Here is the eighth full chapter in Book 5, released on time as promised. This the technically the third chapter in what I am calling the Mergence arc as the story progress to the point were the other arc that began Book 5 comes back, but it is more of a transitional chapter to help the story move on while following a trend in this series that every Book has had, and why I made sure to do what I did with one character in the Second Siege of the North back in Book 4. However, that is all I have for now though and as there isn't anything to respond to that means that it time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 8th full installment of Avatar: The Tale of Harry. Book 5: Duty.
Disclaimer: As always I own nothing related to these two great works of fiction.
Chapter 8
Rohit groaned as he woke up, light streaming in through the narrow holes in the cell. It looked like the sun was up and had been for a while if he had to guess. That meant it was time to wake up and start another day of doing the same thing. Absolutely fucking nothing.
Then again when you were in a maximum-security prison designed for the most dangerous earthbenders in the world and locked in the wooden cell 23 hours a day with only an hour of rec at some point, there really was nothing to do. All the cells had was a sleeping pad, a simple pillow, a sturdy but scratchy blanket and a hole in the corner for waste. Sure, the beams at the top allowed for some workouts and the cell size wasn't too bad, larger than average apparently, but it was still no life. It was purgatory.
Compound that with the fact that Rohit was never getting out and was destined to spend the rest of his days in the cell until he finally died was a recipe for depression. In the 16 years that Rohit had been locked up at the White Lotus Earthbending Maximum Security Prison he had known of at least 24 suicide attempts with only 3 being successful. The guards were good at preventing it and ensuring that the inmates served their full time.
Sure, there was a few things to do. They could talk to the other prisoners through the holes and that helped. They could work out, Rohit's buff physic attested to that fact, and if you behaved you might get a book to read once a month. They also got some rec time, something past inmates had not gotten which was also nice as the rec area allowed for some more varied exercise.
Still, it was not enough and often Rohit thought back to the day he had been defeated and caught and wished for what felt like the 10,000th time that he had been like his compatriots and died in battle rather than be caught alive. At least then he wouldn't be stuck here simply existing with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.
Alas, fate had deemed that he and he alone would be the only Unique to survive the Principate War. The world needed at least one of the highest-ranking followers of the Princeps to be made an example of and it had chosen Rohit, one of the last 3 to reach the final battle, to be that follower.
He had been part of the second fall of Ba Sing Se to kick off the war, he had lived through the campaign in the Fire Nation, and he had been a commander in the Second Siege of the North. Fate had decided that he would survive all three encounters when all his compatriots, including his glorious leader, would pay the ultimate price in their attempt to make the world a better place. An attempt they had failed at when they lost the Second Siege of the North.
It had been in that battle that Rohit had finally met his equal in combat. Well maybe not exactly an equal as the situation had been skewed in favor of his opponent and Rohit was not someone who liked to fight fair, let alone at a disadvantage like he had been at the end of that duel.
Rohit was a Sand Nomad by birth and like many in his tribe he was born with earthbending, if you didn't have it you didn't survive in the sandy sea it was as simple as that. He had been raised with that mentality, to fight, win and survive at whatever costs because the Si Wong was unforgiving so he should be to.
As such they always fought in such a way that would ensure victory. As with all of his fellows, he was trained in art of sandbending and showed that he not only had an affinity for it but was a true prodigy, the best the desert had seen in generations.
This had been recognized by a young, fresh, officer in the Imperial Army when his tribe was finally tracked down for their numerous illegal activities. He had been the only one to hold his own against the army, even killed a soldier, but even he had failed when the officer had stopped him with ease showing Rohit a level of earthbending he'd never seen before.
However, rather than arrest him, the officer killed his own commander in what appeared to be a planned coup as a few other soldiers were killed by their brothers in arms who were loyal to the officer. He then blamed the sand nomads who were summarily executed before Rohit's eyes and offered Rohit his freedom in exchange for his loyalty and more importantly his bending that the officer had realized was special. If he did, Rohit would be at the forefront of a new world, one of their leaders and trusted by the Princeps himself.
It was a no brainer. Rohit was a survivor because of his upbring, and he respected strength. He immediately fell to a knee in the sand and pledged himself to the man, who it turned out had almost all of the Terra Team on his side and had used the sand nomad attack to purge his detractors with ruthless efficiency. It showed Rohit that the man knew what he was doing and would do whatever it took to ensure victory. Rohit had joined the ranks of the Uniques to the Princeps that day becoming the third of their number to pledge fealty to the Princeps.
