(Six months after the Devils' Escape)
Azula stood over the remains of the Flaming Ponds, named for the glowing red algae that grew on its stones and floated on its surface. But instead of the beautiful sight described in her books, all she found was murky water and oil. The Pond had been destroyed, polluted by the industrial factory used to make the Fire Nation's new war machines upstream. Armored vehicles capable of climbing any surface and built to counter Earthbending as a whole with a counter ballast system. She knelt beside the remains of the Pond and stared at the brown water, her murky reflection glaring back at her as she growled and swatted at it with dark blue flames, lighting some of the surface on fire in the process.
The act of anger and frustration startled several animals away from the area and made her escort back away slightly in fear. They had never seen Azula as upset as she was over the destroyed spiritual site. She and Li Mei had done extensive research into places where they might find water blessed by the Spirits for when they found a Healer who could use it and the Celestial Fire, provided she could learn how to heal with her own Bending. Li Mei walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's all the same," she said softly as Li Mei looked at her with worry. "It's like every spiritual site in the Fire Nation has been pushed aside for…"
"For the war," asked Li Mei. Azula said nothing and stood up before holding out her hand to the servant girl. Li Mei handed Azula a map and the princess unrolled it before setting stones to keep it in place.
"The only places we've yet to check are the Fire Temple and Ember Island… One of them has to have a well, a spring… something…"
"Why have we been researching this stuff? You've kept me in the dark long enough." Azula said nothing. She hadn't told Li Mei about her curse. She'd been confidant that this would all be over soon, and she could go back to business as usual. But when she went to the closest spiritual site to the Fire Palace, it was no longer there. Instead, a military compound had been built to train new soldiers to ship to the front lines. The next had been converted into a shipyard along the coast. Everywhere they went, the pattern was the same. Land had been repurposed for the war or was polluted because of a factory nearby, negating its healing properties. It was like the universe was mocking her for her family's ambitions, taunting her by saying that she would be forced to be a Devil because of her family's war. Azula looked at her and sighed.
"I'll tell you, but not here. Right now, I want to get back to the inn."
"Princess Azula," said her guard captain. "What's going on with your amulet?" Azula looked down and saw the Amulet she pulled from the Devil's gullet glowing faintly beneath her shirt and armor. She pulled it out and saw the gold on the Amulet was beginning to shine brighter. She stared at it before an uneasy feeling came over her. One she felt once six months ago.
"There's something in the water," shouted one of her guard. Azula looked to the polluted pond and gasped before tackling Li Mei away from it as a massive set of saw-like teeth rose from the water and clamped down on where they had once been before the captain shot a blast of flame at whatever tried to eat her and Li Mei.
"Damn alligator-panther. Men, hunt it down and…" the captain's words fell short as a tendril shot out of the water and wrapped around his neck in an instant before pulling him in.
"Captain!" Three of the guards fired flames into the water and caught the surface on fire from the oil pooling at the top. Azula looked at Li Mei and saw her servant/friend frozen in fear as she stared at the water. Azula stood up as the Firebenders stopped their streams.
"Who's next in line," she shouted.
"I am," said a woman wearing the half helm of the guard.
"You're now promoted. Get your men back!" One of Azula's escort got too close to the water, trying to find the captain somewhere and shouted in fear and surprise as the jaws came back up and clamped around him. Azula watched as the monster climbed out of the water and snarled at them. Azula saw it resembled an alligator-panther like the now late captain had thought, but it was very different from the normal apex predator. This thing seemed more amphibian than reptilian and had a large fin on its back with spikes protruding from the top, one of them receding showing the tendril that took the captain. It's reddish skin seemed to burn from the lingering flames still clinging to its back as its dark purple eyes flicked from one human to the next. 'Not one of the Devils. This thing seems more beast than anything. An Oni, maybe,' Azula thought to herself as she slowly started circling the monster.
