Sorry for the wait again but I'm on holiday now so they should be more frequent. I want to finish this by the end of the summer, only two chapters left now until this season is done.
I hope you like this chapter and please review after reading :D
Chapter 16: The Earth King
"NO! LET GO OF ME! WHERE'S JET!?" Eira kicked, screamed, and thrashed as the Dai Li agents grabbed her arms to direct her down the horrible damp, dark stone tunnel to wherever they wanted to take her.
She sucked in all of the air she could and it blew out with explosive force, knocking the guards back and temporarily freeing herself. She sprinted down, heart racing and shouting at the top of her breath. "JET! JET! WHERE ARE YOU?!" She looked to the side desperately. This was all her fault! All her fault! She felt their rock hands being fired off towards her and she jumped up, dodging them and shattering them to dust with her airbending as she kicked at them.
She ran as fast as she could down the tunnels, disorientated, confused, and angry at herself and the Dai Li. How could she let this happen to herself? Jet was basically fine when she saw him! He was happier and wouldn't have gotten arrested by the Dai Li. Again! Because of her! All of the tunnels looked exactly the same. She had no idea where she was and no idea how she was going to get out.
She was on the verge of tears as she called out for Jet and ran out. She skidded to a halt as she met a crossroads but before she could decide which way to go she was slammed to the floor by a pillar of stone erupting from the earth.
Eira cried out and scrambled forwards to get back up as quickly as she could but the Dai Li agents caught up to her and used earthbending to bind her hands and even cover her mouth. Eira was swearing like an English sailor as she tried to escape from them but she wasn't Aang. She wasn't an earthbender. She wasn't strong enough to break free. The Dai Li agents hauled her up and returned to moving her again but with greater force and speed. Clearly, Eira wasn't going to escape again.
Her eyes shined and a tear of frustration rolled down her cheek as she looked around hopelessly.
She was thrown into a makeshift chair in a small cell-like room and the earth around her held her in.
This was it, her literal worst nightmare. Trapped underground where no-one who cared would know where she was and about to get brainwashed. Just like Jet. Eira hoped he was just going to be reconditioned again. Then, maybe, he wouldn't die. She just hoped that he managed to survive. Then she wouldn't have killed him.
A faceless Dai Li agent entered the room and looked at her straight in the eye as the lanterns around him lit up, illuminating the small room with dim orange light.
"You are safe here," he began and the lights rotated around him eerily. The light dimmed and flashed around him and Eira tried to avert her eyes from it and tune out his voice but everything about the situation forced her to listen to every word he said.
"There is no war in Ba Sing Se."
I'm sorry Katara, Toph. I should've told you what I was going to do, Eira thought.
"The order must be protected in Ba Sing Se."
I'm sorry, Mum, Dad, Jenna. I'm sorry I left. I should've just ignored that glow.
"There is no war within these walls. Only order."
I'm so, so sorry everyone, Eira thought as her mind started to blur. With every flash and word her mind clouded. I hate this. I wish I never watched the stupid show. I wish those spirits never abducted me. I… I…. I…
Everything went dark.
…
…
…
"Gagh!" Eira spluttered as a feeling of pain, numbness, wet, and cold hit her in a horrible shock. The black suddenly switched to white as light overwhelmed her. Her nose twitched as she tried to adjust but she couldn't stop herself as she sneezed and was sent flying backwards with the uncontrollable force of her airbending and began to fall. She landed hard on her back and winded herself, temporarily stopping her and allowing her for the first time to think. Where did she fall from? On that note, where was she? Last thing she… she was UNDER LAKE LAOGAI! Eira cried out as she remembered and tried to jump up, despite still not being able to see properly yet but as soon as she did she felt herself being encased in earth, unable to move. She thrashed and cried out more. Was it the Dai Li again?! WHERE WAS SHE!?
"Eira! Eira, calm down! Toph, let her go." A soft voice broke through her panic and Eira tried to focus on where she heard it from. The earth around her retreated and Eira fell back to the ground, unsupported. She blinked several times and the blurring began to disappear. There were several shapes in front of her. They looked familiar.
"Eira, it's us," it spoke, getting a bit louder as it came nearer.
