Burn My Dread FES
By Iain R. Lewis
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games.
"Voltatile man, I got a game that I play. I thought you might like the way I destruct everywhere I lay my hands."
- Mass Destruction - Reincarnation-
Lotus Juice
Chapter 12: Forgotten Toys
They traveled the maze of echoes, sounds replaying over and over endlessly, like the quiet roar of thunder in the distance, carved out of ancient stone, water everywhere, dripping, coursing, crashing like a waterfall into deep pools of water, still and deep.
"We've totally been here," Sokka pointed out.
The group grumbled. Each repeating their own exasperations aloud, creating more din in the air. "I'm so sorry," Yue said, over the noise, "I thought for sure we hadn't gone that way."
"It's not your fault," Katara said. "We're all a little disoriented."
"We may as well take a break," Azula said, "We need to figure out where we go from here."
They sat around in a tight circle, a bottle of water passed between them as they quietly shared in each other's company. "It's so hard to see here," Zuko commented.
"I can't see at all," Toph muttered, "Don't hear me whining."
"Well, this is your part of the maze," Katara pointed out, "Maybe that's why we're all sort of lost."
"Oh, so it's my fault now?"
"I didn't say that, Toph."
"You sure implied it, Sweetness."
Despite the roar of echoes, the waterways are otherwise quiet, nothing except their voices brush past the white noise, and the feeling of solitude grew stronger. Azula tapped her fingers against the ground. Real, solid, course stone with nicks and cracks from age and use, and yet in reality, not at all.
It was becoming harder and harder to reconcile the reality and what was laid out around them, it was like a set in a movie, constructed to trap them in another world, and yet --
And yet, and yet, the mysteries piled up faster than she could sift thorugh them. What was this place, what created it, why did Aang run from them, and what purpose did this all serve. Everything had purpose, after all, it was only logical.
"You got something to share, Azula?" Zuko asked, his eyes focused on her. She shook her head. There really wasn't anything to add.
"Then we should get moving," he continued.
"Right, maybe we should split up and see what we can find."
"I don't think that's going to matter," Yue said. "I'm certain now, we've tried every path. This maze circles around, it doesn't matter which path we take."
"So where do we go?" Toph muttered.
"Down," Yue said, slowly, "Yes, definitely, we must go down."
"You're sure?"
"I can feel it. We need to go down."
Katara frowned, "Well, I can maybe bend us some air, but I know I can't just bend the water out of the way."
"So we need to lower the water levels," Sokka answered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "So that's how it's got to be. Just like before, but this time I've got an idea."
"Oh?"
"Safest way down is to lower the water level and be in the water while we do it," Sokka said, "That way, when the water goes down, we float with it. Simple, right?"
"It's a good idea!" Yue cheered, "Way to go, Sokka!"
"Hey, statistically speaking, one of them has to be," Toph said. "Okay, let's do it. Dive right in and get out of here!"
"Well, where do we do that?" Katara asked.
"That I do not know," Sokka said, hanging his head. "Okay, so it's a work in progress plan, but it's a plan, at least!"
"There , there. You almost had it," Yue said, supportively.
The echoes shuddered with a great noise as in the distance, gears moaned to life, rust protesting the action with every heaving groan. As the noise reached a crescendo, the sounds, closer than before, grew louder in response. The water roared, and the pool slowly began to recede.
"Did someone just open one of the gates?" Sokka said, haltingly, "Someone out there likes me!"
"We should hop in, if we're going to test your little idea," Azula said, hastily, and Sokka recomposed himself, diving into the water and he rocked ever so gently with the tide. "Hm, seems you're not being sucked in. That's good."
"Wait, you were using me as a test subject?" Sokka said, blinking the disbelief out of his eyes, he turned to the rest, "I kind of expected that from Azula, but the rest of you?"
"Better you than us, Snoozles!"
"I don't know how I feel about that."
"Your theory, your risk," Azula said, hopping in. The quick succession of splashes followed, with Toph gripping onto Zuko for dear life, much to the older boy's chagrin. The flow of water out of the pool lowered the water level considerably, and a massive walkway peeked out from underneath the murk. The water flowed down off its shape, casting its image vague as a shadow as it emerged.
"Hey!" Sokka cheered, "See? My idea totally worked. All it took was some, I don't know, let's call it divine intervention."
"So you claim," Azula said, and she climbed up onto the walkway. "Well, more to explore."
