Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan, and Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon.
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"Thoughts"
"Speaking"
This fanfic is an Alternate Universe (AU)
Explanations will appear as the chapters progress.
Some clues are more or less halfway through the chapter.
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Percy's Pov
The tournament, a sporting event that is held once a year with the aim of getting the youngest people in the Navy to show off their skills and the performance they will have in battle, in this way it is possible to rise quickly, get a position somewhere quiet or be the bodyguard of wealthy families, after all, this event is held in Palace City, a place where the minimum wage is a gold bar.
The event consists of two phases, the first is a race or rather a swimming competition from the gates of Azulón to the beach, after that you have to climb the mountain, reach the coliseum where the main function will be the combats. There are always variations of this competition, it is never the same at least in a few years, last year some of the fights were in teams and the year before last the coliseum was transformed into a large labyrinth where it was basically a pitched battle, it is believed that this year, the battle in the Colosseum will have the participation of some creatures, but it's impossible to be sure, these events are planned by Jeong Jeong and believe me, he's not a man you can get any information from.
It is said that a few years ago he was captured by some extremist rebel groups with beliefs that monsters are divine beings sent to guide us in our destinies, basically top class insane. His kidnappers wanted information about some of my father's activities and if he refused to hand it over they would have him implored for mercy, two weeks later Jeong Jeong arrived on the beaches of the Fire Nation... He used his kidnappers as human oars, sadly none survived.
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POV 3rd person
"Percy, shouldn't you be practicing for the fights?, The tournament is in three days, ¿what are you thinking?" A boy named Haru asked the green-eyed teen
The aforementioned was lying on the straw-filled floor of the corrals looking up at the sky hoping to find a solution to his problems, he had finally finished all his days of cleaning, however, although it is a relief not to have to clean up more excrement from those huge beasts, he was only overwhelmed by the thought of what would happen in the competition.
"I'm trying to figure out how to win the tournament without betraying Zuko," Percy looked away from the sky and looked at his friend.
Haru was a fifteen-year-old boy about to turn sixteen, the same age as Zuko and a little more than a year older than Percy, after all he is only fourteen. Like Zuko, Percy had known Haru, who was Jeong Jeong's grandson, for quite some time.
Haru is the most relaxed person Percy knows, he was wearing the black sweatshirt that Jackie brought him, it's really more his style than that of the guy with green eyes, cropped hair, classic military cut, shorts like those worn by fishermen and sandals that are too old. Haru refused to put on his military boots, as they hindered his firebending.
"Do you have any ideas?" Percy asked
"Not really, but does that matter?, your father ordered you to win the tournament, saving Zuko from a trip to the North Pole is really your goal, if you win the competition you will accomplish both goals" Haru waved his arms and looked up at the sky, implying that the matter was already settled
"And the part where Zuko finds out that I betrayed him in the competition, what's up with that?"
"At the end of the tournament your father will announce the prize, at which point, Zuko will see that the North Pole was never in the competition. He'll forgive you instantly so don't worry buddy, the matter is already settled long before it begins." Haru devoured the last piece of cake he had left
"... I think you're right, I worry about nothing," Percy said after a moment.
"To all this, what do you think if we go to the capital, an acquaintance hired me to investigate the city's drainage system, it seems that two workers are missing." Haru suddenly said
"How are we going to get there if it's a day trip?" Percy said before adding "I have to go to the competition"
"We'll take a hot air balloon, this way we'll be there in two hours."
It wasn't the first time Haru had stolen a balloon from the navy airfield, on one occasion he used it to visit his girlfriend and of course, Percy accompanied him, surprisingly no one found out... except for the guards, but Haru threatened to tell his grandfather about the illegal parties the guards threw when the head of security was away
"Come on man, you have to practice for the fights in the tournament, what better way to do it than with a real investigation, maybe we'll get lucky and find some monsters in there. We'll leave and come back before the competition starts. What do you think?" Haru said
Without thinking twice, we entered the airfield, met some guards but I guess they already knew about the little trip we were about to make, as the balloon was ready, brimming with hot air and some provisions, which one needed to survive a week, there was even a bag of money, too much of what they could spend in just one week. For a moment Percy wondered where it came from, the navy doesn't pay enough to see that kind of money, then he remembered that Haru was aware of lots of illegal businesses all over the Fire Nation, he even owned an underground casino that Jeong Jeong tries to shut down, but it seems, This casino changes location every day. It's a matter that has him too worried.
And Percy will never get tired of the view offered by the landscape when being inside one of the war balloons, watching in the distance the sea, a sea as blue as the sky itself, it is simply too beautiful to explain in words. At the same time you can appreciate the great expanse of territory of the fire nation, according to his father, all the territory arose hundreds of years ago by the explosion of a huge underwater volcano, but this explosion was so dangerous that some parts of what is currently the earth kingdom, were left underwater. Huge tsunamis appeared, as well as a huge ash cloud covered an enormous amount of territory.
