Disclaimer: I don't own AtLA.
AN: I'm currently working on a research job for July that, while fascinating, is exhausting, resulting in an argument with my muse, who is unwilling to help me with this story as a result. Combining everything, I have decided to finish up Inversion, which is now Inversion Book 1: Fire within the next few chapters. Then I'll keep working on Hope's Return when I have energy, and hopefully when my job wraps up I can work on Inversion Book 2.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The City of the Sun 1
Seas Surrounding the Sun Warrior Island: Fire Nation waters: 18th lányuè, 99 AG
"It should be somewhere around here," Anji informed her companions as she glanced up from the map she was studying. She shifted over to the side of Appa's back and peered down at the waters below. The two Fire siblings also stuck their heads out over the edge to look down. After weeks of travelling, the pair had grown used to flight, and were now comfortably secure in both Appa and Anji's airbending abilities. Worst came to worse, she wouldn't let them fall more than a few feet. Her talent for airbending seemed far more than the result of past life knowledge. It was sometimes as if she were the wind personified, rather than its mistress.
"It has to be that one over there," Zuko declared after a few moments of searching for some sign of land, pointing at the small dot of land staining the otherwise completely blue seascape beneath them. The girls followed his finger to peer at the small island, and Anji consulted the map drawn by Roku centuries earlier and their compass to double-check their coordinates.
"I think you're right," she agreed after a moment, nodding in assent. "That does seem to be it."
"Unless we're on the completely wrong side of the archipelago," Azula added with dry pessimism. The closer they'd gotten to the Sun Warriors' city, the more doubtful and anxious she had become. She worried constantly about what would happen if the Warriors really were extinct. All three of the young travellers were keenly aware of the fact that Anji had less than a year to master the elements and stop the Coalition before the Blood Moon's return. They really didn't have time for the secondary plan, that is, for them to turn around and try to find Iroh in the Earth Kingdom to complete the Avatar's training.
Despite these worries, Azula, like the other two, did her best to keep her worry hidden from the other two. As such, she nudged her brother's ribs lightly and gave him a small smirk. "Nice work, spotting that Zuzu," she muttered to him as Anji re-gathered Appa's reins in her hands to begin guiding him towards the small island. "I didn't even notice the place until you pointed it out."
He shrugged off the compliment, but inwardly he was pleased. Often, Zuko felt like a superfluous part of the group, given that Azula was a prodigious firebender who had improved in leaps and bounds since she'd had someone else to practice with, and Anji...well, Anji was the Avatar. There was little more to be said about why somebody would feel inferior to her abilities. It was always nice when he felt he'd made an actual contribution, even something as small as spotting an island.
It didn't take long for them to reach the island, where Anji aimed to set her bison down on the beach, the only place that seemed like he would fit comfortably and have room to move without being bothered by the vines and greenery covering the island. Her poor bison was constantly itchy nowadays from being hidden by the leaf-covering they had woven to disguise him when they camped or went to resupply in a town or village. Anji did her best to brush out his fur as best she could whenever she had the chance, but grooming Appa properly was a long, arduous task that took far longer than they had. Hopefully she would get a chance soon, because she hated when her best and oldest friend was suffering.
As they descended, the site of the city of the Sun Warriors, right in the centre of the island, came into view. They were all stunned by the beauty of it. Even Azula's usual bored mien had been replaced by an impressed and wide-eyed expression as they took in the ruins, still mostly intact though derelict. The island was small enough that the beach was probably only about two miles walk from the main city, and the ziggurat rising from the middle of the old metropolis was massive, easily visible from their hovering position in the sky, with other houses and buildings that seemed to exist for varying purposes scattered around the island. A spiritual energy, an odd mixture of peaceful yet fierce radiated from it. It should have felt strange, the combination of soothing and determined energy, yet it simply reminded them of the warmth of the sun on a beautiful summer's day.
"Wow," Anji breathed in awe. It was good Appa was so intelligent, because she was too amazed to guide their descent properly. "It's so beautiful."
