Alana:

I looked up at the sun with the moon just beginning to overlap it. The submarines were at the water, guarded by Hue and six other warriors. In the plaza, destroyed, smoking tanks were strewn about. Fire Nation tanks and soldiers were shooting fire blasts at the caterpillar tanks, which had formed a semicircle against the plaza wall.

On the caterpillar tanks, the sides flipped open and earthbenders lobbed stones at the firebenders. A Fire Nation soldier signaled the catapults to fire. The projectiles flew through the air as the earthbenders' stones and shockwaves destroyed the catapults.

Cato, an earthbender, and I were examining a map on the ground from behind the tanks. Behind us, Elise shot a rock through the side of the tank just before a fireball collide into the tank. I winced at the loud explosion and looked up and saw Kole helping Dad through the plaza's large doorways. He was holding his side, still wounded.

"Dad! You're on your feet again," I said in relief.

Elise and I ran towards Kole and my father. Kole lets him sit down.

"Thanks to your brother. I'm in no shape to fight but maybe there is someway I could help," he said.

"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet," I said.

"Let's hope our luck holds out. Kole, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?" Dad asked.

Kole took a few steps forward and looked out in the distance. "Yeah... Is that... is that Odette?"

"What?" I whipped around.

Odette glided towards us, dodging the numerous fireballs. She landed in front of her friends, troubled.

I pinched the bridge of my nose worriedly. "Please tell you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down?"

Odette sighed, furious. "He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned."

"They knew," I gasped as I came to realization.

Odette shook her head, shaking with anger still. "It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

"No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker. Somewhere he could go so it'll be safe during a siege but still be close enough to lead his nation," I argued.

Elise nodded. "If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it."

I pulled out a small device resembling a pocket watch. It ticked, and there was a dial and notches on one section of it.

"The Mechanist gave me this timing device. It looked like we've got about 10 minutes until the full eclipse. 10 minutes to find the Fire Lord," I said.

Odette nodded, perking up a bit. "We can still do this. We can still win the day."

"Wait. If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure all of us get out of here safely," Kole said.

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Odette to go for it," Dad said, smiling slightly at her.

I turned to her. "What do you think? You're the one who has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."

Odette stood up and faced toward the battlefield defiantly.

"I've got to try."

Odette:

Fanindra flew towards the top of the volcano where the Fire Nation capital was. She landed on the side, and Alana, Elise, and I jumped off her.

"Do you feel anything down there?" I asked the earthbender, anxious.

Elise placed her hand to the ground and nodded. "Yep. There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the inside of the volcano."

"Anything else? Is there a structure somewhere?" Alana asked.

Elise extended her hands to each side before plunging them into the ground, gripping the earth with her fingers. "There's something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."

Alana smirked. "Sounds like a secret bunker to me."

Elise thrust her hands forward, bending a hole into the side of the volcano. Fang barked and curiously stuck his head out from behind the headpiece on Fanindra's armor.

I looked at them. "Stay safe. We'll be back soon."

Elise, Alana, and I entered though the hole into a dark tunnel. Elise kneeled down and felt the ground before running down one side of the tunnel. Alana and I quickly followed.

"This way! That one's a dead end," she said.

Alana sighed. "What would we do without you?"

"Perish and burn in hot magma."

I laughed at them as we crawled past a small stream of lava and Alana flinched away from it.

Alana nodded her head in agreement at Elise's smart statement. "Yeah, pretty much."

The three of us came to a cavern filled with active lava vents all over the floor.

"The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker," Elise said.

Alana looked at me seriously. "We'll have to be fast but careful."

Alana attempted to run across, but was immediately stopped by one of the vents erupting. She yelled in surprise and shielded herself as I swung my staff at it, bending a gust of wind and cooling down the lava.

I glared at her. "How was that careful?"

Alana shrugged. "I was wrong. We need to be fast, careful and lucky."

