Chapter 14

There was no need to look outside the window for me to know that out in the black sky, a full moon shone radiantly.

I had spent years training waterbending but it wasn't until I left the comfort of Casterly Rock that I learned just how much I was missing.

Even deep within the caverns of my home, I always received the buff the full moon provides all waterbenders but it was only recently I noticed that it was not the full effect, that living in the bowels of the rock and training waterbending within its confines stifled me and my abilities without my knowing.

With the window opened wide and the glow of the moon's faint light upon my skin, I could feel my waterbending grow in ability.

It was like one day someone going to the gym and their max bench was suddenly lighter by a magnitude.

Everything just felt lighter in a sense as even my control swelled with it, making my waterbending feel nigh effortless.

It was kinda fun.

I just wished I was at a beach or somewhere the limits of my full-moon-boosted waterbending could be really tested.

I remembered Kyoshi lifting a lake's worth of water under the influence of a full moon which made me jealous.

I, too, wish to throw a lake at someone.

Aquatic life and all.

Wait no, that's messed up.

Ugh.

The power was getting to my head.

And that was animal abuse!

"M'reow." the tawny cat, one of many castle strays, in my lap clearly agreed with my sentiment.

The furball was contently lying in my lap all the while it was spoiled with scratches, pets, and snacks. Generously bribed more like since Lanna, Jaime, and I spent half a day trying to get a docile enough cat to follow us.

Then sneaking it into our room which was a whole 'nother ordeal.

Well, it was done and the cute little tomcat was now safely ensconced in our room.

Why you may ask?

Was it because I was a Lannister and wanted a cat?

No.

Was it because I thought it was cute?

No, well yes but no.

Was it because I thought Team Cersei needed a cute animal companion like Momo and Appa for Aang and Naga for Korra?

Not that either. And a basic cat was not good enough to be my cute team mascot!

It was here for one reason and one only.

Well, it was cute and I did want to pet it lots but that's besides the point!

I needed something with blood in it to even try and sense.

I wasn't going to hurt the poor thing of course! I just wanted to try sensing it as I truly didn't know if other humans had some kind of innate resistance for their blood to register as bendable water to a waterbender considering how bloodbending wasn't known until Katara and Hama.

Hama apparently started with rats and while the Red Keep, like any other medieval construction, was infested with fucking rats, the problem was that rats were icky and gross and I didn't want to touch one, even metaphorically with my bending and so I needed something else.

Hence the cat currently purring in my lap.

I fed him another cube of cheese.

Hm.

Could cats eat cheese?

Well, they drank milk so I'm sure it was fine.

"I don't feel anything, Cersei," Lanna spoke from my side while Jaime observed us from his bed. I had told him to go to sleep since he had to wake early for his lessons with the Kingsguard but he was adamant about staying up with us.

"Yeah. Me neither." No matter how I focused, the only senses I could detect the cat were the basic five I was born with.

I could feel the jug of water on the table at the side of the room and various sources of water around me and outside my room, clearer and more detectable than they would have been on any other night but the cat stubbornly remained a cat, instead of a blob of bendable water.

Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing and was a bit doubtful of my capability, of whether or not I was truly even capable of learning bloodbending.

Hama was the last waterbender of her tribe, desperately fighting until she literally the last waterbender of her tribe yet standing but it still took her years of practicing on rats until she mastered it enough and finally escaped.

Yet Katara learned how to do so within the span of a few minutes. I chalked it up mostly to a show thing but one trait they both shared was that they were both waterbenders of power.

That didn't seem applicable to me.

Oh, no doubt I'll master waterbending one day but speaking in raw strength…

The simple matter of fact was that waterbending was not the element I resonated the most with.

I was conceived and born within the mountain that was Casterly Rock, from the very moment of my earliest existence, it sheltered and nurtured me in its own way, its presence always calming and reassuring to me. The walls and stones tens of thousands of years old were as much as a swaddling cloth for me as any blanket was.

Where others would see a dark, dank, and possibly claustrophobic tunnel, I saw home.

Only a Lannister can love the Rock. Tyrion wasn't wrong about that because it was the Lannisters who got to enjoy the power it offered. For all else who toiled within its bowels, it was likely a brand of hell to them.

