Chap. 21

Revelation Part 1: Firewater

Tierra's talk with his Masters lasted less then an hour. In that time, they told him everything he needed to know to prove his theory right. But time moves differently in the plane of existence where the Architects reside. In the half-an-hour Tierra spoke with them, a night passed by on Earth. In fact, by the time Tierra returned to his body, the sun had already risen…..

He awoke with a start, as he felt the shift in his form. The weight and pressures of his body seemed overwhelming for a moment, but the dog was used to this and got past it. Looking around, he saw the others were still asleep. Damn, was I up there all night? He thought, as he saw the sunlight streaming in through the bars. At least it was worth it. Now I just have to figure out how to use it.

The dog would've continued with his throughts, but then the door opened. The guards marched in silently, and moved quickly to ascertain the prisoners as they awoke. The manacles and chains were removed from the wall, but kept together so that the prisoners' hands were still locked. The 'special needs' prisoners were handled as before, and the group was slowly forced up onto the deck of the ship.

The sunlight was blinding after a night in the dark cell. The group squinted as they were led past the long line of Fire Nation soldiers. However, they did manage to see that the coastline they had been at yesterday was gone. Instead, there was a large ocean, with no land in site. But they had not time to observe it, as they were led onto the main section of the deck, and once again, forced to their knees. Looking up at the helm of the ship, they saw Azula's procession come forth, Mai and Ty Lee walking alongside. The soldiers bowed, as the carriage was let down, and Azula stepped out.

Slowly the Princess walked down to them, her face eager to inflict punishment. She walked over to Aang first, and asked, "So, are you ready to talk now?"

"Forget it." Aang said, defiance bright in his voice.

"All right. Does anyone else have something to say?" Azula said, ignoring the comment.

For a moment, there was silence as the group looked up at Azula. Finally, the blindfolded Luz spoke. "I think I speak for everyone here Princess, when I say this,….. Bite me, you crazy, sadistic, failure."

Now, Azula had expected no response to her question, and she was quite prepared for Luz's response. "Very well. I see you've made your choice." The Princess moved in closer to Luz for a second, then suddenly shot out a burst of lighting straight at the fox's face. It struck hard and knocked her back five feet, her body convulsing as it flew through the air.

"NOO! YOU BITCH, I'LL KILL YOU!" Oscuridad howled as he switched from his wife back to Azula.

"I don't think you're in a position to tell me what's going to happen." Azula said, as she turned her back on the bat. But before she could move away, she heard a weak, cracked voice say, "I think…. You need to do more then that."

Azula whipped around, to see Luz pulling herself up. The fox's face was burned on the right side below the blindfold, almost splitting it down the middle. Oscuridad hissed at the sight of it, but as they watched, the burnt skin began to revert, to reknit itself. Within seconds, her face was normal again.

"I'm afraid we're a bit harder to kill then that." She said, as she was moved back to the group by the guards.

"I see." Azula said thoughtfully. "But that only applies to you. Your friends are far more vulnerable. But I don't think I'll kill them myself."

Azula paused for a moment, then said, "Zuko, my brother, please stand." As the guards dragged him up, Azula walked over to him, a grim smile on her face.

"Tell me Zuzu, do you still want to go home?" she asked. Zuko looked at her, but kept silent.

"Well, if you do, I can arrange it. Father will let you back if you redeem yourself, and if I vouch for you. And all you have to for that is to kill your new friends, and tell me the secret. You can do to; I have an antidote for the gas right here." Azula said, reaching into her vest and dangling a blue sphere in front of Zuko.

"You must know; they wouldn't take you in unless they totally trusted you. Think about it Zuko. I'm offering you the chance to go home. I'm offering you your throne. Don't you miss it? The garden? Mom's tree? Everything?"

Zuko's eyes went downward, staring at the ground. Inwardly, Azula smiled; she had fooled him again. Zuko was so easy to manipulate, so ready to believe anything she told him. He likely knew it was a lie, but all Zuko wanted was for their father to love him. What a joke. Azula thought. Zuko is too pathetic for anyone to care about. No wonder he ended up with Uncle; they're the perfect pair.

"I do want to go home." Zuko said suddenly. Azula nodded, waiting for him to fall into her hands. "But I don't want to bring any blood home with me."

