Lost in thoughts, thinking about the previous day's issues, Zuko had a face that showed powerlessness. He was so worried that he was not even willing to get up and get washed up. "Will you sleep all day or have already decided something" a female voice came from the corner of his room.
"What the hell. Wait, isn't that Naina's voice." A thought suddenly clicked in Zuko's mind. "What are you doing here. No. Wait, how did you come in here." asked Zuko with astonishment.
"Oh! Did not Mr. Andree visit you yesterday? So why can not I."
"You are with him?"
"Did you hear me say that kind of stuff?" Smilingly asked Naina.
"So..."
"I am here for you, in short, to help you."
"How so?"
"See it's a bit long and complicated and as I know your... forget it. I will just explain, by the way, how did you get all of this. well, let's leave it for later. See it's like this, the planet Earth is actually dominated by two powers. Namely, Skull And bones which is also known as SAB and the New World Order which is also called NWO. These two control everything that is happening on earth. See, these two powers are not allies and hence the nine continents are divided equally among both, four on each side. Now, you must have a lot of questions right. But wait, you will get the answers to all of them. There are two hidden continents, the continent of death and the Azure continent. the continent of death belongs to the power SAB and as for the second on that belongs to..."
"New World Order."
"Nice try but no. The other one belongs to the power that is called The Nights of justice. That's the power that I belong to. We used to be the third power that was part of the order but later we withdrew from that order and acted on our own. And I do not know any further details about who we three powers follow, maybe no one but still there are people they say things as you know. Forget that, so this a brief intro to different true powers in shadows." explained in one long breath.
"So you are from The Knights of justice and Mr. Andree?"
"Mr. Andree is from NWO." Naina sipped from the wine in her glass. "Nice wine."
"What about the balance of power, how do they maintain the balance when these three are not allies."
Squinted a bit,"When did I ever say that these three are not allies. I said two. And, it is not like they are friends too. We work according to our best interests. By the way, we all are on equal footing. All three powers are putting a lot of efforts to surpass each other."
"So, all three powers are equal."
"No, they are not." laughed Naina with a smile full of ridicule."By the way, where did you get the technology from."
" I made it myself."
"All of it."
"Yes."
Laughed out loud Naina. "So, What is it that you have decided?"
"I have not decided anything yet. Also, I am confused about how Mr. Andree formed a flame on his finger and his strength that was beyond the human's realm." Asked Zuko with a serious look in his eyes.
"Oh that, it was actually just fire art that NWO cultivated. Yeah, I forgot to tell that these powers practice different cultivation arts. NWO practices fire art and SAB practices dark art and KOJ practices the art of earth. The arts that these powers cultivate give them control over respected elements."Naina emptied the glass of wine in one gulp. "It's like magic if I explain it in your language." Laughed, Naina in a childish way.
With no emotion in his eyes, Zuko kept looking at her. "Was that supposed to be funny. And I do know what you meant by cultivating different arts."
"That's so intelligent of you, you know." laughed out loud, Naina. "So what have you decided then."
"I don't know, I don't want to work for them. But I am afraid that they would not leave me alone."
"That's true, they will come after you and will even force you to work for them. But, if you want to work on your own, you must have the strength to do so and I can provide some assistance. Of course, if that's not a problem for you." Smiled Naina at Zuko when she was finished with her drink. "I can arrange martial arts and some protective equipment if you say so."
"Is that possible? Even if I don't want to work for you or your power." Asked Zuko with some expectations.
"Yeah, no problem." Replied Naina nonchalantly. "This place is not safe for you for the moment, how about you accompany me, I will take you to some safe place and then you can practice different arts to strengthen yourself. And I am dead sure you will join my company." smiled very smugly, Naina.
With a 'whoosh both Zuko and Naina disappeared from the room.
In an unknown place...
"What is this place, it seems like an Ancient temple." Spoke up Zuko with astonishment in his eyes.
"This place is called The Hanging garden. And I believe that you know quite something about this place, isn't it?"
"Yeah, Hanging garden, I do know a few things about this place but all of these are myths but not reality and the location is still unknown, they say that it might once was in Iraq but then there are no signs of it being there. So, how are you so sure that this place is The Hanging garden or I should say the lost garden." Answered Zuko with pride.
"Hmm... That's right. But what you know is not the whole truth. King Nebuchadnezzar, in his reign, built the Hanging garden but of course an imitation of the real one that an architect that the king showed some grace to hence was then gifted the blueprints of the hanging garden. The Architect was a traveler who by chance saw the real Hanging garden and that's why he was able to make an imitation. So what I am implying is that the real garden still exists and right now we are inside it." Naina explained in a rough manner.
"So where exactly this Hanging garden is located then."
"We are on the continent of Death."
"You mean the territory of Skull and Bones." Said Zuko with so much fear in his eyes.
Before departing, Naina gave a rough briefing on both the powers. She informed Zuko that among the two powers Skull and bones was very nefarious if it is an individual fight SAB will surely win but if it is a war than there are greater chances that New World Order might win. The strength of SAB was theirs strange art that they cultivated. THeir art allowed them to control the dark element, they were proficient in dark magic or their main force was a small group of warlocks. And the NWO had progressed in the modern world technology. They could control the element of fire and they were very proficient in combat.
Hence, when Zuko came to know that they were in the territory of SAB and at the moment in the ancient hanging garden he was afraid that he might come by any living dead revived by SAB.
"What is the story behind the Hanging garden, its origin, and how exactly is this place safe for us. You also haven't told me anything about the teleportation thing that happened earlier."
"This place has a great origin, even I am unable to breach the mysteries of this place but this place has great importance to me, so I want you to breach this place for me, don't worry even if you fail I will still fulfill my promises. It is just that this place can only be opened by the destined person and I just feel that you are that person." Meanwhile, Naina took out a compass that pointed towards a certain direction. "This point here on the compass shows the place where we will find the gate of All Dimensions."
"Gate of All Dimensions. What is that?"
"That is not an important matter now, our priority at the moment is how to make you eligible to open the seal on the door. For that, you have to cultivate in some arts so for that you have to choose some from here." Naina took out some old preachments from her bag that she carried on her back. Among many cultivation methods, one enchanted Zuko to the point that he extended his hand in a daze. Just when Zuko was about to touch that cultivating method Naina stopped him,"Stop, you can't just touch that one. You will get that one only when you open the All dimensional door."
After that Naina suggested to Zuke some martial arts and also gave a few brief lessons on how to train them. Only when Zuko felt like he could now carry his practice on his own did he go in seclusion.