"K-Katara?" Eira croaked. She blinked rapidly and her vision finally returned back to normal. In front of her was Katara, leaning down with a concerned yet apprehensive expression. Behind Katara were Aang, Sokka, and Toph and to their side was Appa. Judging by where Eira was she guessed that she had just fallen off Appa. They were all in a rocky area but with full green trees covering them with shade and none of it looked familiar, leaving Eira with an even greater sense of disorientation.
Katara's expression lit up as she looked at Eira. "Thank goodness," she breathed.
"Is she back to normal?" Sokka asked, walking cautiously towards the two girls.
"N-Normal?" Eira muttered questioningly. "What does he…" Eira stopped as her memories caught up with her, sharp as a knife. "The Dai Li! Jet!" Eira's eyes widened as she looked around quickly. Where were they! They had to be around! They wouldn't have just left! "Where are they?" Eira asked with the same desperation.
Katara clamped two hands on her shoulders and forced Eira to look directly at her.
"Eira. Look at me," she ordered. "You need to rest here now. Especially after…"
"A-After what? What…. What did they do?" Eira asked.
Katara's face fell. "You can't remember?" she asked quietly.
Eira's eyes widened even more in fear. "Remember what?"
Katara released Eira from her grip and stepped back unsurely.
"You were-Well, something happened to you. We don't really understand it but something the Dai Li did cause you to…to attack us," Katara said, trying to say it in a way that wouldn't worry her but it was failing.
"I…attacked you?" Eira said slowly, shaking slightly. That was too much like what happened with Jet. JET! "Where's Jet?"
Eira looked at Aang. Aang was the one who fought with Jet in the show. His face fell and he turned away.
"He died. Long Feng killed him," Aang said quietly as if trying not to be heard but with the complete lack of background noise they rung loud and clear in her mind.
Eira just didn't react. She didn't know how to. This all-everything-had to be wrong. It… It didn't happen in the show. Jet wouldn't be dead just like that. She couldn't have been forced to attack them or brainwashed. It was Jet in the show. Of course she did black out after the light and the Dai Li agent but he just said the same thing as what happened with Jet. Wouldn't that mean that she should've woken up with no memories in Ba Sing Se?
Nothing made sense. It felt insane.
There was a horrible silence as Eira felt all of their eyes on her. She just wanted to evaporate and disappear into thin air. Sadly, bending didn't do that.
"Eira," Toph said, breaking the silence. "Why didn't you tell us about this Jet guy? Or where you were going?"
Eira looked up at Toph to see a familiar expression. She had seen it quite a bit on her journey. Distrust. Eira looked around all of their faces and saw the same thing. It felt like it physically hurt her to see it. Like everything at the moment, it felt wrong.
"I-" Eira didn't know what to say. Hiding her intentions just caused problems. It had caused nothing but problems. But how could she explain her intentions when they came from something they physically couldn't understand? "I want to tell you, but it's really, really hard for me. I just don't know," she finished pathetically,
"You could at least try," Toph retorted. "We had no idea where you were, Fairy Feet. You just disappeared and the next thing we knew you were attacking us in a hideout under a lake. We deserve to know."
"I know. The best I can say to explain it is… I guess how I tried to explain it to Suki," Eira said.
"What?" Sokka exclaimed. "When did you explain this to Suki?"
"We talked on our way to Ba Sing Se. I basically told her about how before I came here- to this world- I saw things about this journey. I saw things like Yue dying, Jet dying, and Appa being stolen by sandbenders when we were in the desert."
"But, Appa and Yue are okay," Katara said.
"I know. Because I changed it. I stopped Zhao from killing the moon spirit which prevented Yue from having to sacrifice her own spirit to take their place. I also prevented Appa from being stolen by asking someone else to stay with Toph. If it wasn't for that Toph wouldn't be able to keep the library up and keep them away at the same time." Eira looked to Toph and held her hands up quickly in defence. "I know you're really strong and all but it was an entire library and a horde of them. Despite you're strength you were on sand and Appa was eventually taken."
Eira looked to Katara and hung her head in shame. "It was selfish of me to coerce you into not going down with us. I should've been the one to stay up since it mattered to me so much I would change it. But I wanted to try and get more information in the library."
Katara's expression was nothing less than confused. Eira couldn't blame her. It was a lot to take in that a friend foresaw tragedies and was secretly acting to make sure they didn't happen, but surprisingly she didn't look upset in the slightest like Eira was expecting.
"I won't pretend I completely understand this," she admitted. "But either way I get it. You're in a different world. You'd want to learn about it."
