"So, what's the point of knowing the existence of oxygen?" seeing the chemical reaction in front of him, Zuko could not help but ask such a question.
"If you know every aspect of your power, you can control it effectively," replied Shisui, who was engrossed at the tender age of 5 in repeating certain scientific experints.
How did he get a secluded room to do this? He told the kind Fire Lord Azulon of his desire to explore the material world extensively; perhaps he could find sothing useful for the Fire Nation.
Why is a five-year-old boy able to converse with the Fire Lord, even though he is a Son of Misfortune? Did you forget that the man supported him? He was even kind enough to let him see the journal his mother had written for him, which was filled with knowledge about controlling water.
That last one is kind of sad, his mother was in love with his father but had doubts and even fears about what might happen to him, so during her pregnancy, she wrote down all her knowledge in a notebook.
From the basics of waterbending to more advanced arts like healing or creating ice, his mother sumd up waterbending in one simple sentence, but it opened up a new world for Shisui: 'Understand the elent, its limits, and how far your imagination can go with it.'
Perhaps Azulon, or those who evaluated the journal before giving it to him, did not consider those words and wrote it off as so mystical nonsense, but it made Shisui begin to look at the supposed manipulation of the elents in this world with different eyes.
It had clear rules, you used your energy to create or control the four elents, though each person could only control one unless you were the legendary Avatar, each elent had things that others could learn and replicate.
Living among the firebenders, with his characteristic battle-oriented style, Shisui unconsciously adapted his water control, even if it felt uncomfortable at tis, it allowed him to see a way beyond the usual.
Iroh was able to create a technique that allowed him to redirect lightning by learning the basics of waterbending, could he create sothing similar? Although he was still a novice, his ambitions were already reaching further and further, but he had to take it one step at a ti.
"I don't understand, isn't it just letting my anger and desire burn to create fire?" asked Zuko, not quite understanding what his friend Shisui was saying.
Sotis Zuko was jealous of the way his friend behaved and even how others reacted to his presence, sotis he tried to copy him, but it only made his little sister Azula, who was present, laugh.
"Silly Zuzu, if you can use this 'oxygen' to make fire, you'll make stronger flas, won't you?" said little Azula, who had a habit of sneaking into Shisui's laboratory, and since he preferred to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't ss with his things, he gave her permission to satisfy her curiosity.
"Exactly, oxygen is sothing that is in the air we breathe, along with other 'elents', although these do not react with our bodies, except for the mixture of oxygen with another called 'carbon', which is part of the breath you exhale," Shisui said, adjusting his long hair as it prevented him from seeing.
No one dared to cut Shisui's hair for fear of hurting him with scissors or razors, there were so very radical people, and even if they had direct orders not to hurt him, 'accidents' can happen.
That was why his hair was so long, he hadn't cut it since he was born, and maybe because he was a Waterbender, he had more vitality than others, which explained his luxuriant hair.
"Yes, the carbon diono, the one that makes little bubbles!" cried Zuko excitedly, but he only heard his younger sister's mocking laughter.
"Carbon dioxide, silly Zuzu! It can be found in many things, like smoke, and it's poisonous in many variations, like Shisui said," Azula said, looking excitedly at the lab glassware, imagining what poisonous stuff was in there.
"Not exactly, carbon dioxide is not poison, it is the result of sothing natural. Plants 'eat' it together with water and sunlight, releasing the oxygen we need," Shisui corrected, he didn't want to associate himself with the image of a poisoner, at least he wanted to wait until Azulon was dead, then he would have an excuse to study them.
To the others, the Fire Lord only felt sorry for the tragic death of one of his generals and gave his son shelter, he didn't give him a status similar to royalty, but as a part of it, more than a servant, he was a 'companion', that's why even Ozai couldn't give him orders.
Because to Azulon, Shisui represented his father's 'ideal', the unification of the four nations, that's why Shisui was known as part of the Fire Nation and not the Water Tribe.
"Plants don't eat, stop lying to us," Zuko said proudly, he had always found the idea of plants doing anything other than sitting there taking up space waiting to be tended to or cut for firewood or charcoal silly.
