1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: Alright—here's my first attempt at a 'next-generation' story. I know, I know, most others out there suffer from Mary-Sues and other common afflictions, but I'm trying my hardest to stay away from those (and the dreaded Anti-Sues...). Please don't approach this story with the regular bias that is against them.**

**That said, this is the trequel to **_**Power of a Thousand Spirits**_** and sequel to **_**A World Divided**_**. It is not absolutely necessary to read those two before this one—all you'll be missing is some of my OCs and the pairings, but that can all be explained here.**

**Okay, enough rambling! Enjoy the first chapter of **_**Out of the Shadows, Into the Darkness**_**! Thank you for help with the title, Andies! It's very much appreciated.**

**Warning! The story is filled with Zutara/Taang spawn XD**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and I am in no way associated with the creators of the show.**

**Out of the Shadows, Into the Darkness**

**Chapter 1**

Cascada was not like her sister. She did not take advantage of all the benefits that came with being royalty. She did not put all of her efforts into appearances. She did not put up a mask of royalty when in front of her subjects. She did not enjoy having servants catering to her every whim.

If anything, Princess Cascada was humble, modest, and a little shy.

However, palace life was all she knew. Every day, she awoke at the same time in the morning. She prepared for her day with the help of her servants (which she accepted reluctantly) as they brushed her hair, scrubbed her feet, and fit her into her clothing. Today, Cascada was garbed in blue satin robes. Some days they had the emblem of the Water Tribes, or the Fire Nation, or both.

Next, Cascada had breakfast in the dining hall with the rest of her family. She greeted the occupants at the large table politely before sitting down next to her older sister, Illah. She was the last to arrive.

"Cascada, is everything alright? You're never late to breakfast," said her mother caringly.

"I'm okay, mother," she answered softly, staring down into her plate and blushing from the attention.

"Ah, leave her alone. She's like your brother when it comes to sleeping in," said Father jokingly.

"She's also like Sokka when it comes to eating her food," Mother countered, grinning. "Aren't you, Cascada?"

"Mother, leave her alone," Illah said, her voice dignified and royal. Her voice turned to normal a moment later. "It isn't stately to make fun of a girl for her eating habits." Uncle Iroh chuckled.

"Oh, well shame on me," Mother said with a grin.

Conversation turned to other topics as Cascada picked at her food, relieved once all focus was off of her. The adults were all talking to each other at the head of the table—Father, Mother, Uncle Iroh, Uncle Jet, and Aunt Azula—while Cascada, her cousins, and her siblings sat at the other end.

Azulon was her oldest brother and heir to the throne. He was about as dignified as Illah, but he was much quieter about it than her. Father was grooming him to rule the Fire Nation. As such, Azulon was calm, collected, and a little stern. But he was her older brother and he was there for her, always. Whenever Cascada pictured her oldest brother, he was in a topknot.

Illah was next in line, Agni forbid if anything happened to Azulon. Just like their oldest brother, Illah was named after their ancestors. Illah was a Princess through and through, with soft, brown hair and high cheekbones, tanned skin, and a slender body. She was always with her friends when she wasn't with her family. She made Aunt Azula proud. Mother was also very proud of her—Illah was a waterbending prodigy. At times, Cascada admitted quietly to herself that she was sometimes jealous of her older sister.

Zier, the third child of Fire Lord Zuko and Master Katara, was sixteen and the most easygoing. He seemed to have no troubles but also no responsibilities. Every other day, Cascada saw him with a different girl. And when he wasn't with girls, he was pulling pranks on the rest of the royal family and the servants. Cascada often suspected that Zier was Uncle Iroh's favorite. While Azulon's hair was always in a topknot, Zier's was always messy. However, both brothers looked particularly Fire Nation, with dark hair and pale skin.

Cascada stared across the table at her two cousins, twin children of Uncle Jet and Aunt Azula. Both were fidgety and wore smirks that unmistakably labeled them as Jet and Azula's children. They seemed to be eager to leave the breakfast table. The girl did not need to ask them to know that they were planning something. She cast them a fairly suspicious look, but the two shot her a glare that clearly told her to not say anything and keep eating. Cascada lowered her eyes.

Kanzen and Shazhona were twins, but they did not look physically alike at all. Kanzen, the boy, looked exactly like a Fire Nation version of his father, Jet, with white skin and black hair. Shazhona looked just as much like her mother, but with tan Earth Kingdom skin and brown hair. Kanzen was a firebender. Shazhona was an earthbender. The twins were an oddity known throughout the Fire Nation, and they loved the attention.

"Excuse us, Mother, Father, Fire Lord Zuko," said Shazhona, bowing to each person in turn.

"We have stuff to do," Kanzen finished for his sister. His mother, sitting in front of him, narrowed her eyes and turned around, sharply jabbing the boy in the gut with her fingers.

"Say it with more respect!" General Azula barked, "And straighten your posture!"

"Yes, Mother!" Kanzen said hurriedly. "We have urgent business to attend to." Zuko nodded, masking his grin with the fingers folded in front of his face. With two final bows, the twins left the dining chamber.

"You're very rough on them, Azula," said Katara concernedly. "I hope you still don't shock them with your lightning."

Azula dismissed her with a wave of her pale, slender hand. "They're only light shocks. Completely harmless."

Cascada stood up quickly, making a hasty decision. "Mother, Father, may I go with them?"

"Yeah, get outta here," said Uncle Iroh, chuckling. Cascada smiled timidly, bowed, and hurriedly left. Once she was gone, the old man turned to the adults of the table. "They're all no fun. You've raised your kids to be so stern," he said disapprovingly. Illah smiled behind her glass as she took a sip of water, while Zier burst out laughing.

* * *

Cascada stumbled into the Palace's main halls as the twins darted away from her. "Wh-what are you two doing?" she asked them, but her voice was barely loud enough for them to hear. Kanzen, however, came to a stop and turned to his cousin.

"What's it to you, raindrop?" he asked her, crossing his arms and frowning. Cascada frowned at the nickname, which wasn't used kindly.

"You're both planning something." Cascada refused to look at them in the eyes as his sister walked up next to him, smirking condescendingly at the girl. Instead, the waterbender became suddenly interested in her feet, which were squirming against each other.

"And what are _you_ going to do about it?" Kanzen asked her gruffly.

"Yeah, you're too weak to stand up to _us_," said Shazhona.

