Earth.
Fire.
Air.
Water.
Only the avatar can save us all.
Previously on Legend of Katherine!
Ever since that terrible day when Kat learned about the test, she had been dreading for this to come! And now, the day is here! Everyone prepares! Friends worry with each other about what if they are the avatar! And Stacy is the most promising candidate so far! Will the Phoenix King deem this innocent girl the avatar?(why am I rhyming so much lol)
Book 1:Water
Chapter 7:The Avatar Returns
Kat couldn't decide if she was the happiest, most pampered girl in the world, or the most unlucky, stressed girl in the world.
After five days of worrying, strange nightmares, and very unexpected and stressful events, the test day had finally arrived. Everything was perfect—no Raiders, no arguments, no nothing out of the ordinary. Well, ordinary for palace standards.
The girls had all been woken up bright and early in the morning("I would KILL the person who ordered the servants to wake us at this time, if it wasn't most likely the Fire Lord herself!" Vixella complained), and ushered to one of the grand lavatories of the palace. Each of them had been given their own private bathroom, all the washing supplies and functions on the bathtub that a girl would ever dream of, and 45 minutes to wash up.
The bathtubs had each been the size of a queen sized bed, filled with rose petals and oils, and heated to just the right temperature. There were all different kinds of shampoos, conditioners, body washes, and even more products lined up against the golden trim of the bathtub, along with a list of instructions. It was something like what their local spa offered, but enhanced 100 times.
After Kat had finished bathing, she put on her wrappings and a bathrobe before walking and heading to the 'makeup section,' as the instructions had phrased it.
Kat was very torn between feeling super relaxed and pampered, or nervous as heck. Her mind was a tornado, displacing all her thoughts and causing a throbbing headache. Uhhh…
She spotted Stacy and Vixella sitting next to each other in one corner of the area, with a seat conveniently reserved in between the two. Kat swiftly rushed over to occupy the seat before someone else could.
"Oh, hey there, Kat!" Stacy smiled as Kat walked over. "Isn't this amazing? I've never felt so indulged before!"
"It's suuuuuper lovely." Kat responded with some giddiness. "But I still can't decide if I'm excited or absolutely terrified." Vixella and Stacy chuckled at the last statement.
"Tell you what, I kinda feel that way as well." Vixella grinned. "Mixed in with some anger. Okay, a lot of anger." She added after Stacy and Kat had given her dubious looks.
"Makes complete sense." Stacy commented. "We're about to meet the most powerful and feared ruler in the world. But don't worry; if we do everything right and not get too cocky, nothing bad will happen."
"That's not always true," Vixella muttered bitterly, turning away.
"C'mon, Vixella! Even the Phoenix King wouldn't stoop that low, to bully and punish people for doing nothing!" Kat chuckled. Then she realized what those words that had slipped could do, and quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard her. Thankfully, most of the servants were on the other side of the room. Speaking of them…
A dozen servants carrying a plethora of items walked over to the trio. Some held trays full of fresh fruits and expensive snacks. Others held sparkling, steaming white towels in woven bamboo baskets. The rest were juggling with fragile bottles of rich perfumes, oils, creams, and other cosmetics, miraculously not even appearing to be struggling with carrying all the glass items. Kat assumed that their confidence was from years of experience with carrying multiple fragile items.
Without an explanation or anything, the maids instantly went to work. For Kat, they first put a cooling mask on her face, which smelled faintly of cucumbers. Next, two of them started to work on her fingernails. A third maid was combing through her royal blue hair. Not very gently though, as Kat winced at the tugging.
Kat sat through the (technically not) awkward silence, just glancing around while the servants worked. The large room was filled with the sounds of scraping, metallic items clanging against each other, and the occasional splashes of water. Kat definitely preferred the tranquil bathroom to this weirdness.
The somewhat silence gave Kat some time to think. If it were any other day, she would have been pondering about books or games or what she should do to prank her siblings next. But this wasn't any other day. Today, she was going to meet the Phoenix King. Today, she was going to go through a bending test to see if she was the avatar or not. Not to mention all the strange signs she had been receiving in her nightmarish dreams. Today, everything was going to change.
First off, the Impenetrable Barrier.