Elise, Alana, and I ran across the cavern, carefully dodging the steam and lava coming from the vents. When we got to the other side, we all stopped and looked around, dismayed. We were standing on a small cliff above a large river of lava.

Alana gaped. "There's no floor! It's just a river of lava."

I spun my staff and extended the glider wings. "Climb aboard and hold on tight."

Alana and Elise held on to the top of my glider as I glided through the lava tunnel, screaming with fright. I banked left and right, avoiding a stone column and a lava explosion. We all made it to the other side and landed easily before continuing on foot. Cut to an overhead shot of the cavern floor. Elise, Alana, and I ran up to a large metal bunker built against the cavern wall.

Alana nodded impressively. "That's some door!"

Elise walked up to the door, placed her ear against it, and knocked on it, producing a metallic thud.

Elise smirked. "Not a problem."

She took a step back before bashing her elbows into the door, fracturing and denting it. She took another step back, kissed her middle and index fingers, and forcefully stabbed them through the middle of the door. Elise kicked a hole through the metal and her leg burst through. She widened the opening and stepped through and then pointed in a direction and took off, followed by Alana and I.

Alana beamed. "I am so glad we added you to our group."

Kole:

The invasion force made it's way up the path towards the top of the capitol. Three caterpillar tanks and a legion of soldiers moved up the path while fireballs were flung at them. A Fire Nation battlement from below threw fireballs from it. The fireball hit the metal shields that the earthbenders were carrying over their heads. The Boulder and the Hippo ran towards the cliffside under the battlement, slapped their hands against it, and earthbend an avalanche, demolishing the battlement. The same was done to another.

The Fire Nation commanding officers began to panic. They turned around and looked at the sky as did the rest of us. The moon was slowly starting to move over the sun.

"Retreat! Everyone move to secondary defensive position! Retreat!" an officer screamed, afraid.

The battlement behind him tipped over and fell over. Three firebenders retreated as three caterpillar tanks drew close to them. Cato was hanging on the back of one of the tanks, addressing the other soldiers.

"The eclipse is only minutes away. We should be able to make it up the hill by the time it starts and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished!" he said.

The soldiers all gave a hearty battle cry. I smiled as I held my Dad up over my shoulder.

"We can wait here if you want," I offered.

Dad shook his head. "No. I want to press forward with the others."

Relieved, we also continued forward.

Odette:

I looked up at the rafters inside the Fire Nation bunker. As we ran, we bumped into a war minister walking down a tunnel. Alana, Elise, and I ran down a tunnel on the other side that merged with the first one. The minister whistled a tune just as I came to the end of the wall and the three of us run past him. He gasped in shock.

We turned around and brandished our weapons at him, Elise stomping the ground and popping a rocking into the air. The minister pressed his back against the wall and raised his hands in surrender.

"The Fire Lord's chamber is that way down the hall to the left and up the stairs. You can't miss it," he said.

Alana, Elise, and I all stepped in closer to him.

I glared at him darkly before suddenly smiling cheerfully. "Thanks."

We left him, Alana giving him one last dirty look.

As we ran, Alana pulled out the Mechanist's device and checked our time. "Only 30 seconds until the total eclipse."

Great.

The three of us came to another large door with a flame symbol on the front and at the top. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord," I said.

Let's go!

I spun my staff up and forward and the door was blown off its hinges by my blast of air. We came into a room that was one large hall supported by thick metal beams on both sides, lit by torchlight. There was a single throne at the end of the hall.

We slid to a halt as we realized it was Athera who was lounging on the throne instead of the Fire Lord.

Athera zeroed in on me and smirked. "So, you are alive after all. RenRen lied after all."

I just stared at her in utter, speechless shock. Alana was as shocked as I.

" had a hunch that you survived. It doesn't matter, I've known about the invasion for months." She smirked the nastiest smirk I had ever seen in my life.

Ren:

I stood before a small door deep within the tunnels of my father's bunker. I had my broadswords slung on my back as I braced myself for what was about to come.