She walked forward only a few steps before she stopped. There was a large break in the walkway, and floating right above it was a strange doorway. These doors, familiar and yet alway unusual, lingered just above the walkway, water dripping slowly off its varnished frame.
"Well, well, well," Azula said, "We finally found one."
"Found what?" Toph asked.
"There's a door," Yue said, patiently, "Just like the ones the others saw."
"Yeah," Sokka said, "When we went through them, we went back to when that accident happened. Zuko sat down and spoke with you for a bit, Katara."
"Shut up, Sokka," Zuko grumbled.
"It was cute! Come on!"
"I don't remember Zuko coming back in time to talk to me," Katara responded. "Wait, didn't I -- I should remember where I was that night, but I'm blanking."
"Yes," Yue said, "The same thing happened with me."
"Do you remember the time you and Azula got into a fight? Because that was cool!" Toph asked, pumping her fist in the air like she was throwing a hook.
"I do, but, Azula, do you remember what happened after the fight was broken up?" Katara asked, her voice shifting and her face etched with concern. "It's all a big blank to me."
"No, I don't," Azula said, simply. "I don't remember a lot of things, however. You claim I went crazy and fought you on top of the Tower, and I don't remember that at all."
"Okay, super creepy," Sokka said.
"Well, no use standing around," Azula said, waving her hand, "Shall we?"
"I don't know, there won't be any monsters in there this time, right?" Sokka asked.
Zuko smacked him across the back of the head, "Just get going."
"Ow, that really hurt me in the feelings, Zuko."
The door swung open, creaking as its rusted joints protested. Azula stepped through, and the rest followed. Toph hesitated, "Where does this thing even go to?" she asked, fumbling around, looking for the door.
No one answered.
"Guys? This isn't funny." Her hand waved through the door as it carried away through the mist. "Hey, someone say something! Real funny, Snoozles, really." Upon further bellowing and some enraged shouting, she came to a conclusion.
"They totally ditched me."
"Ready, men?"
The tinny voice came from -- somewhere, but Toph couldn't be sure if it was behind her or to her right. Still, it seemed close, even if it was rather quiet. The voice continued, carried on an echo, "Prepare the nets! Onward! For glory!"
"What the --" she was bowled over by the first tin soldier landing on her chest carrying with it a length of rope, which he then tugged. The next one pinned her down, carrying the other end of the rope and using it to quickly fasten her to the ground.
"Pick up the pace, men!" Toph was busily trying to throw off the ropes when more landed, carrying even more pieces of rope which they proceeded to weave like a net over top of her. For rigid statues with barely any mobility, the acted like an elite commando unit, tying her to the ground before she could react.
"Get offa me! What's the big idea!"
"Yay! Yay yay yay!" a voice cheered, happily clapping, "My toy soldiers are so wonderful!"
"You?" Toph shouted out, accusatory. The voice of her doppleganger got closer, almost like she was staring her in the face. "What are you doing here?"
"Playing War! Isn't that a fun game? You're one army, they're another army, and I'm an arms dealer. Since, you know, no one wins in war except the people selling weapons. I sold them the rope. Isn't that neat?"
"You're crazy."
The other Toph giggled, "You're such a silly dolly."
"I'm not a doll!" She paused. "You're -- you're supposed to be me, right?"
The voice she responded in was strange, almost completely different and lacking that childlike excitement, "That's right!"
"Well, uh," she knew what she had to do. She saw Yue and Katara do it before, it's easy. "I -- I --"
"Yes?"
"I accept you." Toph sighed. That was easier than she expected it to be. Any second now her friends would show up and they'd get out of this crazy maze and leave it all far behind them. It was the perfect plan.
Except something seemed wrong. Before, the other selves would react quietly, happy to be accepted and given a measure of peace. Toph's duplicate instead started to stomp her feet angrily like a petulant child denied her favorite toy, "Liar! Liar! Penalty game! I call a penalty game!"
"What are you--" Toph managed to say before something was thrown in her mouth by a toy commando.
"We're going to play a little game, okay?" the other Toph said. Her tone made it clear that there was no choice.
In direct contrast to the oppressive atmosphere of the waterways, where even the air seems full and soggy, the place that the door opened into was cool, a temperate spring day at a building far too familiar.