The philosophy of earthbending was also one I agreed with.

Firebending was of positive jing, meaning relentless attacking and overwhelming of their foes with pure power, and airbending which was all defense was negative jing.

Earthbending was neutral jing, neither attacking nor defending.

It was waiting and enduring until the moment of opportunity arrived before launching a decisive counterstroke.

However, I could also see why water also came so easily compared to fire or my nonexistent airbending. It was an immensely flexible element but at the end of the night, it simply wasn't my strongest.

I may be the Avatar, capable of mastering all elements, but I would always be an earthbender at heart.

And that fact was starting to frustrate me not only for the fact of bloodbending.

My waterhealing was not exactly going great. The dreams I got were nice but they would never be able to come close to getting proper instruction from a real master so much time was wasted muddling through things trying to figure it out but that came with its own issue being waterhealing isn't something I can practice as easily as I could earthbending. I could heal up the bruises Lanna and I sometimes gave each other or the ones Jaime brought in on occasion but that wasn't enough.

It was not bruises that would kill Mama Jo.

Asking Master Creylen about the morbid topic gave me answers I really didn't like.

Birthing fever or simply bleeding to death. Those were two of the major reasons for women to die during childbirth.

I knew enough to understand that birthing fever was likely a body's response to infection but that didn't help me in the least since healing infections like that was utterly beyond me.

The second was bleeding which was maybe something I could deal with. Bleeding indicated something that which should not be open but was indeed open meaning it was a wound and wounds, well they were something waterbending should be capable of healing.

Yet whether my waterbending was sufficient was a question hanging in the air.

I did not like my chances of success with jumping from healing bruises and tiny cuts in sparring to injuries dealt by childbirth.

Not to mention that Tyrion's birth was anything but normal, him being a dwarf and all, so I didn't know if that was a factor that caused different reasons for Mama Jo to die.

I hated not knowing and I had a strong feeling that time was rapidly running out. Mama Jo passed when Cersei and Jaime were rather young and that clock was ticking.

So unless fate was being particularly nice to me and butterflied Tyrion's existence, and no offense to him but I would be okay with his non-existence if it meant Mama Jo lived, then I had to find a way to rapidly advance my waterhealing.

"We should go to bed," Jaime interrupted sleepily. "There does not seem to be much success to be found tonight. And it is late after all."

"Maybe," I say non-committedly.

Looking at Lanna, the girl was merely staring intently at the cat.

A step back to rethink this was necessary.

Bloodbending.

Hama.

Katara.

Yakone.

Tarrlok.

Noatak.

Hama learned by practicing on rats during nights with a full moon when her power peaked.

Katara in desperation to protect Aang and Sokka.

Yakone was a special breed supposedly, capable of both bloodbending outside of full moons and doing it psychically without physical movements.

Tarrlok and Noatak… They both learned the skill from their father.

But did they learn it because of their vigorous practice from a young age or did they inherit their father's talents with it? Perhaps both. And they were strong benders as well.

In cutscenes, Noatak was the stronger of the two brothers but Tarrlok still ended up defeating Korra.

Ugh.

This was not helpful.

At least with metalbending, there was a train of logic that could be followed.

Attune seismic sense to the point where the unrefined earth within metal could be detected and with earth detected, it meant an earthbender could manipulate it.

Bloodbending had no such thing, no simple steps that I could follow to build atop each other until I reached my goal.

Well if there weren't any steps, I would just have to find my own!

I anchored myself, not that it was a lot considering I was sitting on my comfy bed and had a purring cat in my lap but I didn't need much for what I intended. I swept my arm out against the wall, willing the stone to lightly flake and disintegrate into sand before pulling the mess into my hand.

I closed my palm with my other hand before focusing on it and willing it to compress.

A few seconds later, I had a guitar pick-sized flake of stone in my hand. Small, but most importantly, sharp.

"Cersei?" Lanna questioned.

"I think we should take a step back. Maybe trying to feel the blood within another creature is beyond our current abilities." I begin to explain my thoughts.

Jaime's eyes looked alarmed suddenly as he grasped my intentions.

"Don't be dumb, Cersei," He quickly interjected.

"It's not dumb!" I reply weakly. It was dumb and even these actual children could see it. "It'll just be a small cut. A single drop of blood."