"Watch out, raindrop! I'm gonna burn you!" Kanzen yelled with a wide grin on his face, rushing at the girl with fire in his hands.

Cascada let out a cry and shielded her face, causing the siblings to laugh at her. "You'll always be weak, little raindrop," the older boy said with a smirk.

"Weakling, weakling!" Shazhona sang. Cascada put her arms down and averted her eyes, her face burning with embarrassment. "Let's go, brother. She's not worth our time."

Cascada clasped her hands together behind her back and dropped her head as the two walked away with sneers on their faces, silently accepting their abuse. She was used to it. She had grown up with the fact that she was weaker than everyone else in terms of bending ability and strength. She wanted more than anything else to become stronger.

The girl was surprised when she felt the warmth of the sunlight hit her face, so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't notice she was walking to the courtyard. She looked around the area, noticed that she was alone, and walked over to the turtle duck pond, kneeling down next to it and folding her legs underneath her.

Since she was in an exceptionally good mood, Cascada stretched her slender, tanned hand over the pond water, making grasping motions with her fingers to pull a thin stream of water that snaked and bobbed to every movement of her hand. One of the turtle ducklings swam over to her stream and starting nipping at it, causing the bender to smile and giggle slightly at it.

She heard movement on the other side of the courtyard and looked up with an expression of alarm, spotting two figures walking into the square without noticing her. The bender dropped the water and hid behind the nearby tree, dousing the duckling with water.

"Cerelia, don't pick at those flowers, they belong to the royal family," a boy chided his two-year old sister. The little girl giggled, and based on her brother's next reaction, probably picked at them anyway. "Cerelia!" the older boy sighed exasperatedly. "You're going to make Mom and Dad mad."

_Please... keep going,_ Cascada silently wished to herself. _Don't see me..._

"Hey... Who's there?" said the boy, wandering over to the tree. Cascada's heart leapt into her throat. "Cascada, is that you?" The boy peeked around the edge of the tree trunk, eyeing the girl.

The waterbender's face burned when his face came close to hers, his vibrant golden eyes meeting her dull blue ones. "What'cha doing back here?" he asked her. He didn't seem to notice her beet red cheeks.

"K-Kaen!" Cascada stuttered. "I-I wasn't doing anything..."

"Well, it's good to see you," he said with a smile, putting a hand on her shoulder. The exposed skin burned. "Wow, you're really warm. How long have you been out in the sun?" he asked, peering close to her.

"Not long..." she said quietly.

"Hmm... Are you sick?" he asked, putting his hand to her forehead. Cascada felt lightheaded and sick upon contact, her eyes dazed and reeling, her stomach fluttering. Her knees wobbled and she almost fell over, but the boy caught her. Cerelia, Kaen's sister, giggled. "Whoa, there. I think you should get inside," said Kaen, holding her up by the shoulders. Cascada nodded feebly.

He guided her by the arm back to the shade of the Palace, talking to her along the way. Cerelia trailed along behind the two. "Remember when we used to play hide-and-explode over here when we were younger?" Kaen asked her. "Wow, we really haven't seen each other for a while..."

"Wh-what are you doing here today?" Cascada managed to ask him, regaining the use of her voice.

"Oh, my Dad's giving Fire Lord Zuko a report on the trading business with those Earth Kingdom merchants. Those guys are rather stubborn and greedy, and they don't really agree with the economical policies or something..."

When they were younger, Kaen was a regular visitor to the Palace. He was the son of General Kei and Song the Healer, two heroes of the war several years before. Kaen heavily resembled his father, having light brown hair and his golden eyes, as well as his skill with a sword.

"Kaen! I gotta _go_!" Cerelia whined, tugging on his hand and pulling him away from Cascada.

"Er... Well, I guess I'll see you later, Cass," said Kaen, waving glumly and going after his sister.

"Bye," Cascada said with a smile as the two walked away. Her smile faltered as Kaen's back turned, and she sadly looked at her feet. Would she _ever_ cease to embarrass herself in front of him?

* * *

Night fell, and with it came waterbending training. Every evening after dinner, Cascada was taught the art of waterbending by her mother. Shortly after they were married, Zuko had water gardens built on the Palace grounds for her mother where she could train and waterbend as much as she desired. Now, years later, Cascada and her sister Illah were taught by Katara.

The water gardens were a beautiful place. Stone, decorated basins of flowing water were hung around a central pool with water on all sides falling into it. Her mother seemed part of the water herself as she stepped into the pool, stepping lightly on the water and causing it to ripple slightly as she walked to the middle. Her deep, midnight blue robes flowed like water. To complete the scene, the moonlight made the water glow.

It was truly a beautiful and magical place.

A warm smile on her face, Katara lifted a stream of silver and went through some graceful motions as Cascada watched in admiration. For her mother, waterbending was not a tool of power—it was something to be cherished.

Cascada stepped into the shallower part of the pool, the water soaking up past her ankles and chilling her feet. She would never be able to replicate her mother's graceful motions, so she chose to wait and watch, as she always did, for her mother to finish. She was silent. She did not want to break her mother's concentration.

After a few moments, Katara let the water sink back into the pool. "Now, Cascada, tell me what you have learned about waterbending again."

The girl nodded. "Water is the element of change. It is passive. Waterbenders are people who can adapt. Water brings healing and life, but like all things, it has two sides to it."

"Very good," Katara said with a smile. The older waterbender drew a sphere of water and passed it to her daughter, which was returned. It kept circling between them. This was done in the beginning of every lesson, as it was meant to show the redirecting force of water. Cascada pushed it to her mother, and then pulled it from her. _Push and pull._ It was a calm and comforting dance.

"Mom, why doesn't Illah come to the lessons anymore?" Cascada asked her mother as the water was passed between them.

"Your sister chooses not to. I think her status as master has changed her view of things. She seems to think that she doesn't have to learn anything else now that she became a master," said Katara. "She'll come around eventually."

"Oh." They continued for several more minutes until Katara decided to make the lesson more interesting. She condensed the water into a block of ice and threw it at her daughter, who blocked it by raising a small wall of water with two hands, which she splashed back at her mother. Katara held the water and the ice in the air and then let it fall harmlessly.

"Good, now try the Octopus form," said her mother. Cascada nodded grimly—it was one of the moves she had the most trouble with. She pulled one tentacle from the water first, and then another, and another. Once she had four, the young girl struggled to maintain them and pull a fifth up. By then, one of her other tentacles began to waver. "Concentrate harder," said her mother encouragingly.

