Book 4: INFERNO

CHAPTER 10:

THE MANSION

Aer walked the familiar road in the night. Her feet crunched over the dead leaves and branches. She knew Jip would go back here. She knew Kan might have even been back here. Her stomach was doing summersaults inside of her chest. She hadn't been back for three years. Her staff was held behind her, ready incase any Junsei decided to show themselves. She passed the normal upright stones that dictated her moving back into the town. She walked up the hill, past the blowing flowers and over the dirt road.

She paused to look over her hometown, sitting pleasantly in the moonlight. It hadn't changed in the past three years. Aer began to walk down into it, noticing burning candles in all houses windows. She walked into the town square, the information booth still standing with benches strewn around it. She looked to the left. The school was that way and the small park where she had met Kan for the first time just before it. In front of her stood the town hall an auditorium where the meetings were held and town officials worked. She turned and walked to the right, retracing her old steps.

She stopped at the third alley way on the left and walked down it, the pit in her stomach tightening. She walked down its twisting path and stopped as she reached the bottom of the stairs and found herself in her old street. The grassy commons was there and the twisting old trees still rooted. "It's like I never even left." Aer said as she walked forward. One side of the commons had houses while the other trailed off into some trees which ended in the town well and some vegetable patches.

Aer stopped for a moment, thinking back three years. She had left through the path near her mother's grave, stealing a boat from a dock nearby and sailing off to the mountain that now held the start of the Southern Air Temple. "It seems so long ago." Aer mused to herself. She turned to the candlelit houses and walked towards the large one on the end. An archway was next to it that led under some bridges on the upper walkways of the financial section and wound out a ways from the town and into a nice nature spot, where her mother was buried.

Aer walked up to the door of her house and stood anxious in front of it. "What's this?" Aer asked as she noticed the new flowers outside the entrance way and a wreath hung across the door. She put the thought out of her head and took a deep breath and knocked on the door with her staff.

Jip crawled over the wall, slipping silently through the night. She made her way through the small garden and onto the main road. She could see the town hall in front of her just over the tops of the houses and buildings. She moved off, setting straight across the town square under cover of night. She stopped at the first alley and followed it, going into the tunnel at the bottom of the stairs and following it around and exiting out into a small grouping of houses, a staircase leading up and around to a porch behind the town hall. She walked along the edge, slipping into a small alcove, the door to her old house at the end, her old bedroom window right above it.

Aer crept slowly into her old house as no one had answered the door. "Hello?" Aer called into the empty house. "Dad?" Aer asked as she shut the door behind her. She moved inside and passed the hall and into the den. There was a fire going as the den danced in its golden light. There was a scuffle as something in the arm chair in front of the fire moved.

Aer prepared herself for a fight as the person turned over the edge of the chair to see the visitor. "Aer?" her father asked as he fixed the glasses on his face. He looked older from three years ago, but still a long way from old age.

Aer let her hands fall, her face going blank as she took it in. Her breath seized up in her chest and she stood there in the doorway. "Hi, dad." Was all she could manage. Her father stood up, only slightly taller than his daughter now. His face twisted into a smile as he held the tears back. He moved forward, his arms outstretched and pulled his daughter into a hug, tears running out of his eyes. Aer threw her arms around him as well, tears streaming from her eyes.

"I missed you so much." Her father whispered in her ear. There was a commotion out in the hall as a light drifted down the hallway. Aer pulled herself together and moved away from her father.

"Dad, stand back." Aer commanded as she drew her arms, ready for the Junsei. A man threw himself through the door, his brown beard messed up from his sleep.

"What's going…" Aer's uncle began as the lamp swung on his hand. Aer let her hands down and another smile grew across her face. Her uncle squinted his eyes, trying to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "This can't be my little Aer, can it? And is that a tattoo?" he said. Aer rubbed her forehead as her father also noticed the new mark. He broke out into a loud laugh and opened his arms. "It was nothing! Aer's back!" He shouted as he put the lamp down and rushed to hug his niece.

As if on cue, a small man with ruffled black hair walked through the door, adjusting his glasses like his brother. He gave a hearty laugh and grabbed Aer as well. "What's going on?" a woman asked as she entered, a small baby held in her arms. Her eyes brightened as she saw Aer in the room.

"My little Air is back!" she called as she rushed forward and pulled Aer into a one armed hug. Two little girls and a rough looking boy poked their heads around the corner as well. "Aer!" one of the girls said as she rushed forward. She was only 9 and her little sister was 5. Aer knelt down, hugging each at the same time. The boy trudged forward, the thick belts clashing against his knees.