"Silly Zuzu," Azula said, ignoring him, more interested in what Shisui was doing.
Soon, a small blue fla appeared in front of the three children's eyes, it only lasted a few seconds before turning red-orange, but the sight completely shocked Zuko and Azula.
"Cool!" Zuko exclaid with his usual glee, seeing it as sothing cool to tell his mother and Mai about in the future, while his younger sister stared at Shisui's hands.
"You control water, why were you able to make blue fire, is it because of the oxygen, is that what happens when you use oxygen to enhance fire?" asked Azula after she ca out of her stupor.
She was smart, much smarter than her stupid brother who was always thinking of funny things. Azula may not have had all the knowledge that Shisui had, but she had sothing that every researcher and scientist had: curiosity.
That's why she insisted on visiting Shisui's lab, even when he was just doing boring things like polishing a crystal to see the sky better, or what he called 'cells', but she always asked him questions, wrote down as much as she could, and searched her father's study for the stories and examples her partner told her.
Yes, the three-year-old Azula considered Shisui a peer, an equal. Not like Mai or Ty Lee, both of whom she considered slightly below her because of their princess status.
Shisui was similar because her grandfather paid attention to him, even if he wasn't a prince, he was sohow considered part of the royal family collective, not just a servant to be tornted when she was bored.
Even though he was a waterbender, he seed to know about all the elents, what rocks and soil were made of, what wind was, why water fell from the sky, and why fire was so important to human civilization.
His stories broadened Azula's mind, making her realize there was more to life than creating flas with her fists and feet, which she excelled at more than her brother. It was only because of Shisui that she beca interested in what fire was and what it ant beyond being a destructive weapon.
Azula might have been a toddler of three years old, but her mind was sharp. When in doubt, she would ask Shisui directly, search for scrolls, and even ask those 'scholars' of the court, but none gave her a better answer than Shisui.
"Well observed, Azula. The blue fire is the result of the complete combustion of fire, rember the triangle I showed you?" asked Shisui, seeing the girl nod, and he continued.
"Fire is the result of three things, we have fuel, in this case, your chi, the energy that flows through your body.
We have heat, which is what you firebenders call the 'inner fire', although it's more sothing to do with your will or your mind anyway, that's why there are cases of defectors who lose their ability to make fire.
The last elent was the comburent, sothing that favors the fla, in this case... oxygen," Shisui created another blue fla, allowing Azula to once again admire the color of the fla that would define her life in the future.
Next, Shisui placed a pot over this fla and controlled the water in a barrel to fill it, which left the two children sowhat confused, but Shisui was focused on what he was doing.
"Well, do you know what happens when you put a pot of water on the fire?" asked Shisui, looking at Zuko, at least he had to get this boy involved in learning.
"Yes! Water boils, it's obvious!" the boy replied with a smile, not seeing the grimace on Azula's face, teasing him.
"So you think a waterbender can boil this elent without using fire?" he asked again, this ti looking at Azula, who returned a look of astonishnt with her wide golden eyes.
"You want to control the hot water!" Azula's astonished question made Zuko look at Shisui strangely.
Even children knew that Waterbenders lived in cold places and preferred to freeze water directly during fights, so what was so good about boiling water? Only he didn't wait for Shisui's answer.
"Yes, so that I can have hot water to bathe in every day," the boy replied, ignoring the faces of the two children, but in his mind, he had other thoughts.
'Unlike fire control, which only increases the temperature and combustion of fire, water control is more of a way to touch temperature applications. Water, ice, steam, when I master them all, things like blood control, mud control, or plants will just be added,' Shisui's golden eyes shone brightly as he watched the bubbles in the pot.
"Don't you have any hot water?" asked Zuko innocently, causing both Azula and Shisui to look at him.
"You're a little slow sotis, Zuzu," Azula joked, although she wasn't too happy about the strange situation Shisui was living in, she didn't dare say it out loud, she wasn't as stupid as her older brother.
