The flames flickered on a boat's edge, reflected on the lake as a sun amongst a sea of stars. No lantern contained the flame, sitting still on the rowboat. Under Mokou's watch was it subdued, never to grow unless permitted. And beside her was Kaguya, who leaned furtively under the watchful gaze of the moon, her sharp chin stabbing into Mokou's shoulder. It didn't bother the Phoenix. This pain was nothing compared to all the things she'd been physically subjected to by the Lunarian, whose mind held a depraved inventiveness. Though it was nice of Kaguya to ask if it was annoying her, to which Mokou merely grunted.
The Immortals stared out into the still waters of Misty Lake, with Mokou's rough sand-paper hands gripping a bamboo fishing rod that was primitive even for her standards. There hadn't been a tug for the past half-hour, so the pair sat silently on the boat. Naturally, it was Kaguya who broke it first, "You made quite a racket yesterday," she said, her voice an effortless song. Mokou searched her memories for any deaths or battles that day but came up with nothing. Another fabrication from Kaguya, possibly, it was something of a habit. "And you scared dear Eirin too," that stretched Mokou's suspension of disbelief. Fear wasn't a concept one would attach to the good doctor. Kaguya, perceptive as she was, sensed Mokou's scepticism, "Why are you looking at me like I'm lying?" There was a hint of bewilderment, genuine bewilderment, in her voice.
"You're bored," Mokou stated gruffly, "You'll say anything to pass the time." She grunted; there was something in her chest.
"Oh, don't be such a boor," Kaguya whined, moving her lips into a pout, "I'm not trying to trick you right now. Honest!" Mokou wondered if the Lunarian really was over a thousand years old. It was hard to tell sometimes. Regardless, Kaguya seemed to have embraced eternal infantility, the woman-child that she was.
"You know why I don't give the benefit of the doubt?" Mokou began, "Here's a recent example: twenty years ago, you tried convincing me my hair had a pH of zero."
"But-" There she goes again, trying to weasel her way out.
"Ph is for water, Keine told me; Eirin confirmed it. Has nothing to do with hair." That this three-step process took Mokou five years wasn't a fact Kaguya needed to know.
"No, Mokou-" Kaguya's voice strained in near-laughter; instantly, she buried her face onto Mokou's shoulder, her fist lightly tapping the Immortal's back. When she recovered, her eyes had gained a wet gleam, "Mokou, it was a joke! It was a pH of zero 'cause I was about to pour acid on your head." The Lunarian's eyes widened like dinner plates, "don't tell me you had asked other people about pHs. That's boneheaded even for you!"
"It was a crappy joke," Mokou murmured.
"Come on. I'm trying to have a serious conversation here! Or am I just someone you kill from time to time? I thought we were much more than that." Kaguya moved away from Mokou, her arms crossed, eyes feigning hurt.
There was a long pause; Mokou knew precisely what she meant by that, sensing the hidden meaning beneath the lines. The question itself was a trap, shaped in a way to give the coward enough room to backtrack and obscure. The Fujiwara girl knew the kind of answer Kaguya wanted: the truth. But the truth can be nebulous, and to pin down what they are into words was to give it shape, rigid and limited. That won't do. Ambiguity brought with it comforting flexibility. There was no need to change that. So Mokou decided to ignore that conversational landmine and focused on whatever it was that got Eirin "spooked." The Immortal shifted so her eyes met Kaguya's, "Fine," the Fujiwara girl finally said, "How did I scare Eirin?"
Disappointment rippled across her brown pools before it was buried with practised precision.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"-I'm begging you Prince Zuko!" Iroh yelled at the prince, while the chained bison stared impassively. "It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions, who are you and what do you want!"
Zuko gritted his teeth, and the part of him full of shame screamed to kill the bison. Without it, the Avatar's capture would be a certainty. Redemption was at hand. But cooler heads prevailed, and he threw his blades on the ground with a scream. It didn't feel right; in his core screamed voices clamouring for the bison's death, to pick up the blades and fulfil his princely duties. Whichever the case, the deed was done. The bison was spared.
A sickly heat permeated his entire body. Something was tearing away the chrysalis of his mind, birthing something new. For the first time since he left to hunt the Avatar, Zuko has never felt so small, so lost. Words failed him. He didn't know what to say to Iroh. And it still didn't feel right.
