"Tenzin, do you think what he said was truth?" Tarrlok asked amidst the commotion.

It wasn't the panic which ended up in people being stomped to death. The panic was manifested in the loud talks, shifting in the crowds, but no one was exactly running off and screaming. But some people obviously had some explaining to do before the people of the country. And to be honest, both members of the Council were at loss. The threat of insurgency was even bigger than they could have anticipated. If the Equalists had taken their routes deeper into the hierarchy of the Republic City.

"That does add up," Tenzin responded, "If that boy truly is Phantom, we have to catch him."

"You are not seriously implying that we turn down his help now?" His colleague asked.

"That's what I do. They are criminals, chairman. We have to find them before they escape."

"No need."

"Excuse me?" The bald airbender asked.

"If he truly is a ghost, we won't be able to catch him. Ah, Avatar Korra, is there something you need?"

The said girl approached the two, looking quite angry. Although her anger was directed mostly at Tarrlok.

"How did Amon escape, Tarrlok?!" She exclaimed, "I thought you said that his guards can be trusted!"

"Turns out I was wrong," the chairman responded with cold calmness, "We will look deeper into this. Korra, I believe I will have to ask you again to join our attacks on Equalists."

"This is not the place, Tarrlok."

"I believe it is proper time and place. Amon is more dangerous than we have anticipated."

"I... I guess I will have to consider this, I've got no other way of salting on his wounds," Korra muttered.

"Think quicker, Avatar. The more we linger, the stronger these terrorists become. If only we could get some information... from those who can sneak in without being noticed."

"Tarrlok, this is insane, we cannot hope for the help of mass murderers," Tenzin crossed his hand.

"Murder in war is the same as swinging hands while swimming," the chairman responded.

"You are talking about Daniel?" Korra asked, "He doesn't strike me as a maniacal type. He can be a moralising prick, though."

"We are not aligning with them. Let us not forget that he acts along with Princess Azula. The tales of her cruelty are known," Tenzin stated firmly, crossing his hands, "Besides, you are saying this like you are certain that they would agree."

"They did help us once."

"Which does not mean that there will be the second time. I don't see them anywhere. And we don't know where they live."

Korra hummed in thought, "I first met Phantom while he was on the walk in the Central Park. He must live nearby, right?"

"That narrows the search a little," Tenzin muttered, "Although..."

"He lives with a princess. I doubt that she would settle for a mundane flat. We will have to search the hotels around," Tarrlok finished the thought, "Would you look at that," he smirked and glanced on the Avatar, "We are actually working along quite nicely."

Tenzin was against this alliance, despite what he had heard from his parents. Aang, being a good-natured person that he was, told that the Ghost King was a nice person beneath everything he did. Katara was as reluctant as during the times of confrontations, but she agreed with her husband. Phantom was a strange figure, an unpredictable one, pursuing his own unknown goals, which sometimes indeed coincided with that of this world. Who knew what he wanted now. Something did make the half ghost cooperate with the Fire Lord and he was indeed housing his daughter who somehow hadn't aged a day. It was messed up. If only he had known how.

Meanwhile back in the apartment the couple was quite occupied.

"I can't believe it!" Azula exclaimed, pacing around the living room of their apartment, "Who hired those buffoons?!"

Danny just sat on the sofa, drinking the evening tea and being the coolheaded member of the couple. He was a good listener.

"It's becoming too complicated."

"I believe we should let everyone cool down," The Ghost King made a sip, "Emphasis on 'cool'. I found our target, imagine that."

A file floated right past him, into the princess's hands. As Azula began reading, Danny began the digest.

"The disfigurement of time is caused by the two spiritual sources on the Poles. I had previously learned about them when I tried to build a portal and searched for the spiritually strong locations. My agents have done their job well. I guess we should visit one of those places in order to understand the reason of contortions, now that we know the location. We cannot wait."

"So...we are leaving everything behind?"

"I'll dispatch a couple of maids and butlers, they will clean up after us. We will be back, but this shall not wait."

Danny got up, and Azula curiously eyed her lover, "You've had this information for how long?"

"I read the report while you were ranting," he gave an innocent grin, "Now pack up the necessities, we are leaving in an hour."

"Amon is still out there. We can't just... leave it like that. That bastard owes me my dignity. He is mocking me!"

"Princess... we will come back, I assure you. It shouldn't take too long. A two-day adventure tops."

"I don't have time to pack everything," the princess sighed, making Phantom snort.

"Just pick a coat, pants, shoes and bathroom tools," he rolled his eyes and went out of the room. Azula huffed, before getting to the job. Danny meanwhile was to check out of the hotel. He was a law-abiding citizen.

