us elders have unfortunately had slight doubt in whether your opinion might be biased or influenced. For this, we can only give our humblest of apologies, yet there is something, that we must confirm… if this sits well with you." It took only a smile from Aang, for a slight sense of relief to fall upon the room, and the elder spoke her request:

"If the time ever comes that the Fire Nation does not heed by the treaty and begins again, what many of us fear… will you stop them at all costs?"

It took a moment before Aang could process her words; this had been what they all feared of him? That if the Fire Nation were to begin another war, he would stand by them, instead of protecting the world? Did they really believe him so childish that he would choose his friend over the greater good of an entire world? Though he could hardly say the thought appealed to him, he could not help but close his eyes in disappointment; disappointment that there could be those who would doubt what was his 'sole' purpose. His duty was to the world, as he had been told time and time again. Even in his past life, this question had arisen when Avatar Roku stood against Fire Lord Sozin. This was no different; not in the least. A frown was clearly visible upon his face as he lifted his head and glanced around the room. It seemed that almost immediately, the room of elders – save for the Fire Nation representatives – regretted this question. It was too late however as one individual, this time a male of the Northern Water Tribe, was silenced before he could speak, by the raising of Aang's hand.

"If you have doubts of me, please rid yourselves of them. As Avatar Roku proved in the past, he was willing to stand against his best friend, Fire Lord Sozin, for the well being of this world. You have my word, that I will be no different if that time shall ever arise."

There was one thing that the elders could all be certain of: If the Avatar gave his word, there was no doubt, he would come through and fulfill it. There was a general rise in the voices as the elders agreed then that the treaty was to be accepted as it was. Following a slight applause and the shaking of hands, Aang watched as the elders left the sanctity of the conference room. The last to leave were the two representatives of the Fire Nation; one male and female who simply watched the young Airbender, before a slight smile came to their aged faces as they graciously gave their silent thanks a second time before departing. Aang could not help but give his own smile in return before nodding. The Avatar could hardly stand to do anything but smile as he found himself now realizing what he had just witnessed. The treaty was finally agreed upon… the world would finally realize the peace and love, which was meant to be. He could hardly wait to return to the Jasmine Dragon where everyone would be awaiting word from him. He wondered if Zuko had arrived from the Fire Nation, but he would soon find out as he stood, grabbing the staff at his side and turned his head, in the direction of the wide, open window.

"It's finally happened… the peace we all wanted is truly here now." His gray eyes gazed out into the open sky before he gripped his staff tighter, and leapt through the window; the wings immediately stretching out as the glider used the created wind from beneath him, to carry the young Airbender in a circle before heading off in the direction of the famous tea shop. It seemed as though nothing could possibly go wrong now.

Is peace really what this world needs, young Avatar?

The sudden words had caused Aang's head to rise instinctively, before he looked around, bewildered. Had he heard, what he thought he had, or was that simply a figment of his imagination? "What was that…?"

I asked you a question; is peace what this world needs? Especially when the peace you propose comes in the form of the ridiculous treaty, the nations have placed together. Even you can see where flaws lie and yet, you've said nothing. Preferring to watch idly and be bored as their words render no importance to you. You are as they say, The Last Airbender, and even then, you are the Avatar; the spirit of the world, reincarnated in human form. You are supposed to be the individual that keeps balance within the world, but no balance will come from this treaty. All that you have done is allowed the three lesser nations to weaken the state and proximity of the Fire Nation; you have allowed the world to decline in its standards, whereas the Fire Nation upheld and garnered the proper idea.

It was all too much for Aang; the words… everything that was being said… he could hardly stand for it. He couldn't maintain his focus and he found himself plummeting quickly, without having noticed. Where was this all suddenly coming from? He understood nothing but at the same time, why did it feel as if everything that was said made sense in its own right? His eyes had clenched tightly; he could not come to terms and allow these words to be true. He had been doing the right thing, by allowing this treaty to take place; the Fire Nation would be strong… they held no objections to how the treaty was proposed and written.

You are foolish to believe that the Fire Nation would ever truly be pleased with anything but what they had, throughout those hundred years. One hundred years of power and control, easily removed and shattered by you. While some may fool themselves into believing that this is proper, the Fire Nation resents you, Avatar Aang. They have despised you since the day you returned to this world; they prayed that you may never return to this world, you have now "liberated". You have taken away from them, that which made them special. They are simply as weak and powerless as the other three nations, which wished for your return.