I took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm ready to face you."

I slid the door open.

There were elite guards with spears standing at the front. Fire Lord Mordred - might as well think of him as that I mean, he never really was a father to me anyways - was just about to take a sip from a steaming cup of tea when he noticed me.

"Prince Farren, what are you doing here?" he asked, unpleased with me as usual.

Readier than ever, I walked towards the line of guards.

Kole:

The moon passed over the sun, covering almost all of it. A group of water tribe warriors marched up the volcano and a tank passed by on the other side. The Mechanist walked around before looking back at the invasion force.

"The eclipse is starting. Put on your eclipse glasses," he bellowed.

The Mechanist took off his monocle and placed a visor with thin slits over his eyes. The warriors stopped marching for a moment and did the same before continuing on. Dad and I, with our eclipse glasses on, looked towards the sun as the moon completely blacked it out.

Ren:

I stood in front of Mordred and his guards.

"Why are you here?" he asked harshly.

"I'm here to tell the truth." Something I had not done in many years…

"Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse. This should be interesting," my father replied. Mordred waved his hand and his guards left through doors on both sides of the chamber.

"First of all, in Eralith, it was Athera who took down the Avatar, not me," I said.

Fire Lord Mordred frowned. "Why would she lie to me about that?"

Here we go.

"Because the Avatar is not dead. She survived."

"What?!" he snarled, alarmed.

"In fact, She probably is leading this invasion. She could be on us right now," I said and felt a small smile pass over my lips. My Odette…capable of unrelenting kindness and love and also pure power and destruction. She certainly was a character.

Fire Lord Mordred stood up and pointed, furious. "Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you."

I returned my full attention to my father and glared. "That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

Fire Lord Mordred was seething with rage. "You will obey me or this defiant breathe will be your last!"

Mordred began to walk towards me, until I unsheathed my broadswords and brandished them at him. "Think again! I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen," I snapped, furious.

God, that felt good…

Mordred glared hatefully at me as he sat back down.

Odette:

Elise, Alana, and I slid into bending stances, ready to fight.

"Where is he? Where is the Fire Lord?" I hissed.

Athera pouted at me sarcastically. "Hm, you mean I'm not good enough for you? You're hurting my feelings."

Alana brandished her sword. "Stop wasting our time and give us the information. You're powerless right now so you're in no position to refuse."

Elise took a threatening step forward. "And stick to the truth. I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar," Athera mocked and her face became completely expressionless. "I am a 400 foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."

Elise straightened after a brief pause, surprised.

"Okay you're good, I admit it." She suddenly bended the earth underneath Athera so that it encased her in a conical shape. "But you really ought to consider telling the truth anyway."

Athera gave a small smirk and the stone trap shattered.

Alana, Elise, and I were once again all shocked. Athera kept smirking as she brushed some rubble off her shoulder.

"When I left Eralith, I brought home some souvenirs," she said as two Dai Li agents dropped from the ceiling and landed in front of her. "Dai Li agents."

I swung my staff at them, throwing out a blast of wind. The Dai Li both bended a stone wall in front them and completely nullified the attack.

Kole:

The invasion force made its way to the edge of the crater. Warriors and two tanks made their way past Cato - who was standing on the edge - and over the edge.

"Surround the periphery! We have to secure the palace by the time the eclipse is over. Otherwise, we'll be in for the fight of our lives," Cato said.

Cato made his way down with the rest of them. The tanks and soldiers reached the edge of the capital and made their way in. A group of firebenders lined ourselves up in one of the alleys. Haru, Tyro, and a group of earthbenders came to face them.

"Stop! Surrender peacefully and we won't harm you," Tyro warned.

"We'll never surrender," a soldier hissed and he stepped forward, making flailing movements with his arms, dashed forward and thrust his palm forward as if to shoot a fireball, but all that was produced was a pathetic fizzle. "Er okay, we surrender."