Five days ago, Kat had wondered if she would ever pierce the unflinching wall in her head. If she would ever discover what lied beneath. But now?
She knew.
She knew everything that lied underneath. The tree of memories, the firestorm, the strange visions that made no sense, even to the voice that had whispered to her!
And suddenly, Kat wished she hadn't known.
How could anything ever be the same ever again?
Kat had discovered more about herself than the past 13 years. Although the first 6 years of her life still remained a fuzzy image to her, she at least knew what the Impenetrable Barrier hid.
How could she go back home, knowing all of this?
How could she return to her family, the same laughing, joking girl she was, having gone through so much in the past days? How could she still laugh and play and sing and dance with Kim, Wenny, and Allen without her past plaguing her again?
For a seasoned warrior who had gone through decades of war, death, and famine, this might've not seemed like much. But for a 13 year old girl, it meant everything.
But Kat would have to find a way to cope. Like everyone did with everything in the South Pole.
Or else she might not survive.
Kat was snapped out of her thoughts by one of the maids lifting the mask from her face. They then started to rub all sorts of oils and creams onto her face, also spraying her with perfume every once in a while. All the overwhelming scents of lavender and sea salt and sunflower was starting to make her head throb.
As the maids went on with their work, Kat grabbed a brush from on the table and started fumbling with it, examining the extravagant, polished wood and soft, fluffy bristles idly. There was a symbol painted carefully on the handle with rich red-violet, the shape of a flower made from what looked like eyes and weird markings. Interesting.
Kat put aside the brush and picked up a makeup pallet instead. The first thing she noticed also was the same flower branded on the corner of the dark marble. She frowned, alertness heightening as she started to sweep over the rest of the materials on the counter, looking for the same symbol. She found it on almost every single item.
One stood out from the rest, though. It was a dark velvet drawstring bag filled with tiny brushes. The flower sigil was stamped on the bottom with mahogany ink, but with a small inscription beneath, embroidered with a fine silk thread.
The lotus will keep our glorious nation safe.
So it was a lotus. Kat narrowed her eyes and read the line over a couple times, trying to piece things together and make some sense out of it. She wanted to know what it meant–but it was probably something incomprehensible to her.
"What? No way! Yellow goes horribly with purple! Do something else. Like typical red!" Kat glanced to her left, where Vixella was arguing loudly with the maids over what color eyeshadow she should wear. Knowing the stubborn, strong-willed girl, she would probably get her way with wearing red eyeshadow.
"How about white? White goes well with everything!" Stacy suggested.
"No, no, white is only allowed for solemn and religious occasions!" One of the older maids shook her head fiercely. "Plus, Phoenix King Ozai personally requested for yellow to be the main theme at this event."
"Stop arguing and just go with yellow, Vixella." Kat said, mildly amused by how serious the maids were acting over such a small detail. "Plus, if Phoenix King Ozai requested it, we should just follow it."
Stacy shot Kat a look of concern, which made her slightly nervous. Kat had done her best to hide her Other Self from everyone else, but she feared that sooner or later, the cat would be out of the bag.
The rest of the time passed by them having a random conversation about aquatic game ideas, and they ended up with a debate over llama–sheep. The maids were taking quite a while to finish everything; then again, it was all a super expensive and exquisite experience, so of course it would be this long. And boring.
After the maids had finished doing what just seemed like rubbing a bunch of creams and oils onto their faces, Kat and the others were led to another room, which was lavishly decorated with lots of red silks, velvets, and fabrics. Mannequins lined the walls, each with a copy of the same dress on it. Each of the gowns were made of scarlet silk, with a crimson velvet waistline and many different layers and jewels embedded within. From layered orange fabrics peeking out at the bottom to tiny sapphires and emeralds studded into the hem of the dress, there was a lot to marvel at about the stunning frocks.
"Are we going to be wearing these?" Stacy breathed in, her eyes wider than Kat had ever seen them before.
"That's right!" A tailor that Kat hadn't noticed until now responded proudly. "Nothing too much, but still respectable, in the Phoenix King's standards."
"This is nothing too much?" Vixella gaped. "I've never seen something this extravagant in my whole life! How much did it cost for all those diamonds sewn in at the sleeves?"