After that he served to help formant problems in the various Imperial States of Earth Kingdom to demoralize the nation and pave the way for the seductive message of strength and unity that the Princeps espoused. He had even been chosen for the team to kill the Earth King and had succeeded in that regard, even if a prime target who hadn't been expected to be there had escaped. It had all being going great but alas when you don't have the Avatar on your side, you really don't stand a chance in the end, especially when you lose your one potential trump card.
They had taken almost all of the world, they had the power, they had vastly superior numbers and equipment, they had the survivors by the balls and yet still they lost. Even with those advantages at the end, Rohit knew when the down fall had actually started, and it had been months before the final battle.
It had all started one week in the first half of the war when they lost 5 Uniques in the space of a few days, along with their Spirit Weapon in such a way that they couldn't recreate it, and only took out one of their main enemies. Two more perished when they took the last Air Nation holdout a month later.
All this time Rohit had been safe on the Fire Front where their main enemies weren't but their loses had been great, greater than expected. They all knew that at least a few of them wouldn't survive the war but to lose 7 of the 10 Uniques before the final battle was a travesty that had caused the Princeps to change a few things.
The main one was that Rohit had been ordered and willingly gone with the Princeps on the final push, their ultimate victory despite being the worst possible bender for an attack on the North Pole. Of course, it hadn't been that way.
Neither Rohit or Tate were made for the cold, the water and the ice. Especially him because he was from the desert, but they still believed that they would win, and they followed their leader faithfully as he knew what was best. Plus, they had brought plenty of sand and designed a special platform for Rohit, so he felt he had the edge so long as he was on his platform.
At first that was the case. No one could touch him, and he used his bending, both his main skill with sand and his limited skills with metal, to down many enemy aircrafts, hummingbirds and even a few bison with well-placed metal shards. Then someone had broken through and challenged him.
It was one of the leaders of the holdouts and one of their prime execution targets so it was right that they would meet on the battlefield. Rohit's opponent had been Teddy, the former General of the United Forces turned President of the United Republic because of the global coup and godson of the Avatar. Rohit had the advantage on the platform and felt he could win.
Fate was a cruel mistress however and that day she chose to side with Teddy. He separated Rohit from his platform thus putting him at a disadvantage, fought him with weapons and not bending on the wings of a plane, and ended up beating Rohit. Even 19 years later, Rohit remembered that kick and the sensation of falling before hitting the cold snow beneath him as they'd ended up over the tundra and not the sea. It was a recurring nightmare that ensured that he would wake drenched in a cold sweat every time.
As he fell through the cold air, Rohit truly thought that he was going to die. He had heard of how the others had died and felt that he was ready for his own end. He had aided the Princeps, brought his leader to the edge of victory and was going to die so that they would win and make the world a better, balanced, peaceful place as they had intended. He had made peace with the end and was ready to command he soul to the next plain when he hit the snow.
Had the plane been half a mile to the west he would have hit the ice fields outside the capital of the Northern Water Tribe and splatted on it. Alas, he instead the powdered snow at the base of the mountains to the east of the capital. The soft substance had cushioned his fall and while he had been knocked out and bruised, he had not been killed by the impact.
Rohit's first memory of coming to was the cold, a cold so deep he felt it in his bones and even to this day he shivered at the memory of it. He was buried a good few feet deep and couldn't move from the cold. He had no weapons as he'd let go of his remaining knife upon hitting the snow, no earth and couldn't reach the mountain because of the cold.
Well, that and the fact that he also had half a dozen sharp spears and just as many ice shards pointing directly at him. Rohit knew he was caught and surrendered peacefully surprised he wasn't executed on the spot the way Arncliffe had been.
He was at least honored that Prince Ron of the Southern Water Tribe, the right hand to the Avatar and arguably the best waterbender in the world who had earned the honorific 'The Red Wolf of the Southern Waters' had been sent to arrest him. He was now a prisoner of war and knew that his only was to see freedom again was if they won.
Ron was the only one not pointing a weapon at him though. Instead, he was the one who used waterbending to haul Rohit out and then cuff him with platinum restraints. It was as they were trekking back to the city, the battle still raging to the south, that Rohit saw the impact.