He and the other firebenders bowed down and present their hands in surrender. Dad and I finished climbing up to the edge of the crater and looked down at the Fire Nation capital as the soldiers and tanks headed to the palace.

"There it is. The Fire Nation royal palace. We've come so far," he said.

I patted his shoulder, trying not to get too excited. "It's not over yet."

Both of us began to head down.

Ren:

"For so long, all I wanted was you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor that I wanted but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn," I growled and pointed a sword at Mordred. "My father, who challenged me; a 13-year-old boy to an Agni Kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?"

Fire Lord Mordred regarded me calmly. "It was to teach you respect."

"It was cruel! And it was wrong."

"Then you have learned nothing."

"No, I've learnt everything! And I had to learn it on my own. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation! They don't see our greatness, they hate us! And we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness," I said, channeling Odette a bit on that last part.

Fire Lord Mordred laughed mockingly. "Your Uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?"

I closed my eyes for a second. "Yes. He has."

I smiled, missing him and more grateful to have had him by my side more than ever.

Mordred could only frown in disapproval.

Odette:

A stone wall exploded and Elise, Alana, and I ran forward.

A stone structure erupted from the floor where I was standing, but I jumped away from it and jumped off one of the metal beams and flipped forward. The two Dai Li agents pulled two slabs from the ground and flung them at me, but I deflected them with two kicks.

Elise burst through the stone behind me, creating a hole in it. She landed between the agents and bended two diagonal pillars of stone up from beneath them as she landed, pushing them towards the walls. The agents both landed on the walls feet first and both bended a pillar of stone down at Elise, who blocked the attacks by bending two stone walls up from the floor.

Elise thrust her hands forwards and bended a stream of earth at Athera. The stream made contact with her and pushed her up into the air. She back flipped off the attack and flew back towards the throne, smirking as she landed.

I charged forward.

I didn't make it very far before I had to turn and stop when I heard a loud, grinding sound. A Dai Li agent slid over the side of the wall and past me and flung his self off the wall and in front of me with a pillar of earth, putting his self in front of Athera. The agent sank into the floor as he landed and bended a large, diagonal wall of stone of from the floor.

I jumped high into the air, flipped forward, and burst through the wall feet first. I landed behind the Dai Li agent, popped him into the air as I landed with one small pillar of stone, and knocked him away with a larger one, knocking the agent out of the fight. I spun my staff above my head, letting go of it as I turned forward, wound up, and shot a powerful blast of air with one hand at Athera.

Athera grabbed on to the arms of the throne and cartwheeled away just before the throne was completely destroyed by the air blast. I dashed to where Athera was and swung my staff as her, bending out a blade of air. Athera ran between two metal beams and jumped over the blade of air and at the beam, then flipped off that one back towards the beam behind her. She landed on the side of the beam just before springing off it as another blade of air barely missed her. She barrel rolled and did the splits as she landed on the ground. She briefly shot a smug look at be just before she ran off, me chasing after.

Athera ran behind the metal beams and jumped onto and jumped off a beam just as I sent another blade of air at her. She continued running forward and hopped from the wall to the beams and up to one of the stone beams the Dai Li agents had attacked Elise with. I did a small pole vault with my staff and kicked a blast of air at Athera, but missed. She slid down the stone beam and jumped off the diagonal wall Elise had created to block the attack earlier and landed on the other one before flipping off of it and landing on the floor.

She turned to face me as Elise and I ran at her. She turned and ran towards the large stone wall. The other Dai Li agent slid down the stone beam towards the floor and Athera. The agents landed behind her and then bended a pillar up from beneath her, sending Athera into the air towards the hole in the wall that Elise had made. Alana climbed up into it and Athera flew towards her. She passed just inches above Alana's face as she ducked down. She smirked down at her while she looked back at her fearfully.

Athera landed on the other side of the wall and ran towards the exit. Alana tried to climb back down but stopped and ducked timidly as the Dai Li agent, Elise, and I jumped over her and through the hole, one at a time. Alana dropped down and followed after. As Elise chased after Athera, I caught up to her from the side.

