Chapter 1 Prologue, The Avatar Returns = Once Upon A Time
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Water. Earth. Fire. Air.
Once upon a time, the Avatar kept peace and balance between Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. But everything changed when the Fire Nation declared war on the world.
Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could have stopped them. But when the world needed him most... he vanished. A hundred years passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war.
Five years ago, I lost someone very precious to my heart and entered a deep coma. It was the trigger that let me remember the future of the world I was reborn into. I never existed in its story, and I know the Avatar has returned, but the future predetermined is not a future for me.
And I am not a fool who travels the path of shadows alone, and there is only so much time left until I have to step into the light. As I lived my life, I gathered allies and gained strength beyond this world.
For our legacy. For our revenge. For my happily ever after... with her.
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[ Summer of Year 9911 (82 AG) ]
It was dark.
He didn't dare open his eyes as he was too afraid to gaze upon a world filled with the usual emptiness.
"I... he a...ight?"
He heard the muffled voice of a woman, full of worry but soothing at the same time. His instinctual curiosity got the better of him, and his heavy eyelids opened up to a world full of light... and warmth.
A heavy lump in his throat forced him to cry and wail. But the voice wasn't the one he was used to hearing. It sounded like the voice of a newborn baby... his own voice... because this was the moment in which he woke up in a new body, in a new life.
Moments passed and he looked around. His senses were heightened to degree he has never felt before as the smell of freshly picked lavender traveled through the air.
The nursery was elaborately decorated on all sides. It had an architectural style that reminded him of traditional asian culture.
The largest tapestries were red in color, and one depicted a white phoenix embroidered with golden threads. Its plumage seemed to sparkle in the rays of the last day of summer sunlight.
His small body was gently cradled back and forth in the arms of a woman with raven black hair, light skin, and amber eyes. She seemed to be of asian origin, but her amber eyes were still of a very unusual color, vibrant even.
She hummed a melody. The melody sounded familiar as she sang it with love in her voice.
The beautiful woman was his mother, and she awakened in him warm emotions he had long forgotten he was even capable of feeling.
She stopped humming and gazed at him when he tried to reach out to her. She let him touch her soft cheek and warmly looked into his eyes.
"My little phoenix," she said. "Your name shall be Taiza... You shall be known as Taiza of the Longhuo clan."
Age of the Avatar, 9911-08-21 β Year of the Tiger, Taiza was (re)born on Dragonfire Island...
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[ Spirit World ]
He suddenly found himself floating above a small isle in the middle of a silver lake surrounded by a dark forest with glowing crystals and luminescent plant life.
"... what... he?" "... how unusual... " "... and so young... " "... so sparkly... "
Voices came from all directions, and creatures only ever seen in legends moved closer.
Nymphs and merfolk emerged from the silver lake. Pixies and fairies flew around in the air. He could make out some elves in the trees and centaurs standing on the edge of the forest. And who knows how many creatures existed in this place peeked through the shadows.
["Is this a dream?"] He asked in a daze, quite not believing if this was real. He clearly remembered falling asleep.
A hooded figure with a hunchback and a large wooden staff walked on the water of the silver lake. The inhabitants parted to let him through, which showed that he was a respected personage among them.
When he arrived at the isle, he bowed and gazed at him warmly like an old butler, "they call me 'Elder Luan'. I am the last remaining familiar of your predecessor."
["My name is... ,"] even though he was confused, he didn't want to seem rude and return the polite introduction. But the name he spoke was a different one from what he wanted to give, ["... Dagaz."] Somehow, in this very moment, the name felt right. So he continued, ["Elder Luan. What do you mean by 'predecessor'?"]
"Ah yes... Master Huoli, your predecessor, determined me to teach you in the ways of the spirits," Elder Luan explained. He pointed to the water. "If you would see your reflection, please?"
Dagaz looked into the water as it rippled once and saw a white phoenix, pure energy gushing out of his sparkling plumage as he tried lifting his arms... well... spread his sparkling wings. ["This... is... me?"]
He looked to Elder Luan again and saw him nodding in confirmation. "Master Huoli was the primordial Spirit of Chi, and he has given you the chance to live a new life."
Dagaz was speechless and looked down, frowning in worry. Him? A powerful spirit? Why would this Huoli think that he of all souls was a suitable successor? He was genuinely tired of life, so why even give him a new one in the first place? ["But humans are... greedy creatures... and so... am I... "]
Elder Luan smiled at his reaction. He was indeed the one his former master hoped for. "For whatever reason, he has chosen you to succeed him as the new Chi Primordial." He turned and pointed with his staff to everything around him. "This forest is the center of your realm in the Spirit World, shaped in your image, and whatever you decide, we... ," Elder Luan bowed again, and all of the inhabitants of the realm followed, "... are at your service."
It was overwhelming. As the last summer dawn passed, his new life as a powerful existence began.
The new primordial Spirit of Chi, Dagaz...
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[ Winter of Year 9928 (99 AG) ]
At the South Pole, a pillar of light shot into the sky, announcing to those who saw it the first sign of the Avatar's return. A ripple spread all over the world in an instant and anyone who felt it was warned of great danger ahead.
Far in the west, there was a gigantic barrier which tirelessly protected Dragonfire Island for generations.
Like a swan, a white phoenix was asleep on a small pond's surface, head tucked under its wing with its feathers fluffed out. Its nine long feather-tails lazily floated on the water as the pink petals of a sakura tree slowly fell on the water's surface.
A scene so mythical was hidden within a labyrinth of rose bushes in the backyard of the Lord's palace.
Dagaz was just taking a nap when his dream was disturbed by Cosmic Energy rudely invading his consciousness.
Heavily falling snow surrounded him as his shadow fell on an orange lump on the ground. It was a human child and whatever trail he left was already covered in snow as well.
The roar of a spirit beast echoed in the far distance... wait, that child...
... and that's when he woke up.
Water frantically splashed around him as he tried to take in his surroundings. The snow within that dream was gone and he was back in the real world.
Dagaz was warned of such visions before, and they were never good ones. He hurriedly looked for the crystal ball placed on the edge of the pond as it suddenly emitted green and gray lights.
["Terran? Zephyr? Did you see something as well?"]
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A/N:
Taiza/ιεΊ§ means 'leaving one's seat' in Japanese
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I'd like to introduce a dating system to suit the world 'within' Avatar, that is currently used exclusively on Dragonfire Island (my 'original' location within the Avatar-verse). I based this system on our real-world calendar with 12 months a year like everyone is used to. I also referenced the Chinese calendar to get a feel of how I should date everything, like the format, zodiac, and so on...
Let's get started!
- 0 AG will be replaced with 'Age of the Avatar, Year 9.829', so if anyone wants to calculate, that'll be our starting point. The correct date would be 9829-08-21 (year-month-day). It's the day of the Great Comet and the start of the Hundred Year War to satisfy Avatar Roku's 'end of summer' - term.
- I'll mostly use only the year-dates because I have no idea what day it is within the story. But there are rare occurrences like the birthday of my main OC: Age of the Avatar, 9911-08-21 β Year of the Tiger (a.k.a. 82 AG, end of summer)
- whenever a new 'Age' begins (through 'Harmonic Convergence'), Year 10.000 (old) equals Year 0 (new)
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See ya next time, Panthosilea out
[ 3rd March 2023 ]