No one had seen the figures falling towards the ice, but they saw and felt the impact. The force of it knocked them all off their feet and blew snow and ice everywhere. They were a good few hundred yards from the impact, but the cracks still reached them. Confused, Ron ordered them all to investigate as fast as possible, taking Rohit with them as they had no idea else to do with him. What Rohit saw at the impact point still lingered with him.
The snow had just about settled when they got there and they saw a wide, but not too deep, crater in the ice. In the center of it was a broken figure, a halo of blood staining the white ice red around him that was still spreading slowly as it froze.
The figure wore a long green coat and the crumpled remains of a platinum circlet had embedded into his head and destroyed the top of it so that his brain was out on the ice. In his chest was the shaft of a broke sword that had impaled him to the ice. His eyes were wide and blank, a look of shock and anger frozen on his handsome, bloody, face. It was the Princeps. He had fallen.
Lying a few feet to the right and above the Princeps, his head facing towards the dead man was a second figure dressed in the clothes of the rebels who refused to submit to the Principate. His body was also broken, heavily injured, but unlike the Princeps he was breathing, albeit barely. He had been knocked out and would have likely frozen to death had they not arrived.
Ron had instantly leapt in to administer first aid and that was when Rohit saw the bloody, unconscious face of the Avatar. They had lost and in that moment he fell to his knees on the ice and gave up. The princeps was dead, the Avatar wasn't and that was all that Rohit needed to see. The final battle had been fought and it wasn't the Principate that had won it. It was in that moment that Rohit agreed to cooperate, it was time to end the bloodshed.
Ron ordered that Avatar Harry be taken to the medical wing right away as his injuries were serious and Rohit was dragged to the cells. He was thrown in a special cell of ice underneath the Palace but not before he gave the surrender and stand down order.
Rohit only did so in exchange for a promise of a life sentence as he knew that what the Principate had done had been war crimes and crimes against humanity as they knew they needed to commit them to win, it was the sacrifice they made to ensure peace for generations to come. It also meant that Rohit was looking at the hangman's noose or the executioner's axe for his crimes now that he'd lost. This was his way to survive but in hindsight Rohit would have rather been executed as that would have been better than what his life became.
A few weeks after the battle, the ICTP had been formed to investigate and meet out justice for those members of the Principate who'd committed war crimes. Unlike Hermione who had pled not guilty and as the highest-ranking prisoner had gone last, Rohit went first due to his plea.
On that day, in a closed courtroom in the Northern Water Tribe with only a handful of witnesses, the only Unique to survive the Principate War formally pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was ordered to serve it in a special ice cell underneath the White Lotus Firebending Supermax Prison in the North as it was nearby, and his intel was needed for the Tribunal and which he provided but only when asked for it.
For three years he froze his balls off there before Rohit had finally had enough. He requested a transfer. He was a desert creature, not an ice one and needed to be warm, plus he wasn't a firebender so they couldn't use that excuse to keep him there. He knew that the special earthbending prison was in the ocean and around the equator, so it was the only other place that could house him. They had all the intel they needed so they approved it.
Of course, he was sedated and hogtied in a special wooden cell for the journey to the prison but soon he was here. He was warm, he could work out, and he could at least talk to people again. Still, it was prison and everyday he thought about how he had ended up here and wished that he had died that day 19 years ago.
"Inmate, assume the position." A White Lotus guard barked startling Rohit out of his memories. "It's time for your hour out of your cell."
Groaning, Rohit rose and put on the long-sleeved shirt that all inmates had in addition to their pants, an alternative short-sleeved shirt, underwear, and bra for the women. Most went shirtless because of the weather but if they went to rec they had to have the shirt on.
With it on, Rohit faced the far wall and placed his hands on the back of his head. He heard the door open and knew that there were at least 4 guards outside due to his high-profile classification. It was overkill, he had no bending here, and they were all either fire, water or airbenders and also trained chi blockers and martial artists. Rohit stood no chance.
Then there were the 30 some other guards on the prison, the policy to destroy the boats if an inmate broke out, and the fact that they were in the middle of the fucking ocean. He couldn't escape if he wanted to.
Still, he went through the charade that he went through every day whenever he was let out for rec. He waited as the guard in charge of restraining him came in and began the laborious process.
