Chapter Forty Six
The Giggles
Aang moved through the dusty halls of the library. He followed his fox-guide as it presumably led him toward the prophecy… section? Department? Maybe there was some sort of divination nook? Aang wasn't really sure and he didn't want to ask, just in case it made him look stupid.
Left. Then a right. Down a flight of stairs, up two more, across a bridge, and down more stairs. Well, the point is that it was a needlessly complicated route, and Aang thought that the fox was trying to keep him from finding it again. He wouldn't have trouble getting out, as he would simply fly back to the tower window on his glider.
Eventually, the fox led him to a plain wooden door with a placard that read: 預言者と破壊者. The Hall of Prophets and destroyers.
A shiver ran down the avatar's spine as he read the name on the door.
"Well," Aang said, pushing the door open and entering, "That inspires confidence."
Katara watched as her brother walked in unnatural silence after the knowledge seeker, waiting for him to disappear and then for a time afterward. She turned her head to see Aang following his own fox-guide-spirit-thing. She took a deep breath, knelt down, and spoke softly to the fox, "I need all the information you have on the Face Stealer and his champions."
She took care to speak as softly as she could and started when she heard the soft rustle of feathers. When she turned to see where the noise had come from, there was nothing to be found. Looking back at the fox, she found it with its head tilted to the side, watching her curiously. "Well?" Katara prompted, "Can you help me or not?"
The fox yipped once and darted off, forcing Katara to run after it. She didn't follow it long before the fox ducked behind a tapestry, and when Katara moved the decoration to follow after, she could see nothing. All was in the shadow.
She took a cautious step, finding herself at the top of a spiraling staircase. There was, she noted with grim acceptance, a complete lack of light. It was the kind of dark you usually only experience when sleeping blindfolded, at night, in a cave several hundred feet below ground. She was delighted. It was time to learn how to cheat a spirit of the shadows and misery by fumbling her way through complete darkness down a stairwell that was probably very tall.
She made her way slowly down the staircase, and couldn't have gone more than six feet when she came to a wooden door. Surprise and relief flooded through her as she found the handle, turning it, and pushing the door open.
A sudden, bright light assaulted her when she stepped into the vast room. The light fell on every surface. It came from nowhere and everywhere, leaving not a sliver of the room unilluminated. As her eyes adjusted, Katara saw a single shelf, filled with perhaps a hundred scrolls. A low table sat beside the shelf, upon which sat the fox, looking at her intently.
"So, you're saying… you don't know what math is?" Azula said, with mocking condescension.
Suki took a slow breath, before saying, "I cannot do calculus, and I have never heard of it before in my life. That is what I am saying."
Azula smirked and shook her head, making a tut-tut noise. "You poor country bumpkin, never heard of calculus, can't perform quadratic equations in your head. Why, I'd be impressed if you could rea-" Azula was cut off by Suki.
"Fop. Fop fop, foppity-fop, fop. That's all I can hear right now." Suki said, rolling her eyes.
Azula narrowed her eyes, before waving her hand in a vague, dismissive gesture. "You're just jealous."
"Okay."
"You're taking all the fun out of this."
Suki raised an eyebrow, "I'm taking all the fun out of this?! What fun is there in it?"
Azula shrugged. "I've always enjoyed teasing my friends." She said, thinking of Mai and Ty Lee. "Although, I will admit that it's not so enjoyable on the receiving end."
"Oh, so we're friends now, are we?" Suki said, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Azula said, wondering why the peasant would think such a thing.
"You just said we were." Suki countered.
"I said no such thing," Azula stated.
"Aww," Suki said, in a testing voice, "Is someone a bit shy? That explains so much! It's okay Zuzu, I know it's hard for some people."
"I- Wha-" Azula was beginning to feel rather angry. "Don't call me that!"
"Call you what? Zuzu?" Suki asked, the malicious grin rendering the innocent tone of voice she used ineffective, "Why not? It's such a cute name, isn't it Zuzu?"
"That is my brother's name," Azula said, considering setting Suki and the rest of the village on fire.
"Oh." Suki said, "Is he back home then?"
"No."
"I see. Is he…" Suki trailed off. Her face formed a grim expression.
"Dead? No, not as far as I know." Azula said, staring ahead as they made their way back to the inn.
"That's good. Do you know where he is?"
Azula shook her head.
"Is he fighting the Fire Nation?" Suki asked.
Azula ignored her.
Suki turned her eyes away from Azula. "Zuzu is a stupid name."
Azula snorted before she could stop herself. It was a stupid name, which was exactly why she called him by it. That, and it irritated him. Suki, hearing Azula's snort, began to laugh. Suki's laughter made Azula laugh, and in a matter of seconds, the pair of them were laughing like a pair of hyena-bunnies.
They were still laughing when they entered the inn and found most of the Kyoshi warriors clustered around Ty Lee at a table in the common room. Mai, for her part, was lounging against a wall by herself, watching the door. When Azula and Suki came in, carrying their supplies and laughing, Mai's normally impassive face became awash in shock.
