"Alright, guys… No sudden movements." Meiya murmured. "Just back away slowly."
TeaMeiya slowly began to shrink back as the large humanoid water creature stalked toward them.
"You think it'll steam up if Zuko and I blast it with fire?" Meiya asked.
"Worth a shot." Zuko replied with a shrug.
"Alright. We'll blast it, and while it's steamed up, Ischi, you go free Kaizu. Kohi, you cover Ischi."
"Um, o-okay." Ischi said, sounding unsure.
"Got it." Kohi nodded, sounding more sure of the plan.
"Ready..? GO!" Meiya shouted. She and Zuko launched big blasts of fire at the creature, which exploded into a huge cloud of steam. Kohi ran forward and used Airbending to clear a path to where Kaizu was frozen against the wall.
Ischi charged as quickly as she could down the cleared path, with Kohi right behind her to keep the path clear.
"Hurry, guys! It's reforming!" Meiya called from the other side of the room.
Ischi steeled her resolve and picked up speed. When she was within range, she leaped forward and planted a solid shoulder into the sheet of ice separating her from Kaizu.
The ice didn't give; it just gave it a nasty crack. Ischi, however, bounced back from the recoil, slamming into Kohi and sending them both sliding on the ground.
"Owwwwwwwww…." both injured girls groaned.
On the other side of the room, Meiya and Zuko struggled to keep the Water Elemental in check. As quickly as they blasted it, the creature was reforming as if nothing was striking it, and the two Firebenders were quickly losing energy.
Kaizu struggled to move within his icy prison. The more he struggled, the larger the crack expanded, and at the same time, he summoned as much of his energy as he could and heated up his body to melt more of the ice.
Ischi stood up and tensed up her other shoulder, backing up as much as she could before charging forward again, leaping and slamming into the ice shell. More nasty cracks formed in the ice, but it still didn't break.
"Come on, Ischi! Stop dropping your shoulder when you jump! Hit that ice like a girl!" Kohi encouraged.
Ischi gathered as much of her strength that remained and took one more run at the ice, leaping and successfully smashing the shell, freeing Kaizu.
Upon being released, Kaizu fell to the floor, trying to calm his shivering by heating his body.
"I-I owe you one, I-Ischi." he chattered as he stood.
"You're my son, Kaizu; you don't owe me a cent!" Ischi laughed.
Ischi gasped and leaped out of the way as Meiya and Zuko slid past her and hit the wall.
"Th-Th-This thing just w-won't d-d-die!" Meiya growled through her grimace. "What the heck is it, anyway?
"If I had to guess, I'd say it's a Water Elemental, the water variant of the fire beast you fought at Republic City. It's extremely resilient, apparently. It can use water to repair damage done to it.
"This entire place is made of ice. It's essentially invincible in here." Zuko realized gravely.
"No…" Meiya said, thinking. "I was able to freeze some water sharks together in the kiosk, and they didn't turn back into sharks. They were trying to drown my in the air when I did it."
"Move!" Kaizu yelled, leaping backwards. The rest of TeaMeiya scrambled out of the way of the Elemental's watery fist as it smashed into the floor where Meiya was standing. The punch sent a ripple through the ice, raising it into a circular wave of water which swallowed the team and sent them flailing into the walls of the room.
"Talk about splash damage…" Kohi groaned, rubbing the back of her head.
"Shut up, Kohi." Meiya growled at her.
Kaizu stood and shook the water out of his hair, looking around quickly at the room.
"No windows. So the books don't melt. That means there's little, if any, water in the air here. Meiya, can you bend the Elemental?"
Meiya extended her hands at the Elemental which progressively began to slow down, before stopping altogether.
"Urgh… It's tough, but I'm holding it in place." Meiya grunted, her arms beginning to wobble.
"Lift it and freeze it. If your hunch is right, that should be it."
Meiya breathing in, then began to lift her arms up into the air. The weight, or power, of the Elemental made it extremely difficult for Meiya to lift, but eventually, she got a good enough height. She then clenched her fists, turning the Water Elemental into an ice sculpture in less than a second, all except for the gold and blue belt it was wearing.
Meiya dropped her arms, causing the frozen Elemental to drop to the ground. Before anyone could exhale with relief, though, the sculpture began to move. It rolled onto its stomach and stood up, curiously touching its featureless face with its now solid hands.
"Oh, come ON! What happened?" Meiya complained.
"I think it's that belt. Did the creatures you froze have rings or belts like that?" Kaizu asked.
"No…"
"Then that belt is the focus. It's what's making the Elemental an Elemental and not just a creature made of living water."
"There's a difference?" Kohi asked. She gasped and leaped out of the way as the monster smashed the ground that she was sitting on a moment ago.
"We have to remove that belt." Kaizu determined, taking a stance and launching a steam of violet flames at the beast. At the same time, Meiya tried to correct her mistake by clenching and unclenching her fists, turning the beast back into water. Kaizu's fame blast blew up a huge cloud of steam, but otherwise, had no effect on the Elemental.
Kaizu slapped his palm to his face, sighing.
"Sorry." Meiya said, wiping away an embarrassed bead of sweat.
"It's alright… But you just gave me an idea. It's a dangerous idea, and it's an idea I've only used once, and that was a long time ago. Lift the Elemental into the air again, but this time, hold it in place."
Meiya breathed in and picked up the Water Elemental again, her face turning red with the strain.
"Hold it steady…" Kaizu said, breathing in and out. Purple electricity crackled on his body and he stepped back and took a stance.
"Hrgg… Hurry… I can't hold it for much longer…" Meiya groaned.