Cascada switched her concentration to the faltering tentacle, but her newest one quavered, and she moved to fix that one, and they all started to fall around her. Frustrated, the girl slammed her arms against the smooth pool, causing the tentacles to splash and fall. "Why can't I do this?" Cascada asked. "Why can't I get _anything_ right?"

Katara sensed the pain in her daughter's voice, but sighed as she let the young woman vent. "How come... it always came so easily to Illah?"

"You know what? I think it would be better if you talked to your father about this," said Katara with a slight smile.

"Why would I talk to Dad? He's... not a waterbender," said Cascada, one eyebrow raised above the other.

"What about Dad?" said Zuko's voice, walking up behind them. His outer robes were shed for the night, and instead he was wearing more casual clothing. Katara stepped across the water over to her husband and put a hand on his shoulder, leaning close to him.

"It's time for _that talk_," she whispered to him. "I'm going to bed now. Good night, my love," she said to her daughter with a smile. Zuko nodded as Katara left.

"So what did you need to talk to me about, Dad?" the young girl asked as Zuko sat down at the edge of the pool. He noted that her shoulders were slumped with defeat, so he invited her to sit next to him. She complied.

"Your bending," he said, putting an arm around his daughter. She gave him a questioning glance.

"I don't understand..."

The Fire Lord smiled to himself as he saw his daughter's look. As much as his sons resembled him, Cascada resembled her mother the most, but with an oddly misplaced meek look that came from who-knew-where.

"When I was younger, a little younger than you, I had lots of trouble with firebending," Zuko began.

"You?" Cascada asked, astonished. "But you're the strongest firebender in the world!"

"I was not always that way," he said. "It came with a lot of hard work and failure."

"I know what that feels like..." Cascada quietly agreed. Zuko sighed as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"It seems that you've inherited my family's curse," he said. She looked up at him again, seeing the unscarred side of his face. What did he mean? "For generations, my family and my ancestors have always been shadowed by siblings or other family... much was always expected of us, but we were all doomed to failure." Cascada lowered her eyes. What he was saying wasn't making her feel much better... "For me, it was always your Aunt Azula that was stronger, and she let me know it every day. My father thought I was a worthless son."

Cascada immediately grasped the seriousness of the topic. Her father almost never mentioned Fire Lord Ozai.

"But through all of my struggles, or because of them, I became stronger. One day, it will be worth it for you, too," he said to her with a smile.

Cascada hugged her father tightly. "I hope so," she whispered.

* * *

Once Katara reached her bedchamber, she changed into her nightclothes and released her hair from her topknot, letting it fall loose over her shoulders. She stared into the mirror as she brushed all of the knots out of her thick hair.

She wondered how her husband and her daughter's talk was going as she brushed. Many years before, Zuko and Katara hoped that with Zuko's redemption and cleansing of his family's sins, his curse would not be inherited by any of their children. Sadly, they were wrong. But Cascada had what none of Zuko's other ancestors did—family that loved and supported her. For her daughter's sake, Katara dearly hoped that she would overcome it.

Katara's hand slowed and she paused in her brushing, feeling a wave of an ominous presence. The dark feeling washed over her, taking hold of each of her senses, instilling her with fear and evil energy. Katara choked with fear as she saw a horrible white face in the mirror behind her. Reflexively, she turned around, but the last thing she saw was a claw swiping at her face.

Katara's scream ripped through the night.

* * *

**Author's Note: A little short, but it's the first chapter, so...**

**Please review! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Glad you all liked the first chapter :) Even though the review count was much less than it is for **_**Distorted Reality**_**, I don't mind. I'm not doing this for reviews, but simply because I wanted to share this story that I've planned ever since the beginning of the trilogy.**

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and I am in no way associated with the creators of the show.**

**Out of the Shadows, Into the Darkness**

**Chapter 2**

The rest of that long night passed in such a blur that Cascada wondered how she was able to deal with it all.

That very night, shortly after her talk with her father, the two heard a piercing scream echo through the Palace grounds. The two followed the sound of the scream as fast as their legs would carry them, but the Fire Lord did not bother to slow down to match the speed of his daughter. The young waterbender wondered why the scream came from the corridor where the royal family slept... _Please, not Mom, not Azulon, not Illah, Zier, Uncle_, she begged to Agni in her mind.

She was the last to reach the room where the piercing sound came from, as evident from the numerous guards and servants that hovered in front of the doorway. A weight dropped into Cascada's stomach when she noticed that it was her mother and father's bedroom...

"Move! Move out of my way!" Zuko shouted frantically, pushing through the guards and servants, trying to get into his bedroom.

"Dad!" Cascada cried, grabbing her father's arm, willfully being pulled through the crowd. The two stumbled ungracefully into the bedroom, where they both froze upon laying their eyes on the scene.

Her sister Illah was over her mother's body, her face tear-stained and in pain. Azulon was kneeling next to Illah, his arm around her shoulders to comfort his sister. Zier seemed to be in a state of shock, his face expressionless. Uncle Iroh wept silently behind them.

Katara, her _mother_, her wonderful mother, was on her back, motionless.

She had no face. The space where it should have been was little more than a blank canvas.

Zuko's agonized cry ripped a new hole through the night as Cascada wept.

* * *

By the next morning, Zuko was gone without a trace. He said nothing to anyone except for Azulon, his oldest son. He said that whatever happened to their mother, a malevolent spirit was the cause... and he and the Avatar went somewhere. Azulon was left to rule in the Fire Lord's place.

There was uproar once the Sages and the Generals found out that the Fire Lord was gone. Generals Kei and Azula did all they could to hold them back, and Fire Sage Iroh tried to calm the minds of the other Sages. In a matter of hours, the public found out, so Azulon himself was forced to assuage the people by telling them that he would be a good, strong, yet temporary leader.

Cascada spent her whole morning grieving by the turtleduck pond, her face a mask of stone as she stared blankly into the water. For all intents and purposes, her mother was dead. Cascada never before suffered the loss of a loved one, and it hurt so much because it was someone so close to her. Her mother was the strongest waterbender in the world... she wasn't supposed to fall so easily. Why would the spirits do such a thing to her?! She never did anything to anger them.

Cascada's normally calm and forgiving hands clenched in anger.

