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"So, where have I been exiled to?" Percy asked as he looked around at the cosmic bridge he stood on. The endless expanse of space surrounded him while he purposefully avoided looking up at the glowing space self that stared down at him. It unnerved him to see himself in such detail.

"Exiled?" Raava spoke. He could feel the kite-woman-thing raising an eyebrow at him despite not having humanoid features.

"Yeah." Percy frowned, turning to her. "I did something stupid. In my defense, she deserved it, though."

"Was it truly just in the end?" the blue kite asked.

"She broke and killed her daughter," Percy reasoned. "She didn't deserve the power she held—power that could change the world on a whim."

"And who made you have to be the bringer of such justice?"

Percy paused as he mulled those words over, bringer of justice…. His gaze softened as he turned back to the endlessness of the universe. I would say I'm more of a harbinger of revenge.

"No one did," he finally responded. "I acted alone because I was just someone who cared too much and had the power to strike back."

"Interesting…." Raava murmured. "Would you bring justice even for the ones you do not care for? Would you do it because it was right?"

"Look, Raava," —he turned to the being— "from the way I see things, I am suspended in space with only you as my only way to solid ground that isn't a bridge that ripples where I step. So, unless you can send me elsewhere like Zeus did, I am likely going to blindly agree to anything just so I can put my feet onto some actual dirt and grass."

"Yet, I will delay such a task until I am sure. I do not wish to choose someone flippant of morals and irresponsible of duty. Over the years, my avatar has championed justice and balance for the people of their world. I will only accept you if you are worthy of such a feat."

Percy gave a braking noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "I just beheaded someone for being problematic for more or less those very reasons. I don't know what you mean by balance and such, but I like to think I have a good head on my shoulders after not letting humanity be destroyed."

"And who dared to destroy humanity?" she prodded.

"Crazy grandparents." He shrugged as if it was the plainest answer in the world.

"So you would defy family and customs to do what was needed for the betterment of the people?"

"Uh, yeah. You could see it like that." Percy scratched his head. "Personally, I saw it more like there was a problem and someone had to fix it, but nobody else was capable, and it fell to me to try."

"Then I accept you."

"Oh, already?" Percy frowned. It was too easy. "That's how I get my new universe green card? Just answer two questions or so?"

"It is much more than that, I assure you, Avatar. I have lived a hundred lives. I have seen a billion people. I have long since learned to read who you are with but a glance."

"Still questioned me, though."

"Is it wrong to be certain that a being from another universe could be false to my eyes?"

"Touché."

"I do not understand that term."

Again, Percy could feel the frown forming on the being's face despite none of the intricate designs it bore changing.

"Means like a fair point or something." He turned to his space-self that haunted the celestial bridge.

"I see," she nodded.

"That's beside the point. What happens now, then? Do I have to give myself a high five, assume some astral form, and fly to your home planet?"

"No. That would be silly," she laughed. "You shall be reborn."

Percy faltered and whipped his head back to Raava, "Oh, reborn? As in, like tiny baby me?"

"Yes. The natural order and balance of life cannot be disrupted by adding a new soul to existence. You must enter the cycle as all life has."

"Cycle referring to life and death?"

"Yes."

"And I have to go through high school again?"

"If you must."

"I'm not liking this," Percy whined.

"Would you prefer to not exist in the void between, again? Just because I have welcomed you at the door to my reality does not mean you are inside."

"You know what, my blue friend. I'm warming up to school."

"I am glad."

"Ok, so how does this work then? What have I blindly and foolishly, I might add, agreed to?"

"You've agreed to become my avatar, and with it, you must bring balance to this war-torn world that my last avatar has failed to mend."

"How did he fail? So, y'know, I can try to avoid doing that."

"He fled, afraid of his fate," she spat out, and Percy could tell it was a touchy subject. "He has hidden himself, cycling my power to preserve his being but forever suspended, unable to help. I fear I can no longer let myself hide idle like this. After over eighty years, this war must come to an end. And since he will not take action, it will now be done by your hand."

Percy sighed, "Wow. I agreed to this, huh?"

Out of the frying pan into the fire.

"This is my price for your existence."

"Another war?" he snorted to himself. "Way to go, me."

