Chapter 1:
I don't know where to start. I was just on my way back home from my tedious work when suddenly I was blinded by the headlights of a reckless driver.
It was not a quick and painless death I tell you that.
I would've cursed that bastard even in my grave for killing me but somehow my anger towards him disappears the moment I woke up in a completely new environment.
Instead of Saint Peter greeting me at the gates of heaven, I was awoken by the annoyingly endless chatter of dozens of old men and middle-aged dudes dressed as some kind of ancient eastern politicians bickering around in a long rectangular table stretching out for six meters.
"I say we attack the east border of the Earth Kingdom! Those bastards focused too much on their western front that they forgot their east flank!" One man in what seems like military regalia shouted.
"And what? Spread out our already thinly spread troops? Even if we attack them by using soldiers on other camps as reinforcement we would leave our remaining borders undefended!" another one responded, they seemed to be both in the military field.
"Why are we even talking about war in the first place!? Our Nation is in strife! We must first get our house in order before we go attacking other nations!"
The discussion became a roar with each man yelling above the previous one while everyone completely ignored the young man who was sitting at the head of the table.
While I was trying to comprehend the scene, it dawned on me that they were in fact looking around me, over me and through me, as if it were a sin to acknowledge my existence. I held the armrest of the elaborate throne-like chair, the coldness of the metal pressing into my palms.
Fragments of images began to integrate themselves once wearing the right glasses for vision correction and before than head loads were dancing cut thick memories: a royal palace warmed by fire, spanning caesars' domes, regimented troops.
And then the truth hit me like a sledgehammer. It wasn't merely some weirdly exotic situation. I was… I was the lord of fire, the head of the Fire Nation, it's Sovereign. I was the Fire Lord.
And with it went the shock and after that memories, feelings and instincts rushed in my head all at once – a memory of a young, delicate heir to a throne, thrust into power but neither ready nor willing to lead.
The face of the previous Fire Lord, a man who was able to master hate and terror just with his appearance, crossed my mind.
This man, who for the purposes of this situation, was called my father, was dead, having died somewhere, and here I was left, a boy on the throne of a country ill fitted for me.
My efforts to regulate my respiration were compounded by the imposition of these retained memories. The previous existence seemed far away, like an evanescent sound, while the recollections of the present resided within alarmingly nearer and more ferocious margins.
I was not merely an individual who managed to wrest power; I was the monarch of one battered by civil strife, prudent suspicion and open defiance of rebellions.
And there I was, a fresh faced young king with no possible experience whatsoever, where not only was this filled, but the air surrounding me spoke of vultures waiting to attack.
One among them, the elderly general with graying hair around the temples and numerous scars on his face, shifted his attention to me, seemingly registering my existence.
"Fire Lord, what do you wish to say?" His tone reeked of superiority, as if he expected me to stumble, and then be quiet.
The gathered people in the apartment all behaved in a manner typical of those waiting for a response, the nature of which satisfied them with their low expectations.
I would have lost my head in the past. But something in the throbbing memories flooded within me, demanding that I steady myself. Inhale, remembering how a ruler inspires respect. I should have embodied myself as a bastion of strength and control, even when I didn't entirely believe it, in order to live to see another day in this place.
"We will not spread our forces," I said averting my gaze from each man who dared to look back at me and focused on him one after the other.
"Our edges are flimsy as it is. We cannot move unless it is to intimidate the enemy, there is no reason to act foolishly." The phrase felt heavy in my garganta, but I knew it was correct.
Some low whispers went round the room, probably in reaction to my firmness. I felt a small sense of triumph, but I remained impassive. There was no way they could witness any wavering in my stance.
The general with the scar was derisive. "And what strength will we boast of, Fire Lord? Our mouths will not protect our borders from invading forces. Our feet will."
"Mm…," I voiced my agreement to him at this point, "but calculated ones. An enemy that sees us unified and prepared will hesitate. We don't need to attack—we need to show the Earth Kingdom we're ready and watching."
For a moment, the room was enveloped in silence. I could feel everyone's eyes focused on me, a few with appraisal while others with doubt.
My recently acquired memories warned me that these men would not spare me and would be persistent in looking for every opportunity to take advantage of my youth. They would take me on, expecting me to break, expecting me to be weak for the position.
But that was where they were wrong.
*************
The meeting ended quite anti-clamitacly. After their endless chatter, they disperse with no agenda accomplished. They came with nothing and left with nothing.
But even though their bickering led to nowhere, I listened. I listened attentively and picked up the information I could and piece them together in one cohesive picture.
And the picture I got was horrible.
The current Fire Nation is in its initial founding phase. Like 300 years after its founding, so we're still in the early game meaning the nation is still unstable and has a lot of holes.
It is still very weak compared to the fire nation in the future. The current Fire Nation is weak and filled with strife. But so are other nations.
And now I am plunged as the ruler of this weak and flickering candle light of a nation, with a court that sees me as nothing but a figurehead, a nation that doubts my competency, and a powerful Earth Nation just waiting to conquer my lands.