"But you're still not telling us why you decided to wander off into Ba Sing Se on your own after lying to us," Toph said, clearly annoyed.
"I saw Jet dying! I saw him being killed and I wanted to stop it. I thought that if I found him and brought him back we'd all prevent it. We had Appa with us so he wouldn't find us on his own and he'd be stuck brainwashed and alone forever. But when we reached the Upper Ring he flipped out at all of the inequality and remembered again. Then…Then, I don't quite know what went on. I don't know where Jet was taken and I don't remember what I did."
"You attacked us," Sokka said solemnly.
Eira looked away from them. She didn't really know how to feel. She apparently attacked her friends, but it was while she was brainwashed. She didn't remember any of it. Nothing.
"I guess there is an upside to me being so bad at learning airbending then," she said quietly.
"It's alright, Eira," Katara said calmly. "We don't blame you for that. We're all together again and that's what matters."
"Now you won't be keeping more secrets from us anymore and sneaking around we should be fine," Toph said.
Seeing Toph's face clear of her distrust felt like a huge boulder had been lifted from her shoulder. Eira felt much lighter and free without it all keeping her down.
She couldn't feel good per se, but she was feeling better. They still needed to take down the Dai Li completely before she felt good. They said Jet was dead. They said she'd attacked them. She had been brainwashed. She needed to find out more before her mind would be at peace.
"Now we've escaped the Dai Li, we've got Eira back. We should head back to the Earth King and tell him our plan," Sokka said cheerfully. "We're on a roll."
"Two good things after months of trouble isn't exactly a roll," Katara countered.
"Then let's build on it. We need to invade the Fire Nation during the eclipse. We'll need the Earth King's support," Sokka said.
"What makes you say we'll get it?" Toph asked. "Things haven't been going so smoothly lately. I think we should leave and forget this ever happened."
"But I think that's even more reason we should tell him," Sokka insisted.
"Sokka," Katara began. "Long Feng controls Ba Sing Se with the Dai Li and… after what happened with Eira I think we should do what Toph said. It'd be better if we just leave this horrible place behind us."
"We've all seen enough of Ba Sing Se and I can't even see," Toph agreed, waving her hand in front of her blank eyes.
"But with Eira back there's nothing stopping us from going there and exposing Long Feng," Aang said, smiling. "We can tell the Earth King the truth about him and the war."
"See? Aang's with me." Sokka put his arm around Aang's shoulders and smiled widely. "I mean this is the reason we came here."
"I think Eira should decide. She's been through a lot and-"
"We need to tell the King," Eira said firmly.
Everyone looked at her in shock, even Sokka and Aang. "It doesn't matter what happened to me. The Earth Kingdom can't survive with their King only being a puppet."
"I guess that's that. We're telling the Earth King." Sokka turned dramatically with his announcement and his face fell as he saw ships on the lake below them. "And they're searching for us." He looked to Katara. "So?"
Katara thought silently for a moment before nodding to her brother.
"Let's fly."
Eira was glad to be back on Appa, riding through the sky and feeling the wind on her face. It was so much better than being underground. She also got her staff and bag back despite their slightly damaged appearance with mud and twigs on them.
She looked through her bag and looked at a random page of her notes.
"I never thought how strange it would be for you to see this," she admitted. "I can read what you guys write but I can't actually write it myself. I guess I'm partially illiterate here."
"Someone should teach you how," Sokka said.
"Maybe later."
They flew quickly towards the Inner Ring and the King's palace but as they approached Katara looked more nervous.
"There it is! That whole thing is the palace! The Earth King should be in there." Sokka leant over the side of Appa and pointed at the massive collection of walls and buildings inside the Inner Ring.
"We have to be careful," Katara said. "Long Feng's probably warned the King that we're coming."
"Why would you assume that? If you ask me, we're gonna sail right in and-Aahhh!" Sokka ducked back into the saddle like a groundhog going back into the ground as a rock flew over his head, barely missing him.
"What was that?" Toph asked, clinging to the side of the saddle.
"Surface-to-air rocks!" Sokka yelled, jumping back up to get a better view. "More incoming!"
Appa swerved to avoid the shower of rocks being thrown at them. Some went just above their heads as others skimmed Appa's legs. A couple flew right at their faces but Aang, at the head, threw them away or shattered them to dust with his earthbending and airbending.