Kaizu squinted hard at the Elemental before lunging forward and thrusting two fingers at it. An arm-thick bolt of lightning exploded out of Kaizu's fingers and struck the belt. The entire form of the Water Elemental turned into a sparkling, flailing blob of lightning, which exploded in a large flash of light. What fell from the sky surprised all of them. It was a dark orb, about as large as a grapefruit, and surrounded in some sort of dark aura.
"…The heck? What is this?" Meiya said.
"It appears to be a leftover mote of the elemental we just destroyed." Kaizu said, picking it up.
"What's a mote?" Kohi asked.
"A small piece or shard of something." Kaizu said as he picked it up and felt it tingle in his hands.
"This kind of power could be useful. We should take it with us." Kaizu nodded, giving the mote to Ischi to hold.
"There's one more room past this one that branches out to several more room all about the first floor. This place is very complex…" Meiya said.
"Well, we're not splitting up again. Let's see where this place takes us." Zuko said. He looked up at the writing above the doorway in the back of the room. As expected, he couldn't read it at all. He shook his and was about to start walking when Kaizu said something that stopped him.
"Elevation Chamber." he said, adjusting his glasses.
"…What?" Zuko asked.
"The writing above the passage you were looking at. It says 'Elevation Chamber'."
"Whaa..? You can READ that?" Kohi exclaimed. Kaizu looked confused.
"Of course. Can't you? The writing couldn't be any clearer. Odd, though, that I can read THAT but not these… books…"
As Kaizu said that, he grabbed a random book and flipped through it. Furling his brows, he put the book down and grabbed the same book that he failed to read earlier. All of it was now legible.
"I… I can read this. How is this possible? I couldn't read any of this before I fixed those wires."
Kaizu had a suddenly flashback, remembering that a flash of some sort of energy struck his glasses. Forming a hypothesis in his head, Kaizu took his glasses off and tried to read the book again. No dice. He put them back on, and the writing was as clear as day.
"My glasses must be charged with some kind of energy that allows me to read this…"
"Really?" Kohi asked. "Well, can you read this?"
She handed him the history book and he flipped through it.
"Every word… It seems this is the wing of Orcas' castle that Ragnarok, lord of the Plane of Fire, hacked off during the First Elemental War 200 years ago. The energy that came with separating this piece of the palace was so great that it sent the wing to the waking world. It rose out of the sea with a great roar right outside the Northern Water tribe territory. It seems that the Scholar's wing was populated when it was banished, and the horrible energy turned them into corrupted monsters."
"So, there are elementals still here." Meiya determined.
"Most likely. Let's move onward and see what we find out about this Elevation Chamber." Kaizu said, closing the book, grabbing a couple more, and walking on.
TeaMeiya came upon a large, empty room with a giant icy tube leading high up into the air.
"A giant elevator!" Kohi yelled. "This is perfect! If it leads to the top, this trip should be shorter than we all had assumed!"
"I'd bet anything that it doesn't work." Meiya said. All five of them entered the large open elevator. There weren't any operations, controls, or anything that seemed to make it work. Just five glowing sigils on the ground.
"So, what now? How do we get it to work?"
Kaizu flipped through a couple of the books he had taken.
"This elevator is supposed to have five Elementals stationed here at all times. It won't work without them."
"Pfft. I'm the second-best Waterbender around. I'm sure I could power a measly little panel and make it rise." Meiya said, lifting her hands. Nothing moved.
"Gr. What's going on?" Meiya growled in frustration, trying to lift it again.
"Like I said, it won't work without five Elementals." Kaizu repeated.
"All the Elementals here have gone mad! How do we get this to work?" Meiya complained.
Kaizu stared curiously at the mote in Ischi's hands.
"Eat the mote." Kaizu suggested. Everyone gave Kaizu an odd stare.
"You not serious, are you?" Meiya groaned.
"It's the best way I can think of to trick this elevator into thinking you're a Water Elemental. Ischi, give her the mote."
Ischi furled her eyebrows as she handed the tingling sphere to Meiya, who prepared to chomp down on it.
"No! Don't bite it!" Kaizu sad suddenly, covering Meiya's mouth. "If you puncture it, it could explode."
"Well, then how do you expect me to eat this?" Meiya demanded.
"Just stuff it in your mouth and see if it melts." Zuko suggested.
Meiya sighed before opening her mouth wide and cramming the large mote inside. It was a tight, uncomfortable fit at first, but it progressively melted in Meiya's mouth. When it was completely gone, Meiya looked around.
"Well? How do you feel?" Ischi asked.
"There's a tingly feeling in my stomach. It tickles a little bit."
"Alright, now we just have to link you to four more motes and we can get this thing working again." Kaizu said.
"Alright, you CAN'T be serious, now." Meiya groaned.
(A/N: Sorry I have to cut this chapter short, but the next couple of parts are too good to spoil right away! ^^
School has completely screwed me over… Algebra 2 homework takes forever, and by the time I'm done with it, I'm in no mood to do any of my other homework, or work on the story. Sorry that I'm so aloof, guys.
Anyway, before I go, I have something to say. A few weeks ago, I received my first REAL bad review for this story. But not in the form of a review. In the form of a text message. Of course, I'm not giving a name, but the sender claimed that I had no imagination or creativity, and that my characters were 'dupes', cheap copies of the original ATLA characters. The sender also said that the plot was railing and that it was extremely similar to ATLA.
I, of course, do not agree in the slightest, but I want your opinion, out of curiosity. Look at ATLA, and then look at A:RotS. Are the two really as similar as the bad reviewer claims they are? Be honest.
On behalf of TeaMeiya and the life-draining Algebra 2, this is SH10, wishing you happy reading! Stay safe, everyone.)
