Chapter 20: Party At The Palace
After Team Avatar bought proper party clothes, they made their way back to their house to change and get ready.
Sokka, clumsy as he is, puts on a mismatched party outfit with pillows stuffed under it and shows it to Lu Chen and Aang.
"So, how do I look? Do I look rich?" Sokka said with a wide grin on his face.
"Hahaha! You look like a Cow Hippo, Sokka." Aang said, laughing.
"Hey, I'm just trying to fit in." Sokka said, mocking the rich of Ba Sing Se.
Lu Chen, who's wearing a basic Earth Kingdom nobleman's outfit, just smiles at Sokka and chuckles. 'Always one to joke around before a serious meeting.' Lu Chen walks up alongside Sokka, earthbending a few of the rocks he brought inside to his face, making a makeshift beard.
"Oh, my good friend, Sokka Water-Tribe, How do you do, you?" Lu Chen says with a 'posh' tone of voice.
"Oh, yes, good man Lu Chen of the Chen family, I am fine. I just finished eating 5 whole pig deer. Would you join me for dessert?" Sokka said while rubbing his belly.
Aang, not wanting to be left out, grabs a blanket and drapes it over himself, then joins the two boys in their 'rehearsal'.
"Sokka Water-Tribe, Lu Chen of the Chen Family, how well does it go?" Aang said.
Aang bows down in his greeting and Sokka follows suit, bowing further down.
Lu Chen bows further then, not wanting to be bested, Aang and Sokka bow their heads further down, nearly 90 degrees.
Then all at the same time, the three boys bow their heads as low as they can.
Sokka's and Aang's heads collide.
Lu Chen bows so low and so fast, he falls face-first onto the ground, creating a small crater in the outline of his face.
"...Bet you c-can't bow any lower than this." Lu Chen said, his voice muffled.
Sokka and Aang burst out laughing.
The door to the girls' room opens, and out come Katara and Toph.
They were both wearing matching white dresses and their hair was put up and adorned. Slight make-up can be seen on their faces.
Aang hangs his mouth slightly open and Lu Chen peeks out from his position on the floor. Sokka just has a nonchalant look on his face.
"Wow, Katara. You look beautiful." Aang said, looking stunned.
Sokka, probably uncomfortable with Aang hitting on his sister right in front of him, flicks Aang's forehead.
Katara opens her mouth to reply to the compliment, but Toph stops her.
"Don't talk to commoners, Katara. First rule of noble society."
Lu Chen gets his face up from the floor and puts his arms under his chin in a relaxed manner.
"Does that rule apply to me, too?" Lu Chen said.
Toph just looked down and smiled.
"Well, you're not a commoner, you're my fiancé. So you'll be my escort." Toph said.
Lu Chen stood up and offered his arm to Toph.
"Well, my fair lady, shall we make our way to the party?" Lu Chen said in a gentlemanly manner.
Toph links her arm around Lu Chen's.
"Let's go, guys. Aang, when we get to the palace, a guard will probably ask for invitations. Since we don't have any, you'll have to take the lead and explain or show him that you're the Avatar. He'll likely let us in. Then we'll see the Earth King, and probably schedule for a meeting much sooner than what Joo Dee said." Lu Chen explained.
Aang nods his head with a serious face.
"Also, we gotta be careful of the Dai Li. If some slimy-looking guy greets you, just try not to tell him much of anything." Lu Chen added.
Team Avatar, along with Momo, who was hidden in Lu Chen's robes, exits their temporary home and walked to the palace.
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"Invitation, please." A guard said, just outside the palace entranceway.
Lu Chen and Toph, who led the way, turned to Aang.
"That's your cue, Aang."
Aang steps up with a stern face and puts a hand to his chest in greeting.
"Hello, I am the Avatar. I wish to see the Earth King as soon as possible."
The guard just looks at Aang doubtfully.
"The Avatar? That's a new one. Unless you can prove it, no entry to the palace without an invitation."
Aang looks back at his friends. They all nod in unison.
Aang then takes a small stance and airbends the guard's hat off, then catches it with an earth pillar before it falls to the ground.
"Does that prove it?" Aang looks at the guard and smiles.