First he lifted Rohit's right foot then his left. This made Rohit stand in the center loop of the heavy rope used to restrain the metalbenders that the prison held. It was pulled up and synched tight at his waist. Smaller loops were then synched around his ankles. After that he was turned around and his wrists synched into loops at his waist so all he could do was shuffle at a slow pace. It was a standard restraint system just rope and not metal.
With his movements limited, Rohit was led out of his cell and into the blazing mid-morning sun. The space between the rows of cells in the center of the prison, his status ensured a center cell, was side enough for 4 guards to surround him and lead him to rec as was required for all inmates of his status. Only they weren't leading him to the rec area where 2 inmates got rec at a time, separated by a large wood wall of course.
Instead, he was led to the other side of the of the prison, where the large admin block was. It was where the offices were, where the guards slept, though not where the boats were, and where the one visitors' room was for lawyers, the authorities, and approved family for good inmates could meet a prisoner. Rohit had no lawyer as he had waived all appeals in his plea deal, and no family not that anyone was allowed to visit him, so it had to be a meeting for information he possessed.
However today seemed different, today someone wanted to speak to him for the first time in almost 2 decades. Rohit smiled, today was going to be interesting for once and if they wanted something from him then it had to be important as that was the only reason why they would seek him out, well it wouldn't come cheap. Yes, today was going to be a good day, Rohit knew it.
Harry stood in one of the watchtowers that was on the side with the admin section looking down at the guards leading a prisoner into the building beneath him. The warden of the prison stood by his side, 2 guards at their posts behind him giving them space to talk.
"I assume that that is him?" Harry asked the warden. "I've never actually met the only living Unique."
"It is." The warden said with a nod. "He will be ready for you shortly as they need to make sure he's fully restrained."
Harry nodded but didn't respond. It was a few days after all the revelations at his house and he had finally made it to the supermax prison. Those days had been a flurry of work that Harry hadn't had in almost 2 decades, but they had to act quick and if Harry was being honest, part of him did miss this aspect of being the Avatar even if he did love peace.
Harry had quickly reached out to the Grand Master of the White Lotus to get permission to speak to Rohit. It was more of a formality than anything else, but it was still needed as Rohit was a high-profile prisoner and Harry had never had contact with him before, so he had to go through the proper channels for this meeting.
It had taken 2 days to get the paperwork sorted before he could make the trip to the prison. Fortunately, Luna was still around and instead of heading to the east coast of the nation and catching a special ship for transport to the prison, a journey that usually took at least 3 days of travel at best, Luna flew him there in 2 before returning to his house to take Ron, Remus and Ginny to Air Temple Island for the impending meeting there.
While Harry was away, Remus and Ron worked to set up the meeting that was now scheduled for 9 days hence. Meanwhile, Lily and Sirius had already left for Republic City to get the files from his vault while Ginny made sure everything was in order at the Temple. Everything was in motion, and this was Harry's part in the plan.
As Harry looked down over the covered wooden cells, he remembered the last time he had been to the prison, well the one prior as the last one had been destroyed 7 years after he had visited it. It had been 27 years ago when he had dropped his son James off to begin his life sentence after James's massacre. Back then Harry had not foreseen what his son was about to do and the role he had just played in accelerating it.
Harry pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. He was here for one reason, and he had to focus on that reason and that reason alone. It was not the first time he had made a deal with an inmate, not even the first time with one that was classified as a high-profile one, it was something he was used to, and he knew how to handle it.
"Avatar." The warden said breaking Harry from his thoughts. "You can go and see him now."
"Thank you." Harry said, turning and heading back into the admin section, it was time to get this shit done so that he could move on to the real issue at hand, dealing with Ekrizdis.
Rohit had been led to the visitors' room and secured there. It was just like any other in a maximum-security prison but instead of screws or nails, the prison had used interlocking wood to hold the chair and table to the ground as they couldn't use metal in the prison. It was also used for the bar in the center of the table.
Ropes hung from the center bar, coming up through a hole in the floor, as well as attached to the back of one of the chairs. Rohit was led to the chair with the rope on it and forced down. The guards then made sure he was secured to the chair and the floor but the way the wrist restraints were done meant they had to leave his hands in his lap.
With this done the guards left and Rohit was left alone, though likely watched from an observation hole, no glass as it could be bent by at least one of the inmates. He was wondering who had come to see him when the door opened again, and an old man wearing a simple green vest and black pants walked in.