She just didn't understand. Why would her father just go off like that, with the Avatar on his bison, and leave his family behind in their greatest time of need? Did he possibly think that there was a chance to revive his wife? Was it possible, or was it just a false hope?

Could her mother still be alive? All signs pointed to her death—she had no face to breathe or eat with, her body was stiff with rigor mortis. Her heart was silent... but somehow, her skin was still warm, as it always was. Katara baffled the palace healers.

A tear dripped down the length of her nose into the pond.

"Cascada...?"

The girl turned to the figure quickly, slightly alarmed at the sudden intrusion. Upon seeing the person, Cascada wiped away her tears with the palm of her hand. "Hi, Kaen."

They were silent. For once, the waterbender found it easy to stare at the other boy fully in the face, without looking away in shyness or embarrassment, without a blush on her face. Sadness took precedence over all of her other emotions, so she felt, simply, nothing. Instead, their roles were reversed and his eyes were lowered, but not for the same reasons hers normally were. She was able to see his incredibly dark brown hair—long, and just a little messy—as it fell over his head, obscuring his eyes. His head was bowed.

"Cascada... I'm sorry about your mother," Kaen said sincerely. "Can I... Can I sit with you?"

She did not fumble over her words as she usually did around him. Instead, her voice was weak, rubbed raw from crying all night. "Yes."

For a long time, they sat in companionable silence. It was not uncomfortable or awkward by any means.

"Listen, Cascada," Kaen finally spoke. "You don't have to be alone in this." She looked towards him and he gave her a slight smile, expressing warmth in his eyes. "I'll be there for you."

Cascada's eyes widened a fraction and her mouth opened in a small "o" of surprise. Did he just say he would be there for her, with her always? She couldn't explain why she felt this way... but Kaen made her feel protected and secure. Her parents were an embodiment of safety and security her whole life—but now they were both gone. Kaen was all that was left.

To their immense surprise, a monstrous howl echoed over the Palace grounds, eliciting a gasp of fear from Cascada. "What was that?!" Kaen yelled into the sky, standing and putting a hand on the hilt of his sword. There was shouting and screaming. Guards stationed around the courtyard rushed in the direction of the Palace's entrance hall.

"What's happening?" asked Cascada, her voice full of fear. "I-Is someone attacking the Palace?"

"This doesn't make sense! If someone was attacking, they'd never make it to the Palace!" shouted Kaen. Suddenly, high above them, the two heard a loud, piercing screech. The two looked into the blue sky, right as whatever screeched at them spotted prey to pick on down below.

"W-What is that thing?" Cascada shrieked. "It's not some regular bird!"

"Cascada, stay back!" Kaen yelled, unsheathing his sword as the winged creature dive-bombed down to them. As it neared, Cascada was able to see the creature in more detail. The first thing she noticed was a sharp beak, beady black eyes, and sharp talons. The creature had tight, leathery skin stretched over a bony body structure. It was no regular animal.

It was a monster.

Kaen pointed his sword at it as it got closer, but brought up his other hand and concentrated, gathering flames in his left palm. He threw his hand forward, launching it at the monster. The winged creature shrieked and stopped its dive, frantically flapping its wings to avoid the ball of fire that interrupted its dive. Before it could retaliate, Kaen struck the creature with another fireball, wounding it in its naked chest. Enraged, the monster flew down to swipe at him with its talons, but the swordsman sidestepped and brought his sword down hard on the creature's spine.

The monster slid to the ground, writhing and screeching in pain, shaking Cascada's very core with its inhuman yell. Very suddenly, the monster stopped twisting and fell limp. Before either of them could wonder what happened, the monster disintegrated into black dust, which floated away and dissolved into the air.

"What _was_ that thing?" Kaen wondered aloud. He looked down at his sword before sheathing it, expecting to have to clean his blade of the monster's blood... but there was nothing on it. Did it even bleed?

For the third time, the two heard simultaneous screeching above them, but now it was three more of that same monster coming for them.

"Kaen, there are more!" Cascada shouted, pointing up into the sky.

"We need to get out of here! Into the Palace, quickly!" Kaen yelled, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her out of the courtyard. Once the two were under the shade of the Palace, the creatures overhead circled in the sky like a group of dastardly vulturats.

"What's happening? Where's everybody going?" Cascada asked fearfully, noting the panic among the guards as they rushed to the front gates of the Palace. They dodged around the Princess and her companion, not even giving them a glance.

"I'm going to follow them," her friend said to her. "You stay and go find somewhere to hide."

"I'm not going to stay! I want to help!" she protested mildly. Back in the courtyard, she hated how she watched in fear as Kaen was forced to do all the work.

"Cascada!" Cascada and Kaen turned to the source of the voice, spotting her sister Illah running down a different hallway toward them. The older woman was running—Cascada had never seen her look so ungraceful. However, her face was dutiful. "Take this," Illah said, tossing something to her. The young waterbender felt the object in her fingers. It was her mother's old leather water pouch, filled with her element.

Illah, a master waterbender, rushed outside with no fear of what lay before her. In a situation like this, Cascada couldn't help but admire her sister.

"Now I can help," Cascada said with an uncharacteristic grin. Kaen sighed, defeated, but nodded quickly.

"Stay with me."

The girl slung the water pouch over her shoulder and ran together with Kaen to help the Fire Nation soldiers. But, Cascada noticed, deep down inside of her, she felt the faintest hint of revenge stirring within her heart. For some reason, she felt as if the monsters and her mother's death were connected.

There was another situation happening near the Palace's entrance hall, which the two soon noticed. The soldiers that were moments ahead of them were all clustered here, trying to fight off an unseen enemy. Each of their movements were frantic and they were all shouting, rushing to attack something on the floor. And then Cascada spotted it—there was a tiny, flaky little creature skittering across the floor. It was almost bug-like in appearance. Its numerous legs were twiggy but ended in sharp points, which the creature was using to attach itself to the walls, which it flailed across with unsettling speed. It scoped out the occupants of the corridor with its large, protuberant black eyes.

The soldiers missed two of them, apparently, as the small creatures rushed at Cascada and Kaen. The guards went outside to fight whatever was out there, and now Cascada fearfully assumed that there were more monsters. Kaen sheathed his sword as they came closer, choosing instead to release long, continuous orange flames from his hands, sweeping them across the floor. The panicked monsters came closer to Cascada, who swiftly drew water from her pouch and cut one of them it like a sword, killing it instantly. Just like before, the tiny monster dissolved into little black specks. Kaen devoured the second one with flames.

