Wow! I'm still amazed by how many people are reading this! It makes me happy to know that all my work isn't being wasted! :D

"The smoothest waters hide the roughest currents."

-Councilman Sokka, Memoirs of Memories

I remain kneeling in front of my father. I can feel the faint hum of energy coming off his robe, and not for the first time, I am jealous of his mastery of Energybending. "I am accompanying the Fire Nation princess, father." I groan inside my head. My father told me, before I left for the Harmony Camp, that if I came home early I would be in deep trouble.

Instead of exploding with fury like I expect, my father remains silent. I don't look up at him yet; I'm supposed to wait until I'm given permission.

"Interesting." My father says. His voice reverberates inside my head. "Is this lovely lady the princess?" He asks. He walks over towards us, and I see his white foot wrappings just barely in my field of vision.

"Yes, father." I reply.

"Very good, my son." My father seems joyful for the moment, which is good. He has been able to switch from being happy to being a tempest of fury in a second ever since mom died. I hope that today he's able to control his emotions. "You may rise."

I rise and look at my father for the first time in over a month. The purple light from his robe casts his face in an eerie light. I look to my left and see that Cathra is standing as well. Her eyes are wide, and she seems mesmerized by my father. He has that effect on people. He's one of the only Energybending masters in the entire world, and people are always in awe of his presence.

My father continues speaking. "How was camp?" He asks me.

I grin sheepishly. "I got kicked out."

My father raises his scarred eyebrow. "For?" Is all he asks.

"I got into a fight with a Waterbender. He was trying to kill the princess." I reply smoothly. My father would know if I was lying, anyways. He told me, when I was younger, that master Energybenders could read minds. I never proved him wrong, but I'm pretty sure he just knows how to read body language and vocal tones. He was the one that taught me how to, so it makes sense.

My father looks at Cathra, and I can tell that he is now regarding her in a new light. "Princess Cathra," my father says softly. It's as if he's trying out the name to see how it sounds. "Princess Cathra…" His eyes grow distant, and I can tell that he's recalling a distant memory.

"I met your father, once." He finally says. A small smirk crosses his face. "It was from a distance, however."

I awkwardly look at the bottom of my robe. My father doesn't know that I told Cathra that he was fighting for the Confederacy. He has to give me some leeway, however; I didn't know my father would be at the Regia.

Cathra smiles. "I think my father told me about that." She laughs, and I'm unsure if it's fake or not. "He told me that his airship was singlehandedly shot down by an Energybender."

My father laughs. I look at the two guards to either side of him. They are still unmoving and silent, just like Energy Guardians should be. My father's robe glows brighter, and I refocus my attention on him. "He had quite the nice ship, too."

I cut in, eager to separate Cathra and my father before they start talking more about the war. "Father, I was just about to give Cathra a tour of the Regia. How long will you be staying here?"

My father looks at me, and my eyes unconsciously focus on his scar. "I have a Council meeting in a few minutes." My father crosses his arms in front of his chest. "I think you and I have some catching up to do, so I'll stay for a few more hours after." My father smiles at me, but then his attention shifts to something behind me.

I turn around and see two more Energy Guardians coming up behind us. These Guardians, instead of wearing the white chest plates of the Guardians accompanying my father and patrolling the Regia, wear black plate bodies with purple trimming. Their helmets are black to match, and the visible portions of their robes are the same color purple as the energy that my father is generating.

Cathra takes a few steps closer to me, as though the newcomers scare her. I look towards their belts and see that both of them have a single curved sheathe hanging there.

"Gods," I mutter under my breath. "What are Royal Guardians doing outside of the Regia?"

My father must have taken a few steps closer to me, because I can feel the energy emanating off his robe against my back. "It's an important meeting."

The two Royal Guardians stop before our little group. I look at the servant that first approached Cathra and I when we entered. She is still lying prostrate on the ground, having never been given permission to rise. I grin inside my head at the fact that the duffel bags are still enclosed in the energy field. That girl is a good servant.

"Master Antonius," the Guardian on the right says. His voice has a tone of command to it, but no other emotions. "The Council meeting is about to convene. Please follow us."