Aang launched himself off Appa as they flew towards the Earth Palace's gates and with his earthbending he threw the guards out of their way. Appa landed heavily on the ground in front of the palace stairs and roared at the ostrich horses and their mounted guards.
Everyone stood up on Appa's saddle and prepared to fight off attackers as Appa tried to get towards the doors.
Eira held her staff tightly in her hands and blew several men around Appa meters away into the surrounding walls. More and more guards were being sent their way as well as ammunition. Cubes of the walls were being flung at them by the earthbenders to be blocked by Toph and Aang's walls.
Katara lashed out with her waterbending and visibly winced every time she made contact.
"Sorry!" she apologised as she water whipped another two guards. "Sorry!"
Toph and Aang rushed their hands towards the stairs and the stairs flipped and smoothed creating a ramp. They both rose Appa up the stairs on a platform and Eira blasted the remaining guards behind Appa far away.
"We just need to get through to see the Earth King!" Katara shouted after them guiltily.
"Incoming!" Sokka yelled as the earthbenders on top of the bridge sent two seven or eight feet tall statues from the entrance towards them.
Aang and Toph rose up another wall to deflect them but it all smashed into a cloud of dust. Eira waved her staff at it with airbending and the cloud blew into the earthbenders' faces.
Katara rose up the water below them into an ice bridge and they leapt over.
Aang liquefied the water again and them refroze it, trapping three more earthbenders.
"Seriously, we're on your side!" Sokka shouted at them, sprinting past into the palace. "Sorry!"
Eira ran after him and they found themselves in a massive entrance hall with three large ornate doors on the northern, eastern, and western walls.
"Which way to the Earth King?" Sokka asked as Toph easily defeated more guards.
"The middle one, duh," Eira said. It was the furthest away and the most ornate. Pretty obvious.
Sokka and Eira jumped over a fallen pillar and Eira glided them both quickly to the other side of the hall.
Sokka stood in front of it, arms on his hips. Impressed.
"That's one impressive door." He pushed at it but it didn't budge. "Yahh!" He strained against its weight but to no avail.
Toph looked like she would've rolled her eyes as she kicked at the door frame and it all went down with a mighty crash and Sokka falling on top of. He glared daggers at Toph. "A little warning next time."
They all walked through, guards up, and the Earth King was sat on his throne, Long Feng at his side as well as the actual bear Bosco. Dai Li agents stood in their way.
The Earth King looked surprisingly young with a smooth face, dark eyes wide from shock and a generally good-natured appearance. It was quite a contrast to the man next to him.
"We need to talk to you," Aang announced in a loud but calm voice.
"They're here to overthrow you," Long Feng lied, turning to face the king.
"No, we're on your side. We're here to help," Sokka said.
"We would've preferred not to break in, by the way," Eira said, just to be clear.
The Earth King stood up, aghast.
"You invade my palace, lay waste to my guards, break down my fancy door, and you expect me to trust you?" The rising aggravation and disbelief in his voice was not a good start.
"Sorry," Eira mumbled.
"But he does have a point," Toph noted.
While he looked unsure about, well, everything, the Earth King stood firm.
"If you are on my side, then drop your weapons and stand down," he commanded.
They all looked at each other and did as he said, dropping their fighting stances. Dropping her staff to the floor felt awful and made her feel vulnerable but she knew she had to. She still had her airbending without it, even if it helped a good deal in actual fighting. Aang dropped his own staff to the floor, Katara put her water back into her water skin, Sokka's machete clattered on the ground and the boulder Toph was holding up fell behind her.
"See?" Aang said, trying to be cheerful. "We're all friends, your Earthiness." Aang gave a nervous chuckle in an attempt to calm the rising tension.
The Earth King said nothing, his mouth a thin grim line. Long Feng signalled to the Dai Li and their earth hands shot out to cuff their arms with rock gloves.
Eira's heartrate rose dramatically as she felt the stiff rock binding her hands and she struggled against it in an attempt to get free. She'd had more than enough of their stupid earth hand cuffs!
"Detain the assailants!" Long Feng ordered, smiling sinisterly.
Eira stepped back, still struggling. If she couldn't get free she was going to run for it any second. How did they convince him in the show? How did they?
"But we dropped our weapons," Sokka said in disbelief. "We're your allies."
"He's the Avatar!" Eira said, locking on to her memory of the show and attempting to point at Aang with both of her hands behind her back.
