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Chapter 1
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Chapter 14
When Steve came back into the sitting room with his Grandma, Chris was sitting on the couch, frowning and tapping his foot impatiently. In his hand was a small, black phone which he twirled over and over again. Jean stood at the window, looking very out of place in her dark ninja garb as she peeked through the flowery curtains. She turned and threw Steve a scowl as they approached. Chris stopped his tapping and twirling immediately. His face smoothed back out into an expression of respectful pleasantness.
Jean stepped back to her couch but didn’t sit down. “Is the family meeting over?” She asked, still scowling. It seemed she was gradually getting over her unease and returning to her former self.
Chris rolled his eyes at her, but he turned to them and said, “We do have to hurry. Director Strongman just called – he wants us back in the safety of the colony before evening.”
“Trouble?” Steve asked, frowning in concern. A small part of his mind wondered what happened to communicating and
risking the wrong ears getting to know their location.
“I don’t know,” Chris replied. “But it’s always a good idea to trust the man and obey.” His eyes fell on the journal in Steve’s hand. “What’s that?” He asked.
“Family heirloom,” Steve replied with a small smile. “It’s my father’s journal.”
Chris’ eyes widened. “Thaddeus Wellington had a journal?” He asked excitedly.
Steve nodded, his own smile widening. “Apparently, he worked in this after he’d had the visions, before he’d finally set out to build the Alliance.”
“Really?” Chris exclaimed. He looked from Steve to Grandma Lily and back, as though looking for signs of a prank. When he saw they were serious, he jumped to his feet. “Awesome! That’s just... super! We’ll be able to find out all he didn’t tell us about the visions and what he found out! This is wonderful!”
Steve grinned – Chris looked like he could break into a dance any second. “Score one for Team Avatar,” he said.
Jean huffed. “Good and fine, but we didn’t come here for family heirlooms, and we need to get going if we are to get back to New York before evening.” She turned her gaze on Grandma Lily. “Please, madame,” she said in a voice lacking the sharp disdain she used while talking to Steve. “We really have to get going.”
Gran looked from her to Chris and frowned thoughtfully. “You still hope Stephen will get some insight when he touches the totem,” she observed.
Jean nodded. “We don't know what form or how long it will take, and I don’t think that's something that should be rushed.”
Gran nodded. “That you might be right about,” she mused. Then she smiled at the three teenagers. “Alright then – guess it's time we had that lemonade.”
“Really?” Chris said as they stepped into the kitchen, Gran leading, Jean trailing behind. “You left it on your kitchen wall?
Even after everything that happened and you witnessed?”
Gran chuckled. “Well, it had been safe there for forty years. I didn’t see any reason to move it.”
Chris shook his head and threw a glance at Steve. “It’s a good thing the Solution didn’t know you existed. It would've been like taking candy from a very wrinkled baby.”
Steve didn’t respond. Chris grabbed his elbow and swung him around. “This is it, man,” he said. “Are you ready?”
Steve inhaled. His heart was beating rapidly. He was nervous, but he couldn’t imagine why. Wasn’t it the same totem he had seen everyday till he was three? And whatever vision he might have wouldn’t be much different from those he'd already had, right? Except, this time, it would mean the beginning of his true mission – his real task – stopping whatever catastrophe his father had foreseen. He had to be ready.
He exhaled and nodded tersely.
Chris let go of his elbow and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Just relax,” he told him. “Remember, whatever happens, we'll be here every step of the way. Both of us.”
Steve glanced at Jean. Her mouth was set in a hard line, but for the first time, she wasn't looking at him with anger or disdain. She met his eyes and nodded once. “Let’s do this,” she said.
Steve nodded and turned back around. Gran was waiting. She beckoned on them. Slowly, they walked around the kitchen counter.
“Here it is,” she said.
It hung in a glass case on the wall, looking like an odd, mysterious piece of household décor. It was made of hard rock and a strange-looking piece of rough wood, inexplicably melded together, so solidly they could never be pried apart. The entire object – both the rocky and wooden parts – had a vague, indescribable glint.
Gran reached up and pulled down the case, then turned to Steve and opened it. He was somewhat shocked to see that the rope the Avatar in his dreams had used to wear it around his neck was still attached to it.
“Go on, Stephen. Take it.”
Steve raised his hand and slowly reached into the case. Chris and Jean held their breaths. The room was dead quiet as he put his hand in and finally touched the totem.
Nothing happened.
He picked it up and held it in his palm. Then he placed it in his other hand. Then he held it in both hands. Still nothing.
Jean raised an eyebrow. “Well, that was dramatic.”
Chris frowned in disappointment. “Really? Nothing?”
Steve shook his head. Jean's scowl had returned.
Gran smiled. “Do not worry,” she said. “The totem works in its own ways, at its own time.” She offered Steve the glass case. He placed the totem inside and took it from her. His eyes were clouded.
“But what do we do next?” He whispered. “Without the visions…”
“You've already had visions,” Gran reminded him. “Go back to your ‘colony’. Study your visions and Thaddeus' works. And keep the totem safe. Your next step will come to you.”
Steve nodded. “Thanks, Gran,” he said. He turned to Chris and Jean. “Come on. We should get going.”
They ambled in silence to the front porch. At the door, Steve turned to Grandma Lily.
“Thanks for everything, Gran,” he said. “For both today and the times before I knew.”
She smiled. “You’ve always been a good boy,” she replied. “Now, go be a good Avatar. Your father has left a great burden on your shoulders… you have a long journey ahead of you. It will not always be easy, but remember to listen to your heart always. And remember, this is a quest for the benefit all of mankind.” She gave him a hug. “Goodbye, Stephen.”
He smiled back. “Goodbye, Gran.”
As he turned and began walking down the front stairs, he realised something was nagging at him, had been nagging since they first set foot in the house but he couldn’t put his finger on it.He glanced towards the car. Chris was already there, standing to one side and glancing around puzzled. Jean stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting. And suddenly he knew.
Gran. She had called him Avatar, not Incarnate or Incarnatus. And he didn’t think she had seen The Last Airbender.
He was just turning around to ask her about it when the sun's position caught his attention.It was just past noon and everything seemed hazy in the heat. The sun beat down harshly from the sky…
Suddenly, everything seemed dreamlike.
The sun beat down from the centre of the sky, directly on the temple in front of him, baking both its walls and the great wall that towered over everything in sight... The doors were impenetrable, and they opened only to him, once in a year... He wooshed past these to the inner sanctuary, where they surrounded him, centuries old, but still standing, and holding innumerable answers...
“Steve!”
With a gasp, he was yanked back to the present. Jean was holding him and the items he was carrying as though he had begun to fall over. Chris joined her in an instant, both struggling to get him up.
“China!” He gasped. “We have to get to China!”
Watch Here for the Next Chapter: 'Solution'!
The Lost Legend series is fan fiction based off Nickelodeon's Avatar franchise.
Find more of my original works as Peter M. Ogwara on Amazon!
