Chapter 48: Repercussions
High General Xia didn't know why he'd been summoned to appear before the Dragon Empress, but he knew in his gut with the instincts of an old campaigner that something was terribly wrong. It had only been a few days since a messenger had arrived in the Capital and been taken directly to Azula, but ever since a waiting stillness had fallen over the entire palace. High Minister Qing Xi's suspicions regarding Azula herself didn't help matters any; Xia neither liked nor trusted the High Minister, but what he had uncovered so far had the uncomfortable ring of truth to it.
Then, of course, there was the giant hole that had been blasted through one of the palace's wings by some unknown force. No one knew for sure what had caused it, but Xia had heard rumors, and none of them boded well.
By some virtue of chance or fate, the throne room itself had not been damaged when whatever-it-was had torn through the palace. It was empty and dark as Xia entered and prostrated himself before the throne- he could still remember a time when, as a young officer, he'd seen the court full of nobles and ministers and, for a lack of a better word, life. For the last decade or so, though, it had become a far more remote and terrible place, as the Empress had taken to meeting with only one or two people at a time and secluding herself when not doing so. A sign of her paranoia, Xia thought, and quickly quelled it- Azula couldn't read minds (so far as he knew) but he didn't dare let any of what he'd just thought show on his face.
Suddenly the blue flames about the throne roared to life, and after a moment the coldly ringing voice of the Empress spoke through them. "Rise, my High General," she said. "We have important matters to discuss."
Xia stood and saluted. "The Army of the Fire Empire stands at your command, Majesty. What is you will?"
"Long Du Shi has fallen."
The Empress made the pronouncement without preamble, and her tone didn't vary as she spook, but Xia could almost feel the searing anger within her voice. He himself was too stunned almost for words; quickly he managed to recover himself. "How?" he asked. "Who could do such a thing?"
"A band of bold rebels managed to infiltrate the palace itself and seize control of it," Azula explained. "They lured the garrison out of the city and captured several key ministers, holding them hostage to ensure the compliance of the rest. Reports indicate, however, that Governor Yan Li aids the rebellion willingly."
"Impossible," Xia breathed. He didn't know Yan Li well, but the impression he'd always had of the man was one of loyalty and efficiency. A traitor… it was unthinkable. Then the High General realized what he'd just done and shuddered. He'd contradicted the Empress…
"Do you question my word, High General?" Azula demanded; she didn't raise her voice, yet somehow gave the impression of shouting. The flames about her throne flared up so high they hid even her silhouette from view, and Xia was forced to fall back and shield himself from the flames. "Men have died for less. Consider yourself fortunate, however, that I need you still, and I do not have time to promote a replacement. You must go to Long Du Shi with your forces and crush this insurgency completely. The world must see the strength of the Fire Empire and know that it will be wielded without mercy. Do you understand?"
"I do, Majesty!" Xia replied; the heat in the room was so overpowering now he could feel the sweat running down his body and soaking his uniform.
"Good. You will depart as soon as your forces are assembled, and that will take no longer than one week. Now, leave me!" Xia was not by any stretch a coward- he had fought many battles for the Empire on the front lines before his promotion to general- but it was still all he could do to maintain a dignified walk as he bowed once more to the Empress and departed from the throne room. She was an overpowering enough presence normally, but when she was angry- that was something anyone would balk at facing.
A man was waiting for him out in the corridor- he was clad in simple servant's robes, but had the cool, bland look about him that characterized Qing Xi's Hidden Flame agents when they weren't actively trying to conceal themselves. Xia approached the spy and leaned in close to him. "What message does the High Minister have for me?" he asked.
The agent reached into his sleeve and pulled out several small scrolls that were bound together. "My master knows of your mission," he said, "but he thinks there are some things you need to know about what our Empress intends. These were recovered by my brethren at great risk. Read them before you reach Long Du Shi."
"And what exactly does the High Minister expect me to do then?" Xia asked.
The agent smiled slightly. "That, High General, is up to you."
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The old man shivered in the soldiers' arms as they led him through the forests outside the Capital. He didn't know where these men were taking him- they'd shown up at his house a few hours earlier and simply demanded that he accompany them- but he doubted the Fire Empire or its Empress were trying to do him any favors. Still, he did not show fear in his expression and held his head high and with dignity. He would not dishonor what he had once been by doing anything less.
Finally they emerged into a clearing that was empty except for a palanquin with open curtains. On the chair within sat a slender middle-aged man with bland features that were neither handsome nor ugly, drinking tea from a fine porcelain cup. When he saw the old man, he smiled. "Gentlemen," he said, "release my friend here and pour some tea for him. We have much to talk about, he and I."
The old man seated himself before the palanquin and accepted the tea, though he did not drink. "I must admit," he said, "I'm curious as to why the High Minister of the Fire Empire desires to speak with me so civilly."
"Are you really?" Qing Xi asked, raising an eyebrow. "Allow me to fill you in. Your name is Mushi, and you are- or rather were- the last of the Fire Sages. Your order was destroyed by Empress Azula several years ago, but you managed to survive and go into hiding, where you have remained until I found you. Does that perhaps jog your memory?"
"Indeed it does," Mushi replied. "Azula had become obsessed with immortality and demanded my order seek through the ancient scrolls and find the secret for her. We tried, but there was no answer for her. The High Sage counseled her to accept her mortality and name a successor; the Empress flew into a rage and massacred the entire order." He smiled thinly. "Fortunately, I was out of the Capital on a pilgrimage- I learned what had happened when I returned and succeeded in hiding myself before her killers tracked me down."