The school, their school, alive with the bright buds of spring, carrying pollen and the excitement of a brand new school year with it. From the corner of her eye, Azula caught a glimpse of the two girls, first years, gossipping by the tree, casting looks forlornly at the passing crowd. Perhaps someone will return the glance, but for now, they continue alone, talking but not looking at each other in a funny ritual.
Traveling through time never settled well. "Well, great," Sokka said, "This time it isn't a complete and total mess."
"Do you ever stop complaining." Zuko's voice, dry as always, cuts off as he grin.
"Zuko, please, you've known me for almost an entire year now, you know I always complain. It's like the main thing I bring to the group dynamic."
"I don't even want to know what everyone else brings to it --" Zuko said, then cut himself off, looking around, "Where's Toph?"
"She's not here," Yue answered.
Toph's absence is felt even stronger as silenced descended. "Well, wonderful," Azula said, boredly, "And here I was hoping we could stay together as a group for once in our short lives."
"We do seem to have a problem with that," Katara added, weakly.
Clenching her jaw shut, Azula moved forward. There had to be a way out, and like always, it would probably be found along with the person who created the door in the first place, and that meant finding Toph Bei Fong.
In this case, the Toph Bei Fong who would be starting her first year at the Phoenix School. "Zuko, Yue, stay out of sight. Don't try and draw attention to yourselves. I don't want to risk affecting something if we don't have to."
"Whatever," Zuko grumbled. He didn't look too pleased.
"Let's go have a talk with Miss Bei Fong, then."
Azula led Katara and Sokka off, leaving Yue and Zuko hanging awkwardly around the rapidly less crowded front gate. They looked out of place, just staring at the crowds and Yue alternately fidgetted and tapped her toe.
Zuko glowered menacingly at her after about a minute had passed. This put an end to her nervous tics, but gave him a new threat with which to contend: conversation. "So, Zuko."
"Yes?"
"Uh," she looked around and finally said, "Lovely weather this time of year, yes?"
"Sure."
"We don't talk much. Are you still seeing that nice girl of yours --"
"Yeah."
"That's good! Uh, how is she?"
"Bored."
"That's --"
"That's normal," he filled in for her.
"Oh." A brief pause, and a deep breath in, "Good."
He cast his eye around the front gate, noticing the last few stragglers getting in. "We should be okay now. Let's give them a minute to get to their classes and then go inside. Feels weird just standing around."
"Won't the teachers' want us in class?"
"Never bothered me before," Zuko said. He took one more look around the gated yard, before freezing. "Don't move, don't draw attention to yourself."
"Um, okay," Yue said, standing perfectly still.
"You're drawing attention to yourself!" he hissed.
"S, sorry!" she stuttered, and then peeked at the gate, "What's gotten you so shook up?"
"Don't look," he said through his teeth, "She'll notice you."
"Who'll notice me?" she wondered, standing on her toes to look over Zuko's shoulders. "Oh, isn't that Mai?"
"I don't want her to see me."
"Zuko?"
"She saw you," Yue said, matter of factly, "Zuko, I think you may need a few lessons at being stealthy."
He shuddered, visibly.
"Zuko, what are you doing here. I thought you quit," Mai asked, approaching with Ty Lee behind her. She seemed to be waving energetically to say hello without interrupting.
"I did," he said, "I just wanted to -- uh --"
"Make sure that I got here safely. I got totally lost and ended up, uh --"
"-- in my neck of the woods. Nearly got herself in trouble with some of the local idiots who think everyone who isn't born in Ba Sing Se should be kicked out."
"Yes, exactly!" Yue said.
"Who's she?" Mai asked. The look she gave Yue was almost as sharp as one of the knives she kept on her person almost all the time. Yue's eyes lingered on Mai's sleeves -- as a precaution, nothign more.
"Me? Oh, I'm new."
"No one special."
"Right, no one at all," Yue said.
"Where's her uniform?" Mai asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Yue whispered as quietly as she could to Zuko, "We need to work on not being suspicious all the time."
Zuko could only nod.
"Well, princess?" Mai asked, crossing her arms.
"Maybe she just forgot it, or didn't get it in time," Ty Lee suggested.
"Yes, both of those," Yue said very quickly.
"That doesn't make any sense," Mai said.
"Sure it does!" Yue and Ty Lee chirped in simultaneously. They stared at each other for a brief moment afterwards, until Zuko interrupted.
"I told you I was just helping her, Mai." He settled his eye on her, "Is there a reason why you're making such a big deal about all this."
