"The library is buried?!" Professor Zei rushed over and dropped to his knees, scooping up sand in despair. "My life's ambition, reduced to sand."
A second later, he pulled out a shovel. "Well, time to start excavating."
Curious, Toph stepped forward and placed her palm against the sandbrick tower. After a moment, she turned back to the group.
"Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact." A brief pause. "And it's HUGE."
"There!" Sokka pointed toward an opening at the top of the tower. "Maybe we can climb up there and take a look inside?"
Everyone agreed except for Toph, who walked to Appa. "I say you guys go on ahead without me."
"You got something against libraries?" Katara asked.
Toph raised an eyebrow.
"I've held books before. And I gotta tell you—they don't exactly do it for me."
"Oh, right," Katara sheepishly said as she apologized. "Sorry."
"Let me know if they have something you can listen to." Toph added with a wave.
I glanced at her. "Shall I wait with you?"
She shrugged. "Go with them, I guess. Maybe they'll need your help with some heavy lifting. I'm fine here—there's just sand, sand, Appa, and more sand everywhere."
I hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just go. I don't need that much babying," she said, shooing me away.
As Sokka and Katara prepared to descend, tying a rope at the opening of the tower to climb inside. Aang stood beside Appa, patting him gently.
"Don't worry, buddy. I'm not making you go underground ever again. You can stay out here with Toph."
Appa gave a low, rumbling growl as Aang, with Momo on his shoulder, flew to the edge of the opening. Grabbing the rope attached to the tower, he gave his companion one last look before disappearing inside.
"Call me if anything goes wrong," I said seriously, glancing back at Toph, who rolled her eyes at my concern. Seeing that my point had been made, I gave her a wave before jumping after them.
...
Now that they were alone, Toph gave the sky bison a look.
"So... what's up?"
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Scaling down the tower, we eventually reached a point where the walls split apart, revealing the vast space hidden beneath the desert.
A massive library stretched out before us. Huge doesn't qualify when speaking of this place.
Bookshelves and narrow walkways spiraled downward into the depths, descending farther and farther until they vanished into darkness, with no end in sight.
"Oh, it's breathtaking!" Professor Zei gasped in awe as he landed lightly on the walkway below. He immediately pulled out a notebook and began sketching the scenery.
"The Spirit spared no expense in designing this place. Just look at those beautiful buttresses!"
A few snickers escaped our group.
What? I was sixteen. I was obligated to laugh at "butt" jokes.
Professor Zei looked up from his sketchbook.
"What's funny?"
"N-Nothing," Aang answered a little too quickly. "We just really like architecture. Same as you."
The professor smiled warmly.
"...As do I."
Soon, the rest of us slid off the rope onto the walkway. Professor Zei stepped forward, his eyes locked onto the large mosaic above the twin pillars.
"My word!" He exclaimed. "The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol—"
He noticed confused stares from Sokka, Katara, and Aang.
"Eh," He pointed at the mosaic with both hands. "Nice owl."
My body tensed as soft rustling echoed deep within the shelves behind us. I immediately pulled Professor Zei behind a pillar. The others followed suit, slipping into cover behind nearby structures.
Footsteps echoed through the library, accompanied by the sharp sound of something being lifted and set down with each step.
Carefully, I leaned out from behind the pillar and stole a glance.
A large creature five meters tall stepped from the shadows. The great Spirit was an owl.
A very, very large owl.
Curious about the rope suspended above the walkway, it tilted its head left and right, then slowly rotated it a full 360° degrees, locking its gaze directly onto them.
"I know you're back there."
A deep, raspy voice rang through the library.
Aang gasped softly. Professor Zei was practically vibrating in place.
And before I could stop him—
He stepped out from behind the pillar, a wide, reverent smile on his face.
"Hello," he said. "I am Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University. It is an honor to meet you, o great Spirit."
The owl lowered its gaze, staring at him with cold, unreadable eyes.
"You should leave the way you came. Lest you wish to become a stuffed head of anthropology."
Zei's eyes flicked toward the rows of preserved heads behind the Spirit. He gave a nervous gulp and instinctively clutched his neck.
Seeing that it was not immediately hostile, the rest of us slowly stepped out from our hiding places and regrouped near Professor Zei.
"Are you the Spirit who brought this place into the physical world?" Sokka asked cautiously.
"Indeed," it replied, raising its head high. "I am Wan Shi Tong—'He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things.' And you are obviously humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my library."
"What do you have against humans?"
The owl tilted its head toward Aang, who innocently asked, then let out a dismissive huff.
"Hm! Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans. Like that Fire Bender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy."
He leans towards Sokka, who is visibly sweating.
"So, who are you trying to destroy?"
"Whattt? No-no-no-no, no destroying at all," He rapidly waved his hands. "We're not into that."
It blinked its eyes. "Then why have you come here?"
Sokka flicked his eyes around. "Um... knowledge for knowledge's sake?"
... It stayed silent for a moment.
"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it."
"I'm not lying!" Sokka quickly grabbed Aang and pulled him forward as a shield. "We're with the Avatar! He's the bridge between our worlds—he'll vouch for me."
He gave him a nudge for good measure.
"Uh," The Avatar cleared his throat. "Yeah. I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word."
That's the cue to bow.
We bowed to Wan Shi Tong in unison as a sign of good will.
"Hmm," It thought briefly before sighing. "Very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection—on one condition. To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."
Knowledge? I looked at the group who were equally surprised.
"Please," Zei kneeled down and presented a book. "Accept this tome as a donation to your library."
"Oh," the Spirit said, glancing at it. "First edition. Very nice."
With a wave of its massive feathered wing, the book vanished from Zei's hands.
Giving one last bow, he immediately scrambled forward, eager to start reading the books that were laid scattered around the library.
Katara stepped up next, offering a Water Bending scroll.
Aang followed, handing over his wanted poster—face, name, and bounty clearly displayed.
Sokka, after a moment of hesitation, quickly tied a butterfly knot and presented it with a bright smile.
To my—and everyone's—surprise, the Spirit accepted it.
Then it turned to me.
I reached forward—
"No need from you," Wan Shi Tong interrupted.
I froze. "Huh?"
Wan Shi Tong leaned in, its face suddenly inches from mine, eyes unblinking.
It lowered its voice to a whisper.
"You've already given me all I need to know..."
"Outcast."
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NEXT UPDATE: 15 July, Wednesday
A/N: So, my employer recently pointed out that I had quite a few outstanding tasks to complete. That's never a great sign, and it's the reason there weren't any chapter releases on Thursday to Saturday.
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