Disclaimer: I, Risette, do not own A:TLA. All rights are to their respective owners: Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.
Wow, okay. So this is my first fanfic! After reading several fanfics, on my old account, I got around to wanting to write one. I hope you enjoy and R&R!
The Fire Nation.
Currently, the Fire Nation is the most feared and hated nation among the world. The hundred years of war has caused people of other nations and elements—even some of their own—to look at them with animosity. Their ruthless behavior, their destructiveness, the numbers of the people killed, and the continuous want for world domination has left the world in shambles. Others were trying to recover, others completely surrendering, and the last few fighting to the death. Despite how dastardly people feel about them, many people were always curious what it was like to be in the heart of the Fire Nation. The heart? It's capital: Royal Caldera City.
Most people had not known most of the traditions that resided in the nation, specifically religion wise. Of course, Agni was look to be the God of Fire. The first man to master Firebending by learning from the Dragons after receiving it from the ancient lion turtle of fire. They celebrated him even calling his most notorious battle an Agni Kai, which has been passed down for hundreds of years as an ancient duel. There are other ways he is celebrated as well.
The reason why religion in the Fire Nation is a curious thing because they do have a Fire Priestess, a High Priestess to be exact, who have the abilities to see visions and can use spiritual abilities with their firebending. Most of them were born in the Bhanti Tribe, a group of sages who live in a small, remote island in the southern Fire Nation. It was their tradition to hand the Fire Lord's a High Priestess, who could be used in conquering the world and keeping their liege safe.
To find out who possessed these abilities, the child with the purest spirit in the spirit water of the Bhanti Tribe, who was also born on the day of Agni's creation of the Fire Nation was chosen. And today, that chosen child had just turned twelve and would be living in Royal Caldera to be by the Fire Lord.
- : o : -
"The High Priestess is coming." whispered a servant in the vast, hallway of the royal palace. The Crown Prince, Prince Zuko, who was only thirteen at the time had listened as he stride down the hall with much confidence and regally. His skin was pale, his dark brown hair was pulled in a slick ponytail with not one hair out of place. Most women, who adored the prince, loved the amber shade of his eyes and the broadness-which was still growing-of his shoulders. He was lean, filling out his princely attire and growing to be handsome man. However, against his looks was his personality.
The boy was a very meticulous and hot-headed. He did not communicate with others well but that did knock his intelligence and his constant need to make himself better. Zuko always strived to be better than yesterday, stronger for tomorrow. He was a young man with a lot of hope.
The arrival of the High Priestess had put everyone on the edge except for him. He wasn't particularly interested - but he was just a bit curious of these abilities she was said to have. He left it at that despite his mind curious of other things. How did she look? Did his father really believe in this priestess?
"I wish they would shut up already." He was startled but he calmed upon knowing who that voice belonged to. Looking to his right, his sister stepped beside him with her dim-gold eyes glancing upward at him. Despite being two years his junior, his sister was on a higher tier than him. "Are you also curious, brother? Of the High Priestess, I mean."
"Not really." Zuko answered, "But I think we should be." The two, even though they were talking civilly right now, had a very strained relationship. Times like these, however, they did tend to stick together. "She might be help protecting our future too."
Her red painted lips curled up in a smile as she thought of her brother's words, "True. I suppose we should make nice, shouldn't we?"
"Do you know what making nice is, Azula?" The haughty yet playful scoff that slipped from her mouth proved to make Zuko inquisitive. Who was to say she would treat this priestess with respect? Let alone, accept her with such a reaction like that? It didn't matter. The priestess probably wouldn't live to be by Azula anyway, he was the crown prince, she should be his main concern.
Azula then took a few steps ahead of her brother, "Well if father is bothering with this whole ordeal, I suppose I should take it more seriously."
Zuko watched his sibling walk ahead, his eyes slowly narrowed as she grew farther from him. What exactly did that mean? Did that mean she would use the Priestess in her advantage? Who was to say that the Priestess did not already know Azula's plans already.