The tides turned. "What? Why am I -- that's none of your business, Zuko," she answered, harshly. "Look, fine, whatever, she was lost. Okay, not like I care."
"But Mai, you do care --"
"I do not care, Ty Lee. Let's get going. I'm sure the principal's got some rousing speech to give and I could use the nap." She stomped off, a tad too indignant for someone who didn't remotely care, but no one called attention to it.
Once the two of them were gone, Zuko slumped his shoulders, "I don't believe that worked."
Yue just smiled, and resumed fidgetting nervously. Zuko didn't bother to stop her this time.
"Miss Bei Fong was called to see Chairman Zhao this morning, actually," the secretary in the faculty office said, looking over her notes for the day quickly, "He insisted she come in before the assembly this morning, and wanted to go over something with her."
"I remember this," Katara said, "When I started here, Zhao had a long talk to me about some things that didn't make any sense until I found out about, well, the club."
Azula nodded. It was customary that students with potential be screened for their usefulness, and the likelihood that they'd be able to actually bend. The exception being the transfer student that came middle of the year -- things moved a bit too quickly for customary interviews.
"Still, isn't it weird that he waited until today?" Sokka asked.
"Not really," the secretary said, "Miss Bei Fong only enrolled yesterday. The President cut through the red tape, I guess. There's been no time for an interview."
"No kidding. I'll go speak to Zhao, I have some words for him."
"Of course, but, don't you have to prepare?"
"Prepare for what?" Azula asked, bristling. What had she forgotten about today.
The secretary seemed bemused more than anything, "Why, if I got elected Student Council President, I'd have stayed up all night practicing my speech."
Azula grimaced, "I'll be fine. I'm sure everything will turn out just fine."
"Oh, yeah, the speech," Sokka said, grinning, "Isn't that the one Principal Che stole wholesale?"
"Sokka! Not so loud!" Katara hissed. Sokka looked back at the secretary, but she didn't seem to have heard him. Relieved, he continued, walking in time with Azula as she picked up the pace, desperate to leave him behind.
"What's so wrong about the speech?"
"Don't you remember?" Azula asked, a bit peevish, casting a glare back at Sokka as she picked up into a light dash. "It was a disaster."
"You stunned the student body into quiet, polite applause, that's no mean feat," Katara pointed out.
As a fact, she had spent the entire night practicing the speech, memorizing and rememorizing, tweaking ever so subtly and trying to keep it at a brisk ten minutes. The speech ran for nine minutes and thirty-eight seconds, due in no small part to an entire paragraph she had forgotten. Not only that, but it was in retrospect a very important paragraph.
She couldn't just admit that aloud, though.
Better to keep leading the merry chase, "We need to speak to Zhao, not worry about some speech that I hardly even remember."
"I know you, Azula," Katara said, teasingly, "You remember every word to that speech."
"So what if I do? It isn't important right now."
"So where are we going, anyway?" Sokka asked, mercifully dropping the subject when he realized he wasn't exactly sure where they were walking. The clubrooms lined the halls of the auxilary building to the school.
The sound of a lonely trombone was the only accompaniment that received in that hall.
"Zhao likes to take students to the clubrooms when the faculty office is full, and since the secretary's busy taking care of morning review,"
"So find which room he's using, gotcha," Sokka said. He began to pull at one of the doors, pulling until he nearly popped his arm out of his socket. "This one's locked," he said after a moment, resting his arms limply at his sides.
"No, really," Katara said, between giggles. "Let's try knocking, Sokka, before you scare someone half to death."
"Yeah, okay, sounds good," Sokka said, trying to recover his cool mystique as if he hadn't even missed a beat. The girls stared at him for a minute before shaking their heads and proceeding to knock on every classroom door as they went. "Hey, wait up!"
It was Sokka who knocked on the right door. Muffled, he could hear someone say something to another person before raising his voice loud enough to be heard. "Who is it?"
"Uh, Chairman Zhao, sir? I'm Sokka Floes, we needed to speak with you for a moment?"
The door opened, and the stern chairman appeared larger than he remembered in the doorframe, his face a carefully kept neutral expression. "What is it? I'm in the middle of an important interview that I don't have long to finish."
"Hey, you can hold me as long as you need, I don't want to sit around and listen to some prissy prom queen go on for hours about how she's so happy to be our student class president."
"Prissy prom queen?" Azula repeated, the words positively alien to her. "What is she implying?"
