A/N: Love and appreciate all the support on the story! Let me know what you guys think of this new chapter.

And into Ba Sing Se...

22. Getting Into the City of Walls (The Princess is Coming)

Percy had been in Ba Sing Se for a few weeks, and he was enjoying it, mostly. The family had been wonderful. His shirt, whilst not perfect, was returned to a wearable condition. There were green-grey patches, and obvious stitch marks along his jeans, but he absolutely couldn't thank them enough.

Over the few weeks he'd been in the city, he'd seen the fliers for Appa, or if it wasn't Appa then it was a massive coincidence. It was unfortunate that the Avatar group didn't find him quickly when they arrived, but with what Percy had seen of the Dai Li, maybe that wasn't a big surprise.

Granted he couldn't actually read the fliers. Not that his dyslexia was the problem this time. No, it was a completely different language. That was his first indication that he was done with his life in the city. Percy found it rather odd that he could understand everyone with how they spoke, but couldn't understand their written language. He powered through but it was starting to become a hassle.

In his time away from Jin and the rest of her family, Percy spent his time wandering the streets of Ba Sing Se. Exploring and just generally disobeying all the rules that Joo De had told him when he'd first come into the city.

After finding out that Iroh was given a new tea shop in the Upper Ring, Percy had told the old man that he'd visit as much as he could. The young prince didn't seem to pleased to see him when Percy first came up into the upper ring, and so he didn't join in on their conversations. It was mainly pleasant ramblings on life, and tea. Mainly tea. Unfortunately, there were no more Jin and Zuko dates that meant Percy could talk in earnest with the old firebender. Which was a shame really, he was hoping for more of Iroh's wisdom.

The demigod could feel the eyes of the Dai Li on him the whole way up to the shop and most often while he was in the shop, but they didn't stop him. But quite soon after though, he felt something that puzzled him. Percy felt safe. There were no eyes on him. His Dai Li escort had disappeared that day, without a trace.

The demigod still kept a lookout, but something obviously happened. Either the Dai Li prioritised themselves elsewhere, like the Avatar group, or some change in policy meant they didn't follow him around. He was very pleased with the new development though, and enjoyed the day out with Jin, exploring.

Then he'd seen Appa flying over the city, rather low in fact. That put a smile on Percy's face, especially the orangey robes that could be seen on top.

Not too long after that, he'd been told that the Earth King had been spotted on the train. It was all the buzz in the Lower Ring for weeks. Apparently, he hadn't come out of his palace for his whole life. Not much of a king, is he?

He'd been seen with a group of kids, who sounded oddly like his fellow drill-destroyers. Hopefully they're getting to the king and telling him of the Fire Nation threat.

Later in the day, he'd heard some random gossip about the ground shaking by the palace much earlier in the morning. That could've been for any number of reasons, though Percy had a sneaking suspicion that the group had made a move for the Earth King to force him to listen. Good on them.

Percy was starting to miss his home, or at least, the peace and quiet of the home he'd created by the lake. And he was best he left the city. Everything about it made him homesick in the bad way, and it was a feeling that built in the pit of his stomach. Too many parts of city life reminded him of Manhattan enough to make him think of his mother and his previous life, that it just hurt. It began as a dull throb, but soon became, what felt like, shooting pains through his chest and down his arms.

Getting ready for that conversation, he packed all his stuff in a satchel Jin's family had provided for him.

A couple days later, and he was about to leave, when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up once more.

"Azula," Mai intoned from right behind her, "when are we going to be able to take off this makeup."

"Just because you don't look like you're going to murder people doesn't mean you need to take it off." Came the reply from Ty Lee. Azula rolled her eyes.

They'd been biding their time. It had been a while since the Kyoshi Warriors were captured. Azula had managed to get quite a bit of information from some of them. Suki was the most difficult one to break, but she did eventually.

What she'd said was mostly lies, but that was the easiest way to get the truth from someone. Suki said she hadn't met Percy before they saw each other on the pass, but the avatar group knew him from before. Azula had internally scoffed at that. The last part was clearly a lie.

