“They’re ready for us,” he said to the only other person in the room with him.

Before he opened his eyes, Wang sensed her. The moon spirit, a veritable fount of power and spiritual light at the center of his camp.

“I’ve found the moon spirit,” he announced.

“That makes our job easier,” the soldier mumbled as he scooped up a Fire Nation helmet and offered it to Wang. “If all goes well, we won’t have to fight half of the Fire Nation army while we flee.”

‘I think that’s a forgone conclusion,’ Wang idly thought as he slipped on his helmet, but he tapped the young firebender on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine," he said in his gravely voice. "You’re the safest place in this camp. Right next to me.”

Prince Zuko gulped. Strangely, his words did not do much for the young prince’s nerves, but like a seasoned soldier, all signs of weakness and uncertainty disappeared as they crossed the tent flaps.

His movements were so precise and natural that Wang thought he’d have made an amazing Ghost. Soon, they arrived at the rendezvous point, a tent where the rest of the white lotus waited.

The air was downright frigid despite being mid-day. The Old fogeys that made up the White lotus were dressed in dinner attire, all looking like they were about to burst out a Pai Sho board and drink tea rather than start a skirmish, but Wang knew appearances could be deceiving.

Only three came. Iroh, Bumi, and Jon Jon. But it was all they needed. The plan was to rescue the spirit without a hitch, but they were here for backup if and when problems approached.

“General Wang,” Iroh nodded. “It’s good to see you, again.”

“I'm glad you could make it,” Wang grunted. “It has been 15 years since we shared a battlefield. Though, I hope this time it will be a lot less bloody.”

“There’s still plenty of time to change that,” Bumi snorted a laugh.

“Perhaps after we’ve saved the world, and you’ve returned my son to me?” Jon jon said, shooting Bumi an annoyed look before turning to Wang. “The boy just stepped out of his tent to consort with his Generals. The time to act is now.”

Wang tapped into One-With-The-World to confirm Jon Jon’s information. “I’m surprised he let the fish out of his sight, even if the meeting is one tent away,” Wang said, then asked Bumi.

“You have the containment?”

Bumi grinned, then slammed his leg to the ground. An earthen tank appeared. Inside were multiple backpacks with fresh water.

“Let’s save the world then,” Iroh said.

---

Mark walked down a dirt path with his head hung low and his senses spread far out as he came to another empty Earth Nation town.

Mark knew that the trip would most likely be a waste of time. He'd find nearly no one in the village. They were all either dead or left for the nearest Earth Kingdom stronghold. Not even bandits were left over in most towns he visited nowadays, but he had to make the trip anyway.

He'd severely underestimated how much food he'd needed to survive the drought. His dried meat stores were running out faster than he could hunt. He ate through his food stores at unprecedented speeds because of his new training regimen.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

After all, he needed to be ready when the big fight finally came.

But after watching the world slowly dry out over two months, it occurred to Mark that all of his enemies might probably be dead before the five-month waiting period was over.

Between the drought, starvation, banditry, and death...he was beginning to only slightly regret not considering Aaron's offer more deeply.

'Of course, it would've blown up in my face. The dude was basically a puppet for his grandfather. As if he'd actually go against the old man. But he'd pulled off impossible feats before..."

Mark let out a long sigh and walked deeper into town. As he’d predicted the town was bone dry.

It felt like no one had lived there for quite some time. Mark raided all of the stores and homes he could find and was ready to move on when he came across a cellar with a metal door in an abandoned residence in the nicer part of town. With a stomp and wave, the door folded inwards and shot into the darkness, which gave way to something truly unexpected.

An entire Cellar filled Rice Wine.

“Holy shit!” He laughed. “At least I know I won’t be thirsty. If things get really bad, I guess I’ll survive on Chi and wine.” Idly, he wondered if drinking as a minor was safe as he pulled the cork off a clay bottle.

"Bah, Old enough to kill, old enough to drink."

He took a long swig and received a notification that made him wish he'd been a little more cautious.

You’ve ingested enhanced Shirshu paralytic. You’ll be unable to move your body for 12 hours. Because of your high body stat, Paralysis duration is halved. You’ll be able to move in 6 hours.

Mark would’ve screamed if he could move his mouth. He toppled over like a sack of wheat, wide-eyed and utterly terrified.

How could he have been so stupid? Drinking mystery wine out of the only cellar in an abandoned town. Dumbass.

He’d trained so hard and been so careful, only to be outwitted by Rice Wine of all things.

'It wasn't even all that good,' he swore in frustration.

This entire time, he’d expected some climatic battle between himself and Aaron or some other powerful Phantom.

'Oh God,' he gulped. His stomach churned just thinking about the pain that awaited him back at the Phantom base. ‘Ren will flay me alive for trying to kill Aaron,’ and so would every other Phantom.

His heart nearly gave out when he heard footfalls. Several men streamed into the room, dressed in Earth Nation uniform, but they all carried themselves like they’d received the same training he had. Mark waited with a bated breath for the Phantom overseeing them to join in, but when no one showed up, he burst out into wild laughter, his relief palpable.

“Jesus Christ, I thought I was fucked for sure.” At that moment, he discovered that his mouth still worked, and so did most of his head.

The tallest of the bunch strolled up, his eyes dark and empty, his accent thick. “Oh, you are fucked.”

Mark recognized his voice from the trap the ghosts laid out for him a few weeks back. In retrospect, it was obvious that they wanted him to hear them speaking. The trap was probably set to spook him from his hideout and get him out on the move.

Mark laughed again. He must've looked like a fool to them, but he was fairly confident. In the past, a paralytic would've been enough to stop him, but now that he had two extra sub-minds working with him, losing control of his limbs seemed more of an inconvenience than anything.

“Things must be really bad if they couldn’t spare a Phantom,” he said. “How did you know I’d drink the wine?”

“Your ego betrayed you,” the ghost declared. “You think you’re smarter and better than everybody else. Of course, you’d think no one else could get to the cellar locked behind a steel door.”

“You know, thinking you’re better than everybody else is not a flaw if it’s true,” Mark said, as he gathered Chi. It moved like molasses, but his lips still stretched to a smile. They would not know what hit them.

“I am going to enjoy beating that entitlement out of you,” the Ghost said with a hungry voice. “I will make sure to leave you well enough for Master Aaron to get his turn.”

Mark froze, and the Ghost smiled at his reaction.

“Oh, you thought you killed him,” he said. “He’s already back on his feet, and if the reports are right, he's stronger than ever.”

Mark felt a sudden wave of…relief. It was confusing as hell, but he was glad the ghost confirmed his teacher was alive. He wasn't excited about the stronger-than-ever bit. Honestly, he hoped the guy was lying. Otherwise, his victory wouldn't be as easy as he hoped.

“You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.”

The Ghost looked at him confused, and that was when he struck. Three thin spikes shot out the ground where the they stood at near-impossible speeds…to hit absolutely nothing.

The ghosts dodged them all.

Mark scrambled to gather more chi but felt a sharp jolt at the base of his neck. Everything went out of focus, and in his last seconds of consciousness, it dawned on his startled mind that he’d been knocked out.

“How…”

“You’re not nearly as good as you think you are,” the man smirked.