Its eyes turned to her and Azula could notice them focus on the Amulet as it hung from her neck in broad view. The Fire Princess barely had time to launch herself into the air with a burst of flames from her feet to avoid its jaws as it charged for her with unnatural speed. She grunted as its tail slammed into her and knocked her off her feet right as she landed, sending her beside Li Mei who was still frozen in fear. Azula shot her dark blue flames into the Oni's face and pulled the colony girl to her feet before pushing her to the newly promoted captain. "Get her back to the palanquin!"
"Look out!" Azula turned around and ducked under the beast's tail before seeing her men shooting flames into its side while one lodged a spear into its flank, releasing a rotten odor as its blood spilled to the soil beneath and started steaming. Azula shot a fireball into its mouth before kicking its head away from her and hopping away to land beside the other members of the guard, catching the Amulet as it flew from her neck, while the Oni snarled as it felt pain from the flames and the spear. Azula blinked as she saw the Spirit bird land on a rock beside the Oni and shriek, knocking the Oni onto its side and plunging the spear deeper into its flesh. The Oni roared, a sound that deafened those present and could be heard for miles. Azula shot another fireball into its maw, hand clenched around the Amulet as she did, and watched as a ball of maroon fire shot from her fingers and enveloped the Oni. It howled in pain and shot into the water, moving upstream in an attempt to put out the flames.
Azula smirked slightly before following after the monster, ignoring the cries of protest from her escort. She wouldn't let this thing go. Not after it tried to eat her. Tried to eat Li Mei. It was an abomination and deserved to die. Azula followed it and saw it had climbed out of the water. Its tracks showed it moving to the factory and Azula paused. She didn't hear the sounds of gears or hammers, but the smoke stacks were still billowing. Something was still burning coal inside, but nothing was being built. Azula sniffed and covered her nose, the stench of rotting flesh filling her nostrils.
She entered the factory cautiously and looked around. Fresh blood caked the walls of the entrance to the factory and older blood lie beneath that as hand prints smeared along the wall further inwards. "I suppose Father's war machines are put on hold for the time being. This monster's been here for a while based on the blood. And now I'm talking to myself. Because going mad was something I needed to worry about." She looked around and saw the Spirit bird sitting on a hook above her and glared. "And where the hell have you been?! You're supposed to help me, dammit!" The bird stared at her before it flew and landed in her hair again. "I am not a nest you stupid little…!" Azula stopped talking as she heard a snarling nearby.
Human and Spirit stared down the Oni as it advanced on her, burns across its body and marred flesh around its jaw. Azula smirked as she saw it. "Monster or not, you're flesh and blood, just like me. That means I can kill you!" Azula held up a flaming hand with a deadly smile on her face. The Oni, incapable of fear, snarled and rushed for her. Azula propelled herself upwards with flames and came down on the Oni, hands projecting flaming daggers and bringing the flames into the Oni's head. The monster roared and tried shaking her off, only to be held in place as the Spirit bird shrieked and kept it in place with a blast of sound, Azula ignoring the ringing in her ears as she shouted in anger and defiance, legs hooking around the beast as she held on for dear life, increasing the length of her flames to burn it from the inside with one hand while holding onto the Oni with the other.
After what felt to Azula like hours but was actually minutes, the Oni lay still. Azula breathed heavily and climbed off the corpse, ignoring the burning sensation from its blood around her, it being nothing compared to the burns of the Devils' tendrils. Azula wiped tears from her eyes as the fear she'd been feeling the entire time she faced the Oni washed over her. She sobbed softly as she clutched her side where the Oni's tail had impacted with her by the pond. The bird flew down and landed by her head and tilted its head as it looked at her. She looked at it and swatted it away before sitting up as her escort rushed in. "Princess Azula," shouted her new captain. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine…" Azula stood up and looked at the guard. "Investigate the smoke stacks, find out what's burning in there. This thing has been living here for at least a few weeks it seems. I want to know what's in there. They didn't fill themselves."
"Princess. What is this thing?"
