A/N: So..uh..hi! Really sorry about the long wait. If you follow my other stuff, you'll have gotten some info about how crazy things've been. In all honesty, I've been struggling as to just where to take this fic to get where I want it to go. Yeah...anyway! New chapter, here we go!

Lil' Line O' Litiguous Lard: I own nothing! I wouldn't've been so worried about employment if I did...

Zuko

Zuko slumped exhaustedly in one of the folding beach chairs his crew had placed around the fire merrily crackling in the stone sparring arena. The fire had been one of the demigods' ideas, and the entire contingent had elicited curious stares when each threw a portion of their evening meal into said fire. Zuko would've made a comment about it, but the day's events left him too worn out to deal with such minor eccentricities. His energy had been drained by an inordinately long time explaining to the delegates who'd been present and assuring them of no intended insult or attack from his camp by the sudden arrivals in the council hall. He, Bumi, Aang, and—somewhat surprisingly—Hazel, had only just managed to settle the delegates down when a messenger had run in and handed him the missive about the attack on the Roku's Legacy. It took another hour to appease the delegates enough to ensure negotiations would still be able to continue in the future before he and Aang were able to leave.

No, he wasn't worried about a little burnt food; his worries were centered on a pair of coordinated strikes specifically designed to counter the Avatar's companions…and how in the name of the spirits had they managed that? As far as he knew, it was impossible to sneak up on Toph unless you were flying, especially in a place like Omashu. Now there was a disturbing thought. If they did fly, how did they do so without being seen? As far as he knew, only Airbenders—and now apparently this Jason guy—were capable of such a feat with their gliders. Fire Nation balloons, Sky Bison, and Dragons would all have been too conspicuous. Speaking of Jason…hadn't he said something about the air currents around the ship being "wonky"? Were there actually more Airbenders out there that the rest of the world didn't know about? If so, why'd they wait to show their faces now?

He was drawn out of his circular thought process by the animated discussion occurring between Katara and Leo.

"—but where does the heat go? That energy can't just be-poof" Leo threw his hands out in animated frustration, "gone! Unless there's magic, that energy has to go somewhere! Even with magic, it's still converted from or to something. It's basic thermodynamics!"

"Look, I just make the ice freeze. It's a matter of controlling the flow of energy through my body and redirecting that flow to the water. The energy just…flows, I don't know how better to explain it; it just works!" Katara said back, rather exasperatedly. "Where does your energy come from when you catch fire?"

Leo waved off her argument. "Bah. I know where and how that works. Why do you think I eat so much? I'd bet most firebenders around here eat more than others. Demigods have larger energy reserves than most, but those are almost all using or adding energy, not removing it!"

"I still don't get what you mean. I'm just redirecting the energy in the water in on itself to turn it to ice." She replied, a furrow of confusion between her eyebrows. "It's little different, and actually easier than generating fog."

Leo sort of froze, his mouth forming a silent 'oh.'

The sudden silence did not go unnoticed by the other teenagers around the fire. Every demigod was watching the boy expectantly, and the others followed their lead with a little confusion. As such, all attention was on the pair when he, suddenly completely composed, cautiously continued, "What's easiest?"

Katara blinked, thrown by the boy's abrupt change in demeanor. "Um…what do you mean?"

Leo was studying her now, disturbing in his apparent professional detachment. "Which of your abilities is easiest? Is it creating ice, creating steam, gathering water from vapor, melting ice, moving ice, moving water, or moving vapor?" He listed each one with a pause after it, as if to make certain she understood exactly what he was asking.

"Um…" Katara glanced at the others, but found no help on that quarter, "I guess freezing was the first thing I got to work right on my own, but that's probably just because I was living at the South Pole."

Leo nodded, taking in that information. If it confirmed or disproved his theory, he didn't let on. "Have you ever felt like you had more energy after freezing something?"

"Uh…not really." Zuko could sympathize with Katara, he was totally lost.

Leo seemed to stop and think about that one for a moment. "Have you ever tried to freeze a chunk of water without also reshaping it?"

Katara simply shook her head mutely, to which the small dark teen gave a thoughtful nod, still piercing her with his studious gaze.

Zuko was surprised a few seconds later to be on the receiving end of that same gaze. "Zuko, are you usually more tired and hungry after uses of your firebending, even small uses, than you normally are?"

"Um…" Ok, it was a lot more disconcerting to be put on the spot like this than he'd given credit. He really felt sympathy for Katara now. "Yeah, of course. It's why every Firebender goes through endurance training when taught to bend, and why teachers like my uncle emphasized strategy over brute force."

Leo nodded and released Zuko from his penetrating gaze, turning his eyes to the hands folded on his knees.

He stayed like that for a good minute before anyone tried to break him from his reverie. "Um…Leo," said Annabeth tentatively. "Care to share with the class?"

He looked at her and shook his head. "Not quite yet—Jason…" He turned suddenly towards the straw-haired boy, who started a bit at being called out.

"Yeah, Leo?"

"You said the air currents were 'wonky', right?" The boy nodded cautiously. "Was it like that time you tried to fly over the Hephaestus cabin while we were working?"

Jason drew his head back in surprise before looking upwards thoughtfully. "Y'know…It was kinda similar, but on steroids."

Leo's face broke in a half-smile, the slightly manic and amazed expression transforming his face. Zuko couldn't help but be reminded of watching the Mechanist and Sokka work on something together. "That was because of—"

"—thermals, I know. I hate those things sometimes." Jason finished for him with a wry smile. "But what does that have to do with,—" a sudden look of understanding overcame the boy's face and he sent a glance Katara's way. "—you don't think…"

"You better believe it, flyboy." He said, his grin now taking up his entire face. "And if I'm right, things are about to get very interesting."

A/N: Mwahahaha! The theories and truths start to come out! Let's see if anyone can figure out the nature of these attackers yet. No-one has managed it as of yet.

Edit: A reviewer brought to my attention that I had named Zuko's ship. I have now fixed that in the chapter.

Review responses! (I'll keep 'em concise.)

Guest -sigh, unsigned reviews are annoying. To answer your points. Yes, I know. I'm intentionally factoring those things in to make neither group more powerful than the other. Plus, hell yes the spirits are more powerful than the PJOverse spirits, but not the gods...or at least not the major ones.

Scarletstar164: Um...Nico was not part of the 7, and last I'd read when I started this, headed back with Reyna and the statue to unite the two demigod camps, which, I guess you missed it in chapter XI, he succeeded in. Don't worry, I won't completely neglect him in this fic.

Doctor Legolas: Heh, oh don't worry. Bending isn't less powerful than the demigods' powers, just different.

The Lady Geek: Ok...I'm going to put this to rest for everyone. The enemies in the Avatarverse in this fic are purely Avatarverse. There will be no Greek or Roman monsters showing up...at least not without explanation or warning.

To the rest of you: Thanks for the praise and input. For that one guest annoyed with the review responses, as you can see I'm trying to pare them down. It's a lot harder when some people don't sign in *hint hint*

That's all for now!

Tzapporah Signing off!