"The Avatar?" The Earth King pointed at Sokka, eyes wide again with curiosity and surprise. "You're the Avatar?"
Sokka looked a bit taken off guard. "Uh, no. Him." He nudged his head towards Aang who effortlessly broke free of his cuffs to give a small wave before re-attaching them. Eira wished she could do it that easily. It would save her a lot of trouble.
"Over here."
Long Feng scowled before turning to the king.
"What does it matter, Your Highness? They're enemies of the state."
The King sat back in his throne. "Perhaps you're right." Bosco lumbered over to Aang, twinned curiosity with the king, and sniffed him before licking him. Aang smiled at the animal's attention and the king laughed good-heartedly. "Though Bosco seems to like him. I'll hear what he has to say."
Eira sighed in relief, ignoring the glare Long Feng was sending their way.
"Your Highness," Aang started. "There's a war going on right now. It's been going on for the past hundred years in fact. The Dai Li's kept it secret from you. It's all a conspiracy to control the city, and to control you."
"A secret war? That's crazy!" the king said, looking at Aang as if he were insane.
"Completely," Long Feng agreed.
"Long Feng didn't want us to tell you," Aang said accusingly. "He kidnapped our friend and brainwashed her. He forced her to attack us and tried to kill us."
"All lies. Just a fantastical story to trick you into joining them," Long Feng said quietly to the king.
"Your claim is difficult to believe. Even from an Avatar."
"But we have more proof," Eira said. "If you would ask any of the people now moving into your city they would tell you about the war. Why do you think so many new people are living in the Lower Ring? Why do you think you haven't seen any of the other Earth Kingdom leaders? General Fong, Bumi, or any of the others?"
"I have my advisor to inform me of any issues like those," the Earth King said. "And I haven't had any news about a rush of people entering Ba Sing Se."
"But we can show you then. Omashu was taken over by the Fire Nation as well as all of the other strongholds and cities. An attempt was made on Ba Sing Se not a week ago."
"As a king you should at least try and see if this is true," Sokka added. "It is the Avatar with us. He was at your party."
Sokka looked pointedly at Aang and he got it. Aang span the earth around in his hand and jumped on a small ball of air to showcase his bending.
The king looked like he was buying it.
"Did I mention we have an air bison?" Eira said and the king's curiosity won out.
o.O.o
"This is… This is… exhilarating! Exhilarating, and terrifying!" The king was like a little child as he sat on Appa's saddle and they began to fly across Ba Sing Se. He looked all around the skyline and the small dotted buildings below them.
"Yeah," Toph said unenthusiastically. "I hate it too." Flying still was never going to be her favourite.
"I never knew Ba Sing Se was so big."
"Really?" Katara asked. "Have you never been outside the Upper Ring before?"
"I've never been outside the palace," he admitted. "This is certainly the way to travel though. So, may I ask where exactly we're going?"
"We're going to the Outer Wall, Your Highness," Eira said quietly. "It's where the Fire Nation made its attempt to invade your city. Its second attempt since the war began."
He looked deeply troubled about it all. Eira couldn't blame him. She kind of understood how he felt. To be told something awful happened with no knowledge of it happening. It's like with Jet.
They couldn't have just killed him. He was probably back out in Ba Sing Se again.
It didn't take long for them to get to the Outer Wall, and it took less time to find the site of the drill.
A massive dark steel machine with a bright red insignia of the Fire Nation on it wasn't too difficult to see. The king's face fell in horror as he noticed it. The excitement of flying melted into dread. Appa landed on the wall and he got off the saddle, staring at it.
"I hoped it wasn't true."
"I wish it wasn't," Aang said glumly.
"What is it?"
"It's a drill made by the Fire Nation to get through these walls," Sokka explained. "They were going to use it to invade, like they did to other cites, and claim the Earth Kingdom as their own."
"I can't believe I never knew." He looked to his right as he heard people approaching. Long Feng had arrived, accompanied by two Dai Li agents.
"I can explain this, Your Majesty," he said quickly, maintaining his level tone. "This is nothing more than… a construction project."
"Really?" Katara said sarcastically. "Can you then explain the Fire Nation insignia on your 'construction project'?"
The king looked suspiciously at Long Feng.
"Well it's imported of course. You know you can't trust domestic machinery," he explained desperately. "You surely don't believe these children instead of your most loyal attendant?"