"Call it an Oni. It's a chaotic creature and will not hesitate to consume anything it sees as prey. Given its size, that's us." Azula looked at the amulet and saw the light begin to dim. She looked at the monster and smirked slightly before moving outside. "Send a hawk to the Palace. I want a Komodo-Rhino cage brought here yesterday. Make sure it's properly covered. I don't want anyone seeing this thing without my permission. And keep it quiet, make sure it only goes to someone you trust with instructions from me not to tell anyone else. I don't want Father learning of this. That goes for all of the guard here as well. I'll tell you more when we're at the palace. All you need to know is that there are more of these things out in the world. And something worse. We can hurt them. But killing them is proving more difficult than I thought if this is anything to go by. We need study it and learn more about it." She turned to the guards as two of them rushed back, one hanging back and vomiting on the walls a dozen feet away from where she was. "Well?"
"Bodies, ma'am," said the guard closest to her. "Animals and humans, half-digested and lying near the smoke stacks. This thing has been busy. Farmers, hunters, soldiers too. Commander Xu Win was located among the bodies."
"He was the one checking up on the factory, yes?"
"Yes ma'am," said the captain. "And it won't be long before someone comes to check on him since he hasn't reported back to Fire Lord Ozai."
"All of you listen up. Until I say otherwise, this incident never happened. If father enquires about what happened here, this is what you will tell him. Commander Xu Win went insane and slaughtered the entire factory. When we found him, he was shoveling bodies into the furnaces to keep the smoke going so no one would ask questions. We're going to be bringing the beast back with us and I will tell you what I know. Father must not learn about it."
"Why not," asked one of the guards.
"Father will want to potentially use more like this one to use against the Earth Kingdom. They cannot be controlled or tamed. They may seem like mindless beasts, but this thing knew how to keep the furnaces burning. We have to assume it and others like it have some form of intelligence and it knows how to track and trap its prey. That only one of us died is a miracle. Send a message to your former captain's family informing them of his death defending me from harm, as was his duty. I want no questions raised about this. Just like the workers, Xu Win is the culprit. Do I make myself clear?"
"And what happens if Fire Lord Ozai does learn the truth," asked the captain.
"Then we better hope the Spirits favor us over him. If he tries capturing these things, a lot of good soldiers will die. And not for the glory of the Fire Nation. It'll be senseless deaths like the ones here. I'm ordering you all to secrecy. Understood?"
"Yes, Princess Azula," shouted her guards.
(2 weeks later)
Azula went into the repurposed farm a few miles away from the Fire Palace where the Oni's body was being kept and the physicians she personally chose and ordered to secrecy from her father were examining the body. Her captain, Sakura, stood close by with Li Mei as they covered their noses from the stench of the dead beast. Azula ignored the smell and went to the masked physicians. "Have you learned anything about it," she asked.
"This creature's anatomy is… confusing to say the least," said the head physician. "The spikes along its fin seem to expand out, but there's nothing to suggest its capable of that given the rest of its anatomy."
"Which is equally confusing and disturbing," said the assistant. "No stomach, burning blood, three hearts… we've never seen anything like it."
"Three hearts," asked Azula.
"Seems like one of them had been punctured by the spear we extracted from its side," said the head physician. "One resided in its tail and the last was just below the fin. But the more we examine it, the less it makes sense to us. This thing doesn't seem to need to eat. We don't know if it sleeps. And its very physiology seems to be based solely to survive and outlast its prey." He turned to her. "Princess Azula, what the hell is this thing?"
"We call it an Oni," said Captain Sakura.
"'Oni'? Like the old folk tales?"
"How else would you describe something as monstrous as this," asked Azula as she looked inside the cadaver. "Does it have no other organs?"
"Other than the brain, no. It's a wonder this thing was even able to kill Captain Feng like you claim."
"It did. And it showed remarkable intelligence, keeping the factory's fires burning so not too many people came to investigate. We thought it was luring in people to feast but…"
"If it's as smart as you claim, then the only reason it did that was to kill. Bait for a trap. Killing for sport or pleasure. In which case, this thing is the perfect killing machine."
