Balance | Old Version

Chapter 23

Elua's POV.

We all stand in front of the doors as Aang sends gusts of air at them, over and over and over and over again.
"Why won't it open! Aargh!" Aang shouts in frustration.
"Aang, stop! There's nothing else we can do." Katara says as she grabs his arm.
"I'm sorry I put you through all this for nothing," Aang says hanging his head.
"I don't get it. That blast looked as strong as any firebending I've seen," Sokka says as he stands back and looks at the blast marks on the doors.

"Sokka! You're a genius!" Katara suddenly says as she smiles.
"How is Sokka genius? His plan didn't even work." Aang says.
"Come on Aang, let her dream," Sokka says.
"You're right. Sokka's plan didn't work...but it looks like it did." Katara says smiling.
"Did the definition of 'genius; change in the last hundred years?" I ask them, not seeing what she's getting at.

Later.

We all hide behind the columns again as Shyu leads the five Fire Sages into the room.
"Hurry! The Avatar has entered the sanctuary." Shyu shouts pointing to the doors.
"How did he get in?" One of the Fire Sages asks.
"I don't know. But, look at the scorch marks and down there!" Shyu says pointing to the space between the doors and the floor a shadow is seen.
"He's inside. Open the doors immediately before he contacts Avatar Roku." The Fire Sage orders the others.

Aang is perched on the dragon's tail wrapped around the columns. He slowly inches his way to the floor, ready to run the minute the Fire Sages open the doors. The five Fire Sages in firebending pose and shoot five fire blasts into the lion's heads on the face of the door. Smoke appears around the door frames as the fire blasts work their way through the lock, the doors begin to creak and open slowly.
The light from the interior of the sanctuary is initially dazzling as it begins to dissipate, the Fire Sages see a lonesome Momo inside the sanctuary. Momo sneezes and looks at the Fire Sages in an uninterested way.

"It's the Avatar's lemur! He must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!" The Fire Sage shouts. Momo suddenly leaps at the Fire Sage's face, knocking him down. Katara, Sokka and I jump from behind two columns and grab the two nearest Fire Sages. We pull the Fire Sages' clothes over their heads. Shyu grabs the last Fire Sage. All five Fire Sages are subdued.
"Now, Aang!" Shyu shouts, but he doesn't show up.

"Aang! Now's your chance!" Katara shouts. We turn and see Zuko and Aang appear from behind a column. Zuko is holding Aang's arms tightly behind his back.
"The Avatar's coming with me and so is the Airbender girl!" Zuko shouts, we all look at each other and sigh as we put our hands up. Sokka, Katara, and Shyu are tied with chains to the nearest column. My hands are tied behind my back as Zuko pushes Aang and I towards the opening in the floor that leads to Avatar Roku's secret tunnels.

"Close the doors! Quickly!" Zuko orders the Fire Sages. Aang looks over his shoulder at Katara and Sokka as we reach the opening, Aang makes several sudden moves and knocks Prince Zuko off balance. Aang kicks Zuko down the stairs and turns around quickly. As Zuko tumbles down the stairs with a grunt, the doors of the sanctuary which are beginning to close. Aang begins to run but, stops and turns to me.
"Go!" I shout to Aang as I begin to try and get the chains off my wrists, he nods and takes off.

"He made it!" Katara shouts and I sigh in relief. Zuko stomps up the stairs and quickly grabs me. He pushes me to the floor in front of the Fire Sages and has them tie me to another pillar. Zuko and the Fire Sages try to open the doors, but they won't budge.
"Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!" Zuko shouts in anger.
"It must have been the light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside." One of the Fire Sages says.
"Why did you help the Avatar?" Zuko asks Shyu as he marches over to him and stands in front of him, a furious look on his face.

"Because it was once the Sages' duty. It is still our duty." Shyu answers. The sudden sound of clapping is heard from behind Zuko, everyone looks over and sees a man in Fire Nation armor standing their smirking.
"What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him." The man says.
"Commander Zhao," The Fire Sages say as they bow before the man.
"And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort. But, your little smokescreen didn't work," Zhao says as he glares at the prince. "Two traitors, in one day, the Fire Lord will be pleased," He states as a Fire Nation soldier moves towards Zuko and grabs him.

"You're too late, Zhao. The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed." Zuko tells him.
"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out." Zhao states as he smirks evilly.
"Leave Aang alone!" I shout to Zhao, he turns to me and grins.
"Ah, the Nadir. I'm sure the Fire Lord will love to have you and the Avatar," He says, smirking evilly again. I look at him surprised that he knows who I am.
"Oh yes, I've done plenty of research on you," Zhao says as he stands in front of me.

"If it was up to me, I'd kill you right now and you wouldn't be reborn for another generation," He says threateningly, I try to hide the fear in my eyes. He chuckles as he straights up and walks off. Zuko is chained beside me as Zhao speaks to the Fire Sages.
"When those doors open, unleash all your firebending power." He orders them.
"This is all your fault," I tell Zuko angrily, he glares at me.
"I don't care!" He shouts.
"Course you don't," i say rolling my eyes. "I mean, why would the Fire Nation prince care about anyone but himself," I say as I glare back.

Zhao and his troops are in front of the door. The door begins to open, slowly. Zhao and two of his soldiers standing ready to attack.
"Ready..." Zhao begins to say as he stands in front of the door.
"No! Aang!" Katara shouts.
"Fire!" Zhao orders his men. They fire at the sanctuary, but instead of seeing Aang we see Roku.
"Avatar Roku!" Shyu says. Avatar Roku draws a fireball back towards himself and shoots it out into the room. Zhao and his soldiers are knocked to the floor.

The heat of the blast melts the chains holding Sokka, Katara, Shyu, Zuko, and I. Zuko, now free, begins to run away. Avatar Roku's entire body is now glowing.
"Avatar Roku's going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!" Shyu shouts to us.
"No, not without Aang!" I shout back as Avatar Roku is standing in the doorway to the sanctuary. He raises his arm and brings it down on the floor of the temple.
The force of his strike divides the floor, molten lava rises to the surface. Roku raises his hand and lifts it up, pulling the magma from deep within the volcano.

A wall of magma shoots up through the entire temple structure. The lava erupts out of the very top of the temple. Sokka, Katara and I are hunched behind a column for protection.
The smoke created by Roku's brilliance is sucked back towards him. As the smoke dissipates, Aang is standing in the entryway to the sanctuary. His eyes are glowing, he closes his eyes and groans as he sinks to the floor. We all run over to him and kneel beside him.
"We got your back," Sokka tells him.
"Thanks. Where's Shyu?" Aang asks as he looks around.

"I don't know," Katara says. Smoke is billowing from the bottom of the temple as it begins to sink. We approach the stairs that will lead us out of the temple. Lava has reached all but the top few steps, and we realize that we are trapped. One of the columns crashes to the floor behind us. We gasp and run towards the hole in the temple wall created by Roku's blast. We see that the temple is being swallowed by the volcano. We see Momo and Appa flying full speed towards the temple, we quickly slide down one of the peaks of the temple onto Appa's back and quickly fly away as the temple collapses.