"Azula! Are you okay?" Mai asked, rushing over to the Fire Nation Princess.
"What?" She said, suppressing her laughter, "Of course I am. Why?"
"You…" Mai's face returned to its usual stoic mask, "You have the giggles."
A slow, bright, righteous anger filled Azula. "I do not have the giggles."
"I do not have the giggles!" Suki said, in a high-pitched tone that sounded nothing like Azula.
Azula tried to stay angry, but as Suki began to chortle she lost her composure and started… giggling. She fell to her knees, dragging Suki with her in a fit of laughter. She was Azula, blood of the Dragon, Firebender of the highest caliber, long descended from Agni himself and the heir to the dragon throne. She did not balk at any bender, she did not blink at quick men with clever swords… but all the same; she had the giggles.
The more she thought of how ridiculous the idea was, the harder she laughed. She laughed and laughed, and then Mai joined in. They laughed until there were tears in their eyes, and they couldn't breathe for the burning in their muscles.
As Azula laughed, unbeknownst to her another crack formed in the foundation of her convictions. Her resolve, her absolute belief in the divine right of the Fire Nation, in their destiny to conquer the Earth, began to crumble and fall away.
Katara carefully poured over the scroll, entitled: On the subject of the Face Stealer
Koh, The Face Stealer, The Deceiver, The Worm, are just a few of the countless names given to that particular spirit, the 'The Deceiver' is rather inaccurate, as he is physically incapable of lying. A more accurate name would be "The Manipulator' as he is a master of half-truths and letting people come to their own conclusions.
Katara sighed in exasperation and began to skim, looking for more relevant information. After going through the entire scroll, she came to the conclusion that it was most likely that the tome had nothing that would help her on her quest, or be relevant to her search. The writing was interesting, sure, and whoever had come up with it was clearly a master at his craft, if a little bad at updating, but all the same it wasn't what she was looking for. She put it down and picked up another, though the next was unnamed.
She skimmed through the scroll, until she found a passage that piqued her interest.
"Those bound to this particular spirit gain many odd abilities. They become faster and stronger of course, and their senses become hundreds if not thousands of times more powerful - provided that they channel the shadow into that particular ability. Most interestingly, they gain control over shadows - and in some accounts have been reported to move through them and travel great distances in a single step, though there is much to be desired regarding the veracity of that claim.
Koh's champion also gains many passive abilities. For example, the body's ability to heal is magnified to an astonishing degree, depending on the depth of the bond. Some have been known to view the future, in the form of prophetic, metaphoric dreams. Other passive effects include the changes to the blood, causing it to turn black when the mantle is in use. Aside from the change in color, the blood will permanently stain any metal it falls on, and if it touches the flesh of another it burns them as would a flame - though more slowly."
"Okay," Katara said, drawing the word out, "Don't let Sokka bleed on you."
"No," Said Wan Shi Tong, appearing behind her suddenly, "I do not believe that would be wise."
Azula walked down the steps from her room at the inn, having just returned from the baths. It took her an absurdly long time to recover her dignity and cease the childish giggling that had overcome her like a disease, like a horde of water tribe barbarians swarming the walls of a seaside town.
Azula pondered the value of continuing to travel with the Kyoshi warriors, until she heard Ty Lee's voice coming from the common room.
"...And then you just cover the filling in the casing and roll it in your hands to make a ball, like this!"
"What's this stuff called again?" Himari asked, sounding confused.
"It's Mochi! It's kinda like candy, I guess. Maybe it's more of a dessert?"
"Ty Lee!" Azula called sharply, "Upstairs. Now."
Without waiting for a response, Azula turned and marched back to her room. She took a seat facing towards the door, the green wall ahnging so common in the Earth Kingdom irritating her more than it should. She did not have long to wait before Ty Lee entered the room, traipsing in on her hands.
"What's up, Azula?" Ty Lee said cheerily, "Did something happen?"
"Why, yes, actually." Azula glared at her friend. "Someone has been giving away state secrets."
The acrobat looked at her in confusion, before apprehension dawned. "Mai has been giving away stuff about the Fire Nation!?"
"No, you idiot, I mean you. You have been revealing confidential information to the subhuman animals of the Earth Kingdom."
"I- sub- what?" Ty Lee said, in a moment of astonished bamboozlement.
"Downstairs, mere moments ago, what were you doing?" Azula asked, as she would evidently have to explain it to her friend.
"...Teaching himari to make mochi?"
"Precisely. In violation of Fire Nation culinary code forty one, subsection d paragraph two: No recipes of couture significance may be shared with non-citizens."
"What?" Ty Lee asked, mouth open in shock.
"You have committed confectionary espionage, the punishment for which is twenty lashes of fire." Azula said, anger simmering. She had no intention of administering any such punishment, as not only would it reveal her status as a fire bender, it would also injure Ty Lee and render her useless for weeks. More than that, over the past few months, Azula had found that the idea of her friends coming to harm had begun to… upset her. She wasn't sure why, or what had changed, but the idea of anyone harming her friends angered her greatly. Where before the idea was an insult, as they belonged to her and anyone who took from her would suffer, it was now almost a fear. It's contemplation caused a subtle tightness in her chest.