Rohit looked at him in surprise as he didn't recognize him, though something about him was oddly familiar. Then again he hadn't seen anyone but White Lotus guards and the other inmates for over a decade and a half, so he'd basically forgotten what most people he'd known before prison looked like. Well, the still living ones at least as most were dead.
The man had short white hair and a close-cropped beard. He walked a little stiffly and Rohit noticed that the man's right hand was encased in a leather glove and not moving but there was extensive scaring on his bare arms. He also had a distinctive lightning shaped scar over his left eye and no doubt many more on his still powerfully built body.
He had no metal or earth on him as expected, just an air of strength and the confidence of a seasoned bender and warrior that showed as he moved to sit opposite Rohit, easing himself into the seat as he did. It was as he met the bright green, intelligent eyes of the man that he realized who it was and why he looked so familiar.
It was a face he had seen once before in real life but back then it had had its eyes closed and was covered in blood with longer hair and beard that still had some color left. However, it was also almost identical to a face Rohit had seen many times and had dedicated his life to, so he knew it well, though back then it had been younger, and the eyes were chocolate brown not bottle green.
All this meant one thing and Rohit instantly knew who the man was. He cracked a wide, gap-toothed smirk, the first in a long time as he restrained himself from laughing. Yes, this man wanted something, and he could afford to pay what Rohit wanted. Today was truly his day.
"Hello Avatar Harry, we meet at last." The last living Unique said to the father of the man he had pledged his undying loyalty and life to. "What is it that I can do for you today?"
Harry quirked an eyebrow at the man opposite him. Rohit was not much to look at but then again 2 decades in prison didn't do much for a person. His black hair was lank, long and greasy with touches of grey starting to make its way into it. His beard similar though it wasn't long as if Rohit didn't really grow facial hair well. He was in shape but given the nature of the prison meaning that all a person had to do to occupy themselves was to work out that didn't surprise Harry.
Harry knew that the man came from the Sand Tribes and could tell that by his deeply tanned skin and the way he held himself as he looked at the Avatar. Sand Nomads were an odd bunch, and for the most part shady at best and criminal at worst, and Harry had had enough dealings with them to identify one.
"Should I be surprised that you know who I am." Harry said after a pause, he would not let Rohit get an upper hand on him in this discussion, but he still had to get something out of this meeting as the man before him might be the only one they knew who could explain what the Ekrizdis was. "We have never met as far as I recall, and you have been incarcerated while I've been out of the public light since the end of the war."
"Well, I have seen you before, but you were out cold and badly injured at the time." Rohit said and Harry saw a flicker of anger in the man's cold eyes. "And the Princeps was lying dead next to you, murdered by your hand, so you don't remember our only prior meeting."
"You were there?" Harry asked not raising to the bait.
"I was in cuffs and had surrendered but yes I was there." Rohit said. "You happened to crash land as I was being escorted to the city and I saw the aftermath. So, I can recognize you plus I see the Princeps in you, and I knew that great man well. It is almost refreshing to see his face again in yours, almost as you did murder him and end our righteous cause."
"I see the years of prison have not deterred you or your beliefs." Harry said not surprised at all. "Despite what some might see as your betrayal of the Principate."
"I did what I had to survive and avoid death at the time, something I seriously regret now that I know what life in prison is like." Rohit said darkly. "But at the time I knew that the war was lost, may as well save lives rather than throw more away."
"That is at least a noble way of seeing it." Harry said. "Better than some I know of in the past when they faced certain defeat."
"You were gravely wounded, and we still had the numbers and equipment so we could have won." Rohit said with a shrug. "But even if we had won, we didn't really have a structure for if the Princeps died during the war, though he did promise us that he had a succession plan in place for after the war. I was technically in charge at the time but people like Zeller, Molly, Fleet and the likes would have made power grabs and the whole thing would have fallen apart as the warlords carved up the territory we had, and the vision of the Princeps would have been lost."
"I see well at least something good came from it." Harry said not going into the fact that he knew what that succession plan was. "From what I know, the surrender order worked and there was minimal fighting in the clean-up. It helped that this was war so many were treated in accordance with the laws of war so long as they surrendered peacefully."
"That is good." Rohit said. "It was over, and it was a valid war, at least let the men and women who made up the rank and file go home as they were just following orders, we would have done the same with our prisoners when we won the war. We did treat them in accordance with the laws of war."