"Perhaps see it from a new angle," Raava reasoned. "You will be reborn. You will find a new life and people to fight for. This war is but a backdrop to saving them from suffering. You will have the power to save lives and do good for everyone." She almost began to continue, but she watched Percy's face fall as he checked out from listening to her.

"Right, save lives…." Percy mumbled, stepping away from Raava. His feet touched the edges of the floating path. "I failed to save the life that mattered most to me from where I am from. I-I don't know if I can save everyone here like you think I could."

"No, you might not," she gently responded. "That is the cycle of life, though. Some must die so new life can be born." Raava floated next to him. "This war is taking more than what can begin anew. It has entrenched customs from grandparents to grandsons that teach them arrogance and hate. I need you. I need someone to defy what those who have said and done before. I need someone to instill morals back into the people and remind them of their duty to each other.

"My warrior, I need you."

Percy sighed and sat himself down. His feet dangled over the edge. His gaze remained past his shoes, where a galaxy swirled and glowed in the distance.

"What must I do?"

"When you are reborn, you will not recall your past life. A temporary problem." She cut off his objection. "The mind of a baby cannot store and process such memories. However, I will take them. I will hold them for you. And when you —"

"You are going to take my memories? I'm not comfortable with that either." Glimpses of curly blonde hair fluttered before his mind. Shining and happy grey eyes laughed at his horrible pun. A tingle on his lips of a kiss as the water surged past them as they sank to the water's bottom. His memories were his. "There are things I don't want ever taken from me again."

"If I don't, you will never remember your past life. You will not be the soldier I need or even a shade of who you are now. You must forget to show my world how to remember a better society."

"I cannot keep them at all?" he pushed. "Not even one?"

"The only way is if you lend them to me to give back to you when your being has developed to retain and cherish such memories."

"Ok, so, logically, how do I get you to give them back to me, then? What do I have to do?"

"You must find me. Find the Avatar."

:P LINE BREAK d:

"Percy?" someone shook his shoulder. "Percy, my father wants you."

"Hmm?" Percy blinked the sleep from his eyes.

"Father wants you," the woman spoke again. "He mentioned a plague in the streets."

Percy forced his legs to support him as he stood from the chair he had fallen asleep in. He turned to the young lady who had woken him.

"Of course, Lady Mai." He nodded to the governor's daughter. He reached for his black and gold leather chest piece and threw it on. With familiar ease, he began to pull the straps tight to his frame.

Percy's armor wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world as it was tight and overheated him quickly, but his ornamental armor was more of a mark of his position than anything else. Unlike many of the members of the Fire Nation Army who wore metal-based armor, Percy was dawned in padded leathers and hides. After all, it wouldn't do well if his own lightning pulled towards his own body instead of the metal weapons of his foe.

As he tightened his belt, he felt careful hands tighten the sheath that carried his tanto to his back. Percy tossed his fellow teen a smile, but as always, Mai never showed a hint of emotion back. Her face, framed by her black fukiwa hair, was an unbreakable mask of indifference. He had only ever seen her smile twice before, and those times felt so long ago.

"You were mumbling again in your sleep. Did you have the dream again?" Mai spoke. Her voice was a steady, uninterested monotone, a sharp contrast to how truly interested she was.

Percy nodded. His reoccurring dream was his personal secret, shared with only two people ever since the Prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko, had been forced into exile. He only ever could remember the last words spoken of it when he woke, but the notion that whatever his dream was, it kept pushing him to search for the Avatar when the Banished Prince was already out there looking…. It made Percy feel he was doing the wrong thing with his life. Maybe he should've been assigned to Zuko's personal guard instead of Mai and her family's….

"What was this about a plague?" Percy asked, changing the topic as he began to head to the door.

"Father told me to get you after one of the men approached him while we were eating. Catch."

Percy spun his arms out at her last word just in time to receive what she had tossed.

"I hate this thing," he complained, staring down at the helmet he had neglected to put on.

"You complain every time."

"And every time, I hope you go to your Father and get him to grant me an exception to the protocol."

"And Father always says we cannot play favorites amongst our guards. Even if one of them is one of my best friends."

"Speaking of him, thank you for waking me. I'll shall get to work now." He bowed his head to the governor's daughter.

