Chapter 11: Spiritual Investigation
The Magnificent Turtle Duck landed back at the White Lotus Compound, opening its shell for Tenzin and Jinora to hop out. Claire and Kang bid them farewell, the mad inventor closing the shell once more.
"I had hoped Tenzin would know a thing or two about the Spirit Portal, him being an Air nomad and all," The defeated Avatar said.
Kang slumped in his seat, thinking to himself before a light-bulb popped up over his head, "We need someone with a vast knowledge of the spirit world, right?"
Claire paused, raising a perplexed eyebrow, "Well... yes, that would be ideal."
"I know a guy... well, I know of a guy who's very familiar with the Spirit World."
Claire's eyes to lit up, enthusiastically pumping her arms "Can you take us to him!?"
"I can, but it'll be a long ride. He's all the way in Ba Sing Se," Kang replied.
"Do we have enough fuel to get there?" Claire cautiously asked.
Kang waltzed over to a small compartment, opening it up to reveal several metal canisters, "I'm always prepared"
"Great! Let's go!" Claire said.
Kang shut the compartment, walking back to his seat, then setting off towards Ba Sing Se.
The Magnificent Turtle Duck soared over the ice tipped mountain tops of the Earth Kingdom, and over the Serpent's Pass until they came to the Outer wall of Ba Sing Se.
Claire's head perked up at the sight of the great wall, "Are We There Yet?"
"Well, yes... but also no," Kang replied, "That was the outer wall. Our location is the Upper Ring!"
"Upper Ring... that's where the Earth King lives, right?" Claire curiously asked.
"Indeed, but we aren't going to see him," Kang replied.
The two flew further into Ba Sing Se, soaring over the pauper state of the lower ring and the hospitable state of the middle ring until finally making it to the extravagant Upper Ring.
"Keep an eye out for a green building with an orange and gold roof, there should be a fountain out front," Kang explained.
Claire nodded, looking out the window and spotting a building which matched the description, "Down there!"
Kang looked over to the building, nodding as the Magnificent Turtle Duck began its descent.
But Claire uneasily gazed at Kang as they got closer to the ground, "You... do know where you plan to land, right?"
"Of course!" Kang lied, trying to land on the roof.
But the roof not having a flat top made it impossible. The Magnificent Turtle Duck ascended back up, hovering to the side. Kang spied a spot by the fountain, "Ooh, there will do nicely."
The Magnificent Turtle Duck touched down safely, but despite that, the presence of the machine instilled horror within Ba Sing Se's residents, many fleeing from The Magnificent Turtle Duck, whilst Claire and Kang leapt out from the shell.
"No need to panic! We came for some tea!" Kang shouted, walking into the building they landed in front of.
"We've heard it's lovely!" Claire shouted.
The two stood at the entrance of the building, a beefy, green-eyed, black-haired server swiftly approaching them.
"Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, that was quite the entrance you two made!"
"Indeed!" Kang heartily replied.
"Now are you here for tea... or information?"
Kang raised an eyebrow to the latter half of his question, "Both!"
The server guided the two to a table, pulling their seats out for them to sit, "What Tea can I get for you?"
"A Tapioca Tea!" Kang requested, Claire unsurely asked for the same.
The server bowed and took his leave to create their order whilst Kang and Claire turned their attention to each other, "You know, I was expecting the person we came to see greet us." Kang said
"Do you know his name? Or what he looks like?" The sceptical Claire asked.
"I know what he looks like: old, large beard, partially bald head..."
"Sure you aren't just describing Zu?" Claire jested.
Kang smirked, shaking his head, "No, no, but I see what you mean... his name is just on the tip of my tongue..."
The server returned with their tea, placing the amber-coloured liquid with softballs of tapioca inside along with a straw on the table, taking a seat next to them, "And finally, what information can I get for you?"
Kang drank the tea through the straw, enjoying it thoroughly, "He really was ahead of his time."
"Kang!" Claire called out.
The mad inventor broke his attention away from the tea, "Oh, yes. Where is uh..." despite his time to think, he still struggled to remember the name, muttering to himself, "That was it! Is Iroh here?"