"That you're a prissy prom queen," Sokka said, shrugging, "Duh."
"Miss Houou, to what do I owe the honors?" Zhao said, his neutral expression shifting to an insincere smile. How wonderful, Azula thought, to have power and influence enough to make men sycophants.
"That girl you're interviewing has the potential, doesn't she? Why wasn't I informed?"
"I don't know what you mean," he said, carefully, "President Ozai requested that I take care of his close, personal friend's daughter and help her transition into a new school."
""And it gets me out of class!" Toph cheered from behind them.
"Quite," he said, clearly unimpressed, "So, Miss Houou, is there something less -- delicate you needed?"
Azula leaned close, and whispered something in his ear. Sokka and Katara couldn't pick it up, and stared mystified as Zhao's face turned blue and he said, quickly, "Let's speak about this somewhere more private."
"What did she say?" Katara asked, stunned.
"I'll tell Father," Toph said, shrugging as though it were clear.
"As big a creep as Zhao was," Sokka said, "Even he doesn't deserve that kind of threat." Katara shook her head, clearly in agreement at the sentiment.
Zhao unlocked the room next door and stepped inside, followed by Azula. He stared at her a second, and then, quickly, asked, "Where did you hear about Miss Bei Fong?"
"Is that important? I have sources, my dear Chairman, you know that." She grinned. It felt good to exercise power over the sniveling brown-noser. He was more than willing to bend over backwards if it meant he'd get a bigger office. "Listen, Zhao, one way or another, I'm going to find out. You know that. So that begs the question, why wasn't I informed?"
That was the big question. Even now, she couldn't figure out why he would risk hiding such a clearly powerful Earthbender from her father or herself. The only possibilities she had seemed contradictory. Zhao had his own plans, she remembered clearly the incident on Lake Laogai and what he had attempted to do there, behind her father's back.
"The President asked me to," Zhao said, all too smoothly. "A personal favor. We didn't want to deal with the ruckus the Bei Fongs could easily afford to make over putting their child into harm's way."
"But they wouldn't know," Azula pointed out.
"Until such time she came to visit with a big scar from a nasty spirit," Zhao said, "These creatures are unpredictable, there's no accounting for what could happen. President Ozai just thought it prudent to assure the Bei Fong's continued contributions to the school's funds."
"You'd better not be hiding anything else from me," Azula warned. "And I'll know, too. I'm good like that."
"No offense, Miss Houou, as much as I enjoy playing babysitter, it works the other way around. You work under my supervision."
"Until you finally slip up so bad Father can't cover for you, at any rate," Azula said, biting back her distaste at dealing with this opportunist.
"Maybe so," Zhao said. "But maybe not. We'll see, Miss Houou. Now if you'll excuse me --"
"She's a powerful bender. You know that, of course."
"Maybe I do," Zhao said, levelly, "But it doesn't matter, because as I said, President Ozai has given the order to disregard any potential the girl has."
Azula frowned. Was she losing her touch? Had Zhao just gotten the better of her? She hesitated, before finally coming to a conclusion. If she was going to break this fragment of time, she was going to do it spectacularly.
She rushed after Zhao, and looked to her companions before speaking to Toph, "Miss Bei Fong, a second."
"Miss Houou," Zhao warned, "Need I remind you what we just discussed?"
"Of course not, Chairman, I just wanted to say something," she said, approaching Toph, "Prissy prom queen? Really?"
"Oh, so you don't think it fits? How about -- Dragonbreath!" she grinned.
"Typical. A first year with a juvenile sense of humor," Azula said. "That one hit me right where it counts -- oh, and since you're blind, I should tell you: I'm rolling my eyes."
Toph frowned. "Yeah, doesn't stop your breath from stinking."
"What are you doing, Azula?" Katara asked, spellbound.
"I'm just discussing with Miss Bei Fong the merits of good attitude, shortly."
"Shorty?" Toph bristled.
"Oh, does your height bother you? I guess having everyone use you as an armrest can get somewhat tiresome."
"Azula Houou, I will write you up for your disrespectful behavior."
Consequences? This wasn't real -- at least, she didn't think so. It didn't matter if she got written up or not, her father wouldn't allow it. Zhao's hands were tired before he even began. "Also, being blind, how do you dress yourself every morning?"
"Shut up!" Toph said, taking a swing at Azula. "I don't know who you think you are."