"I can't pin her down. She's too quick," I said, frustrated.

Athera ran out the doors and into the tunnels. The Dai Li agent slid out of the room and blocked the entrance with a large stone. The Dai Li agent slid over the ground and after Athera just as I burst through the stone and continue chasing them. The Dai Li agent was knocked to the side by a stone pillar ejecting out of the side of the wall. A hole opened in the side of the wall and Elise flew out of it. The agent hit the inside of the groove of one of the steel beams supporting the tunnel. He tried to attack, but Elise smashed his stone gloves into dust before grabbing both sides of the beam's grooves and pulling them in, trapping the agent.

Elise stepped back and nodded, admiring her work.

I ran past her and she followed while Alana caught up to us.

"Wait!" she screamed and we slid to a stop. "Odette, Elise, stop attacking. Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!"

"Not true, I'm giving it my all," Athera said sarcastically.

Elise glared. "You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!"

Athera rolled her eyes. "Um, right. I think your friend just said that genius. And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes."

Elise seethed angrily. "I'll roll your whole head!"

Alana grabbed her. "She's just baiting you again."

I huffed, glaring at her hatefully. "Okay, so what do we do? Just ignore her?"

"We don't have a choice. We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow," Alana said.

We turned and walked away from Athera; probably the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life.

"It's a trap. Don't say I didn't warn you," Athera called.

Elise and I stopped and turned to Athera for a moment, but Alana kept walking, waving a hand back at her.

Alana spread one arm wide over her head in a gesture of dismissal. "Ignore!"

Athera spoke in a slightly bored tone. "So, Alana's your name right? My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time."

Alana stopped and turned around.

"He was convinced that you were going to come rescue him. Of course, you never came and he gave up on you," Athera taunted.

My head snapped to Alana as tears filled her eyes and she gave a furious cry of anger as she rushed at Athera.

She hissed under her breath, her voice dripping with malice as Alana charged. "Come and get it…"

My gaze traveled to her hand as she slipped a deadly, ornate blade from her sleeve. Elise also sensed the deception and she raised her knee, which raised a stone into the air, and shot it forward with a thrust of her hands. Athera's wrist was pinned against the wall by the stone, the blade dropping from her hand. Athera grunted in pain as she hits the wall and Alana grabbed Athera's shoulder, pushing her up again the wall, and glared into her eyes.

"Where is Tarren?!"

Ren:

My father stared darkly at me and I returned his look unflinchingly.

"After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Ira from my prison and I'm going to beg for my forgiveness. He is the one who has been a real father to me."

Fire Lord Mordred chuckled sarcastically at me insult. "That's just beautiful. Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."

"But I've come to an even more important decision," I looked down and paused; even the thought of what I was about to say lifted a giant weight off my shoulders. "I'm going to join the Avatar. And I'm going to help her defeat you. I love her…I always have, since the first day I met her."

Fire Lord Mordred grinned slyly. "Really? Since you're a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless, you've got your swords, why don't you just do it now?"

"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny," I shot back and sheathed my swords. "Goodbye."

I walked away.

Mordred stood. "Coward! You think you're brave enough to face me but you'll only do it during an eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the Sun comes out. Don't you want to know what happened to your Mother?"

Mother…

I stopped in front of the doors and turned around.

Mordred grinned venomously.

"What happened that night?" I growled.

"My father, Fire Lord Athra, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son. And I was going to do it. Your Mother had found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan. A plan in which I would become Fire Lord and your life would be spared," he said, smug as ever.

She had left…for me? I felt my eyes water and I closed them sadly.

Odette:

Alana slammed her fist into the wall angrily. "Where's Tarren?! Answer me!"

She glared at Athera, who's arms were pinned above her head against the wall.

Anxious and knowing time was running out, I grabbed Alana's shoulder. "Alana, she won't talk."

