"When it happens, you'll have to be ready to serve your people, Aelius."

"But doing what, dad?"

"You'll know, my boy. You'll know. It's what your entire life has been leading up to."

-Master Antonius of Clan Impera, speaking to his son Aelius of Clan Impera

I tap my fingers against the side of my chair. "Can I help you?" I ask, venom dripping from my voice.

"Oh, no, Princess Cathra." The silver haired girl with the stupid silver circlet and her even stupider purple gem setting looks at me. If she was a Firebender instead of an Energybender, I would expect to see fire in her eyes. Instead, her grey eyes merely seem to glow with anger. "I just wanted to let you know that my brother is awake now."

My heart flutters inside my chest with complete disregard for my anger. "Aelius?" I ask.

The silver haired girl rolls her eyes at me. "That is my brother's name." She crosses her arms across her chest. She's wearing a simple silver dress with elaborate metal patterns running around the throat. Her voice is soft, but I can hear the distain for me in every word. I look at her visible skin, at the curves of her face, at the muscles showing in her arms and under her tight dress. This girl looks like she would be just as comfortable breaking an arm as she would be modeling.

I'm immediately jealous of her.

The young women snaps her fingers at me. "Hey, Princess, did you hear me?"

I snap my eyes away from her figure. I would kill to have a body like hers. "Of course I did."

Aelius's sister rolls her eyes. "Firebenders are such bad liars." She says under her breath. I pretend not to notice, but it's hard. Very hard. She continues speaking to me like I'm a toddler. "Aelius is speaking with our father right now, about some important 'man to man' stuff. It probably involves you somehow, but I honestly don't care."

I grimace, and imagine slapping Aelius's sister with a fire-propelled slap. I would enjoy making a bruise on that sculpted face of hers. "When will I be able to see him?"

Iulia, I think her name is, leans forward. "What makes you think he wants to see you?" She asks. It's amazing, I realize, how such a nice looking person can be so angry and mean.

I swallow my anger. "Because I care about him."

Iulia pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. "Oh, that's right." She says. "You're the one he saved from the Waterbender." She leans back, and I realize that she is taller than I am. It's somewhat intimidating. "Let's make one thing perfectly clear," she says, the words hissing out of her mouth like a snake.

"Aelius is my twin brother. We helped each other deal with our mother's death. We've both seen each other broken, and we've both helped each other pick up the pieces and put them back together. We have lived in the shadow of our famous father," she leans forward, voice hushed and swift. "Master Antonius, for all of our lives. We have both been fighting since before we learned to walk.

"Want to know the only thing that separates Aelius and I?" She asks. She doesn't wait for my answer, and merely continues speaking. "My brother has restraint. I, on the other hand, have none. Meaning that if you so much as dare hurt my brother in any way, shape, or form, or even give me the reason to think that you will, I will personally pump you full of so much energy that you'll pop like a balloon and they'll have to scrap your royal pieces off the walls."

She leans back. I'm at a loss for words. Honestly, if another Fire Bender had said anything to me like what she said, it would require that I challenge them to an Agni Kai. No one back in the Fire Nation would even imagine saying those types of thing to a member of the Royal Family. The fact that a seventeen-year-old girl wearing a grey dress and with silver hair just did is mind-blowing.

"Mistress Iulia," A voice says from the doorway. Iulia and I both jerk our heads in it's direction at once. A white robed attendant stands under the doorway, his white hair matching his robe perfectly. I stand up from my seat.

Iulia takes a few breaths and steps back. "Yes?" She says, her voice sweet and kind and the complete opposite of how it had been a few moments before. "How can I help you?"

"Mistress Iulia, your father has asked me to instruct you to give Princess Cathra a tour of the Impera estate." The attendant bows to Iulia, who nods her head.

Iulia turns to me with a wicked smile on her face. "Oh, this will be fun!" I can see the fire in her eyes. Something tells me that she's as furious about this turn of events as she is sickly pleased by it. "I get to have some girl time with the Princess of the Fire Nation!"

I try to think of something to say, like that I have some kind of terminal illness that will kill me in the next five minutes, or that I have to use the bathroom and may not come out until tomorrow, but Iulia grabs my arm before I can think of a good enough excuse. I feel my eyes grow wide as Iulia squeezes hard with her hand. She looks at me as though daring me to resist, and then she begins pulling me out of the white room.

"Oh, I just can't wait to show you the swimming pool! It has beautiful colored water jets and a waterfall that pours into the hot tub! And then I can show you the flower garden which has such lovely flowers!" Although Iulia's voice is light and sweet, I can tell that it's all an act. People look at us as we walk past, and they smile.