The Earth King looked between them and Long Feng. His eyes steeled with determination.
"Dai Li! Arrest Long Feng! I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom."
Long Feng looked shocked at the accusation and order to his Dai Li. Eira eyed the two agents suspiciously as they glanced at each other before cuffing Long Feng and taking him away.
"You can't arrest me!" he protested. "You all need me more than you know!"
And 'I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids?' then? Eira thought, taking pleasure from seeing him leave but it disappeared quickly. He still had the Dai Li.
Sokka, on the other hand, didn't know that so he jeered happily.
"Looks like Long Feng is long gone! Ha!" He wiped a non-existent tear from his eye. "Ah, I've been saving that one."
"I can tell," Eira deadpanned.
It was a quiet fly back to the palace. The earthbenders had managed to fix all of the battle damage they'd done to the place which made Katara and Aang a lot less guilty about the whole ordeal. Being able to fix things quickly was the bright side of earthbending. Too bad the down side was that they could destroy things just as easily.
"I want to thank you, young heroes, for opening my eyes," the Earth King said (apparently his name was Kuei). "All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis was merely a city of fools. And that makes me the king fool." He buried his face in one of his hands. What was going on was finally catching up with him. "We're at war. With the Fire Nation," he said hopelessly.
"That's why we came to Ba Sing Se, Your Highness," Sokka said, happy at finally being allowed to tell the King about the plan. "Because we think you can help us end the war."
Momo jumped off Aang's shoulder and climbed up King Kuei's arm.
"We don't have much time. There's a comet coming this summer. Its energy will give all firebenders unbelievable strength. They'll be unstoppable," Aang said.
"But there's hope. Before it comes, we have a window of opportunity. A solar eclipse is coming and the firebenders will be helpless."
"What are you suggesting, Sokka?" The king asked.
"That we launch an invasion of the Fire Nation on that day," Sokka explained. "On the Day of Black Sun."
"I don't know," the king said, leaning back on his throne. "That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se. We'd be completely vulnerable," he said, fear rising in his voice.
"You still have you're walls," Eira reassured him. "They have stood strong for a hundred years and more. In the time it takes to reach the Fire Nation they won't have made another drill. It'd be too little time for them. If you do this then you will be able to take a decisive move in this war. You'll make up for the earlier years of the war if you can end it."
He paused, deep in thought as they waited anxiously.
"Very well. You have my support," he announced.
They cheered at his decision as the door opened and a high-ranking man entered the room.
"Your Majesty," he said, walking until he was level with them and bowed to the king. "I apologise for the interruption."
King Kuei gestured to him. "This is General How. He's the leader of the Council of Five, my highest ranking generals."
"We've searched Long Feng's office as you instructed. I think we found something that will interest everybody."
Everyone looked at each other. Eira had told the Earth King about Long Feng's office. She'd told him that he'd been keeping secret documents there that he would need to find.
They all gathered around in the office, Eira quickly opening the curtains and window to let in fresh air and light. His office reminded her too much of Lake Laogai with it all closed off.
"There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se. Including you kids," General How explained. He took a scroll from inside a dark box and read out the side, "Toph Beifong." He handed it to Toph, who passed it to Katara.
Katara opened the scroll and read it, her eyes moving quickly across the page.
"It's a letter from your mum," she explained. "She's here in the city. And she wants to see you."
Toph's eyes widened in shock but she quickly regained control of her expression.
"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home?" She shook her head in mock-pity. "That's just sad."
At least he couldn't intercept anything for me, Eira thought sadly.
Downsides and upsides all around her journey and not being able to contact her family was a downside. She wondered about the time. If they matched up it would be spring back home. Almost summer. About half a year of her being disappeared. How were they managing? Were they looking for her back home? Did they think she ran away?
The king took out another scroll and read the side before handing it to Aang.
"Aang?" Eira said in shock. He still had the letter? But Appa never met with the guru.
"This scroll was sent via a messenger. Apparently someone had informed him of the Avatar's location.
"It's from the Eastern Air Temple," Aang said as he opened the scroll.
"Is there anything for me and Sokka by any chance?" Katara asked hopefully.
"Not directly, but there is an intelligence report that might interest you," General How said. He took yet another scroll from the box and handing it to Katara.
"A small fleet of Water Tribe ships," Katara read out and she and Sokka looked at it in shock.