Once at the posh-looking reception, Danny gave back the keys, and, as he was doing this, the lady at the desk kept glancing on him. Giving in to his carefree nature, Phantom winked and left a tip for the blushing girl. She was distracted enough not to notice that Azula was nowhere to be seen. They had taken a room together, after all. Finding a safe and private spot, the young man then made a call, informing his servants about the need of taking everything. He really was leaving in a hurry, just in case they were being searched for. For all his goals Danny needed a couple of portals in his apartment. Upon returning to his apartment, he went through the wall to enter. If he was honest, yeah, he did dump the packing on his lover. Shame on him.

"So...are we done?" Danny asked, seeing Azula close the luggage.

"Pretty much," she smirked at seeing his expression. "What?"

"You've taken more than I asked for."

"Don't be a crybaby. I've taken the necessities. Are we coming or not?"

"Let me visit the restroom and we will go."

By the time the police arrived several hours afterwards, the apartment had been completely empty, but let's not run ahead of the train. The couple went through the portal that led to the main settlement of the Northern Water Tribe. The capital, the name of which Danny would never be able to utter in his afterlife, was not so far. The snowstorm didn't really bother him, a creature with an ice orb for the heart, but his companion sniffed and rubbed her hands, even being dressed in a warm coat.

"If I catch a cold, I'm blaming you, Phantom."

"Fair enough," Danny went forward, trudging on the thick layer of snow, dressed in nothing but his gala clothes. He would have to change later. He was the one to carry their luggage, which wasn't a lot, truly. While they were going, Azula asked a question.

"Why are we not closer to the city?"

"Because..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, "I...miscalculated where the city is. It is hard, you know. I've never been here, and the dot on the map is bigger than the actual place."

"Some things never change, Daniel Phantom. Well, now you see it, move us again."

"A, I am yet to hear the magic word, and B, teleportation is still a bitch to handle. It's tiresome for my core."

And thus they had to walk, and they soon entered the city in sight. The place was huge. Located partially in the lowland, on the sea level, it was protected from same sea by an enormous dam that had the Water Tribe insignia carved on it. Something here didn't quite ring well with reasonability. The Dutch did something akin to this because their entire country was on the sea level. It could have been washed away, if not for the dams. They had fought off the waves quite ingeniously. This, however... the whole frozen continent was in the disposal of the locals. It wasn't difficult to build a wall, those were waterbenders the talk is about, but still. It could be for the sake of the port, because the ice was several levels above the sea. The inconveniences of a frozen continent.

The place was very vibrant, not in a Republic City way, however. It was a more primitive sort of vibrancy, anachronistic even. As if the modern (by this world's standards) lifestyle was placed within the bounds of the settlement which was centuries old. The ice buildings where electricity was scarce and the running water was in question. Running water in a settlement of waterbenders. Such a backwards place. The tribesmen sometimes glanced at the newcomers, rare as they were in calmer times like this. Azula was getting cold after half an hour walk through the ice tundra. Then, they finally got to the spot. A hotel. Not too shabby, but made of ice just like everything around.

However, on the inside it looked bright and homey. Not to mention that the skin-biting cold was no more thanks to the wooden planks that made up walls, ceiling and floor. Danny didn't know how exactly this worked. Azula was actually warm enough to take off the coat, now wearing only a red sweater. Before they could do anything, a rather active guy appeared before the two.

"Hello to you, dearest guests! You are not from around here, right?"

"Yeah, actually," Danny smiled.

"We need a room. Preferably one where I won't freeze to death while sleeping," Azula responded, rubbing her hands.

"Do not fret, we have specially prepared ones for the visitors of our city. It will cost ten thousand yuan per night."

Phantom sighed. The prices did bite. Danny dug in his pockets, taking several bills. The man eagerly took them.

"Would you like some tea?" He asked.

"I need one," The princess almost demanded, falling in an armchair.

"Right away."

With that the man quickly vanished behind one of the doors. Danny just sat near his girlfriend, curiously eyeing the surroundings as she snuggled closer to him. Surprised at such sudden display, Phantom nonetheless smiled and wrapped a hand around the princess. Her reddened face was a worthy reward.

"Aren't we cozy out there?" He whispered.

"Shut up," Azula mumbled, "I need to warm up and you are at fault here."

Danny chuckled and only pulled her closer. Wishing to distract herself from the embarrassing ordeal, she began her questioning.

"What are we going to do now? Do you have a plan of action?"

"Not exactly. My senses are going haywire, which means that we are close, but I am unable to pinpoint the place we need."

"I will have to do everything myself, won't I?" Azula asked overdramatically.

"We shall see. I guess we will have to ask the people around if they have seen anything abnormal. That will be a good start."

"Back again to the tedium, Ghost Boy. Let me at least have my tea, you had yours."