"Yes, it really is," Zuko agreed, equally awed. Azula was silent, but the expression she wore spoke volumes.
An image flashed across Anji's eyes. Chasing a young boy with his hair in a topknot ponytail through the forest, laughing with the voice of a boy too young for his voice to have broken. Anji caught a glimpse of her reflection as she passed a puddle from a recent rainfall, the face of a Fire boy with gold eyes, sun-kissed skin and red marks painted on his cheeks. She blinked and the memory dispersed.
"Well, I don't think we'll have too much trouble figuring out which way to go," Azula finally broke out of her trance, replacing her indifferent façade quickly as she spoke. "But I don't see anybody, or any signs of life. What do we do if we're wrong, and they really are extinct?"
Anji shook her head in stubborn denial. "They're not," she insisted adamantly. She refused to believe it. They had to remain. They just had to. "And this will prove it to you. Let me just make sure Appa and Momo are safe, then we can get moving."
Soon enough, they were making their way through the forest to the city. With their experience traversing forests, it didn't take long to reach the ruins, where their breath was stolen by the view, far superior to the one from Appa's back.
The Sun Warriors' ancient city was an architectural marvel. The buildings were all ziggurats of differing heights in hues of earthen gold and sandstone, with the largest ziggurat situated directly in the centre of the city and ascending high into the sky. It was so high, it gave the impression that someone could reach out and touch the Sun itself from its' flat top. The streets were paved with what looked like gold at first glance, but clearly something else and unidentifiable to the trio, when one examined them in more depth.
Everything seemed to be in good repair, just abandoned. Dark green vines, some with flowers blooming on them, were draped over various places.
"What now?" Zuko wondered after several moments of silent examination of the city from its gates.
The girls glanced at each other, before Anji adjusted her grip on her staff and began walking. "We should look around," she stated decisively. "We'll find something at some point. Some clue to what happened and such."
"Even if we can't find out what happened, we can at least see if they left any scrolls behind," Azula reasoned to assuage her worried conscience about the wasted time. "The Sun Warriors were the best firebenders ever. Even one scroll with a single technique could be invaluable." Her eyes gleamed at the prospect of learning anything new about firebending, even if it was just from a scroll.
They wandered through the city, occasionally poking their heads inside buildings to see what was there, not that there was much.
"Does it seem like they left deliberately to you?" Zuko wondered after finishing examining an abandoned house. He was covered in dust, his dark locks lightened to grey, but it hardly bothered him. Not the way the ruins did.
"What do you mean?" Anji asked, tilting her head like a bird. She wore a dissatisfied frown that had been deepening with each empty home or shop they investigated.
"There's nothing left," Zuko explained. "Not even bowls or cutlery. Certainly no people or bending scrolls. It's strange, isn't it? They must have left deliberately, and planned to do so."
"Not so much of a DumDum after all," Azula admitted. "I think that you're right. Maybe they fled the Coalition?"
Anji was silent, chewing on her bottom lip. "I just find it hard to believe that they would decide to flee instead of fight," she said. "There's a reason they're called the Sun Warriors, after all. Sending away the children and elders if they were under threat, I suppose I could see happening if things were very desperate.
But their civilization is-was the oldest in the world. They can trace their history directly back to the original benders who were blessed by Agni and learned from the dragons. This isn't the worst war they'd have encountered, hard as it might be to believe. They have special techniques. They wouldn't die quietly. I just can't believe it."
"Maybe you're right," Zuko muttered as he glanced around, feeling an itch between his shoulder blades. He felt as if someone (or perhaps someones) was watching them. He'd been feeling it for awhile, in fact. But although he had checked several times, he couldn't see anyone. Finally, he informed the girls of his concern, immediately putting them both on high alert despite the lack of evidence.
"What do you mean?" Azula frowned, copying him and looking around with a suspicious expression, one hand drifting to her knife hilt. Anji stiffened and gripped her staff tighter, also scanning the area.
"I can't put my finger on it," Zuko admitted. "I just-it feels as though we're being watched. Neither of you sense anything?"
