Chapter 235: Twilight (5)
"So? What is this Sunstone exactly?" Zuko questions as they walk ahead with the Tribe Leader leading them into the depths of the valley.
"Before asking about the treasures you robbed, would it not be a blessing if you introduced yourself first?" The Tribe Leader questions and Zuko purses his lips.
"I'm Nik," Nik chuckles, "Your Masters apparently already know about me."
"No last name? No connection to any tribes?" The Chieftain inquires since the introduction left a lot to imagine.
"No... no tribe. But I do have a family name— Faran," Nik adds.
"Nik Faran," the chieftain nods, "An unusual name. And you? The one that is truly confused by everything going on."
"I'm Zuko... former Prince of Fire Nation," Zuko mutters. There was once a time when he wanted to feel the 'glory' of being his father's son but that was just a pile of steaming shit that he was blinding himself with. He was never his father's son but his mother's instead.
"Former?" The Chieftain raises his brow with a bit more surprise prevalent in his voice. But nodding through that, he answers the previous question, "Are your two aware of the Legend of Love Amongst The Dragons?"
"Of course," Zuko and Nik reply almost at the same time, making the Chieftain chuckle, "Good. Forget whatever bastardized version you have heard. It's not a romantic tale— that is merely a curtain to hide the woes of war. And Sunstone, alongside the descendants of Ra, is what remains of that war."
"That still doesn't tell what the Sunstone is," Zuko notes.
"Has no one ever taught you the virtue of patience, young one?" The Chieftain lets out a gruff chuckle, "Legends and Prophecies take their time to unfold."
"Prophecies are just delusions," Zuko narrows his eyes as he recalls Ozai speaking of such a prophecy destined to bring about the strongest firebender.
"No, there are prophecies and then there are lies. Lies rarely come to fruition but Prophecies always do." The Chieftain stops for a moment and looks at the duo with a frightful yet somber countenance, "No matter how long it takes and in what form it fulfills, Prophecies never fail."
But not really buying any of this, not after his own distasteful experience with such matters, Zuko brushes Chieftain's words off and shrugs, "That may be so, but if even the Fire Sages have used 'Prophecies' to lie then—"
"Avatar Roku's and Late Fire King Sozin's lineage WILL bring forth the strongest Firebender in the history of this sacred art without a doubt," Chieftain cuts Zuko off mid-sentence and states, "That's not a prophecy from Fire Sages. Humans, no matter how spiritual, are only messengers. This prophecy... it's from the spirit of Flames, one of Ra's many descendants— Agni."
Nik glances at Zuko from the corner of his eyes. Personally, Nik did not believe in prophecies. There is a reason for that, of course. With Mokshi bonded to him, prophecies have lost meaning to his existence. But this is more of a personal mindset. GENERALLY speaking, Nik did not doubt Chieftain's words as he begins to lead them once again while he reveals the content of this particular prophecy.
"The previous Chieftain, like many other Sages related to the element of fire, was told the same— Past conflict absolves. The Fire unites with the world. Imperial alone will rot. Fire needs to meet with fire, breathe life into with air, turn stable with earth, and be as gentle as water. The true expression of flame emerges.
By now, all we could ever understand is the latter portion of the prophecy. For the Imperial Family to have the blood of the previous Avatar for them to bring this... a true expression of firebender. The one prophecized to be the strongest."
"What about the former?" Nik questions.
"War does not unite and absolve anything," The Chieftain replies, "What this strongest firebender is meant to do... or is PREDICTED to do without outer interference is not known."
"How would you know?" Zuko scoffs, "There is no strongest firebender aside from my Uncle and all the Fire Nation did is..." He grows silent by the end of it.
"What about the Sunstone?" Nik redirects the conversation. Again, he lacked a distinct interest in prophecies and held more curiosity about the Golden Egg.
"Golden Egg is a relic. A prince that was never born to the Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Empress— the cause of war between the Dragon Emperor and the Evil Dark Water spirit."
"While the legends get it right that Dragon Emperor falls to the schemes of the Dark Spirit and becomes a human named Noren to reunite with his lover... it leaves out the dark history of the Dragon Empress committing suicide over the 'death' of their first child. In the end, they do have descendants as humans. You could say... that the Fire Nation's Imperial Family is an offshoot of their family."
Zuko is most certainly surprised by these revelations as the Chieftain continues, "But moved by the play of fate maybe or love that was between Noren and his wife, Ra blessed their past regret with a jewel from their precious crown. The jewel was as bright as a sun and now, it is melded with the Prince that never was into what we, the Sun Warriors call the Sunstone."
Nik and Zuko look at each other. For the first time, Zuko has a feeling about what Nik would be asking next. In fact, this is only possible because Zuko did take his time to observe this 'enemy' when... well, when Zuko did consider Nik an opponent. Not anymore, and that is why he subtly shakes his head.
But Nik continues forth.
"So... could we cook and eat it?"
Almost all the Sun Warriors who were following silently stare at Nik and Zuko with cold expressions while the Chieftain takes a moment to look at Nik before shaking his head.
"You can't. This relic cannot be cooked even at the highest temperature you can imagine. It cannot be cracked open either. That relic is an expression of the Dragon Emperor's and Dragon Empress' love that transcends lifetimes."
Nik exhales with a disappointed expression.
'If it's just a rare material... I could feed it to Infinity and get AP in return,' he muses.
After all that, there is only one more thing that made Nik speak up, "What's that strange lizard? The one that breathes fire."
For the first time since meeting the duo, Chieftain's expression changes. Not even Nik's bloodbending had such a reaction on them as even the Sun Warriors felt oddly uncomfortable.
"You came across that creature?" One of the Sun Warrior questions.