The base rumbled and shook, and the faint sounds of an explosion were heard. "That cannot be..." Iroh whispered to himself.
"What?" Zuko asked worriedly, a bottomless pit in his soul. A lethargy was setting in, but now was not the time for rest. Cracks were starting to appear in the walls.
"If who I think that was is correct, then we must leave, and quickly!" Lao Gai rumbled. Lao Gai roared; debris fell and covered their exit under a stony mound. The Dai Li's base would have its prey.
"What now?!" Zuko asked. Iroh eyed the bison, his eyes twinkling.
-
Long Feng had escaped through the skin of his teeth. Unfortunately, the path towards the usual exits was either a flooded mess or guarded by Earth Kingdom Army. So he and his men had to improvise their own escape. Their arms moved as one, shifting stone and dirt with their will alone.
It surprised Long Feng that Sung had grown the spine to raid his base and that he found it in the first place. But with the Avatar working with him, Feng supposes anything is possible. It would've backfired catastrophically on Sung; Long Feng had nearly broken through with the Avatar until the unknown variable had shown itself. He scolded himself for his sloppiness, to think he had brought a monster into his own base. She should've been vetted, tracked, and not arrested immediately. His men's zealotry had proved to be his undoing, and now Feng found himself the victim of someone else's schemes. There was a game being played here in which he was the pawn and not the player. Feng hoped that the Avatar would deal with that Firebender soon enough. Once he comes into contact with the Royal Guard, recovery should soon follow.
Light seeped into the Dai Li's improvised tunnel, and Long Feng stuck his head out to see. Lake Lao Gai hid deep within the Agrarian zone of Ba Sing Se, separated from the city proper. It nestled between several hills that offered a picturesque view worth a fortune—and many hidden entrances. Unfortunately, one of the hills had just been obliterated into dust. A hazy burst of heat had swallowed it whole, melting it. Feng immediately went back down. He wasn't keen on becoming collateral in a battle between gods. Another tunnel needed to be made.
Floating in the sky, Avatar Aang surveyed the destruction below. The woman lay in a crater, the soil boiling around her thanks to the beam Aang had dodged. He shielded himself in a floating ball of air, and though it obscured his vision, Aang had never seen so clearly. Fury coursed through his veins, and his past lives fuelled his righteous anger like a fire given kindling. Yet, there was a part of him that worried about what he could do to the woman. He didn't have exact control during the Avatar state. But this woman needed to be taught a lesson.
=========================================
Kaguya's delicate fingers brushed across Mokou's wild mane, feeling the pale waterfall caress her skin. Restless one, that princess, idle hands always needing something to do, even during a conversation. "You always come over Eientei crashing and burning. But yesterday, you didn't. You were so quiet and polite, which surprised everyone." Her fingers found a tangle of hair stuck into a knot, another monument of neglect writ upon the Phoenix's ashen body. Kaguya tried to untangle it slowly and precisely but, after several false starts, decided to brute force it. Stings of pain seared across Mokou's scalp, which bothered her none. "That scared Eirin. She hates surprises, especially after that business with Yukari and the moon. Then you asked around for me, and when you found me, you just nodded and left."
Oh, that. Mokou thought as her breaths grew peculiarly short.
"Now, if I didn't know any better, I'd've thought you were possessed. What was that about?" A small smile graced the princess's face. Even after all this time, the bastard Fujiwara child could still surprise her.
Mokou shrugged, "Heard a whisper from the grapevine and got worried."
The brushing stopped, "For me?" Mokou nodded, "why?"
"I thought you were going back to the moon since the vampire found a way to it, but..." Mokou explained, "Well, now you're here, and I realised that where you went wasn't any of my business." An uncomfortable silence reigned. Nervously, Mokou chose to break it, "I-" she began, her voice monotone. Then something catches her eye: something black and formless past the lakeshore, between the bamboo trees. At first, she thought it was a shadow, but no, shadows didn't stand up straight when touched by moonlight.
"Would you miss me if I left?" Kaguya suddenly asked.
"Course I would." There was more Mokou wanted to say, but she'll leave it at that for now.
"Then there's nothing to worry about. We'll see each other soon, even in this new world you found yourself in."