So, she knew Percy was telling the truth, and she'd fallen for his double bluff. That didn't particularly help her restless nights at all. And with that, she hadn't slept for any period longer than the a few minutes in the days (or weeks, she couldn't really tell at this point) since the bison encounter. The princess was so close to her goal, capturing that Agni-damned waterbender and then Ba Sing Se, and then finally getting a decent night's sleep, that it almost killed her to remain patient. But she wanted to give the Avatar as much time as possible to leave the Earth King to be snatched up in her clutches. She didn't need her disguise failing her the minute she stepped into the city.

But she just needed to capture that infuriating man so badly. And with how Suki spoke about him, almost reverently, Azula found she was trying even harder to supress some feelings deep within her. Ones she'd pushed out thanks to being the monster her mother had whispered about behind her back. The feeling that she didn't realise she craved.

The rest of the Kyoshi Warriors didn't know much, granted she hadn't really expected them to. In the limited amount of knowledge she had of them, they'd remained on their island, isolated, for long enough that they hadn't had any real knowledge of many recent events.

"Patience, girls. We have to time our entrance into the Earth Kingdom perfectly." Tomorrow, we'll move out. She smirked sinisterly. Percy and Ba Sing Se will be back under my control.

The team had just managed to convince the Earth King that, yes, there was a war raging for a hundred years. You'd think a king would figure that out. Toph shook her head. He'd brought them all back to his palace.

"I want to thank you, young heroes, for opening my eyes. All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis was merely a city of fools." Yup. "And that makes me the king fool." It does indeed Mr. King. Although that wasn't ever really in doubt. The Earth King seemed to have his head buried in his hands, based on his now muffled voice. "We're at war. With the Fire Nation" I mean, duh.

Sokka spoke up from next to her. "That's why we came to Ba Sing Se, your Highness, because we think you can help us end the war."

"We don't have much time." Aang continued his point.

Blah blah blah. Toph wasn't too interested in all that. They'd already gone over this enough times. The group, including her though, celebrated when the king gave them his support, and thus the support of Ba Sing Se.

She felt someone, walking as though they were important, come up to the group.

"Your Majesty." She felt him bow. "I apologize for the interruption."

"This is General How." Knew it. "He's the leader of the Council of Five, my highest-ranking generals." That sounds like the kind of terrible name Sokka would think up.

"We searched Long Feng's office. I think we found something that will interest everybody."

The group was corralled into that office. Toph felt a heavy weight be dropped onto the table in front of them.

"There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se. Including you kids." Oh, maybe we can see where Percy is! She'd missed having the idiot stomping around the place. There wasn't anyone she could throw earth at anymore, with Aang being an earthbender, Katara being her royal sweetness and Sokka, well…

"Secret files?" Aang said.

"Toph Beifong." The king said. Huh. The scroll was handed from the king, to the General and then to Toph. Well, what good is this to me?! She quickly handed the scroll to Katara.

"It's a letter from your mom. Your mom's here in the city. And she wants to see you." Toph felt her eyes widen. My mum is here?

"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home?" She shook her head. "That's just sad." Predictable, but still.

"Aang?"

"This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Li captured it." The general spoke after the king.

"It's from the Eastern Air Temple."

Katara was next, "Is there a letter for me and Sokka by any chance?"

"I'm afraid not." Came the reply from the king.

"Oh." She could hear and feel the disappointment that settled on the two water tribe kids.

"But there is an intelligence report that might interest you." The general coming in to save the mood.

"'A small fleet of Water Tribe ships.'"

"What? That could be Dad!" Came the excitable voice of Sokka.

"'Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay. Led by Hakoda.' It is Dad!" That's great! But there's one more thing.

"Your Highness." Ugh, even that felt gross. "Is there anything in there about someone named Percy?" Toph asked. At that, she felt all the attention in the room focus on her. Katara was the first to speak.

"Yeah! We have a friend, Percy, and he went off on his own to explore." Toph felt the nervous shuffling of the Dai Li in the corners of the room. Sokka and Aang quickly voiced their agreement.

"Oh, I'm sure we can find something." The king said, and she felt the General move around the room.

After a few minutes of waiting, a box almost as large as the all of theirs came in, based on the weight of which it was dropped onto the table.

"Well, he's fine." Toph sighed, and she heard the exhale of the rest of them. The king continued. "He's been spending his time with a young girl and a family in the Lower Ring. The Dai Li have been…" he paused.