Alana hesitated, then turned back to Athera. "Where are you keeping him?!"

Athera simply smirked silently.

We were done for…

Ren:

Mordred sneered at me as he saw my pain. "Your Mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."

A tear streamed from my good eye as I realized something. "So she's alive."

Mordred shrugged. "Perhaps. Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper."

Mordred suddenly stepped forward and swung his arms out, creating two arcs of electricity from the tips of his fingers. He thrust his fingers forward and fired an incredible bolt of lightning at me.

In that moment, time slowed. Everything was suddenly easy, possible. Uncle's face flashed in my mind and his words of warning echoed through my ears.

I reached out and caught the lightning with the tips of my fingers. I slid backward from the force of the attack, the lightning surrounding my body and making my hair stand on end. The power was amazing…I felt undefeatable, godlike. On the other hand, I was terrified. If I made one wrong move I was dead. The electricity bubbling through my body made me feel like I was going to explode.

Keeping calm, I sank my body down and pulled my arms in as the electricity ran through my body, then thrust my other hand forward, redirecting the lightning in Mordred's direction. The bolt struck the ground where Mordred was standing, creating an explosion that knocked him against the wall and the tapestry behind him.

Before he could even straighten up, I was gone.

Odette:

Athera's head suddenly shot up as a loud explosion rocked through the bunker.

"Oh. Sounds like the firebending's back on."

She kicked her leg upward and created an arc of blue fire, making Alana jump back in surprise. She thrust her foot forward and shot a fireball at Alana. She was saved from the attack by Elise, who jumped in and pushed her out of the way.

Athera flipped up and placed her feet on the wall, straining herself to broke her arms free. She grinned as the rock trapping her there exploded in a blue flame. She sprang off the wall towards me and flipped forward. I jumped out of the way as Athera landed with a fiery heel drop where I was standing. Alana, Elise, and I all readied ourselves for another attack.

Athera suddenly stopped fight and stood up, turning to us.

"Dad's all the way at the end of the hall and down the secret stairway on the left. I'm sure I'll be more than happy to see you now." Athera quickly ran away down the tunnel.

Alana stood there frozen for a moment before slapping her forehead. "I fell for it! I used up all our time."

Elise sighed. "It's not your fault, Alana. Athera was ready for us. She had every move planned out."

Alana hung her head, hopeless. "And now it's too late."

"Maybe it's not too late. The eclipse is over but I can face the Fire Lord anyway," I said, knowing in my heart that that was a lie.

Alana shook her head. "No. I don't think that's a good idea."

I sighed. "But I'm ready! I came here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me."

"The Fire Lord knew we were coming this time. We thought we had surprise on our side but we didn't. It just wasn't our day. What we need to do now is go help our friends," Elise argued.

I considered before nodding my head grudgingly. "I guess you guys are right."

Alana put a hand on my shoulder. "You'll have another chance. I know you will."

Kole:

The palace was surrounded by tanks and warriors. I laid dad against one of the tanks and we both took off our eclipse glasses.

"What should we do, Kodah? Shouldn't something have happened by now?" Cato asked.

"I don't know. But now that the eclipse is over I expect we're going to see some firebenders any minute."

Cato suddenly looked up in shock and I turned to look in the same direction as five Fire Nation war balloons ascended into the air firebenders powering them.

"My own invention. Oh this is terrible!" The Mechanist cried.

Cash silently placed a consoling hand on his father's shoulder. Behind the war balloons ascended an enormous zeppelin. Everyone stared up at the five war balloons along with five huge zeppelins decorated with dragon motifs.

Desperate, I turned and spotted who I was hoping to see and pointed to the sky.

"They're back!"

I ran forward as Fanindra, carrying Odette, Alana, and Elise, flew towards us. Odette was also looking up at the balloons, her expression worried. Fanindra landed and I ran up to her as Odette looked down at me uneasily.