"Azula," Ty Lee backed away a step, "I don't think that its so serious. I mean, it just mochi, and the Kyoshi warriors are good people." As the nonbender spoke, sweat began to break on her brow.
"No," Azula sighed, "I suppose not. I am not without mercy, so just this once I shall let it go. Remember, Ty Lee, you are to reveal nothing that connects us to the Fire Nation; no matter how small."
Ty Lee breathed a sigh of relief and turned to go, and Azula frowned as she remembered words her father had often shared with her, that she had once believed.
"Don't get too close to them, Ty Lee." Azula began. "They're Earth Kingdom; they just look like people."
Even as she spoke, she realized that those words had been a lie. A man with amber eyes indeed.
"Ak!" Katara jumped at the Owl's sudden appearance, she uncorked her waterskin and took a defensive posture.
"There is no need. I am simply curious as to what you are doing here." Wan shi Tong cocked his head.
"I'm…. reading." Katara said.
"I'm shocked." The Spirit deadpanned.
Katara looked at him and shrugged. Wan Shi Tong rolled his eyes.
"He cannot hear us in this place. The worm cannot touch this place of light, for there are no shadows for him to reach." Wan Shi Tong said.
"I see." Katara said.
"If you're trying to break the pact between the Face Stealer and his champion, then perhaps I can be of some assistance to you."
Katara stared at the spirit, suspicious. "Why?"
"From the moment I first walked the Earth, I have hated him. Where I seek to spread the light of knowledge, it seeks only to cover the world in darkness. His strength is far above my own, I admit, but for all his power he is my enemy. There is little I would not do to irk him. To steal his first champion on milenia would wound him more grievously than you know."
"So you're willing to help me?"
"Yes, I suppose I am." Wan Shi Tong spread a single wing and swept it across the ground at Katara's feet. Where his wing touched the floor, a single bag was left.
The Hall of Prophets and Destroyers was, in Aang's honest opinion, enormously underwhelming. Given the sign, the name, and the convoluted path it took to get here, he had expected something more dramatic. Maybe some statues, gold filigree. Maybe a few skeletons or crazy amazing spirit guardians.
Instead, what he found was a small, plain, brown room covered in dust. A few dead spider-flies were scattered on the ground in what could be considered decoration… if you were a blind vegetable with bad taste.
"This is…. Anit-climactic." Aang said. Looking around the small room. There were some shelves, none of them full. Maybe prophecies were rarer than he thought? Aang dragged a hand down his face. At least he didn't have too much to search through. He picked up the first scroll and read it.
"Three rings for the elven kings, under the sky. Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone. Nine rings for mortal men, doomed to die. One ring for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them. One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie."
…What? What were elves? Dark Lord? Jewelry? Aang decided to figure that one out after he had defeated the firelord. He picked up another scroll and read again,
"Slowly through the fire's of time, we have waited patiently. When all seven balls you find, the dragon is set free."
Aang shook his head and stopped reading. He knew enough about the hundred year war to be reasonably certain that he didn't need any of these dragon balls. He opened and read several more scrolls, one about a rider on a pale horse, one about someone born at the end of the seventh month, one about a warrior of black and white who would destroy an evil bird or something. Aang desperately hoped that when he found the right scroll it would make more sense than the others. After what felt longer than his century stuck in an iceberg he found it.
"Son of Fire, son of Water. Man of wind and Agni's daughter, Wolf of sea, girl of stone, free at last the Dragon Throne.:
Darkness rises, Possession's boon, stopped by only the Sun and Moon.
The red flower unmade, its garden overrun, lest chaos reigns and the world is done unless intercession by the Moon and Sun."
Aang read the scroll again, and then a third time. He was pretty sure this was the scroll he was looking for, at least that made more sense than the others. The first line described himself and his friends, at least he thought so. Son of fire, son of water - obviously that meant Zuko and Sokka. Man of wind- Well, he was the last airbender. As for Agni's Daughter, he wasn't sure. Were they supposed to meet a spirit or something? Another firebender? Aang didn't know.
Girl of stone - Toph. Wolf of sea? Probably Katara. The whole first paragraph was pretty clear - except for the bit about the spirit lady- he and his friends would defeat the Fire Lord. Aang felt a lot better about that as it seemed pre-ordained.
But the rest of it, he could make no sense of. Perhaps his friends would have a better understanding of it.
Author's Note
Ope- that took longer than expected. On top of that, this chapter is 2000 words shorter than they usually are.
Anyway, I've been busy lately. I have online schooling for work, a 95 mile commute, a social life to maintain, and a rather time consuming pair of new hobbies- Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
So what i'm trying to say, is that I am sorry and I suck. I'm gonna restructure part three when we get there so that it's easier to write- I think Ill go back to a similar structure to part one, which i wrote and finished in like 3 months.
Yours, truly. Charlemagne OR WHATEVER
02/16/2024