Percy Jackson and that kid in the iceberg

Aang commits arson (Percy)

We were all going to die.

Okay, well that was a bit dramatic. One of us was going to die and the rest of us be dragged away to prison. Still not great though.

Zhao's men surrounded the doors, as the light grew stronger. Smoke began to leak out of them. Then they open. We could see Aang's glowing eyes and arrow in the light.

"No, Aang!" Katara screamed as Zhao and his firebenders sent a vortex of flames at him.

But the figure who emerged wasn't Aang. It was a tall man with a pointy beard and red clothes. A firebender.

"Avatar Roku," Chiron gasped.

Zhao's smug smirk turned to one of absolute horror as Roku bent the flames directed at him back to his attackers. With another wave of his hand, our chains melted somehow without burning us. Zuko's chains melted too, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see him do the smart thing for once and fleeing for his life.

"We must get out," Chiron said, shouting over the noise of the battle. "Roku will destroy the temple."

"Not without Aang," Katara shouted.

That really didn't seem like the best idea. Roku was Aang, and when he went away so did our protection. On the flip side, Roku might not turn back into Aang until the temple was destroyed. I'd like to think he wouldn't hurt his friends, but he wasn't exactly himself right now—literally. But Katara was right. We couldn't just leave Aang in a fiery temple of doom. That just wasn't an option. So I guess we were sticking around. Hurrah.

Annabeth was doing a lot of wincing and scowling, but she refused my help. So we just cowered behind a pillar hoping our friend's past life wouldn't kill us.

Roku melted the floor, caused lava to rise up in waves, and blast walls apart. Zhao's firebenders and the sages fled. Annabeth pulled her armor over her head and knelt over me, doing her best to protect me. Even wounded she was still determined I stayed safe. Spirits, I loved that girl. I really needed to tell her that.

Finally, Roku let out a great sigh. The smoke gathered to his figure, and when it cleared there was no one but Aang, exhausted and now looking very small and very young. Aang collapsed, and quickly the four of us hurried to him. This time, Annabeth let me put my arm around her, supporting her weight and helping her walk.

Katara and Sokka helped Aang to his feet.

"Thanks," he said weakly. "Where's Chiron?"

"I don't know," Katara admitted, supporting Aang in much the same way I was Annabeth.

We limped over to the stairs, only to see them submerged in lava. The only remaining exit was a hole from Roku's fire blast. We were trapped.

"Now what?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know," Sokka sounded tired and scared.

Aang's face suddenly lit up. "Appa!"

And it was. As usual, the big bison had come just in time to save our lives. We all quickly clamored aboard and went off into the reddening sky.

For a second we flew in silence. Then Katara looked at Annabeth's burn. It was nasty, going from her wrist to the edge of her shoulder. The skin was a gruesome red pocketed with blisters. Katara bent some water over it and wrapped it up. She said it wasn't too bad, but would hurt quite a bit. No one else was hurt other than a few mirror burns and bruises.

"What did Roku say to you?" Annabeth asked finally.

Aang sighed. His eyes hadn't lost that sad, weary look all evening. "There's something coming. Sozin's comet. It'll give the firebenders a boost, the very one they'll need to end this war. I'll have to take down Firelord Ozai before it comes."

"When does it come?" Annabeth said, asking the question we were all worried about.

"The end of the summer. I'll have to master all the elements before then."

There was a silence as we all thought about how impossible that was. Aang didn't even know waterbending yet, and it was almost spring. How would he master three more elements in less than a year?

"You'll do it," Annabeth said suddenly, with a confidence that surprised all of us. "Oh come on Aang. Let's do a headcount here: We've got an avatar, a boomerang man, two semi-decent waterbenders, and a fantastic warrior," she gave me a smirk. "And of course Appa, a gigantic magical flying bison."

Momo chattered and scrambled up her head. "And Momo, of course. Sorry for forgetting. If anyone can do this, it's us"

Sokka gave her a doubtful look. "Because we did so wonderful back there."

"Hey, we're alive. We succeeded with the mission. Explain how we did badly? So what if we got caught, thanks to Aang we managed to get out. Kyoshi told me we would face many dangers, but she also said we were strong enough to be able to survive each of them. So...yeah. That's all I got. Katara, give one of your little speeches."

Katara smiled. "Actually I don't think I need to. You did great."

"Thanks," Annabeth said.

I found myself feeling pretty happy, despite everything that happened and the impossible things that lay before us. Because Annabeth was right. No matter what we'd survive this. Together.

The moon came out illuminating us all. Aang, the funny little kid with the world on his back and unlimited power in his hands. Sokka, bossy, annoying, but also always looking out for me. Katara, the strongest person I knew, who never gave up hope. And Annabeth. Clever, hotheaded, stubborn Annabeth, the only real warrior we had.

And me.

Percy of the Southern Water Tribe.

It seemed hard to believe that a month ago I hadn't even known half of them. Now I could imagine being apart from any of them. We weren't just a team. We were family.

And somehow, we would survive what was coming next.