DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER ONLY AKI, KEITH, AND TOBY OR TOBIAS
THE POWER OF THREE
BOOK 1: PROLOGUE
Deep within the realm of the Fire Nation a palace rose as majestic as the flames that surrounded its throne. The palace of Fire could rival any that came from the four nations. It was a place of honor and respect among the firebenders of the world. Within its walls many great and powerful leaders rose and fell with the rise and fall of the sun. Its majestic red walls and elegant gardens make it an ideal home for the current fire lord and his family…
… Well most of them.
The palace of the fire lord held many great and terrible secrets, secrets that many would die for, but none so unlikely as the secret of the tower that rose from the very heart of the fire lord's domain.
For centuries many wondered what was in the tower and many perished reaching its peak. At the bottom of the tower lay the throne of the fire lord. His will reached the heavens as the tower was thought to be believed. But that was not so…
Legend has it that ages ago before the four nations came into being it was said that the ancients built that tower to house a powerful weapon. A weapon that could lead to the destruction of all the nations. A gateway into a world unlike any other.
It was said that beyond that gateway lies a world that was full of dangers that not even the Avatar could stop. The weapon itself was just as it said it was. It could cause storms that could ravish the world in great destruction and famine. It could cause plagues that the best medicines could not cure, winds that can blow castles and mountains into dust and rain acid upon the unsuspecting inhabitants, destroy cities with an object as small as a pebble and bring the world to its knees.
It was a well known fear that drove many away from the tower it was said that the name was lost to all but the very noble of houses within the four nations. The weapon even if it does not open a gateway into another world still can cause great destruction. It was said that it can destroy cities from its very windows which is said to point to every capital and major city in the world. But that is all just legends and exaggerations of many scholars.
For until this day none have entered the tower. For those that dared enter the tower found themselves to be killed on sight. The tower itself held many traps and some say that those traps were created by the ancients themselves to keep people out. But that was not to last…
"Are you sure you've found a way into the tower?" asked a very cruel voice
"Yes my lord the tower itself has an unknown passage way that was recently discovered by the maintenance crew." Said an older voice one of a man that proved too cowardly to do things right.
"Well… where is it?" asked the lord
"It is beneath this very room my lord," replied the old man
"Well according to the maintenance crew they found that the passage was actually some sort of service tunnel that led to the top of the tower. The original door held the traps but this looked like the traps were not set." The man said
The lord stood up and the flames around his throne danced in glee as he walked towards the older man his menacing appearance was enough to drive any man to his knees. The old man bowed low as the man stepped off his throne, "Lead," he commanded.
A few minutes later they found themselves in an abandoned part of the palace just below the throne room. The room looked as if people were working on something, but found that it was no longer in service. The man along with several troops and a young woman around the age of fourteen surrounded him. The old man was accompanied by another man. He looked rather dirty, but he held his cool as he presented the door.
It opened into a narrow passageway. The troop walked cautiously up the steps along with their lord and lady, the young girl beside him. They walked for a good fifteen minutes climbing the tower's many stairs till at last they came to a room that looked to be disused for years.
"Careful the passage may not be full of traps, but judging by those skeletons the room is still full of them." Said the old man.
The lord pushed a man into the room and the soldier shouted in surprise only to find himself unharmed. He walked cautiously into the room his heart racing as he walked further and further into the dark. As soon as he reached the center the lights lit up from an unseen force. Torches lit and the dark room lit up.
The soldier sighed in relief as he turned to look at his lord and beckoned for more solders to enter the room. They all entered and scattered across the room making sure that there are no traps.
It was not until one soldier went towards the main doors that a trap went off. There was a light and the man was struck from behind incinerated instantly only his skeleton remained.
"Stay away from that door!" shouted the young woman.
The soldiers gladly obeyed as they moved away from the door. It was another soldier that took notice of the strange decorations that hung on the wall. From there they made their way over to the strange markings and pictures that littered the wall.
The fire lord made his way into the room and as he looked around he noticed a strange little stand where a single crystal stood. He walked further into the room inspecting the object in the middle. The crystal was about the size of a basket ball and dark as night.
"Not much to look at father," Azula said
"No not to no ordinary person but here we have something that the other nations don't," the fire lord replied
He pulled at the crystal but it didn't budge. He then touched it feeling something stir within.
"I have found it," he whispered
"What is it that you've found?" Azula replied
"The key to ultimate victory my beloved daughter," he said
"Oh? And what is this key?" she asked
"The Door of Time,"
"Wait isn't that the supposed door to another world, one that is said to hold weapons that can destroy us all," Azula said
"Yes but it can also be used as a weapon," said the fire lord.
"How so father?"
"Read the description on the wall my daughter,"
Azula walked up towards the wall on the far end of the room avoiding the trap at the main door. She approached what looks like a mural on the wall. There appears to be images of the past. These images had some writing on the side. It appears to be in another language until Azula recognized some of the writing as scratched on version of her own language. All it said under the strange symbols where…
Born of the storm they will come
Three treasures of unmatched power
By Avatar's hand their powers become harmonized
And together they will either bring salvation or destruction.
Azula looked at it in fascination and saw that the last part of the message was lost to what appears to be a very old stain of blood. A skeleton sat where the blood lay and from what his clothes are it appears to be a fire nation scholar. What got Azula was the way he died. It showed that he died of something far worse then the Avatar's might. Holes in his skull and small rounded stones could be found and actually those stones are melted metal.
"What in Agni's name are these?" Azula asked
"One of the weapons that the Ancients had when they first opened the portal," replied the Fire Lord.
"Three Treasures of unmatched power," the Fire Lord sang.
He then looked towards the ground and saw the carved symbols on the ground. Each had a symbol for a different element. Each element stood for something and from what Ozai the fire lord figured out it must have meant something to activate the machine. The crystal was dark as it pulsed with a dark light and Ozai stepped forward towards it.
"Great crystal of destruction give me your strength!" he said and blasted it with fire.
Just as he blasted it with fire it swirled around the crystal and disappeared. "What happened?" asked Azula as she walked closer. The fire lord smirked as he touched the crystal.
"You need the four elements to call forth the crystal's power," Ozai finished
"How do we get it?" Azula asked,
"From the slaves,"
An hour later four slaves were brought up to the tower each had a symbol if they are some kind of bender of sorts. Those four were each placed on the symbols they believed that represented their elements. As commanded they all bended their elements that was provided for them and attacked the crystal.
The crystal pulsed darkly for a moment before attacking back at them. It lashed out and all of them found themselves on the ground again. But this time Ozai found that the four benders had been burned and turned to skeletons. A dark light filled the room as it raced towards the surface.
"It has begun,"