A/N: Hey guys! So, I finally got around to writing my PJO Avatar Au! Just a warning: this chapter is fairly short [and i also suck at introductions]! So, sorry about that! All reviews / follows are appreciated highly, so, please do them! Even if you don't like this story, I would highly appreciate some feedback as to why, so I can hopefully improve as a writer!

Thanks so much for the positive feedback on my post on tumblr, btw! I didn't think anyone would even read it! So, again, thank you! It means a lot to me!

Chapter one: Everything is Changing

Many years ago, the world saw an era of peace between the four nations- earth, fire, water, and air. The four nations worked together, along with the master of the four elements, the Avatar, to see that the world stayed in balance, and harmony. It was known as the golden era. They helped one another create a world of hope and opportunity for the generations after them. A city, known as Republic City, was created where benders from the four nations, and non-benders, lived together in prosperity.

Time passed, and everything changed.

They knew little of the plans that one particular earth bender had in mind. Her name was Gaia. After the Avatar defeated her son, an evil man who wanted to destroy everything, known as Kronos, she wanted revenge. In secret, she began to raise an army. It wasn't just earth benders who followed her. People from all over the world came to join her ever growing army. Eventually, there were thousands following Gaia.

Starting small, Gaia wiped out smaller towns and cities that stood in her way of becoming the most powerful leader of all time. Word spread quickly, but the Avatar, weak with age, could do nothing to stop her. He passed away in his sleep, and the cycle of the avatar began again. Frantically, everyone began to search for the new born Avatar, but it would be years before anyone would find her.

Gaia knew that the new avatar would be an Earth bender. Frantic herself, she looked far and wide for the new Avatar in all the Earth Kingdom towns. The Avatar would be the only one with the power to stop her. They, whoever it came to be, needed to be eliminated. Years passed, and eventually, there was only one more place to search in the Earth Kingdom: Ba Sing Se. She knew that it would be difficult to penetrate the walls of the largest city in the Earth Kingdom- many had tried before her, but had failed. Yet, she persisted. After a year and some, her army made it into the city. They created havoc, the fire benders burning everything in sight.

The fires could be seen for miles.

No one knew what became of the Avatar after the siege of Ba Sing Se. With no word from anyone about the Avatar, many presumed the Avatar had died. They believed that the cycle had been broken somehow. With hope lost of the Avatar's return, the people gave up their fight, and Gaia became the leader of the largest nation in the world.

Fifteen Years Later

Hazel stares out the window at the full-of-life city. Her hand rests beneath her chin, as she gazes down longingly at the crowds swimming past her house. Most of the older people keep their heads down, avoiding the gazes of anyone else, she observes, while the younger people, some around her age, run past, playing some sort of game, without a care in the world. She would do absolutely anything to join them.

Nothing made sense to her. She constantly wondered why she wasn't allowed out of the house. Every time she brought it up, her father would pale slightly, and shake his head stubbornly. The City isn't safe, he would say. Then why are we living here? That thought ran through her mind as she gazed at the thinning crowd. The sun began to set in the horizon, across the sea. Fear usually seized Republic City citizens as night crept up on them. She studied them enough every night to know this.

What they're afraid of, she still hadn't figured out. She stayed up most nights when the city was silent, and she saw nothing to fear. Maybe she imagined their fear those times she had watched them before.

Yet, as night drew closer, people remained outside, and Hazel could feel an atmosphere of excitement. What's going on? There's so much she still doesn't know about the world. What is her father protecting her from? Is the world really that bad? She longed more than ever to know why people looked suddenly so happy, as though they were waking up from a long, agonizing nightmare.

The door to her room opens, and her older step-brother steps into her room. He gazes at her with pity momentarily when he sees the look on her face. He knows more than anyone how badly she wants to leave the house, even just for a little while. Her father, Pluto, allows Nico, and their sister Bianca, out whenever they want. It's cruel and unfair how Pluto treats her. She just doesn't understand why.

"What's going on, Nico?" Hazel asks, her eyes returning to the city below her.

Nico joins her on her bed, looking down at the city, too. "They're celebrating the Avatar," he tells her.

"They've found the Avatar?" Hazel exclaims in excitement. Maybe now, with a powerful protector out there, Pluto would see sense and let her go out. She still didn't know why she wasn't allowed out. It's just stupid, in her opinion.

"No," he replies, shaking his head. "Tomorrow is the eighteenth year since the world last saw the Avatar." He looks bothered for a second, but that look quickly vanishes. He looks to Hazel with a small smile on his face. "Speaking of eighteen- Happy early birthday, Hazel." His hand digs into his cloak, and he pulls out something flat, wrapped in wrapping paper. He hands it to Hazel, and she carefully takes it. "It's not much."

She delicately unwraps her present, and she grins widely, the outside world forgotten momentarily. In her hands is a new sketch pad, along with a pencil. It might not seem much to him, or to anyone else, but to hazel it's everything. She's about to open it, to examine it, when something slips out. For a minute, she just stares at the object on her lap, confused.

"Is that-?"

Nico quickly interrupts her, by covering her mouth with his hand. "Quieten down!" he warns her, eyes glancing to the door in worry. "I know how badly you want to go out. Use this." He picks up the key, the object which had fallen out of her new sketch book. He places it into her hand. "There's going to be a firework display, and entertainment-" He's cut off when Hazel flings her arms around him. She could have laughed out of giddiness, and she loved no one more than she loved Nico at this very moment.

"Thank you so much," she whispers, pulling away from him, a wide smile on her face.

"Yeah, well, it's not like you'd fit through that window," he says.

The window wasn't small, per say, but it had bars across it. It didn't look out of the ordinary, just a simple design. It kept Hazel locked in, though. Her father never lets her go anywhere- now she finally has the chance. She can imagine the look on her fathers face if he ever found out. To her horror, she can also imagine the look on his face if he ever finds out that it was Nico he helped her get out.

"If dad finds out, we're both dead," she says, suddenly unsure about her idea.

"If he finds out," Nico reminds her. "Just make sure to be back before morning."

"You're not coming?" Hazel looks at him, her stomach twisting in nervousness. If Nico isn't coming, that means she'd doing this on her own. What if something- no. No. She isn't going to think like this.

Nico shakes his head, his mop of black hair becoming more of a mess than it already was. "Nah. These things aren't really my thing. Just, promise me you'll get back before dad wakes up and finds you gone."

Again, Hazel finds herself smiling at her brother. "I promise."

When Nico leaves, and her father says good night to her, Hazel stares down at the town. In a little while, she would be with them. She knows it's unlikely, but she begins to imagine making a friend. How she hadn't yet cracked up from the lack of contact is well beyond her. She no longer cares, though. Tonight, she'd finally have a few hours of freedom. Tonight, everything is going to change.