The island of the Quintessence Bank came into the view of all on Appa. In addition to Jim, Jack, Zuko, and Aang, Iroh and Katara insisted on coming along as well. Iroh was adamant that he wanted to be there for Zuko for this reunion, and Ursa was his family too. Katara and Aang were apart for the past week as well, and the couple wanted to make up for lost time. Besides, rarely ever did Aang go on any quest without Katara by his side. The bank was in the middle of the Mo Ce Sea on its own small island that had been artificially created by earthbending. The bank was built from pure obsidian, and the smooth black walls shimmered in the late morning sunlight. Appa descended onto the landing pad at the front entrance of the bank. Three men dressed in long flowing black robes emerged from the building to greet the small party.
"Fire Lord Zuko, we've been expecting you," the center man said while stroking his thick black beard. "And of course we are honored to welcome the Avatar, Lord Iroh, and your... other accomplices. I am Hei Po. These are my assistants Tanlan and Don Yokuna."
"Pleased to meet you," Zuko nodded. "I'm here about the woman in my father's vault."
"Right to the point, I see," Hei Po smirked. "I like that in world leader. Follow me."
The sweet aroma of freshly brewed Jasmine tea tickled Aggie's noise with a good morning greeting. To accommodate everyone for the night, Iroh opened his home to house the overflow from Aang's place. Aggie tried to convince Jim to let her use magic to add an extra wing to Aang's town house, but the young Keyblade master insisted on minimal magic use. It was a ridiculous notion, in Aggie's opinion. After all, a little bit of magic never hurt anybody... Well, there was the one incident with the llama back when she was teaching high school, but that was neither here nor there. At any rate, Aggie was given the spare bedroom as an act of courtesy, while Cid, Jim, Jack, and Graham shared a pallet in the living room. She hopped out of bed, magically applied make-up and hair care, and scurried off to the kitchen to find the source of the magnificent scent. Much to her surprise, Cid was the one standing over the kettle.
"Good morning," Aggie said.
"Mornin'," Cid grunted. "Jim, Jack, and Iroh already left for the Quintessence Bank. Don't know where the fuck Graham went, but I don't think he slept at all last night."
"Oh dear!" Aggie said. "I gave him a potion to help him sleep several nights ago. Surely he hasn't run out by now."
"The guy's got issues, Aggie," Cid said. "He's like a stray dog that's never quite right."
"He's been through a lot," she replied. "The man's died, come back, and been forced to leave his home all in less than two weeks. It can't be an easy transition."
"Yeah, you're probably right," he nodded.
"So, Jasmine tea?" she asked. "I never took you for much of a tea drinker."
"Well there's a lot about me you don't know," he grunted in response.
"Obviously," she said with a teasing tone. "No one is a complete grump with a bad attitude."
"Very funny," he groaned sarcastically.
The tea kettle interrupted the squabble with a shrill whistle. Cid opened the lid and inhaled the scent of the liquid.
"Perfect!" Cid said to himself with a grin before turning back to Aggie. "You want a cup?"
"Yes please!" she nodded.
Cid poured two cups of tea, and the two sat at the kitchen table across from one another. For several minutes, they sipped their tea in silence. The silence enriched the tranquility that the tea brought to their old bones.
"This really is delicious," Aggie said, breaking the silence. "I really would not have pegged you for someone that cared for something as... well... sophisticated as tea. I took you more for a beer and crackers kind of man."
"Heh, well, tea is... special to me," Cid replied, "My wife, Shera, used to make the best tea before she passed away. Thinkin' back to her is very painful for me, so I tend to push those memories aside. Drinkin' tea is the one time where it feels... okay to remember her. It's like she's back here with me."
Aggie set down her cup and looked up at Cid.
"I had no idea," she said. "You really do have a sweet side in there. I like this side of you."
"Don't get used to it," Cid smirked as he took a sip of his tea. "What about your husband? I mean, you've got an adult daughter, so I assume you were married once."
"I was," Aggie nodded as she took a sip of her tea. "His name was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim."
"That's a mouthful," Cid chuckled.
"Quite so," Aggie laughed a bit in response. "He mostly went by Cornelius Agrippa to simplify things. Of course, I kept my maiden name. The Cromwell family is the most powerful line of witches and warlocks to have ever lived. Giving up the Cromweel name was something that simply wasn't done. Of course, Gwendolyn did it, but she's always been the black sheep of the family. At any rate, I met Cornelius back in the Renaissance of the mortal world when I was a teenager. He was a fine young man and a very open-minded scholar. He was fascinated with magic and wrote a three volumed work on the occult. I read it, and, though it was riddled with inaccuracies, the notion that a mortal raised man could have such knowledge truly impressed me. I came to him and showed him real magic, and we were an inseperable pair from that moment on.