"Well, we are at the heart of the Fire Nation, in the home of the richest family on the planet," Kat commented, amused at her friends' expressions. "this probably won't even make a dent in their deep, deep pockets!"
"Of course not!" The tailor scoffed from the side(who Kat had already forgotten about again). "Even the most extortionate gowns wouldn't stop this royal family in terms of money!" He then clapped his hands, gaining the attention of all the girls. "Now, everyone, pick a dress and change into your dress in one of the dressing rooms to the left. In ten minutes, we'll be leaving for the exam courtyard!"
Kat eagerly rushed up to the nearest mannequin. She took a minute just to admire the beauty of everything on the dress. Everything from the embellished gems to the silken feeling of the fabric(no pun intended, ha ha) to even the fine golden embroidery near the hems. Only after that did she take the gown off the mannequin, and rushed into the nearest vacant dressing room with it.
Once she had put on the divine gown, Kat took a good look at herself in the mirror adjacent to the door. She looked absolutely stunning; it was beauty beyond words(a.k.a I don't know how to describe what she looks like).
But there was one last thing to do before she went outside. Kat took out the little yellow clip she had made, and replaced the sapphire on the choker with it. It may not be expensive or gorgeous, like everything else on the dress, but it held a special place in her heart and Kat needed this to complete the look.
Kat stepped outside the dressing room, trying to find where Stacy and Vixella were. Doing that was like…well, finding a needle in a haybale. Everyone looked exactly the same, with the same outfit on. It didn't help that quite a number of the girls had dyed hair as well.
"Kat! Over here!" Kat spun around to see two familiar faces standing next to the exit. Stacy also looked stunning in her gown. Meanwhile, Vixella was a whole other story. Her lavender colored hair really clashed badly with the bright reds and oranges. But then again, one look at her expression would give you the full summary.
"Wow. You guys look awesome!" Kat complimented as she walked over.
"Same to you!" Stacy grinned back. "Unfortunately, Vixella has decided to be a little grumpy about this."
"You know exactly why I'm grumpy!" Vixella grumbled. "I told all the maids that my hair didn't look good with any of these colors, but no, they just had to go and add a bunch of amber jewelry! Especially in the hair! Why, why, why won't anyone ever listen to me?!"
"They probably prepared this before you told them about the color combination, Vixella." Kat giggled. "But I do think some blue would go pretty well with both purple and yellow. I think I had a blue hair clip somewhere…"
"Don't worry, I have one." Stacy said, pulling out a translucent snowflake hair clip from her dress pocket(Victorians were geniuses). "Here you go!"
Vixella took the hair clip from Stacy and looked at it curiously. "Is this made of ice?" She questioned. Stacy sweatdropped, and Kat glanced concernedly at her friend. The hair clip was really well made. If it was ice, then that meant…Stacy had used her secret waterbending abilities to make it. Vixella had not known about her waterbending abilities just yet, as Kat was afraid that she would try and get Stacy into irrational and dangerous plans to try and 'overthrow' the Fire Nation.
"Uh…I don't think so. It's just something I found while roaming Capital City." Stacy lied.
"Okay, well whoever made this must be quite talented," Vixella mused, not digging further, to both Kat and Stacy's relief. She clipped the snowflake onto her lavender hair, which actually did match both purple and yellow well.
"Candidates! Line up, and we'll be heading to the testing courtyard now." A tall, stern woman called out sharply. She was wearing a black robe and had one small, half moon spectacles that strongly reminded Kat of Mrs. 'no-nonsense' Wan. The nickname that Betty had given the hall and lunchroom supervisor years ago still stuck to this day.
Kat felt some small instinct pull her towards the door, getting in the quickly forming line. It was unexplainable…or it was just the Other Self again.
"Stop it," Kat muttered under her breath.
"No." To her surprise, the Other Self responded. Great; now things were just getting weirder! It was already strange enough that this unexplainable entity existed, and now it had a mind of its own? What were the spirits thinking?! Kat should have probably been alarmed at this sudden new development, but now was not the time.
"Why do you even exist? Two souls cannot coexist within the same body peacefully. I'm the original, so you should just return to where you came from!" Kat thought angrily to her Other Self.
"As if I would give up this honor!" The Other Self snorted. "But just you wait, I will destroy you. Soon enough." Somehow, the Other Self's consciousness sounded male.