"I've never seen something like this in my life," Kaen mused for a moment. He quickly shook his head and, with a glance at Cascada, ran through the Palace's double doors.

Outside, the two were met with devastation. Cascada paused to look over the Palace grounds, the place she had called home for her whole life. There were soldiers outside the Palace walls, in the city where the nobles lived, but a large part of the devastation was contained inside the grounds. Slightly to the north of the Palace, the Fire Temple loomed on a high cliff, which seemed to have the largest amount of monsters surrounding it.

All around her, monsters of varying shapes and sizes ravaged her home, some disintegrating into dust upon being stabbed by a sword or spear or flame. The ground was scorched and bloody as some even feasted on the people. Cascada was devastated. What was happening? What was the cause of all this?

She had not even realized that she was frozen in place until Kaen shook her out of her stupor, his voice far away and resonant. He drew his sword, wreathed in flames, and slashed at a large, flightless winged creature not unlike the ones from earlier. Kaen parried its beak with his sword, but the stronger monster lunged at him again. The young man fumbled with his sword and was unable to block...

"_Kaen_!" Cascada screamed. The swordsman fell back just as a lance of ice impaled the creature. To Cascada's immense relief, Illah was there and she had saved his life. Ice daggers seemed to materialize in the air around her sister, all of which formed a circle around the dying creature and promptly finished it off. Illah condensed more moisture from the air into a thin stream of water, which flitted through the air and cut more of the unknown monsters. Zier was there the next moment, flames flying from his hands, swallowing monsters in the torrent of fire. Zier, too, was a master bender.

There was a flash of lightning and Cascada saw her Aunt Azula fighting off several enemies at once, decimating them with her prodigious skill. Jet wasn't far from her, ripping the creatures' protruding bones right out of their bodies with his hook swords. Kaen's father, General Kei, was leading a group of men outside the gates to protect the citizens of the city. The twins and her oldest brother were nowhere in sight.

"Cass, where's Azulon?" Illah shouted to her.

"I-I don't know!" Cascada cried back, clutching her water pouch up near her face. Uncle Iroh, aging but still proficient in battle, dispatched one of the larger monsters with his breath of fire.

"Your brother went up to the temple," said Iroh. "Go, and help him." Illah, Zier, and Cascada nodded grimly, looked at each other, and ran towards the cliffside temple together. Kaen hurried after them, quickly saluting Fire Sage Iroh.

The siblings and Kaen quickly noticed that the monsters grew denser as they neared the temple, which forced Cascada to reuse the same water whip on some of the smaller enemies. Flying monsters swooped down on them. Many soldiers were overrun on the ground.

"Why isn't Azulon ordering an evacuation of the city?!" Zier shouted, talking to his older sister amidst the blasts of fire. Illah smashed a large, hairless, bear-like creature with a torrent of water, hurling it into the stone cliffside where it died as all the others did.

"Nobody can find him!" Illah shouted back. All four heads turned at the sound of a massive explosion, seeing the firebender On Ji at the source. She fired explosive bolts from the Eye on her forehead, long since mastering the use of it. She was one of the most powerful firebenders in the world, and her help was welcome. Her husband Teo and the Fire Nation resident inventor fired off rounds of crossbow bolts at the numerous aerial enemies.

"What an idiot!" Zier shouted over the numerous explosions. "Just when we need him most!"

Illah, Zier, Cascada, and Kaen finally reached the beginning of the mountain path that led up to the golden Fire Temple. Cascada had walked this rocky path many times on her way to prayer every week. Never had she seen it overcome with monsters. Blood splattered the trail.

Illah held her hands out before her, manifesting a thick stream of water that rolled and simply pushed the terrible creations off of the mountain path, throwing them to their doom. Cascada and her brother and sister knew the path well—every crevice to avoid, the place to stay the steadiest, and the most dangerous parts of the path were all ingrained into her mind. Kaen stumbled once, but recovered quickly.

Together, Zier and Kaen cut a swath through the hordes of monsters surrounding the temple. Here, the Fire Sages were the only ones fighting, and they were getting overwhelmed by the second. _How come most of the monsters are by the temple?_ Cascada wondered to herself, whipping a tiny feathered monster. The four approached the beautiful golden temple amidst the chaos. Simultaneous blasts of fire erupted from the Fire Sages surrounding the perimeter of the temple.

"Prince Azulon is inside!" one of them told the three royals. Illah and Zier were the first to burst through the temple's heavy double doors and shut them tightly. Once inside, it was eerily quiet.

The Fire Temple was built after the fall of Ozai after the first one was destroyed in the Avatar's battle. It was said that as a result of that battle, the temple was a highly spiritual place. The new temple, like the old one, contained several floors. The first floor contained the Sages' texts, the second was a small shrine to the Goddess of Water, Nian, and the third and final floor was the main shrine to the God Agni, of Fire. Only the royal family and the highest ranked Sages were allowed to enter the third floor sanctuary.

"Oh no..." Zier suddenly said, his gaze fixed on the stairs. Cascada followed his stare to a streak of blood that led up the stairs.

"That can't be Azulon," Illah said steadfastly, as if steeling herself.

"We have to keep going," Cascada said with surprising conviction. Mother and Father were gone; Azulon couldn't be, too...

The four teenagers continued following the trail of blood up the winding stone stairs, passing the second floor since the blood continued. It seemed as if the wounded person dragged themselves up the stairs...

As the four were about to turn the last bend, they were surprised by a downpour of water that rushed down the stairs, probably the result of a large amount of water up in the top floor. Illah stopped the flow of water just in time, keeping them all from tumbling down the staircase. The master waterbender let the water continue its flow, unimpeded by the four people. Illah, Zier, and Kaen adopted bending stances, ready to strike... Little did anyone know, the water that fell down the stairs behind them faded away.

"Azulon!" Cascada shouted to her brother as soon as he was in sight. Her oldest brother was on the ground, bleeding, looking up at an unseen figure on the other side of the expansive chamber. Her yell captured his attention as the four benders ran into the chamber of Agni and the giant, golden dragon statues. The first thing Illah did was run to her older brother, healing gloves of water covering her hands. She kneeled over his body and quickly began mending his wounds as Zier, Kaen, and Cascada stood around them.