"Of course." My father brushes past me, and I feel something hard brush against my left side. I feel a slight jerk of my robe, and then my father is past me. I see his hand enter one of the pockets of his robe. "Take me there." My father commands the Royal Guardians. They start walking away.

Once they get about twenty feet away, my father turns around. "Guardians Luis and Cassia, please keep watch over my son and the Princess. After all," I see a twinkle enter my father's eyes. "There are assassins around."

I blink twice, silently telling my father "well played." I know the real reason he's having Guardian's monitor us, and I'm grateful for the protection. Cathra obviously is having problems controlling herself, and although I do enjoy her company, any romance is out of the question. I've made mistakes with her, that's for certain. Not throwing her off me when she started kissing me in the middle of the sidewalk was one of the first mistakes.

As my father enters the massive white doors of the palace, I look at Cae, who is still on the ground. "You may rise, attendant."

Cae slowly gets to her feet. "Thank you, Brother Aelius. Would you like me to show you to your room, now?"

I think of how my father brushed past me. "Guardian Cassia will deposit our belongings in my quarters, and Guardian Luis will accompany you and the princess as you give the princess a tour of the Regia."

Cathra looks at me quizzically. "And where will you be?" She asks, putting her hands on her hips.

Unfazed by her attitude, I begin to swiftly walk away. "I have to check on a few things."

Cathra says something in response, but I'm too far away to hear it. I walk around a corner of the Regia.

The Regia is an umbrella term for the massive Energybender complex in Republic City. It serves as an embassy, social center, training complex, home, center of government, and hiring center for the scattered Energybending populace. Most of the Regia is underground. Most non-Energybenders only ever get to see the aboveground portion of the Regia, which are just the palace and the grounds around it.

The palace serves as the hiring center, center of government, and embassy. The massive hallways in the front of the palace serve as gathering places for Energybenders to rent out their services to the highest bidders. Wealthy men and women from all four Nations come to the palace just to stand in the hallways and search for mercenaries to do their bidding.

As one gets further into the back of the palace, Energy Guardians are more prevalent. They regularly patrol the corridors, making sure that non-Energybenders do not go into areas where they are not allowed. Areas like the communications chamber, the map room, the central meditation dome, and every lift entrance are guarded twenty-four hours a day.

Under the central meditation dome (which is in the exact center of the Regia) is the Council chamber, where the four Energybending masters meet every three months. The entrance to the chamber is hidden, but the rumor is that one of the columns contains a secret lift down to the room. That rumor was started because a Royal Guardian guards each of the columns inside the meditation dome.

I pass a few Energy Guardians on my way to one of the side doors of the Regia. I don't like walking through the front halls. People always approach me and ask me how much they could pay for my services. The people that come to the Regia to hire Energybenders don't care a thing about the ages of those that they're hiring. They pay younger Energybenders less money, so sometimes the less wealthy search for the youngest they can find.

I step through an unlocked door into an almost deserted hallway. The only other occupants of this hallway are two men wearing the pure white robes of Energybending novices, and two white armored Guardians. I make my way past the Guardians without being accosted. Guardians randomly check identification chips with complete disregard for the authority that the people they're checking may have. It's annoying, but it keeps infiltrators out of the secure areas.

I pass by several doorways, each guarded by at least one pair of Guardians. I admire the silent guards. They stand in place all day and night, with rare shift changes, just watching everything. The Guardians undergo rigorous training that turns them into deadly warriors, and it seems like a waste to just have them standing around all day. I don't know how much they get paid for their services, but I hope it's a lot.

A few hundred feet of marble columns later, I enter the central part of the Regia. A massive pool of water sits in the middle of the room, and at least thirty robed figures are sitting cross-legged on top of the water. I see faint glows coming from under each of them. The meditation pool requires each Energybender to focus only on maintaining a platform of energy underneath them to keep them from falling into the water. I see a few damp robes and know that some of the present meditators have lost focus a few times.

An odd group suddenly enters the meditation room. Four Royal Guardians, wearing their distinct black armor and purple skirts, accompany a young man who is wearing a pure purple robe. The young man's hood is up, but I can just barely see his eyes.

As soon as I notice him, the young man looks at me. He raises his head, and I am staring back into the pure white orbs inside of his eye sockets.