"He later denounced his earlier works officially to protect me and the rest of Halloweentown from the Knights of the Iron Dagger," Aggie continued, "We travelled together through time and around the world. In order to be less conspicuous, I often took the form of a black dog. Women travelling wasn't exactly safe in those days, and to be suspected as a witch would almost certainly mean burning at the stake. Eventually, we faked his death, and he came to live with me in Halloweentown. We lived together for several centuries. However, nothing can really last forever. He died when Gwendolyn was thirteen. Oh, I miss him terribly, but it was his time. I had three hundred good years with him. Very few people can say they had the same."
"That's a good way to look at it," Cid nodded. "And I gotta say, you've got a side to you that's not a batty old loon in there. I like this side of you."
"Don't get used to it," Aggie said with a wink before shifting focus. "Please come with us, Cid. You may not see it, but Jim needs you there, and I really do think you need him just as much. And even though you're a pig-headed and aggravating fool sometimes, I do enjoy your company."
Cid wasn't quite sure why, but sitting here and drinking tea with Aggie made the idea of joining back up with Jim's crew a lot more alluring. It felt almost as if Shera was there, telling him to stay with Jim. His heart seemed to be steering him back towards Jim. The choice finally felt clear.
"Alright, I'll do it," Cid nodded. "I'm stayin' with y'all... at least for now."
"Wonderful, wonderful!" Aggie said, practically beaming.
She gulped down the last sip of tea in her cup. However, when she looked down at the cup, her face contorted to reflect frustration.
"Oh drat!" she cursed.
"What is it?" he asked.
"My tea leaves," she said, as if that should have answered all of his questions, "they're formed into the shape of a snake. That means an enemy looms in the future."
Cid chuckled a bit to himself. "Well, looks like the batty old loon side is back."
Zuko, Jim, Jack, Aang, Katara, and Iroh were led into a large atrium inside the bank. The cavernous room contained only a colossal fountain, spewing water out in intricate designs. The water glistened with the reflection of the obsidian, and the precious stones twinkling along the base of the fountain provided a kaleidoscope of colors along the silky black walls. It was by far the most beautiful fountain any there had ever laid eyes upon. Don Yokuna stepped forward; with a swift gesture, his waterbending dissipated the water of the fountain.
"Step forward, please," Hei Po instructed, leading the group onto the floor where the fountain had just been.
Once all six guests and the three bank employees were standing in the center of the floor, Tanlan stomped down on the floor. Earthen cogs could be heard churning, and the area where the fountain had been began to sink lower into the bank.
"A security measure," Hei Po explained. "It would require a diverse and powerful team of benders to enter the vault. Even then, the fountain and the lift are not the only measures we have in place."
"It's incredible," Katara said, vocalizing what everyone was thinking. "Does your staff employ benders from all nations?"
"All but the Air Nomads, of course," Hei Po replied. "Even before they were destroyed, the bank had no use for those who had forsaken all worldly possessions. The Air Nomads turned their back on Quintessence."
Aang prepared to argue in defense of his people, but thought better of it. Today was about Zuko's mother, and he didn't need to complicate things by arguing with their hosts. The lift continued downward several levels; Katara and Jack could both feel the push and pull of the ocean above them. The Quintessence Bank was built like a fortress; it was almost certainly impossible to break in. The lift came to a halt in front of an immense door lined with metal coils. Now it was Hei Po's turn to step forward. With sweeping motions, sparks trailed after his hand before he fired a bolt of lightning into the coils. A loud clicking sound rang out, and the doors parted ways.
"These are the holding cells," Hei Po said as he led the group down the newly emerged hallway. "The woman who Ozai entrusted to us is this way."
As the group walked by, Jack got a look into several cells. Most of the cells contained animals; Jack assumed these animals were rare beasts on this world. He'd never been fond of the idea of rare animal collectors. It always seemed unnecessarily cruel and self-indulgent to him. A few other cells held actual people. One in particular caught Aang's eyes. The young Avatar stopped short. Katara was the first to notice when Aang failed to keep up with the rest of the group.
"What is it, sweetie?" she asked.
"It's... it's an airbender," Aang said, his gaze not wavering from the cell.
Within the cell, an old man, looking to be pushing one-hundred, sat in solitude. He was wrapped in the filthy rags of what once was traditional Air Nomad clothing. Though his face was stained with liver spots and scrunched into wrinkles, his blue arrow tattoos were still very apparent.
"Hmm?" Hei Po said upon noticing this distraction. "Ah, yes. His name is Yiwang. He was captured by an Earth Kingdom nobleman shortly after the genocide. With airbenders now a rare commodity, he saw it fit to invest the young man within our bank. His family has carried on ownership of this man for nearly a hundred years."
"He's a member of the Air Nomads," Aang replied angrily. "He's not the property of anyone! The Air Nomads are free people!"
"As I told you before," Hei Po replied with a devilish smirk, "the Quintessence Bank does not deal in the affairs of the Air Nomads. We do not recognize your customs here, nor do you have an authority or ownership to withdraw him from this bank."
"He's the Avatar!" Katara shouted angrily, "And no one has any right to own another human being!"