If only they knew the demon that had me in her talons.

Iulia continues to chirp like a bird, telling me all about what to expect and why she loves it so much living in a giant cavern underground…

"Cavern?" I say without thinking.

Iulia turns around and looks at me as we step into a circular white elevator. "Oh, you haven't seen Elysium yet?" She smiles as she pushes one of the lowest buttons on the elevator control panel. The doors close a few moments afterwards.

As the door closes, Iulia turns to look at me. She smiles for a few moments, and then takes a step towards me. Before I know it, her forearm is up against my neck, and I'm being held up against the wall of the elevator. I struggle to breath.

"And guess what Princess, it's only through the kindness of my people that you're seeing it now." Iulia's voice is more of a snarl than a human sound. "And if you tell anyone about the cavern or anything about it, I will make you pay." She brings her face so close to mine our noses touch. "Understand?"

I nod hurridly. Just in time, the elevator makes a ping! noise and Iulia lets me down immediately. As I rub my throat, she's already smiling. "Come on, let's go!" She says, her voice once again sounding like an innocent child. But I know better.

As we step out of the elevator, I look up. At least a mile above us is the ceiling of the cavern. At first, I mistake the lights coming from the stone above to be stars, but after looking at some of the larger lights I see that they're really multicolored crystals. The crystals poke out in varying sizes all over the walls and ceiling of the cavern, and their pure beauty take the breath out of me.

"They're… beautiful!" I say, more to myself than to anyone around me.

Iulia looks at them as well, and for a second all of the hatred towards me vanishes. "Ya." She says. "Airbenders have their sky bison, Firebenders have their dragons, Waterbenders have the changing tides, Earthbenders have the badgermoles…" Iulia closes her eyes and smiles as though she's hearing a distant melody. "And we have the crystals."

Then she opens her eyes and seems to remember my presence. Once again I feel the waves of dislike pouring off of her, but it's less intense this time. "Now, I'll show you the city." She starts walking, and I follow her. We're walking on an ornate plaza, and I realize that at least twenty other elevators get off here as well. A few people walk into and out of elevators, and no one pays us much attention.

I look back and see that in the center of the plaza is a huge white tower that goes through the center of the cavern ceiling. "What's in the huge tower?" I ask. Maybe if I act curious enough, Iulia will see that I actually care and stop hating me.

"That's where we just were. It's directly under the Regia, and it has the hospital and other facilities in it." Iulia says, her voice sounding like a tour guide's. I wonder if she's given this tour to anyone else before. "And, in case the cavern ever collapses, it's our emergency shelter."

I follow Iulia down a large street with grey patterns in the pavement. Only a few people are out on the streets. They wear different styles of clothing, from the fashions that would look normal in Republic City above us to elaborate and mystical looking robes. A few people cast looks in my direction, but I can't tell if they're good looks or bad looks.

We pass at least thirty stores before we reach the first intersection. All of the stores are dark, and I realize that it's probably around two or three in the morning. I should be tired right now, but I'm not. I probably have so much adrenaline in me from all of the day's events that sleeping will be out of the question for a week.

Iulia stops at the intersection to let four white armored guards walk by. They look identical to the ones above guarding the palace, except instead of wielding large poles these guards have blade-less sword hilts hanging from their belts. I can't tell if they pay any attention to me as they walk by. When they pass, Iulia leads me across the street.

"What's with all the guards everywhere?" I ask, trying to incite more conversation.

Iulia's voice is cold again. She doesn't slow down or turn around. "The Energy Guardians are here to maintain security. Keep outsiders outside where they belong."

"Is crime high here in the cavern?" I ask. It would seem sort of stupid, stealing something in a cavern with the only exits in plain sight of everyone.

"There is no crime in Elysium," Iulia says. She doesn't turn around. "It is the perfect city." The words seem rehearsed.

After a few minutes, we seem to enter the residential portion of the city. The housing are mainly huge apartment-like buildings that look like they could fit a hundred medium-sized families each. I wonder how many people live in the cavern-city, but I decide not to ask.

"Lady Impera!" I hear a small voice shout. I turn around and see a small child wearing only a pair of white shorts. He looks to be only three or four years old. He takes his thumb out of his mouth as he awkwardly runs over to Iulia.

Iulia slowly gets down to his height by kneeling on one knee. I can see how hard it is for her to do that wearing her tight dress, and I sympathize with her. Her face lights up as the child approaches. "Hey!" She says. She holds her arms out, and the child runs into her arms and throws his around her. The boy is so small his arms barely reach around her chest.

