Author Notes: While the progression of the story roughly follows that of the show, many events are changed, arranged in a different order or omitted. This is fan fiction, after all.
"Don't drop people like that!" Aang pointed to his longtime friend, who moaned and grunted, spitting the Earth Kingdom hat out with a disgusted look. He had landed on a sports field in a Ba Sing Se school's compound after being bored for days hovering over Lake Laogai in the eastern section of the outer wall. A noble creature he was, but even the best of creatures would be bored in such a confining area. Though there was no ceiling to limit him, Appa had seen rocks hurled in his direction by panicking Earthbender guards. It felt like a cage with no doors.
"Aang?" Mitsu flew close to the ground and landed softly near the Sky Bison.
"I've been looking for you as well!" the Avatar greeted his friend. "Listen, if we wait here for too long we'll never see the Earth King. Sokka proposed that we just bust in."
Mitsu wanted to tell Appa that Zuko and Iroh were also in town, but something stopped him. What would happen to the old man if the Earthbenders or worse, the Dai Li caught him? He seemed so happy just bending tea leaves instead of fire, plus he too was wanted by the Fire Nation. He bit the tip of his tongue and scratched Appa's large ears.
"Bust in? That sounds more Toph than Sokka."
"Appa is willing to carry us to the front wall. He doesn't like enclosed places, so we have to continue ourselves."
"Then it is the plan," Mitsu clasped forearms with Aang. "I want you to see something first, something only two other Avatars have seen here. Appa, can you fly to the others? Try not to snag washing lines or anything like that."
"It's OK, buddy. We're only going for a short while, "Aang hugged Appa and let him float out of sight.
"We're going to the Lake of Laogai shrine," Mitsu took off.
"A shrine to whom?" Aang opened his glider. Mitsu didn't respond as the two astonished people with their close-up flybys and urban flying, ultimately landing on the shores of the lake. A small mound with a door was nearby, although there seemed to be no key or handle to open it with. Some burn marks were seen together with cracks and signs of decay, but none seemed like they cracked the large black mound.
"This is a shrine to people of my kind, Avatar," Mitsu touched the stone with both hands and began heaving it upwards.
"Let me help you," Aang tried to Earthbend the stone, which only made it heavier. Mitsu dropped it, nearly hitting his toes.
"Don't use Earthbending on this, Aang! It's a secret door in the Earth Kingdom capital; after all….there's a safety measure that prevents Earthbenders of all people from opening this. Can you read these characters?" Mitsu pointed to the inscription on the side.
"Sealed by the Path of The Lode," Aang traced the line.
"If you want to help, air bend the sweat off my forehead and Water Bend my hands afterwards."
Mitsu heaved again and the stone slowly rumbled forward, smoothly sliding out of its square slot. Aang could feel the Force Bending tugging with all its might, even making ripples in the lake. The stone finally came out with one final heave from Mitsu, who dropped the obsidian block on the ground and fell onto his back.
"Damn, that was really heavy," Mitsu appreciated to cooling wind Aang brought.
"What is this block?" Aang found he couldn't even budge it with Earthbending.
"It's a magnetized block of steel that fell from the sky," Mitsu got up. "There is another block on the other side that it is incredibly attracted to. Come on, let's go in but Earthbend the entrance shut so no one sees.'
Aang did just that, seeing crystals vibrate and create light as soon as he bent the earth. The corridor was narrow but well lit, and it resembled Mitsu's library in many ways. The one stairway continued all the way down until the crystals lit up an entire circular hallway at the bottom, where a pool of water seemingly glowed, still as a windless day.
Aang heard the lodestone on the other side slam behind them, cutting off all the air from the outside. It seemed like he couldn't breathe but he carried on nonetheless, Mitsu trudging ahead of him. Something was pushing down hard on them both, as if the Earth itself wanted to crush them.
"Don't mind the crushing feeling, don't fight it either," Mitsu struggled to even stand as they proceeded down the hallway's end.
"I can't do anything else, can I?" Aang was using his glider as support.
The hallway's end made Aang spring up the Avatar fell straight on his back. The pool water seemed to move towards him, like a giant-
"Compass!" the Airbender looked at it and then stood aside. "I can feel it in the earth, this pool is a mystical compass!"
"You have great insight, Avatar," Mitsu clapped his hands. "This is a temple built in the time of Kuruk, before the Earth King built up Ba Sing Se. Between Kuruk and Kyoshi there was a massive disturbance in the cosmic balance that delayed her birth. I trust you've met Avatar Kuruk?"
"Not yet, at least I haven't spoken to him," Aang sat cross legged, looking in awe at the pool which seemed to call to him.