"And Father is not to learn of it. There are more of these things out there."
"How are you so sure?"
"It had to have come from somewhere. I doubt it just popped up out of the blue."
"If that's the case, we need to warn people about this! Let them know something out there with human-like intelligence is out hunting them for its own sick pleasure!"
"Ignorance is bliss, doctor. The less they know, the less news gets to Father's ear, the better."
"Are you mad?! Fire Lord Ozai will want these things eradicated the second he…"
"He'll want them captured, broken in, potentially bred to be used against the Earth Kingdom, leading plenty of our own soldiers to die in the process." Azula messed with one of her bangs, idly, as she noted the physician shake his head, his pupils dilating.
"No. I know people like you too well! You're just trying to use them against him!" Azula glared before seeing the manic look in his eye. "I know you are! With Prince Zuko banished, it's only you with a claim to the throne! I can see what you want! I can—gah!" Captain Sakura gripped his neck and pulled him from the princess as the assistant looked at them.
"Spirits," he muttered. "What the hell?!"
"Bastard's strong," grunted Sakura as she struggled to hold the doctor in place.
"Has he shown signs of this before," asked Azula.
"I-I don't… I- maybe," said the assistant. "He got some of the blood on his face when we first opened the body! Since then he'd been muttering to himself and…"
"Sakura." The captain nodded and twisted the head physician's neck, killing him instantly. Azula looked into the man's fading eyes after removing the mask and saw a swirling black mist in them before it disappeared. Azula frowned before looking at the assistant. "Did you get any blood on you?"
"No ma'am! Just him, I swear! He suggested we wear the masks to prevent the blood from burning us in the future." Azula removed his mask and examined his eyes before nodding.
"Captain, burn this place and the corpses." She turned to the physician. "Be sure to follow the same procedures to protect yourself on all future examinations. It took me sending Fire Daggers into this thing's head to kill it. Which reminds me. Did you examine the brain?"
"There wasn't much of it to examine. You basically melted it in your fight."
"But it's how long it took that concerns me. And the fact this thing is amphibious. If we had been fighting closer to the water and not in the factory, I'm sure I'd be among the bodies thrown into the furnaces."
As Sakura burned the old farm, Azula frowned as she turned to Li Mei who was still shaken from their encounter with the Oni. "Are you ok?" Li Mei nodded slightly. Azula sighed, unable to think of a way to get her friend to snap out of it. Luckily, she was granted a boon as the Spirit Bird flew and landed in her hair once more. "Urgh! Again! Listen you pest, I will burn you! I am not a nest!" Li Mei giggled as she saw the Fire Princess swat at the bird, only for it to flutter above her before settling back down. Seeing her friend starting to cheer up, Azula couldn't help but smile. That smile quickly faded as the bird leaned down to look at her. "What are you looking at?! Get off of me!" Azula grunted as the bird pecked her forehead before sitting upright. "Stupid cretin!" Li Mei's giggled soon divulged into full blown laughter at the sight in front of her, much to Azula's relief and annoyance.
That night, Azula and Li Mei sat in her room at the inn they were staying in. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes, Azula," said Li Mei. "I was… afraid. I saw that thing and I just… froze. It was so… malicious. I didn't know how to react. I'm just a servant! I don't know how to fight! And it took everything you had just to kill it! I didn't… I guess I didn't see a way of me surviving against it." Azula sighed.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you out there."
"It's not your fault. We were looking for a way to break your curse. Of course I'm going to help you!"
"…I think your time as a servant is over, Li Mei."
"What are you talking about?"
"Li Mei, you're my friend. I know I don't act as a friend should at the best of times, but… I'm not about to let you suffer for my sake."