Continuing down the hall, he continued to look for his uncle who had been absent for the past few days. His uncle, Iroh, was a natural-born traveler, enjoying being out in the town then cooped up in the palace, but there had to be days where he wanted relaxation. The first place Zuko looked was the library but the man was not there. The second place was the turtle-duck pond in the courtyard, he was not there either. Iroh's strange busy behavior was really starting to worry his nephew.
The Prince did not exactly have the father-son relationship that he always wanted and yearned for. His father was intimidating and lacked empathy - most sense of emotion actually. He could not stand for weakness and Zuko did not—ever in his whole life—wanted to look even more weak in front of his father.
Instead, Zuko laid his insecurities bare to his uncle, who would give him life lessons using ancient proverbs. His wisdom was way beyond, but one—more like the entire Royal Family—would take him too serious due to his strange, boisterous sense of humor. Zuko loved his uncle, a lot, and he needed him, at least right now.
"I heard a lot of nobles want to come greet the High Priestess." Rumors were still swirling of this mysterious priestess, she captured every servants attention. The prince tried to keep his curiosity to a minimum but now that there were talks of people wanting to gather and greet her, his curiosity was only rising.
"The Fire Lord wants to prepare a celebration upon her arrival." Another servant said, which caught him off guard. Why was he not aware of that? "Do you think he wants to leave a good impression on her? Is it possible she could wish a curse on him if she is disrespected?"
The woman beside the previous speaking servant gasped, "Isn't that what happened to Fire Lord Azulon? They said he treated his priestess wrongfully and before she died, she placed a curse on him. A week later, he died."
"Wow, really? I guess the royal family kept that under wraps." That was impossible. It couldn't have been likely. Until this day, Zuko still did not know how his grandfather died. The night before they were notified that he died, his mother had left and his father became Fire Lord the day after.
Of course, Zuko had his suspicions but his blinding love for the man he called father made him not think of it after three years. There was no point in questioning what happened or how and why his grandfather died. It wasn't going to bring him back.
His lips parted to speak to chide the woman for speaking such nonsense but he closed his mouth, stopping himself. He had no rebuttal for their words, it would only serve to prove their point if he tried to shut them up. It would make them believe that ridiculous thought even more.
"Nephew." Well, the search was over. His uncle had found him instead. Looking ahead, he seen the large, round-bellied man walking towards him with a warm smile spreading across his face. The man had a grey beard that matched his grey hair that was pulled in a neat topknot. Most of his front hair was already gone, however.
Zuko did not return the smile, he kept his serious expression, which Iroh was used to. "Uncle," he spoke and then sighed, "is this High Priestess ordeal really something for everyone to make such a fuss over?"
"Of course, the High Priestess is our nation's treasure after Agni himself." Was he really that uneducated about this? Zuko's eyes glanced away in thought, deciding that he would need to learn more about this role.
He did not remember much of the former priestess, she kept herself secluded. He could remember her in the throne room when grandfather requested her, but Zuko couldn't even remember the woman's face.
"Uncle, tell me what her duties are. If I'm going to be Fire Lord one day then I'll have to learn much as I can." Iroh wondered why his nephew was in such a hurry to grow up. His brother, Zuko's father, was still young and had many more left to reign before Zuko would take responsibility.
Still, Zuko did have competition, his sister. Even though Zuko was Crown Prince, like Iroh himself was, Azula was more likely than not planning to steal away that title. So he would indulge him, just a little. "Let's go to the library and I'll give you a lesson."
Following in uncle down the hall and to the right, they walked alongside each other to the library. He was glad his uncle was always willing to teach him new things. He would be even more glad to have his uncle by his side when he became Fire Lord, that's if Iroh lived long enough to see it.
The library was large, filled with expensive made wood with racks and racks of scrolls in them. There was a large, circular table at the center where Iroh placed scrolls, which he would used to educate the prince of the duties and importance of a High Priestess. Zuko sat, waiting and Iroh placed the last and final scroll down.