"Avatar Kuruk was the last Water Bender to be an Avatar, but I will not tell you his full story as you are him reincarnated. I will tell you this, Aang that he did not die in peace and his spirit did not fully pass on. That is why Kyoshi lived for over two hundred years, when Kuruk finally found peace in the Spirit World." Mitsu sat on a mat opposite Aang's side of the pool and began levitating.
"It wasn't very long between Kuruk and Kyoshi, although she never told me about the delay," Aang felt his essence sinking into the Earth. He wanted to leave, but none of his nerves were obeying him. He did not feel trapped, but did not feel free.
"In the short space of time, five benders came from across the world to look for the new Avatar who was born on the Kyoshi Island of today."
Aang closed his eyes almost by instinct, feeling like he was floating away into nothingness. He felt the tingle of the Avatar State coming on, though he was surprised as he was not angry or upset. His ears picked up faint vibrations and confused voices which when he reopened his eyes all coalesced into a clear image of three men and two women, each dressed in the manner of their home nation. Mitsu appeared next to him, though Aang noticed that the sun in this vision cast no shadow on either of them.
"Behold, the Path of the Lode," Mitsu pointed his staff at the five. "Zhan Ming of the Fire Nation, proud but rebellious, Heretic of the Fire Nation," the woman looked in Aang's direction and her eyes were glowing golden but with a decidedly red hue. To Aang's astonishment she made a circle of lightning and posed for a fighting stance in it. The white, crackling light was like nothing he had seen before, even in the darkest of storms.
"Chao Dong, Heretic of the Northern Water Tribe," a slender looking man twirled onto a post, weaving a piece of cloth around his waist that was seemingly infinite, but frozen over his head like stone, then supple as cloth was meant to be.
"Kari Tsung, Heretic of the Air Nomads," Aang saw a breathtaking woman, unshaven in the front of her head (unusual for Airbender society), slide up a wall and seemingly glide past the other two and for an instant, pulled the air apart and ripped a hole in a wall.
"Isn't that what I saw in your library?" Aang pointed at the vision's Airbender.
"The very same, Kari Omoto would be the greater master of that technique but his ancestor invented it. Now watch this guy, Long Jin, the Heretic of the Earth Kingdom."
"Watch who?" Aang didn't see anyone, although the three Heretics turned to someone and seemed to be talking to them. A shunt of light formed as a piece of glass fell to the floor, revealing a green robed man behind it.
"How did he do that?"
"Long Jin was a master of transmuting earth into glass, into mirrors and such. As it turns out the Earthbending Masters eventually found a 'legal' way to do that, but hey could only ever use sand and in better days, with a Firebender to help them. You would have to be 100 years old just to be able to Earthbend the sand into glass once, without fire or Long Jin's secret technique."
"He's late again," Zhan played with some of her trademark white fire. Aang heard her speak but felt the words go through him rather than go to him, like he was a ghost.
"He's no Airbender, that's for sure," Kari blew Zhan's fire out, much to her annoyance.
"Southerners are too laid back sometimes," Chao's blue robe puffed out like a fan.
"He's trying that ridiculous method of transport again," Long Jin crossed his arms and used Earthbending to make a stool.
"We're here for one reason, and that's to make sure the Avatar Cycle was not disrupted. We're the only five of our kind left, and the world is not as safe as it should be." Chao let a cloth map out of his pocket, bending it stiff. "He should be somewhere over the Air Temple of the East by now…"
"Look out!" Zhan pushed Chao out of the way as a person crashed to the ground where he was sitting, Chan's extra cloth saving him from turning the last five Heretics into the last four. Chao and Zhan were in no hurry to get up off each other; Aang saw that they were smiling intently, looking into each other's eyes.
"I told you not to fly using clouds," Long Jin crossed his arms again, Earthbending the dropper out of the ground. "Water can hardly hold up anything in the sky, why do you think rain falls?"
"Down South, Master Mara has mastered the art of stopping rain," the man got up and dusted himself down.
"Maki, Heretic of the Southern Water Tribe," Mitsu nodded. "The Southern Water Tribe actually let him live among them, unlike the other nations who at this time forced them into hiding or exile."
"Let's find that girl then," Long Jin formed a glass bridge to a nearby inlet. "While we're young."
Aang felt the air buzz and spiral, as if he had eaten some of Sokka's cactus juice.
"They did find Kyoshi and helped her train, although they left her proper instruction to her masters," Aang saw a montage similar to Roku' s and even giggled slightly as an Airbender nun scolded the tall woman for blowing cake into her face. Aang also saw the five each testing Kyoshi in their own way. He saw Zhan force Kyoshi to learn lightning redirection and generation, fighting on a deserted ship in the middle of the ocean that bobbed with the dangerous current. Kyoshi was next seen dodging sharpened cloth and water blasts from Chao using Airbending and counter attacking with Earthbending, only to end up wrapped tight as a mummy.
"How does he do that, with the cloth?"
