Ch 8
Meiying waited for the carriage service to pick her up the next morning. She could not remember much of what had occurred last evening at all. Despite falling asleep on the trip home from Lake Laogai. There were thoughts running rampant in her mind, but the unusual issue was; she could not tell what they were. A precaution, scratching at the farthest back area of her mind, but despite that she didn't know what exactly it was.
The carriage was unexpectedly late this morning; granted it was much earlier than previous days. The sun had not fully rose, and the sky was only beginning to become lighter as it slowly transitioned into the morning twilight. The fire lamps of the city were still lit, revealing a light mist had settled throughout the city. Meiying tried to maintain her stillness, but she couldn't help but shiver quietly in the morning cold.
She could hear the approach of the carriage coming from the mist. The sound of creaking wheels on squeaky trucks and axles was a noise not common of her normal carriage service. She turned to the direction of the approaching car, squinting to try and see what was coming.
This time, two ostrich horses drew into view, breaking through the mist and coming into the faint light of the nearby lantern. The car which followed was taller, and visually heavy. The walls were made of iron, and the car swayed from side to side more notably due to the greater height and weight. The driver was a Dai Li agent. The coach passed before Meiying and screeched to a halt. The walls of the carriage were solid, with no windows cut out. The rear door opened and another two Dai Li agents emerged from the car.
"Good morning, Joo Dee," he greeted.
"Excuse me?" Meiying was puzzled. There must have been some mistake. "There..must be some mistake," she said nervously through a smile. "I'm Meiying! Joo Dee is another state guide for the city."
The two agents silently looked to each other, nodding in agreement ominously. Meiying nervously looked back and forth between the two agents before her.
"We do not make mistakes," one of the agents finally spoke. He raised his head just enough to look her straight in the eye. As the brim of his helmet raised up, revealing his face, Meiying caught sight of a point which made her spirit plummet, and whatever composure she had left to abruptly extinguish.
On the agent's right cheek was a scar! The same scar she had seen on one of the men who had attacked her family's home!
Meiying gasped, taking a timid step back away from the agents. She began shaking her head in disbelief. "No..No it couldn't be..they were Dai Li agents?"
A silent thud was felt behind her. Another agent. He had descended a hidden location above. Before Meiying could spin around, before she could react, a glove made of stone covered her mouth, keeping her screams suppressed. Simultaneously, another pair of rock gloves cuffed her hands together behind her back. Now arrested by earthbending, she was shoved forward to the two receiving agents who stood at the ready by the door to the wagon. She stumbled forth, being caught by the Dai Li operatives. Only muffled screams and groans could be heard at a very short proximity, no one would be alerted to what was going on. The scarred agent took a bending stance and, raising an open hand, bended the stones which arrested Meiying. She was slowly levitating off the ground until the tips of her toes could no longer contact the street. The second agent then pushed forth a closed fist, sending Meiying flying into the wagon. The stones which bound her hands joined into a stone slab within. The last vision she made out, was the door being shut before her, sealing her in darkness. Meiying passed out from shock.
Her eyes shot open. She was seated against a wall on the floor of a rather dark setting. She couldn't remember anything after she was thrown into the back of the carriage, and she did not know where she was. She could feel the stone floor beneath her palms. Rising to her feet, she tried to get an idea of what her situation was. As she groggily came to her senses she began to take in more and more of her surroundings. The chamber she was in was stone all around with no windows, only a single door to the front of the compartment. Green crystals were the sole source of illumination in the room, providing ample light and casting a soft green glow across the room.
And in the midst of the room, assembled in formation by rank and file were the women of her training group. Though this time, they all stood idle and motionless, as if statues, oriented toward the front of the room as if waiting for something or someone.
Timidly, straightening out her uniform, Meiying approached the formation. They were the same faces she had grown accustomed to seeing everyday and working with, but something about them made them seem so detached and not like their normal selves. As if they were completely different people. They paid her no attention as she walked among the group, not even the acknowledgement of a mere glance.
"Yuiko?" Meiying searched, are you here?" She searched for her partner during training. She had been turning up absent over the last few sessions, but she began to feel as though she definitely would find her here. Her stomach began to churn.
"Yuiko-"
She tapped one of the women on the shoulder and turned her towards her. The woman was slightly shorter and her hair was elegantly tied up in knots. It was obvious her hair had been cut recently. It was Yuiko!
"Yuiko! It's me! Meiying! What's going on? Where are we? Where have you been?"
She did not reply or take notice that Meiying was there, rather, she
"Yuiko?" She shook her slightly by the shoulders in her panicked state. "What did they do to you?"
"Yuiko? I'm sorry I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Joo Dee," she flatly said, eerily, a wide grin on her face.
Joo Dee? How could that be? Why was she claiming to be her? They've met before?