"So, what trouble have you been up to?" Aer asked as she stood up.

"Not much." Her 15 year old cousin laughed as he hugged her. Her other aunt and uncle walked in to the happy reunion. They hugged and another light was seen drifting down the hall.

"All this noise isn't good for my age you know." The ancient woman said as she entered the den area where the family was rapidly speaking to Aer.

"Hi, Gran gran." Aer said with a smile as she swayed on the spot. Her grandmother gave out a scream to make all the others deaf and rushed forward as fast as she could.

"Aer. My little Aer has come back." Gran gran said as she hugged her grandchild tightly. "Oh, you look just like your mother now."

"Thanks." Aer sad as she looked down.

"So, why are you back here?" her uncle with the brown beard asked.

"Please tell me it's because the war is finally over. The Dark Lord was stopped." Her aunt asked as she bounced her baby in her arms.

Aer's eyes flitted to the ground briefly. "No, but I wish I could say the war was over." Aer answered. "I came back looking for Jip. She ran away and I thought she might have come back here."

The family looked at each other and her father gave a cough. "We haven't seen Jip around here." Her father answered. "We thought she was with you."

"Well, she was. That is until she…" Aer began before stopping herself. Just by the looks on their faces, Aer knew it would hurt them if she told the truth. How Jip had left to find the Dark Lord herself. "She ran away after the other Nations split."

"We heard about that." Her uncle with the black hair, looking almost exactly like his older brother except for the lack of glasses and wrinkles.

"Yeah, are you okay?" her other aunt asked.

"Of course she's all right." Gran gran piped in. "She's the original master of…Air…bending."

"That's funny." O of the little girl squealed with laughter. "Your…bending sounds just like your name."

"Yeah, how original." Aer's male cousin laughed. Aer rolled her eyes and allowed herself a deserved laugh.

"Well. I and Axala will get us some food." Aer's aunt said as she gestured with her head to Aer's other aunt.

"Yeah, to celebrate the return." Axala said as she giggled and walked out of the room behind Heatha and her baby girl.

"Ooh. I'll bake us some sweets too." Gran gran smiled as she hobbled out of the room. "Maybe Jip will be by as well."

"Yeah, maybe." Her son-in-law shouted as he fixed his glasses.

"Ooh, I wanna help, Gran gran." One of the little girls shouted as she lifted herself off the couch and ran out of the room.

"I call licking the spoon." The other girl asked through her growing teeth as she ran out after her sister.

"Come on, Rad." Aer's uncle with the brown beard said as he ushered his son out of the room.

"Why do I have to leave?" Rad asked in a rude voice.

"Because Uncle Kelew should have a private moment with his daughter." Aer's black haired uncle said as he moved the boy out of the room as well.

"Thanks, Jossa." Aer's father said as Jossa slipped out. He gave a smile through the thick brown beard and shut the door behind him.

Jip stood in the hall just inside her home. It didn't look old or musty as unlived in houses should be. She walked forward, her poncho held over her. There were belongings everywhere even though they had moved out years ago. She didn't care if someone else was inside, she wanted to be there. She walked up the stairs and entered her old bedroom. Her bed was gone and the room bare, but the memories lingered.

Jip walked into the room and knelt on the ground, not wanting to leave and let this last fairy tale die. There was the sound of walking feet behind her. Jip stood up and waited for the person to enter the room. Instead, the woman flitted past, giggling in her bathrobe.

"Mom?" Jip asked as she walked to the door and peered out, the sound of a man's voice drifting down the hall as the bedroom door closed. Jip snuck down the hallway. Her father had died and…why was her mother in their old home?

Kelew stood awkwardly next to the fire as Aer walked along the shelves of knick knacks. "I remember when I broke this one." Aer said to break the tension. "I see you fixed it up pretty good." Aer fondled the glass object in her hands, cracking it again. She gave a timid smile to her father who also gave a faint smile.

"You look five years old again." Her father said as he walked over to his daughter and ran a hand over her head.

"Dad…I'm sorry." Aer started, not wanting to make eye contact. "I never meant to hurt any of you."

"I know." He said as he tried to hug his daughter but she pushed past him. "It did hurt. It hurt for years after you and Jip left. I thought about you everyday. We had no clue where you had gone or if you were even alive."