"No. At the end of the day, light will always triumph over the forces of darkness!" Kat shot back, borrowing a quote from a book she had read.
"How naive. But just you wait. I will prove you wrong." The Other Self giggled maniacally, before…just vanishing.
"And things just get weirder." Kat sighed internally. Suddenly, they went through another doorway and intense, bright light filled her vision. Kat hadn't really been paying attention to where they were going, as she was so caught up in her argument with her Other Self.
Once Kat's eyes adjusted to the bright light, the first thing she noticed were the odd items stacked around the edge of the…whatever they were in. Tall porcelain jars filled to the brim with water, jagged boulders leaning against the white walls, and a basket of leaves next to it all. Why were they here?
Then she saw them.
Three magnificent thrones, made of gold, embedded with the shiniest jewels, and had the most intricate carvings that one could dream of. But what caught Kat's attention the most was who were sitting on the thrones.
To the left, was Crown Princess Lizzie. Unlike their first encounter, her hair was half up in a topknot, and half down, all polished and combed. To the right, was Fire Lord Azula. Unlike her daughter, the Fire Lord had all her raven black hair up in a topknot, with the Fire Lord hairpiece tucked in from behind. The two figures already intimidated Kat very much, but it was the person that sat in the middle throne that made her want to freeze right there, on the spot.
He had the same raven black hair as Azula. The same half up, half down hairstyle as Lizzie. Except his hairpiece was of a much more intricate, amber phoenix. The same color as cold, calculating eyes.
Phoenix King Ozai.
"Let me take over." The Other Self whispered mockingly in the back of Kat's mind. Kat brushed his consciousness aside angrily.
"No way. Besides, nobody's giving me any orders anyway! It doesn't make sense." Kat shot back.
"But I can sense your fear. It gives me power. You're paranoid of the Fire Nation. And that is my advantage." The Other Self smirked. Kat growled in a low voice.
"Just shut up. I am not going to let you make a fool of me, especially in front of the Royal Family." Kat snapped inside her head. She tried not to look in the direction of the Phoenix King, afraid that a glance could give the Other Self more power.
They all split into neat rows, facing the Royal Family. Kat kept her gaze on the floor, as Azula started to talk.
"Candidates from the Southern Water Tribe. I assume you all already know why you're here, so let's just get to the point here." Azula said in a sharp voice. "So the basic idea is that you will all go through three bending tests to see if you are the avatar or not. Waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. It's not that difficult, but I wouldn't be surprised if you peasants still manage to struggle." Kat noticed some angered looks and disgruntled murmurs, but ignored them, hoping that the Fire Lord had not seen them.
"The test will begin shortly. In the meantime, keep quiet and don't make any commotion." The Fire Lord continued. The courtyard stayed unnaturally quiet as the servants in the area started to pass out jars of water to everyone. Kat fiddled with her fingers nervously on her silk gloves.
Slowly, the servants placed a large jar of water in front of every girl in the courtyard. Once that matter had been settled, Azula rose again to speak.
"First, is the waterbending test." She explained unemotionally. "You will have five minutes to try and bend the water however you can. You may begin." Kat stared into the dark water inside the jar, an uneasy feeling growing in her stomach. This could possibly reveal Stacy's hidden waterbending abilities, if her friend accidentally bent the water.
Kat took a deep breath, before setting her hands in the water and trying to mimic the bending motions that she had seen the Northern Raiders do before.
The water didn't budge.
Kat heaved a big sigh. What was the point? All of this had brought nothing but bad luck upon them. Some personal, some all the girls experienced. From the mysterious notes, to the weird vision, to the Northern Raiders attack, and then the Impenetrable Barrier whatnots! It all was just…too much.
"You can't go on like this. It'll take its toll on your mental and emotional state, and grant the Other Self more power." Kat chided herself, after processing her thoughts. Instead, she focused on the happy memories, from now and the past. The nice dreams, about among us and cake bash. Vixella arguing with the maids over whether yellow went with purple. All those laughs she shared with Stacy, her siblings, and all her other friends back at the South Pole. Those memories brought a small smile to Kat's lips.
Kat continued to attempt to 'waterbend,' which was more of her just quietly playing around with the sloshing water. Kat already knew that she wasn't a waterbender; there was nothing to prove if the truth was already revealed.