"Azula, I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but shut up." Azula stared at the servant girl in front of her. "I know you've lived a pretty sheltered life, but you need to understand that friends help each other. And not out of fear, or being ordered to. We help each other because we're loyal out of trust. And despite our friendship starting on not the best of circumstances, miss I'm too lazy to walk to the gardens, so carry me… I'm your friend regardless. You, Mai, Ty Lee, you're all my friends. And I'd go to the ends of the world to help all of you. And no, I won't be leaving my job as your servant. Because frankly, that's not your call to make. It's your father's. And you know you have to keep an eye on me in case he decides to interrogate me about your secretive activities in the last few months." Azula continued to stare at her before she sighed.
"Why, of all times, do you choose now to make sense, you idiot."
"Hey! What did I tell you about calling me an idiot?!"
"I'm sorry, which of us is the master in this relationship?"
"I don't see a master. I see a stuck-up brat who needs to be taught a lesson!"
"What are you…?" Azula yelped as Li Mei tackled her to the bed before straddling her with a wicked grin. "You better think twice before you…" Azula's warning was cut short as the servant started tickling her sides, forcing her to laugh. "D-damn you!"
"Say you're sorry…"
"G-o to h-hell!"
"No!"
In the other room, the guards listened to the two girls and Captain Sakura chuckled. One of her men turned to her. "Captain," he said. "I'm concerned about the Princess."
"About how different she's been recently, yes," asked the captain.
"Yes."
"We can only attribute it to her encounter with the Devils and the curse they placed on her. From the sounds of it, who she is will die and be turned into something truly monstrous."
"Like she wasn't that way already."
"Enough of that. You can't expect Lady Azula to be like a normal person. Or most nobles, for that matter. You've seen how most of the officers act, that's because most of them are from noble families. They think they're better than us because of titles and rank. At least Azula has been shown some humility from her encounter. I think we'd all be in more danger if she considered the Oni as a weapon to bestow to her father."
"You think she would've done that," asked the only other female guard.
"You've seen how she was raised. Ozai pretty much made her into a compact version of himself. She thinks along the same lines he does. Which means it is something she considered herself. But she chose to put her countrymen first over conquest and ambition, showing the difference between the two of them. Ozai grew up to be ambitious. Azula grew up on her family's own propaganda first and foremost and then raised like her father. Azulon didn't start with propaganda until Ozai was an adult, from what my mother told me. She will put her country first, especially now."
"But how long will that last," asked the first guard, the Sergeant. "In the end, her entire family is bad news."
"Her entire family except for Lady Ursa, wherever she is, and Prince Zuko, you mean. Even General Iroh is more peaceful now than he was in the army."
"That was at the cost of his son, though," said the female guard. "My brother was part of Lord Lu Ten's unit. He was a fine soldier and a better man, according to my brother. Even went so far as to save lives on the other side, which is what led to his death."
"Why would he do that."
"He had a sense of honor. One that held up even in the rage of war."
"Then he was a fool," said the eldest man in the group of guards. "There's no place for honor in war."
"That's enough," said Sakura. "No more bad talking the dead. We're already up to our necks in bad luck as it is, dealing with the Oni and Devils."
"Speaking of," said the last guard, Masamune. "Azula's killed one of them. What about the other twelve? What are they going to be like? Azula said herself, she's never known actual fear until seeing the Devil that cursed her."
"It would be best if we don't dwell on that. From what she described it was almost like she nearly went mad looking into its eyes. Which leads me to ask this. Are all of you willing to stay by her no matter what? Even with these Devils being as big a threat as they are?"
"I don't think I'd sleep well knowing my family may potentially die at the hands of these things," said the Sergeant, Ryuzaki. "I'm staying on. If only to kill these things."
"My duty is to protect Princess Azula," said the female guard, Biyu. "I'll uphold that to the end."
"Spoken like a rookie," said the old guard, Reo. "You will learn soon enough that duty and honor have no place anywhere. Duty leads to death. Honor leads to nothing but tears. Those who go seeking honor are on a lost cause. Those who stick solely to duty will not think of anything but that. Not their lives, not what matters. And duty in the face of these monsters will mean nothing. I'm telling you this now, Biyu. Duty is death."