"I know. I'm sorry, dad." Aer said again, choking up from the tears.

"Whatever happened to Long-hin?" Kelew asked as he turned to Aer. Her heart stopped as pain seized p in her.

"I never wanted any of this!" Aer shouted as she threw her glider to the ground. "I never wanted to be a bender. I never wanted this war to start or Long-hin to die or Jip to get captured or…" Aer broke down crying, leaning against one of the shelves for support. "I would give anything to go back to what I left behind. I know the gossip drove me crazy and the cliques and the normal life but I never knew I would miss it so much. I never knew that this adventure could stink so much!"

Kelew moved forward slowly, stooping down to pick up the fallen staff. "So that's why you left. Because of the social, boring scene."

"Dad, please…you don't know." Aer sobbed as she turned to her father, her eyes red and puffy.

"You're right. I don't know. But I want to know." Her father reasoned as he moved forward, examining the odd staff in his hands. "For the longest time I thought it was my fault you left, like I wasn't good enough after your mother died."

"Dad…you were fine. You did your best." Aer cried.

"But it wasn't enough to keep you happy." Kelew said as he stood there, ready to listen. "Aer, I'm here for you. This whole town is. My daughter is off fighting a war to save us, and a Bender at that. I am the proudest father in the world of what you've done. All those candles in the windows, they were for you. So that there would always be light for you in these times of darkness if you ever wanted to come home. Aer, let me in. Let me help, I want to. You don't have to go through this alone." Kelew sat done on the arm of his chair, waiting for Aer to start.

"Well, there was this comet thing and…" Aer began as she sat down in the chair opposite her father and began to detail her journey to his attentive ears and heart.

Jip inched closer to the door. She opened it a crack to listen to what her mother was saying. "So, how do you like it?" her mother asked her new husband.

"I love it." The man responded and what sounded like a wet sloppy kiss was heard.

"Happy Anniversary dear." Jip's mother said as she leaned in for another kiss.

"Three years we've been together." The man said as he held onto his wife's hands.

"More like seven if you count the affair years." Jip's mother said as she continued to kiss her new husband.

"What did happen to that old husband of yours?" the man asked. "I heard he ditched you."

"Yeah, he just up and left me with a sob story." Jip's mother replied sarcastically. She gave out a laugh as she rocked on the bed.

"What do you mean?" the man asked as Jip leaned in closer, her life shattering before her eyes.

"Well, I couldn't stand all the secrets around the family, I mean we were living in the same house as them now and you are just so much more…muscular. If I filed for divorce the family would hate me, but if I made it look like he left me than my sister would console me and I would remain in that large house of hers. I simply poisoned my husband and burned him and his clothes in a ditch right outside of town. It was perfect. They thought he left and never mentioned him again. And no one will ever know he died."

"You wicked woman. I love it when you're aggressive." The man made a growling nose and leapt upon his wife as Jip bolted down the stairs and out of the house, tears steaming out of her eyes as the heaving sobs shot out of her mouth.

Her fairy tale was over, and so was her world.

Aer sat down at the table, sweets baked by Gran gran and the two girls were scattered across the table as was some vegetarian meals for Aer, her father, his brother Bushi, and Axala and some meat cooked up for the rest of the family. They sat and talked and laughed until Aer's sides hurt and her plight was forgotten altogether.

"I'd love to stay." Aer said as the first rays of light peaked over the horizon, turning the sky bright pink. "But I have to be going."

"Going where?" Meng asked as she sat up, licking the icing off her fingers.

"I have to get back to the Air Nomads." Aer explained as Bushi got up and walked to the stand where Aer's staff was. "And Jip is still out there and I have to find her before something unpleasant does."

"That's my girl. Always kicking butt and taking names." Gran gran said as she winked and gave thumbs up to her granddaughter.

"I don't think she's off killing people." Heatha said as she finished feeding La.

"Nonsense, Aer could take on anyone." Jossa said to his sister as he took a swig of his drink.

"Thanks for the meal." Aer said as she took her staff from her uncle.

"We should have desert for breakfast everyday." Coa said as she dipped her finger into the same bowl of icing her sister was eating out of.

"I'll walk you to the door." Her father said as he got up from the table.

"Good bye everybody!" Aer said as she wave don last time to everyone.

"Good luck!"

"Safe travels!"

"Knock them out all the way to the Spirit World!"

"Give it a rest, Gran gran."