"What? It could be Dad!" Sokka said, reading from Katara's side.
"Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay. Led by Hadoka, it is Dad!" Katara said, the excitement rising and rising.
Aang had just finished his letter as he looked up from the scroll.
"I can't believe it. There's a man living at the Eastern Air Temple. He apparently ran into a group of Kyoshi warriors and he want to help me take the next step in the Avatar journey. He says he can teach me to control the Avatar State."
Eira frowned. "I thought we came up with this with General Fong's plan. You haven't finished the first step yet: master all four elements."
"But he says he's a spiritual guru. He says with his help I'll be able to be completely aware of what I'm doing and it'd be just before the invasion too."
"I can't believe that we know where our dad is now," Katara said. "It's almost unreal."
"I know what you mean. My mum's in the city. And it sounds like she wants to actually understand me," Toph said.
"This is all such big news!" Sokka said. "Where do we even start?"
Katara looked around at all of them and the letters they were holding. "I hate to say it, but we have to split up."
"Split up?" Aang said worriedly. "We just got Eira back and we're all together. Now you want us to separate?"
"You should meet this guru. Aang, if we're going to invade the Fire Nation we'll need you to be ready."
He looked thoughtfully. "I guess if I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple I can drop you off to see your dad."
"But what about the plan?" Sokka asked.
"I'm staying here anyway," Eira volunteered. Her voice felt monotonous. She wanted to be happy for them, and she was, but she was worried about Aang going to the guru and looking at Katara, Sokka, and Toph looking so excited to see their parents she felt… jealous? Even if Toph wasn't going to actually find her mother there, she still had an opportunity to see her. "I don't have anyone else to distract me in this world and I have nowhere to go. I'll stay and talk out the plan with the Earth King. You should all go. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure, Eira?" Katara asked, concerned. "I mean, you were just-"
"I'll be fine, Katara." Eira smiled to try and reassure them. "I promise you that I won't do anything stupid again. I didn't see anything happening during this time that I'll try and sneak off to fix like last time. All that would've happened is that one of you would take my place and miss out. This is for the better."
"Thanks, Eira," Aang said happily. "Come on guys, I'll give you a ride to Chameleon Bay."
They all gathered outside the palace where Appa had been being taken care of by some servants.
Aang, Katara, and Sokka had gathered their things and packed it all onto Appa's saddle.
Katara patted Appa's muzzle and it looked like Aang was going to say something to her but he was interrupted by Sokka gleefully swinging his arm onto his shoulder.
"Whoo! Time to go! Next stop Chameleon Bay!"
Katara and Aang both looked annoyed at Sokka, though for different reasons, and they all climbed up on Appa for the journey.
"Aang, Sokka, and Katara," King Kuei said respectfully. "I wish you a good journey. Ba Sing Se owes its thanks to you. We look forward to your safe return."
Aang, Katara, and Sokka bowed as well as they could while sitting but before they left a soldier arrived.
"Your Majesty," he said. "There are three female warriors to see you. They're from the island of Kyoshi."
"That's Suki!" Sokka sad with such excitement he fell off Appa.
"You know these warriors?"
"I'm not sure if we know them specifically, but we know the Kyoshi Warriors," Eira said, getting quieter. Azula. She couldn't let her get away with infiltrating and finding out about the plan. But… Suki said that she'd be back. And they wouldn't fight Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee because they weren't following Appa. Could it be Suki?
I guess I'll come to that bridge when I cross it, Eira thought. If it was Suki, great. If it wasn't she'd find a way to deal with it.
"They're a skilled group of warriors. They're our friends," Sokka added.
King Kuei smiled. "Then we shall treat them as honoured guests."
"Bye then," Eira said, waving to Sokka, Aang, and Katara.
"I'm really gonna miss you guys," Toph said.
"Don't worry. We'll catch up when you all come back. Not sure much will change though," Eira said.
Appa took off and Eira waved Toph goodbye.
"Um, Your Highness?" Eira said as she walked briskly to the king, who was already making his way inside. "About the Kyoshi Warriors, I'd think it'd be best to check out who they are before anything else."
"Why? I thought you knew them."
"We do, just not all of them individually. The one we know is called Suki. She has reddish-hair and brown eyes and will be the leader. If… if you don't see her. I think you should arrest them."
King Kuei stopped in shock.