"Who is that?" Kaen was the first to ask, eyeing the figure across the room. It was clear to them all that it was a woman, her face partially obscured by a wide, circular hat and a veil that fell from it. Her clothing was odd and archaic, but Cascada was the first to recognize her and the peculiar red markings on her face.

"That's the Painted Lady!" the young waterbender yelled, a hint of childlike curiosity in her voice. Then, she quickly grew confused. The Painted Lady was a spirit, albeit a well known one throughout the Fire Nation. What was she doing here, and in physical, solid form?

"The painted _what_?" Zier asked her, perplexed.

"The Painted Lady, patron river spirit of the Fire Nation," Cascada informed him. Her voice suddenly quieted. "Mom used to tell me stories about her."

"She's dangerous—get away!" Azulon shouted to them. Cascada turned to look at her oldest brother, alarmed, as Zier and Kaen fell into firebending stances. The Painted Lady, standing closest to the statue of Agni himself, the proudest golden dragon and bearer of the first flame, moved to attack.

Silently, the spirit seemed to fly into the air, and whether by some kind of magic or very powerful waterbending she was able to condense water out of thin air, terrifyingly faster than Illah could. For Cascada, the water seemed to have some sort of ethereal quality to it...

The torrent of water swept through the chamber, and Cascada prepared to do all she could to keep it from toppling them all. Just as she braced herself for the impact, Illah stepped by her side and helped her redirect it back to the river spirit. However, before it reached the Painted Lady, the water simply vanished into thin air.

"What was that?" Kaen asked, bracing his sword tightly.

"That is not regular water!" Illah shouted warningly to them. "It has spiritual qualities!"

The Painted Lady summoned a wall of water, constantly twirling and bending within itself, and thrust it at Illah, who drew water from the mist which suddenly surrounded them. Illah froze the wall of spirit water and sent her own water that she had gathered across the floor to the spirit herself, which spun in circles and then jutted up from the ground as ice spikes.

The human waterbender was taken by surprise when the spirit ice wall in front of her melted into water and twisted into a tight drill, grinding deep into her shoulder. Illah gasped in pain, but before she could do anything else, numerous blades of water struck out at her and she fell to the floor, as bloody as her older brother Azulon.

"Illah!" Cascada cried. Zier growled in fury and rushed up to the Painted Lady, hurling fireballs angrily at her as he neared. The previously benevolent spirit blocked some with impromptu walls of water, but some hit her in the gut and pushed her back with what could only be guessed as pain. It only proved that the Painted Lady was unusually solid... but why?

Zier and Kaen fired simultaneous wheels of flame at the spirit, who summoned a destructive clap of water in response, sending Zier reeling. She focused on him as the bigger threat, sending continuous barrages of ice spikes at him, followed by powerful, twisting snakes of water until he was finally subdued, smashed against the wall of the temple where he slid to the ground, unconscious.

Cascada's eyes easily betrayed her fear as she froze on the spot, once again. There was no chance they could win against such a powerful spirit... they were all going to be killed. The Painted Lady turned to Kaen next.

"Cascada, I learned her strategy!" Kaen shouted to her, his face and clothing rugged and wet, his golden eyes set and determined. Cascada listened to him, but kept her eyes on the malevolent spirit. "For some reason, she's staying close to Agni's statue, can't you see?" He spoke quickly, not even pausing to see if she was listening. "We'll both attack at once, from both sides. She won't be able to dodge."

"But... wait..." Cascada said weakly. She didn't have enough water at her disposal! There wasn't even enough water in the pouch at her side to begin with, and after all of the battling... The girl sadly lowered her eyes in defeat, feeling anger at herself for giving up when Kaen was willing to fight longer.

Once her eyes made contact with the floor, her hope was renewed—there was water all over the place, from her sister's fight with the Painted Lady. The young waterbender lifted it all and pulled it all under her control, feeling suddenly more determined and ready than she had ever felt in her life.

"Let's go!" Kaen yelled, eliciting a war cry as he ran towards the Painted Lady with his sword poised to strike. Cascada ran towards her from the other side in a pincer attack, gathering all the water to a concentrated point near her fist, pulling it back, ready to strike...

The waterbender and the firebender both attacked right through the Painted Lady's sudden but feeble defenses, striking powerfully where it counted most. The force of the attacks bombarded her into the golden, solid statue of Agni, where there was a sudden flash of bright light, blinding the two benders as they steadied themselves on solid ground. When they were able to see again, they were absolutely shocked to see the spirit figure pulling herself back up into a standing position.

Cascada and Kaen both readied their elements, but the spirit held up a hand to halt them. "Thank you," the Painted Lady said softly, her voice having a strange echoing quality to it. And suddenly, the woman spirit seemed just like Cascada's mother used to tell her. The waterbender lowered her guard with relief.

"The world you live in—and indeed even ours—is in mortal peril," said the river spirit, calming the minds of both children. "A powerful spirit is beginning his plans to destroy the Spirit and natural worlds, and only you can stop it... Seal all of the Spirit portals to keep the worlds from connecting." The spirit's body seemed to be rapidly fading away, from solid form to spirit form, where she was dissipating into nothing...

"Wait! What are those monsters outside?" Cascada asked the spirit.

"They are the Ju Ling, monster spirits from the darkest depths of the Spirit World... they are fading away, but there will be more. Beware, and the best of luck to the both of you..."

"Wait!" Cascada yelled again. "I want to know more! What happened to my mother?!"

But she was already gone.

And suddenly, the tired bodies of the two benders couldn't stand anymore, and so they fell, meeting absolute darkness.

* * *

**Author's Notes: I did not like the way the short conversation with the Painted Lady turned out... but I guess the chapter was incredibly actiony to make up for it. I hope you all liked the chapter anyway :) And by the way, the Painted Lady's very fast conjuration of water was because she summoned it right from the Spirit World.**

**And since I will probably have very few chances to say it in the context of the story, I'll say everyone's ages now. Cascada and Kaen are both fourteen. Zier is around sixteen or seventeen. Illah is about eighteen or nineteen. Azulon is in his early twenties. Jet and Azula's twins from the first chapter are sixteen.**

**An update for Distorted Reality is next, hopefully by next week. This update was pretty quick... O.o.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer****: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and I am in no way associated with the creators of the show.**

**Out of the Shadows, Into the Darkness**

**Chapter 3**

Cascada's eyes blinked open, fluttering several times to get used to the sudden light. The rising sun set rays of light into her spacious bedroom, full of trinkets from various family members and friends—an Earth Kingdom doll from her Uncle Iroh, a Water Tribe boomerang from her Uncle Sokka, an elegant golden fan from her Aunt Suki. Uncle Aang—the Avatar, who was more or less related to her—spoiled her ceaselessly with jewelry and other useless baubles.

