The fight between Bumi and Zhuge damaged the castle as the two powerful earthbenders unleashed their full power without restraint. One was fighting to kill, while the other was fighting to survive.
Bumi never expected that his fiercest battle, the one in which he came closest to death, would be against his own son. This placed an inevitable mental burden on Bumi that eventually began to hinder his performance.
The worst part was the silence in the building. When the king finally left his room, he found several guards lying on the floor or leaning against the wall. They were all breathing, but their faces were gone!
Their faces had been stolen! This filled Bumi with rage as he realized what had happened and why. His anger toward his son had grown so much that he could no longer remain silent.
"Was this the price you paid?! You let a repulsive being in and sold people who had nothing to do with your rebellion!" Bumi demanded, hurling crystal spears at Zhuge. Zhuge deflected the projectiles with his own spear before stomping the ground. A wave of sand split into tendrils that tried to capture his father's body.
"What does it matter what happens to that rabble? They never did anything for me! They should be grateful that I regained my youth by selling them!" Zhuge pointed at his increasingly wrinkled face, though he was unable to notice it.
Bumi simply created a wall of earth to shield himself from the sand, then slid across the ground and fled. He had to admit, whatever had been done to his son had enhanced his power beyond what he possessed at his age.
'Or is this the price of old age?' Bumi thought, narrowing his eyes as he reached one of the gardens of his castle. At that moment, he turned around and waited for his son to approach.
"Did you choose this place for your grave? I'll bring you bouquets of the flowers that grow here," said Zhuge sarcastically. His father didn't respond. He simply assumed a standard Earthbending stance, which he didn't need at his level but had done out of a sense of ritual.
"I don't think I'm going to die today, strange prince." Suddenly, a third voice spoke up, and several metal spears rained down on Zhuge. He had to create a dome of sand to protect himself while dodging the spears and looking toward his attacker.
Toph was the first to react when the fight broke out. After all, she never stopped using her seismic sense, which steadily improved as she tested it in challenging environments such as ice, ships, and aircraft.
Her tousled black hair was a sign that she had just woken up. In fact, she was wearing a long nightgown. She was perched on a wall, crouched like a monkey, watching everything.
She had taken the metal from those strange people who hadn't moved during her journey. Knowing that something bad had happened, she alerted her friends, who scattered, searching for possible threats.
Who was with Toph? Zhuge glared at the Airbender monk who jumped off the wall and landed slowly next to his father. Avatar Aang appeared, looking at the prince with disgust.
"Why are father and son fighting to the death?" Aang asked, noticing Bumi's somewhat torn robe with a little blood on it. Zhuge also had wounds, but his face was most striking.
Part of his face remained young and smooth while the other part was full of wrinkles. The edges of his face had a sinister red glow. The Avatar already had an idea of what had been happening, given everything they had seen along the way.
"Well, family matters," replied Bumi somewhat apathetically. The prince frowned, adding yet another wrinkle to his face.
"What do you know, you uncivilized orphan?!" Isn't your culture all about being detached from family ties? How could you possibly understand this situation!?" Zhuge shouted. Toph silently pointed at him while inwardly marveling at the guy's bravery.
"I understand you're angry, but we can avoid personal attacks..." Aang tried to be reasonable, but a barrage of earth spikes was fired at him. He created a dome of air to deflect the attacks.
Wanting to find common ground, the Avatar ignored the fact that he'd been attacked and tried to strike up a friendly conversation with Zhuge. However, Zhuge didn't want to talk; he wanted to fight.
The prince charged at Aang with a spear of compacted rock, aiming for the Avatar's heart. He was going to pierce through anything that stood in his way!
Aang sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Just as Zhuge was about to stab him, Aang opened his eyes and emitted a spiritual pulse accompanied by a strong gust of wind that pushed Zhuge backward.
A tremendous pressure, the result of a vast amount of spiritual energy, was felt. The most powerful being in the world gazed at the prince, his eyes glowing with a bluish-white light and every line shining brightly, representing his mastery of Airbending.
Due to the massive amount of air he was controlling, Aang's body rose slightly. Rocks floated around him. Bursts of fire shot from his nostrils like a sleeping dragon. Streams of water were drawn from the air itself, covering Bumi and healing his wounds.
"Prince Zhuge! Your stubbornness has brought you before me! Your stubbornness has blinded you! It has made you unable to see the world or the real situation. It has made you unable to see yourself! Look at your face and tell me what you see!" With a wave of his hand, Aang covered Zhuge with a dome of ice so smooth that the prince could see his reflection.
No matter where he looked, he saw that face. It was partially aged and distorted by his negative emotions. A sheen covered it, a trace of the manipulation Koh had performed on this part of his body.
At that moment, Zuko, Azula, and the rest of their companions arrived in the garden. They saw Zhuge screaming inside the dome and trying to escape his reflection, but he always ended up seeing it.