"It was all a trap. Athera knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move," Alana said as she and Elise jumped down from Fanindra. "We just got to get to the beach as fast as we can. If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely."

"They've got air power, but so do I!" Odette said after a moment and snapped open her glider. "I'm going to do what I can to slow them down."

Odette threw her glider into the air. She caught onto it and flew into the air as it looped back to her. Fanindra growled and I climbed on her, not willing to let Odette out of my sight now.

"Fanindra, you and I can help too." I said.

As Odette flew towards the zeppelins in the distance, Fanindra and I followed behind.

"Everyone, let's get back to the subs!" my sister screamed, loud enough for the troops to hear her.

They all turned and followed Alana.

Odette:

A firebender shot two fireballs at me and I banked and rolled to avoid the attack. I then threw my glider forward, closed it, grabbed the end of it, and pierced straight through the fabric of the balloon. Air leaked from the war balloon and it went down as I glided on towards the zeppelins. Kole, in Fanindra's saddle, followed behind me.

Kole stood up and bended the water out from his flasks. With a swift rotation of his arms and body, Kole made a clean, horizontal cut through another balloon. He and Fanindra flew past, and after a brief moment, the top of the war balloon fluttered away and the bottom part dropped.

Fanindra, Kole, and I flew up towards the zeppelins as countless fireballs were shot out of them. A few fireballs hit Fanindra and she growled in discomfort, but her armor protected her from any serious damage. Fanindra tried to fly in close, but was driven back by the force of the fire blasts. Firebenders stood on small platforms under the body of a zeppelin. They were in harnesses attached to supports above them. They shot fire blasts at Fanindra as she flew right past them, Kole creating a shield of water to block the oncoming fireballs.

"We can't keep them all back. They're too many of them!" Kole called as I glided in closer.

"Let's join the others," I said.

I barely dodged another fireball as Fanindra and I flew over the capitol and back towards the ocean.

Ren:

At the top of the Fire Nation prison, there were multiple craters in the stone wall and stairs. I ran in, taking leaping bounds as I raced into the prison, knowing time was short.

Inside the prison, I found a guard lying on the floor. He looked up, and then winced as I ran past him. I ran down the hall and towards a doorway.

"Uncle!" I called as I burst through.

I froze at the sight I saw. Inside the interior of the cell, there was a huge hole in the cage, and the surrounding bars were bent outward. Warden Poon was lying on the floor, dazed. I ran in and grabbed Poon by the collar.

"Where is my Uncle?" I snarled.

Warden Poon looked up at me, shocked and awed. "He's gone. He busted himself out. I... I've never seen anything like it! He was like a one man army!"

relived, I let go of Poon and made my exit.

Alana:

I ran down the slope towards the plaza, the others following behind. I stopped and looked up at the zeppelins high in the air, slowing making their way towards us. At the bottom of one of the zeppelins bomb bay doors opened up as Odette, Fanindra, and Kole landed behind me.

"Try and find cover! I think we're about to see some bombs," I said.

Everyone huddled together as Elise bended a large slab of stone above us as large red, cylinder shaped bombs dropped from the zeppelins. The bombs impacted the stone shields protecting the invasion forces. The slab cracked and began to fall, but Elise bended two stone supports up from the ground to keep it standing. The caterpillar tanks quickly made their way down the slope as bombs went off all around them.

The zeppelins passed over, ceasing the raid. And Odette, Elise, Kole, and I came out from under the stone and looked up at the zeppelins as they flew towards the beach.

Kole frowned. "Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?"

Odette gasped and her face paled. "They're headed for the beach. They're going to destroy the submarines!"

I stiffened. "How are we all going to escape?"

My dad looked at them blankly. "We're not."

Those were probably the two most terrifying words I had ever heard come from my father's lips.

I nodded and swallowed thickly, adjusting my armor. "Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the Avatar, we could still win!"

"Yes, with the Avatar we could still win on another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Fanindra together," my dad said, sadly now.