"What?" Sokka asked impatiently.

"The Dai Li have had people watching him since he left you guys. These are some detailed files. Percy spends a lot of his time at a tea shop, in the Lower Ring." Now why would you do that Percy? It was intriguing to Toph. But it seemed he was fine and he was doing exactly what he told her he'd do.

"Percy also seems to have come up to the Upper Ring a couple of times. Solely to speak with the owner of the Jasmine Dragon tea shop, the same owner of the tea shop in the Lower Ring." Now that's really odd. "A refugee by the name of Mushi." Why does that name ring a bell? Although Toph couldn't place it at all.

"He's a waterbender, is he?" The general spoke up.

"Yes, he is. Percy saved us on the way here." Toph said. "But he wanted some time to explore." Quickly shutting down any ideas of using him. Based off of the story Percy had told them of his life, the waterbender deserved a break.

"And he-" The king paused halfway through reading. Toph almost felt him narrow his gaze at the scroll in front of him. At least, that's the closest thing she could describe it as.

"There were some earthquake or earth-shaking mentions in these, that Long Feng was investigating. Based on the report from General Sung." He said suspiciously. At the nervous shifting from the group, Toph felt it in the best interest for her to speak.

"Oh, that was me." She attempted to say it as casually as possible. That seemed to dissuade him of any further questions, though she could feel his gaze viscerally. It was the first time the king had seemed like an actual king to her, and not just a bumbling buffoon. It disappeared almost as quickly, and the group began to make their way out. Not to mention the fact that the Dai Li who were standing in the corners of the room shuffled uncomfortably. Now why would they do that?

The group slowly split off to do their tasks, after deciding to go their own separate ways, but Toph just felt like there were a few key things that she wasn't able to put together. And most of them centred around the Dai Li and Percy.

Long Feng sat back in his metal cell. Oh, how far he'd fallen. The longing for the power he'd had over Ba Sing Se hadn't faded in the slightest. Those stupid, pesky, insolent, naïve kids had to come around and ruin it, and cause the fall of Ba Sing Se.

Never mind that, he'd stop them and regain his power.

Some food slid underneath the door, as the figure of one of his Dai Li agents appeared between the bars.

"Dinner." He grabbed his food. "The Council of Five and the military are loyal to the Earth King, but the Dai Li remains loyal to you, Long Feng, sir." He seemed to be about to walk away.

"Wait." He spoke, calmly. His follower obediently stopped. Long Feng smiled. "What of the Avatar and his group?"

"Only two remain in Ba Sing Se, the rest have gone their own way for now." Interesting. A prime time for a takeover.

"And what of the boy, the waterbender in the Lower Ring?"

"He remains also. We're unable to surveil him, under direct orders from the Earth King."

"Hmm, keep a look out. He is an unneeded variable, and powerful at that." The agent nodded his acceptance. "Bring any information that could aid the overthrow of the Earth King directly to me."

"We will, sir."

"And… at the first opportunity you can, watch him again. He could be a powerful weapon if on our side." With his waterbending and earthbending, Long Feng smiled as some plans were forming in his head.

Percy might be free for now, but they'd get him in the end. When I'm sitting on the throne of Ba Sing Se. Now, to get out of here.

Ty Lee was strolling behind Azula, with Mai at her side. Caked thick with makeup, the Earth Kingdom were none the wiser that they were letting three of the most important people in the Fire Nation into their palace.

Being in the circus, and just in her life, she was rather used to this style and quantity of makeup. It was a daily occurrence in her house to have a load of full bathrooms of sisters doing their faces up. Ty Lee was just beginning to realise the reasoning behind that, thanks to her favourite waterbender.

Unfortunately for the three of them, Mai was not so used to it. The circus girl was silently begging to everything that the dark-haired girl not shift uncomfortably enough to give them away. She was supremely grateful when they arrived at the throne of the Earth King with no one noticing her discomfort.

They had been bowed to on the way in, as 'honoured guests'. That was the part that she was used to, though not from people in green.

The three girls all bowed, though it seemed Azula was not pleased with having to do this to anyone other than the Fire Lord. But Azula being Azula, it was nigh unnoticeable to anyone who didn't know her as well as Ty Lee did. She could slip into masks of obedience and courteousness just as easily as royalty and leadership, but it didn't take a genius to know which she preferred.

