Zhao

The first day had yielded little to no results. Following down a section that seemed to be dedicated to the natural sciences, I had not expected to find much success, but notwithstanding, I could leave no stone unturned.

On the second day, I wanted to think I was nearing something closer to what I was aiming for. It was easy enough to piece together the trends that the natural science section was following, allowing me to skip rather large segments of text while still getting a general idea of what they entailed. It was around midday of the second day that I began to approach something more akin to a historical section. I was following the levels down as directed, not skipping a thing. I couldn't afford to. So instead, I spent hours on end scanning through the names of different texts, perusing through some of them, finding information pertaining to old tribal societies emerging after something known as "Harmonic Convergence." I attempted to find more texts relating to this phenomena, but had no luck, the vague references I saw of it leading me to believe that more information regarding this event would likely be found in a more spiritual-based area of the library.

The texts I found, the ones I bothered to look into anyway, spoke of the emigration of mankind away from the "first cities" as they were called, initiating a stage of human migration across the lands of the present-day 4 nations. I wasn't sure if it was sheer interest, or the expectation that they might lead to something useful that pushed me to read them, but I did so anyway, eyes scanning through the texts, reading of how mankind, following this so-called "Harmonic Convergence" emigrated from their cities that had previously been built upon the backs of prehistoric beasts known as "lion turtles", proceeding to inhabit a, for all intents and purposes, barren earth.

Whatever this Harmonic Convergence was, judging by other texts I stumbled upon, it was important enough to be labeled a "starting point" of modern history, placing us now in the year 9,925, the year of the Dragon. I couldn't help but muster a smile at that. The year of the Dragon. A good a year as any to bring a massive victory to the Fire Nation. All the more reason to stay on task.

So I continued to search through the library, alone, wondering how the others were faring, until I received an answer, or at least, part of an answer, when Shilo stumbled upon me.

"Shilo?" I asked, rather surprised, soon enough annoyed at the intrusion, myself having lost track of where on this shelf I was, realizing I'd have to start from scratch. "What are you doing here?"

"Hope I'm not interrupting, but I think I found something that might be of interest to me."

Might be of interest to me? What did he think he knew of what I was after here?

"What might interest me?"

"Follow me. I'll show you."

He turned, indicating for me to follow. What harm can it be? I unrolled the map I'd been drafting, marking my location of where I'd left of. Worst case scenario, Shilo would lead me to nothing of importance, and I'd just return back here, the only thing I'd have lost being time. Time is however valuable. My supply of water was running low-all 8 canteens that I'd packed, making up the majority of the weight of my bag. My dry rations were running low, myself suspecting that I'd only have enough to sustain me for around another 3 days. IF I rationed. Considerably.

I stowed the map back into my bag, following Shilo as he led me through the maze of shelves, down more flights of stairs, passing by a number of levels that I feared I'd have to return back to if I didn't find the answers I was looking for with the aid of Shilo.

Eventually, we stopped descending, departing into a wing of the library marked by a 2-character word, "Warfare."

"What's this?" I asked as I began looking through the shelves. I trailed down the shelves, looking at all that was held here: records of battles won and lost, accounts of conflicts, diaries, and journals from peon and general alike, 1st hand accounts, 3rd hand as well, works of military theory and philosophy, everything one could hope to find about the history of warfare. But wartime history wasn't what I was looking for.

"You're here to gain an edge over the Earth Kingdom. Am I wrong?"

I didn't answer, still looking through the shelves for something that may be useful.

Nothing.

He continued on, saying, "No other reason you'd come here. You're looking for some edge in the war, are you not?"

"What we're doing here is not relevant to you. You saved our lives and got us this far, and for that, I'm thankful, but now that we're here, what we're looking for is on a need-to-know basis, which you don't. Sorry," I finished, trying to blunt the otherwise cutting effect of the words I'd said. I didn't dislike Shilo. Not in the slightest, but the man was in over his head. I wasn't sure if he was trying to be helpful, just enthusiastic at being a part of something bigger than his powerless village, or possibly even trying to mislead me. I shook that last thought out of my mind. He had no reason to do so. He had no stake in any of this whatsoever.

"Well, then I apologize for being an intrusion, but stick around. There still might be something here to help you."

"I very much doubt that I mumbled under my breath." He hadn't stuck around to hear. He was already gone. And rather quick at that. May as well go back to where I was before. Continue where I left off. Notwithstanding, I stuck around, intrigued by what I may come across. A number of hours passed that I spent in that wing, hours I feared would only be misspent, until I began coming across a number of accounts of battles that seemed to be coincidentally similar.

I spent my time collecting, and sprawling across the floor, a number of accounts of battles involving water benders. I read of raids conducting against the Water Tribes, including a historic siege Agna Qel'a in 9,473 that lasted for exactly a month before it instantaneously fell apart, the catalyst, of course, being the arrival of a full moon. The barbarians, a mixed bag of Firebenders and Earthbenders had attacked the Northern Water Tribe capital on the day after a full moon, hoping that, even if severe delays did occur, they'd be gone with the city's plunder before the full moon came around.

They failed to do so, overstaying their welcome, refusing to retreat after what they believed to be 'significant progress,' resulting in their force being wiped out in a waterbender counterattack, their attempt to retreat back into the sea being prevented by a wall of ice, trapping their forces only to be systematically eliminated by vengeful Northern forces.

This was all common knowledge, however. Not the siege, but the relationship between waterbenders and the full moon, how their powers seemed to increase exponentially during such an occurrence-a factor that, ever since this war's beginning, has been a thorn in our side, the water tribes never keen on letting us forget that for at least one day of each month, they held all the cards.

There were other reports, however, ones that didn't add up, ones that spoke of battles fought under full moons that resulted in either minimal water tribe victories to catastrophic losses for them. For occurring at times where they, theoretically, should have had all the power in the world, it made no sense. I was inclined to believe it was a matter of the skill of their warriors, unable to properly harness the full moon's potential to bring themselves cataclysmic victory. But even then, their losses during these events I'd singled out, ranging between the 70 to 100 percent casualty markings, it was too high. It didn't make sense.

I collected other reports that seemed to tell of similar phenomena, gathering them, but not quite sure where to go from there. I considered returning to the historical wing I'd been in before, but something told me I was onto something.

And so, to pursue this quest of mine, I gathered a number of these reports, setting off in what I assumed to be the only logical location-the astronomy section, wherever that may be.

I had only just begun setting off in that direction when, though I never felt it, I felt something, perhaps by some shift in the air, appear as though out of nothing directly behind me.

"Perusing military theory, I see?"

The cold serenity of the voice sent an uncontrolled shiver running up my spine, perhaps caused by the shift in the wind, the voice, or the dark shadow I suddenly stood in. I turned to face Wan Shi Tong where he stood, looking down on me like an unsuspecting hare that would normally make such a beast's meal.

I would have liked to say something, to respond to at least some degree, but I found the words stuck in my throat before I could. His patience for a response ran thin quickly enough as he continued, "You humans are all very alike, your quests for knowledge only limited to gaining some advantage for yourself over others. Immortality, politics, economics, warfare, you humans never surprise me."

To say nothing now would mean to essentially plead guilt. "You have in your possession the greatest storehouse of all knowledge in the world. A storehouse you allowed us to peruse at our pleasure."

"And yet all those who I have allowed into this great library have completed neglected that knowledge which may actually benefit the world. Knowledge of society, of architecture, herbalism, of the spirit world with whom your kind's connection has so sadly faltered over the last near ten thousand years."

"Ten thousand years. You mean Harmonic Convergence."

"Ah, so maybe you have learned something in your stay here so far. I highly doubt your kind teaches of this event in your own world. You impress me, human."

"What was Harmonic Convergence."

"I am not your tour guide. The knowledge you seek is within these walls. If you have trouble finding what you are looking for, consult one of my knowledge seekers."

"You criticize us for focusing on war, politics, and money, but when I ask you now for knowledge of something else, you ignore my request. Doesn't sound like you particularly care after all."

The large creature craned its head closer to me, its neck extending by meters just to reach where I was while still standing firm on its two feet, to the point I could nearly feel its breath against my face. "You are a bold one, human." He sighed, widening the distance between us. "But very well. Follow me and I will tell you what you wish to know."

And so he flew, but not far, and not fast, giving me the means by which I could follow him, past the shelves of military texts, through the great halls, across one catwalk after the next, down multiple flights of stairs, eventually reaching a wall, or perhaps a doorway, whatever it was, taking the appearance of some multi-petalled flowers, multiple circles within one another. It did, indeed, eventually prove itself to be a door as it the great circle rolled off to the side behind the rest of the wall, revealing within it yet another domed room, this one, however, far different from the rest.

In the center of the room sat a circular table, resembling that which one might find on the bridge of a Fire Nation cruiser.

Wan Shi Tong led the way, approaching the table, one swipe of his feathering hand causing the room to shift into motion. Light had suddenly entered the pitch-black room, myself looking up to see that the sky was in view. It's still night? I could have sworn it would be day by now. And where are we? I don't remember seeing this dome above ground. But it wasn't the sky. That became obvious enough by the movement of the stars, and the moon, the sight above me not that of the real world, but a complex machine that gave a view of the night sky, and, no, not just the night sky, of the heavens in their entirety, night becoming day, the sun moving across the sky, rising, setting, allowing for night to emerge again. It was a planetarium.

"This room is a great pride of my library. It took many centuries of studying your kind's machines to be able to craft such a room that you would be able to comprehend."

"I guess us humans are good for something after all. Should I guess it was Fire Nation machines you studied."

He seemed almost annoyed when he paused for a few moments before saying, "Yes." I suppressed a smirk, not wanting to get in the business of aggravating a potentially vengeful spirit. He said nothing more for a while after that, still at the table, with another swipe of his wing, setting the machinery into motion again, settling on an image of which seemed to make no sense. Some error in the machinery. Across the night sky, colorful swirls of green, pink, blue, red, and other colors appeared, seemingly dancing on the night sky.

"What is this?" I asked, attempting to make some degree of sense of the world around me.

"This is Harmonic Convergence. You may know that twice a year, during the Summer and Winter solstices, the Spirit World and the Physical Realm are at their closest points. This is the extent of it, however, our worlds remaining separate."

"With you being the exception, of course."

"I among others. Our worlds come no closer than this, however, save during Harmonic Convergence, where the divide between our worlds is nonexistent. Of course, however, this is only ever since the last Harmonic Convergence. Before then, there was no divide between our worlds."

"How many Harmonic Convergences have there been?"

"Since the dawn of life? Even I cannot say, but I have lived through 300 thousand Harmonic Convergences.

"300 thousand? That's over 3 billion years. The Earth isn't that old!"

"There is a lot you do not know, human. Your kind is still new to this world."

I put that thought aside. That would have to wait for another time. "And what was before then? Before you? Before the first Harmonic Convergence?"

"None of us can say for certain, but not one of us Spirits believe ourselves to be the pinnacle of life, nor its origin. We are not so vain. We believe there was something before us, is something above us. Though what, we cannot say."

"So, before the last Harmonic Convergence, our worlds were interconnected. What changed?"

"The Avatar. The first of his kind. Wan."

The Avatar? "What did they have to do with this?"

Before the last Harmonic Convergence, there was no divide between your world and mine. Humans could travel freely to the Spirit World just as we could do to yours. The Avatar, however, disrupted this balance. The actions of Avatar Wan broke the fragile balance between light and dark, throwing the Spirit World into disarray. His only solution for mending it was to separate our worlds, banishing us Spirits to our own realm."

"You sound bitter."

"'Bitter' is not what I would call it. I have no qualms with the Avatar's decision to separate our worlds, though others cannot say the same. Many spirits long for the day when they may return to the realm they called home for many millennia. I, however, do not."

"Clearly. You're here after all. What qualms would you have?"

"My presence here came at a sacrifice. My life of harmony and serenity in exchange for the chance to enlighten your kind. I am not alone in that sacrifice. Ran and Shaw, the essences of Fire, and others as well.

There are more spirits on this Earth?

I attempted to contain my surprise, and my satisfaction. I believe I may have had my answer. I played along, however. I couldn't risk leaving so soon. He'd suspect something.

"So what is your qualm with the Avatar, then?"

"The Avatar meddled in affairs that weren't their own. When Wan broke the balance between light and dark, deceived into doing so, he disrupted that which held the world together since the dawn of life for us. He closed the spirit portals that bridged our worlds, giving himself the mantle of "bridge," himself simply an Avatar of Raava's will."

"Raava? Who's she?"

"Raava is the spirit of light, until almost 10,000 years ago, bound eternally with the spirit of darkness, Vatu."

"So what happened, when the Avatar broke the balance?"

"He merged with Raava, becoming the first Avatar, eternally entrapping Vatu in the tree of time, having the gall to call what they did "balance." Hmm. Perhaps I am what you call, "bitter." Do excuse me. I seem to have lost myself. Is there anything else you wish to know, human?"

"Only one thing. If I wish to learn more of what you've said, where might I go?"

"Hmm." He eyed me, curiously. "Information of the spirits and the spirit world. Follow my knowledge seeker," he said, his eyes perfectly turning 180 degrees to reveal a fox standing at the doorway, sitting patiently. "He will lead you to what you seek. I have other matters to attend to. And do behave yourself. I have answered your questions here, but I will be less inclined to aid you "

And with that, he was gone, as though he'd dissipated into thin air, his silent wings carrying him far out of my sight before I could even react.

I smirked. You've already helped me more than you'll ever know.