"My dear, you are mistaken," the bank's employee stated plainly. "The Water Tribe is the only nation still existing with laws against human ownership. The Quintessence Bank is not bound by the laws of the Water Tribe. Our policy is to accommodate the interests of all customers. Now, if you'll please move on. If you do not, you will be removed from the premises."
Aang's face remained unwavering, until he caught a glimpse of Zuko out of the corner of his eye. Zuko's expression reflected the conflicting nature of his soul at the moment. Aang had spent enough time around Zuko that he could read the young Fire Lord pretty well; he could tell that Zuko agreed with him but didn't want to risk losing his mother when he was so close. He couldn't do that to Zuko. Aang swore to himself that he'd come back for the Air Nomad after Zuko had his mother and that he'd make sure that human ownership was outlawed in all four nations. No balance could be achieved as long as slavery still existed.
"Alright, fine," Aang said as he rejoined the group.
Katara looked concerned at the decision but ultimately rejoined the group as well. She trusted Aang's judgment. Hei Po smiled and gestured down the hallway. The group proceeded forward until finally they reached the end. The black iron bars of the cell and the dark obsidian of the walls created the illusion of complete darkness. Tanlan proceeded forward an unlocked the cell. The group of six continued through the gate into the jail cell. Off in the far corner, a woman was balled up as if she were nothing but a lump of flesh. Zuko's heart was racing so hard and so fast that he could feel it throbbing in his throat. The young Fire Lord approached the woman in the corner and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Mom?" he managed to say through his throbbing throat.
The woman looked up at him suddenly. Zuko's heart sank.
It wasn't his mother.
"What do you mean they just vanished?" Elsa growled with a storm-like intensity.
She, Cid, and Graham all stood in the atrium of the Ba Sing Se prison, dumbfounded at the miraculous escape of the inmates they had come to interrogate: Facilier and Tala.
"When I was making my rounds, one minute they were there and the next they weren't," the prison guard informed the group. "They had weird, otherworldly powers, our facilities aren't designed to contain people like that."
"Must've skipped out on a Corridor of Darkness," Cid theorized. "If nothin' else, this almost certainly means that they were with the Overlords."
"My thoughts exactly," Elsa nodded. "They won't take this defeat lightly. Between the ending of the Hundred Years War, Zuko's refusal to join them, and the revolution's failure, we've certainly made ourselves quite the nuisance. They're not going to stop trying for this world."
"And why would they?" Cid scoffed. "If the Princesses are right, the seventh princess is- Oh fuck!"
"What's wrong?" Graham inquired.
"What if those bastards were keeping the Seventh Princess on this world?" Cid hypothesized. "Ozai was their highest ranking Acolyte... They actually went to the trouble to kill him to silence him. He wasn't all that impressive power wise, so-"
"So what if his rank was a sign of his value from being the Princess's jailer?!" Elsa interrupted, completing the thought. "If that's the case, after all of these setbacks in trying to re-establish their dominance, they're going to cut their losses and go right for the Princess!"
"Oh no! Jim!" Graham interjected. "He and Zuko and the others went to the Quintessence Bank to find a woman they believed to be Zuko's mother that Ozai had imprisoned there. If it's really the Princess there-"
"Then those bastards and Jim are gonna be in the same goddamn place," Cid said with defeat.
"We need to get to the bank as quickly as possible," Elsa stated. "How fast can your ship get us there?"
"Thirty minutes, tops," Cid replied.
Elsa was already walking out the door when she next spoke, "Then we need to leave at once."
"It's not her," Zuko said, biting back tears of disappointment.
Yet, somehow he recognized this woman's face. Though her face was scarred and hollowed out from years imprisoned in the Quintessence Bank, there was still a very familiar quality to it. Iroh's eyes widened at the sight of the woman. He approached her slowly as Zuko backed away. The woman's eyes locked with his, and he wept.
"Ocha!" Iroh sobbed as he embraced the woman.
At the mention of her name, Zuko was finally able to recall from where he recognized the woman's face. "But... how?"
"Somebody wanna catch the rest of us up?" Jack asked, prompting a jab in the side by Jim's elbow.
"She's my aunt, Iroh's wife," Zuko explained. "I hadn't seen her since I was a kid. My father... told us all that she'd hung herself after hearing of cousin Lu Ten's death... He said he found her body and had it moved out quickly so no one would have to see her that way... Guess that was another of his lies."
"He must've considered her a liability to his plans to become Fire Lord," Katara theorized. "But she'd have been the perfect leverage to use against Iroh if he ever directly stood against him."
"That's horrible," Jim shook his head. As much as he hated his father for leaving him and his mother, he couldn't imagine having a monster like that as a father. He didn't envy Zuko.
The sound of a metal gate slamming shut echoed behind them. Everyone looked just in time to see Hei Po locking the cell door behind them.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Aang asked angrily.
"I'm afraid the Fire Lord is a bad investment," Hei Po hissed. "Our newest client is a far more profitable source."
The bank employee gestured to his right to present his "newest client." There, flanked by Hama and Yakone, stood Azula,.
"Hello, Zuzu."