"Welcome to the Boiling Rock."
Somehow everyone felt chills run up their spines. This had been the first prison Azula had been sent to. Of course, her mental state got worse and she was put into a psychiatric facility. It was strange for Zuko, Sokka, and Suki especially to be back in this place where much happened.
One of the guards led the way, taking them to the very back of the prison where all the diagnosed maniacs were being held.
"How many are still alive?" Aang asked as they continued to make their way.
"Well… most of them committed suicide so I believe there are about 3 left." The guard explained.
They finally arrived at one of the cells. The room was a grim, metal box. The air was slightly damp, a feeling of humid heat emanating from the lake. The bed was made of steel mesh. The door was steel, equipped with locks and bolts. There was a small sink and a cheap toilet. The room was dingy. It was a small, windowless cell with metal bars to peek inside. The walls were bare, only the faintest of scuff marks mark the metallic surface. The air tastes like stale bread and centuries-old stale water. You taste no oxygen; this place is sterile.
There on the bed lay a man with messy hair. His face looked tired but he wore a frown. His prison uniform had holes in it and it looked like he had torn our pieces of fabric himself.
"Aku!" Yelled the guard.
The man looked up and grinned. He stood up and walked over to the group. "Oh look, it's the Fire Lord and the Avatar. What an honor." He spoke slowly and sarcastically.
"Behave, Aku. We're watching." He nodded to Zuko, "Here he is, my lord. Just don't let him out of his cell and don't get too close, he's dangerous." The guard retreated to the rest of the officers.
"We are here to ask you a series of questions and we will be able to know if you're lying so I suggest you give us your complete honesty." Toph spoke harshly, shaking the metal bars for a dramatic effect,
"Keep in mind that we're not here to hurt you— we just need some answers. Would you be willing to comply?" Aang asked.
"Or do we have to make you comply?" Mai said, with a very sharp dagger grazing against Aku's cheek ready to draw blood if necessary.
He stared blankly, "It depends. I'm willing to answer as long as you're willing to convince the guards to let me walk outside into the yard for once."
Katara scrunched her forehead, "Wait, you're not allowed to go outside?"
"Not since the time I tried to hang myself. This place is wretched." He hissed his last sentence.
"First question, why were you even arrested?" Sokka questioned.
Aku looked at Zuko, "I asked your bitch of a father a simple question and he threw me in here."
"What did you ask him?" Zuko asked curiously.
"I asked him questions about the spirit world but he didn't know any answers. I served as one of his counselors and I thought that maybe if we could consult with the spirits, then maybe we could finally end that nonsense war." He explained.
Suki's expression softened momentarily, "So you were against the war too?"
"Hell yes, it was utterly useless. I'm surprised no one else attempted to stop it before the Avatar did."
Mai's monotone voice spoke up, "You don't happen to be a part of a group of insane people who want to free a deadly spirit are you?" He shook his head. "Why did they even imprison you here?"
"They just assumed I was part of them, which I'm not. I honestly just want to see my family again. I have a daughter, you know? I also have a beautiful wife. They're in the Earth Kingdom though, because I told them to go there after being thrown in here. I was scared of what Ozai might do."
Zuko thought about it for a second, "I can let you out of here. You can go back to your family and you can finally be free. There are two rules, however." Aku looked up, curiously. He continued, "You will stop asking questions about the spirit world and you will tell us the names of the other spirit world idiots in this prison."
"Done! You have my word that I'll stop asking questions. As for the names of the prisoners, their names are Yami and Gwisin." Aku complied immediately with a grin, "Never liked those motherfuckers anyway."
Toph laughed, "Now this dude is funny. Oh and he hasn't lied at all guys. You can let him go."
Zuko looked at Aang, who nodded. "Guards! I order you to set Aku free. He was wrongly imprisoned here under the influence of my father. He shall be liberated and free to meet his family again."
Guards immediately swarmed the cell with skeptical faces. They unlocked Aku's cell and escorted him out of the prison. Aku looked back at them and sent a smile of appreciation, "Thank you, Fire Lord."
Sokka quickly stretched his arms over his head, "Ah, now that he is off the suspect list. Which guy should we ask first?"
Katara interrupted, "Actually, Gwisin is a female name. Why don't we just ask both of them at the same time?"
"That's a good idea. The sooner we finish this the better." Suki added.
Aang agreed, "Fire Lord? Will you do the honors?" He said with a chuckle.
Zuko rolled his eyes and called for the guards once again.
Apparently, Yami was bathing after weeks of not cleaning his body and Gwisin was napping. Once the guards convinced them to pause their individual activities, they were taken to the interrogation room.
Yami was really young. He seemed no older than Zuko. He had green eyes and light brown hair accompanied by a scruffy beard. He was really handsome but the heavy eye bags and the creepish grin that never left his face said otherwise.
Gwisin wasn't all to eye appealing. Her eyes were blue, signaling that she was from one of the water tribes. However, her stare was very maniacal and she walked with pride and power. Her aura seemed intimidating, according to Mai.
The two prisoners sat down next to each other, facing Aang, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Mai.
"What have we done to have the honor of sitting down with the Fire Lord, the Avatar, and war heroes?" Gwisin's voice was raspy and it sounded a lot like she whispered every word.