"There is water in cotton and most other fabrics," Mitsu pulled at his own shirt.
"That doesn't sound so wrong to me," Aang looked at his sleeve. "It's pretty neat, I think."
"Fear drives people to unnecessary measures, like exiling someone" Mitsu turned to Chao, who was seen next deeply kissing Zhan somewhere in the Fire Nation. "Love drives people to do what they need. Neither of those two were Heretics because of their native bending, but because of choices they made. Remember, I told you about being attuned to what you are closest to?"
"Yes?"
"The Avatar is part of the world's spirit itself and is attuned to all the elements. To complete your training, you must learn all as Kyoshi did, "Mitsu got up and the vision became blurry again. "Yet people can become attuned to each other as well."
The vision eventually switched to something Aang recognized as Kyoshi Island, though it looked much less orderly and there were cries of anguish all over the place.
"This is when she separated the island from the mainland Earth Kingdom!" Aang's arrow glowed bright as he spotted his predecessor in her full Avatar state, her glowing eyes contrasting with her Kyoshi make-up. The Five Heretics surrounded her, each levitating according to their native element. Chao notably stood on a cloud as Maki did, both seemingly having perfected the technique. Zhan had two fire-based wings and seemed the most upset at Kyoshi while Kari levitated on a single stone and Long Jin sent a column all the way up to the Avatar.
"Did it have to be this way, Kyoshi?" Long Jin, now considerably older stood on his platform.
"Chan was going to kill all the people on that new island," Kyoshi spoke with several voices that made a lump in Aang's throat.
"And you've sunk the only path people had for trade, family and education."
"What would you have me do, glass bender? Send him to that idiot Earth King, who would listen to him and not me? We are but peasants to him, you will see."
"There were houses down there! Maybe with people in them! " Chao and Maki came closer to Kyoshi.
"I made sure none of the islanders were on the peninsula!"
"The islanders? The people of the town on the other side don't think so. Look at all the widows and mothers on the shore. That place was their sons' and husbands' fishing hole. Now it is their tomb."
"I've had enough of this," Zhan held out her open palm to the Avatar. "You are forbidden from using your powers in anger of this magnitude, and for that you must be punished."
"I did nothing wrong!" the Avatar's glow grew brighter as the four elements rallied around her.
"Denial only makes a crime stronger. Creating the Dai Li doesn't help the Earth Kingdom at all, it will rot from the center," Long Jin transmuted his platform into metal. "The King will become the slave of his own government."
"Stop, all of you! I am the Avatar and I will not be countered!" Kyoshi sent a bolt of lightning near Maki, who (to Aang's astonishment) hovered upwards and absorbed the blast, making his cloud darker and more turbulent.
"The next Avatar should be gentler than you and more caring towards the earth and the people in it. Avatar Kyoshi, we declare your time over," Maki took a rooted stance as did the others.
"What are you doing?" Kyoshi tried to counterattack but her elements seemed to desert her as she felt a void in her mind open.
"Mitsu, what is happening?" Aang tried in vain to reach his predecessor, only to grasp at phantoms. A circle of lightning formed around Kyoshi, seemingly sucking the air out of the area within it.
"The very core of bending is that of seven chakras that crisscross the body," Mitsu's own body lit up against the elemental chaos in front of them. "They are sealing all seven of her chakras."
"What?" Aang felt himself tremble, as those memories were also his own.
Kyoshi screamed as the five pulled fire, earth, water and air out of her until her eyes returned to their original colour. The elements wheeled around their wielders before disappearing into the four directions. The Avatar felt her nerves pinch in several areas as she blacked out, held up only by an Earth platform courtesy of Long Jin. Where was once a proud master of the four elements was now an ordinary, albeit tall woman with big feet.
"She will live long, and in time her powers will return to her along with, I hope a better sense of responsibility," Kari hovered close to the prone Kyoshi.
"The new Avatar will be found in the Fire Nation, long after this day. The elements will find him, but the path of the Lode will not." Long Jin held out a compass that pointed to Kyoshi, as did the others. "We who follow the path are few now, and I do not know if any more will be born after Kari's children. I am old, I will not see the new Fire Nation Avatar. It seems the Great Rock will be my final home, as it was yours when we were all younger."
"I liked Kyoshi," Maki got onto her platform and lifted her up.
"Don't lie, Maki," Chao put his hand on his tribesman's shoulder. "We all know. You loved her. You always have. When she wakes up…"
"She will be bitter, but then again she will no longer have the burden. I just wish I was a bit younger!" the others except for Zhan laughed. "I have a feeling she might outlive me by a lot of years."
"You're leaving the order as well?" she looked at Chao, who looked at her back.
"Someone has to raise our children, Zhan. We've already seen too little of their lives."
The Firebender settled into her husband's arms, "You're right, it's time to be ourselves again."