It took years for the ashes to disappear, but the result is that islands emerged forming a huge archipelago that is now the fire nation, a land rich in flora and fauna, as well as important natural resources for the mining industry. After all, the entire nation has small volcanoes on its territory, some active and some not.
But back to the balloon trip, they arrived after dark at their destination, but the city was too brightly lit so it was impossible to lose sight of the destination, they slowly lowered the transport vehicle and landed on what appeared to be the runway of a small airfield, with enough space to store four or five war balloons.
"Haru, what is this place?, Where are we?" asked Percy as he looked around
"Percy, this is my workshop, headquarters, rest house, however you want to see it" Haru said as he got out of the vehicle and began to secure it, took some provisions along with some cash, he handed some to Percy, to immediately begin to cover the vehicle so that no one would see the flashy logo of the Fire Nation navy
"Are you telling me that all this is yours?, But when did you build it?, Does your casino make you good profits? " Percy asked, greatly confused
"It would be great if the casino left me those profits, not really, I got this in a card game against the 'dragon's tongue', their debt to me was too high so they gave me the airfield in exchange for forgiving their debt. If you ask me, it's one of the best deals I've ever done in my entire life" Haru showed a big smile when answering. "Look," Haru pointed down the hill to some small houses, "we'll stay in that house tonight, when the sun rises I'll introduce you to some people and we'll go to the drain to look for the missing people."
"Is the house yours too?" Percy asked
"No, it's from a friend's father."
"How did you meet him?" asked Percy, this time with some suspicion or curious for a history in it
"Well, my friend works for me at the casino, serving drinks, nothing bad, he's really a good guy," Haru said with a slight smile
"... I'd like to meet you" Percy said after a moment.
"That would be great, the only problem is that it can't be found."
"Is he working for you tonight?" Percy asked
"No, he's one of the two missing people, that's why we're here buddy, you'll help me find him" Haru wasn't going to admit it, but the reality is that he was enormously worried.
...
Before Haru and Percy reached the door, someone rushed out in the direction of these two, it was a little girl, she couldn't be more than ten years old.
The girl was dressed in a cute red dress along with pointy sneakers, she had long wavy hair and a pair of beautiful green eyes.
"Mr. Haru," the girl hugged Haru hurriedly and raised her head and asked, "Have you found my brother yet?"
Kindly Haru pulled her away a little, knelt down enough to stare at the girl, for a few moments he didn't say anything, it was obvious, like you tell a girl that her brother is probably dead in the drain
"I'm afraid there's no news of him yet Lian, we do our best to find him, that's why I brought him in," Haru and Lian looked at Percy, "we'll both look for your brother."
Percy quickly greeted the girl with a small smile and a wave of his hand.
As they entered the house, a man was waiting for them standing at the front door, he was too tall, a giant with muscles, he smoked a pipe just like Percy's father
"Good evening," said the man. "Is there any news of my son, Mr.Haru?"
"I'm afraid not yet, Mr. Chen," said Haru, "but we'll go in and get your son ourselves."
"I appreciate it, should sleep you, boys, you come from far away, in the morning we'll talk."
The man or rather Mr. Chen looked sad, understandable because of the situation, after all, the circumstances surrounding him are too difficult, Percy looked around the house a bit, large portraits of a woman were hanging on the wall, he assumed it was Mr. Chen's wife, however there were no traces of that woman, in the other paintings there was Lian with her brother and further in the center there was a large portrait, it took place on the beach, it was painted a huge blue sea, sand and a family as the protagonist of the image, in this one were Mr. and Mrs. Chen carrying a baby, which Percy assumed is Lian, for at the feet of his parents, there was a child.
The two of them headed to the guest room, there were two beds ready, as well as hot water in one tub and in the other there was cold water, but he was not in the mood for a bath.
"...Haru"
"What's wrong, Percy?" Haru asked as he lay back on the bed
"Well, you see... do you think that..." Percy stopped suddenly, he didn't want to continue with the question, he didn't know how to ask without being so direct
"What if I think Mr. Chen's son is dead?" Haru stared at Percy
"Well... if a monster is really involved, it's quite possible, besides it's been several days since its disappearance, if it's still alive, it won't last long without food or water," replied the green-eyed boy, pointing out several facts
"You may be right," Haru leaned back and closed his eyes, "but I promised Liz that I would find her brother, dead or alive
At the end of the sentence, Haru turned and turned his back to Percy, it was more than obvious that the conversation was over so the boy with green eyes didn't waste any more time and got ready to sleep.
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Later that night, when he opened his eyes again, Percy looked around, he was no longer lying on that comfortable bed in Mr. Chen's house along with his friend, he had never seen anything like it before...
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