Lanna's expression shone with understanding before she turned back to me. "Jaime is right, Cersei. You're being dumb."

I'm being bullied!

"Look, I mean we're not making any progress right. So I was thinking it might be easier if we can try to bend what we can actually see with our own eyes."

"And you mean to mar your flesh to achieve this?" Lanna retorted with a raised eyebrow and looked at me like I was a particularly stupid child. "Don't be daft."

Lanna, I'm too high-ranking for you to do this to me!

"Lanna is right," Jaime added in agreement. I'm being ganged up on!

The girl in question nodded.

"If you truly wish to do this, then use a needle. Seven knows you prick yourself enough with it." She spoke, already slipping off our bed to get our sewing kit from my bedchest.

Well, shoot.

They had a point.

I guess when I had bending, everything looked like a nail to be hammered down on.

Closing my palm and with a quick flex of will, the piece of sharpened stone disintegrated back into motes of sand before I dropped it over the side of my bed just in time for Lanna to return with a needle.

She held it lightly for me to take but I seized upon it with my metalbending, slipping it out from between her fingers.

Hehe.

It was such a tiny piece of metal that even I was surprised I could manipulate it.

New fighting technique by yeeting tiny needles at people?

In the name of knowledge and science, tests would have to be conducted at a later time.

Plucking the needle out of the air and summoning a flame upon my finger, I heated the tip of the needle to sanitize it. No need to risk infection in this world where penicillin doesn't exist.

Pulling it out of the open flame a few seconds later, I let it cool and leveled it against my pinky.

And it stayed there as I tried to muster up the courage to go through with it.

I hated pain.

And needles too.

I could see Lanna's wry expression from the corner of my eyes.

"Lanna! Poke me with it." I held out the needle to her. "I'm scared."

"Oh?" My handmaid only looked further amused. "You seem to have no such problems when you're sewing. Shall I fetch you cloth for aid?"

Lanna was giving me cheek.

"No, just uhhh… A quick prick." I raised both hands at her, my pinky with my left and the needle clenched between two fingers on my right. "Come on, Lanna. It hurts and I'm too nervous to do it."

"Don't want to do it? But were you not about to slice open your flesh with a piece of stone?" She dryly replied.

"Jaime!" I turn to my ever-loyal brother who only has a flat expression on his face. "Come on, a quick poke. You're going to be poking holes in people with a sharp metal thing anyway. Might as well get your practice in now."

"I will not." He asserted plainly.

Lanna chuckled before finally taking the needle from me. I was expecting her to take my left hand too but she surprised me when she smoothly pricked her own finger before handing the needle back to me and proceeded to squeeze out a single bead of dark, crimson blood upon her pinky.

"Is this sufficient?" She said rather dryly.

"It is, thank you for your sacrifice, Lanna," I tell her, feeling a bit bad now for making her do this.

Then we were at it again.

In that, we made zero progress.

Having a visible target we can try to focus on and bend honestly made no difference.

…

Maybe we need a bit more blood?

No, no. That would be going too far.

"Let's call it a night," I say with a yawn, finally admitting defeat as the blood congealed and hardened.

It was a disappointing result, even if it was about what I expected to happen.

Flopping down against my pillows, the cat jumped off the bed.

Still, this wasn't too bad. I could only practice this on full moons so a single night once a month wasn't too bad but even if I cracked bloodbending, I would still need to practice it to a high enough level to achieve what Noatak did as Amon.

Blocking blending.

My theory was that it was chi-blocking taken to its extreme. A normal chi-blocking attack from outside the body merely disturbs the flow temporarily but I working under the idea that a bloodbender of sufficient skill could lay a more powerful internal block since waterbending healing involves chi paths anyway, just that they utilized it more insidiously.

Meh.

It was future work, for the next full moon Cersei to deal with.

Sani carefully removed his inkpot from its drawstring pouch and laid it carefully on the side of his table. Not too close to him as to inconvenience him or potentially cause an accident nor far enough for it to fall off the edge of the table and make a further mess.

Master Luo was visibly displeased with Jinua for days after she had made that mistake and stained the mats before their feet.

Next, he drew his brushes out from his pack and laid them alongside his stitched notebook, ready for the class ahead.

Xiao Huo, son of the departed Avatar Dashan was here to give a short lecture about firebending.

It was a high honor being bestowed upon him to learn from the wisdom of the past Avatar, however indirectly, and he refused to take this for granted.

All around him, the shuffling of students preparing for the class ahead filled him with ease as he let his mind wander among the familiar sounds.

"Pssst, Sani~"

Sani was in the process of adjusting his floor cushion when he was interrupted.

"Yes, Kika?" He replied without looking at the girl, continuing to adjust his cushion.

The girl clearly wasn't bothered by his actions before continuing on excitedly.

"Have you heard the rumors?"

Finally satisfied with his seating arrangements, he shifted his attention to the girl.

The girl bothering him was Kika, of the Inta clan, the ruling clan of the island Sani lived on now.

"Rumours? Which ones now?"

Her eyes lit up, excited at the prospect of spreading rumors. "Oh come on Sani. Everyone's heard of it by now!"

"Well, that's obviously untrue since I haven't."

She rolled her eyes. "Sani, you absolute bore. You know there's more to life than just firebending, right?"

Perhaps to her. But he was not the heiress of a clan. It was his grades and his strength in firebending that granted him his place in this classroom.

"Maybe." He said. "But do tell, what are these rumors?"

Her lips stretched into a wide grin.

"Well, you know how the old Avatar's son is coming right?"

He nodded.

Her grin shifted to one of slyness. "I started digging a bit more 'cause I was curious and overheard some things."

When he didn't ask anything, Kika rolled her eyes.

"So a couple details. Xiao Huo is a Keohso–" His eyebrows lifted in surprise at the fact. The Keohso were among the strongest of the many clans that made up the Fire Nation, with several of their members marrying into the royal family. Their star seemingly peaked when Avatar Dashan took a member of the clan to wife, bringing influence and honor to the clan.

"Yeah," she said, catching Sani's reaction. "A Keohso here? But it's not only that, Sani. Xiao Huo is in line to be the next High Sage of the High Temple."

That was an honorable position…

And busy.

Why would such a man deign them with his visit?

Kika's eye shone as she saw him realize. "Makes absolutely no sense for him to come here right? Even stranger thing is Sani… He's only visiting this class. Not the senior's classes nor our juniors. This class only Sani."

Kika was clearly enjoying the confusion running through Sani's mind.

"Kika," He said, question unasked.

Said girl was enjoying his confusion for a few moments longer before finally replying. "Hey Sani… How old are we?"

The question surprised him.

How old? Most of the class was around fifteen or sixte–

His thoughts shuddered to a stop as he connected the dots and a chill ran down his spine.

Kika spoke with a pleased grin. "You understand now, don't you? It's been about fifteen years since Avatar Dashan left us. And Fire is the next element of the cycle."

Avatar.

It was tradition across the world that an Avatar only be informed of their status when they reached sixteen unless extraordinary circumstances were afoot.

In this classroom likely sat the next Avatar, the next upholder of balance.

"Thank you for telling me, Kika." He told her honestly. This was quite the bit of news.

Avatar huh?

"Avatar Kika has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Kika said. "Or perhaps Avatar Sani?"

Sani couldn't help but chuckle at that.

Him? The Avatar?

"It could be interesting, but one element is enough for me." He loved firebending, the passion, the heat, the power behind his every blow. It was liberating beyond anything he could believe.

"Well, keep up with it. Keep going as you do now," Her smile shifted to one of danger and there was a heat in her eyes, "and I'll keep you around as an Avatar companion."

All the firebending training in the world could not stop the heat that rushed to his cheeks.

He coughed awkwardly, trying to temper himself but Kika looked pleased. She was about to say something further before the sliding door of their classroom suddenly opened and everyone scrambled to their tables.

The familiar visage and gait of Master Luo strode into the classroom to take his place behind the teacher's place, though contrary to every other time, he did not sit down but merely stood.

"Be seated, pupils. Today a great opportunity has arrived and as my students, you will seize it. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master Luo," Sani affirmed in tune with thirty other students.

"Good. Please be welcome Fire Sage Xiao Huo."

A middle-aged man wearing the dark crimson robes of the order of the Fire Sages walked in.

Sani's first thought, however rude, was that he looked like any old man on the street.

"Pupils, greet Master Xiao Huo," Master Luo demanded.

"Greetings Master Xiao Huo," The classroom all rang out while simultaneously giving a partial bow from their seated position.

Master Xiao Huo stroked his long beard and looked on approvingly. Sani watched his eyes slowly assess the room, taking in every student before him before passing until the next.

His gaze eventually met Sani's and the boy couldn't help but feel stripped apart at the man's wizened gaze.

My little ember…

It felt like he might have looked longer at Sani but he wasn't sure before his gaze eventually passed to the next student.

Sani shivered and turned to look at the windows. Perhaps there was a breeze.

The windows were wide open, letting in the warm breeze endemic to the Fire Islands/There was a bird on the window sill.

Perhaps he was coming down with a cold/The bird was pale white, the coloration of a bloodless corpse.

Sani breathed in the breath of the sun, warming his body slightly to hopefully ward off whatever chill he had caught/The bird had three eyes, one in the center, all the color of blood.

He turned his attention back to Master Xiao Huo/The bird turned its three blood-red eyes to Sani.

"What dutiful pupils you have, Master Luo." Xiao Huo complimented.

"They are my pride, one and all." Master Luo subtly preened.

"I see, I see… Would you mind if I shared a bit of my wisdom with them then?"

"Of course not, please. Be seated and speak freely."

Master Luo yielded his own seat as a sign of respect and sat beside the man instead/The bird flew and deftly landed upon Sani's table.

"I will speak on matter we are all familiar with…" He began gently, "Firebending."

Sani opened his bound notebook and dipped his brush of dragon moose hairs into the ink pot to wet it, ready to record all that the Fire Sage was willing to share/Sani's arms flowed through the figure of the raven as if it was mist.

On and on, he traced down words smoothly, his brush flowing smoothly down the page/The bird, no, the raven approached Sani, peering directly into his eyes with its three.

No…

He wasn't peering into Sani's eyes.

But whose…?

The raven cawed suddenly, and loudly, a sound that reverberated oddly more than it should have been able to in this little room.

The rest of the the room continued, acting as if they had not heard it but Sani stopped…?

No. There he was writing.

There was no raven/There was a raven.

There was a raven.

Why was there a raven?

There was no raven in this dream.

…

Wait a moment…

Dream?

Reality shuddered and jarred back into focus with a sudden clarity and understanding that would have knocked me to the floor.

If I wasn't already on the floor.

What…

A tide of memories came rushing back.

I was not Avatar Sani.

My name was Cersei Lannister, daughter of Tywin and Joanna Lannister.

Of the House Lannister.

I am Avatar Cersei.

Fucking trippy, what the fuck was going on.

I think I was lucid dreaming. I remembered reading descriptions of people entering a lucid dream. Of how they might have seen something and had just enough awareness to realize they were in a dream.

Wait a fucking minute.

An albino raven with three bloody eyes.

My attention snapped back to the raven which was somehow back on the window sill.

But I didn't see it move.

It was peering at me unblinkingly, and I could admit, I was thoroughly fucking spooked.

Looking around, the dream was progressing as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Master Xiao Huo was lecturing on the philosophy of firebending but everyone ignored the raven and me.

Looking down, I saw the small, delicate hands of a child I was familiar with and the pretty and shiny gold of my long hair.

Why was Bloodraven here?

HOW WAS BLOODRAVEN HERE?

Bran's dreams tended to be cryptic and shit right? Falling from the sky and shit.

Fly or die and shit and falling from the sky.

How was he in MY dream?

No, calm down. I stamped down the anger building up.

I shuddered, feeling violated. This is my place. What is this fucking pervert doing, slipping into the dreams of underage children huh?! Jojen and Bran. Now me?

Calm. I am calm.

I looked at the Bloodraven, whose gaze had never left my form.

This was… Unprecedented and I would have to be careful about how to proceed from here.

I didn't know if I was in danger or not.

Could he like dream murder me and cause my waking body to just fall into a coma or something?

Carefulness is the order of the day, as much as I wished to set that stupid bird aflame.

I breathed in and felt the heat build within me.

Good. It meant I could still bend.

"Bloodraven I presume? I started slowly. "Why are you creeping about in my dreams you fucking pedophile?"