"You called for --" Agni's voice cuts off in a hiss. "What happened?" the Sun Spirit demands.

Ozai can't see anything with his eyes sealed as they are, but the spirit sounds equal parts concerned and furious. One overly-warm hand grasps his shoulder, but its mate instead comes to rest on his cheek and Ozai can't help but flinch away with the memories of his first Agni Kai still fresh in his mind.

Agni ignores the involuntary action as he gently helps the Fire Lord to lay back down.

"Nightmare," Ozai chokes out, "I don't usually react this badly." He groans as he settles into the overabundance of pillows on his bed. "I feel awful."

He really does. His stomach is roiling with a lingering nausea, his chest is tight, and his entire head is caught in a dull but very noticeable ache.

Agni's hands skim his body, first over his chest and abdomen, then up his sides, and back down his arms. He has no idea what the spirit might be searching for, but the actions feel oddly like a healer's examination and Ozai can't shake the suspicion that that is exactly what they are.

"What did you dream of, child mine?" Agni asks. The spirit's hands sweep over the Fire Lord's neck before briefly cupping the sides of his head. Agni makes no more remark on the mortal's second flinch than he had about the first. "A nightmare should not have done this."

"Liukshi," Ozai answers and asks, "Do you --"

"That shattered fool!" Agni seethes in a low growl.

"You do know him," Ozai concludes needlessly. He frowns in confusion. "What do you mean 'shattered'?"

"Later," the spirit says, "For now, Liukshi's actions must be mitigated. Brace yourself, Fire Lord. I am about to wake Caldera."

Panic hits him like a charging Komodo rhino.

"Wait! What? Agni, what are you --" His eyes fly open. "-- going to do?"

The room is dark with only the stars and setting moon to illuminate it. There is not a hint of the burning Sun Spirit to be found.

Ozai's fists clench in the sheets. 'Caldera' is a rather aptly, if unimaginatively, named city. 'Wake' and volcanoes in the same sentence generally mean tumult at best and catastrophe at worst.

The volcano continues to slumber but the city does erupt after a fashion.

The sun must be an hour beyond the horizon yet, at least, but suddenly Agni is everywhere. The guards outside his suite startle so badly that Ozai can hear the clank and crash of their armor plates as they meet roughly with other hard surfaces before the cacophony of rushing flames drowns out every other sound in the palace. The Fire Lord watches past the open curtains of his balcony, dumbstruck, as thick streams of white fire rise from the city to combine in the air high above Caldera's rooftops.

He almost misses when the doors to his suite are thrown open but he manages to drag his gaze away from the sight beyond his balcony. One of Agni's physical manifestations stands in the doorway.

"Fetch a maid!" Agni orders over the roar, "The flames will not harm you! And allow Iroh of Second Fire entrance when he arrives!"

"What?" Ozai croaks out as Agni stalks back to his bedside and one of the guards tentatively sets out through fire-filled halls.

"Y-yes, Agni!" the remaining guard gasps out and closes the doors behind the Sun Spirit.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Liukshi is a spirit of hidden knowledge, and dreams have long been his preferred method of contacting mortal minds," Agni starts his belated explanation. He gestures out at the new sun being created over Caldera and continues, "While it is unlikely he acts with malicious intent, he has a history of making exceedingly poor decisions. Allowing the flock to linger is not a risk I am inclined to permit."

"Flock?" Ozai questions faintly.

"Indeed." Agni places one hand over the Fire Lord's heart and the other over the pool of chi in his belly. Whatever the Sun Spirit is doing feels strange. The closest thing he can think to compare it to is waterbending's healing capabilities, though even that is a poor comparison for the sensation. Still, the nausea finally begins to subside, his headache fades, and each breath becomes easier to draw.

But there is apparently a flock of these spirits out causing mischief in the capital.

"Do you know how many people Liukshi's flock would have affected?" he asks, already dreading the answer.

"No more than ninety-seven at one time, but the flock may have shifted from dream to dream throughout the night," Agni says, removing his hands. Ozai moves to sit up and, although Agni frowns at him, the Sun Spirit allows the action. He feels better, if not fully well. Agni continues, "Liukshi will likely have joined the dreams of those in the palace, first, before moving outward to seek other sleeping mortals to whom he could reveal some facet of hidden knowledge."

"The children!" Ozai suddenly realizes. He's used to thinking as the leader of his nation, not as a father, but he has a son and daughter now and they need someone to --

Agni's hands clasp his shoulders and halt his movements before he can stand. "Your heir and fledgeling are both well. You, Fire Lord, will rest."

"But --"

"Rest," Agni repeats, pushing him down to the mattress, "The newly reforged are fragile and you all the more so. It is not uncommon for revelations to cause upset, but it is your status as reforged that caused your illness. There are none beyond yourself that could be affected so by Liukshi's meddling."

This has to do with his reforging? That... is actually an incredible relief.

Ozai sags into the pillows behind him as he allows himself to relax. It's just him. The rest of Caldera is safe. No one else has been struck by a sudden spirit-illness.

"They're not hurt? But... You mentioned 'upset,'" he worries, "Are they upset? Do you know what Liukshi's flock showed them? Should I --" Ozai almost asks if he should go to check on Zuko and Azula, but Agni clearly has no plans to allow him to leave his bed in the next few degrees. He instead finishes with, "... send for them?"

The roar of flames in the palace halls finally tapers off and the streams of fire wane. Outside, the new sun shines like noonday over Caldera. Even though it must be far smaller than Agni's permanent manifestation, it is much closer by virtue of residing lower in the sky. As a result, its heat and the shadows it casts are intense, and it is bright enough that it hurts to look directly at it. He wouldn't be surprised if the miniature sun can be seen as far away as the colonies. Ozai can't begin to imagine the kind of rumors this will spark.

"I see much, child mine, but not everything. Dreams are not in my purview and my attention can only be divided between so many places at once. I saw to it that the prince and princess awoke and that they did not require me to attend them further." Ozai opens his mouth but the Sun Spirit raises a hand to forestall his words. Agni is quiet for a moment, and then, "Zuko of Second Fire was distressed but quickly distracted by the commotion upon waking. Azula of Second Fire hides her thoughts well and I am not certain if Liukshi visited her dreams or not. I greeted her when she chose to approach me, but my attention was needed elsewhere and I did not linger.

"Your heir and fledgeling are now both in their mother's favored garden." Agni suddenly laughs. Ozai blinks in surprise. "Clever fledgeling," the Sun Spirit chuckles.

"What?"

"Ah. To answer that question would spoil the surprise," Agni chastens in good humor, "Allow the children their fun."

"I have a sudden sense of foreboding," Ozai mutters, more serious than joking.

"And perhaps you should," Agni laughs, which is not particularly reassuring, and then, "Iroh of Second Fire approaches."

The doors to his suite are opened before Ozai can ask any questions. The remaining guard stationed there announces, "General Iroh has arrived."

And indeed he has. With a complete tea service, which he sets carefully on the floor before sinking into a kowtow. "I came as you requested, Agni."

"Rise, Once-Prince." Agni instructs, "I have given you a task. You need not waste time on such formalities while you see it done."

Iroh collects the tea service and disappears from view in the outer chamber of the Fire Lord's suite.

Ozai glances up at Agni. "You arranged this?"

"I did."

"Including the tea?"

"It is my understanding that many mortals find it calming."

Ozai breathes deeply, pinches the bridge of his nose, and wonders if Tui is the correct spirit to pray to when he needs patience dealing with Agni.