"I read the reports in the aftermath." Harry said. "And I know that that isn't entirely true given the war crimes that were committed."
"Some had to be executed sure, and sometimes we did what was necessary, I won't deny that." Rohit said without emotion in his voice. "But the past is the past and those of us who did that are either in prison or the ground, so you got your justice."
"I am sure that the families of those you murdered would disagree given the scope of some of the atrocities." Harry said. "But we can only move on from the past if we learn from it so as to not repeat it, so it is a good thing that all who committed heinous acts during the war have been properly punished."
"That is good because I am curious about one thing." Rohit said. "What did happen to Zeller and Molly? I never found out. I know that Tate and Sylvia fell in the Second Siege as well and that Fleet and the other earthbenders are here with me but Zeller never showed, and Molly is a nonbender so she would have gone to Azkaban if she was caught."
"Both are long dead." Harry said bluntly.
"How?" Rohit asked curiously though he didn't seem sad that they were dead. "I have had so little news over the years, I could do with some updates. It will help when you ask for something from me."
"If it helps." Harry said with a sigh expecting something like this, so he was ready for it. "As for how, Zeller proclaimed herself the new Princeps in the wake of James's defeat and Ba Sing Se as the capital. She swore to continue fighting the war, though the conflicts with her are not considered part of the Principate War."
"That doesn't surprise me." Rohit said. "She was an ambitious person who saw herself as equal to the Uniques because of her position as Governor-General of the Earth Province. In a succession crisis she was in the best position to make a claim like that. I take it she had supporters loyal to her."
"That would be correct." Harry said. "She had all the fanatics left due to her secure location and largest remaining force but soon they were stuck there. When my daughter got to Ba Sing Se to help the United Forces and Imperial Army defeat her, Zeller knew that her walls wouldn't hold."
"That is the advantage a lavabender provides on the battlefield." Rohit said simply. "It's one of the many reasons why the Princeps recruited Tate first."
She issued an ancient challenge under Earth Kingdom law to Lily as she saw her as the leader of our forces due to the threat her bending. The winner would decide the war and the losing side give up their claim, but all their troops would be spared from battle and surrender peacefully."
"Challenge, what kind?" Rohit asked. "I am nothing more and an inbred sand bastard so forgive me for my lack of knowledge of the finer points of our nation's law that the fancy fucks of Ba Sing Se created."
"It's known as Pugna Mortis and hasn't been used in centuries but is still valid law for solving wars within the ISEK but only wars." Harry said remembering the challenge being issued and how he hated that Lily had had to accept it, but she had saved many lives accepting it. "It is where the leaders of the two warring sides meet on a neutral battlefield. They then engage in a one-on-one fight without bending, only weapons, the winner wins the war and treats the loser's forces in accordance with the laws of war. It is a fight to the death."
"Really?" Rohit said with interest. "Now that would have been interesting to watch. I am not surprised Zeller issued that when she did as it sounds like her only chance to beat you lot given the fact that you had the only fighting lavabender at the time. I take it that she lost seeing as she died."
"Yup." Harry said with a nod. "I wasn't there but my wife was. It was a brutal, intense battle where both were wounded and disarmed. It ended up hand-to-hand and that is where Lily finally got the upper hand. She broke Zeller's neck to end the last battle associated with the Principate."
"Against your daughter she stood no chance." Rohit said simply. "We knew of Lily's skills even without her bending, Zeller had no hope of winning in the end, but I respect her for going through with it. What of Molly?"
"She fled before we could capture, multiple times in fact." Harry said. "Eventually we tracked her down over two years after the end of the war when we found her working as a waitress in a seedy establishment in Nor Co. She was arrested by Ron with minimal incident. She was taken back to the Southern Water Tribe and charged with High Treason under their laws for her role in Chief William's assassination."
"If memory serves, that punishment is death down there." Rohit said. "The only such sentence for that crime in the South. Isn't there something quirky about how it is carried out?"
"There is." Harry said not surprised that Rohit knew, the man was clearly smarter than he looked or else James wouldn't have recruited him into the Uniques. "Under the law, treason must carry the death penalty unless the perpetrator is under 18, there are no other exceptions, and you can't plead out of the charge. However, it must be carried out by the Chief personally as the crime is seen as being committed against the whole tribe so the Chief, as the Tribe's representative, must carry it out. Well, the new Chief does in a case of High Treason."
