She

Chapter 9

"They destroyed everything." There was nothing but ash and rubble in front of us. The fire nation had destroyed it all.

I glanced over to my side, noticing one of the foxes standing there.

"Hey guys maybe one of them could help," I said, pointing towards it. The fox turned around and pointed its nose down the hall.

"Seems it's trying to assist you." Zei said.

"Um, sure, I guess I'll follow you." Sokka said, getting up. We followed him the fox down a hall and to a door. The fixed crawled inside the room, and seconds later the door opened. I stayed just at the door.

"This room is a true marvel. A mechanical wonder! It's a planetarium that shows the heavens moving." Zei looked around the room placing his hands on his head as he smiled.

"Uh, this is beautiful, but, how is it helpful?" Sokka looked at him.

"Maybe these dials represent dates and times. Sokka, try entering that date from the parchment you took." Katara pointed at the dials.

Sokka shushed her, "not in front of the fox, he's with the owl." He glanced at the fox who whimpered. I rolled my eyes and scratched the head of the fox.

They messed around with the dials, setting the time to the one on the parchment. I watched as the 'sky' went dark, the moon covering the sun.

"The sun is behind the moon, it's a solar eclipse! It's literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history. Now I get it!" Sokka grabbed Aang by the shoulders, "Something awful happened on that day, I don't know what, but I do know why. Firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse!" He pushed Aang away in excitement. "Sorry," he said immediately after.

"That makes sense. I mean, think of what the lunar eclipse at the North Pole did to the waterbenders. This is huge," Katara said.

The fox went back over to Sokka and whined. He sighed and gave the fox a treat. "We've got to get this information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se. We'll wait for the next eclipse, then we'll invade the Fire Nation when they're totally helpless. The Fire Lord is goin' down!"

I froze up, feeling a presence behind me. When I turned around the giant owl was standing there. I backed up into the group as it walked in.

"Mortals are so predictable. And such terrible liars. You betrayed my trust. From the beginning you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes."

"You don't understand. If anyone's evil, it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They're destructive and dangerous. We need this information," Sokka pleaded.

"You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified?" He leaned towards us. "Countless others before you have come here, seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies."

"We had no choice. Please, we're just desperate to protect the people we love," Aang said.

"And now I'm going to protect what I love." The owl flapped his wings, creating a gust of wind throughout the room. I grabbed onto someone's shoulder as we were blown back. "I'm taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again."

Sand began to seep through the walls, filling up the room, and most likely the rest of the library. "He's sinking the building! We've gotta get out of here!" Katara yelled.

The owl began to change, growing longer. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. You already know too much." He lifted his head into the air, then screeched, lunging down at us. I followed Katara, jumping out of the way and crashing into a wall.

We ran out of the room, heading down the long hallway. Slowly the library's sinking slowed down, almost coming to a stop. I ducked my head, hearing the owl crash through the archway.

"Great knowledge spirit, I beg you. Do not destroy your vast collection of priceless tomes." I heard the Professor say as he stopped, facing the owl. Aang used his airbending to pull him back, moments before the owl hit him. Then he knocked the owl over the bridge.

"We've gotta get back to the surface," Aang said, turning and running down a hallway. We all followed him, except for Sokka.

"Sokka, let's go!" Katara yelled, motioning for him to follow.

"But we still don't know when the next eclipse is gonna happen," Sokka said.

"Don't be stupid, we'll find out later," Katara said. I stood by Aang, waiting.

"We don't have the time!" I pointed towards the rope.

"No, we won't." He gestured to the side. "If we leave this place we'll never get the information. Aang, Y/n, come with me to the planetarium, I need cover."

"I don't know how I'll be of much help here-" Aang grabbed my hand, pulling me along.

"Katara, take Momo and get out of here." Sokka called out to her as we continued. There was a crashing sound and the owl appeared from the dust. "Go!" We ran back into the planetarium.

"Why are we doing this?" Aang asked.

"Because if this calendar can tell us about eclipses in the past, then maybe it can project when the next one will be." Sokka began turning the dials.

"You can't possibly check every single date," Aang said.

"I don't have to. we just have to check every date before Sozin's comet arrives, because after that... Well, try not to think about that. Y/n keep a look out for Wan Shi Tong." I nodded and stayed by the door, looking for any sign of said owl. They checked every date from before the apparent comet that's supposed to arrive, looking for the eclipse.

"That's it, the solar eclipse!" The room darkened. "It's just a few months away." Sokka quickly wrote down the date. "Got it," he stuffed it in his bag, "now, let's get to Ba Sing Se."

We left the planetarium, stumbling as the library suddenly sunk faster. The two of us held onto Aang as we glided over the owl, heading for the window. Sokka jumped down and smashed a book on the owl's head, making it pass out. Him and Katara followed us up the rope, ready to escape. But before we could make it there, the rope began to jerk from side to side, and we fell. Aang grabbed the three of us, gliding out of the window.

We landed on the ground, and Toph who was there holding the tower let go of it. She fell back, shielding her eyes as a big cloud of dust and sand blew up.

"We got it. There's a solar eclipse coming." Katara and Sokka hugged each other. "The Fire Nation's in trouble, now!"

I looked over at Toph, who was sitting on the ground.

"Where's Appa?" Aang asked her. Toph shook her head sadly.