The tiredness slowly faded away from Kuvira. She was laying down now, on top of a soft mattress. Her entire body was heavy, too heavy to move. She jerked awake and tried to move her hands over her face.
CLINK. CLINK.
They stopped short, metal cutting into her wrists. Metal? Her eyes shot open. Shackles were on her wrists and ankles as she laid in a strange octagonal shaped stone room. A black ceiling. Chains came from the walls. Her metal armor was missing. She quickly bent her fingers down and used metalbending to free her restraints. She sat up and broke her ankles free. With earthbending she flipped the entire bed up on one side and kicked it into the wall with rage.
She took several deep breaths, shaking violently. Focus! She had to focus. Breathe! Where was she? No doors. No indication of an exit. Nothing. What happened? How did she end up there? The last thing she remembered was the sunset, the sky slowly darkening into night. Queen Gerel was there. The spray. It all came back to her, but knowing the past wasn't going to help her now.
She walked along every wall and knocked on it. Solid. Solid. Solid. Hollow. That was the one. She busted it down and revealed an unlit hallway. She hesitated to step forward. Even after all that, it took everything she had to not visibly shake.
Through the darkness, there appeared to be a split in the hallway above. She gasped; someone was coming. She grabbed the walls, prepared to attack, and chucked rocks at the person who rounded the corner.
He screamed.
She threw them off to the side. "Baatar!" She froze. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!"
"Kuvira?" he asked, "Where are we?! I can't remember anything from last night, we were walking through the city and then..."
"There were drugs in the tea," she said, walking up to him, "the queen put us to sleep." She hugged him. "I'm so sorry for attacking you."
He hugged her back and said, "We're okay, we just have to get out of here...which we will...somehow." He looked around at the ceiling and walls.
They walked side by side through the darkness. Kuvira asked, "How did you get out of your room?"
"A complicated math problem I had to physically engineer and put together," he answered, "but how do we get out of here now? I don't even know where here is." He gestured to the darkness around them.
The walls around them shook and the temperature rose. The ground along the far wall turned red, it melted away and Bolin stepped out. "Hey, you guys are here too!?"
"We're getting out of here," Kuvira said, "follow me, these halls should lead somewhere."
Around the darkness of the hallways, it didn't take long for them to find dead ends. Eventually, after all of Kuvira's knocking, she did find one that was hallow on the other side. She busted it down and revealed a staircase leading upwards. Fire torches lit the walls.
Bolin asked, "Why don't I have a good feeling about this?"
Together they stepped forward into the manufactured light. They followed the path and revealed a platform sunken into the ground. Above them, an enclosed dome, and thousands of eyes sat in the stands, staring down at them.
"What in the world?" Baatar whispered.
"Welcome to the main event!" Queen Gerel shouted at them from a platform 20 feet in the air. She extended her arms in the air above her head. The crowd in the stands went wild.
Kuvira overlooked the tall walls in front of them and shouted, "What is the meaning of this?! Explain yourself!"
As the crowd died down, the queen asked, "Did you sleep well overnight?"
Baatar demanded, "Answer the question!"
"I'll take that as a no," she continued, "that's too bad. Anyway, we're all so happy you managed to make it out of your quarters and this far."
Kuvira demanded, "Where is the rest of my crew?!"
Gerel replied, "Relax, they're all right here. Nobody is missing, I promise." With earthbending, she opened the wall up behind her and revealed them all in cages, hanging from the water. Sarita and the rest of the crew were tied up, mouths tapped shut. She added, "You can't see from your angle, but they're over a pool of my catfish gators, and I haven't fed them yet today so they're mighty hungry."
"What?" Bolin's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"What is wrong with you?!" Kuvira shouted.
The crowd booed. A voice behind them said, clear as day, "Don't be a poor spirit!"
Geral explained, "You can get your crew back alive and well once you complete my challenges. All of you have to make it through to maze over to my side where I'm standing."
Bolin looked around at the walls surrounding them, all about 8 feet tall, "That's it?"
"Which way?" Baatar asked, turning to Kuvira.
"Here," she said, taking a left.
Suddenly, a wall shifted in front of them and blocked their path. "Hey!" Bolin shouted.
"Hun, we're earthbenders," Gerel said, "we can make the walls do whatever we want."
Kuvira went into her horse stance and cracked the next several with ease, breaking them apart and clearing the way for them to walk over the rubble. As they tried to walk through them, more earthbenders came out from more walls made of dirt and separated the group.
Bolin created lava from under them and made the group run for their lives. The crowd oo'd and aw'd at him.
"Now, now," Queen Gerel said, "if any of my subjects get melted the catfish gators will eat well." She motioned for the cages, and they dropped a few feet.
Kuvira glared at her and attempted to run through the maze, feeling for any earthbending movement as she moved but around every turn there was something else. Trip wires reveal arrows that nearly pinned her down. Hidden steps that made her fall on her face. The walls moved and shifted no matter how much she use earthbending to keep them out of her way. In the distance she heard Baatar and Bolin struggling to fight their own obstacles.