Mokou looked back to Kaguya, her eyes slightly wide with bewilderment, "How'd you-"
"See that mound over there?" Kaguya pointed east to another shore near a colony of fairies. A small dirt mound was near the water, currently being washed over by a small wave. The mound collapsed, revealing a jar of ash. "It's back. You died again."
Mokou tried to sigh but couldn't; something was in her lungs. She blinked and found a black door-sized square staring at her from across the lake.
"You really should get used to your life flashing before your eyes," Mokou's mental facsimile of Kaguya chided.
"I usually ignore them...while preparing to cross the ...Sanzu," Mokou justified to herself between choked breaths. She could never make it to the other end of that damned river. Even with Komachi's help, the Elixir always pulled her back. Speaking of "where's...that blue sky, with the sea...of souls?"
"This world's afterlife? Guess you're not dead, but dying." Kaguya playfully smacked Mokou's head, "That's what happens when you tire yourself out before facing the final boss."
"He..took me by surprise...next time..."
"Are you really trying to assuage your pride to your own mental image of me? Mokou..." Kaguya shook her head, disappointed.
The black square drew closer as she blinked, standing near the boat and the flame at its edge. Suddenly, the black square turned blue, showing her a nightmare vision. It was water and beyond that, the blurry figure of the bald kid. The Phoenix was drowning.
Kaguya poked at the lake, freezing it into a single point in time. The princess elegantly stepped out of the rowboat, standing on the lake's surface and turned towards Mokou. " Oh, and Mokou." Kaguya gave a smile which held no mischief or malice, "I do mean it. I will see you again."
"What...makes you so sure?" Mokou replied, "I could be...chasing ghosts."
"Because the real me would want to see you, and I always get what I want," Kaguya answered; she walked towards the Bamboo Forest as Mokou clutched at her throat. Once Kaguya reached the shore, she poked the still lake, which began to churn, jerking Mokou's boat towards the square.
=========================================
The base in Lao Gai was at its end. Entire sections were flooded, and those that weren't were falling apart. Jet was running ragged alongside a squad of soldiers, helping guide the freed prisoners into safety. But then came an inhuman scream, the scream of water charging at them. It was a trickling beat that grew into a roaring current. One of the walls began to crack before crumbling and letting out liquid doom. A trio of Earthbenders raised a wall to stop the flow, "it won't last!" one of them warned, and everyone picked up their pace.
On the far side of the base was the Gaang, minus Aang. A distraught Katara was trying to flow water away into another tunnel. Toph was placing the unconscious Dai Li into a hollow ball of rock while sealing up any leaks she could. Sokka led the way, navigating the group into a possible exit.
There was an emptiness in Katara that gnawed at her; not only was Appa gone, but Aang had gone on without them. The boy was hurting, and without her to reign him in, she could only wonder what was happening above the lake. She should've been quicker, she should've-
"How're your senses Toph?!" Sokka yelled.
"Not good, it's hard to focus! Whole place is shifting something fierce!" Toph shouted as she willed the hollow ball to follow them. There was an undercurrent of panic in her voice. Whatever she's seen of the state of the base had her spooked. The walls were closing in, and Sokka needed to find a way out ASAP.
"Katara!" Sokka yelled, "how about that trick you pulled off in Serpent's Pass? The air bubble!"
Katara focused on the raging torrent that threatened to engulf them. She was in an enclosed space with little room to do anything. To make it worse, the way the base was built had inadvertently guided water into large rooms for it to pool into. It made it very difficult to redirect them anywhere, and she'd be going against the current's flow. The concentration required to make an air bubble was hard enough, but to do so without getting swallowed by the strong current was close to impossible. It was a gamble she wasn't willing to pull off. If only Aang was here to help. "I can't, Sokka, water's too much!"
"What do you mean too much? You pulled that off in an ocean!"
"The ocean was different; it's too difficult to concentrate here!" It didn't help that there was flying debris everywhere in this base.
Sokka fidgeted. He was running out of options. Maybe they could outrun the water if they left the Dai Li behind and bull rush through one of the walls? No, that's stupid; you can't "outrun" water.
But the universe gave his answer, and a flying beast went through one of the walls.
"Appa!" the three of them yelled. But their hopes were dashed when they saw who was riding him.