After five minutes, the servants came along again, took away their jars of water, and replaced them with stone boulders. Kat stared intently at the Fire Lord, waiting for further instructions.
"Next, is the earthbending test. This should be self-explanatory, but I guess you peasants are too uneducated to figure it out yourself." Azula continued onward. Kat was a little disgruntled at this rude remark, but did not make a face or anything. "Try and earthbend the rock. Kick it, punch it, through yourself at it, if you're dumb enough. Just don't kill your self." With that, the sassy Fire Lord sat back down on her throne.
Kat stared at the boulder, and shrugged. With that, she started waving her hands around randomly, seeing if the chunk of earth would fly off in some random direction or not. To no surprise, it didn't.
When the five minutes of doing random things with the rock passed, the three members of the royal family all had very different expressions as the servants brought over a basket of leaves for the firebending test. Princess Lizzie looked extremely bored, Fire Lord Azula looked mildly amused at their pitiful and random attempts to earthbend, while Phoenix King Ozai's face held no emotion in particular. Just a cold, calculating look.
"Finally, the firebending test. The Fire Sages will come along and light a small flame on your leaves. Your objective is to keep it from spreading and burning the leaf into a crisp. Not like I'm expecting anything," Azula scoffed. This time, Phoenix King Ozai shot his daughter an unreadable look. But apparently Azula had been able to decipher it somehow, and stopped with her sarcasm immediately.
Once the Fire Sages had lit Kat's leaf, she stared at the slow burning flame, unsure of what to do. This wasn't physically trying to move elements that were already there, but more of a concentration thing. Maybe. The Fire Lord hadn't exactly been very clear on what to do with this one.
Kat stared at the leaf intensely, imagining a not burnt version of it in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, and peeked out from one a couple seconds later. Was it her, or was the minuscule flame spreading slower—
"Knock knock! Your guests have arrived!"
Kat swung her head towards the direction of the mocking call, as did many of the girls in the group. At first, she was horrified at who would speak to the most powerful people in the world that way, until Kat noticed who was there.
A large squadron of Northern Raiders, all perched on the roof, and with their water drawn in a combat-ready position.
Well isn't this just dandy.
Phoenix King Ozai stood up immediately from his throne, narrowing his amber eyes at the intruders. "And what exactly are you here for?" He asked icily.
"Hand over the avatar, and we won't cause any trouble, you sphynx," The lead waterbender commanded sternly. The way he spoke to the Phoenix King, it was almost comical. As if Ozai would actually take him seriously! Kat might've just burst out laughing right there, if it weren't for the possible impending doom looming over their heads.
"And you expect me to comply, just like that?" Ozai laughed. "You must be fools, then!" His smirk then twisted into a face of pure rage. "Get them!" He roared suddenly, making Kat jump.
Oh dear. This would not end well.
Firebenders rushed towards the rooftops where the Raiders were stationed, blasting wave after wave of schooling flames at them. The waterbenders retaliated strongly by vaporizing every wave of fire that was sent their way, even firing some icicles during the intervals. It was a fierce battle between two opposing elements, and Kat was caught in the middle of it all.
"Forget about the soldiers!" The leading Raider shouted out over the flames. "The girls are your utmost priority! The Avatar cannot fall into the wrong hands!" With that command, many Raiders slipped past the wall of firebenders, running straight towards their group.
The royal family jumped in as well, blasting fires left and right and center at anyone wearing blue that entered their line of vision. But it was not enough. Raiders started picking up girls near the outskirts of the group, immediately bolting towards the roof once they had picked them up.
Kat was frozen in place. What should she do? What could she do, in such a fierce battle? Run, hide, and not get roasted by a soldier or kidnapped by a raider? She could also feel the presence of the Other Mind again, lurking in the corner of her consciousness, preparing to take over if any command was given.
"It's too much, Father! We cannot hold them long enough until reinforcements arrive!" Azula shouted over the battle. Ozai stopped for a second, as if thinking of a reply, before his face hardened.
"Then kill them! Kill them all! If I can't have the avatar, no one can!" He roared furiously, sending his fiery blasts towards the girls as well. Kat's fellow sisters started running and screaming and panicking, but she was frozen in place, too stunned to move.