"Escort me to him first," she ordered, taking his arm. Percy nodded and placed his helmet on with his free hand.

The two childhood friends left Percy's room behind as they traveled the halls of the governor's house. Fire Nation flags and motifs draped over the paintings and the old Earth Kingdom embossed walls. While all of the green had yet to be painted over, Percy knew that, given a week, the servants would be well on their way to completing the refurbishing of what was once Omashu's king's home.

Neither said a word as Mai unlinked her arm from Percy's just as they approached the door to where her father waited. Percy opened the door for her and followed her in. He gave a short bow to the governor before he stood at the ready, his eyes forward.

"Perseus, perfect timing. There is hysteria in the streets!" Mai's father cried. "I need you to do something!"

He snuck a glance at his friend, "Lady Mai told me there was a plague?"

"Yes! The citizens look like the dead walking. I fear we may have to get some benders to start burning bodies!"

Percy winced. Burning bodies would be an extreme reaction that would not do anything to quell any fear the people would have.

"Sir, I suggest you hesitate before taking such action. Let me look at the city, and we can set up a lockdown or the like before we start purging the people."

The door swung open, and a more traditionally garbed soldier entered the room. The metal of his unscathed skull mask glinted in the firelight of the room.

"Sir! We have begun to push the citizens out of the city as you asked."

"Good, good!" the governor praised.

"What?" Percy stepped forward. "Sir, that is a mistake."

The officer turned to him, "What would you know of what to do about managing a city, boy? You are as green as the walls we tore down."

The governor held up his hand, silencing the officer as he turned to Percy, "What do you believe is a mistake about forcing those with the plague out of the city, Perseus?"

"Sir, we know the Resistance is hiding amongst the people. While we control the gates, we can find them, but if we allowed all the people to flee, so do the Resistance. For all we know, this plague could be a smokescreen for their true motives."

"Blasphemy!" the shiny officer interjected. "The Resistance are as dumb as the rocks they can throw. They would have never thought of such an ingenious plan."

"Perseus, what you say is reasonable," the governor spoke, "but I struggle to believe they could fake a mass plague on such a level. Nearly every citizen is affected. I fear even a lockdown will not be enough to contain this many infected people."

"But to push them out the front door? If they do carry a plague, the first people they will encounter beyond the city walls are the farmers and smaller towns. Farmers who sell their harvest to every corner of the world. If this plague is real, you may have just allowed it to infect the entirety of the Earth Kingdom. That is not even factoring in all of the Fire Nation men who stand occupant over these territories as well who will venture back to our mainland, infected."

The man's face went pale, "I did, didn't I?" the governor panicked. "I've cultivated and started a plague! The Fire Lord will not be happy! What if he gets sick from the plague and dies?"

"Sir," Percy tried to reassert control, "we are not even sure if the plague is real. Perhaps one of the men can take one of the supposed infected for a medical evaluation. We need to know more about what is happening before we let everyone out the gates."

"At once!" the governor squeaked. He turned to the shiny officer, "Go collect someone. We shall investigate."

The shiny officer faltered.

"Sir, all the citizens have already been marshaled out of the city."

Percy couldn't help but facepalm. He took one nap, and the city started to fall apart. It was not even a restful sleep.

"Double check," Percy ordered with a groan. "Get a complete head count of everyone in the city, including our own. We need to know more before we open the city gates again. It doesn't matter if it is for the Fire Lord himself, governor. We need a city-wide lockdown and more information."

"You shall have it at once, then, good boy," the governor obeyed.

Percy ignored the glare that Shiny sent him. He was used to it since being assigned to Mai's family as their personal security lead. The older guards and soldiers never could see past his age. He was just some young kid usurping their control and disagreeing with their orders. The notion that he was assigned to his position by the Fire Lord himself was a thought that never crossed anyone's mind when he countered their opinions.

"If there is nothing else, then I will begin to see that no one in the house staff has any plague-like symptoms." Percy dismissed himself. He nodded once to the governor and his daughter before he marched past Shiny.

Out in the hall, he first started for the governor's wife's room.

He knocked once on her door and announced himself. The door slid open to reveal the mother of his closest friend.