Sokka readied his boomerang, "Zuko!?" he screeched, eyes wide with surprise. The prince himself was shocked too; he couldn't believe his luck.
"I swear Zuko," Katara began, "if you've done anything to Appa!"
"This is not the time to fight; we all must leave quickly or perish!" Iroh yelled with his lungs.
"but-" Sokka began.
"We can continue this later," Zuko replied, "right now, we need to leave.
Sokka shook his head, hesitant of Zuko's offer, but with no other choice he could think of..."fine, how do you suppose we get out with Appa?"
Iroh pointed at Toph, "We need to make our way to the drier areas, and your Earthbending will help go through the walls."
"The water will catch up to us, fast!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Then we must find an escape before that happens," Iroh replied.
"My bending can slow the flow if only a bit," Katara added.
"Fine," Sokka acquiesced, "let's get outta this stinking place." The trio climbed up onto Appa as the deluge chased after them.
Toph rubbed Appa's head, " I miss you, Appa," the flying bison grunted and bit into the hollow ball. Toph turned towards Iroh, "glad to hear you're fine, old man."
Iroh chuckled, " Do not be hasty, my friend. We've yet to escape first."
"Don't forget the Dai Li!" Sokka yelled.
A torrent of water came crashing onto them, threatening to swallow them whole. Toph opened up a path into anywhere else but here while Katara initiated a Waterbending kata to divert it. They were assisted by Iroh and Zuko, who blew gouts of flame to the approaching lake. Meanwhile, Sokka could only stare helplessly, putting his absolute faith in the other benders. Except for Zuko. But then it stopped; thousands of tons of force halted in its tracks, the sound of the roaring lake quieting into an eerie silence. Then it retreated, crawling back into the cracks it once came from.
"The Avatar..." Zuko began with a haunted reverie, memories of the Avatar's wrath flashing in his mind's eye, "He must be pulling back the lake!"
"Let's get out of here before he puts it back!" Sokka desperately yelled.
All across the base under Lao Gai, the lake receded. Survivors of the initial wave were given much-needed reprieve to run. Jet and the Earth Kingdom army guided every prisoner they could out of the facility, their glazed-over eyes staring blankly at their rescuers. Like rats on a sinking ship, they made their way out one by one, eyes squinting at the rising sun. That was when they saw the lake itself emptied and a giant watery sphere floating above and a white figure at the centre of it. That which would've drowned them all now obeyed the Avatar's will, and they were reminded, like their ancestors and those before them, of the Avatar's strength.
Crushing despair gave way to hope in Jet's rebellious heart. That Firebender was a monster above all others, but the Earth Kingdom had the Avatar. And through that, justice.
====================
Mokou awoke coughing up water from her lungs. The Elixir stirred the dead neurons to life, comprehending the light spilling into the Immortal's eyes. Her spastic lungs calmed, its inflamed tissue healed by an impossible magic. Then she saw the kid crouching over her, his small hands on her chest. He was pushing on her sternum while his hands glowed with a blue sputtering light. A blink and Mokou saw not the glowing eyes of a vengeful god but wide grey eyes filled with terror. Whatever had happened to Mokou, the kid didn't mean to go so far. It was a feeling the Hourai Immortal could empathise with. But despite that, now was the time to strike.
With her strength fully recovered, she gripped the kid's red and yellow robes with a burst of impossible speed and pinned him down. The kid hit the ground with an "oof" as Mokou conjured two small jets of flame on her fingers and placed them near his neck. Now, there was nowhere this slimy kid could run. "H-how?" was all he could say.
She placed the jets of flame an inch closer, barely touching his skin, "don't move." She placed a finger on the kid's sternum, trying to surmise the make-up of his Neidan, his internal alchemy. Mokou used a technique she learned from fighting Taoists when she was feral by connecting herself to his dantian. The Immortal matched her breathing with the kid's panicked breath as they gradually became one. Or at least, as one as one could be without tearing his soul out and eating it. From there, she could get glimpses of whatever power this child possessed and how to hijack it.
From a glance, the kid's -as Keine and Eirin would call it- genetic make-up was different from normal humans. That much was obvious. His was not a product of natural mutation but of intelligent design. There was a spiritual interference to his biological coding, showing a marriage between Jing and Shen, Mokou surmised. That meant a creator rather than an unknowable phenomenon. That simplifies things. Creators can be talked to or reasoned with. Or intimidated should the need arise.
