Two Dai Li agents kneeled in front of Long Feng, who mulled over their reports. One team had been keeping an eye on the Avatar the moment they entered the city, they reported that the Avatar and his friends had been given a tour of the city and had been at their house in the Upper Ring for the rest of the day. The other report was from the team at the southern gate to the upper ring.

A foreigner claiming to be some sort of Sage resisted arrest and fought off all four Dai Li agents. Even stranger was how the man fought. Not even the Dai Li agents had been able to agree what the man was. Some claimed he was an earthbender, who had easily been able to redirect attacks and destroy walls. Others saw him use what appeared to be airbending, blowing attacks off target or into the ground. This was supported by his last attack, the man somehow able to use wind to speed his movements up.

Long Feng had never heard of such an airbending move, but the Airbenders had been exterminated long before he was born. There were some things bound to be lost. Who is this man? What is the Akura clan, whom he claimed to represent? Aang is the Avatar, who has been observed bending air, water and earth. Where does this man fit into it all? Long Feng decided it was time to meet the Avatar face to face.

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Aang let out a frustrated groan, this conversation wasn't getting them anywhere. It had mostly turned into Sokka arguing over the importance of them meeting the Earth King and Joo Dee talking in circles around the subject. Sokka looked like he was just about to blow out a gasket when something caught the eye of Joo Dee. She turned and walked away mid sentence. Before they could even question it, she was back. Her smile was bigger, but it looked forced and painful.

"Great news! The Cultural Minister of Ba Sing Se, Long Feng, has seen your request to meet the Earth King."

Aang whooped "Can we go see the King now?"

Joo Dee's smile strained "No no no, the King is very busy, Long Feng has invited you to dinner in one of the top rated restaurants in the Upper Ring!" The mood immediately soured.

Sokka recovered quickly "Once he hears about the eclipse he's sure to understand how important it is that the King finds out" Katara looked skeptical, but didn't voice her opinion.

Toph snorted "I'm not gonna hold my breath for that one"

Before anyone could reply, Joo Dee bowed and said "I shall return before sundown to escort you to dinner" before shutting the door and leaving.

"That lady gives me the creeps" Sokka admitted

"Come on" Katara interjected "We should get everything ready to go before she comes back" The group went and started collecting their information on the war and changing into the most formal clothes they had, much to Toph's displeasure.

Joo Dee rounded the corner, just out of sight, the Dai Li agent asked for her report.

"The children will be in position at sundown." The agent just nodded and seemingly disappeared. Joo Dee went on to the cart she had come from, where she would wait until it was time to move again. Such were her orders, there was no disobeying them.

Long Feng stood on the balcony of the nondescript building, watched as the Avatar and his companions were led down the alleyway below into the "Bronze Magnolia". It wasn't real, it was a location to take unruly upper class citizens when they needed to be re-assigned or removed quietly. For now, it was just a way to talk to the Avatar in a controlled environment. The group made it inside, two Dai Li agents quickly locked the door from the outside and stood guard. Long Feng walked inside and made his way down the stairs, the shouting had already begun.

"...big trap isn't it!?"

"Please refrain from yelling, the…"

"There was never a restaurant was there!? I skipped a meal for this!"

"Ugggh, Sokka, there are more pressing issues".

Long Feng loudly cleared his throat. "Avatar, I am Long Feng, I have brought you here to speak of a pressing issue."

Aang took a protective step forwards, hand up in a bending stance "Why all of the lies? Why not just speak to us?"

Long Feng tried to keep his displeasure off his face "You have already caused trouble for me and this city, I had to make sure you understand how things operate here." He put up his hands before they could protest "Your constant requests to see the King, multiple attempts to spread information about the war to the general populous, not to mention the cost to keep an eye on you. If you were not the Avatar, I would have expelled you from the city already."

The stunned silence only lasted a moment. Katara was the first to speak up

"Who are you? Surely not a "cultural minister" like we were told."

Long Feng straightened his back "I am the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se. I run the day to day turmoil of the city, and I am in charge of military affairs. You have information on the War?" Sokka perked up, Long Feng cut him off "Keep it to yourself, there is no war." Sokka deflated.

Aang scrunched his face up. "Then what was the point of meeting us?"

Long Feng pulled the rolled up report out of his pocket and began reading. "At midday, a man claiming to be a Sage representing the "Akura Clan" attempted to gain access to the Upper Ring. Upon arrest, the suspect exhibited attacks similar to Earthbending and Airbending. The suspect fled and was last seen moving in a southern direction, towards the Lower Ring."

Silence once again fell on them.

This time Aang found his bearings first "There has to be a mistake, the Air Nomads were exterminated hundreds of years ago."

Long Feng clicked his tongue "And yet, here we are. Not to mention, even if he was an Airbender, how did he Earthbend?" Long Feng pulled out another scroll, tossing it to Aang. "This lists the man's description; build, hair, eyes, clothes and a description of the badge he carried. The guard didn't recognize the symbol. I suggest you focus on finding this man, and stop this nonsense about the war."

Long Feng made his way up the stairs while the children were being led out, the water tribe boy just had to speak up

"You don't understand! On the eclipse, firebenders won't be able to bend!" He threw his arms up in exclamation.

Long Fend stopped "Yes, I know, I knew the moment I had the Dai Li go through your belongings. It is you who doesn't understand, when I say there is no war, I mean there is no war in Ba Sing Se. This is the utopia of the Earth Kingdom, and it must be kept that way. Find the man, if you do not, I guarantee the search for your Bison will become much, much harder."

The children didn't have any time to protest before they were pushed outside and sent back home for the night.

Aang spaced out on the ride back to their house, unable to process all of the emotions and information running through his head. Had some of the monks survived after all? If Long Feng already knew about the eclipse, why wouldn't they help with the war? How could this mysterious man bend two different elements? If the King isn't in charge of anything, what was the point of having a King at all? Who was this Akura clan the man spoke of? What did Long Feng know about Appa? Before long, they had made it back, in a daze, Aang stumbled in and fell right into bed. He didn't hear what the others were saying, he didn't even notice falling asleep until he woke up the next day. The sleep didn't improve his mood, neither did the porridge Katara had made for breakfast. At some point during breakfast, something hit him on top of the head.

"Ahhh!" Aang cried out, rubbing the quickly forming bump on his skull.

Toph rubbed a fist "Someone had to get you out of that funk...and I wanted to hit something."

Katara glared at Toph "Hey, he just found out an airbender may still be alive and Long Feng made a thinly veiled threat against Appa. Give him a break"

Toph blew a stray hair out of her face "Sulking isn't going to help, we need to do something!"

Katara jumped to her feet "We haven't even decided what we're going to do! We could look for Appa, chase after this mystery man or try to get in contact with the King!"

Sokka spoke up "I wouldn't put much hope in the "King", if he truly is a figurehead, it won't do us any good." Katara moved her glare to him "Hey!" he protested "It's not my fault the King is a fake"

She let out a sigh "Ugh, I know, but how are we supposed to get reinforcements for the war?"

Aang stood and put a hand on Katara's shoulder "I think we just need to focus on one thing at a time."

Sokka stood as well "Long Feng may have more information about Appa, if we find this mystery bender, they may be willing to give it to us"

Toph snorted again "That jerk was on the wooden stairs when he mentioned Appa, I don't know for sure if he was telling the truth. But it's a better lead than anything else we have" Momo screeched from across the room, hopping up and down at the door.

"I guess that settles that," Sokka said, clapping his hands "let's go find us an Airbender"