Once she made it to the other side, she looked up at smug Queen Gerel and said, "I made it to your side of the arena!"
"I said you had to make to where I'm standing," she replied, leaning over the railing. Her hair falling in her face and giving her a double chin.
Kuvira narrowed her eyes at her and raised an earth platform to be eyelevel to her. "Made it," she replied, hopping over the railing.
"I said you all had to make it up here." She gestured to the young men still in the maze.
Bolin was chucking rocks at the guards, but they were collecting them and throwing them back at double the speed. Baatar on the other hand was getting hogsheep tied near the very beginning.
Kuvira groaned as she watched their predicaments. Did she really have to fight her way through the entire maze again? She paused. No, she didn't. She looked up at the chandeliers lighting the entire place with strategically placed candles. With her metal wires, she grabbed onto one and flew through the air over the walls.
She grabbed Baatar with another wire first, "No! No! No! You know I hate heights, Kuvira!"
She covered his eyes with the wire and launched him all the way across to where Gerel was standing. He landed unceremoniously beside her, rear in the air, glasses falling off his face. Kuvira then quickly grabbed Bolin from behind and launched him in the same manner. She made it back over Gerel, unimpressed.
"Release my crew!" she demanded, gesturing to them. From where they were standing, they still couldn't see the water or the catfish gators, only an open cassum for them to fall into.
Gerel commanded, "You heard her, release the chains!"
The cages dropped. "No!" Kuvira screamed. They stopped, now several feet lower than they were before.
"You completed the second challenge," she explained, "now onto the third." The ground opened up in front of them and five people dressed for war from different time periods stood before them. "Choose your challenger. Whoever you choose, you have to fight."
Bolin asked, "All of us?"
"Sorry your highness," Baatar said, "I don't know if you noticed but I'm not much of a fighter."
"I noticed," she replied, "and you, you're a lavabender, that's not fair. The Iron Maiden herself will have to fight this one alone."
"That's the name of the train," Kuvira corrected her.
She paused; confusion covered her face. "Really? That's too bad, if I were you, I'd take it for myself. Anyway, who do you choose? If you take too long, I'll feed my catfish gators."
As she looked at the competitors, Kuvira remembered what happened when Avatar Aang entered Omashu after 100 years and he went through similar challenges.
Kuvira turned to face her and said, "I challenge the queen herself!"
The crowd gasped.
"Me?" she asked, "But I'm a non-bender."
"Too bad," Kuvira said, "I made my choice."
Gerel frowned at her, "Fine." She took off her robes and revealed she was wearing a dark green tank top and shorts. Unexpectantly, she was ripped. Muscles bulged from every part of her body. She took the gems out of her hair and restyled it into a simpler bun. "Ready?"
Too surprised to react, Kuvira didn't know what to do. Gerel lunged at her. Kuvira did a handstand on the railing and flipped over onto the ground. The guards scattered to avoid the fight. Kuvira smoothed out the ground, knocked over all the walls and prepared to attack. She chucked a large rock at her, but instead of moving out of the way, Gerel used earth bending to create a platform under her feet and swallowed the attack with ease.
Kuvira gasped. "You just said you're a non-bender."
"Oops," she replied, shrugging, "did I lie? My bad. Won't happen again, I promise." She gave her an evil glare and attacked.
Kuvira dodged the rocks left and right. The ground shifted and moved out from under her feet. She couldn't get a solid grip. The crowd cheered in their queen's honor. On her hands and knees, she forced the walls of the stadium in front of her and flipped around back onto her feet. She danced and twirled in the air as she fought, but Gerel stood firm and solid, taking every hit head-on. It wasn't working, she needed a new plan.
Then, she remembered the chandeliers. She used her metal-wires and thrusted herself into the air. Aerial-training was always one of Kuvira's favorite things to do growing up in Zaofu. She created a hoop out of the wire to sit on properly, and from the air, she spun around Gerel as she failed to land any hits.
Staying in the splits and hanging upside down, Kuvira spun around and used different stones to hamper with Gerel's attacks, anchoring her down and forcing her limbs behind her back and onto the ground. It was over, Kuvira won. She dismounted gracefully onto the ground.
Gerel unbound herself and said, "Congratulations! The games are over! The visitors won!" She took Kuvira's left wrist and threw her arm into the air.
Less than amused, Kuvira ripped her hand away and demanded, "What are you talking about?! This isn't a game! Let my crew go!"
"Alright," she replied calmly, "they're free to go. And you're right, this wasn't really a game. It was a test, to see if you have what it takes. You pass."
"What it takes?"
She nodded, "Follow me."
Gerel lead Kuvira, Baatar, and Bolin over to the area where the crew was kept. The guards lowered the chains down, and revealed a black ground. No pool of water, or any catfish gators to speak of. In fact, they could see through the floor, to the maze dark maze they had to walk through in order to find the steps to get to the arena in the first place. The rooms they were originally trapped in, the chains Kuvira had, the walled in room Bolin had, and the engineering Baatar had in order to get out. The entire arena had seen the entire thing!