Aer laughed and stepped outside to the front porch as the sun rose before her. Her father shut the door behind them, tightening the sack he had in his hands. "Here. Some fresh clothes, some food, and some extra provisions." Her father said as he gave it to his daughter.

"Thanks, dad." Aer said as she slipped the string over her shoulder.

"Next time tell me you're getting a tattoo so I can say no." her father joked as they had one last good laugh. Aer felt awkward. She wanted to go back into that room and eat and talk some more with her family. To spend the rest of her life right where she was, the place she had run away from for three years. "Stay, if you want. We wouldn't mind. Actually we would prefer it."

"I want to as well." Aer said nostalgically. "But I have duties else where. So long as Jip is out there and Kan is off killing millions I can't just sit down. I have to go back to my Nation." Aer looked off into the sunrise, thinking back to all those memories she missed and the danger that was lurking against the dark clouds.

"It's not forever." Her father chimed in as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be together again soon." A looked at her father and hugged him, never wishing to let go. He kissed her forehead and pulled himself away. Aer departed off the porch, walking down the lane with a final look back.

The rest of the family had come to the windows and doors, leaning out for one last look at their departing hero. Aer raised a hand in the air for a brief moment, the others waving violently back. Aer turned and walked away up the steps and through the alley.

"Kick that Dark Lord's butt!"

"Gran gran!"

Aer walked onwards, this time choosing a different the out of the town. This side of town was shaded by the tall town hall and some old trees. She saw the old, dilapidated remains of a gate entry way. Curious, she passed through the ruined stones and up the old, dirt road. There was a bend that ended in an old, run down city of the poor. Wooden shacks and filthy garbage lots ran around the outside of the back wall of the pub. Aer walked onward, past some tall trees that looked beautiful yet sad. The filth continued to liter the street. Only the beggars and poor were ever over here daily.

The mansion sat up the road, hidden behind the trees that had become overrun with age. It had shingles missing and the windows were blasted open and graffiti was scattered across the building, as well as some rocks and bottles thrown by the kids of the city. Aer walked up to the rusting gates and squeaked them open. "What is this place?" Aer asked out loud as she politely shut the gate behind her and continued up the small walkway to the mansion, taking notice of the graffiti and broken bottles and ruined furniture and loads of garbage. Aer opened the old, burnt door which collapsed in upon itself.

The house was cold, nothing living in it. She walked through the house, fearing for her life every step. The house was in bad condition, planks of wood jammed into the ceiling and he walls burned and cindered and walls looking ready to fall. She walked through quickly, not wanting to stay too long. The former living room was a giant black hole, ash and crumbling furniture everywhere. Aer walked out of the house, noticing a part of the roof cave in as she left.

She walked down and out the creaking, rusty gate. She turned around and stopped short. A drunken old man was hiccupping and walking shakily towards her. "How are you this morning?" the old man asked as he gave a hiccup and lolled across and fell against a tree. "Not many people come up here these days. Well, the pub they put in a few months ago has drawn a lot of hiccup visitors. But none hiccup up here."

"I was just poking around." Aer said with a small smile, wary of the old man's movements.

"Oh, you want to throw a stone at that house, do ya?" the old man said as he let loose another hiccup and picked a large stone up from the ground. "That'll be 3 copper pieces."

"I don't want to throw anything at that mansion." Aer explained. "I think it's coming down as it is."

"Oh." The old man said as he chucked the rock behind him and continued on his way.

"But how did this happen?" Aer asked as she turned to the mansion, sitting down on a rock to examine the mansion properly. "It looks horrible."

"No one's been in that there mansion for nearly three years." The old man said as he settled down next to Aer, lolling around a bit in his drunken haze. Aer looked him over a bit before deciding it was all right to keep him there.

"Why?" Aer asked as she strained her mind. Nothing had happened three years ago when she was here.

"They say something bad happened in there. Makes people think that some ghosts or spirits inhabit the place." The old man answered again, taking a swig from his bottle. "I'll say that something pretty nasty did happen in there. Most of those rumors are true."

"But I don't even remember this house when I was a kid." Aer said as she tried even harder to put a finger on what had happened here.

"Well, the owners didn't want you to see them. Most of these shops, even the pub, weren't around back then." The old man again answered. Aer sat pondering who might have been there.

"So why all the vandalism?" Aer asked. "Who is it that used to live here?"

"That's the home of the most powerful bender in the whole world." The old man hiccupped and Aer caught him by the vest to keep him from slipping off. "Kan Benda."