"You don't seem worried for a man who stands before someone who could kill him out of hand," Qing Xi observed.
Mushi shrugged. "I long ago accepted my own mortality, High Minister- you cannot frighten me. Besides, it would take a truly cruel man to offer his victim such hospitality if all he sought was to kill him; you are merely a ruthless one."
A smile twitched the edge of Qing Xi's mouth. "An excellent point. You are safe, for now- my agents found you some time ago, but the Empress has moved on to other matters and, so long as you do not approach her or openly proclaim yourself, no longer actively desires your death. I, however, desire answers, and I believe only you can give them to me."
"I admit, I am intrigued," Mushi allowed, sitting forward. "What do you wish to know, High Minister?"
Qing Xi sighed and blinked, and for a moment the former Fire Sage saw fear and uncertainty beneath his bland mask. This was a frightened man, he realized; only monumental effort of will was keeping him this composed. "In ancient days," he finally said, "your kind served the Avatar. Even now, you have more knowledge of such matters than anyone else. Something terrible has happened, and I need to know what it means.
"You know that the Avatar has been held in a perpetual sleep beneath the Fire Palace- your order was one of few groups let in on that secret. Just a few days ago, he awoke, created a terrible light that blasted through the palace, and vanished. What do you believe caused this, and where did he go?"
Mushi sat still for several moments as his mind tried to assimilate the information. "The first question you ask is simple," he said finally. "The Avatar was sent into his sleep when the balance of the world was broken by the imprisonment of the Moon and Ocean Spirits; his revival means that the balance was restored- therefore, we can conclude that the spirits have been freed. As for the other," he shook his head. "So far as I know, this is unique in our history. Perhaps time finally caught up with the Avatar's incarnation after so long in sleep and burned it out, in which case the Avatar Spirit has no doubt either just been reborn, or is about to be. Or perhaps the Avatar merely fled to recover his strength, in which case I have no doubt he will return to seek his justice. Or perhaps it is something even stranger. Sage I may be, but in this, I know nothing. I am sorry."
Qing Xi still looked troubled, but he nodded. "Thank you; you have given me much to think on. My men will return you to your home and, provided you tell no one what has transpired here, you will not be harmed."
"Thank you, High Minister," Mushi said. He stood and bowed, and then the guards took up positions by his side and turned to walk him back towards the city. As he left the clearing, however, the Fire Sage looked back over his shoulder and saw Qing Xi staring down into his teacup like a man struggling to categorize what he had just learned, and yet knowing deep down that it was not possible.
Mushi shook his head once, and turned back towards the Capital.
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Jiazin paced on the deck of the stolen ship as it bore the raiding party down from the north and back towards Long Du Shi. The ship had still been pulled up against the shore even when they'd emerged from the ruined city, protected from the spirits' wrath, and of the High Admiral and his fleet there'd been no sign. Knowing their probable fate, the raiding party had been chilled, and they'd left that place as quickly as possible.
Jiazin herself hadn't been able to sleep since that day, despite the fact that she was growing increasingly tired. Yue's parting words about her secret gnawed at her and wouldn't let her have peace. The waterbender had been right- she needed to tell the rebels about Azula's and Qing Xi's plans for her- but at the same time, it was something so terrible and powerful that admitting it aloud seemed impossible. The Empress was a towering, fearful presence even in thought, especially now that Yue, who had seemed in some way to counterbalance her, had died (or ascended, or whatever had actually happened), and the idea that the High Minister had believed that Jiazin herself had the potential to become such a being was not a comfortable one.
"But I won't," she whispered to herself. "I'm fighting against you now, and everything you stand for- I won't become you."
Won't you? A little voice that sounded disturbingly like the Empress's hissed in the back of her mind. You wield my fire; now you have removed one of your deadliest enemies from power. Yuan was always an enemy of your family, but even if he still lives he's no threat to you now- and you did it without lifting a finger. All it took was telling a foolish savage he should be the one to put two fish in a well. In the end, you will accept your fate. It is inevitable.
"Liar," Jiazin muttered. "My fate isn't written. I make my own destiny now."
The only response from that part of her that sounded like the Empress was laughter.
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Belowdecks, Kanoda turned in sleep. As he dreamed, he saw again the day of the Fire Empire raid, when his father had died, and then the ruined city of the North, and then his grandfather and Yue standing side by side. "We give our people into your hands," they said together, "Your hands, your hands…"
"What do you want me to do?" he asked. "I'm just one person- I'm not even really a warrior. How am I supposed to save the heritage of the Water Tribes?"
They gave him no answer, merely fading away into mist. Kanoda was left alone, standing in the center of an empty, shifting nothing. And then, suddenly, the dream changed. He found himself standing in a place he had never seen, and yet somehow seemed far too detailed for him to have simply imagined. He was in the courtyard of a vast building atop a mountain, its graceful spires curving towards the sky. Looking beyond it, he could see only clouds and empty sky.
"Where am I?" he asked. "This doesn't feel like a normal dream."
"It's not," a high voice said from behind him. "This is the Southern Air Temple, where I'm from. Nice, isn't it?"
Kanoda spun towards the voice, and saw that it came from a kid who sat casually on a low wall, idly twirling a wooden staff in one hand. He was wearing a strange, brightly orange tunic that didn't resemble any clothing Kanoda had ever seen, and he was bald- the only marking on his head was a tattoo of a strange, bright blue arrow.
"Hi," the kid said, smiling. "Nice to meet you. I'm Aang."
