Darkness was slow to release her, but it had to happen anyway. Azula realized that her sleep was over, but still waited some time, before opening her eyes. It was better this way – even a few moments between a night, full of nightmares and yet another gloomy day, full of hallucinations, were worth it. And if she had some luck, darkness could return, granting her a few hours of dreamless slumber. But not this time.
"Welcome back to the material world, princess" - said some calm and soft voice, fully waking her. "Not these freaks again…" she started to lament, but it definitely was not the case. This time she found herself on a bed in some weird little cave room dimly lightened by a few strange glowing crystals, furs as a door, and other freak in a hooded gray robe and a mask covering the whole face.
"Just great" she turned herself into a more comfortable position, not even bothering with rising up "Yet another shitty Hallucination to remind me of my miserable past and present. Just who the fuck are you though? I don't really remember anyone like you – some collective image perhaps? "
"I am a mere ally of Your Highness, who implemented Your escape from the place where You were imprisoned"
"Really? I will even play along, as it's good to have a change of scene for once… And I definitely have nothing to lose. So, do you even have a name?"
"Kelmar Ulgarde at Your service. But You may call me just Kel or anything else You find appropriate."
"I will call you freak then" Azula smirked.
"As You wish" man bowed slightly.
"Yeah, sure. So tell me more about my "escape", i desperately want to know more about it."
"Well, the most difficult part was a search of the exact location. Especially without getting any unnecessary attention. It took me almost seven weeks. The rest was rather easy – I hired a few thugs as backup and distraction and we infiltrated the building. We were spotted though, and some guards were foolish enough to interfere, but there weren't many of them and they couldn't really do anything anyway…"
"Stop here for a bit – are these "thugs" still around? And what exactly do they know about all of it?" Azula's mood actually began to improve. For once, all this mind games crap was more like some fairy tale, which, while still being stupid, definitely had some advantages over her "daily routine" or a dreamless slumber. "maybe madness isn't that bad after all" she thought.
"No. Such people are obviously not to be trusted, so we parted our ways right after I paid them. All they knew, is that I needed to get someone important for me out of that building and was ready to pay for their assistance." Man stopped this time, waiting for further questions.
"Was it really necessary to use them in a first place then?"
"When i mentioned their distraction purpose, it wasn't about distracting anyone in that building. By simply being there, they provided us with a good fake lead - for any search parties, which would be after us. They would be most likely captured in the end, but any time wasted on the search or getting any information out of them, will work in our favor. Even if we fully exclude anything about keeping my word - a mere sum of gold is definitely worth it"
"Hm, such approach is actually convincing. But there still are a few more important things – how long ago did it all happen, where exactly are we now, and, most importantly, why i don't remember anything of it?" Perhaps it was a bit of a rush – to shatter this illusion with all the incoherence right now, but it was still necessary and better done sooner than later.
"We left that building about 30 hours ago, and You were unconscious at that point, due to some special medicine used by the "personnel". Among other properties it slows most body processes and makes some of your latest memories hazy and more difficult to recall. You will most likely remember anything amiss in a day or two." Man stopped for a few seconds, waiting for possible questions, and than continued "This place was initially just another nondescript cave, located on one of the small uninhabited islands of the fire nation. I spent 2 weeks to turn it into something more suited for our purposes." It actually began to look as some kind of a lesson, like in the fire nation academy for girls… how long ago was it actually? …Irrelevant though.
"So, can you at least show me around?" As they obviously should be in her cell, it all will end right now…
"Sure" He actually moved the door-hide away. "Here is a living room"
Azula stood up with a slight bewilderment and made a few steps to the exit, to get a better view. There was a round room, about ten meters in diameter and four in height with a table in a middle, surrounded by two armchairs and a couch. Lack of windows, rough stone walls and the same crystals as a dim light source showed, that indeed, it most likely was a cave. Or some kind of an earthbending trick…
"Lack of furniture is a necessary compromise, and I believe it is still enough to feel comfortable." He moved to one of the light-crystals and, with a few hand manipulations, light in the room changed to a much more bright one. Four more hide-doors became clearly visible and some kind of halberd on the wall as well. "Exit is there" man said while pointing in a corresponding direction. "To its left lies currently unfinished room, then mine, then kitchen and last one is bathroom with a small pool. I have actually heated a water there and prepared a few sets of clothes, just in case. Unfortunately there was nothing really appropriate for a princess, but I have chosen the best available. I can also offer light breakfast with tea or some wine if you wish so. "
"Tea will do." The situation was becoming more surreal with each passing moment, but really, wasn't it something to be expected? Not that she liked tea anyway, more the opposite, but it helped to clear the thoughts, and, if by some weird feint of fate, everything around was real, she needed it. Having a refreshing bath looked like a really good idea too, be it some kind of dream or not. Not like it would change anything to worse at this point at least. "I expect not to be disturbed, unless I specifically call for something, am I clear?"