What else is there...
The kid's body was a vessel for a single spirit rather than many. That was odd; Mokou was sure many other souls possessed him during their fight. How can a vessel so small fit so many? Unless something connected him to a larger pool of souls? Meaning there had to be a gate between the vessel and the pool. If only Eirin was here, she'd know straight away. But it came down to Mokou to flail around in the dark.
She needed to know how he could reincarnate and what ways were there to be part of that cycle. The Hourai Elixir, fundamentally, forbids any permanent changes to its soul, and since the body was so closely intertwined with the soul, that meant Mokou always came back after death. But if somehow she can "convince" the Elixir that nothing in her soul has changed while attaching it to this kid's own wheel of life, then maybe, just maybe, there's a chance she can be as close to mortal as possible. Or at least stop living this single uninterrupted eternity. Back in her world, the Bhavachakra, the wheel of reincarnation, was hidden away on the other side of the Sanzu under the auspices of the Yama. But in this world, it was here, right in front of her. That meant options.
Mokou can start by devouring the soul since plucking it, after further examination, seems much too tricky. That way, she can deconstruct and learn of its properties while it sits inside her stomach. It worked before with the Ho-ou. But...
Red eyes met grey. He's just a kid. What am I thinking?
"Mokou, stop!" The voice of Iroh shook Mokou out of her thoughts. Both the Immortal and the kid looked to the skies to see a flying bison with a boulder in its mouth coming straight for them. With Mokou distracted, her grip had loosened just enough for Aang to blow her away with Air-bending, distancing himself away from her. It allowed Appa to smack the boulder at Mokou, who dodged only to be hit by a boulder made by Toph. Reeling from the impact, Katara trapped Mokou's feet in icy shackles as Sokka's boomerang smacked her on the head. "Everyone stop, she is a friend!"
"Yeah, and you're friends with Zuko!" Sokka retorted, "So I dunno about that!" he caught the returning boomerang.
"What!" Zuko yelled.
"She tried to kill us!" Katara added, "You just saw her try to kill Aang!"
Blazing heat spilt out of Mokou's form, melting the icy shackles. Her sharp red eyes caught sight of Iroh's portly form, "Iroh!" she yelled with joy seeping into her tone. Mokou could feel the tug of a genuine smile on her cheeks, "You're safe."
"And so are you, it seems. Not many can claim that after fighting the Avatar," Iroh chuckled, "whatever conflict you have with these people must be a misunderstanding, is it not?"
"Is it?!" Sokka, Toph, and Katara yelled. Aang, meanwhile, was slowly walking towards Appa, eyes in disbelief. He wasn't scared anymore. Aang's walk turned into a run as he hugged the bison as hard as possible.
"I thought you were with the Dai Li," Mokou explained.
"How could you possibly make that mistake!" Sokka yelled, perched safely atop Appa.
"You hit me first after I took out some of the Dai Li!"
"We were trying to stop you from melting the wall we made for you!" Katara added. There was a wall?
"Couldn't you just shout instead?"
"Would you hear us over the fire you were spewing?!" Toph shouted.
"Course I would. I even heard one of you guys say something about a Long Feng and a third party. You think that's not suspicious at all?"
"She heard that?" Toph whispered to Katara.
"I did!"
Zuko buried his face in his hands, finding this exchange insufferable.
Iroh clapped loudly, "I'm so glad we have settled this. She isn't a foe like you thought she was."
"Hey, don't get chummy with us, old man. We still haven't decided what to do with you two." Sokka replied.
"Maybe she isn't an enemy, but she's still dangerous," this time it was Aang who spoke, having finished hugging Appa. "What were you doing in Lao Gai?" Aang asked.
"I got kidnapped," Mokou said, noticing Iroh winced, "they tried to do this lantern spell-thing, but it didn't work. After that, I tried to destroy Lao Gai so they could leave me alone permanently."
"That's so reckless!" Aang yelled, making his friends cringe. His anger must be a rare sight to them, "You could've killed Appa and everyone else there. In fact, why did you say you killed Appa?"
