A/N: Hello and welcome back dear friends
I apologize for the delay, but you know. There was suddenly something. A certain something. This certain something was called 'Highschool DxD' and I kind of got lost in all that mesmerizing, truly wonderful plot *Ifyouknowwhatimean*. Rias, y u no real? I'll admit it right away, I wrote a story set in the DxD universe, but I have no idea if I am going to publish it. It's not really serious, just messing around with stuff, I guess.
Also other important real-life stuff happened and... ah, never mind, I managed to get this done, though I have no idea how.
On another note, because someone sent me a PN asking (and already finding some). Yes there are indeed multiple 'Easter-eggs' (disguised characters from other series, slightly altered dialogue, objects, stuff like this) hidden throughout the story (from the beginning), they will continue throughout the whole thing. Some more obvious, some less, some most certainly almost undetectable. Feel free to point them out in your reviews if you got a feeling you might have found one. Internet cookies for those who find one :) Also, I do not promise, every chapter will have hidden stuff, it comes as I feel it is fitting.
I don't know, but I get a kick from hiding this kind of stuff.
Aaaanyway, onward with Avatar
sit back, enjoy and happy hunting
-/-
The three murder-witnesses froze where they were standing, watching in shock how Ty Lee collapsed into the puddle of her own blood. She fell hard and ungracefully on her back, still trying to hold on to the newborn in her arms. Azula blinked for a moment. This was one of her three best and only friends, who just got murdered in front of her eyes. And she didn't even see it coming.
To say Azula was upset might have been a minor understatement. She yet again found herself so inhumanly angry, so filled with rage and hatred, her mind was already calm and focused again. This was, like some people very well knew, her most deadly state. She would just obliterate everything and everyone remotely connected to that coward of a guard. The sapphire princess would make them all pay. Starting with this fool of a guard, who dared to harm Ty Lee. Azula clenched her teeth together so tightly it almost hurt, as she stood and stared. The last time the princess had ever felt so angry was, when she found out that Aang had been abducted. And now she had to watch again while one of her closest friends had to suffer, all because... because... well because she didn't see it coming. Was this her fault? She shouldn't have left Ty Lee alone.
She should have seen it coming.
The princess struggled to comprehend the reality, which her eyes were presenting to her brain, but that would not stop her from taking action once it had sunk in. Aang was no different either, he just stared at the guard, who was wearing a disgustingly inappropriate, smug grin on his face. He grinned like he had achieved a great goal, his eyes were glowing with pleasure and joy.
Jin looked up into the eyes of the angel, who saved her and saw nothing but hurt and anger burning inside of the bright golden orbs, like a firestorm of all consuming flames. She saw Azula clenching her jaw together, while she obviously contemplated the way the guard would die. Jin saw how hurt and upset her savior was, a feeling she could relate to all too well. But where Azula was radiating power and strength off like a never ending waterfall, Jin had no such thing. She was weak and never able to fight back against all the things, which were done to her.
Azula was nothing like Jin, the princess would always fight back and never stop. The white haired, badly abused girl somehow figured that out rather quickly. Jin would never leave her side again, she promised herself to always be with Azula and do whatever it is she needs. She needed to be strong as well, so she plucked up all the courage she had an looked at the guard, who killed her angel's friend. Jin looked at him and immediately recognized him. Feeling a painful sting in her chest, she forced herself to not look away again.
This guard... he was... he did... things.
To her.
With her.
Jin remembered so many cruel pictures in her head all of a sudden, all at once, it was almost too much for her. Fighting to not break down in tears, she tried to swallow them down in an almost hurting sour lump, while she clung on to Azula for dear life. She hated that man. That monster. She hated him for what he did to her, for all the times he touched her. For all the times he used her. For all the time she wanted to get him off her, but couldn't. For all the times she could not fight back. And now Jin also hated him for what he did to her new friend, to Azula's friend.
"Jin" Azula said with almost scarily calm voice. The whole scene was surreal. It was -absent the maniacally chuckle of the quite possibly insane guard- absolutely silent. Ty Lee didn't make any noise at all, which was not a good sign at all and to Aang surprise, the baby didn't either. Azula didn't even pay attention to the newborn at the moment, her priorities was completely focused on the guard. The atmosphere was almost demonic, the greenish-light the crystals generated just added up to that effect.
"Y-Yes?" Jin replied with shaky voice. She hated being scared, but could not help it. She had always been timid and fragile, she knew that. Holding on to Azula made her feel better, it made her feel like no one would ever hurt her again.
"Would you let go of me?" Azula's cold voice said, but it didn't sound like a question. It was more of a command, an order.
"B-B-But... I" Jin stammered, before Azula looked down to the white haired beauty, who was hiding under Azula's right arm, like she could not be seen there. The princess looked into the light grey eyes of her new appendage and easily picked up the sheer panic, which was written all over her face. Jin didn't want to let go of Azula, she didn't want. She couldn't, she was so scared.
Suddenly there was a soft hand ruffling through her hair "Don't worry. Just for a moment. There is something I need to do. It won't take long. You can hold me tight right after again, ok?" Azula reassured, her voice now almost warm and kind.
"Just what the hell are you two weirdos doing over there?" The guard shouted.
"Hurry" Aang whispered to his wife, after all there might still have been a chance for Ty Lee to be alive. However slim it might have seemed. He had already begun to search for a possible water pipe in the wall, so he would have something to heal Ty Lee with, should she still be breathing. He was confident Azula would handle this nicely. Well maybe not nicely, but definitely explicit. She was no one to fuck around in situations like these.
Jin hesitated a moment, but slowly let go of Azula, before she shakily stepped back with a toddle. Just as she did so, Azula's eyes darted to the guard.
"Any last words?" she asked, her voice was dripping with venom. She could almost kill people by just talking to them like this.
"Aww, you have my favorite plaything." the guard murmured in feigned surprise, while he gave Jin a really creepy once over "And it is wearing clothes! I'll punish it for that later. Dog, who allowed you clothes?" he giggled. What was wrong with that guy, seriously? Azula's eyes narrowed, making them light up even more. She was furious.
"Poor choice" the crimson princess muttered, before she spun two fingers around her in a precise and swift movement. It didn't take her long before she shot the deadly lightning towards her enemy. He didn't have time to do anything but casting his eyes open in shock, he never had thought the raven-haired lady could have been a firebender. However, he did not get to finish this thought at all. Hit by the force of the deadly electricity, he was sent flying backwards a couple of meters down the otherwise empty hallway, before he violently crashed onto the floor, his steaming dead body twitching on the ground from the still streaking lightning-remains.
The guard hadn't even hit the ground, before Jin was already back at Azula's side. "Is he..." she whispered timidly.
"Yes, don't worry." Azula replied with a faint smile on her lips. If the situation hadn't been so serious, if things would have been different, if not one of her best friends was murdered, she would have noticed that Jin was really growing on her. But at the moment, her mind was occupied with other things. She would probably notice soon enough.
"Aang!" she shouted, turning to search for her husband. He was standing in front of a wall, his arms spread upwards at a slight angle to both his sides. For a brief second Azula could have sworn the wall behind him was getting a crack. The next moment the concrete wall burst open and a torrent of water came bubbling out of it. He immediately raced over to Ty Lee, quickly followed by Jin and Azula. He knelt down beside the blood-smeared body and roughly ripped her shirt upwards, to examine the damage to her tummy. He noticed the baby lying in the dark red puddle, but immediately knew it was unharmed. This was not his primary concern right now. Aang pressed the water to Ty Lee's naked stomach, where it began to glow.
Azula felt Jin leave her side once again, but let her go. She herself knelt down beside of Aang. "Is she alive?" she forced herself to ask, afraid of what the answer might have been.
"barely" Aang muttered, his voice sounded absent, being focused on the healing with all his strength. Azula sighted in relieve. There might still be hope. Aang had Azula patched up, when she had almost died in that forest, she was confident he could do it again. The princess was just noticing the baby lying on the floor and tried to think about something she could do, when she heard Jin cry out loudly. She wasn't at her side anymore, somehow the princess didn't notice Jin letting go of her again. Azula immediately jumped up, looking to where the scream came from. She had to see Jin kneeling over the dead guard, slamming something which looked like a dagger into his chest. Azula had no idea where she even got the weapon from, but Jin was hammering the dagger into the guard with all her strength. She did it again and again, with each stab faster, while she was screaming a cruel and broken cry, the voice of an abused girl, capable of shattering anyone's believe in the existence of mankind's kindness. Azula and Aang exchanged a look, before the fierce firebender started walking over to Jin, leaving her husband to the healing. She couldn't help him, even if she tried. Fire had no healing-properties, neither did lightning.
Jin slammed the dagger, which she had taken from the dead guard some moments ago, into his chest, stab after stab pierced through his green clothes, which were turned into a dark red-brown rag by now, stained by all the blood. Jin did not stop. Over and over again, without any hesitation and obviously filled with furious rage, while yelling loudly, she was showering down the dagger on her former tormentor. This man, no, this monster deserved worse than death. For years he was torturing her. For years she had to suffer his horrid fantasies. This was all over now! It had to be, there was no way Jin could take more of it. There was no way she could live through another day with him alive, with that brute around her.
She could still feel his disgustingly lecherous hands moving all over her, the memory of his touch was like bugs creeping under her soft skin. The mere thought of something brushing over her skin made her almost insane and that light nightgown she was wearing wasn't helping at all. It was softly sweeping over her body and remembered Jin too much about being touched, she could not take any more.
His voice was still ringing in her hears, whispering his perverted, cruel fantasies into her ears, while she had no way of escaping. Tied up in hurtful positions, which where only giving him pleasure. Jin had no words for how much she hated that man.
The only thing she was more than hateful was scared. Naturally, after years of brutal abuse, cruel assault and violent rape, she was scared of her tormenter. But after Azula just blew him up with that superhuman power of hers, Jin wasn't scared anymore. Not as much as she used to be, anyway. As long as Azula was around, Jin would be safe, no doubt about it. That was the reason she could muster the courage to walk over to the guard and started stabbing him over and over and over again. The white-haired girl had no idea where the strength for doing that suddenly came from, probably from her rage, but she didn't mind having it. Jin continued stabbing the chest of the guard until it felt mushy, she wanted to be absolutely sure he was dead.
Jin only stopped, when she felt a warm hand softly but also firmly touch her shoulder. The recently freed prisoner jerked, startled by the sudden touch, but seemed to snap out of it. Looking down on herself, she saw that her whole body was covered in blood, her former so flawlessly white hair was bloodstained and the little bit of clothing she was wearing clung to her form, completely red-transparent and soaked with blood. She was crimson-red all over her pale body, the blood making an extreme contrast to her otherwise porcelain-white skin.
"He is dead, Jin. Relax" Azula said as calm as she could. "Come, we could use your help, if you feel up to it" she said. Jin turned and nodded at Azula. Whatever she wanted from her, Jin would do it. She stood up from the dead guard and let the dagger fall, it crashed to the concrete floor with a metallic rattle, before Jin looked over Azula's shoulder to see Aang cowering over Ty Lee, trying desperately to help her.
"What is he doing?" Jin wanted to know, her rage was quickly dying away and was just as swiftly replaced with her well known fear. She was scared again and moved closer to Azula, as they were walking towards Aang and the barely alive Ty Lee. Jin did not know what that guy was doing, the water was glowing unnaturally, it seemed suspicious. Men could not be trusted. They all were monsters. She never met a single friendly one and those who seemed friendly only stabbed her in the back sooner or later. Sometimes even literally.
"He is healing her" Azula said, her voice grew as cold as ice and lacked emotion. The hunch of warmness she mustered a moment before was completely gone now, as coldness found its way back into Azula's voice. It was not her playful cold side, when she set traps for people to stumble into, or when she threatened someone. It was her cold, dead inside, kill everyone voice. Had Jin known her better, she would have known it was no good sign for Azula's mental state, but as it was, the blood-covered airbender admired the strength of the angel. She seemed indestructible, like a true force of nature, bowing to no one. And in a sense, Jin was right, Azula was a force of nature, a never ending firestorm of endless destruction and death. At least, should she choose to be.
Aang looked up for a moment "This is severe" he said, unable to hide a hint of panic in his voice "Zula, you know I am no good at this. She needs someone who knows what they are doing!" he said loudly.
"Cut the bullshit, Aang, you saved me, you can save her, too! I believe in you" Azula returned, she was absolutely serious, and her tone showed it perfectly. There were only very few people Azula trusted unconditionally and Aang was the prime example, she had unwavering faith in him. He could do anything he wanted done and Azula knew it, sometimes more than Aang himself.
"Zula, she has internal bleeding, I have no idea what I am doing here! If just Katara was here..." he was doing his best, but he felt Ty Lee slipping through his fingers, he was losing her, her life force was getting weaker and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing he tried made it any better. He was beginning to panic, and his voice was displaying this panic clearly, it was piercing through Azula like daggers made of cold ice. She tried to keep her calm, to remain rational and logical, even if she wanted to yell and scream in pain and grief over Ty Lee, but she didn't allow herself to do so. She had to stay strong, for Ty Lee's sake. But seeing Aang losing hope made her desperate. The princess was beginning to lose her firm grasp of her crazed emotions.
"You are the Avatar for crying out loud! You pulled me back from insanity! Don't you dare tell me you can't help my best friend!" Azula cried, her true emotional state was beginning to show, when she was with Aang right next to her, her voice was getting louder and audibly way less controlled.
The baby, who surprisingly kept silent through all this chaos and mess, suddenly started screaming again, the towel he was wrapped into slowly soaking with his new mother's dark blood.
"Well, there could be a way" Aang mused, he never tried this, but he guessed that the Avatar state would improve his healing just as much as it did his other powers.
"Then do it Aang! I know you don't like it, but this is not the time to hold back! Do it!" Azula almost ordered. She knew Aang was not very fond of the Avatar-state, because he always felt like losing control, so he tried to not use it, when it wasn't absolutely necessary. Azula never pushed him to do this before, in fact she had never even witnessed his Avatar-state since the war, since the time she was fighting him, in what seemed like another lifetime.
But now seemed like a good time to use it.
"Right..." Aang said flatly. The Avatar closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. When he opened his eyes again they began glowing bright white simultaneously along with his tattoos, as he entered the Avatar-state.
Just when he entered the most mightful state he possessed, Azula felt an incredible rush of power overcoming her own body, like a tsunami of strength and willpower. She had no idea what it was or why it happened, but she was quick to assume it had to come from the bit of Aang's personality, which he gave her to save her from insanity. The fraction of Aang, which he gave her all this time ago and which was still deeply buried inside of Azula, which was now radiating strength and power off into Azula, like it suddenly awoke from being dormant.
It felt...
incredible.
Her mind was sharp as a razor and her emotions were tuned down. She was calm and cool again, focused on the task at hand and able to think perfectly clear.
As Aang entered the Avatar state, Jin immediately moved closer to Azula, she didn't understand what was going on. This was so very scary. She noticed Azula's eyes had an almost unnatural bright golden glow to their iris, but convinced herself it was her imagination.
Aang felt the wisdom and experience of all those thousands upon thousands of his previous incarnations flood into his body and soul, as he reached out to Ty Lee. Suddenly he knew what had to be done, but he needed water for his plan. Lots and lots of it. The amounts the water pipes provided weren't nearly enough. Either lots of water, or some spirit-water, but he was fairly certain there was no spirit-water around for at least a couple of days worth of travelling. So he needed sheer masses of water.
"I need way more water to save her" he explained plainly, his voice changed by the influence of all his previous reincarnations.
Azula was thinking quickly, she was good at coming up with solutions when they are needed fast. The fact that she was so calm and collected right now, because of Aang's Avatar-state, just made it even easier for her. Four major things needed to be taken care of.
First of all, Ty Lee had to be brought to safety, this was her first priority. Then someone had to tend to the baby, Aang couldn't, he was occupied with helping Ty Lee and Azula couldn't either, she would take care of point three: Acquiring the information on the earthking and his machinations, which they still hadn't and lastly there was still revenge to be taken. She considered all four aspects and came to a conclusion.
"Alright" she spoke up after a brief second of intense thinking. "Jin, please take the baby" she commanded, before adding "Don't worry about Aang. This is his Avatar-state, it's nothing to worry about, he would never hurt anyone. Trust me" Azula could imagine the young girl was scared of Aang. But leaving her out of her plans wouldn't get them anywhere, Azula needed an extra pair of hands for her idea to work. To her surprise, Jin just nodded and gently picked up the newborn into her arms, after all it was only the baby. It made no difference, both of them were soaked in blood from head to toe anyway. She was afraid of Aang and as long as she didn't have to get too close to him, Jin would be fine. Azula turned to her husband. "Aang you get Ty Lee out of here and search for enough water. Jin you will go with Aang. Follow him wherever he goes, you will be safe there"
"But I..." Jin's house of cards crumbled, where she hoped she could stay with Azula. She wanted to say that she was scared of Aang. But Azula interrupted her harshly.
"No but here, Jin. Please. You have to trust me and you have to trust Aang. He needs you more than I do right now. He can't take care of Ty Lee and the baby at once" Azula adjured. The young airbender swallowed but nodded. She could do this, she would do this. If it was, what Azula needed, she would just to it. "Besides, this is going to be messy. You don't want to be around and see it" Azula gave her a genuine smile and ruffled Jin's hair.
"What are you going to do?" Jin asked Azula.
"My wife will do what she can do best" Aang replied and for a second there, Azula could have sworn he sounded proud of her, even over his Avatar-voice. He had already picked up Ty Lee bridal style, the remaining water wrapped around her body like a glowing cocoon. The barely alive acrobat was floating in his arms. If it wasn't Ty Lee and if she wasn't almost dead, or surrounded by water, Azula would have been jealous.
"Avatar?" she asked "About what we said earlier, concerning casualties " the princess asked sternly, a bitter-sad seriousness in her voice. She always exacted revenge on those who hurt someone close to her. This was just her way of dealing with injustice towards her or her friends. Azula was doing this, when she had been a child, she had stuck to it in her teens and as an adult, she still brought revenge on those who wronged her, without mercy or remorse. She didn't do things by halves.
Aang knew that. He had witnessed it firsthand. Over the past years his wife also had really opened up to him and told him lots of things of her past. Most of them cruel and dark. But she told him anyway and he accepted it without hesitation, he accepted her as what she was and never held it against her. Aang always seemed to magically know what Azula really needed, even if she didn't know herself. He just looked at her, and simply knew.
"I will never ask questions of what you do today. It's up to you, princess. Do what you see fit" Aang replied and with that he rushed off to the exit. Jin looked at Azula one more time and at the faint smile the princess had on her red lips, the airbender hurried after the Avatar, the baby tightly held to her chest.
Azula slowly walked to the huge iron door, which was currently keeping her out of the first section of the prison. The crew's quarters would soon be a lot less peaceful. And a lot less populated. She had to smile, the thought of revenge made it all the sweeter. She had faith in Aang, he would save Ty Lee. Azula knew it. All that was left was for those bastards to pay for what they had done. Not only to her best friend, but to all those people here in this prison. And for the warden to answer her some questions. The crimson princess was sure he would be very happy to give her some answers. They all were in the end.
Utilizing the immense power the connection to Aang seemed to provide her with, she yet again summoned her infamous lightning. It was like nothing ever created before, a thunderstorm of electricity the mighty Zeus himself would have been envious of. Azula's bending always had been powerful. It was when she was young and it became even more powerful when she got older. After guru Pathik helped her over her mental blockades, her bending grew to a point of almost unnatural power. But what she was feeling now should have been impossible. She felt like a living god, as Azula shot the lightning into the huge, heavy metal door. Dust whirled up and instantly filled the whole corridor, leaving the princess unable to see anything.
When the dust had settled, the door along with its surrounding wall was gone completely. It was blown away, shattered into small pieces, which were now lying rather evenly spread over the corridor behind the former checkpoint. Azula couldn't help but smile to herself, as the first doors got opened up and some guards wanted to see what was going on.
"Hello boys" she exclaimed, her voice pure poison "We have to settle an outstanding score." Azula slowly walked forward, and easily engulfed the first guards in a tornado of purple flames, with nothing more than a lazy swing of her hand.
Someone rang an alarm-bell. Good. Come out and play.
-/-
All the warden heard was a sudden, completely unexpected explosion. He had his nose buried deeply in a report from one of his officers and was reading it carefully. As it was written, King Kuei's newest orders were apparently implemented just the way his majesty wanted it to be. The warden let the report sink onto his desk, as the reverberation of the explosion boomed through the hallways. Was it happening? Was it finally time? He wondered when he'd show up. All that careful preparation, the long search for that one special assassin, who he could entrust with this, the risky planning, the effort which was put up to accomplish this. It was nearing its end. Finally
The door to his office burst open and one of his sub-commanders came barging in. "Warden Molt! Excuse me, but we have a problem!" he sputtered, a second later an alarm-bell in the complex was ringing loudly.
"What is it?" Molt asked in a calm and steady voice. It didn't take long for his plan to develop like he planned it. That was good news, the sooner he got this over with, the better. He was calmly tapping his fingers on his desk
"An intruder just came storming in through the checkpoint to section two." the sub-commander informed hasty. Molt just cocked an eyebrow at him as he opened a drawer of his desk, checking if the content of it was still where he left it.
Of course it was. Excellent.
The warden reached down, to get what was inside the drawer, when the sub-commander continued, stopping Molt's movement.
"We can't stop her. She is killing us off like flies. Warden, we are not trained to stop a firebender! And surely no one of her skill and prowess! This is no human, this is a fire-demon! I have never seen anything like this. She is tearing our defenses apart like they made of paper! Warden Molt! We have to evacuate! Now! Or we are all going to die!" the sub-commander was panting. Wait a second. She? Molt frowned for a second. Who was it, who was coming? He was expecting the Avatar. Did something go wrong? He quickly thought his plan over again, but didn't see any flaws.
"Are we positive it is a woman?" Molt inquired calm as his eyes fixed the sub-commander in his place.
"Yes, Sir. Without any doubt." The commander answered. Well, all Molt could do now was wait and see. Somewhere he had made a mistake. Maybe he shouldn't have trusted that assassin after all.
"Retreat is not an option" Molt stated calmly, he quickly calculated his next steps. "Earthbender stand their ground until the very end. I am not serving the kingdom here alongside cowards! No, go and fight. I will take care of the sensible files and join you in a moment!" Ha, what a lie. Molt had no intention of fighting. He would stay exactly where he was now and wait for the unknown intruder. Maybe she would prove useful to his cause. He'd see.
"As you command, warden" the sub-commander hurried out of the office, hasty slamming the door shut.
Explosion after explosion echoed through the corridors, followed by painful screams of soldiers. It sounded like a massacre, like a true and brutal massacre. Warden Molt was beginning to worry. Had he made a mistake? Should he regret his decisions to stay and fight? No, he had to stay. He had to see it through to the very end. Even if the Avatar was not coming. But who was it, coming in his stead? The instructions he left for the assassin were specific. She should only lure the Avatar to this place. No one else. As a precautional measure Molt decided it was best to follow standard protocol and stack all the sensible files together to enclose them in a safe in the back of his office. The first thing he placed in the safe, was the brown envelope with the earthkingdom insignia on its front, which used to be in the drawer of Molt's desk. The envelope he had been reaching for just before.
Molt sighed in an attempt to remain calm. He had kind of trapped himself here, hadn't he? This was a mistake, he was cut off from the escape route. One of his sub-commanders showed up a couple of minutes ago, telling him they were fighting a lost battle against one firebender. One female firebender. Molt was not sure what upset him more. The fact his forces were annihilated by a woman or that they were losing to only one. It was probably a mix of both. And it was not because he had anything against women. It was just this one time he really wanted it to be the Avatar coming to him. And the Avatar was a bloke. The person coming should be a guy and he sure shouldn't slay all his guards. Not that Molt cared a lot about them, but this was not how Molt planned it. He wanted to keep bloodshed to a minimum.
"Wait, oh please wait!" a guard pressed to the door of the warden's office screamed. "please! I beg you! Please! I was just following orders!" He was gasping for air, as Azula's left arm was cutting off his air-supply by pressing it tightly to his throat. He was pinned to the door, his feet unable to reach the ground.
Azula suddenly let go of the guard, he crashed to the floor, gasping for air. He hadn't a lot of time to catch his breath again, before a hand yanked him up again and pressed a purple fire-knife to his throat. He stared into golden eyes with an unnatural glow to them. He felt like his soul was sucked out of him, just by looking into those eyes of her. He tried to look away, but couldn't, his body would not comply to his brains commands. There was no way this woman was human. This had to be some kind of evil spirit, a demon, something. But not human. Never. He saw how she decapitated Wilson with a fire-whip, like the man was made from paper and Mao exploded in front of his eyes in a purple fireball, he could still feel parts of his flesh stuck in his hair. And she didn't even seem to care, all she did was move her hands, fast, precise, but without any effort. Like writing a letter. "Just... orders" the guard repeated, panic almost silencing his voice.
"And what excuse is that supposed to be?" her voice was pure poison "You have a brain don't you? It should have told you one thing or another about how one should treat prisoners." she hissed, her voice was absolutely deadly.
"P-Please!" the guard stammered in panic. Hell, he had already pissed himself in sheer terror and Azula thought about saying something about it to humiliate him further, but chose not to. The quick glance at his crotch was enough to see the embarrassment written all over his face. The guards eyes were wide open, fixed to Azula, she could almost see the terror he endured in them, but didn't care at all. They all were just scum. He, the other guards, it didn't matter. They were human rubbish. The worst of the worst. And not just because what one of them did to Ty Lee, but because of what they all did to the prisoners, to the elder, who were left to die, to the younger who were just kept alive for experiments of the most cruel type and to the poor girls being forced to give their bodies for their pleasure. Jin. Azula didn't even know where to begin with all the things those people had to pay for.
"I-I have a d-daughter! Have mercy!" the terrified guard begged. The princess tilted her head slightly to the left.
"I once lost my favorite necklace in the ocean" Azula said with a short giggle. There was a moment of silence after that. The guard accomplished something, Azula didn't expect. He managed to look confused over all the panic.
"W-What?" the guard didn't understand. A necklace? What had that to do with-
"Oh, I thought we were both listing things we are never going to see again" Azula laughed and slowly proceeded to slowly separate his head from his shoulders.
"Heeellp!" was the only thing he was able to shout before the connection of his lungs to his vocal chords was severed. He made a gargling loud noise before life left his body.
There was the sound of a body being slammed to the door of the warden's office followed by a desperate cry for help and a feral scream. Then there was a long moment of silence, in which the warden, still sitting behind his desk and still trying to hide all the documents, had his eyes fixed to the door of his office.
When it finally opened he had to see the beheaded corpse of his best sub-commander fall into his office. The dead man spilled blood everywhere. Behind him was standing someone Molt would have never expected here. There was a moment, when Molt contemplated if the Avatar might have sent someone to investigate, but he ruled that out immediately. She was surely sent by no one. Suddenly Molt realized, why his men were unable to stop the advance of the intruder. He watched as the crown-princess of the firenation stepped gracefully over the corpse, holding his head on its hair, before tossing it onto the wardens desk with deadly precision. It landed with a splash on the desk, again splattering blood all over the warden's papers.
Molt swallowed hard, but remained as calm as possible. He knew one thing or another about the princess. She was rational and logical. There might have been a chance for his master-plan to succeed after all. The fact that he was not yet dead proved she had other intentions towards him. "The mistress of lightning is paying this institution a visit. I have to admit, you are not who I expected" he said steadily.
Azula's lips twitched upward in the hint of a grin, she ignored the statement about who the warden expected, deciding it was meant as a distraction. "Oh, a nickname for me I haven't heard of yet." she giggled silently "I like this one. Seeing how sapphire death doesn't really suit me anymore" with a flick of her hand the walls of the office were bathed in dark purple fire. "And not because I am not deadly anymore" she said.
The warden tried to be calm. Even if his plan wouldn't work anymore, maybe he could save himself at least. Or maybe even more, she was showing off with her admittedly extremely impressive firebending. She was intimidating him and still had to attack. Warden Molt came to the conclusion, that the princess was here for a reason. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
"Oh, cutting the small-talk to a minimum I see" she replied "I don't mind that" Azula sat down on the side of his desk, patting the head, which was still standing there.
"I seek some answers" she began, her purple flames reflecting in the glowing golden eyes, which were staring Molt down.
"To what question?" Molt returned, trying to hide how uncomfortable he was as good as possible. Damn, that bitch was intimidating. But till now their exchange was going way better than he expected. Meaning he was not dead yet. If he stayed calm and friendly, maybe he would survive.
"Did king Kuei know of this operation? And if so, to which extent?" Azula stared at the warden. She was surprised how calm this guy was staying. Azula had to pay some credit to him, at least for having the guts to talk to her on even ground.
Molt's eyes flashed up for a second. He did not expect this question. Was she in on it? Did she know of the plan? He had to be careful now. If he told her too much too soon he would be doomed. He needed something to pressure her into revealing why she was here and what she knew. Maybe he could get a deal. But if he held too much back, she would most likely just deem him uncooperative, kill him and search for the proof she came here for herself.
"So, the assassin sent me the wrong person, I guess?" Molt stated, as he set a course of action. "I didn't think she of all people would sell me out to the firenation. No offense." He should have opened his train of thought differently. And he should not have paused here.
Azula didn't take long to process what Molt said. It was a trap, she knew it all along. With inhuman speed she was off the desk and quickly spun around it. With a blurry movement, she was behind the warden, pressing another fire knife to his throat.
"The answer to my next question, warden, will decide over your life." Azula hissed in his ear. She could feel him tense up noticeably, as adrenalin was rushing into his body.
"This was a trap, wasn't it? You wanted to lure Aang here? You wanted to harm my husband, didn't you?" she asked sharply.
Molt quickly shook his head. Her husband? What the hell? She was married to the Avatar of all people? He didn't even know he had a wife, yet alone the princess. If this was true... this might be good news! If he'd live long enough to explain everything. If it was the truth. But on the other hand, why would she drop a lie like this at this point. She seemed to be truly upset about it as well and Molt knew the mistress of lightning was never of the emotional type.
"No! No! That's not true! At least not how you put it! Yes, I wanted to get him here in secret, but not to do anything to him. I wanted to give him something! I swear, I never wanted to hurt him! Please, let me explain!" he gasped for air. Azula hesitated for a moment, before she decided to let him say, what he had to say. She was searching for information after all. Azula let go of him and returned to the desk, which she leaned onto.
"Alright, tell me everything. And don't dare to lie." she warned dangerously.
Molt sighed, he could suddenly see this working out "It is true, I contracted the assassin for a job. The plan was complicated, I am constantly being watched by what is left of the Dai-Li. So I searched for a certain assassin, of whom I knew would be loyal to me. I contacted her and once she agreed to help me, I told her to try and assassinate the earth-king while the Avatar was nearby. I hoped he would try to pursue her, so she could deliver the news of this place to him. I also had her wait around Ku-Roah for him to show up, so she could tell him where to go."
Azula rose an eyebrow "Why the staged assassination?" she wanted to know.
"I thought I needed something to grab the Avatar's attention. Something which would concern him enough to actually come here." Molt explained. Azula was not really sure if she should believe a word of what he was saying. It could have been possible. But it just as likely was complete bullshit. On the other hand, it was a little elaborate for being made up on the spot.
"So, assuming I was him now. What was the whole point of him being here? What would you do now, that he is here?" Azula's eyes sparked up for a brief second, even more than they were already glowing.
"I would give him something" Molt stated. "It is in my safe behind me, do you wish to see it?" he asked. Azula nodded slightly, but prepared herself for a surprise attack. She didn't trust this guy one second. With a flick of her hand, the purple fire burning on the wall, without actually burning it, died off.
Molt turned around to open his safe, which was hidden behind the painting of a beautiful shack by a romantic lake. The scenery was painted in autumn, showing the gold-brown and red colors of the trees, reflecting in the still water. In the background a mountain line was indicated. It was a rather relaxing painting. It was all still intact, much to Molt's surprise. Sure it was all pretty hot, but other than that, undamaged. Molt pulled the brown envelope of documents out of the safe and turned around to Azula, before handing her the papers.
The princess rose a suspicious eyebrow, as she slowly took the envelope in her hands. Everything about it smelled fishy. She had no idea why she just didn't kill the warden on the spot and search for what she needed to find on her own. Probably because she had no idea, if she'd even find it and maybe the warden had information she could beat out of him. Also, the crimson princess had her fair share of bloodshed today, approximately a hundred give or take a few dozen dead bodies in the hallways were proof enough.
The warden was the head of all this, though. But something about him let the princess hesitate. She would see this through and find out who that guy really was. Something was not right here. She couldn't put the finger on it yet, but her sixth sense was tingling. The princess had learned to trust her instincts long ago.
Azula reached into the envelope and pulled out a paper. She quickly skimmed it, before her eyes grew wide. This was exactly what she was searching for. And he just gave it to her. He said he planned all this so he could give it to Aang. This seemed very unlikely. What was going on? Azula's brain was racing, trying to figure out what she missed. Maybe she didn't miss anything? Maybe that warden was telling the truth? Who can tell for sure? It's not like he would be the first to betray someone.
"So king Kuei knew everything" she simply stated.
"He did" Molt answered with a slight nod. Azula felt herself smile.
"And you wanted to hand these documents over to Aang?" Azula asked calmly. This was not how she imagined or planned this conversation to developed, but she had no problem with this either.
"Yes. And I will give it to you under one condition" Molt said, as he folded his hands together on his desk. Ah, everything has a price, I suppose the princess thought to herself.
"Why would you do that?" Azula asked suspicious about everything here. It still made no sense. The Why? was floating in the air like a big balloon.
"I am running this facility for two years now." he said and legitimately sounded disgusted. He spat the words out like they were bitter. "I got sent here to commandeer a prison. This is not a prison. This is hell. It should not be this way. But I had no choice, Kuei's orders were rather precise. I wanted to stop this in another way, believe me. This was not my first idea. I tried to talk to the King and his advisors, but that was a bad idea. I spoke up in front of the king one too many times, and the Dai-Li almost had me replaced. And with replaced I mean executed and disposed of. I didn't want to die, you understand that, don't you? So I figured it would be better to keep a low profile, while I was still in a position I could do something. I pretended to not care anymore for a few month before I contacted the assassin in secret."
"You don't seriously expect me to believe this?" Azula hissed. It just sounded so cliché. But in hindsight, a lot of things in her life sounded cliché and they happened anyway.
"Please, I give you everything I have and know. I just want one thing!" Molt's voice was still surprisingly calm, but had definitely panic buried underneath.
"You realize you are hardly in the position for demands" Azula snarled.
"Well, I do wish to continue living" Molt returned. "And I will testify everything which was going on. I just don't want to die."
Azula let out a long sigh. What was she doing here? This wasn't like her. She never took prisoners. The princess was always the one to kill first, and ask questions later. A witness on the other hand could prove invaluable.
"I am going to regret this" she muttered to herself, before turning to Mold wearing a stern and serious face "If I see you as much as flinch, I will burn you alive" she answered. "And just so you know, I will have everything you said verified by someone who can tell for sure if you are lying" Azula's voice was calm and dangerous.
"Of course, I understand." Mold replied with a relieved expression on his face.
"Congratulations, you are my first prisoner in... well, ever" Azula shrugged, as she picked up the envelope with Molt's documents and roughly grabbed him on his collar, before forcefully dragging him with her. She had no handcuffs or anything, so she just had to think about something.
"May I ask what happened to my men?" Molt asked, as Azula switched into another corridor. The walls were smeared with blood, burned and horribly disfigured corpses were lying on the floor. A small river of blood had formed, which was flowing down the hallway. Some makeshift covers where blown up and badly burnt, some fires still flaring. It reeked of burnt flesh and iron. Azula just didn't give a single fuck, as she pulled Molt along. She didn't deign a look at the corpses and ignored the soles of her shoes slightly sticking to the floor, making an really inappropriately funny noise, given the reason for the sound.
"Forget I asked" Molt stated feebly, as he tried not to vomit at the sight. How the hell did he survive his encounter with the princess? She certainly lived up to all her nicknames. The red reaper came to mind rather easily. And he suddenly knew how the red came to be. It hadn't to do anything with the color of fire, since hers wasn't red. It hadn't to do with the firenation's colors, like the crimson in the crimson princess. It was because of all the blood she spilled, wherever she wreaked havoc. Molt swallowed hard.
-/-
Azula tossed Molt rather violently out of the hole inside the building, which they used to enter the prison a couple of hours ago. To Azula's surprise she had to discover, that in the meantime the sun had already set. The moonlight was all, which shimmered through the smashed window. To be perfectly honest, Azula had lost her feeling for time down in that prison rather quickly. She could not tell how long it took them, to free everybody and capture the warden. Apparently it was quite a while, considering they arrived around midday and now it was way past sunset.
The princess grabbed the warden at his collar again, tearing him up with one hand, while the other held a purple flame to light the way. She was suddenly aware that the room was not empty, the old prisoner, 627, was apparently waiting for her. He was standing next to the tossed over shelf, apparently checking an old and not yet burnt book. When he realized that he was no longer alone, he quickly put the work of literature back at its place.
"P-Princess?" he asked, insecure as to how to address her.
"Yes?" Azula replied, giving the flame in her hand a little more power, so the light would get brighter. The flickering fire was reflecting in 627s widely open eyes, which clearly showed his relieve to finally be free.
The old man cleared his throat "The Avatar wanted me to wait here for you. He asked me to tell you, that he will be at a lake, not far from here. He said, it is the lake you passed when you arrived here." the man reported, rubbing his hands together, clearly uncomfortable. There were so many things he wanted to say and ask, but he knew that this was barely the time. Though 627 had no idea what it was exactly, he knew that something went wrong and one of the Avatar's friends got hurt badly.
"I see. Thank you" Azula replied with her best diplomatic voice, as she hurried past him, dragging the warden with her like a lazy dog.
"Princess?" 627 asked again, causing Azula to stop in her tracks.
"Yes?" Azula once again replied, rather offhand.
"What will happen to us now?" the old prisoner wanted to know. The red reaper sighed, she honestly had no idea. Molt found this all to be very interesting, the princess was every bit as she was always described. Cold and calculating, at least for the most part.
"We will figure something out. For now just stay where you are. You're save here, don't worry." she answered, before rushing out of the building, pulling the warden along. She had a very tight grip on his neck, as he stumbled along. Azula quickly thought about how to proceed from now on. She had the warden in her custody. Should she take him with her to the lake or maybe leave him here? If she took him with her, she could have an eye on him personally, but if she'd have to help Aang for whatever reason chances were no one could keep him from running away. She assumed Jin would have followed Aang as far as possible, but she was hardly in the condition to guard a prisoner. On the other hand, if she were to leave him here, she'd have absolutely no control over him anymore, but could concentrate on being helpful for Aang, should the need arise. And if she found a save place here, where Molt could not run off, it would be the best solution. Azula decided to leave him here, should she find someone capable of keeping an eye on him.
She came through the front door of the badly damaged town hall and let her eyes roam over the dark civic center once. She spotted two freed prisoners to her far left, before she approached them. They were standing in front of a well made of stone, which surely had no water whatsoever left inside of hit. The two men were sitting on the edge, chatting idly. They seemed to be inmates of sector two, because they appeared to really enjoy their newly found freedom.
"Princess Azula!" one of them greeted. "Thank you so much for what you did for us!"
"Yes, we will forever be in your and the Avatar's debt" the other added. Azula eyed the two of them quickly. They seemed trustworthy for what she had in mind. And they also had at least a little bit of muscle built up, apparently they were part of the prison work-force.
"Don't mention it. I am glad you are free now." she said, waving it off. "There is a favor I need to ask of you, though" Azula added.
"Anything" the two replied simultaneously, both very eager.
"You know him, don't you?" Azula pushed Molt forward, who up until now made the wise decision of keeping his mouth shut. He figured it would be best for his physical health, and he figured exactly correct.
"Warden Molt" one of them growled hateful. Perfect. Azula smirked her trademark smirk of doom.
"Could you keep an eye on him for me? I have to find my husband and don't want him to wander off." Azula explained.
"Of course." one of the two men replied with an almost submissive nod.
"If he moves or does something funny, kill him. But only if you absolutely have to. He might be a valuable asset, understood?" She shoved Molt forward and before he could even do a single step on his own, one of the two freed airbender grabbed him and took him in a tight headlock.
"Yes, princess" the other replied firmly. The raven haired beauty apparently picked the exactly right two for this job.
"You understand that, too, Molt? No funny business" Azula advised coolly, her voice stern and determined, as usual.
"I already said it, I'd like to live to tell the tale" he answered constrained. Azula nodded "Then behave yourself" she replied firmly. Turning towards an pile of wood, which might have been a market stall or something like that a long time, she lit the dry wood on fire with a flick of her fingers.
"So you two don't catch a cold" she stated, nodding towards the newly assigned guards. Gobsmacked they stared at the fire for a moment, which was already radiating a very comfortable warmth off. The night was rather cold after all. They wanted to say thank you to Azula, but when they looked back, she was already gone, walking off towards the lake Aang had mentioned. She remembered the place, it actually was a rather large lake, which was at the wayside of the long abandoned and overgrown street leading to Ku-Roah. One had to be careful not to trip over a loose twine or root from the nearby trees.
The lake was surrounded by a very clear broadleaf forest. At the point closest to the street a rather broad passage in the anyway wide spread trees opened up, revealing a clear view at the nightly black lake.
The glow of both water and Aang's Avatar-state was visible from far away, it was the only source of light besides the moon. Azula already saw her husband from the street, as she was approaching the lake. Aangs glowing tattoos and the brightly lit up water was shimmering in the otherwise pitch-black liquid surrounding them and almost changing-over the beautiful reflection of the perfectly spangled sky. She expected to see him standing in the lake, Ty Lee floating in front of him in an bubble of brightly blue glowing water. And she found him almost exactly like that. Only he was basically in the middle of the lake, where he had no way of being able to stand on his feet. He was sitting cross-legged on the water surface, his hands spread out over Ty Lee in front of him. She was fully submerged in water, not even her face was showing and the water was moving more violently as Azula was used to. It looked like it was boiling, which it obviously didn't. Other than those details, the princess found exactly what she had expected.
What she didn't expect was who was waiting at the shore. There were two women waiting for Aang, one being asleep, the other one looked like she was standing guard. As Azula came closer, she recognized the sleeping woman was Jin, her white hair gave her away immediately, even if it was night. The poor girl must have been completely exhausted, she was snoring lightly and if the situation wouldn't have been so serious, Azula would probably found it to be rather cute. The white haired girl was curled up into a ball, wrapped into a heavy woolen black coat.
Azula recognized that cloak, her gaze immediately darted to the other woman.
It was the assassin.
She was standing right next to Jin, looking out onto the lake's surface, a sword stuck into the dirt to her right. For a brief moment Azula considered attacking the girl who had led them to this place, but something about how she was standing next to Jin, obviously without any hostile intentions towards her made the princess hesitate. She decided to talk first and fight later, should it be necessary.
The assassin was waiting for Aang to return from healing Ty Lee. She had no idea how long it might take him, but she would wait anyway. The other girl, Jin was already asleep when she arrived here, the young airbender was holding the baby tightly, but was shivering badly. Of course she was cold, considering both the temperature and her basically nonexistent clothing, which was wet from all the blood on top of it all. So, deciding it would not be good if Jin would freeze to death, the assassin gave the girl her own heavy cloak, retrieved the newborn from her arms and held it in Jin's stead. It had something terribly cute, how Jin curled up in the cloak. She must have been through a lot, the assassin thought by herself, before she heard someone approaching. she was very quick to grab her weapon to her right, before she swiftly swung around.
"Who is there?" she asked silently, pointing the tip of her blade towards the princess.
Azula realized, she was wielding a dual-handed weapon with only one hand. And the reason for that became apparent to her just a second later, as the assassin adjusted a bundle, which she was holding in her free arm. The princess lit up a small flame in her flat hand, to provide a little extra light.
"Oh, it is you" the assassin said and sounded on edge, but let the sword fall back into the dirt, where it stuck. She still didn't trust the princess a second. But the assassin had little choice here, along with the Avatar the red reaper had freed so many prisoners, and with them she also freed someone very important to the assassin. It was finally over. She had won. She did it. And it was partly thanks to the princess, that it was even possible.
"Do I want to know what an assassin does here, holding Ty's baby? Are you watching out over them?" Azula couldn't believe her own words, but this was the only reasonable option. Why else would the assassin do here, standing in the open like this. Azula had witnessed the level of stealth this particular hitman could achieve first hand.
"I am" was the short and silent answer.
"To be honest I didn't expect you to be here" Azula replied, she also kept her voice down in order to not wake Jin up.
"Well, I think I owe you both an apology and thanks" the assassin said. "I still do hate firebenders. But what you did today was very honorable. I am forever in your and the Avatar's debt " she said, reaching into a pocket, while she approached Azula. The princess rose an eyebrow at the words, as the assassin handed the baby over to the princess.
"Take this" she said and passed Azula a plain black card. "Should you ever require my services, burn this card. I will know and come to find you" she stated.
"You will know if I burn this card?" Azula sounded very suspicious about that. How would that work?
"Yes. It's spirit magic. I will find you in a couple of days after you've burnt it." the assassin explained in a calm, yet serious tone, before picking up her sword and elegantly putting it back to its sheath on her waist.
"You are leaving?" Azula asked, not that she minded. Sell-swords were hardly her favorite type of person, and assassins were basically nothing else than sell-swords with a tendency towards efficiency.
"I have fulfilled my contract" she stated plainly, as she was walking away. "Oh, one more thing, princess" the assassin stopped without turning around again and Azula waited for what was about to come. "If you see warden Molt, tell him my thanks. I found my brother today."
"Among the prisoners?" Azula asked curiously. Obviously, but she wanted to be sure.
"Yes." The assassin replied, before she was gone for good, vanished into the dark night.
Well, that certainly was interesting. Warden Molt's words were suddenly adding up. He was talking about 'that one assassin' who would help him. The more Azula thought about it, the more she had the feeling that Molt had been telling the truth. Did he really plan things to go this way from the very beginning? If so, he was a tactical mastermind. Azula would still ask Toph to talk to him, just to be sure. Using her earthbending she would have no problem to tell, if he lied or told the truth. But that had to wait for now.
The princess sat down right next to Jin and gently stroked through her hair, as she watched Aang with his healing. She wondered how long it would take him and if he'd manage to heal her. Azula just wanted to believe he was able to do it. He was doing it using the Avatar-state for crying out loud, if he wasn't able to save her, no one could. The princess didn't want to think about what would happen if they'd lose Ty Lee today. She didn't want to think about how she'd tell Mai and she didn't want to think what to do with the baby. There was no way Ty Lee should die on this day. Everyone but her, she didn't deserve it. If someone would deserve it... The princess was ripped out of her dark thoughts by a soft touch on her thigh.
"...Azula?" a tried voice from her right asked, causing the princess to look down. Jin had her eyes opened up. "You are here?"
"I am. Everything is fine. Go back to sleep" she said softly, before Jin slowly scooted closer to her, lying her head into Azula's lap.
"I'm glad you are" Jin yawned, before she obviously fell back asleep. Azula could not help but smile, as she pulled the black cloak a little up. Jin was still shivering, which really was no big surprise. She was almost naked underneath that cloak. With a flick of Azula's hand a nice bonfire sprung to live in front of them, radiating a comfortable warmth off.
Azula's gaze drifted back to Aang, who was still floating on the surface of the lake, healing Ty Lee.
please survive. Please wake up soon.
-/-
Alright, that's it for today.
I have to admit that the reason for the long delay was not really DxD. Well, not solely, that is. I was not feeling all that great the last couple of weeks and I get the feeling that my writing is suffering because of it.
Now I realize that quality is probably down a lot in this chapter and I am really sorry for it. I hoped it would get better soon and I could just rewrite it, but there is no end in sight. Now I had to choose between keeping you waiting longer and hoping to get better, or giving you what I have, while risking it is shit. As you can see I opted for the second way.
Please tell me, if it's ok the way it currently is and you want me to continue, or if you want old quality back and are ok with waiting longer. (and with longer, I mean longer)
Anyway, that's all I have today. Have a good one!
o7
P.S.
MSG1000: You really see through everything, don't you? :D Of course you are absolutely right with what you said. I also really liked your idea and thought about implementing it, but the way I thought it up simply had no one nearly powerful enough to pose a real threat against Azula or Aang on their own and surely not against the two together. But thank you for your ideas, I love suggestions!
P.P.S
Please remember to leave me a review, will you? It means a lot to me. Just tell me whatever it is you think, good, bad, or fuck you E82, it doesn't matter. Just tell me.