Kole was outraged. "What? We can't leave you behind. We won't leave anyone behind."

"You're our only chance in a long run. You and Alana have to go with Odette somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive," he said.

"The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners but we'll all survive this battle," Cato said, grim but still hopeful.

Tyro smiled slightly. "I've got some experience with the Fire Nation prisons. It's not going to be easy but we'll get by."

"They're at the beach already!" I yelled.

The submarines and the swampbenders fell into the shadow of a zeppelin as it passed over. The zeppelins flew overhead and began to drop more bombs. Due and Tho bended water from the ocean, swinging their arms in windmill motions to send the water into the air and intercept the bombs. The bombs exploded in midair. Hue grabbed two oncoming bombs with my seaweed arms. He tossed one away, but the other exploded, destroying the arm of the seaweed creature. Another bomb lodged itself inside the body of the creature and exploded, destroying it. The seaweed fell on top of Due and Tho. Hue, Due, and Tho stuck their heads out from the pile of steaming seaweed.

One by one they exploded and were destroyed. A bomb fell in front of the camera and exploded. The smoke cleared and I saw the destroyed submarines, my heart sinking. They burned away as Odette and my friends looked on with despair. I shut my eyes and grudgingly accepted the turn of events.

Elise and The Mechanist, who was carrying Cash, rose up to Fanindra's back on a platform of stone that Elise was bending. Elise hopped in the saddle and The Mechanist placed Cash down in it, hugging me in goodbye.

The Mechanist hugged Cash tightly. "Bye, son."

Cash hugged back sadly. "Bye, Dad. I'm really proud of you."

Elise lowered The Mechanist back to the ground. He took one last look at Cash before The Duke tried to climb onto Fanindra's head. Pipsqueak helped him up.

"I'll miss you, Pipsqueak," he said.

Pipsqueak nodded back. "Take care, The Duke."

Haru and Tyro hugged each other goodbye.

Haru sighed. "I'll be back for you Dad."

Tyro patted his son's shoulder. "If we don't escape on our own first."

Haru put his fist into his hand and bowed respectfully to my father.

Dad looked at my brother and I sadly. "We lost today but we've never been this close. We tasted victory and that counts for something."

Kole was heartbroken. "We'll miss you Dad."

Kole, Dad, and I had one last group hug.

"Bye Dad. We won't be apart for too long this time. I promise," I said, squeezing him tightly.

Odette was on her knees on top of Fanindra's head, with Fang sitting next to her. Kole walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and I realized that she was crying silent tears that streamed down her pretty face. It was just then that I realized what a mess she was.

Her braid had come loose and her long, dark brown hair now blew in the wind, messy and damp from sweat. Her usually clear skin was covered in dirt and scratches and her pretty pale grey eyes were dull and exhausted.

She glanced at Kole, who smiled at her gently. She looked away and wiped her eyes before standing up and addressing the rest of the invasion force.

"Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm going to make this up to you," she vowed.

Kole jumped into the saddle and Odette sat down. Fang climbed on to Odette's shoulder and Fanindra took off.

As we flew away into the distance, Kole and I both looked back sadly.

Athera:

The zeppelins slowly flew on as the Avatar's dragon flew into the horizon, abandoning the battle. In the gondola, the captain and I watched them fly away through a window.

"Should we follow them, Princess?" the Captain asked.

They were already far out of my reach…traveling too fast for our slow machine

"No. They're too fast. It doesn't matter, they'll be back," I said, not worried in the least.

Odette:

I looked darkly back at the zeppelin as we flew away. When it became a small speck in the distance, I finally turned back to the front.

"I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while. The Western Air Temple," I said.

With a flick of the reins, Fanindra surged forward.

Ren:

I could see Fanindra flying far into the distant clouds. In my single war balloon, I followed them, keeping far enough behind for them to not notice me.

I was in the balloon's basket, holding on to the ropes and staring off at them in determination and praying they would hear me out.

I'm coming Odette...