"Lady Impera, look at what I can do!" The child says in his tiny voice. He steps back and spreads his feet apart. He punches his fist in the air right past Iulia, and a small flickering ball of energy leaves his hand. It travels slowly for a few seconds and then dissipates into the air like a mist.

Iulia gasps, and I realize that she really is a great actress. "Wow! That's impressive!" She looks at the child as he grins from ear to ear. "Have you been out all night practicing?"

The child nods eagerly. "My mommy says that I'm not allowed to practice in the flat, so I have to go outside." The child leans in towards Iulia. "Last time I practiced inside," he whispers. He puts a hand to the side of his mouth. "I shocked mommy with a sphere and she dropped daddy's dinner."

Iulia laughs. It sounds like a pure and clean river flowing over a waterfall. "Ok, now go back to your flat and sleep! It's getting late!"

The child nods eagerly, his light hair tufts and blue-grey eyes moving merrily. "Yes, Lady Impera! Good night!" The child runs off towards one of the apartment buildings. Iulia stands up and watches him go.

I see a light in her eyes, and I decide that if I'm going to establish a good relationship with this girl I need to do it now. "You're like a Princess here."

Iulia turns to look at me. "This is my Nation. I imagine that wherever you go in the Fire Nation, you get similar reactions."

I shake my head. "I'm not allowed out of the palace grounds much." I don't mention the number of times I broke that rule.

Iulia looks at me for a few moments as if she's reconsidering her opinion of me. I certainly hope its for the better. She turns around and keeps walking in our original direction, and I follow her.

We walk in silence until we stop going by apartment buildings. Now, all I can see around us is soft green grass and small trees. I see a river meander off into the distance, and I see flowers and other plants grow all over the floor of the cavern. "How does all this grow here?" I ask.

Iulia leans over and picks a white flower. She holds it up to eye level, and then she drops it. "A lot of it was planted here when we first started building in the cavern. After a while, it just started to spread. It wouldn't be here naturally." She looks up at the crystals in the ceiling that give off a surprising amount of light. "The light from the crystals isn't enough for the plants, so we had to engineer the plants to survive without adequate water and light."

I raise an eyebrow. "How did you do that?" I ask. Iulia doesn't answer. She keeps walking, her silver hair bouncing with every step on the grass. I follow her, not wanting to press her for anything she doesn't want to talk about. Now that I think about it, she's probably not allowed to talk about it. Confidential Energybender-only information if I had to guess.

"You're the first non-Energybender that's been down here for a long time." Iulia says. She hasn't started threatening me yet, so maybe she did change her mind about me. I certainly hope so, because I don't think I could find my way back to the elevators without her help.

"It's an honor." I say diplomatically. I am a princess, after all.

We walk up a small hill I hadn't noticed before. When we get to the top, Iulia gestures with her arms. "Welcome to the Impera Estate."

In front of us is a large mansion. It looks like it's made out of pure marble. It looks like it has one main three-floor wing in the center of the estate, and two smaller wings off to the left and right. How I hadn't noticed it from a distance, I'm not sure.

The grounds of the estate are covered with pathways, hedges, fountains, statues, and floating lights. I see a large circle of sand near the right wing that I realize is a training ring.

"Wow." Is all I can say. For the first time, I realize just how massive the cavern is. If it can fit the entire city that we walked through, this estate, and still have parts of the cavern floor that aren't being used for anything, it could probably fit a good chunk of Republic City. It seems impossible, but it seems that with Energybenders the impossible just takes a bit of effort.

"I've always thought that it has too many statues, personally. My dad's a bit of a narcissist." Iulia says. She starts walking down the hill towards the estate, and I hurry to follow her.

She leads me down a decorated path to the front entrance to the mansion. A columned front porch surrounds the entrance, and it gives the entire mansion the appearance of a temple instead of a house. Instead of a door, the front door is just two large curtains that are tied to the sides of the doorway with silver roping. I remember Iulia telling me that there is no crime in the cavern, but I would still be worried about people just walking in and taking stuff.

The foyer has two brilliant white staircases that curve above the hallway to the living room. In the middle of the foyer is a large pool of water that looks like it's crystal. Iulia points at it with a finger. "That used to be where Aelius and I would pretend we were Waterbenders and splash water at each other. He was always weirdly amazing at hitting me with water, but I think that was because he tried so hard."