Azula deflty moved to the side. "Yes? So what? Going to throw a temper tantrum?"
Toph stomped the ground with a spectacular quake "Don't make me have to hurt you, Spice Girl."
"Azula, you can stop now," Sokka said, weakly, "Don't make her use her magic earthbending to bring the entire club building down on our heads."
"Actually, that was the plan," Azula said, "Unless Zhao would like to be upfront with us about this."
Toph seemed a bit surprised, gently tapping her foot against the floor, the odd coincidence of the shockwave and her foot colliding with the ground seemed too convenient to her. "What just happened?"
"Bending," Azula said, "You did that, Toph."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," Zhao said before turning a nasty glare onto Azula, "Miss Houou is just playing around with her fantasy club like a little girl with a new toy." He hissed at her, bringing his face close to hers, "Do you think you can scare me? There's no way that quake was at all connected with that girl, even if she has the potential. She'd need training to be able to do that."
"Would she? Well, if you're willing to play that gamble," Azula said, turning to Toph, "Miss Bei Fong, I'm awfully sorry about appearing so rude before, I just wanted to test something, and you passed brilliantly."
"What the -- is this some kind of joke? Is everyone in this room crazy?"
"Don't look at me," Sokka and Katara said simultaneously, helpless to stop Azula.
Azula smirked, "Crazy? No. You have the potential, Toph, just like me." She cast a sidelong glance at Zhao, "A bender who has this amount of power without any sort of training, that's a rare thing." The only thing rarer is the Airbender that would be joining their ranks in a few months, she wanted to add, but bit her tongue.
"Miss Houou," he roared dangerously.
"You want proof, I understand,' Azula said, looking at Toph, "I just so happen to know the forms by memory. Old scrolls and the like," she lied, she just remembered how Toph did it. Focus and control, Earthbending was about never allowing anything to stop you.
"I'll play along," Toph said, grinning, "But if you're lying, you'd better be prepared to pay up."
"Of course," she said, rolling her eyes at Toph's childishness. "Now, bend your back a little bit more, and keep your legs spread out. Very good."
"Got it. Now what."
"Focus on the ground, make sure it moves, not you," she said.
"Azula, what's the big idea?" Katara said, taking a place in the doorframe, "Are you trying to kill us?"
"I just want to prove Zhao wrong," she answered, looking smugly at Toph, "Now give it a good stomp and twist your foot to the side."
So, almost five months before she even knew Spirits existed, before she knew she could bend, Toph Bei Fong brought her foot down in a fundamental Earthbending stomp. However, the cracks were already there, under her feet, and as they connected, everything stopped.
Zhao's eyes wide in shock, Toph's brash and honest grin, the bugs that were flying through the room -- they hadn't noticed them until now.
It was like watching a glass pane shatter, smaller pieces in the center, spiraling outwards larger and larger, distorting the time frozen image around them.
"That was immensely satisfying, for some reason," Azula said, stretching. She looked at Katara and Sokka, who were paler than usual. "What?"
"You're nuts!" Sokka shouted.
The abruptness of the change started them. Outside the school, Yue had begun to watch the clouds to pass the time when the sky turned gray and the clouds froze in the air. Long lines and cracks aside, the place looked more like a snapshot now than a living, breathing world. But, weirder still, it took a blink of the eye for the change to take hold.
"They must have done something," Zuko concluded. "Great."
Yue hesitated, "What's going on?"
"Apparently changing the past causes things like this to happen," he muttered, "I don't know why, but it happened the first time I went through one of these doors, too."
"Frightening," Yue said, "I can feel something, something terrible."
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, looking over at her.
"Whatever happened," she said, "It's full of so much energy, like a supernova."
"That doesn't sound good," Zuko concluded. "Look, we better warn Azula. Let's find her and get out of here."
"Oh, yes. I know where they are," she said, helpfully. "Follow me!" She swung open the door and stopped, her eyes widening in surprise at what she saw. "Zuko, I don't think this is a good sign at all."
Through the cracks in the school, pipes and steam shot out, the cool, blue light of the waterways mixing in with the frozen world around them. "This is new."
The drinking fountains were jutting out steam as they passed by, moving from one shattered fragment to another by leaping past the steam hot pipes. The heat they exuded seemed to help coalesce the mist that seeped in from the gaps, making the surroundings shimmering silver and monochrome.