"The Fire Nation has had a priestess since the beginning of its creation." He informed him, unrolling a scroll that showed ancient pictures of what was supposed to be Agni and a woman beside him with a large headdress. "It was said that this priestess, Priestess Anai, helped heal him. Back in Agni's time, spirits were amongst the humans."
All of this was new to him.
His eyes looked up at his uncle in surprise, not once believing that humans and spirits could have lived together; however, things changed and that's why the realms were separated. "How did she help heal him?"
"Using her firebending, she located the evil spirit that possessed his body." Iroh explained, unraveling another scroll that showed a demonstration of how the woman had the power to do so. "Everyone called the woman strange at first because she had the ability to see what is believed to be spiritual auras."
"Ty Lee says she sees auras all the time. Does that make her a priestess?" Zuko interrupted, now finding himself able to find flaws in this.
The man's rubbed his beard in thought, "I can see how one can think that. But you see, in Ty Lee's case, she is aura sensitive due to her being to pin-point chi while the priestess had the abilities to sense and interpret them since they were born. Anyone can see an aura if they try hard enough - but to sense and interpret them is another level."
He had no response to shoot it down. "Continue."
"Anyway," his uncle cleared his throat and continued, "she led him to waters that was said to hold spiritual power and prayed for sixteen days. While Agni fought that darkness, he emerged victorious with the help of the priestess' prayers keeping him strong by creating a barrier while he fought the dark spirit."
"But how does that explain why she can see visions?" Zuko asked, "Is it really true that they can see things?"
Iroh nodded, "The way that they see the future isn't by detail by detail. It's quite difficult to explain, actually. You can always see for yourself when she comes here."
His nephew appeared perplexed as if the idea itself sounded ludicrous. "Ask her...myself?"
"Yes, aren't you curious to meet her?" His uncle asked, "The sages describe her as very strong. I'm sure she is capable of seeing your future unless you're uneasy about doing that?"
Was knowing your future really all that exciting? Zuko thought about it, thoroughly. Although he was confident that he would become a great Fire Lord like his father and the Fire Lords before him, there was still doubt. Zuko was not up to par yet where his sister out-bested him in a lot of subjects. Did he want to know if he would overcome his problems? Did he want to see that he actually failed in the end? Did he want to know it?
Iroh watched the conflicting expression on his nephew's face, ranging from relief to worry. He could see why Zuko was worried, knowing the future was a scary thing and most people when discovering to know what's ahead messed up their path and changed the future all together. "Maybe it would be best to leave the future a surprise, huh?" He stated, wanting to calm the boy's nerves.
"Yeah." His amber eyes fell to the scroll before him. He stare at it absently, his eyes on Priestess Anai, "Maybe it's best to be unknown."
Nodding, he agreed with what his nephew said and decided to change the topic entirely. "How is your firebending training going?"
"Ah," Zuko's mind pushed the idea of the future and the priestess in the back, "it's actually going pretty good."
It was good to see Zuko finding confidence in that, especially since his sister had mastered 'Blue' flames as of recent. "I'm proud. Whenever you want to practice forms, you can always come to me."
Knowing that, Zuko felt a little more easy. He still had to catch up to his sister, who was many forms ahead of him.
The doors of the library opened as a messenger walked in, making the signature Fire Nation insignia with his hands as he bowed. "Your Hhighness, General Iroh." He called to them, "Fire Lord Ozai would like you both to come to the war chamber."
Iroh and Zuko looked at one another, wondering why his father announced them before standing and following the messenger out of the library and down the hall. Did he just call them or was Azula requested as well? Something told him that she was.
All of them entered the room, Azula already stood in the center of the room. The flames of the dai's immediately warmed up the place, which annoyed Zuko since it made the air of the room feel stuffy. All three of them had knelt before Ozai.