But the server let out a saddened sigh, "Iroh... vanished a few years ago."
Claire put her tea down, perplexingly looking to him, "Hold on, 'Vanished'?"
"Yes, my brother and I never found a body... but I remember him coming to me in a dream once."
"Do you remember the dream?" Kang asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.
"Vaguely. I can remember is that on the day he vanished, I saw him in a dream, saying," The server cleared his throat, "'The time has come for me to go on a new adventure, but not in this world', and then told me 'I'm leaving the Jasmine Dragon in your hands, I know you'll do me proud', then I woke up."
"A new adventure not in this world..." Kang pondered.
"So... the only person who had 'vast knowledge on the Spirit World'... left to go to the Spirit World," Claire said.
"Yeah, I think so... I miss him from time to time, He was a kind man despite all the strife of his life."
"We apologise for opening old wounds," Kang said, rooting in his leather pouch and pulling out a sack of gold pieces, "Here's payment for the tea and information!" he placed the sack before the server
He picked up Kang's sack, shock washing over his face, "But... this is way too much!"
Kang finished drinking his tea, shortly followed by Claire begrudgingly finishing hers, "Consider the excess a donation to the tea house!"
The two stood up, leaving the shocked server by the table, "Thank you, sir!" The server bowed as Kang and Claire took their leave, but the server watched Kang leave, slanting his eyes at the mad inventor.
"He's got a familiar aura about him... there's no way he's..."
Kang and Claire approached The Magnificent Turtle Duck, only to see it surrounded by City Guards and Dai Li agents.
"What is this thing?" a city guard asked, poking it with a spear.
"It looks like a... Giant Turtle Duck."
The poking around of the guards and Dai Li agitated Kang, the mad inventor rushing in at the Dai Li and City guards, "Hey, what are you doing!?"
One of the Dai Li launched a Rock Glove at the mad inventor's right arm, stretching it around his body and wrapping around his forearms, "Oh, my!" Kang exclaimed, falling to the ground with a groaning thud.
The Dai Li looked to one another, nodding and pointing towards Kang. Five of them rushed in. But Claire dashed towards Kang, launching him up to her chest level with a column of earth, grappling him and swiping her leg along the ground, unleashing a powerful gust of wind, sweeping away the unprepared Dai Li.
Claire charged towards The Magnificent Turtle Duck, but the City guards prepared a blockade, intending to stop the Duo's escape.
Claire bent the rock glove off Kang's arms, allowing him to launch himself on Jets of flame into The Magnificent Turtle Duck. Claire pulled the water out from the fountain, bending it around herself before swiping it across the City guards, freezing them in a wall of ice.
Kang opened the shell for Claire, "Let's get moving!"
The Avatar quickly climbed up the stairway and into the Cockpit as the Magnificent Turtle Duck shot off into the sky and away from Ba Sing Se.
As they left, an elderly Earth King Kuei, gold and green robes adorned his entire body, emerald beads draped around his neck, and a green hat with a golden circle with a square etched out of its centre, accompanied by his old bear Bosco approached the frozen city guards and disorientated Dai Li, "I heard of a massive Turtle Duck outside my favourite tea shop and I come to find... this?"
"The Turtle Duck flew away!" a citizen pointed to The Magnificent Turtle Duck soaring away.
Both Kuei and Bosco looked up at it, gasping with awe, "It's Magnificent!" Kuei said as Bosco gave a low roar of agreement.
The two made it back to Republic City, the night had already fallen upon it, a half-moon hanging in the sky, surrounded by stars. Kang smiled at the stars with fond memories whilst an intrigued Claire looked at him.
The duo descended into the metal tunnel, retracting the wings and landing safely in The Hanger, and as they walked through the door into Kang's Lab, Sky and Khana entered through the elevator.
"Hello there!" Kang greeted them.
"Hi..." the exhausted Khana replied.
Claire noticed their fatigued demeanour, "Are you two... all right?"
"Well, we went to investigate your chief because Khana smelt something fishy, and then we ended up lost in the sewers, fought an Unagi and ended up smelling a lot worse than fishy," Sky explained.
Claire scowled at the sewer explorers, "All I said was that the chief seemed odd! How did that warrant spying on him?"