"Don't listen to him," said Sakura. "Reo tends to not be anything more than a skilled, grumpy, Firebender. Though his age does tend to have some wisdom. There may come a time when you need to pick between duty and doing the right thing. Between protecting Lady Azula and someone else. And given how things are going, she may start changing her mindset and order you to the latter."
"You're reading too much into this. Once a royal, always a royal." Reo paused before finishing whatever drink he'd had in his hand. "That said… I can't very well leave you all to these things alone. Not if I want to sleep with as clear a conscience as I can get at night. I'm staying on." Sakura nodded before looking each of them in the eye, looking for any hesitation.
"And with that, we should get some sleep. Biyu, you and Masamune take the first watch. Swap with Reo and me and Ryuzaki will take the next shift. Two-hour intervals. We need to get some rest. I also want you all to consider a replacement for the Captain Daisuke. Biyu, while on patrol, check on the physician. After what happened to the other one, I don't want another crazed incident to occur. Next time we encounter the Oni, I want all visors on. Keep contact to the blood at a minimum."
"What about Princess Azula," asked Biyu. "She's been exposed to the blood more than the doctor."
"You keep an eye on me," said Azula in the doorway, making the guards jump to their feet and salute. "Your concerns are warranted. All things considered; I should be going mad like the doctor. For all we know, my mind is already starting to twist. If worse comes to worse, Captain Sakura, you end me. No matter how much Li Mei may try to stop you. You do everything in your power to stop me." She looked her guard in the eyes. "One less Devil in this world would be a blessing. I won't have these things destroy our country."
"We'll find a way to cure the curse, Lady Azula," said Biyu. "You have our word."
"Don't listen to her," said Reo. "She's young and naïve. There's no guarantee that we even have a shot at curing you, and we know it. And no. I'm not afraid of you burning me for speaking out of turn. You need to hear it straight. There's no point in sugarcoating this."
"Thank you," said Azula. "I don't… want to get my hopes up. I want to look at this realistically. I'm not looking to be babied about this. I know there is a chance I don't beat this. I'm only twelve. That I faced them without going mad is… frightening. But both times I beat them. Both times I felt… manic. Like I was… desperate just to stay alive and was relieved I was."
"That's battle. When you're fighting for your life, madness is almost lifesaving. It's probably how you staved off the delirium from the Oni blood. Then again, you could always just be resistant because of your curse."
"I doubt that… Father has been…" Azula closed her eyes and steeled her face. "Get to your duties! That's an order!" Sakura frowned before nodding to her subordinates as Azula left the room.
"You heard her," she said. "Biyu, Masamune." The two nodded before getting up and leaving the room. Sakura glanced at the wall separating their room and Azula's and sighed.
The next morning as they packed up, Sakura glanced at Azula as she packed away her things. "Can I help you, Captain?"
"Princess Azula. It's not a secret Fire Lord Ozai is… for lack of a better word, ruthless… but has he done anything…"
"Stop that line of questioning right now, Captain." Azula looked the Firebender in the eyes, an empty look filling her own. "This is for me to handle alone."
"With all due respect…"
"Drop it. That's an order." Azula shouldered her pack and looked at the group as she climbed into the palanquin with Li Mei. "Let's get moving."
"Heading back for the Palace," asked Reo. Azula thought before shaking her head.
"No. Head to Shu Jing. I have an idea on who we can ask on to help us."
"Shu Jing? You're not thinking that geezer, are ya?!"
"Who," asked Biyu.
"Master Piandao," said Azula. "The Fire Nation's greatest swordsman and swordsmith. Uncle Iroh had him teach Zuzu how to wield his dual broadswords. Something Father was against. If Uncle can trust him, I feel I can as well." Azula frowned slightly as she felt a gentle hum against her chest from the Amulet tucked away. She pulled it out and saw an amethyst slightly glowing as a breeze wafted through the open window of her palanquin atop a Komodo-rhino. "Odd…"