"No," Anji said slowly, still looking around. "But we should still stay on guard. Better to be overly cautious than be caught off guard by an ambush."
The Fire siblings nodded.
"Of course, it could be a spirit or the ghosts of the Warriors," Azula added teasingly with a faint smirk, though she didn't relax, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings. She trusted her brother's judgement, and they were too experienced by now to ever fully relax.
Zuko huffed and pushed her lightly in response, his spare hand on the hilt of one of his Dao swords. Tense, the group continued to peruse the remains of the ancient Fire civilization.
/\\\/\\\/\\\
"These are familiar, aren't they?" Azula mused, squinting at one ziggurat.
"Yes," Zuko nodded. "Remember the old temple where Sage Kunyo used to teach us? I think the design was based off Sun Warrior architecture."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Anji said distractedly, examining an old mosaic of a group of dancing dragons. "The first sages learned from the Warriors, after all. Who is Sage Kunyo, by the way?"
"He was the sage assigned to Ember Island," Azula explained. "He died from apoplexy about three years ago. He was quite old. Uncle sent a few letters to Crescent Island informing them of his death and asking about receiving a new sage, but we never got a response. We haven't had a sage since then."
"Any idea why?" Anji inquired, displeased and troubled at the prospect of the populace of Ember Island having their spiritual needs neglected.
The siblings shrugged. "Could be anything," Zuko stated. "The letters might have been intercepted by the Coalition, or the Sages might have decided it was too dangerous to risk the trip...There are a lot of possibilities. Anyway, Li and Lo are as good as any sages."
Anji hummed and frowned at the ground, thumb rubbing the wood of her staff.
"There are a lot of dragon scenes and statues, aren't there?" Zuko mused as he spotted yet another mosaic with a dragon on it. This depiction portrayed a green one with a Sun Warrior woman perched on its' back flying through the sky.
"Well, the dragons were the original firebenders," Azula pointed out. "And the Sun Warriors learned from them."
"Wouldn't it be amazing to see one in person?" Zuko wondered wistfully. The comment made Anji furrow her brow and look at her friends. Although she suspected she knew it already, and that she wouldn't like the answer, she asked the question that had sprung to mind anyway.
"What happened to the dragons, anyway?" She asked uneasily, adjusting her shawl. "There used to be hundreds, if not thousands around the Fire Nation. I remember once when Kelsang and I visited Hei-Ran and Kuzon, Kuzon and I saved a dragon egg nest from poachers after they killed the mother."
Hei-Ran and Kelsang had not been pleased with the two children for wandering off or getting into trouble with dangerous poachers, and Anji's defence for their actions, that she was the Avatar and supposed to protect the defenceless, as the unhatched dragonlets certainly were, had not softened either. Both children had been punished for their 'recklessness', though Kelsang had (once Hei-Ran was out of earshot) added that he was very proud of them, if furious at them putting themselves at risk.
Azula's acerbic response shook her out of her memories. "I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count."
"The Water Coalition?" Anji sighed mournfully. Spirits, it was physically painful to see what had happened to the world over the century. It hurt to see how cultures and societies, including, or perhaps especially, the Tribes had been warped by the War. How things once so central to people's beliefs had been forgotten or cast aside in favour of doing whatever necessary, no matter how horrible, in the name of survival. So much suffering, and for what? It was all so pointless, an endless, vicious spiral of attack and counterattack that worsened with every circle as each atrocity fed the opposition's rage and desire for vengeance.
She truly worried about how she could bring about a true peace. A lasting one that would secure the world long term instead of simply for a few years or decades. She was not naïve or arrogant enough to think she could forge a peace that would last forever, much as all her incarnations wished for it. But she knew she had to figure out a way to heal the divide caused by the best part of five generations of war. Taking down the High Chief and his family was only one part. How would she keep the Tribes in check afterwards, when their leaders were all opposed to her and had gained their power from the War? How was she going to secure a peace that wouldn't collapse into a renewed conflict as soon as she breathed her last?