He had not been paying attention; his altitude had been increasingly lowering more and more since the voice began speaking to him, and before he held any chance of altering himself, Aang crashed. His glider fell away from him, as he roughly touched down upon the rooftop; his body tumbling without ease as he continued over the edge and found himself plummeting towards the ground. He could barely gather himself enough to open his eyes, before a sudden intake of oxygen was exhaled as his 'breath of wind' allowed him to halt mere feet from the ground. He hovered there for a second, allowing all his breath to be taken away, before he fell lightly onto his hands and knees. Where had this suddenly come from? Two years later, this was all appearing before him, as if to counter all that he had done since reawakening. What was worse was that it all felt true. That did not make sense to the Airbender; his beliefs had carried him to do what he thought was right. His friends stood by him through all that had transgressed and they were happy… proud of him. So what was it now that made, Aang suddenly feel as though all he had done was wrong?

Do you feel the weight of pain upon your shoulders? The pain of all who lost so much, when you felt it necessary to return the world to what you believed was balance? These past two years have been nothing, but a wasted effort, is that not correct? You spoke to the elders about having spent so much time on something that should have been easy, but what did you really mean to say, Avatar? Do you realize what this treaty has done? Do you realize what you have done? Everyone is beneath you, Aang. Such was true before, but you have only brought the world lower and lower since you defeated, the Phoenix King. As was once said to you, "darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light." Your light has not purified since Ozai's time… The Avatar can be the only purifying light towards this world… because of what you have done, the world will fall into chaos once you are removed.

"Please… I don't understand…" There was a deep sense of urgency in his voice, yet nothing came in return as he knelt there on all fours. He had no idea. Absolutely no idea of what was to be done… what was meant by what he had listened to? It pained him to feel this way; to feel as though he now had no place within this world. What had he done wrong? He had truly believed that what was happening was for the best; had he somehow lost his way amongst these two years of silence? Because there had been no war to garner his beliefs and keep him strong… was he now traveling a different path, than he originally believed?

Why was his face suddenly wet? Why was he shaking? His fists clenched as he remained there; voices calling out to him, but they were shut out and too far for him to respond to. It took him a moment to gather what remained of him. There was a feeling of emptiness, but he could hardly allow it to remain about and in the open for all to see. He could not allow the world to see him like this; he was still… the symbol of hope in their eyes. Anything less of a positive attitude would give off the idea, that something had gone wrong within the confines of the conference room. In his eyes… something had, but he had no idea as to what that was. He needed help, yet he could not find himself turning towards those awaiting his return at the Jasmine Dragon.

He brushed his arm across his face; allowing for the sleeve of his robes to remove all traces of wetness, before he stood and sighed. His smile was far from genuine but it was only as he displayed such, that he noticed the large number of people surrounding him. It was embarrassing to know that he had lost his focus so much, that he had actually crashed. He wondered just how many had bared witness to the entire incident.

He hoped his smile would prove to be enough to set the minds of everyone at ease. He could not for some reason find the words or ability to speak and so, with another small smile, Aang leapt into the air and back atop the rooftop, to which, he found his staff awaiting him. Slowly he walked towards the slim object, and simply gazed down upon it, for a moment or two. He could not find himself willingly wanting to return to the skies; his head tilted back slightly as he glanced into the blue oasis above him and he allowed himself to be taken in for a moment, before his gray eyes vanished behind eyelids. His fists still clenched, he lowered his head and sighed.

"Why am I afraid…?"


Author's Note: Well, here it is; the first chapter of Psalms of Spirits. I'm aware that things may seem a bit vague and I didn't necessarily get too into detail on many things here such as the treaty and the mysterious voice that's appeared to both Azula and Aang. I promise that it's all on purpose and those things will be highly focused upon in the next couple of chapters. (Especially the treaty) Anyways, I've come to realize that I made this a bit more dark than I had previously intended, and that I've also sort of jumped into a few things right away, (mainly with Aang's confrontation of sorts) At the moment, I have a ton of ideas going on through my mind for this and I'm trying to arrange things in a way that'll make the story flow more properly in the future, so if it seems a bit jumbled together, I hope you'll bear with me for another chapter or so of that.

Anyways, I hope this was more than enjoyable and it'd be great to get your opinions and views on how it seems so far. Second chapter is already under works, so I hope you're prepared for a few surprises here and there. There is much in store for Aang, and I'm hoping things won't seem too predictable. The story revolves around Aang taking a far different approach towards saving the world. That's really all I can say, so you'll just have to wait and see.

Next Chapter: The Celebration

"I offer you this wisdom, Aang. You must be decisive." – Avatar Roku