It was getting worse the closer they came, and something was peeking through the holes, its fingers looming like shadows at the edges, vanishing whenever they got close enough to see, and reappearing just like so in the distance.
Zuko was on edge, expecting anything.
As they approached the covered path to the next building, the shadow finally took on shape. the only distinguishing characteristic was the bright blue eyes that lit up through the deep churning shadows around him.
"It's him," Yue said. "That boy --"
"Aang, or so Azula thinks," Zuko said. He stood forward, hovering protectively in front of Yue, and he shouted, "Who are you!"
The shadow just nodded in acknowledgement before turning towards the activities building. "He's not going to attack us," Yue said.
"But is it really Aang?"
"I don't know," Yue said, hesitant to make any conclusions, but she added, as confused by her certainty as he was, "I think it must be."
"That just raises more questions," Zuko grunted.
"Just like old times."
"I hate old times," Zuko muttered, and Yue laughed. "Come on, let's follow him."
"Whatever you say!"
"What did you do!"
"Oh, hello, Zuzu," Azula said, waving her hand, "I've found a door back to the maze, I think we should probably return and find Toph as soon as possible. Who knows what trouble she's gotten herself into while we've been gone."
Zuko looked tense, but before he could say anything, Yue interjected, "You didn't happen to see Aang around here, too?"
"No, I haven't," Azula said, furrowing her brow, "Why?"
"I think we saw him," Yue said, "Just now. He headed into this building and vanished."
The walls of the building were pretty much floating around them, but a passage carrying water down into the endless expanse seemed to lead to a door below. The entire building looked shattered. "This is worse than before," Zuko said. "Last time, things at least moved. Don't try and avoid the issue."
"I'm not," Azula said, "I just don't have any comments. I simply allowed things to proceed differently. It's not as though it matters, yes?"
"I'm not so certain," Yue said, weakly.
"What was that?" Azula arched her brow and Yue shrunk back, mousish under Azula's sharp glance.
"I'm just not sure that's right," she said, "I think there's something else at work here, Azula. We shouldn't be so careless."
"She's got a point," Katara said, "I don't think we've frozen everything before. Usually they don't notice."
Azula sighed, "What's done is done. But your warning is duly noted, Yue."
"Thanks, Azula," Yue said.
"So we shouldn't just stand around here and worry about how we'll go back home and find the human race enslaved by lemurs or something. We've got more immediate things to worry about, like how bad Toph's going to kick our butts for ditching her," Sokka pointed out, sagely.
Azula took a step onto the waterway, finding the water current relaxed, if a bit soggy on her socks. She'd deal with that later. "Come on then, we don't have all day."
"Yes, Princess," Sokka said, bowing in mocking reverence. The look Azula gave him would stop a clock.
"Oh, Sokka," Yue said, "I didn't know you and Azula were so familiar."
She received a double dose of glaring for her comment. "Just... go," Zuko muttered through his hands.
Azula approached the door and it opened up. Just as she was about to turn around, a loud rumble like thunder stopped her. "Not again," she muttered, "Hurry!" The wave of water came upon them quickly, and they all leapt through the door.
Landing, again, with a splash, amongst the waterways and passages. The water flowed from the door into the pool before dying down into a light trickle.
"Ow," Sokka said, "My belly."
"Well, that was invigorating," Azula muttered, looking around, "Let's find someplace dry and plan our next move."
The water bobbed slowly as they swam through the pool, looking for some sign of land. Yue awkwardly trailed them, her feet getting tangled up in the hem of her dress every so often, forcing her to kick free.
"Really should have brought swimsuits," Sokka pointed out, "Next time we set out in a mysterious maze, remind me to bring my swim trunks."
"I'd rather not," Zuko grunted.
"Whoa, wave pool," Katara yelped in surprise as the water bobbed increasingly choppy. "Wonder what's going on."
The mist was thick, but in the distance, a shape could be made out, cutting through the waves ever so slowly towards them. It was rounded, massive, and floating on top of the water. "What is that?" Katara wondered, swimming closer. "Guys? Do you see that?"
"Yeah?" Sokka squinted, as if that would make things clearer in the mist. "It kind of looks like --"
And with a low, menacing rumble, the shape spoke one, simple word.
"Quack."
To be continued.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delays. This chapter went under a big revision JUST as I was putting on the finishing touches. It may make this section a little long in the tooth, but hopefully that doesn't become the case.
Also, enjoy your cliffhanger. I couldn't resist.