"If the guards haven't told you both already, we have a few questions to ask you." Aang said.
"Let me guess, you want to ask us about our spirit world shenanigans? Predictable." Yami spat out. His voice was more forceful and rude.
"Don't disrespect us already!" Zuko yelled out, "Sokka, go ahead and ask."
Sokka nodded, "Why were you arrested?"
"I was caught sneaking into the catacombs." Yami answered.
Gwinsin scoffed, "My boat was captured. We were on our way to the South Pole."
"Why were you sneaking into the catacombs?" Sokka questioned.
Yami didn't say anything at first before sighing, "...I was looking for information on a specific spirit."
"Let me guess, The Sirens?" Aang expected.
"Ding ding ding!" He sarcastically cheered.
Sokka turned his attention towards Gwinsin, "What about you? Aren't you from the South Pole anyways?"
"Ah so you do know how to recognize your own people." She smirked, "I was in the Earth Kingdom. I served in a small army that protected the last cities of the Earth Kingdom. I was part of a non-discriminatory batallion up north. I came across a group of rebels looking to get into the spirit world. I was roped in and so I accompanied them down to the South." She explained.
"But why were you going down there? There was nothing important in the South Pole during the war." Suki questioned, suspiciously.
Aang gasped in realization, "There's a spirit portal in both the South and the North!"
Gwisin nodded in confirmation, "The one in the North is severely guarded and protected. But with the South missing half its army of misogynistic men, we targeted the Southern Spirit Portal."
Katara pondered over what had just been said, "My Gran-Gran used to tell stories about everything, including this. If I remember correctly, it was a gateway between the material world and the spirit world. It had been closed long ago by the first Avatar."
"Do you know exactly where it is?" Toph asked.
"It's situated in the center of an ancient forest located at the heart of the South Pole. It's also the cause of the southern lights." Gwinsin replied.
"Wait a minute, why are you even telling us this? Isn't this part of a secret plan of some sort?" Mai interrogated.
Gwinsin and Yami looked at each other momentarily and laughed aloud, "No reason." It was obvious that they had a clear reason.
Toph got impatient at this and decided to tease them a bit, "Are you two… you know… a thing?" The pair stopped laughing and glared at her which made Toph cackle as if she were the insane one.
Gwinsin flipped her off, "If I were to go for anyone, I'd go for that perky waterbender." She sent a wink her way and Katara flushed a bright red. "Girls are more my thing."
"No, really?" Toph faked her surprise.
"You're probably confused. It looks like spirits are more your thing." Sokka joked and earned a high-five from Aang and Toph. Everyone else shook their heads at their immaturity.
"Fuck you." Gwinsin cursed.
Yami rolled his eyes and groaned, "Anyways, are we done here? I'm getting hungry and unless you want us to be actual maniacs and eat you alive, then can we go back?"
Zuko interfered, "One more question! How were you guys looking to resurrect this spirit you worship?"
"You just assemble the pieces and let it do its thing. Duh." Yami bluntly explained.
"You do realize, though, how much pain The Sirens cause... to everyone? Why would you want to risk it?" Aang spoke up.
"Just like the past fire lords, some people just want to watch the world burn." Gwinsin replied.
"Who hurt you?" Katara whispered under her breath.
"Everyone, sweetie, everyone." Yami responded with a bored expression.
The pair stood up and guards began to take them back to their cells. Sokka quickly asked an extra question, "You guys are in prison though, what do you expect to do from here?"
"Everyone else is still out and about. Plus, we have our plans. Manipulation, schemes, and whatnot..." Gwinsin murmured in response with a devilish smile before her figure was taken away.
Aang looked worried as he stared into the void. Toph stood there, feeling unsettled herself. "They're just lunatic nutcases." She tried reassuring.
"Did they lie though?" Mai asked. Toph didn't respond to that.
"What do we do now?" Suki cleared the silence.
Katara took in a breath, "I think it's obvious that we need to take a trip to the South Pole. If it's true what they said, who knows when they'll be ready to strike?"
"But we have nations to protect, we can't just bunker at the Southern Water Tribe for eternity." Zuko implied.
"He's right. We need another plan." Aang sighed.
"What if we lure them out? Everyone that's in on this... we should lure them out of hiding." Sokka said as he scratched his head.
Toph gasped, "I have an idea! Do you guys remember how Xin Fu and Master Yu put me in a metal cage? How I learned metalbending from that one experience? Right so, how did they even manage kidnap me in the first place?"
"Didn't they pretend to be your mother... in a letter?" Katara replied, still not knowing where this was going.
"Exactly! They lured me out!" Toph exclaimed.
"She's right, if we learn enough about them and impersonate someone of high status in their scheme, we can lure them out to the South Pole!" Zuko concluded.
"How are we going to learn more about them, though?" Aang asked.
Sokka smiled proudly and finished his sentence, "By using Yami and Gwinsin!"
Everyone began to talk amongst themselves. Trying to come up with a plan.
"They aren't just going to give up important information like that, though." Mai reasoned.
Katara and Suki looked at each other. Suki whispered into her ear, "There are other ways to get what we want."
"It's not the right way though..."
"We have to do what's necessary, don't you think? It's not like we'll kill them."
"I'm very good at that sort of thing. I can help." Mai budded in.
Toph grinned devilishly, "Let's do it then."