I try to imagine a younger Aelius. It doesn't work. Iulia leads me into the living room, which is as opulent as the foyer. White plush couches and chairs surround a crystal table, and more couches and chairs face towards a fireplace at one end of the room. Above the fireplace is a beautiful painting of a man and woman with their arms around a boy and a girl. Everyone in the painting has silver eyes. The girl has long silver hair and the boy has an intense look on his face.

"Is that your family?" I ask Iulia. She's looking at the picture as well, her eyes distant.

She blinks a few times. "Ya," she says softly. "That's my family."

I see her eyes are focused on the woman with silver eyes and a button nose like Iulia's. That's their mother, I realize.

Without considering the consequences, I put my hand on Iulia's bare shoulder. Her skin is cold under my hand. "How about you show me the kitchen." I say softly. Iulia looks at me, and I can see how grateful she is for the human contact. Without a word, she leads me through an archway and shows me the elaborate kitchen, with all of the finest electric cooking devices. She shows me the fully stocked fridge, and as the cold air from the freezer blows on my face I realize just what the Energybenders have created in this cavern.

Paradise.

Somehow, under everyone's noses, the Energybenders have pulled together their entire populace and have built a city for them under Republic City. They have power, they have water, they must have a sewage system, they have natural lighting, housing, shops, a police force, hospitals, their own government, huge mansions, and the very latest in technology. Iulia said that this place was called Elysium, and the word has immediately become synonymous in my mind with the word "utopia."

I wonder, as Iulia shows me her bedroom, just why the Energybenders are so separated from the world above. They all seem to be content and non-resentful of their homes, but that's just from what I've seen so far.

As Iulia shows me her bathroom and all of her makeup, I realize that she isn't threatening me anymore. As she shows me her shower, I mention why she's so nice to me now.

Iulia blushes, and looks at her reflection in the mirror. "My father taught Aelius and I from an early age to not trust or associated with people from other Nations." Her eyes meet her reflection's eyes. "Aelius realized what trash that was, but I still have to fight the urge to sneer as people from other Nations go by when I'm in the Regia."

"But why does your father rent himself out to other Nations as a mercenary when he doesn't like them?" I ask, honestly curious.

Iulia blinks a few times. "I… don't know." She says after a while. "I've never thought about that before." She puts her makeup back in the cabinet. "I think he needs the money. We don't see him much, Aelius and I. Not much time to ask him questions other than if he's ok."

I look at my reflection in the mirror. I realize how tired I look. My hair is a bit disheveled and my eyes are red. My armor makes me look like some sort of crazy woman from the Fire Nation. I recall the stories of Princess Azula from the time of the Hundred Year War, and I figure I could probably pass myself off as her. Except I'm just tired instead of being a homicidal maniac.

"My people," I start to say. I keep looking at my reflection. "Think that Energybenders will be the end of this war. They think that whomever has the most Energybenders on their side will win." I don't know why I say that; my brain must be shutting down.

Iulia laughs. "That's probably true. Come on, I'll show you to the guest rooms."

Someone must have sent my bag down to the room, because it's waiting for me on the large bed when Iulia brings me to the guest room. We talk for a few minutes about Elysium, and then she tells me good night (or as she said, good morning) and leaves, closing the door behind her.

As I start to take off my armor, I hear voices outside my door. One of them is Iulia, but the other is too faint for me to make out if I know the owner or not.

"I got her settled in the guest room." Iulia says.

I can't make out the response, but it sounds masculine. Iulia responds back to the unknown speaker "She didn't ask where you were. I think I sort of..." Her voice trails off.

"Scared her." I can make out the voice now; it's Aelius. I put my hand on the doorknob and almost open the door before something stops me.

"I didn't mean to, Ael. It just sort of happened." Iulia says, her voice growing soft.

I can faintly hear Aelius sigh. "Fine. You can apologize in the morning, but right now we all have to go to sleep. You've been up since about this time yesterday, I hear."

"Ael," Iulia says. "You died today. You need your sleep more than I do."

Aelius laughs. He died? I gasp. I still don't know what really happened to him. The doctors just told me he blacked out. Aelius says something, and I lose it amidst my thoughts.

Iulia heard it though. "But how are you feeling now? And what did father talk to you about?"

Aelius is quiet for a few moments. When he responds, his voice sounds far away. "Something big is happening soon, Iul."

"That's what everyone is saying, Ael, but no one is saying what." Iulia sounds exasperated. "Father tells me that I need to be training all the time, but he's not saying for what."

I hear heavy footsteps, which grow faint. A few moments later, a set of lighter footsteps follow them.

I finish taking my armor off.

Something big is happening soon, Iul.

What is it?