"So, Dominique had to execute her cousin." Rohit said with a smirk. "Damn, that must have been interesting to watch that."
"That is one word for it." Harry said a little disgusted by the topic, but he'd been there when Dominique had carried out the sentence and watched her take Molly's head from her shoulders with one swing of her sword. "But that is enough small talk. You obviously know that I am here for information, and I know that a man like you won't give it up without a price so name it. I can agree to certain things, providing that your intel is good and useful of course."
"What do you seek info on." Rohit said leaning back as best he could and smirking at him clearly knowing that he had the upper hand right now. "I have to know if I can be of some service and what price I need to ask for it."
"Very well, what can you tell me of the Ekrizdis." Harry said and he saw a flicker of shock and recognition flash across Rohit's face and knew that the man had information for him. "I see you know what I am talking about at least."
"Now there is a name I never expected to hear again." Rohit said as he began to laugh. "Today is really getting interesting, best day I've had since Teddy kicked me off that plane all those years ago. I know some things about the Ekrizdis and the Exiled Nomads. Course, back then I knew of Ekrizdis XII, and I doubt he's still alive today."
"He's not but there is a new one and this one has revealed himself to the Air Nation." Harry said causing Rohit to whistle at that. "And has made a threat to them so any info can help."
"Alright I will spill what I know." Rohit agreed as his smirk returned. "For my freedom of course. I know of the fabled deal you made with Pyrites and want that."
"That ain't happening, at least not right away." Harry said shaking his head. "Pyrites was an exceptional case because of what he could offer and the fact that he had to help us in restoring the Fire Nation or else he'd go back to prison for the rest of his life. The best I can offer you parole in a specific location, given your heritage it will be the Misty Palms Oasis, after 50 years. That means you will be out of here in 31 years' time."
"Fuck that, that is the deal you gave Hermione, and you know that I am not as bad as that cunt." Rohit scoffed. "At the very least I wasn't the leader, I just did as ordered and what was right for the sake of the Principate."
"Yes, but Hermione's info was on her higher ups, yours is on a different group all together." Harry countered though he did understand where Rohit was coming from, he was lesser than Hermione, so he was right to request a lesser time for parole. "However, I see your point. I will drop it down to 45 years before you are eligible for parole."
"25."
"40, final offer, take it or rot here for the rest of your life."
Rohit glared at him, and Harry calmly looked back hoping that Rohit would take the bluff as Harry did really need this information. Rohit blinked, growled and looked away and Harry knew he had won.
"Fine, 40 years before parole." Rohit spat out. "At least it gets me out someday and I've already served half of it so I can do the second half."
"This is contingent on your info working out." Harry said.
"I know, I have heard of your deals, and I also know that if I honor my end you will honor yours." Rohit said. "So, what do you want to know? I'll spill everything I know, I never cared much for that lot as they were a threat to the unity of the Principate."
"What can you tell me of the Ekrizdis as a concept and the Exiled nomads?" Harry asked. "Are they really who they claim they are?"
"Yes, they are." Rohit said with a nod. "I know because me and Tate were who accompanied the Princeps to the meeting they had about a few months before his arrest. James personally truth saw the delegation he met, which didn't include the Ekrizdis by the way, and he said they spoke the truth. They really are the true air nomads and descended from the survivors of Sozin's genocide."
"Delegation?" Harry asked deciding that if Rohit had trusted James's judgement on them then that was good enough for him as James was unlikely to have lied to Rohit given how it was reported that James treated his Uniques as near equals. "So, James never met their leader."
"Can't say, I think he did but had to do so alone so as to preserve the location of their Temple." Rohit said with a shrug. "We were just at the initial talks with the Ekrizdis's protégé. A charismatic and skilled airbender who could rival James in the bending department, or so I heard. They had been in contact, and this was the first meeting on neutral ground."
"How did James know of them?" Harry asked.
"Unsure, truly, I am." Rohit admitted. "The Princeps had a habit of finding shit out that he probably shouldn't have found out. Maybe he read it in Pyrites's journals, he read those a lot as he clearance to read them, maybe he got lucky as this was before we recruited Arncliffe, who knows. All I know is that James had sought them out to see if they would join him."
"I take it they didn't." Harry said.