"Who would they be if not these warriors?"
"Imposters," Eira said. "But they might not be!" she added quickly. "It's just the girl who led the drill was around her age and would disguise herself as them if she had the opportunity."
The king considered this as the guards next to the door opened them for him.
"I'll think about it." His eyes looked darker in the lighting. "I'm tired of imposters and tricks."
He walked through the door and it closed behind him.
Eira stood there for a couple minutes, unsure of what to do. Best bet would be to return to their given house in the Upper Ring. She doubted the talk with the other generals would happen that evening. They'd need time to arrive, prepare, and sort things out without Long Feng.
Eira walked back out of the palace and couldn't help but remember the last time she walked through the Upper Ring. Every step felt like the ground was going to open up again and it go the point of discomfort where Eira simply decided to glide all the way back.
She landed on the roof of the house and let herself in.
It did feel lonely as she went to sleep. She was already used to Toph and Sokka snoring at night. The quiet felt… wrong.
She needed to look through the files they discovered in Long Feng's office. They might have the actual information about Jet. She couldn't believe he was dead. She refused to believe that they would've killed it. If they did it would've been her fault.
She wasn't proud of how she had acted. She'd managed to get everyone into trouble. Eira didn't want to cause her friends more grief.
At least she could be honest now. No more hiding.
She fell to sleep remarkably quickly so it was a bit of a shame when the door started knocking in about half an hour.
Immensely groggy from her incomplete nap, Eira opened the door to see a typical messenger she had been seen around the palace.
"The Earth King requests that you join him at the palace."
"Why?" Eira asked, her mind slow.
"All he said was 'You were right'."
Eira's eyes snapped open in realisation and she grabbed her glider from next to the door.
"I'll be there." Eira jumped into night sky and glided to the palace. There was a nervous energy in everyone she saw there and as she entered the throne room she saw King Kuei pacing around in front of his throne.
"Eira, when the Kyoshi Warriors arrived I didn't see the person you described," he explained. Eira's heart sank. Of course he didn't.
"I asked for them to be taken away and my guards did manage to arrest them but it's worse than I feared. All three are from the Fire Nation and one is a firebender. The Fire Nation is in my city."
Eira looked down at her feet.
"If it's who I think they are it's either one of the best, or worse possible situation we have," Eira said. The Earth King and his guards lead her off into one of the emergency prisons they had in the palace and it was confirmed.
Sitting in three separate cells were Ty Lee, Azula, and Mai. All wearing Kyoshi Warrior uniforms but their makeup was smeared, probably in the struggle. Ty Lee was sitting in the front corner of her cell, next to the bars and occasionally punching them. She looked kind of simple. It was like she couldn't believe they were all captured and wanted someone to tell her how to deal with it.
Mai was sitting against a wall, her face indifferent and not showing much of anything other than boredom. Azula was terrifying and Eira hated whenever she had to be anywhere near Azula in any situation.
She was glad she took the Mai/Ty Lee side in Omashu, and when they chased them she was happy she didn't have any one-on-one combat with her but still. Her burn was healed unlike the others thanks to Katara but the memory of the pain wasn't fun. Then, back on the drill, she'd almost been flung off in seconds.
Being near Azula reminded Eira of the dangers of this world and how hopelessly outmatched she was.
At the moment, she was looking calm. She sat cross-legged in the centre of her cell with her hands clearly bound behind her. She could probably still firebend with her feet and with her breath and the fact that she probably hadn't meant that she was planning and waiting for the moment.
In the heart of Ba Sing Se she probably didn't have a chance of escaping on her own so she was going to recruit help. Despite the calm her orange eyes were like pinpricks. She was definitely angry. And now, it was probably directed towards her.
"It's them," Eira said quietly. "Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and the other two are children of noble families."
"The princess of the Fire Nation is in my city?" Eira felt even sorrier for the King. Less than a day ago he lived in quiet blissful ignorance and now everything was happening and he could finally see it.
Eira stared at Azula, at the fury in her eyes. Azula was in prison. She didn't successfully infiltrate Ba Sing Se.
Eira had made another change. This time it wasn't something that just changed an arc, a fraction of the story. It was going to change a lot. And Eira was scared to find out how much.
Hah, Azula is going to kill Eira after this. Fun for her.
This is the biggest change I've made to this series yet and I can't wait to see how this escalates.
Please review if you liked it :D