Mai's mother had been arguably Percy's number-one supporter within the Fire Nation. Ever since Ty Lee first introduced him to Mai and her family, the woman before him had pinched his cheeks and practically claimed him as one of her children.

When the Fire Lord announced that Percy would be assigned as a royal guard and protector to one of the Elite families, Mai's mother instantly pushed her husband to accept the contract. He was ever thankful for it as well. Being a son of no one, the life he lived and the job he held was unheard of.

"Ma'am." He bowed his head to her. "I came to check to see if you were feeling unwell. There is talk of a plague in the city, and I came to personally check on you and the rest of the family staff."

She gave him a beautiful, perfect smile, identical to the one he had rarely seen on her daughter, "I am well. I was just about to check on Tom Tom. Perhaps you can accompany me?"

"Of course." He offered his arm for her to take.

"How are you, Percy? I've noticed you have been sleeping odd hours lately."

"I am fine, ma'am. Nothing to be concerned about."

"But I am, all the same, so maybe ease my mind and unburden your own," she prodded.

"The Resistance has been keeping me busy. I am unsure what your husband tells you, but they keep me busy."

They passed Mai's room.

"Like last night?" she sighed. "I cannot believe they would attack us while we merely took a walk. We really have tried to make this change of leadership easy for everyone. My husband has been careful to change as little as he could about how they live their lives, and yet they still try to kill us in the dark."

They paused outside Tom Tom's room.

"The people of Omashu see our nation's flag hanging everywhere they go, and it scares them. They have grown used to seeing their own banner fly. Change is not something people like unless they choose it themselves."

"But we have changed nothing," she complained.

"Only flags, but they fear the Fire Nation all the same."

"Why can those of the Earth Kingdom not see that we only wish to bring the prosperity of the Fire Nation to everyone? To share our security and medicine, to save lives. This war that they prolong each year is only hurting them more. Why can this nonsense just come to an end already?"

Percy frowned as he glanced at her from the side of his eye, "Would you let the Earth King tell you how to live your life?"

He opened the door to Tom Tom's bedroom.

Mai's mother, however, was still halted in the door, thinking on his words as Percy swept the room, one hand on the handle of his blade just in case.

A breeze blew through the open window as the crimson drapes flew parallel to the ground. The framed bed that the baby should have been in was empty.

Mai's little brother was nowhere in sight.

The Resistance had taken Tom Tom all while he had slept….

AN: Follow. Favorite. Review. Join the Discord!

Over on Discord, they voted on the next sequence of updates, so if you would like to push for this story to be updated more, join the server and participate in the polls!

I just got back from an extended trip and wrote this chapter while I was out of my comfort zone, so hopefully, it doesn't feel jarring. However, if so, I will make amends as I need to once I see some audience feedback.

AMNESIA? AGAIN? I know. I did it again. However, I promise this is very limited to how long it lasts, and it does serve a genuine purpose beyond just having protag forget. There are a few fics out there where Canon Percy comes over, memories intact, and plays the hero. I did not want that, and there isn't a reason canon Percy would ever be indoctrinated into the principles of the Fire Nation unless he only knew those principles. This is what I have done in short, but we will discover the ramifications of that in the long run.

LIGHTNING BENDER? Yes. As I am making Percy a notable member of the Fire Nation, I am leaning into more of the Storm Bringer aspect of his father's powers (for now. We will explore his full power later), so this means starting off the story Percy will be an inherent lightning bender. Keywords: starting of the story. The usual powers will come later, I assure you.

However, if you want a story where Percy comes to the ATLA universe and just goes 'alpha mode' and 'infallible,' please just stop reading now. I find it no fun to read or write brain rot fantasy fulfillment of Percy just beating everyone without blinking an eye, and I know that very idea will offend people that I am making Percy have a flaw besides his fatal flaw.

Back to actual relevance and not me complaining about brain rot FF readers.

Join the Discord. Link in bio or the top of the page. Would love to chat there. I answer all questions, even if you want the content spoiled. Soon, I will even have exclusive content for the Discord.

I do hope you enjoy this story. If you would like to read more PJO crossovers peep the page. I got Star Wars, Harry Potter, the Kane chronicles, and DC comics. I also have other content to view, with much more in the pipeline.

That's about it.

-Manke