"Kat! Let's go! What are you waiting for—look out!" Stacy screamed, as a blast of bright orange fire was sent right towards Kat, sent by the Phoenix King himself. Time seemed to slow as Stacy dashed over, and jumped right in front of her. Kat couldn't breathe. The flame was getting closer. And closer. Oh god, her best friend was going to die because of her—
"NO!"
And everything went white.
*3rd person objective POV*
A blinding white light showered the courtyard. For a couple seconds, nobody could see anything. Then when the light faded, it revealed Kat standing in front of Stacy, vanquishing the flames that had threatened her friend's life merely seconds ago.
Kat's eyes were glowing white.
She then went on to gather all the water in the courtyard, either from the jars, the puddles, or straight out of the Raiders' waterskin. They formed a protective dome around the girls, which hardened into ice. It looked like an icy masterpiece from a master waterbender. Which, technically, that was what Kat was, right then.
Kat started to float into the sky, standing on a small, steadily forming dust devil. From outside the ice dome, the Phoenix King held an expression that was a mixture of both shock and rage.
"The Fire Nation has reigned over the other nations for more than a hundred years now, but I promise you, Ozai, that your era is coming to an end." Kat, well, more like Kat and the voices of all her past lives, boomed. Her eyes glowed brightly for a few more seconds, before turning back to normal. She faltered, the dust devil vanquishing, making her fall back down to the ground. Stacy caught her friend, who was now half unconscious.
"You're…actually the avatar." Stacy whispered, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. She appeared very, very shocked. Maybe even to the point that she was about to faint. Every other girl in the ice dome seemed to be the same way as well. Time seemed to stop, as everyone stared.
And stared.
And stared.
Until flames shattered the entire dome.
*Back to Kat POV*
Kat awoke to the sound of shattering ice. She leapt up into the air, gasping, trying to remember what had last happened. Her head was throbbing so hard…and so was the Other Self.
"It won't take long for you to succumb, poppet!" He sang, giggling maniacally at the end. Kat grunted angrily at that stupid nagging voice in the back of her mind—
"After so many years, you've finally decided to make a reappearance! Isn't that so, avatar?"
Kat's head shot up, her gaze immediately landing on the threatening figure of the Phoenix King. He had on a triumphant smile, as if he had already had her safely in his clutches. Well, technically that was true, but there was still the chance of the Raiders!
"Now, come with us peacefully and none of your little friends will have to get hurt." He continued, his smirk not fading one bit.
"Stay in control. Stay in control. Stay in contr—AAH!" Kat felt the Other Self dash right out of the shadows, pouncing on her consciousness and ripping it away from the controls(no pun intended. Or is this really a pun?). Kat staggered, clutching her head in desperation. The shadows of the Other Self continued to creep out, forming little shadow arms and grabbing onto her tightly, pulling Kat towards them. Kat tried one last time, a desperate attempt to escape and take back control, but the shadow hands didn't budge.
"Now you will know how I feel all the time." The Other Self hissed in satisfaction, before throwing Kat down a chasm and fully taking control.
In the real world, Kat's eyes turned amber.
Kat fell down, down, and down, back under the Impenetrable Barrier, and landed in a shadowy cell. A video camera of sorts took up the entirety of one wall, showing what she was seeing through her eyes. The entire place just reeked of her Other Self, and Kat assumed that this was probably his prison.
"Let me out, you monster!" Kat shouted furiously, pounding frantically at the window. The glass did not budge one bit.
"I'm going to lock you away in the same cell you imprisoned me, and leave you there to rot for eternity!" The Other Self purred sadistically. "But first, I need to ruin your life, and make you watch every second of it!"
Not-Kat started walking towards the Phoenix King and his soldiers, a monotone expression on her face. Kat tried kicking the glass, but that didn't work either. She felt useless. These takeovers had happened before, but never to this scale where Kat couldn't even feel her own body!
"Wait! Kat! What are you doing?!" Stacy cried from behind her.
"I must go with the Phoenix King." Not-Kat responded monotonously. "And follow every order he gives."
"What the hell is wrong with you, Kat?!" Vixella demanded. "I know you have this weird thing with firebenders and soldiers, but…" her friend started to sputter in the background, at a loss for words.