"Don't worry about those details. But do you know why things get hot or cold?" Shisui asked, changing the subject to sothing interesting for the children.
"I don't know!" Zuko answered truthfully.
"Look, it's that simple..." Shisui went on to explain this and other topics in a way that even a child without much knowledge could learn.
And when evening ca, while the royal family and Shisui were dining, the Fire Lord's voice caught the attention of everyone present.
"Shisui, what have you accomplished in your laboratory?" the man asked sowhat sternly, though his question caught the attention of his two sons, Iroh and Ozai.
They knew that their father held the boy in high esteem and had even raised his status by force, but they had never thought that he would be interested in what Shisui had accomplished in his so-called laboratory.
"Oh, I isolated the elent that allows us to breathe and makes the fire more powerful," Shisui said as if what he said wasn't that important, but his words made even Lu Ten, Iroh's son, who always remained silent at the table, look at him strangely.
"What? Explain yourself!" Azulon asked, causing Shisui to stop eating and look at the audience he had tonight.
"Through an experint, I was able to obtain the elent that in most cases allows the fire to start and spread, oxygen. This is present in the air we breathe in a proportion of..." Shisui was explaining the data he had gathered through experintation, not using his past life knowledge.
He even noticed that the amount of oxygen in the air, at least in the Fire Nation, was higher than the normal average on Earth, which explained one of the reasons why the ancestors of this nation chose this part of the world to settle.
"That's interesting, I've noticed a special phenonon, the flas we create on our land are a bit stronger than in other places, I didn't know it had sothing to do with the so-called oxygen in the air," Iroh, who had finished eating and was now drinking a cup of tea, was amazed.
He didn't know that there were so many interesting things in this world, even in sothing as simple as the air he breathed! In a way, this proved to Iroh once again the hidden greatness of nature.
"And what's the point of knowing sothing like that? It's just nonsense," Ozai replied, not that he disliked Shisui, but it was his habit to question everything and everyone, even his father, even if he did it in private.
"It's simple, if we know the basics of our world and what surrounds us, we can do great things. Haven't you ever thought about why there are places where there are open flas? Especially where there is oil.
Why the gunpowder in fireworks, with certain differences in proportions, can cause more powerful explosions? Or again, why do fireworks have such bright colors when certain components are added to them?
Everything in this world is connected, we can even exaggerate a bit and ntion that being that seems to appear constantly in our history, changing everything according to the ti," Shisui's words plunged the table into silence.
Ursa did not think that the child she once fed could have such an impact with his words at the age of five, but there he was, fearlessly conversing with the three greatest figures of the nation, and best of all, holding their interest.
"You say. What does the Avatar have to do with your research and questions?" asked Azulon finally, asking the key question.
"Have you read the classics on the four elents that those 'alchemists' have in their possession?" when he ntioned those so-called alchemists, Shisui showed obvious discomfort.
Those bastards had suggested that his ideas were foolish and that he should stop! If it were possible, the entire industrial revolution of the Fire Nation should be stopped. The only reason they weren't killed was because they were just a bunch of old bastards with no support, not even the Fire Temple could stand them.
"To , the Avatar is more than the man or woman who controls the four elents, in essence, the Avatar can co to control reality itself, a god incarnate on earth, for all practical purposes," Shisui's words made the three n looking at him give him three different expressions.
Ozai showed so discomfort, Azulon showed dismay, and Iroh looked skeptical, but none spoke, waiting for Shisui to continue.
"What the Avatar does not control is not just the elents, it is what drives the elents, the Avatar has done what nature takes a great deal of effort to do, convert energy into matter. The Avatar is a great converter.
Don't be surprised if one day another form of elental manipulation is discovered and the Avatar suddenly knows how to do it, even with the misnad 'sub-controls', they are just an expression of the manipulation of energy and its conversion into matter by that being," Shisui's reflection ended, no complicated data or flowery words needed to be said.
He was sending a clear ssage: The Fire Nation's greatest enemy was not the other nations, but the damn thing that had made energy its bitch with 100% utilization.
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