"As You wish." Man bowed to her once again, and moved to the room he labeled as a kitchen. For a moment she tried to consider any other options, but quickly decided against it. Why not enjoy something pleasant, while it lasts?
Bath itself, most likely made by using already presented hole as a base, was rather big, about 5 meters in diameter. Small cave spring as a water source and a drainage was actually to be expected, but a big mirror on one of the walls and an actual toilet with a few hides to cover it from the rest of the room surely looked weird. Clothes mentioned by this creep were actually present in a few piles nearby. More or less appropriate for a noblewoman, so will do…
Hot water was definitely refreshing. She really missed something like that for a long time, and the weird circumstances hardly mattered anymore. She spend a few minutes relaxing, but then her mind reminded her, that it actually wasn't that simple and easy. She still knew nothing about this man, his trustworthiness, but the probability of being inside a dream or illusion was decreasing and it was just great. In the end, even it's all some kind of a scheme, she was a master at such games and would get an edge at some point. Right now it was a good opportunity to decide which questions to ask next, and how to use a whole situation to her best advantage.
Twenty minutes later, when she left a bathroom fully dressed, man calmly waited for her sitting in one of the chairs. He filled two cups from a steaming teapot, while putting some kind of a straw into his. Azula sat into a second chair looking at his actions with a bit of a pure curiosity.
"Well, I guess, I have to thank you for the hospitality." She portrayed a well trained mask of light satisfaction on her face with these words. "But, before we move into an actual business, I have one more little request. I would really like to see your face, if it isn't some kind of a important secret of course."
"There is no secret for Your Highness in my appearance, but I have to warn you, that my face looks rather unpleasant at this moment" he said without any pause or visible hesitation.
"Oh, there is no problem here. I am free from such prejudices." It was actually important at this point. Would he actually comply or will present any other excuse? It could give some useful leads for the future..
"As You wish." He threw back his hood and slowly began to remove his mask, which actually looked like some kind of a hard leather helmet, covering his whole head and a neck. For some reason his movements were slow and somehow gentle so the procedure took a few minutes, while Azula drank tea and ate some snacks from her plate. But, when the mask was finally removed, she immediately realized the concern behind it. He actually looked quite young, maybe a year or two older than her hated brother, and the upper half of his face looked perfectly normal, except the total lack of any hair, but the lower part was burned so severely that it looked like one big blackened scar. Well, she have seen cripples before, but people with burns of such degree were usually dead, unconscious or totally unable to do anything substantial without moaning from the pain. Calling him a freak before, looked now like an extremely unwise decision, and a quick fix was needed to avoid any further antagonizing at this stage.
"I have to apologize for my rudeness. While that does not fully excuse my words, I was slightly stressed in the wake of all the recent events and associated you with one of my jailers first." When did she tried to be polite last time? It should have been quite a time ago, as politeness and weakness were usually closely associated with each other, and avoiding any weaknesses was always one of her life goals.
"I humbly accept your apology, but have to mention that I was never offended in the first place. It is quite an obvious fact right now, after all. I have to apologize myself though, as it's rather necessary to tend my wounds whenever the mask is removed." After these words, he wiped his face with a handkerchief and began to spread a thin layer of some ointment, taken from one of the many pockets of his robe. At this point it became clear to her, that he could fully control his emotions too and likely was never bothered by her rude comment in the first place. It was a good sign, as it allowed her to focus on more relevant things, outright ignoring all the husk. Azula waited a few more minutes before a mask was dressed again. Yes, it surely was better this way.
"Let us move to a more important things then. I am interested in your agenda right now. Most importantly why do you help me, what do you want for yourself and whom do you represent in your actions."
"My goal is to assist you in becoming a Firelord. I do not represent a fire nation, earth kingdom, water tribes or any other group associated with any of them. Concerning my own goals… I have a certain enemy, which I have close to zero chances against, and having the might of fire nation, will surely change a lot in this regard." Having said that, he began to drink his tea through a straw.