Whenever he tried to close or cover his eyes, Aang's gaze fell upon him, pressing down so hard that his body was paralyzed by instinct, preventing him from moving.
"So, a son trying to kill his father? Hmm..." Azula looked at the situation thoughtfully as she recalled things Shisui had told her.
'I've been seeing this in my dreams, Azula. I saw strings controlling our lives. I saw you as a puppet on a stage, reenacting the same story over and over again. I saw Ozai poison Azulon and abuse your mother, Zuko, and you. I saw you become a parody of a proper, noble princess. I saw you go mad or, worse yet, fall slave to your basest instincts or, even worse, those of others.
I saw how you despised yourself and used your body as a tool. I saw how others saw you as a vessel to vent their most disgusting carnal desires. I saw Zuko fall into despair on a senseless quest, only to find redemption amid so much confusion. I saw him become a parody of himself, falling further into disgrace.
I saw the two of you, siblings, fighting over a throne neither of you was ready to take. I saw Zuko fight Ozai to the death, though sometimes he simply let him go. Sometimes it was you who fought against your father. Azula, you are no longer a puppet. No one will be a puppet. Those futures and scenarios will not come to pass as long as you, I, and the others can prevent them.
I think we've already prevented those futures, but I'm afraid the threads will fall upon us again. So, Azula, help me fight against those futures that must not happen if they ever threaten to occur.'
This memory occurred during a long conversation she had with Shisui a few days after he attained enlightenment. At first, she thought they were just dreamlike visions of the enlightenment process, a metaphorical way of describing part of it.
However, after learning about a spiritual figure, she realized that her fiancé had seen things that had deeply affected him. She wasn't stupid and had become more knowledgeable by spending time with Shisui.
Zhuge's situation reminded her of the scenarios Shisui had dreamed about and described in great detail. At the time, she was worried because they weren't normal visions. Over time, however, they faded away, and she forgot about them until now.
"It's a sad way to end our stay here, I suppose. I think we should leave soon," Zuko suggested, prompting the others to nod. It really wasn't appropriate for them to stay.
Just then, Zhuge's face stopped glowing. His body aged, and his face returned to its previous state. The castle was plunged into a terrible silence and enveloped by a strange presence for a moment before it vanished.
"Was that a spirit?" asked Ty Lee, somewhat confused. Aang, who had ceased to be in the Avatar state, nodded. He had seen the transformation that the Mother of Faces had unleashed in the area for a few moments.
Soon, voices could be heard in the castle. It seemed that the people had regained their faces! However, this joy was overshadowed by the most important event of the night:
Bumi, now healed by Aang, seemed to have aged several years overnight. The ordeal had undoubtedly exhausted him, and he could barely stand upright. Various thoughts ran through his mind.
"After you finish your business in Ba Sing Se, can you come back? This time, I'll welcome you better. Besides, I might prepare a celebration for something important," said Bumi, his voice sounding tired.
"What will you be celebrating?" asked Sokka, intrigued by the old man's words. Bumi simply turned his gaze to Yun, who had arrived in the garden with some soldiers. Many of them were without their weapons and armor because Toph had taken them.
"A coronation."
…
The airship carrying the group, as well as Appa with a certain Avatar on his back, took off from Omashu and soared up into the clouds. Shisui stood on the deck and watched as the city grew smaller in the distance.
"Our stay was pretty rushed, wasn't it? I wanted to spend more time here. I wanted to fight Bumi, but that bastard beat me," the Sage complained. He felt bad about the whole situation in Omashu.
"Don't worry. We can go back. Besides, we have a stop before we reach Ba Sing Se. Let's hope it's much better. Although that library in the desert already puts me off. I love the sun, but not the intense heat," said Azula, who hugged her partner from behind, trying to cheer him up.
"Right! I'd love to contribute to that library. I hope the spirit that runs it lets me!" Shisui remarked, smiling and excited at the thought of that scenario.
However, he wasn't the only one heading to the Si Wong Desert. A man with fairly long black hair and a small pair of glasses covering his dark eyes was studying a map while looking for something in a settlement.
"Shouldn't there be a huge chunk of ice here, Su?" he asked his guide. She simply shrugged and pointed in a certain direction.
"Qin, the ice you're talking about ran out years ago. What did you expect? We're in a desert. It's hot, and we're thirsty. Some people are trying to find another block of ice, and some even want to order one from the poles. But no one thinks that's feasible." Su replied. Qin nodded, looking a little sad.
"Well, then, take me to a decent place to try the local food," the man said, glancing sideways at someone passing by before continuing on his way.
As he folded his map, he took the opportunity to look at a small red piece of paper with a short message that was full of information that someone had placed in his hand.
'Oh, so I'll get to meet the Sage in person,' he thought, tucking the scroll into his travel bag with the map. If anyone were paying attention, they would notice that the same men were always passing by Qin.
They also looked at the traveler with respect, as if he were an important figure, but Qin didn't mind, as he was used to it.
After all, he had lived his entire life under similar stares.