Avatar, In A Darker World

Hey Guys. Long time no see. First of all, no. I am not returning to regular updates for this fic.

I currently have my plate occupied and frankly don't have much zeal for this book for the meantime at least as I failed with the pacing and can't correct it.

Hope it doesn't make you angry. Not holding much hope on that note for most of you though.

But I do have a few leftover chapters from Two Months ago which I will drop from time to time until they are exhausted as an appeasement offering.

Six to be exact. Five if this is excluded.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy.

.....

Southern Earth Kingdom …

Omashu ....

An Earth Kingdom soldier walked briskly down the stone corridor, his footsteps echoing faintly off the walls. Reaching the edge of the hallway, he stopped, pressing his hands against the wall. With a quick motion, he earthbent an opening into the solid rock, revealing a room dimly lit by lanterns.

Inside, Luca wakes up.

Whether he had been asleep or simply resting was unclear, but his expression betrayed no hint of surprise.

"The Earth King requests your presence."

He tells him.

Luca sits up.

"Where are they?" Luca asked.

"You mean your friends?" In response, Luca remained silent. The soldier frowned, taking his silence as a yes.

"They are in Earth Kingdom custody. The King has ordered it to remain so until he has spoken with you".

"What for?"

"He didn't say".

"..". Silence. Uncomfortable silence.

Just when the soldier was about to speak.

"Alright". The boy uttered indifferently and rose from his bed.

It had been a night since the Huo's arrest. Not surprisingly, Luca and the group were arrested as well.

He didn't know where they were, as they had been separated along the way. In which, he was brought to these chambers.

Looked more like a luxury home than a prison cell. According to the guard who escorted him, it was newly refurbished.

The walk to Bumi wasn't long.

Soon, they arrived before a large door. The guards on the sides pushed it open.

Stepping inside, the first thing that fell into his sight was a table filled with food.

Luca's gaze skipped the dishes entirely. And at the other end of the table sat the eccentric Earthbender himself.

Bumi.

"Ah! You're awake".

The boy's eyebrows shifted a bit.

'Guess I have to reconfigure my internal map. Clearly, this isn't the throne room. It's the dinner hall'.

"Hope you rested well enough. You have a big day ahead of you".

"Where are they?"

"Oh, your friends? Why they're doing just fine. Still have their bones and flesh on em. But worry not, we'll get to that soon enough. For now, sit, eat and tell me how well my head chef's dishes are".

The dark-haired boy moved. Made his way to the chair and sat down while carrying a fork and knife.

Thoroughly ignoring Bumi's scrutinizing gaze.

"Ah, so straightforward?"

"Do you expect otherwise?" Luca said, reaching for the meat.

"Perhaps. I would expect people in your situation to be more, cautious, restrained … Don't you think? What if your food is poisoned".

"If you wanted to, you would have acted the previous night. I was in a room full of earth. There should be no easier way for an Earthbender to take my life".

He replied blandly without raising his head.

'Interesting …'. A thought flashed through the Mad King's mind.

"Such mindset and awareness is something I haven't seen for a long time".

Bumi uttered with a raised eyebrow while chewing his lettuce solemnly.

"I take that as a compliment".

"Indeed. Such mental quality can only be seen in two types of people. Those who have given up hope and are ready to die, and those who simply see themselves in no danger to begin with".

"Of course, depending on the circumstances, one is much more pathetic than the other. But when reaching your level of blandness, I find both quite remarkable indeed. The question is ....".

Luca could feel the strong gaze grow stronger.

"Which one are you? Is it despair, or the exact opposite?"

In response to this question, the dark-haired boy replied without so much as a pause.

"I have no idea".

".... Is that so?"

Silence engulfed the atmosphere for several seconds.

"Alright then … Hold on, oh my! Where are my manners?" The old man smacked his forehead with his palm.

"I never even got the name of my distinguished guest".

'My Name?' Luca paused.

The boy's senses began ringing like an alarm going off. Worse still, he didn't know why.

Bumi was an eccentric character. Anyone else might chalk it up to the random musings of an old man, but Luca was an exception.

Because this wasn't some regular old man. He was the greatest Earthbender on the planet at this point.

(Toph would come to challenge him for the title in a few months, so until then, this was valid)

One of the top ten most dangerous characters in the series.

Luca wasn't the least bit fooled by their current peaceful exchange. In reality, he was walking on pins and needles.

"Sasuke". Still, he wouldn't show it. Uttering the name he had been using ever since as naturally as he could.

Unfortunately ….

".... Sasuke?" The old king repeated the word, raised his eyes upward and made a pondering face.

It looked like he was savoring it. Trying to remember something important.

"Sas …. Sasuke …".

"..... Nah, never heard of it. Not in my hundred plus years of existence. Sounds like a fake name …". Luca resisted the urge to spit out the peas in his mouth.

"... Or a code name". Finally, he waved his hand dismissively. "Either way, it's not a real one".

The hand holding the broccoli paused. The old man's eyes narrowed to form an intimidating glare.

"You should know, I don't like being deceived".

The tension in the air was palpable.

Luca didn't move an inch, his body ready to activate Density Shifting the moment this made geezer made the first move.

The sound of the soldiers moving their weapons behind him fell into his ears.

Just when things seemed like they were about to explode …

"Of course, since this is our first time meeting, I'll let it slide". The old king relaxed.

"Trivialities really. Besides, that's not why I brought you here".

'Finally getting to the point, huh?' Luca's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Now then. Let's talk. It's about Huo".

'Huo?' Luca was taken aback. 'Isn't that the lieutenant who Bumi imprisoned?'

"What about him?"

"He's dead".

".... Wait . What?"

"Yep".

"...".

"Surprised?"

"You killed him?" The boy frowned. Not puzzled by the man's death itself but by why he was being told this.

Bumi's grin returned, wide and wild.

"Nope".

"...". Ok, he was not expecting this.

"How? Suicide?"

"Wrong again young one. Poison". He would still be confused if the cause of death was suicide. After all, Huo looked to have it pretty bad yesterday.

But if the result was due to poison, then the fog on why he was being told this was partially cleared.

"I see".

"Hehehe, I like conversing with intelligent people". The old king chuckled.

Smart people didn't need to exchange too many words.

In a ruler's city, a prisoner who he was paying special attention to was suddenly killed by poison not long after.

Something was definitely wrong.

"The prison guard who delivered the food was found dead during the investigation. Apparently, he took his own life". Bumi no longer stared at Luca intensely. Instead, lowering his head to resume his meal.

"Daring to kill my men, under my nose in my city. Someone is challenging my authority".

This was the facts, and it was easy to speculate why. As a main character in yesterday's farce, Luca knew exactly why all this was happening.

The Haican incident. Refugee trafficking. Someone was trying desperately to cover their tracks, so much so that they would risk silencing Huo so blatantly in broad daylight to avoid getting discovered.

Only ….

"I see, but what does this have to do with me?"

"From what my men told me, you and your group of refugees are at the center of this whole thing".

The king snorted, raised his hand and gestured.

"From my inquiries, your comprehensive ability is the best among them and better suited. Hence, you are going to help me".

Luca's frown deepened instantly.

"I mean no disrespect, but you are the king of Omashu. With tens of thousands of soldiers at your command. I'm but an ordinary refugee. I doubt I am qualified to render any substantial help to you".

"Hahaha!" It happened then. The old king Bumi suddenly laughed out loud as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world.

"Oh …. He … Yes, I think even you will find your qualifications very fitting. Isn't that right …". His hand reached underneath his table. Following which, he pulled out a paper flyer.

".... Luca of the Fire Nation".

Bang!

The poster was slammed on the table with slight force. Luca's eyebrows knitted.

Because right on the table was a wanted poster was his name, face, and identity on it.

'… Well, it's reached this far, huh?'. This was his inner thought. In reality, however.

"I see". Luca's gaze rested on his picture with narrowed eyes. "My wanted poster. Should have guessed as much".

It all clicked. He had suspected that Bumi knew who he was the moment he asked for his name. Hence, his calmness, as there was no surprise at the revelation.

"Oh! Nothing? So calm despite being busted?"

Bumi watched with intrigue.

"What do you want, Bumi?"

His voice fell, the soldiers behind him frowned. How could a Fire Nation rebel dare to call their liege by his real name?

Unfortunately, they had barely taken three steps forward when Bumi raised his hand, signalling them to stop.

"Oh, cutting to the chase now, are we?".

"...". Luca remained silent.

"Very well". Bumi nodded, turning his gaze to the guards in the room. "Leave us".

The guards bowed without objection, then turned and left. The sound of the door closing in on itself fell, Bumi immediately grew serious.

"In a few hours from now tomorrow, My Goody Two-shoes Consul will be leaving the city for urgent business".

"I want you, to make sure that he never return".