Danny raised his hands in mock surrender. He had no problem with that.

The tea was surprisingly good, considering that the leaves must have been frozen on their way here. The princess slowly warmed up, yet with each sip she was becoming more and more unwilling to come out, back into the unforgiving frozen wasteland that was the North Pole. Azula somewhat pitied Admiral Zhao at the moment, it was a miserable place to die in. Nonetheless, the princess fully understood the need to continue searching, and she was not going to fail someone who cared about her so much. Following him was the least she could do. Yet it didn't mean that she had to enjoy it, in fact, she lamented every second of it. Azula suddenly felt Danny wrap a hand around her again, as she had to sit properly to drink. Well, maybe not EVERY.

"I know you don't like cold. Don't worry, we will fix everything in a jiffy," he kissed her pink cheek.

"And you just jinxed it," Azula mumbled.

And it truly was complicated. As the couple searched around the city, they had to accept the nagging fact of being foreigners. The locals were distrustful upon hearing the questions about spiritual locations and activity. The reception was well-earned, last time someone from the outside got this information, the entire world almost collapsed. The guests of the capital had to be very careful so as not to earn the scorn of the entire population of said city, some were already giving them glances. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.

The city was much bigger on the inside than what Phantom and Azula had initially imagined. The streets were wide and lively in the evening, lit by a plethora of yellow lanterns. The wind in some places bit like a rabid animal, going for the opened face amidst its stampede around the many paths of the capital. The buildings made of ice were surprisingly distinguished from the others, there was a sense of style present in each and every house, meticulously carved and decorated by some Northern artisan. What was irksome was the amount of clutter everywhere. It was not like an Eastern bazaar (at one of which the couple actually was once during their travels), where it would fill up all free space around, instead the handmade accessories, the food, the vases even — all were lined up close to the walls, neatly packed and yet still irritating the guests with the sheer amount. The demand obviously could not be too humble about it's size nowadays.

As the young couple went down the street, Danny leaned closer to his lover.

"We are being watched, aren't we?" He whispered.

"The shadowy figures in the alleyways seem to be oddly similar."

"I bet THEY know what we want, am I right?" Phantom smirked, his eyes mischievously gleaming with a tint of green.

"There is a scary dark alleyway down the street. It should lure them, whoever they are."

Danny nodded, resuming his position of an oblivious passerby. The couple turned around the corner, diving within the tiny gap between the buildings that slithered around in a labyrinthine manner. It was devoid of any extra life, apart from something akin to arctic shrews digging inside a pile of trash with origin unknown. Perfect for an ambush if the couple could say so themselves. Soon they heard the shuffle behind them, before turning around, to see the only exit being blocked by two teens, twins from the seems, dressed in the dark blue thick robes. The white fur on the collars added to the impression that they were hunching all the time.

"Jeez, I feel like I am watching 'The Shining' again," Danny mumbled, before coughing, "So, is there any reason you have been following us? Or you are just creepy as that and like to stalk random people?"

"You are not random people," an emotionless reply followed.

"Few outsiders ask about spirits so persistently," the sibling continued.

"Definitely 'The Shining'."

"Look, you two," Azula got into the conversation, "It is none of your business. So go to your parents or whatever, hopefully you will be taught a thing about tailing strangers."

"Don't be so mean, dear," Danny smiled.

"We believe it is our business. We are the children of the chieftain."

"And what concerns the Tribe, concerns us."

"Really now?" Phantom raised an eyebrow. "So I guess we shouldn't fight so as not to cause a scandal. So what if we want to know about the spirits?"

"You are obviously lying."

"You are worthless in this."

"Princess, tell me it is not true," Danny pleaded.

"That is correct to the last word. You are a terrible liar," Azula chuckled at the look of betrayal in his eyes, forgetting for a moment where they were. But then the look in her golden eyes turned calm as she returned to the topic, "Thus, I believe we will have to be straightforward this time. If you ARE the children of the chieftain, then you can arrange for us to talk eye-to-eye, correct? I believe what we have in store would interest him, seeing how obsessed you Northerners are with this whole otherworldly things."

The twins looked at each other. They hadn't had any orders to restrain the newcomers, as stalking them was only a brief initiative. They had noticed the couple by a mere accident and now the situation took an unexpected turn. But the chieftain would surely be able to either share the knowledge or simply give the orders to get rid of them. The first was highly unlikely, seeing as the man refused to share even an ounce of the information he possessed with them, his children. But the couple of guests could try. Murder or harm coming to an outsider by the members of the chief's family were not going to be taken lightly by anyone. The situation was already difficult as it was. So the twins were not going to do that without permission. Looking at the newcomers, the twins nodded simultaneously.

"Very well. Follow us."