Azula's good mood vanished, as Zuko turned and said to her, "I'm not your pawn anymore Azula. You've never done anything but lie to me, and I was too naïve to stop believing you. They have been more truthful to me then you ever were. Our father is a tyrant, and I will not beg him for anything anymore. But if you want to be his lapdog, have fun with it, Lula."

Behind Azula, Mai and Ty Lee gasped, as Zuko uttered his sister's hated nickname. Azula's eyes darkened, and she instantly whirled around and kicked Zuko in the chest, forcing him back down.

"I should've known." Azula sneered. "I can't believe that you and I can share the same pure Fire Nation blood. But perhapsI can find out for myself when I see yours on the deck."

But before Azula could strike down her brother, a strange thing happened. A sound began to fill the air, low at first, but growing every second. Azula turned to see it, as did all the others on the deck, once they realized what the sound was.

It was Tierra.

And he was laughing.

The dog sat there, imprisoned and in extreme danger, laughing like a madman. It was the laugh of a man who has just heard the best joke of his life, a joke so good that nothing else is important. It was the laugh of man who knows that the joke is not from a person, but a joke that is told by fate, and only to him. It was because of that Tierra laughed, as everyone began to stare at him in growing bewilderment and fear.

"Has he gone crazy?" Ty Lee asked aloud.

"I always thought it would happen eventually." Oscuridad said.

"Oh, I'm sorry everyone." Tierra said, as the laughs began to trickle off. "But the Princess made such an excellent joke."

"What are you babbling about?" Azula snapped, not wanting to admit that the laughter had disturbed her as much as everyone else.

"Why, what you said about blood." The dog answered. "After all, so many people do so much traveling in the world. And love has that funny way of crossing borders. Can anyone really be of pure blood anymore?"

"If this has a point, you'd best get to it." Azula said, angry at this strange interruption in her execution.

"Why, I simply want to point out who's who on board." Tierra answered. "After all, there are a lot of Firebenders on board, as well as Water, Earth, and Airbenders. Maybe there are family ties here that nobody knows of. Let's find out, shall we?"

Turning to Agua and Fuego, he said, "Gentlemen, if you wouldn't mind helping me here?"

"Tier, what are you talking about? This is not a good stall." Agua said back.

"Oh I'm not stalling. I just need you guys to help me uncover some family history." The dog said. "After all, you can still tell who's who, right? The gas must've worn off enough for you to do that, even if you still can't escape? "

"Please tell me you know what you're doing." Fuego whispered. Tierra's only response was to shrug. The two Knights looked at each other, then shrugged. Closing their eyes, they both concentrated on what Tierra had asked them. Suddenly, their eyes opened, Fuego's glowing a darker red then normal, Agua's a strange bright blue. Cries of surprise and amazement suddenly began to spring up from the crew, as Tierra watched with a smile.

"What on earth is this?" Katara wondered, as she looked at the guards in front of her. They were all staring at something on their hands, something that was glowing bright red. Katara turned and saw Iroh staring at his hand as well. Seeing it a closer angle, Katara saw that the glow was caused by a symbol that had suddenly appeared in the former general's hand. It was a symbol Katara recognized instantly; the symbol of the Fire Nation. But then, Katara felt something appear in her hand, something that glowed blue in the corner of her eye. Looking down, Katara gasped as she saw the symbol of the Water Tribe trace itself in her hand, outline in blue.

"You see Princess," Tierra explained. "your bending powers come from the Architects, the same as ours. Those with bending potential are marked for those elements at birth. It connects you to them, though not as deeply as us. It allows us to show who's been touched by the elements, to make the symbols appear."

"So what?" Azula sneered. "Did you think making me look at my hands would do something? I don't need a symbol; I know what my allegiance is."

"I think you might want to recheck that." The dog said with a smirk. Annoyed, Azula looked down at her hands, only to gasp in shock. Bringing both her hands up, she stared in horror, unable to believe what was in front of her. As Tierra watched, Zuko saw his sister's reaction, and wondered what could scare her so badly. But before he could, he felt whatever power the Knights were channeling come into him as well. Without thinking, Zuko looked down at his hands. But when he looked, he understood his sister's fear. On his right hand, the symbol for the Fire Nation glowed brightly in red. But in his left hand, outlined in blue, was the symbol for the Water Tribe.

Zuko stared in amazement at his hands, as Azula noticed it on him as well. The two of them stared at each other, their open palms exposed. As the others saw it as well, Tierra chuckled and said, "You understand now Princess? You are not of pure blood, and neither is your brother. You two are children of the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe."