Avatar: Taste the Blood
Chapter 9
Life's a Beach
First of all, let me apologize for being gone so long. I've hit some road bumps with all my writing. Mainly with writers block and general lack of motivation, but this story specifically because simply finding this episode was a chore. Seems Youtube decided to be bigger fucktards than they were before and took down all the episodes.
That aside, there's interesting and unknown waters ahead. This takes place in "The Beach" episode, and will for the most part focus on Vergil. I'm going to try and humanize him a bit this chapter, but you won't see it till the very end. The reason for this being is because I want him to be a more likable character than in the games. I mean, yes, people like him in the games. Hell, I like him more than I do Dante, he's my favorite character, but I think most people like him just because he's cool. (I'm not saying I don't like him because he's cool, I'm just saying there's more to it than that.) I want people to like him because he's not the completely heartless bastard most people think he is...even though that's another reason I like him.
Anyway, just read on and tell me how well I did.
In another area of the Fire Nation entirely, a lone boat sailed thought the water. At first glance, there was nothing special about the boat, and even up on closer inspection, it was nothing out of the ordinary. What were extraordinary however, were its passengers.
"I'm so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island! It's gonna be great to just lie on the beach and do nothing!" said Ty Lee cheerily.
"Doing nothing's a waste of time, we're being sent away on a forced vacation. I feel like a child," growled Zuko.
"Perhaps it's because you constantly act like one," said Vergil, absorbed in a scroll. The same scroll in fact, that he received from Ozai in the library. Zuko glared at him, but he didn't seem to notice in the slightest.
"Zuko lighten up," said Azula, "So dad wants to meet with his advisers alone, without anyone else around, don't take it personally."
"Doesn't your family have a house on Ember Island?" asked Ty Lee.
"We used to come here every summer when we were kids."
"That must have been fun."
"That was a long time ago," muttered Zuko, looking out over the edge of the boat at the sea.
Once they reached Ember Island, dozens of beach homes came into view. The boat came to a stop at the docks, and Lo and Li awaited their arrival.
"Welcome to Ember Island kids," they said in unison.
They were all a bit disappointed when they saw their beach home, save for Vergil who was still absorbed in his scroll. They walked up the trail and entered the house, which was a cavalcade of pinks, purples, and reds.
"It smells like old lady in here," whispered Zuko to Mai.
"Gee, I wonder why?"
Ty Lee and the others were off admiring a picture, meanwhile Vergil cleared off the central table, wiping off objects and letting them clatter to the floor as he laid out his scroll.
As far as he could tell, the scroll was written in ancient demonic runes. Vergil had experience reading a more modern variant of demon writings, thanks to his father's small library at the place that had once been his home, but this was a much older dialect. Some of the symbol's he thought meant one thing made no sense on the scroll, making deciphering the writing a frustrating task.
He had translated a good chunk of it so far, but he still had work ahead of him. This 'vacation' was an inconvenience, but luckily he could still get his work done. He heard a cluster of footsteps come back into the room after everyone had gone into the bedrooms.
"Vergil, we're going to the beach, you wanna come?" asked Ty Lee.
"I have important work to do," he said, still not looking up from the scroll.
"Oh come on!" she whined.
It took all Vergil's willpower not to decapitate her. She continued to whine, both to his irritation, and those around her. He gripped the table, splintering the wood to keep grasp of his self control.
"If I play along to your childish whims, will you leave me alone for the rest of this ordeal?"
She nodded enthusiastically. He simply sighed and removed Yamato from his belt, and threw off his blue overcoat and brown gloves, revealing his sleeveless black undershirt. After shedding his excess layers of clothing he stood at the ready.
"Let's get this over with."
Elsewhere in the Fire Nation, Dante and the rest of the gang took a similar break from their travels, though the younger of Sparda twins was enjoying his small vacation far more than his slightly elder brother.
They all found a small pond in what looked like a very old crater. It seemed like a great spot to camp and take a rest, and everyone decided to go swimming. Aang was floating around lazily, Katara was washing out her hair, Toph was just soaking seeing as she didn't know how to swim, and Sokka was fishing for reasons unknown. Dante was currently underwater, seeing if he could reach the bottom. After succeeding, he swam back up to the surface and took in a deep breath, then decided to drift around similar to Aang.
"Aang, I know swimming is fun and all, but do you really think you should be exposing yourself like that? Cover up!"
"What, I'm wearing trunks?" he said, floating around in the water.
"I think she mean's the arrows buddy," corrected Dante.
"There are walls all around us, it's completely safe," argued Katara.
Of course, as soon as she said that, Aang decided to prove her wrong and jump down a tunneled river. Dante saw it all happen and sighed; knowing him, they were about to get boned hard somewhere along the line.
Back on Ember Island, Vergil had been successfully dragged to the beach. He felt frustrated and annoyed that his work had been interrupted, but if it meant peace and quiet for the remaining duration of their trip, he could indulge their simple pleasure for a fraction of a day. They arrived on the beach and approached two young children working on a sand sculpture. Azula crushed it with her foot and drove the two of them away, kicking their toys after them.
The entire group split up and settled down in different spots. Zuko went off with Mai, and Ty Lee headed off along. Vergil simply stood nearby where Azula had laid her things about, and stared out at the ocean.
"Vergil, you do know you can sit down right?" she said, laying back in the sun.
"Hm," he grunted.
Azula sighed and sat up. "You're stuck here Vergil, you might as well enjoy it. Sit down and relax, you can work later."
"That scroll may be the key to completing my life's work, do not speak about things you couldn't hope to understand."
Azula scowled. "Don't overestimate yourself Vergil, who are you to tell me what I can and can't understand?"
"I have skills you could never match, abilities you could never duplicate, and knowledge of things well beyond your conception. I'm well within my rights to look down upon a little girl."
With that, he turned and walked away, done dealing with her. Azula on the other hand, had her jaw dropped. No one, no one, had ever spoken to her with that much defiance and confidence. She was infuriated, enraged, and embarrassed. How dare a simple swordsman, no matter how useful, ever talk to her like that, especially in public?
She immediately scrambled to her feet and marched after him. When she was close enough she used her nails and dug into his shoulder as she attempted to turn him around. He didn't even budge against her pull, but he turned around anyway to humor her.
"How dare you speak to me that way, did you forget who you were talking to!?"
"I remembered exactly who I was talking to, I just don't care. Titles mean nothing in this world; your status does not instantly grant you my respect. You may think I still need you and that you are key for some imaginary purpose, but in reality the only reason I didn't kill you after you had delivered me my brother was because it would be more convenient to leave you alive. You're continued existence is nothing short of a gift from me, one that –if I were to eventually regret- I wouldn't hesitate to take back. You would do well to keep that in mind next time you feel the urge to try and grab my shoulder."
It was dead silent between them after that. Azula soaked in what Vergil had said, and Vergil himself was merely awaiting a reaction. Azula knew Vergil well enough to know that he never beat around the bush when it came to threats. If he said it, he meant it, there was no middle ground.
Ultimately Azula simply walked away, and Vergil didn't press the matter. He was confident he had severely bruised her over inflated ego. Azula stomped across the beach, feeling the need to release some aggression. That was when her eyes fell upon a nearby volleyball game. What better way to calm her nerves than to crush a few neophytes.
"Hey beach bumps, we're playing next. Ty-Lee get over here now!"
The brown haired girl complied happily, walking on her hands to join her friends. Zuko threw off his over-shirt for better mobility, and the four huddled in the ball court. Vergil leaned against a rock that sat near the edge of the court, watching them play their little game. It amused him how easily Azula could be angered; he was sure that would come in handy later on.
Needless to say, the four of them won with little effort. The final scoring serve had left the net of the volleyball court on fire, and Azula had a look of utter triumph on her face.
"Yes, we defeated you for all time! You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!"
Vergil, who was now just outside the arena, shook his head at her foolishness. "Settle down you imbeciles, it was only a game. If anything you've only proven how simple minded you all are."
The swordsman turned his head slightly when he heard footsteps in the sand behind him. Two boys, slightly younger than Vergil, both with brown hair, approached them.
"I'm havin' a party tonight, you should come by," said the taller one, addressing Ty-Lee.
"Sure, I love parties!"
"Your friend can come to."
Azula stepped forward, standing next to Vergil facing the pair of newcomers. "Uh, what about the rest of us?"
They both glanced at each other, trying to ignore her.
"You don't know who we are do you?"
"Don't you know who we are? We're Chan and Ran-jan."
Zuko began to stomp towards them before Azula stopped him.
"Fine though, you're invited. Just so you know though, some of the most important teenagers in the Fire Nation are gonna be there, so just try to act normal."
Azula smirked. "We'll do our best."
It was dusk now, and everyone arrived at Chan's house…even Vergil.
"I can't believe I'm actually wasting more of my time with this idiocy," grumbled Vergil.
"Oh quit it Vergil, one party isn't going to kill you," said Azula.
"No, but I just may mutilate it."
Just then the door opened, revealing Chan. "Uh…you're a little early, no one's here yet."
"I remember you telling someone you'd be partying from dusk till dawn. It's dusk, so we're here."
"But that's just an expression."
"We are the perfect party guests, we arrive right on time because we are very punctual."
He shrugged, but moved aside and gestured for them to come inside.
"Alright, my dad's an admiral, he had no I'm throwing this party, so don't mess anything up," he warned them.
Vergil didn't bother with anymore of the unimportant details. He simply took a seat and got comfortable; if he didn't move or talk to anyone, this would go by quickly and he could get back to work. It wasn't long before guests began to arrive, and music began to play in the background. Eventually it didn't matte where he went, the entire house was loud. He was just waiting for an excuse to leave.
Throughout the entirely of the party so far, he witnessed a number of events. Ty-Lee using martial arts to escape a group of drooling boys, Azula laughing like more of a maniac than normal, and finally her disappearing; all the while he wished for somewhere that wasn't loud and annoying. His prayers were answered when he finally caught sight of a doorway that led to deck in the back of the house that he had previously missed.
He stood up and pushed his way through the crowd until he made it to the back. It was darker outside, and the voices and music faded in the open air. There was only one thing; he wasn't alone. Azula was leaning of the railing of the deck when she heard his footsteps and turned around.
"Vergil."
"It's much quieter out here. Unlike my brother, I don't like parties."
He walked past her and leaned his back against the railing a bit farther down. There was a silence outside, only the waves and the faded sound of the party music broke the quiet of the night. Vergil found himself fiddling with his mothers amulet that dangled around his neck. He looked down at the glowing gem and its gold chain. It had a slight illuminative look it thanks to the light from the moon hitting it at the right angle.
"Was it a gift?" asked Azula suddenly.
Vergil glanced up slightly. "Was what a gift?"
"That necklace, I've never seen you without it, and this isn't the first time you've just stood there staring at it."
He was silent for a moment, his eyes lingering on it for a second longer before replying. "It's a monument."
Azula rose to eyebrow in confusion. "A necklace is a monument, to what?"
"To all of my sins."
She was about to press the matter further, but suddenly the music and idol chatter stopped. It was faint, but they could clearly hear Zuko and Mai yelling. After a moment there was a slam of the door and the party resumed.
"Something tells me our welcome here is coming to a close. I suggest we go after him; your brother is…unstable, to say the least, and left to his own devices there's no telling what idiocy he'll get himself into."
Moving across the Fire Nation for a moment, Dante and the rest of the gang were fast asleep. The swordsman was sprawled out on the ground, his arms wrapped around Rebellion as he snored. Suddenly Toph shot up from her rest.
"Guys, you're all gonna think I'm crazy, but it feels like there's a metal man coming," she warned.
The rest of the group groaned as they slowly sat up. Suddenly a light shown down on Aang's eyes and he put up his had to shield his eyes. Dante looked up, gripping Rebellion, and stood even faster after catching a glimpse of the newcomer.
"Oh shit, not this guy," he groaned.
The man took in a deep breath and his eyes widened in concentration. Dante whipped his head around.
"Run!"
A compressed beam was launched from his forehead at the five of them. Dante spun Rebellion so he held it reversed in his hand, and the beam hit the flat side of the blade, the slight angle deflecting the beam off to the side, hitting the nearby rocks.
Toph meanwhile launched up several rocks up at him. They were easily blown away by a second blast. Katara tried next with a wave of water, but it to was blow away, creating a huge cloud of steam that block both their and their attackers view.
"Don't bother, that ain't gonna work! Just take cover!" shouted Dante.
Back at the beach Vergil stood on the shore of the water. Azula chose to round up her brother alone, which left him, Ty-lee, and Mai to sit on the beach until they returned. Speaking of which, he heard to sets of footsteps approaching. He turned his head slightly and saw the siblings approaching their little campsite.
"Hey," said Zuko, addressing Mai.
She shrugged off his comment. He sat down and attempted to put an arm around her, but again, she shrugged it off.
"Are you cold?"
She didn't answer but Ty-Lee did. "I'm freezing!"
He grinned. "I'll make a fire."
"There's plenty of stuff to burn up there," he said looking up at his former summer home.
Another explosion rocked the small hill the group took cover behind. The rock was slowly but surely being chipped away by the continuous attacks.
"This is crazy, how do we beat someone who can blow stuff up with his mind!?" shouted Sokka.
"We can't, you get on Appa; I'll hold him off!"
Aang stood up and tried to go out to fight, but Dante grabbed his arm. They all looked to him in confusion.
"Actually, we can beat him! I've met this dude before; he's surprisingly easy to beat if you know how! You guys get on Appa, this'll be over quick!"
They were hesitant, but Dante urged them on and they complied. While they were getting airborne, Dante slung Rebellion over his shoulder and ran up the hill. He grabbed a small rock slightly smaller than his palm as he ascended. Once he came to the top, he called out to him.
"Yo, what's up three eyes, remember me!?"
He was answered with a compressed beam being fired at him. Dante leaped forward and twisted into a spiral in the air, dodging the explosion. Once he was at the correct angle, he threw the rock at full strength. Dante knew he needed to recharge after every shot, and based on when he threw the rock relative to when his shot was fire, the rock would impact where he needed it to just a little under a second before he could fire again.
As he fell, Appa flew underneath him, and Dante grabbed the edge of his saddle. They leveled out and he threw himself into his seat. Once they were all safely in the air, he looked back to watch.
"What did you do?" asked Sokka.
"Wait for it…"
Suddenly a huge explosion flashed down where the man had been standing. Dante turned back to the group with a smirk.
"And that's how ya beat him; he never learns."
Zuko threw another picture into the campfire, this one an old family portrait. It took merely seconds for it to be consumed by the flames.
"What are you doing?" asked Ty-Lee.
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
"But…it's a painting of your family."
"You think I care!?"
"I think you do."
Zuko looked away, the scowl on his face as deep as ever. "You don't know me, so why don't you mind your own business!"
"I know you," she murmured, but not softly enough so Zuko couldn't hear it.
"No you don't, you're stuck in your own little Ty-lee world where everything's great all the time!"
"Zuko, leave her alone," said Mai, defending her friend.
"Oh look at me, I'm so pretty, I can walk on my hands, woo!" continued Zuko in a mocking tone while walking on his hands. He flipped over and landed on his back.
"Circus freak," he spat.
Azula laughed in amusement, but the comment had pressed a very sensitive button of Ty-Lee's.
"Yes, I'm a circus freak, go ahead and laugh all you want! You want to know why I joined the circus?"
"Here we go," Azula sighed.
"Do you have any idea what my home life was like? Growing up with six sisters who looked exactly like me? It was like I didn't even have my own name!"
She was now on her knees in front of the fire, sobbing.
"I joined the circus so I wouldn't have to spend the rest of my life as part of a matched set! At least I'm different now, circus freak is a compliment!"
"I guess that explains why you need ten boyfriends to," said Mai calmly.
She sat up on her knees, more angry than upset now.
"Excuse me, what?"
"Attention issues; you didn't get enough of it as a kid, so you're trying to make up for it now."
"Well whats your excuse Mai, you've been an only child for fifteen years, even with all that attention your aura is a dingy, pasty, gray…"
"I don't believe in auras," she said flatly.
"Yeah," said Zuko, standing up from the ground, "you don't believe in anything."
"Oh, well I'm sorry I can't be as high strung and crazy as the rest of you."
He began walking back to the campfire. "I'm sorry to, I wish you would be high strung and crazy sometimes instead of keeping everything bottled up inside. She just called your aura dingy, are you gonna take that?"
She simply laid back on the rock she was sitting on, dismissing his urges to react.
"What do you want from me? You want a teary confession of how hard my childhood was? Well it wasn't, I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted…as long as I behaved…and sat still…and didn't speak unless spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble, that we had my father's political career to think about."
"Well that's it then. You had a controlling mother who had a set of rules and every time you strayed from them you got shut down. That's why don't care about anything and why you can't express yourself."
Mai sat up suddenly and leaned forward, standing up as she spoke. "You want me to express myself, leave me alone!"
Zuko smiled and walked towards her. "I like it when you express yourself."
"Don't touch me; I'm still mad at you!"
He scowled again. "You know, my life hasn't been so easy either!"
"Whatever, that doesn't excuse the way you've been acting!"
"Calm down you guys," interrupted Ty-Lee, "this much negative energy is bad for your skin, you'll totally break out."
"Bad skin? Normal teenager worry about bad skin! My father decided to teach me a permanent lesson, on my face!"
Ty-lee looked down in shame. "Sorry Zuko, I…"
"For so long I thought that if my father accepted me, I'd be happy! I'm back home now, my dad talks to me, heh, he even think I'm a hero! Everything should be perfect right? I should be happy now, but I'm not, I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why!"
"There's a simple question you need to answer then: who are you angry at?" asked Azula.
"No one, I'm just…angry!"
"Yeah, who are you angry at Zuko?" asked Mai.
"Everyone, I don't know!"
"Is it dad?" asked Azula.
"No…no."
"Your uncle?" asked Ty-Lee.
"Me?" asked Azula again.
"No, no, no, no!"
"Then who are you angry at?"
"Answer the question Zuko!"
"Talk to us!"
"Answer the question!"
"Come on, answer it!"
He lifted both his fists and threw them down, causing the campfire to burst upward in a column of flames.
"I'm angry at myself!"
The flames slowly died down to nothing but smoldering embers. He took a few steps away, facing the ocean.
"Why?" asked Azula.
"Because I'm confused; because I'm not sure I know the difference between right and wrong anymore."
"You're pathetic," said Azula with a slight laugh.
Mai walked up beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know one thing I care about, I care about you."
She gave him a kiss before they both heard a single applause from behind them.
"Wonderful performances everyone," said Azula sarcastically.
"I guess you wouldn't understand would you Azula; because you're just so perfect."
"Well yes, I guess you're right. I don't have sob stories like all of you. I could sit here and complain about how our mom liked Zuko more than me, but I don't really care. My own mother…thought I was a monster. She was right of course, but it still hurt."
That was when they heard a sigh from the very tip of the shore of the beach. While caught up in their stories, they had completely forgotten that Vergil was still there, standing silent and unmoving as a statue looking out at the ocean. He turned his head slightly as they all looked at him.
"I left that party because I was hoping for peace and quiet. If I had known you would just keep yelling and carrying on, I would have simply left on my own."
Zuko scowled again, his rage returning again. "Well excuse us for voicing our feelings! It's not like you have any, you're nothing short of a machine!"
Vergil actually chuckled and turned around, looking Zuko in the eye with a smirk on his face.
"You're all pathetic, every one of you. I stood here silent listening to your stories, and I found that the most amusing part was that you actually believed your lives were difficult, that all these tales were horribly tragic events that no one could possibly understand," he said, openly mocking them.
"Not fitting in, having controlling parents, a simple scar; these are nothing. The only reason you think you've had hard lives is because you've never had to deal with the real world. Even in your exile Zuko, you still had an entire crew at your command to do your bidding."
"Your sheltered lives have created so many illusions you can't even imagine. All you are are a few sympathy grubbing neophytes begging for attention. Having your life completely ripped away from you, being spit upon by even the lowest of scum in the most backwater of villages, doing anything to survive, even mercilessly tearing a man to sheds with your own two hands at the tender age of nine; that is just a sample of my life."
He turned back to the ocean and folded his arms behind his back.
"I'm grateful for these events however, they taught me a valuable lesson; the most valuable lesson of all in fact. Might is everything, and without strength you cannot protect anything, let alone yourself. Living by this, I was able to do what was necessary to gain power, and not political power, not military power, but pure, raw, untamed power. It didn't matter who, or what, or why, if they impeded my progress, my quest for power, they were eliminated. Lives, even my own, have become meaningless; power is the only thing that matters, and if I'm to die, I will simply make the afterlife mine. Not even death will keep me from might."
No one move, no one breathed, only the waves kept everyone from the brink of the insanity of silence. After a moment, Ty-lee of all people mustered up the courage to speak.
"Is that…I mean, is that really what you believe. There isn't one person in the whole world who ever meant anything at all to you? Ever?"
Vergil stood silent, once again finding himself fiddling with his amulet. He looked down at it, suddenly remembering an odd memory. Bits and pieces of the day he got the amulet.
"Happy birthday boys, I've got your presents!"
"Sweet, I want the gold one!"
"No I get the gold one, you get the silver one!"
"No fair, you always get to pick!"
"That's because I'm older than you."
"Settle down boys, now come inside, I have dinner ready."
A strange sensation ran through his body. His face was beginning to warm, and he suddenly felt extremely heavy, like his limbs were weighting him down.
"Where do you think dad went Dante?"
"I don't know; I wish he'd stayed though."
"Me to…"
"Don't worry, that's why I'm here Vergil! It doesn't matter what happens, you and me, we'll be best friends forever!"
"You think so?"
"We're brothers, and mom says brothers always love each other."
"You're such a momma's boy Dante."
"Am not, meanie!"
For some reason he felt weak all of a sudden. Something touched his right cheek, something wet and it ran down to his chin and dripped onto the amulet. Was he…crying?
"Good night boys."
"Good night mom."
"Night mom."
"I love you both…so much. I'll see you in the morning."
She never did see them the next morning though. That was the night everything came crashing down; the night his mother died. Now he recognized this feeling; it was agony. Not physical agony, but agony. He gripped the amulet tighter and silently took in a deep breath, and calmed his nerves.
"No…no one at all."
It was nearing midnight now. Vergil was sitting out on the deck of their beach house, the moon shining down over the scroll. He finally had peace and quiet, but for some reason, he was unable to focus. He sighed and looked up at the moon.
His gaze left the moon and moved to the entrance to the deck when he heard footsteps against the wooden floor. Azula walked to the other side of the table he was sitting and sat down.
"You lied," she said suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb. Back at Chan's party you said that amulet was 'a monument to your sins'. Then, after you were done ranting on about our little story time, and Ty-Lee asked you if you really believed that, you started playing with that necklace again. That leads me to believe you were lying when you said you didn't care about anyone. I think there is someone, someone you simply can't bring yourself to kill."
He glanced at her for a moment before looking down at his scroll. "You're imagining things."
"Am I, or maybe I'm completely right. Could it possibly be your brother?"
Vergil was silent.
"I'm right aren't I? It wasn't just some freak accident he survived his battle with you was it? You let him live because you couldn't bear to kill him could you?"
He still remained silent.
"Well, unlike you, I'm not quite so afraid to kill your dear little brother," she said as she stood back up.
"You should keep that in mind the next time you feel the urge to threaten me."
With that, she left for bed. Vergil was left alone again, and he returned his gaze to the moon.
"We're brothers, and mom says brothers always love each other."
Vergil sighed again.
"You always were a momma's boy Dante."
Okay, so I hope Vergil seems a little...I don't know, deeper? We've just been going into Dante's past and thoughts so much that I thought Vergil could use some attention to. I admit, while I'm a big Vergil fan, I'm better with Dante, so I don't know how well I did here. I think it went alright, but then again, I'm not the one I have to impress.
Review away!
