now or never || an atla fanfic

𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝐈𝐈

"This was the place you saw in your visions, right?" Sokka confirmed, leading the group to Lake Laogai.

Aang nodded, gesturing to the vast, empty land. "Absolutely." This was also the same place that Long Feng mentioned when they interrogated him. 

For days, the others searched for any remains of Ba Sing Se's City Hall that had burned down several weeks ago. But like always, they draw blanks. For their second mission, they planned to uncover the secrets in Ba Sing Se, and find the Earth King. 

"But there's nothing here," Suki observed, peering into the water.

Toph walked the periphery of the lake, noticing a large block of earth floating beneath the surface of the lake. "Yes, there is," she said, extending her forearms upward, bringing the block of earth to the surface.

"An entrance!" Sokka exclaimed, cautiously walking along the paved block of earth.

Toph walked past Sokka, right up to the end of the block of earth before lifting her forearms apart, opening a hole. Walking closer to the hole, she felt around with her feet.

"There's a tunnel made of metal--I'd say it runs about 50 feet below sea level," she noted. She turned to the rest of the group for a moment before jumping in without a second thought. No one raised any questions as they followed suit, the tunnel opening closing up behind them.

Aang held his breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the worst part to pass. His heart thundered in his ears, breathing shallow while the metal tunnel seemed to grow smaller and smaller.

Claustrophobia, it was called.

Before he knew it, the tunnel seemed to grow brighter when he peeked under his eyelashes. Gravity pulled him downwards, deeper and deeper underneath the sea level. On the other side, the Fire Nation prince waited, his hand extended with a reassuring smile. The first person who had found him when he emerged from the iceberg 100 years later. Their relationship wasn't always the smoothest, but Aang was always grateful for his best friend.

Aang took his hand, the gesture grounding him back to reality.

He was okay.

He wasn't trapped.

Fortunately for him, the others didn't notice as they scanned their surroundings. The Crystal Catacombs wasn't just any underground hideout, green rocks and crystals were filled across the cave, which seemed to have some kind of natural glow that lit up the catacombs.

"Stay alert," Zuko warned. "The King is probably being guarded by Dai Li agents."

The group ventured discreetly throughout the catacombs, thinly spreading out their numbers to find the Earth King as soon as possible.

It was only a possible hunch for the group, but the only hunch that happened to make logical sense. Where else would the Earth King be?

Peering through the crevices of countless doors, the group certainly didn't find the Earth King, but what they did see surprised far more than anything else.

Hoards of "Joo Dee" workers were stuffed in walls, hypnotized by a single Dai Li agent.

There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Everyone is safe and warm here.

Their words echoed in the group's minds far after they walked away.

A bird call from the far west side of catacombs broke their train of thought, heading for the direction of their secret call. It was barely a whisper, a light enough call that carried underground but not loud enough to catch the attention of Dai Li agents.