She knew she would have to levy a hefty punishment on the Coalition to punish them for their atrocities and assuage the anger of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, but at the same time she owed it to the innocents of the Tribes such as Yugoda's son and his rebels and the children and women, the commons helpless to do anything but submit to their leaders, to avoid letting anger and grief rule her and destroy them. That was not to mention the risk of the Tribespeople lashing out if the punishment was too unendurable. It was an intimidating task to contemplate, and she decided to try and consult Kuruk about it. At the very least, she could put a voice to her worries, and hopefully he would have advice for her. Much as she trusted and loved Azula and Zuko, she knew they were too full of justified hatred for the Coalition to be impartial in the matter, and the Avatar had a duty to dispense justice without bias, for or against.
"Yes," Zuko confirmed, scowling and shaking Anji out of her worried and drifting thoughts, bringing her back to the present. "Emperor Amak was the one to start it. At the start of the War, dragon riders did a lot of damage to his navy, and he needed a way to counter it. The thing is, even at their height there was only about two thousand dragons, and only a tiny fraction would consent to be ridden by those whom they deemed 'worthy'." Here he put air quotes around the word. Anji nodded. She knew that, of course. Dragons, as Agni's first children, were mystical beings with powers far beyond flight and firebending. One of those abilities was the ability to see and judge a person's soul.
"So, Amak swore that he would give out lofty rewards to anyone who could kill a dragon and present its' body to him," Zuko went on, expression twisted in bitterness. Azula was glowering silently at the wall, fists clenched so tight pinpricks of blood welled in the indents created in her palms. "Even foreigners received rewards. Coalition soldiers basically got whatever they wanted. Governorships of conquered territory, gold, military ranks, anything they wanted.
For non-Tribesmen, they'd get things like protection and freedom for themselves and their families. They were allowed to reclaim typically their ancestral lands that had been taken by the Coalition, with their rights to it solidified. Marriage to a Tribesperson to 'improve' their bloodlines, which also gave them some more protection from the Coalition. That sort of thing. It was very effective. People from all nations went dragon hunting, and by the time our parents married, they were completely extinct."
"Pehar's skies," Anji breathed, horrified. "Are there any left at all?"
The pair shrugged, expressions glum. "Uncle said he saw a pair when he was young," Zuko informed her. "But he said they were killed in a battle, and that those were the last. Maybe there are some eggs hidden somewhere but no actual dragons that we know of."
Anji fell silent, gaze falling to the ground and expression solemn and guilty. The trio all continued wandering the city quietly, all lost in troubled thoughts.
"Zuko, watch out!" Azula suddenly snapped, grabbing her brother and yanking him backwards before he could finish his attempt to step through a doorway.
"What in Agni's name, Zula?" He huffed at her as Anji bounded over to them on a gust of airbending.
"You were about to break a tripwire, DumDum," she chastised, pointing at the bottom of the doorway. It took a moment, but when they inclined their heads in a certain way, they saw the light gleam faintly off a piece of thread. The firebender aimed and let out a tiny bullet of flame, activating the trap. The stone beneath slid away silently, revealing a dozen sharp spikes. Had Zuko activated the trap, he'd have been pierced and died before Anji or Azula could do anything to stop it.
Anji swallowed and shuddered, the image supplied by her imagination causing her skin to crawl. Why, the young Avatar mused glumly, were people so adept at finding ways to harm and/or kill one another? What was the point of it? What did one gain from causing suffering to others? She truly could not understand the mentality at all and she prayed to all the Spirits that she never did.
"These traps are in very good shape for an abandoned place like this," Zuko mused as he studied the trap.
"They had something to hide then," Azula stated, looking around with narrow eyes.
"Or someone," Anji suggested in a low, hopeful tone. "Like themselves."
They gave her contemplative looks before looking at each other and then nodding.
"Let's keep going," Azula urged her companions. "Whatever they were hiding, there must be some traces of them here somewhere. The Warriors went to a lot of trouble to hide something here, whether it's their people or their records. We have to find something eventually."