"Well, this explains something at least." Azula did not even need to portray surprise, as it was both genuine and helpful now. "But still looks highly bizarre. Why me of all people? It would be more understandable would you be one of my father's mooks, bound to my cause by some loyalty and fear to lose their titles, ranks, money and so forth. I would like to hear a more detailed explanation if possible." Sometimes a direct approach was the most simple solution and she felt that it was the case right now.
"As you wish, but the explanation will take some time, so in case if my words will be offending to you in any way, you can interrupt me at any point." He waited a few moment and then continued "Fire nation is obviously the most powerful by a substantial margin, so any other may be simply ignored. The most efficient way to address my problems is to make a proper agreement with the only figure which makes all the important decisions – the Firelord. The first and seemingly the most simple and obvious option would be addressing your brother, but he simply is a traitorous scum and an avatar's associate, so even if we ignore any other circumstance, he is simply out of the question."
It was one of these rare moments when someone rated her brother as lowly, as he actually deserved, and it was really pleasant to hear. This strange man, was his name Kel-something?, continued his explanation in the meantime. "My second option was to approach any of the generals or nobles or even a certain group of them. Some of them surely have high ambitions and some substantial powerbase to back it up, but well, their lack of initiative and flexibility brings it back to zero. Sure, they may execute orders given to them in their strict area of competence, but nothing more. The most thing I could achieve with it would be a civil war, which is the least thing we need. So we move to an actual choice – between you and your father, former Firelord Ozai. And while my final decision should be rather obvious at this point, I think I still have explain all the reasons behind it "
Azula actually felt as if her heart stopped for a few moments when she heard it. Not only has someone compared her with her father, like it was the most trivial thing to do, but has chosen her over him? There should be something really specific, what kind of dream would it be otherwise? And as she simply waited, frozen in shock and unable to say anything, he continued his explanation with the same calm and monotonous tone. "The first factor was a location. Your father is currently held at the boiling rock, and while the most radical solutions like a frontal assault, are still possible, even the least important part could cost a lot of time for preparations and bring a lot of potential risks. The second factor was a personal power. You are considered as a prodigy of firebending even by your enemies, so as your father was ahead in terms of pure power, it was an actual tie, until his bending was somehow taken away by avatar in the end of a decisive battle. There are possibilities to avert it, but I am not sure that it lies within my powers. The third factor was an ability to hear viable arguments of others, even if they contradict with your beliefs, and use it to your advantage. With all the info I gathered, I believe that your father wouldn't even want to hear any words from me, a simple nobody in his eyes, not to mention following them in any way. And the last and most important factor was about summarizing general competence and public support. It is widely believed that the war was lost through your father's mistakes, and I tend to agree with it. He had all the factors on his side, but discarded most of them for the sake of personal glory, and it backfired in the end. You, on the other side, had actually defeated the avatar once and conquered the city of Ba Sing Se without any bloodshed. This alone is enough to make a choice in your favor."
Azula could only sit, completely speechless, as with a few arguments, her entire life was shattered into pieces once again and then arranged into a new order. It were things, she simply couldn't rationally analyze yet, as it brought back the feelings of helplessness and loss of control, which she hated the most of all. There was a proven way to handle it though. She simply had to concentrate on something important, like training or fulfilling any new task… It took her some time and substantial willpower to get back to the conversation again.
"Do you have any plans of action to suggest?" She finally asked.
"Yes. The first part, regarding your immediate safety is complete at this point, so, I believe, we can move onto strategical planning. The most favorable point to set the final part of any plan into action should be in about four months from this point. The general population feelings are mixed right now, as most of them have anticipated victory with all its benefits. Zuko's supporters may be happy with just peace at this point, but soon it will become clear, that not only peace doesn't solve everything by itself, but in contrary creates many problems of its own. Many productions necessary for war would be severely limited or outright closed, and when people will realize, that due to their ruler decisions, there would be a contribution paid to the earth kingdom partially from their pockets, they would became even more discontented. And any decisions regarding the future of the colonies without a fire nation can be a final straw, especially with little help on the matter." He made a few more gulps of tea before continuing.
"Concerning possible allies, I believe that You should have much more relevant information. Good thing is, that many military officers are dissatisfied with all the developments, but Zuko cannot really solve this issue now. As for immediate actions, I think that resting and staying low for a few days may be a good idea. Also, I may offer my services for teaching some really efficient techniques for the manipulation of fire, which may be useful in the nearest future"
"So you claim to be a firebender or a firesage of some sort?" Asked Azula.
"No. There are other ways of bending elements to your will, and mine is usually called wizardry or spellcraft."