This time, instead of punching the glass, Kat decided to go up. She bent down, and jumped up as high and hard as she could, trying to destroy the top ceiling, where she had originally fallen from. The impact left a big crater in the ceiling, which was groaning and swaying in the aftermath. Kat grinned.
She continued to punch the ceiling, which left crater after crater. Kat heard the Other Self growl in frustration, before trying to suppress her back down, but to no avail. Kat continued to work at the ceiling, until one, particularly strong hit broke through, and left a decent sized hole in the shadowy wall.
Kat smiled triumphantly. She could feel some jet stream blowing in, sucking her upward. Kat jumped up one final time, which sent her flying up, past the Impenetrable Barrier, and back to the controls room. The Other Self screamed in anger at this, and lunged right at her, trying to drag Kat back down to his cell.
"Not day, beastie!" Kat shouted at him, before dodging and running towards the controls. But at the last moment, the Other Self managed to grab one of her legs with his shadowy, extendable hand, pulling her back while moving closer towards her.
Kat continued to move towards the controls. It was right there…but the Other Self dragged himself into it as well.
As Kat regained control of her body, she felt the Other Self still tearing away at her. Her eyes flashed between blue and amber, and a small sphere of wind started accumulating around Kat.
"Kat!" Stacy cried, rushing up to her friend. "Kat, it's alright. We're here for you. There's nothing to be afraid of. Don't let the Phoenix King bring you down!"
Kat felt calmed and motivated by Stacy's words. She started to radiate an aura of relief and happiness, which the Other Self hated. He jumped out of the control room, and back under the Impenetrable Barrier, where he would lurk…for now. Her eyes returned to its normal blue, and the wind slowed and came to a stop.
"Thank you," Kat breathed, before turning to the Phoenix King, a defiant look in her eyes.
"I am not going with you. Your era will come to an end. And I will be the one to stop it." Kat said firmly. Stacy and Vixella came up behind her, also glaring at the Phoenix King.
"Really! And what exactly are you going to do about it?" He smirked. "Guards! Arrest them!" All the soldiers in the courtyard immediately rushed towards them, but Stacy jumped forward, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Then, she slowly moved her hands upward, which the water followed. Stacy then swung it all at the incoming soldiers, who had slowed their pace, due to the fact that a southerner was waterbending, which literally froze them all in place. With ice.
Everyone else in the courtyard, except for the three royals, of course, were also frozen. Metaphorically, by shock. Azula and Ozai looked like they had expected this to happen, and Lizzie had a smug grin on her face for some reason. Like she already knew…? No, that was impossible! Kat was the one who knew Stacy's little waterbending secret before now!
"Come on! What are you three waiting for?" The leader of the squadron of Raiders barked at them. "Let's go! Now!" He and the others made an ice staircase with their waterbending, and beckoned for them to come.
Vixella grabbed Stacy and Kat's hands, and started running towards the bridge. "Let's go, people!" She shouted. Kat shook off the slight feeling of shock she had gotten from earlier, and focused on getting to the staircase before the soldiers did. But as she climbed the stairs and got onto the rooftops, Kat couldn't help but feel guilty, about leaving all those other girls behind. Who knows what the Fire Nation would do with them, now that they knew about the avatar and that one of their own was a waterbender!
But mostly, Kat felt super guilty about leaving Betty behind.
It's funny that, as common as fear is, we often underestimate its power.
Sphynx? What sphynx? Was that rwby reference intentional or not? I can't even remember what I wrote lol. That's what makes keeping some parts of the story consistent hard. Especially when you've been stuck on chapter 12 with a severe case of writer's block for months. The Other Self's character is very...peculiar. It's like a mix of 2p! England(Oliver), It Funneh, and Tyrian XD.
There was also a Volume 8 Penny reference in there somewhere, with the whole 'Hacked Penny' conundrum, but I'll leave that up to you to find ;). And an Oz quote at the end. Okay, why are there so many rwby references in an ATLA story?!
This chapter was-wait! HEY! Wasn't this chapter originally over 6,000 words long?! Why does the editor says its 5,900?! I must have deleted more than I wrote while editing. Hmph. Anyways, constructive criticism is always welcome! And that's all for this time! –Frosted Petals