They continued, and soon came to the largest building in the centre. Close up, it seemed to be a temple of some sort, and the entrance was an elaborately carved doorway depicting a firebender with ornate dragons breathing fire at him. They passed through without incident, although they all kept a careful eye out for any other snares, and made their way down a dark and dusty passageway.
Eventually, they came to a large, opulently decorated door with a shining ruby the size of Azula's fist nestled in the centre and keeping it closed. On further study, it became clear that the room was sealed according to a celestial calendar, making Anji mutter a curse.
"What now?" She huffed, fixing her free hand on her hip and glaring at the door as if it were personally offending her. Why, the Avatar wondered grumpily, was everything so difficult? Even opening a door was complicated now! Airbenders were raised to believe in the value of patience, but she was rapidly running out with all the problems constantly facing their group.
"We can't exactly wait a year until the next summer solstice," an equally irritated Azula agreed, crossing her arms and pursing her lips in thought.
"Maybe we don't have to," Zuko said slowly. "We can just, speed up time..." Ignoring the looks of bemusement that soon changed to understanding and impressed on the girls' faces, he spun the blades of his Dao swords, reflecting the light. His efforts were rewarded when the stone glowed as the light hit it in the same way it would during a solstice and the door lifted up to disappear into the ceiling.
"Go Zuko," Anji breathed, clearly impressed.
"Good job, Brother Dear," Azula condescended to compliment him. He beamed in pride as they meandered through the passageway until they came out into a large atrium with a grated ceiling and a series of statues of angry looking firebenders in different poses.
"It says the Dancing Dragon," Anji read a plaque aloud, brow furrowed in thought. "That sounds familiar, somehow. I can't quite put my finger on it, though."
"Maybe a past life memory?" Zuko suggested. Anji gave a slow nod.
"I think so," she agreed. "Maybe a few past life memories."
"Doesn't it look like a progression to you?" Azula said, pointing at the statues. The others followed her finger, agreeing that the statues did seem to be progressing through a sequence of movements.
"And they're mirroring one another," Zuko added, indicating how the two rows faced each other and preformed reflections of their opposite's position.
"Hm," Anji hummed, studying the statues. They were all quiet for a moment before the airbender seemingly made her decision. She leaned her staff against the wall then went to the centre of the room, gesturing for Azula to join her. Facing each other, the girls copied the movements of the statues, Anji in a way that showed at least some of her predecessors had indeed practiced the routine.
Zuko watched the pair with an intently interested gaze. The 'Dancing Dragon' was an apt description, as they did indeed seem to be dancing. It was similar to some movements he vaguely recalled watching his uncle preform, though vastly different from what he recalled of his father's bending. Then again, he remembered his father being very different to his uncle, so them having different bending styles made sense.
It took a moment, but Zuko spotted the floor changing in response to their movements. Certain floor tiles depressed in response to the pair's movements, and a thin column began spiralling upward. By the time the routine finished, it reached Zuko's waist and had an egg-shaped stone with a strange gold glow haloing it lying on the flat base of the column. The girls halted and the trio gathered around the column curiously.
"Well, what now?" Azula wondered, eyeing the column dubiously. "This is beginning to feel like a waste of time we don't have. We should just try and find Uncle."
"We have no idea where he is," Zuko pointed out absently, his gaze, like that of the girls', fixed on the stone. None of them could say why, but the gem entranced them all even as they debated half-heartedly, more fixated on the jewel than figuring out their next step now that they had reached the Sun Warriors' former home and found nothing.
Unaware of what he was doing, Zuko reached out for the stone. He was startled when his fingers curled around it. It felt warm, almost as if it was alive. The young swordsman picked up the glowing with the same amount of care that he would have used if he were holding a newborn child.
"Zuko, no!" Anji exclaimed, suddenly snapping out of her trance as she realized what her friend was doing. Her cry came too late, and a rumbling started as Zuko cradled the stone to his chest.