The guard looks surprised and nervous.
"U-uh, yes, it does. Please, enter right away, Mr. Avatar, sir. Your friends are also welcome."
The guard steps aside and beckons Team Avatar inside.
They enter through the doorway and are greeted by loud music and a lot of people eating and drinking.
"So, where's the Earth King?" Sokka said, stepping forward and looking around.
"The advertisement poster said something about him being with his precious pet bear." Lu Chen responds.
"Platypus Bear?" Aang inquires.
"Nah, it just said bear." Lu Chen repeated.
"Or maybe it meant his pet Skunk Bear?" Sokka added.
"Or Armadillo Bear." Toph said.
"Oh! Definitely a Gopher Bear!" Aang exclaimed.
Lu Chen shook his head to all of their inquiries.
"Nope. Just bear."
Team Avatar just looked at each other confused.
"This place is weird." Toph added, breaking the silence.
"Come on, it can't be too hard to spot this bear. Let's look around." Lu Chen advised.
Of course, it did not take long for Team Avatar to find the bear, since it was making a mess of food on a large table.
They began walking towards the large animal, but before they could get any closer a few Dai Li agents blocked their way.
"Hey, what's going on?" Aang asks.
"It's the Dai Li. They're probably ordered to keep people away from the King." Lu Chen answered. "Aang, you do the talking and remember not to mention the war too obviously. I have a plan if things start to look bad. I'll have Momo make a mess then you'll clean it up with a combination of airbending and waterbending; make it as flashy as possible." Lu Chen continued.
Aang silently nodded his head.
A few seconds later, a tall man appeared, wearing formal battle robes, with receding hair styled in a long single braid, and a calculative face adorned with villainous-like facial hair.
"Well, hello there. You must be the Avatar and his friends. I am Long Feng, Grand Secretariat of the King and Head of the Dai Li. Are you aware that you need an invitation to attend this party? Even if you're the Avatar, I cannot allow someone as dangerous as you near the King without a proper appointment." Long Feng said with a stern face.
"Yeah, well, you should know about the... situation... outside the walls. We need to meet the King and speak about a plan we have." Aang replied in protest.
"The King is a very busy man, so this celebration one of his few times to relax. You will not meet the King until your scheduled appointment. That is one of the rules in this city." Long Feng keeps his stance on the matter.
Aang looks at Lu Chen for some help, and Lu Chen nods.
Since Lu Chen's legs are covered by his robes, he uses his mastery of earthbending to knock over a big vase unnoticed, causing the Dai Li and Long Feng to look at it, giving enough time for Lu Chen to prod Momo out of his hiding place.
"Momo, go wild and make a mess, then come back to me." Lu Chen Bent slightly down to whisper to Momo.
Somehow understanding what Lu Chen wanted, Momo flew away and started picking up bits of food from its plate and eating.
"Aah! A dirty monkey! He's eating the food!" One noble lady yelled while overreacting.
Another guest attempted to shoo Momo off, causing the lemur to fly away to another plate, knocking various cups over and causing other guests to recoil, spilling their drinks on themselves.
Aang looks at Lu Chen and he nods. That was the signal.
Aang runs up to the guests who were drenched in juice and apologizes.
"Sorry! My bad! Here let me handle it!" Aang said, somewhat holding back his laughter at the sight of a few of the panicked guests.
Aang waterbends some of the juice on the clothes of a lady then airbends a strong wind to dry her.
With her make-up ruined and her clothes messed up, the lady just looks at Aang, surprised.
"You're the Avatar!" She says, just loud enough for a few other guests to notice.
With the focus now on Aang, Momo flys back to hide under Lu Chen's robes.
"Good job, Momo. I'll give you a big treat later." Lu Chen pats Momo's head and gently pushes the lemur back inside, out of sight.
Long Feng has a look of frustration on his face.
His frustration comes from seeing the King and his bear look curiously towards Aang's direction. He knows that he can no longer openly detain Aang and his friends as he is the Avatar.
Lu Chen looks to his friends. Sokka glances at him back and puts up his thumb and mouths the words, 'Nice plan!'.
Aang continues to 'clean' the affected guests until he reaches the King.
"Good afternoon, your royal highness!"
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