Suddenly, I'm six years old again, staring into the white eyes of a young man while he asks me to change a rock into energy. I'm trying and trying so hard to do it, but I can't, because I'm scared of giving in to my own power…

I'm jerked out of my flashback. I suddenly feel weak, and I look around for something to hold on to…

I hear voices in the darkness. They whisper disjointed things, and I have to grasp at the words before they drift away from me. They have no particular order and leave me confused. I try to open my eyes to see the sources of the voices but my body doesn't respond to my commands.

"Will he be ok?"

"I want Guardians outside this room, now!"

"Give him another shock."

"Please my son, wake up from this."

"Ael, please wake up. It's Iuls. You had better not die on me, you son of a tigerdog."

"Get your hands off of him."

"Shut up you Fire Nation bitch. He's my brother."

"We're losing him, damn it!"

"Any more adrenaline injections and we'll kill him."

"Bring a Waterbender from the Aang Memorial Hospital."

"This has to be contained. Seal the building."

"His sister is here. She's coming now."

"Ael? Hello?"

Slowly, carefully, I open my eyes. I'm staring at a smooth white surface. A cloudy sky?

"Gods, if you're mute I'm personally going to poke your eyes out." A voice tells me. It's soft but commanding. Almost singsong in tone and speed.

I try turning my head towards the voice, but something restrains me from doing it.

"Oh, damn, I forgot the restraints. You aren't even supposed to be awake yet." I hear something scraping against the floor. A head of long silver hair enters my field of view. The face is vaguely familiar. It's young and youthful, and the girl has a button nose that looks just like the one my mom had before she died.

The girl unstraps something that looks like a belt, and I feel a pressure come off of my forehead. "That should do it." She says, practically singing out the words. She stares at me with silver eyes. "Tell me something. Anything."

A memory stirs, and I pull a single word out of the deep depths of my mind. "Iulia?" I try to say, but it comes out more like a whisper.

The girl smiles, and her entire face lights up. I feel something stirring inside of me, and I feel like I've been hit by a wave of positive energy. She cups one of my cheeks in a smooth but firm palm. "Ya, Aelius. It's Iulia."

I see a flash of a silver circlet on the top of the girl's head. A single purple gem is set in the center of the circlet, pulsing gently with light. "How are you?" I manage to ask.

Iulia gently caresses my cheek. She puts her hand to my head. "I'm doing fine, Ael, but you aren't doing so good yourself. What do you remember?"

I try to think about what happened before the darkness, but I all I can remember are two giant white orbs. "Nothing except these two big white things. Eyes, I think."

Iulia raises a grey eyebrow. Her silver eyes are scanning my face like I'm a wounded animal. "Ael, you died. Twice."

I look at my sister like she's crazy, which I think she might actually be.

She is unfazed. "Well, not like dead-dead," she doubles back. "But your heart stopped twice."

I try to move my arms, but I look down and they are restrained as well. "And the restraints are for what?"

Iulia pauses for a moment, and busies herself with undoing the straps. I see the hesitation in her movements. After a few moments of fumbling with a strap, she looks at me. "Ael, you were having convulsions while you were unconscious." She points to a corner of the room, where I see a pile of melted metal.

It takes me a few moments before I begin to understand what happened. "I did that?" I ask, incredulous.

Iulia nods. "I was here for one of the attacks. You started glowing bright and energy was pouring out of you like you were trying to become the next sun." Iulia points to a melted part of the wall behind her. "That one almost hit one of the doctors."

I look back up at the ceiling and sigh. My memory is starting to come back to me in full now. "I died." Is all I say.

"Your heart stopped, the doctors said," Iulia repeats. "But they said that your chi was still flowing, and faster than it normally does for Energybenders. Like three times as fast."

I think about my talent for changing elements to energy. I wonder if I had done that at all, and no one wants to tell me. Iulia would tell me, though. She's my twin sister, and when we always tell each other everything. Iulia and I grew even closer after our Mom died. We had to, because our father grew distant. Iulia and I took care of our house and each other. She was upset that she wasn't being sent to the Harmony Camp with me, because she didn't want to be separated for so long.

Iulia comes back towards my head. "You're in the Regia hospital right now. You've been here for a few hours now." She pushes a lock of silver hair behind her ear. "I'll go tell father you're awake."