"High Priestess will be coming tomorrow." said the Fire Lord, his eyes looking down at his family. "There will be a feast in her honor and I expect you, my children, to treat her with absolute and utmost respect."
Their father never requested this kind of manner towards anyone save for generals. This almost meant that if they offended the priestess in any type of way then the consequences would be dire. "Yes, Father." Both children spoke simultaneously.
"When will she be arriving, my liege?" Iroh asked, "Will it be sunrise or sunset?"
There were certain times a priestess would come to the capital? Zuko was curious, wondering why such timing matter. "Sunset." Ozai answered, "By then, I want all of you well-prepared."
It sounded like Iroh asked for their sake since none of them were use to a situation like this. Zuko was grateful. "Father, I have a question."
Both Zuko and Iroh looked at the princess out of the corner of their eyes. "What is it, Azula?"
"Is it possible that this priestess could be a fake?" She questioned, "The sages never sent a young priestess here before, they usually waited for her sixteenth birthday."
It surprised him, this information. He figured the priestess was much older but she was younger than sixteen? Just how old is she? "She has passed all requirements. She is a prodigy." He answered, "If you are worried about betrayal, I assure that the sages know better."
His sister seemed to have accepted said answer. "Only speaking my concerns for your safety, Father. There were nasty rumors of the previous priestess, which I hope were not true because then I believe the sages should not remain unscathed."
Did she mean the rumors that the last priestess cursed their grandfather? Ozai remained silent on the subject for several minutes as if conjuring up a proper answer. The silence was kind of frustrating and scary at the same time. Was his father also fearful of that as well. "Nobody can clarify if those rumors were true or not. Gossip among the ignorant has been around for centuries. The High Priestess is an important part of being Fire Lord and our culture; betrayal or not, the lineage must continue for the sake of the Nation."
Something about the answer did not sound right, Iroh picked up on that. His brows furrowed slightly, wondering what his brother was hiding. "If that's enough questions, you are all dismissed."
The three of them stood and gave a deep bow before leaving the throne room and entering the hall with the large doors closing behind them. "I'm still wary of this whole thing." Azula voiced her concern, "Even though I plan to have my fortune told." She said with a small smile, "How about you, Zuzu?"
The princess knew how much her older sibling despised that nickname. "Quit it, Azula. Have your fortune read, what if you don't like what you'll hear?"
"Then I'll make her tell me something I'd like to hear." His sister said matter-of-factly, her eyes then glancing towards her nails as she spread her fingers apart to check out her fresh, new manicure.
Sucking his teeth, he folded his arms. "Didn't you hear what dad said? He said to respect her, respect her nearly on the same level as we respect him. Higher than a general respect."
"You think he would choose her over us, Zuko? If we don't like her, I'm pretty sure dad would throw her out." He wanted to believe that, he wanted to believe that their father would choose him over anyone but they shouldn't have to make him choose that.
"You're stirring trouble before it even gets here." Her brother argued back. Iroh then looked to Azula, ready to reprimand her.
"Princess Azula, I assure you. You know more than anyone how your father takes this seriously to the point where he demanded such respect." Iroh explained, "You do not want to test him when it concerns this."
His niece was silent for a few seconds. It was that she was beginning to realize that she couldn't easily tell daddy to shoo this girl away. Azula was use to doing and getting what she wanted, but when she knew that she couldn't, it frustrated her more than one would think. Azula then let her arms fall limply at her side, no longer interested in looking at her nails. "I suppose you have a point, Uncle." There was not one sense of submissiveness or thoughtfulness in her tone. These were sugar-watered words.
Iroh knew that already though. "I wouldn't want to see my niece or nephew suffering for a silly mistake." He smiled, still remaining kind as always.
Zuko wasn't sure how Iroh put up with her, but it was also that he noted that he distanced himself from her for a while. He still tried to remain a positive person in her life, he knew Azula was… well, Azula. "I'm going to my room." Zuko announced. He felt tired. Not only that, he had to prepare himself for tomorrow.