And with a start, the waterbender remembered the events of the past few days.

Avatar Aang and her father were gone, vanished into the unknown. Her mother was dead.

An army of monsters had attacked the city and the Palace.

Cascada shot out of bed, throwing her red satin sheets off of her as she dashed out of her room, barefoot, uncaring of her appearance.

"Hey, wait a minute! Princess!" a voice shouted from behind her. Cascada slid to a stop and looked behind her, spotting Shou, one of the guards.

"Shou! Th-the monsters!" she cried. "Where is everyone?"

"Calm down, Princess Cascada," he said, his eyes warm and kind. "Everything's fine. Those monsters are gone."

"They are?"

"Yeah. They all just disappeared a little after you went into the Temple," he explained. "They found you unconscious and put you to bed."

"_The world you live in—and indeed even ours—is in mortal peril. A powerful spirit is beginning his plans to destroy the Spirit and natural worlds, and only you can stop it…"_ With a flash, Cascada remembered the words of the Painted Lady before she faded away and she and Kaen lost consciousness.

At that moment, Cascada registered her disheveled state and her bedclothes, which were loose, red, and revealed her midriff. She was suddenly gripped with embarrassment, blushing furiously and attempting to cover herself. The friendly guard seemed amused as she inched back into her room, laughing nervously and stuttering. "Th-thank you, Sh-Shou, s-see you l-later."

"Bye, Cascada," he waved, hiding a smile. As the girl shut the door, she let out a nervous sigh. Thankfully, she had known the man who had guarded her door for a large portion of her life. She was glad that he saw her before the whole _Palace_ did.

* * *

The way her mother was laying on her bed, it was as if she was asleep. Cascada sat next to her mother, there being more than enough room for the both of them on the spacious royal bed.

Cascada held her mother's hand, which was still so unusually warm. Katara's face (or lack thereof) was completely covered in a thick, dark veil, hiding the horrible thing that had happened to her. As Cascada sat, alone, with her mother, her thoughts wandered to the terrible monster attacks, and then the night her mother was killed. There was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, a sort of intuition that those two happenings were connected.

She wished she could talk to her mother. She needed help.

And then, unbidden, the tears came again. Cascada brought her mother's hand up to her cheek, as if imagining Katara consoling her, telling her that everything was alright as it always was. "Mom, why did this happen? Everything's so confusing without you…" she sobbed. "I wish everything would be okay again…"

"Then let's do something," Kaen said from behind her. Cascada visibly jumped and turned around to the other boy slowly. "Only we can stop this. Only we can bring your mom back."

Cascada sniffled. "B-but how?" She wondered how long he was standing at the doorway. She wiped her tears away with the palm of her hand as he walked further into the room.

"Do you remember what the Painted Lady said?" Kaen reminded her. When she didn't answer immediately, he continued. "It's up to us. We don't know why, but we have to seal all of the Spirit World portals around the world and stop whoever's trying to destroy it. Only a spirit could have done something like that to Master Katara."

"D-do you think we can?" she asked lightly. Kaen clenched his fist in front of his face.

"I _know_ we can." Cascada tried to mask a smile as she saw the determination flare on his face.

"I-I'll go get Illah," she paused. "And Zier. And Azulon."

"No need," said another voice from the door—her sister, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. "This journey is for you two."

"W-why aren't you coming, sister?" Cascada asked, blue eyes wide.

"Well, first of all, _you two_ were the ones to defeat the Painted Lady. Second, with Mom and Dad gone, Zier and I have to help Azulon. We'll be too busy."

What was her sister saying? Was she going to send her and Kaen out into the wild, with nothing but the clothes on their backs? Cascada quickly became a little worried.

"Don't worry," Illah continued, as if reading her thoughts, "You two are going to be traveling in style."

* * *

The Royal Airship Dock was located directly west of the capitol city, situated in the mountains that hugged the western coastline of the Fire Nation. The airship landing was small, but it only needed room for two of the royal family's private airships. The rest, either for military use or public transport, were elsewhere.

A palanquin carried Cascada and Illah through the mountain pass that led to the aforementioned airship dock. Kaen walked alongside them. Cascada would have joined him, but with her absolutely strict and royal sister, Cascada was forced to ride with her. Thankfully, Illah allowed her younger sister to join her in her own palanquin, since Cascada disliked having another palanquin just for her. More bearers weren't necessary, after all.

The royal airship dock was open to the sky, with high walls surrounding it that made it look more like a stadium. In the center, the two airships were grounded, while the rest of the complex was almost completely mechanical. Wires and pipes crisscrossed across the ceiling and walls. Mechanics and engineers were in a bustle as they were running back and forth from the airships and their workshops. Cascada liked being here—the din of machinery often overshadowed everything else and had an odd soothing effect, leaving her alone to her thoughts.

Teo, the head inventor of the Fire Nation and family friend, almost seemed to live in this place. Because of him, the royal airship docks had become a center for technology. Here, he and his father invented steam trains that ran through the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, a result of the mix between old Fire Nation technology and the earthen, archaic trams of Ba Sing Se. Nowadays, Teo often worked on improving the power and flight of airships, making them last longer and move faster and have more capabilities. It was to him that the royal sisters and Kaen went.

His workplace was cluttered with machinery, but Cascada smiled all the same. It was always like this. "Hello, Master Teo," greeted Illah.

The inventor, previously engrossed in his work, jumped in surprise and nearly dropped all of his things. He lifted his goggles and stared at them with surprise.

"Princess Illah! Princess Cascada!" he welcomed, hurriedly moving himself from behind his desk. He wasn't sitting in a regular chair—it was a chair on wheels, which he needed to travel with because of his immobile legs. "How good to see you!"

"No need for the formalities," Illah said uncharacteristically. "You've been a family friend since before my brothers and I were born." His wife, Lady On Ji, was also a kind woman known to the royal family.

"All the same, all the same…" he muttered good-naturedly to himself. "So what brings you here, your royal highnesses?"

Illah rolled her eyes and Cascada giggled, but the older Princess continued. "My younger sister and her friend need a method of travel. I don't know how long they'll be gone, but we need a pilot for one of the airships."