Before Iulia starts to leave, I grab her wrist. "Iulia, since when does the Regia have a hospital wing?" I ask. The Regia has never needed a hospital before, because the amounts of injuries that happen are minor. Sure, from time to time, someone breaks an arm in training, but the injuries have never been as severe as mine was.

Iulia looks at me, and I see a shadow pass through her silver eyes. "It's new." Before I can ask anything else, she's out the door. I hear muffled voices come from outside of my hospital room. One of them sounds like Iulia. I can't make out what she's saying, but it seems like she's giving orders. My father probably stationed Guardians outside of my room.

I sigh, and look around my hospital room. A dark window is on the wall to my left. A button for the shades (I assume) is close by my hospital bed. The entire room is white and has smooth surfaces. It has a very modern design to it.

I look down at myself. I notice that I'm only wearing a pair of white pants. I see a series of red marks in the center of my chest, where I assume the doctors tried to revive me.

Over in a corner, draped over a chair, is a white robe. A fold of white cloth is on the floor by it. I slowly get up from my hospital bed and test the boundaries set by my condition. I take a few steps towards the chair, and am relieved when I don't stumble or have to grasp for something to support me. I smile to myself. So far, so good.

I reach the chair and pull the robe over my body. It's made of silk, and it feels smooth against my body. I lean over and unfold the cloth that was on the ground. I can easily tell that it's meant to wrap around my midsection. I wrap it tightly, and realize that it serves the purpose of a belt.

I grin. Energybenders are a few hundred years behind in fashion. Whereas the other Nations are wearing slacks and t-shirts, we're still wearing mystical robes and hoods. We're ahead of the other Nations in everything else, but we lack modern clothing. I guess we can't be completely perfect.

I arc my back behind me and raise my arms above my head. I'm starting to lose the cloudy head that I had when I first woke up. A few more minutes and I will probably be able to find my way back to my quarters.

But first, I want to look out the window. I walk back over to my hospital bed and press the white button on the wall. In response, the black layer covering the window rises up, and the outside of my hospital room is slowly revealed to me.

I smile when I look outside, because I'm not really looking outside. I'm looking underground. Outside my window is a cavern about a quarter of the size of Republic City. The only way I can see the other side of the massive expanse is because covering the ceiling and walls are huge glowing crystals, each glowing different colors.

The very sight of the crystals makes me smile. Hundreds of years ago, the cavern used to be a light crystal mine. After Republic City was built above the mine, it was shut down because no one wanted crystal miners taking up half of the world's capitol. It lay untouched, but not unlit, for over a hundred years.

When people began to Energybend, we realized quickly that we would become a feared portion of the population. So, the four most influential men and women that had been granted with the power to manipulate light met together and decided that they would pool their money and resources together. The palace, which is probably two miles above me right now, is the visible result.

The Master's Council has never officially given the cavern a name, but everyone just refers to it as the Elysium. Why? Because it's our paradise. The cavern contains a simplistic city, and it has all the comforts of the world above. Only a quarter of the Elysium floor has structures on it. They all are styled similarly to the Regia palace: white with smoothed edges and plenty of columns. In addition, like the Regia miles above us, Energy Guardians patrol the streets. No one pays attention to them though. They're just a formality.

I look at the people a few hundred feet away from me. The Regia palace is connected to the Elysium by a huge elevator. The elevator is probably a few hundred feet in diameter, and it brings down large amounts of people and resources on a scheduled basis. Other smaller elevators come down from the palace as well, but they are only for authorized personnel.

A knock sounds at the door. I hear a muffled voice.

"Come in." I say, turning around. I think I recognized my father's voice, but I'm not sure.

The door slides open, and I'm correct. My father strides through. One look at his face, however, alerts me that something is wrong.

Two looks at the Royal Guardians that follow him into the room, and I'm certain.

"Father-" I start to ask.

"Aelius." My father says, his voice grave and determined. His eyes are cold and emotionless. "We need to talk."

A/N: Ok, I know a lot of stuff is happening in my chapters, and I promise to start to slow stuff down for you guys. I'm going to try (I promise!) to write shorter chapters. It'll be hard for me, because I have so much plot that I need to throw in and so many details that I need to add, but I'll do it for you guys!