"Yes, and that is why I'm curious," Nik purses his lips while the Chieftain cuts the conversation short as they near a clearing, "We're here. We can discuss the rest once you truly have our Master's recognition."
The clearing has a wide space with two slopes creating a deep valley as the peaks of these slopes are connected by an earthen bridge that can be climbed upto using the earthen staircase built in the center. But instead of leading the duo on the stairs, the Chieftain makes a turn and brings the duo into a primal structure made out of rocks carved with various murals.
In this structure is a grand bonfire with the peal of flames exuding a sense of gentle warmth that does not feel searing even if both Zuko and Nik got very close to it.
"This feels... similar to the technique uncle taught us, right? The one that helps ease the soreness of the body," Zuko whispers, and Nik nods, feeling the same.
"This is the Eternal Flame— the first fire acquired by mankind," The Chieftain remarks, "If you must meet our Masters and have their recognition in any matter, you must take a portion of the Eternal Flames and bring it to their entrance."
Chieftain points at the bridge connecting the two peaks and continues, "But if you fail... you will be destroyed on the spot by Masters!"
Nik frowns for a moment. By now he understands well who these 'Masters' are. From the Flower of Fertility hinting that he has tickled the 'reverse' scale of Ra's descendants to the massive reserves of chi and their coiling form is already enough for him to know their true origin.
"You should stay here," Nik pats Zuko's shoulder, "This is supposed to be a relaxing trip for you. You should just watch the show—"
"Do you know what you'll be facing?" Zuko questions and Nik nods.
"Meeting masters have two outcomes. One is their anger. It shall result in your destruction. Two, recognition," The Chieftain looks at the bridge with fond memories, "Their recognition shall open a path for you to travel on the true mystery of firebending."
"What does that mean?" Zuko questions.
"It means you get better at firebending," Nik looks at the bridge with a frown, "Because the masters would be willing to share the essence of firebending with you."
"As if it's so simple—" Before Zuko could finish, the Chieftain agrees, "It is just that. Of course, it shall not be simple in any manner."
"And everyone who meets the masters must follow these customs?" Nik suddenly questions and the Chieftain nods.
'Flower of Fertility may not be entirely trustworthy but its first clue worked out. These masters do have a reverse scale. Its other clue was to not follow convention...' Nik took the spirit's words seriously. It could be lying but until now it hasn't and this gave him a good reason to trust the Spirit's words.
"They can make me a better firebender?" Zuko looks at the bridge built upon a slop of stairs and observes it quietly.
"Snap out of it," Nik scoffs promptly, "I didn't bring you here to be someone else's dinner. There will be no stopping Ursa if that happens."
"I'm going to go up that staircase. And I'm going to learn... what mysteries of firebending still elude me," Zuko replies without shifting his gaze, "My answer wouldn't change even if mother or uncle were here."
Nik frowns for a moment, 'Well, he still hasn't denied me from sending him back to the personal space. If things get too dangerous, I can send him back by sneaking up on him...'
"Have you two come to a decision?" The Chieftain questions while Nik takes a bit longer to consider these things.
"You do know we will have to fight these masters, right? You need all the help you can get," Zuko looks at Nik.
"Didn't think you'd notice it," Nik smiles in return as Zuko ponders, "Well, that would come to pass ONLY if that weird flower spoke the truth."
Nodding and looking at the Chieftain, Nik comments, "We're ready."
Not wasting time by questioning the duo about their last piece of conversation due to the sheer absurdity from his point of view, the Chieftain gestures toward the eternal flames and bends two small peals of flames out of it. Controlling these two orbs of flames, the Chieftain commands, "Receive the pieces of the eternal flame and keep them steady in your hands. Exert too much force and it shall go out of your control. Exert too little... and it shall blow out."
"It's not our first time bending fire," Zuko rolls his eyes and stretches out his hands in a humbler gesture to accept the flames.
"No, it is not," Chuckling, the Chieftain cautions, "But both of you have never tasted flames so primal and pure."
"My sister can bend blue flames," Zuko retorts reluctantly and the Chieftain grows silent. Even he cannot comment in good conscience that Blue Flames are less dangerous than the eternal flames.
"Oh, I managed to do that, too," Nik grins, making Zuko scowl further, "Fucking unfair..."
But to be fair, keeping it hidden from Zuko, Nik knew well that blue flames took a lot more concentration and... weren't worth the effort if one is not a genius like Azula or as experienced as Iroh.
"Accept the eternal flames and move along," The Chieftain puts an end to a distracting banter before it could derail with a firm tone, causing Nik to shrug and stretch his hands out to accept the flames, too.
"Now step onto the entrance of the masters' residence. Your trial awaits."
Nik and Zuko looked forth toward the entrance with flickering emotions and the flames in their hands flicker simultaneously.
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Alternate Title: The Prince that Never Was; The War Behind the Myth; Agni's Prophecy; Strength Comes in Various Forms; Prophecy's Nemesis— Mokshi.
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A/N: So a few interesting things I'd like to share. The story of the Sunstone is loosely derived from House of the Dragons, more specifically, the Prince that Never Was, and this storyline would be tied up completely in the next few chaps, 3 or 4 max. The second one is the prophecy. I don't believe Zuko is the 'strongest' firebender technically but he has the best virtues belonging to 'fire'. And I also don't think humans in the avatar verse are spiritual enough to prophecize the future. In this fanfic, even Wu is reliant on another spirit that conspired against Mokshi.
In the last work, ehg, I felt that I could not give Zuko the kind of tribute he deserved. Here's to hoping I can manage it better this time... and my god... the fate Aang suffered the last time... It's ironic cause Nik and Aang from Poi would be terrified of Nik's doing in ehg... but then again, Nik didn't know Aang back then.
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