"That's no problem, I have just the person for the task…" said Teo. "But what's their destination?"

"C-Crescent Island," Cascada suddenly said, the words popping into her mind. Kaen and Illah gave her odd looks, but the young waterbender shrugged it off. "It is one of the most spiritual places of the Fire Nation."

"Oh," Teo mused, "Is this a pilgrimage of some sort?"

"You can say that," Kaen answered furtively.

"Ah… it's one of _those_ trips, I gather," said Teo. "I will call for the pilot immediately." He pulled on a chain dangling from the ceiling, causing a tinkling sound to occur. Cascada had seen the inventor do this often—it was his method of calling people to him.

"U-um, M-master Teo, what's that?" Cascada wondered, pointing at the strange object Teo had been working on before they arrived. It was vaguely L-shaped in appearance, curved, and made of metal. There was a peculiar triple-barrel at the end of the object.

"Oh, this?" Teo picked up the object. "It's something new I've been working on. It's a long-range weapon, more effective than a bow and arrow or a crossbow, if I can get it to work…"

"What does it do?" Kaen asked, his interest perked.

"It shoots these little metal pellets from the barrel," Teo clarified, putting the weapon to his eye and peering into said barrels. "Sparkpowder sets it off, but I can't figure out how the user would trigger it…"

"Turning back to weapons manufacturing, I see," Illah observed.

Teo adjusted his goggles. "Well, you see, it's because of the recent monster attacks. Who knows if it will happen again?" To this, Cascada, Kaen, and Illah shifted nervously. "My crossbow wasn't very effective against some of the more protected beasts. On Ji, however, and her combustion, did amazingly…"

"Hey Dad, what did'ya need?"

Cascada, Kaen, Illah, and Teo looked to the doorway, spotting a near-copy of the inventor himself, except that he had his mother's golden eyes. The boy, a peer of Cascada, was greasy and covered in smudges of oil and had messy brown hair, as she had always seen him. As was usual, he wore a brown tunic, pants, and a pair of goggles strapped to his head and armed with a tool belt. He stood in front of the door, looking surprised to see two royals in his father's workshop.

"Hey Cascada, hey Illah," he greeted the two Princesses. "Nice to see you, Kaen." Illah promptly slapped him with a whip of water, eliciting a shout from the boy.

"Address us properly, you little whelp!"

"Ow! Stop it! You never had a problem with it when we were all younger!" the boy protested, throwing his gloved hands up in defense.

"Now, now, Sid, calm down," said Teo to his son. Once the two stopped squabbling, Teo continued. "Sid, I need you to pilot one of the royal airships. Princess Cascada and her friend Kaen need transport to Crescent Island, as soon as possible."

"What? He's a pilot?" Kaen asked, staring down at the shorter boy.

"Yes, I'm a pilot!" Sid retorted angrily. He jerked a thumb at himself. "You're looking at the best and youngest pilot in the Fire Nation!"

At age thirteen, Sid really was the best pilot in the Fire Nation. As long as she knew him, the boy was always up in the sky. Occasionally, he would even be the one that piloted one of the royal airships even when he was as young as nine years old. He had plenty of experience. In addition, the boy created the blueprints for both royal airships and even helped in the construction of them, as well as repairs.

Placing the triple-barreled weapon down, Teo spoke to them all. "Normally, Sid alone would suffice for piloting the ship. However, since this is royalty on a mission we're talking about, he'll require a crew." To this, the boy looked a little disgruntled. "However, he will be the head pilot." Sid brightened again.

* * *

"This is my pride and joy, _The New Moon_," Sid introduced Kaen to the airship. Cascada, of course, had been on it several times, mostly to visit faraway friends and relatives. Her only true friend, living in the Grand City of Heng, was Ping. She was able to confide anything and everything in her. As Kaen gaped in wonder at the airship, Cascada smiled, thinking that, perhaps, Kaen would become a true friend, too.

_The New Moon_ was, indeed, something to gape at. Fashioned after the zeppelins, the very first airship models, the flagship of the Royal Fleet was a much improved version. It was made predominantly of metal, but it had a blue hue and it gleamed in the sunlight. The front of the hull was fashioned in pure gold, giving the airship a beak-like tip. Numerous propellers jutted out from the top and sides, and there was an expansive wooden deck situated right under the blimp, giving passengers a chance to walk outside and see the ground below as the airship took flight.

"This is what we'll be using," said Sid, grinning. "Crew, assemble!"

"But, sir!" one of the crew members hastily said, "_The New Moon _is in for repairs!"

"No it's not," Sid said, affronted. "_The Pride of the Phoenix_ is!" That was the second royal airship.

"Sir—!"

Sid interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "This ship is fine. We're going to use it."

"Y-yes, sir! Whatever you say, sir!" The man saluted and ran off. Cascada and Kaen shared a quick glance, both finding it odd that grown men were being bossed around by a thirteen-year old.

* * *

_The New Moon's_ bridge was a magnificent place, just as grand as the rest of the ship. It was a large room with three circular platforms arranged in a triangular shape. One of these platforms was for the captain—Sid—in which he controlled the airship. Another was for the navigators, who had maps laid out in front of them. The third platform had half a dozen seats for the royal family during takeoff, where Kaen and Cascada were sitting now.

Next to Sid, a trumpet-like apparatus was sticking out of the floor. One long pipe led down into the bowels of the airship. Sid shouted into the apparatus. "Start up the engines, crew! Complete all preparations!"

Moments later, a loud humming ensued—the distinctive steam engines of the airship. Kaen immediately started clutching the hands of his seat tightly.

"H-have you ever r-ridden an airship b-before?" Cascada asked her companion.

"N-n-n-o, n-n-n-never," said the firebender, his knuckles turning white. The color drained from his face as the airship lifted up into the air.

"Let's get outta this dump! Here we go!" Sid shouted gleefully.

Unlike Kaen, his place of calling was in the air.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I had no idea the days were passing by this fast… It only occurred to me today that it was Sunday! I thought it was Thursday or Friday! :O Shows how much **_**I**_** pay attention.**

**Anyway, I've decided that the chapters for this story will be much shorter, but the updates will (hopefully) be more frequent, in contrast to DR which has longer chapters but slightly less updates. Sorry if this is an inconvenience!**

**One last thing—there are going to be a **_**lot**_** of Final Fantasy references in this story, for those of you who recognize those games. Have fun spotting them! :)**


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