"The next Avatar will have to fend for himself, I guess." Kari landed beside Long Jin. "There will be no compass to guide him other than his masters, who will all be of different mind, I think."
"We are the Path of the Lode, should there be any more after us they will find us at the rock where we all gathered once upon a time after receiving the mark at 12." Long Jin pointed to his golden eye. "Go home to Omoto, Tsung Wing. He is in his teens now, and your poor husband cannot raise him alone!"
Kari chuckled but also had tears in her eyes. She reminded Aang of the nuns of his time now, with a shaven front head and arrow mark. A black-furred Sky Bison appeared on the horizon and quickly took her mistress onboard. A white Bison similar to Appa also pulled up beside it.
"So this is it?" Maki felt Kyoshi stir.
"Not the great end, I suppose," Long Jin held his arms out to the others. "But the Avatars will always need friends from all places, no matter what happens. What we did today, we did because Kyoshi was a friend in need of correction, or in Maki's case, the love of his life."
"We will still see each other, I hope," Chao cloth bended his cape around Zhan.
"At our age, I somewhat doubt that will be often," his wife leaned on his chest. "But we will try."
"Fare well then, Path of the Lode," Long Jin's platform descended out of sight.
"Goodbye, may the air be sweet and comforting for you," Kari hugged the water tribesmen and Zhan as they boarded the white Sky Bison.
Aang opened his eyes again, now in the chamber with the still pool and Mitsu standing still as a statue on the other side.
"I am the heir of the Lode, though I dreaded this time when I was alone," Mitsu spoke to the pool. "Yet I am not alone, and the Avatar has faithful friends who can teach or punish him." Mitsu got down and prostrated towards the pool. Aang got up and prepared to bow when the water swirled up into a spout and formed a face on both sides.
"The very center of the Earth is lode, young Mitsu," a voice sounded in the thick air of the catacomb. "You are new but not the last. Young Avatar, you face a world in great peril. I wish you were not so young, but I sense the courage of a man many times older."
"You're from the Spirit Oasis up north!" Aang recognized the voice.
"I am a true Spirit Oasis, as this place was once barren rock and desert sand. I have provided shelter and guidance for the Lode for centuries upon centuries. Look in the pool, young Avatar, there is someone you should know of that you must seek immediately. He has helped you before, though from afar. His name is Pathik and he dwells where the Eastern Air Temple stood."
Aang's heart sank, as that was the one temple he had not visited yet and he had hoped for some sign of his people there.
"Do not be sad, young Avatar. I know of little that can comfort you at this time except for your memories and your friends, but you must persevere. Kyoshi became addled in her old age and lost hope for people while Kuruk was proud but arrogant. You must be better than them if you are to give the world hope. Pathik will help you, as he knows more of spirituality than any bender that walks the earth today."
"What about Roku? You didn't mention him."
"Roku was the ideal Avatar, as many Firebender Avatars tend to be. Yet he loved his friend Sozin too much to punish him sufficiently. He was taken from us too early, but in the end it gifted us you. I consider you to be a continuation of him and all the others, as you already know. Now Mitsu…"
Mitsu got up and bowed to the spirit water, holding out his hand.
"Continue what your own predecessors have done, and help his friends guide him to his destiny. Both of you take one drop from this pool and you will be ready for what comes next. Goodbye my young Avatar, may we meet when you have fulfilled all that you must and found what you have sought. The Spirits are with you always, as you are kin to us."
A singular drop fell onto both of their hands and the world went blank. A moment later Aang felt the soft grass of Lake Laogai' s shores underneath him, with Appa's unmistakable tongue lapping on his face. Mitsu was sprawled beside him, totally still with his eyes wide open. Aang had no idea how he or Mitsu got there, and the lake would not tell him.
"Oh, the Earth King!" Aang sprang to his feet.
"The Earth King can wait. You have to see the Guru first, and quickly. See the others first before you go, but you have to leave now."
"You're not coming with us? But what the Spirit said…"
"A guide simply tells you where to go; it is not necessary to go with you."
Aang nodded and boarded the Sky Bison, zipping away as fast as Appa could go. Mitsu sighed and remembered the secret words of the Spirit in his head.
Should he err, take his power and save the world.
"He won't make that mistake, I swear. The kid's got too much goodness in him and people who love him," Mitsu seemed to speak to no one in particular and got up. Surprisingly, Zuko and Iroh came up the hill on the other side of the lake, with a mask in the young prince's hand.
"I'm done with this," Zuko tossed the Blue Spirit mask into the lake, watching it sink slowly to the depths.
"That's good, Zuko. Now we have to get back to the shop," Iroh put his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "I have a super blend I've been trying to perfect, and I need a few test subjects."
Mitsu took a blade of grass and nestled it between his teeth. "He's not the only one, either."