"Claire, we didn't mean to offend you! But It's a good thing we spied on him. He's up to something!" Khana replied.
Claire crossed her arms, "Go on..."
"He said he's been 'waiting five years for this moment' and then began muttering to himself," Sky explained, "He also sounded much... younger than expected," Khana said.
Kang shook his head, grimacing at the two as Claire scoffed, "So... you two just heard about him waiting for something and that he sounded younger than expected..."
Claire shook her head, walking away from the two, "I knew telling her would be a bad idea," Sky whispered
"Well, it was either that or leave her in the dark!" Khana quietly replied.
"I can hear you!" Claire shouted.
Kang stepped in between Sky, Khana, and Claire, "Stop bickering! Claire. Khana and Sky were just trying to look out for you. And Khana, Sky, you two had good intentions, but spying on someone you don't know is... well, quite frankly kind of creepy."
The bickering three each let out a heavy sigh, "Besides, we have much more important things to worry about than Unalaq smelling fishy, Claire needs to find a way into the Spirit World, and our only chances have all been a bust," Kang explained.
Sky and Khana looked to the ceiling, pondering to themselves for a moment, "Have you tried contacting your past lives?" Khana asked.
Claire perked her head up, "I... haven't."
"You can meditate in the Shell of The Magnificent Turtle Duck," Kang said.
"Thank you, and you too... Khana," Claire replied, walking into the Hanger.
Kang pressed the button on his remote, opening the Shell and putting his leather pouch down on a table.
Claire stepped inside The Magnificent Turtle Duck as the mad inventor shut her inside.
The Avatar sat down on one side of The Shell's interior, placing her hands together, inhaling through her nose then through her mouth, shutting her eyes, to begin her meditation.
A blue misty form emerged from Claire, placing itself on the opposite side of The Magnificent Turtle Duck's interior, taking the shape of Aang, "Hello again, Claire."
The Avatar opened her eyes, smiling at Aang, "Hello!"
"I've seen your adventures, and I can tell you're trying to gain access to the Spirit World," Aang firmly said.
Claire nodded, "Tenzin thinks 'Chaotic energy is flooding into the Spirit World' and asking Iroh for help was a bust... and the last person... well, persons we could think of who have knowledge on the spirit world are my past lives."
"There are several ways to enter the Spirit World, such as through meditation," Aang said.
"Wouldn't meditation only send my spirit there, not my body?"
"Yes... that would be inconvenient. Your body would be defenceless, and prolonged separation from your body could be fatal," Aang explained.
Claire winced at the latter part of his explanation, "Any other way?"
"The Mortal and Spirit world's energies are at their closest during a Solstice. You may be able to get there during the Summer or Winter Solstice," Aang explained.
"Well... unless there's an Autumn solstice, I don't think Solstices are an option," Claire half-jokingly replied.
The disgruntled Aang thought to himself, "There is the Spirit Oasis back at the North Pole, which could be an entrance to the Spirit World.. although if the rumours are true you could end up getting stuck there, or worse,"
"I guess I'll just have to trust Unalaq... speaking of which, have you ever heard of 'The Nexus'?" Claire asked.
But Aang raised a bewildered eyebrow to her, "I haven't no..."
Disappointment washed over Claire, "Oh well, thank you for your help, Aang!"
Claire stood up, but Aang raised his hand to her, "One last thing... I wouldn't trust your friend, Kang... he's a potentially dangerous person."
The curious Avatar sat back down, "I've heard you had a run-in with him before."
"I did... we fought and during that battle, I redirected his Lightning, and when I did the scar on my back tensed up. At the time I reacted out of fear, intending to strip him of his bending... but he got away thanks to his friend... I don't know how they alluded me. Even Toph couldn't find them."
Claire placed a hand to her chin, thinking to herself, "He doesn't seem like a 'dangerous person' now... a bit on the mad side, but not dangerous."
"Perhaps he's not as dangerous as I first thought when crossed paths with him..." Aang sombrely replied.
Claire affirmatively nodded, "Thank you again!"
Claire bowed to Aang one last time before his spirit faded back into her.