"You seem troubled. But worry not, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," Yuiko added. "I think you will find it will be quite relaxing."
The door at the head of the compartment opened, the sound of grinding stone and squealing metal echoing in the chamber and the halls outside and in walked three Dai Li agents. The lead agent immediately spotted Meiying and pointed her out to the other two. Suddenly and swiftly, she was once again detained forcefully. She couldn't escape and she couldn't scream. And as they dragged her out of the room she heard the call and response recital between the remaining agent and the women of her training group.
"I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se."
Around the room, a small lantern coasted. Round and round on its small metal track. Meiying focused on it as it circled the Dai Li agent who stood in the middle of its circular track. She was forcefully seated upon delivery, bound to the chair by rocks which secured her arms to the arm rests and her head to the chair's back board. She couldn't look around with more than just her eyes, and the more she struggled, the more she tired herself out. From where she was seated, the lamp as it made its orbital passage, rather seemed as though it simply passed from left to right in a linear path.
Her eyes darted around the room before focusing on the agent before her. She was free to speak, yell, and scream to her heart's content, which she did for a considerable amount of time. The three agents in the room, centered in the middle of the lantern's track, and the two which flanked her, remained silent during her feeble attempts to cry for help amid her panicked confusion. For them, they had enough experience to know the screaming and desperation and crying for help among other things could only realistically last for so long. Their ears had become accustomed and numb to the sharp vocal notes which echoed and bounced around the sealed compartment.
She was exhausted, now unable to will any further verbal cries out, leaving only her fatigued pants.
"Calm down, you're safe now, Joo Dee."
Again with that name! What was going on here?
"The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."
Me? But why would he invite me?
"You've shown potential and excellence which should be rewarded."
Around and around, the lantern continued its eternal orbit, casting a bright and blinding light across her face as it passed. She squinted when the cycle brought the lamp nearest to her.
"Why do you keep referring to me as Joo Dee? I'm Meiying! What about the others?! Why is Yuiko referring to herself as Joo Dee as well?!"
"Your name is Joo Dee. A servant of the Earth King." His voice remained steady and calm.
"No! You're mistaken! You have the wrong person! My name is Meiying! I have a family in the lower ring!"
"Your name is Joo Dee, a servant of the Earth King."
"No! I- I don't like this! I don't want to do this anymore! I want to return home! Let me go!"
She struggled once more, trying to break free of her arrest to no avail. Her second wind lasted for a formidable amount of time. The Dai Li agent paused in his mantra to allow her to 'speak her mind'. The stone chair she was seated in creaked and groaned from her forceful attempts to break free, but to no avail. After more moments of thrashing about she was tired out once more and drained. Beads of sweat began rolling down her forehead.
"Your name is Joo Dee, a servant of the Earth King," they continued. "You are home."
She couldn't fight any further, she had no choice but to sit, watch, and listen. She did not possess the energy even to avoid sitting still. How she wished she could earthbend. Or even if to have the bending abilities of any element. Here, she was helpless.
"Your name is Joo Dee, a servant of the Earth King."
Meiying couldn't help but keep her eyes drawn on the agent before her. He wasn't much more than an outline to her, and his face could only be seen briefly as the lantern passed between them.
"There's no war in Ba Sing Se. There was no Meiying, and there are no mistakes. There is nothing more than peace and order. You are Joo Dee, a humble servant of the Earth King."
The lantern passed before her.
During the training session, hold on to your reason for doing this tightly. Visualize the faces you long to see. Remember the reason you do this, and who you are. Hang on to that tightly. She vaguely remembered.
She clung to her reasons tightly. Mentally she remembered their faces. Her father; Zhang. Her mother; Aiko. Her younger brother; Jiao. Her love interest; Wei. She clung to their struggles. Of the war, their journey, and toils they experienced during their immigration to Ba Sing Se, seeking refuge from the Fire Nation. Of the brutal attack against her family in the lower ring of the city. She hung onto those memories as tightly as she could. Though as the speaker continued and the lantern orbited, it became increasingly difficult to. How long would this last? She couldn't take it for much longer.
"You're name is Joo Dee, a servant of the Earth King. Here, everyone is safe. Here, everyone is free."
The lantern passed before her once again. She had lost it.
After a long, and unknown, amount of time had passed. Joo Dee was exhausted. Broken down, mentally and physically, she now sat still. Her eyes remained fixed to the agent before her.
As the lantern passed before her, she no longer squinted and was no longer bothered by its bright light.
One of the sentries extended a hand forth, halting the lamp abruptly from its orbit, leaving it stationary between the speaker and Joo Dee.
They looked to each other and agreed that they had succeeded.
"Joo Dee, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."
Her head and arm restraints were released, granting her freedom of movement. It was generous of them to do so.
She raised her eyes to look directly at him steadily.
"I am honored to accept his invitation," she finally replied.