For the first time in a long time, Mokou's cheeks turned red. With the bloodlust gone, all she had was embarrassment, "I-it was the heat of the moment. I would've said anything to escalate a fight. Truthfully, I didn't know what Appa was. Thought he was a Dai Li comrade of yours."
"You didn't know who Appa is?" Aang asked, "We put fliers all around the city."
"Guessed you missed the slum I was in." Mokou shrugged and noticed Iroh wincing again.
An awkward pause reigned. Now, the Gaang had no idea what to do with Mokou. Was she really this powerful firebender who found themselves in the middle of a Dai Li conspiracy? It beggared belief.
"Do you at least know anything about this third party or what happened to General How?" Katara asked, trying to at least get something productive out of this.
"What happened to How?" It was the first time Mokou had heard of a general in this world.
"Dude froze up, but not like the icey way, it's like he's uh..." Sokka trailed off.
Cold dread filled Mokou's soul, "like he's frozen in time?" The Fujiwara posited.
Sokka snapped his fingers, "Yeah, like he's frozen in time! Wait, how'd you know that?"
Mokou clenched her fists in silent horror. She was looking for her in the wrong place the entire time. Kaguya was here, in this city! "Then I might know who froze him."
"Finally," Toph drawled, "a name. You do have a name, right?"
Mokou nodded, "Houraisan Kaguya."
=================
Kaguya sat behind Mai on the Mongoose lizard, with the stars on their backs. There seemed to be faster, more reliable animals in Azula's camp they could've used, but they were given a tracker instead. Kaguya ventured a guess that Azula might be worried she might run off. That's probably why Mai was assigned to her too. Adorable.
Right now, they had caught wind of a major bandit -or Dao Fei as some locals would call it- encampment west of Ba Sing Se. Azula had commanded Kaguya to take over some criminal organisation, with Mai acting as Azula's eyes and ears. It sent a clear message that these bandits would ultimately be under Fire Nation's authority, not Kaguya's, as if Mai would even understand what Kaguya would be doing in front of her. She hasn't lived the Lunarian court life; heck, she's a mortal. The Lunarian's arsenal of rhetoric and magniloquence would simply fly over the poor girl.
It's just like all the other Isekai stories, Kaguya thought, for an OP protagonist like me to be so underestimated. The Lunarian relished this feeling of omnipotence. But despite that, it didn't wash away her feelings of shame. For the past hour, Kaguya had been trying to crack Mai's shell however she could. Kaguya wanted to know more about her, just as she would with everyone she met. But the princess had been treated with an hour-long silence instead; there was no conversing with her, which frustrated Kaguya, who tried to think of ways to break the ice until it hit her. Shame. Here she was, a woman old enough to see the rise and fall of empires, trying to get a seventeen-year-old child to talk to her. Compared to Kaguya, Mai was positively zygotic. Yet the Lunarian couldn't even get a single response for all her mastery in intrigue -an art she hadn't properly practised in millennia. Kaguya had never felt so lame.
Was this what they call a generational gap? No...that can't be right
Footsteps, miles away, fast approaching.
The thoughts came to her unbidden. She looked around the empty, arid landscape to see imperceptible glints of light. Blades. Finally, things were about to get entertaining.
=========================================
The world of spirits and fantasy was alight with whispers, causing a stir between the mover and shakers of that distorted dimension. It began from the mouths of lesser spirits before the whispers grew to a deafening conflagration.
The Baboon spirits speak of a story of curiosity. They speak of a woman lost in space and time. She was polite and wise, voracious and humble. Their kind guided this woman, for she offered many great things for their time. The baboons note how naturally she dealt with spirits and their innumerable eccentricities; if they didn't know any better, they'd assume she was a native like them.
The Shi-Shi weaved a story of warnings. They speak of power and will, an implacable, invincible wall of a woman. Tales of an arrow that tore the sky or the imprisonment of one of their kind by her hands were frequently told amongst their ilk.
But it was the Dragon-Fly Bunnies that told a tale of horror. They whisper of how a number of their kind had their forms perverted into something more...bipedal. Or of how the woman had polluted their minds, giving them the same sentience as Man, dooming them to repeat the horrors of Humankind. They say she's built a home near the base of the Tree of Time, constantly conversing with its prisoner over tea.
By then, Father Glowworm had made its move.