"Correct, they decided to stay neutral and see what happened during the war." Rohit confirmed. "I think they would have surrendered had we won but were holding out hope we didn't so they could go on living in exile. The Princeps didn't know where the Temple was, he was blindfolded on the trip there and off land so he couldn't see at all. That way they would remain hidden."
"That is bold to defy a man like James." Harry said. "My son didn't take defiance lightly it seemed."
"We were still a decade at least away from when we launched our revolution." Rohit said. "They could refuse and given the secrets both of us knew, they couldn't talk. Mutually assured destruction and all that. It's how the Princeps operated."
"Very well." Harry said, it wasn't much to go but it was at least something. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, the man we met, he was actively recruiting for the nomads and not people that the nomads would have liked, even back before the genocide." Rohit said with a nod. "The dude went after the airbender scum."
"He did, did he?" Harry asked suddenly interested but not showing it as it seemed like the man Rohit had met was the current Ekrizdis so this could be a goldmine for them. "Care to elaborate?"
"Have to if I want that deal." Rohit said. "He went after those who had been expelled or banned from the Air Nation. He wanted them all be they violent criminals, murderers, or hardened fighters who had forsaken the Air Nation, you know the like. I don't know why but he had recruited some already. I know that at the meeting, he had a flyer with him who James wanted to join the Uniques, but the guy was loyal to the nomads. Shame, he would have been better than Dhillon."
"Who was this flyer?" Harry asked hiding his shock as that was certainly knew to him given how rare flying was, this man might be the fourth ever known flyer. "I doubt he was a nomad."
"Not at all." Rohit said with a grin and Harry could tell that Rohit knew that he had important information to share. "The dude was a former assassin called Insomnus."
"Insomnus." Harry said knowing the name, but it had been over half a century since he'd heard it. "Wasn't he a Red Lotus assassin who joined the Purists? I recall that he was never seen after the Battle of the Elemental Academy, the only escaped prisoner from Voldemort's mass prison break that was never accounted for. His file is still open, he is one of the most wanted men in history."
"The very same and he has joined the nomads along with many other criminals from what I heard; this guy was a bit of braggart about it." Rohit said. "So, if they are with this new Ekrizdis then there are tainted airbenders and that isn't good because while the true nomads were pacifists, a tainted airbender isn't and can commit acts of violence without compunction. The guy I met seemed to have no issues in using them to do his dirty work so as not to sully the philosophy of the Air Nomads."
Harry shuddered at that. He had heard of the current Ekrizdis, and he was almost certain that the man Luna and Remus had met and the man that Rohit had met were one and the same. That man had claimed to follow true air nomad philosophy so it made sense that he would use airbenders that he saw as impure to do what he couldn't do. He had enough to take back to the World Leaders and if this panned out Rohit would get his deal.
"Thank you Rohit." Harry said as he rose to leave. "You will still have to answer questions to the
White Lotus so that they can have a full report, but I will take this to the World Leaders and if they approve you will have your deal providing that your information is good and helps us."
"Thank you Avatar for coming to me and giving me this break from the monotony of my pathetic existence these days." Rohit replied before calling out one more warning as Harry was about to leave. "Though I should warn you, if the guy I met is the current Ekrizdis, and I have no doubt that he is despite being too young as he was clearly ambitious, there is one thing I can say for certain. No matter what you try. War is inevitable."
Harry didn't respond but he did tense up as he left with Rohit cackling from his seat. He hoped that Rohit was wrong, but he knew in his gut that the man was almost certainly right. Still, Harry had to try and prevent it. That started with him heading to Air Temple Island. It was time for the first Council of World Leaders in decades.
Well there is the meeting with Rohit, the standard prison meeting with a surviving, past, high-profile, enemy that every Book has had since Book 2 and now Harry has some information to go on, as well as some nice back story for what happened in the wake of James's defeat and the end of the Principate. All this will play into what will happen as the story moves on to the next big event in a few chapters time as the Avatar prepares for what he hopes doesn't come. Y'all probably already know what is next so I will leave it here. The only thing left to say is that the siege of Ba Sing Se after the Principate War and Lily's duel with Zeller is a short story idea I have for this universe so it may get published one day. Anyway, that is all I have for this post chapter note so I will leave it here. As always any questions in PMs or reviews will be answered before the start of the next chapter (as well as replied to if possible). Please follow, favorite and review, all are greatly appreciated. Until next week.
Stringdog