Baatar asked, "What is the meaning of this?"
"Did you want your friends to be in real danger?" Gerel asked.
"Of course not," Bolin said, "but you lied about this too?"
"I don't understand," Kuvira said, "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, but why would you lie about this? You could see us the entire time?"
Gerel explained, "You're a leader now, Kuvira, someone people look to for help. You have to be incorruptible, selfless, and ready to do the right thing no matter what. You can't stumble in the dark, you can't leave your friends behind, and you certainly can't believe everything people say to you. I am surprised you chose to fight me out of the other competitors, none of them were benders."
Kuvira looked on and shock. Sarita was fine, so was everyone else. They shook off being tied up so easily and waved at her as if they never really were in danger, because they weren't. She couldn't believe her eyes. Fury rose up from within her.
"This was all a big joke!?" Kuvira said, her voice taunt with anger, "A prank?!" She clenched her fists, the ground shook and cracked. "Something to laugh at behind the scenes?! You drugged us, tied us up, and had us fight in front of your entire city for what?!"
"This wasn't a joke," Gerel said, "I'm being serious. As temporary ruler of the earth kingdom you'll see so many messed up things. I was trying to figure out if you have what it takes to rule over a nation, even temporarily."
It took everything Kuvira had not to break everything in sight. Baatar came up behind her and said, "Kuvira, we're inside this arena right now. I don't want to get buried."
She huffed. "You're right," she said, "I'm fine." She couldn't stop shaking. A cold sweat broke out across her entire body.
Bolin asked, "Are you okay?"
"...Fine..."
Queen Gerel announced, "Tonight we celebrate! This time for real, for Kuvira's victory!" She raised her arms and the crowd went wild. "I'm throwing a ball tonight. This time you can get ready and actually enjoy yourselves."
"Are you being serious?" Bolin asked, poking his fingers together, "Because now I'm scared."
"This time it's real," she replied, "there will be dinner and dancing a good food-not drugged tea-and we'll dance all night to some of the best traditional earth kingdom music! You'll see! Go back to your train and get ready!"
The three of them stared at her awkwardly. Baatar admitted to himself, "I didn't pack anything formal."
"I didn't either," Kuvira confessed.
"Well then, there are some greats shops in the city," Gerel replied, "I'll leave you to it." She clapped and motioned for her guards to leave to her, "come back to the palace at sunset! I'll be waiting!"
Kuvira turned and ran to a newly freed Sarita. Kuvira hugged her tight. "Are you okay?!"
"I was fine the whole time," she answered, "I was scared for you! Are you okay? You're kind of sweaty." She paused. "Are you quivering?"
"No..." she froze "I...have to go shopping. I'm glad you're okay." She stepped away awkwardly and followed everyone else out of the arena.
Kuvira did not go shopping, at least, not right away. Instead, she made her way out of the city, through the gates and across the same walkway she had crossed a day earlier. Baatar was hot on her heels. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"I can't be near people right now," she confessed, turning a corner behind a wall of stones.
"Are you going to start destroying everything now?" he asked, gesturing around them.
She stopped, then flopped face first into the ground, not even bothering to catch herself. After taking a deep breath, she rolled over and looked at the sky. "Baatar, everything we just went through was awful."
He sat down beside her and said, "Yeah, being drugged, waking up in a strange environment, and then having to fight our way through a maze was awful."
Kuvira shook all over as she explained, "I woke up in chains..." she hesitated, "and for a split second I thought I was six-years-old again. I thought my whole life was a terrible dream...a nightmare." She attempted to stop her tears.
"Six years old?" he asked, "What are you talking about?"
"In my original village..." she explained painfully, "I was the only earthbender and no one knew how to help me control it. My parents eventually had enough and put me in chains at night...so I wouldn't earthbend in my sleep and destroy everything..." She covered her face.
Baatar's jaw dropped. "Chains?"
She nodded. "They were made of metal..."
"That's how you knew how to metalbend before you ever made it to Zaofu," he said, "honestly, I've always wondered about that, especially since you didn't even know there were other metalbenders." He paused. "I'm sorry that did that to you."
"I know this queen doesn't know what I've been through but who chains someone up like that?" Kuvira asked, finally sitting up, "How could she do that? I-I should give her a piece of my mind!"
"I don't know," he said, "this is her territory, and she seems pretty unhinged. I think we should try to play it cool or else she might make something crazier happen in retaliation."
She leaned onto his shoulder and closed her eyes. She whispered, "Thanks for listening, Baatar."
"Your parents were terrible," he replied, "I didn't know they did that to you. I'm sorry."
"At least it's over," she said, "that's what your mom would tell me whenever I'd wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares about them. She'd say they're in the past, they can't hurt me anymore."
"She's right."