The Earth King spoke from his throne.

"In our hour of need, it is with the highest honour that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors!" They all looked up to him.

"We are the Earth King's humble servants." Azula said. Ty Lee didn't miss the gleefulness she had in her tone at her deception. There isn't much Azula likes more than deceiving someone. It was the first time she'd seen Azula back in her element since…well, she could really remember. Not since first chasing the Avatar had she been able to manipulate those around her with such precision. It was obvious to the gymnast that, whilst the princess was in a comfort zone of hers, she was just extremely exhausted.

But whatever the case was with Azula, they sat, to hear whatever mundane tales the Earth King had, before Azula set her plan in motion. One that she'd neglected to tell the two girls, but that wasn't unusual.

A bear was sitting by the king's side though. That was something that intrigued Ty Lee. It's just soooo cute! I've never seen a bear before. Like, just a bear.

"Look Bosco! The Kyoshi Warriors are here to protect us! Aren't you excited?" At that, and the pinching of the bear's cheeks, Bosco decided he was tired and yawned. "It's been a difficult week for me. My most trusted advisor, Long Feng, and his Dai Li agents tried to take control of Ba Sing Se from me."

Ty Lee saw Azula visibly perk up in her energy and her mind. That's clearly useful to her plan.

"It's terrible when you can't trust the people who are closest to you." Ty Lee's eyes widened and she risked a look at Mai.

Mai met her gaze and they both looked worriedly at Azula. The Earth King hadn't noticed, keeping his nonchalant gaze firmly on the princess. But Ty Lee was startled. They were both the two closest to Azula, and they were both getting close with Percy. Does she know something? What does she want? Is it… is it just for the Earth King?

Things with Azula rarely had one or even two meanings. The faux sympathies to the king and the subtle entertainment at also being someone close to Kuei and being someone he can't trust. Could that just be it? Ty Lee wasn't so sure.

"But there is good news." He said, petting Bosco. "As we speak, the Council of Five is meeting to plan an invasion of the Fire Nation this summer," All three looked on, enjoying that they were getting intelligence on the Earth Nation's and Avatar's plans. "on the day of the solar eclipse."

Based on the lack of a reaction from the king, it seemed Azula held her composure and didn't look too shocked. The same could not be said for Ty Lee. Her eyes got very wide. What happens to firebenders without a sun?!

"Really?" Yup, there's calm Azula. I don't know how she does that. "Now that sounds like a fascinating and brilliant plan."

The three girls glanced at each other. Clearly they'd need to work rather quickly to capture Ba Sing Se and get the information back to the Fire Nation.

But Ty Lee couldn't help but wonder. Wonder if she could potentially meet up with Percy while they were here. She missed him.

They were dismissed and Azula seemed to be unable to hide her sharp smile at the way events unfolded for her.

A/N: Okay, so, a few things. There isn't much from the Lake Laogai and Earth King episode, not until the very end with their meeting with the Earth King. I don't think Percy (especially the Percy that is in my story) would have much of an effect on the story. Mainly because he isn't with the Gaang and is wanting to explore. But I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and definitely let me know. We're building towards the catacombs some more with Azula now being entrenched in Ba Sing Se and the Dai Li subplot starting. Now for some replies:

AadenHelan: So, yes. This is what I'll reply to first because it's probably the most interesting element of the story to me. You're right, the story can be read that way. But the way that this is for me (at least in terms of Azula's psychology which I read and watched a lot of stuff about as inspiration before starting), it is not an obsession over Percy. Well, not yet, and that's not saying there will or will not be a possessive kind of attachment because I don't want to spoil anything. But it is more the lack of control. That's what causes her madness and break in psychosis in the beginning. Her losing control of her friends at the Boiling Rock and starting to become insane due to being completely alone and then brushed aside by her father. So Percy just jumpstarted her loss of control. Anyways, that was my mini rant over. Hope you enjoy what I do with the story, and the way that you see it is a perfectly accurate way to read the story.

Riptide50: So I couldn't get to your review before last update. You posted it about 20 minutes before I did and I was at work and unable to add it to the chapter. There will be more Percy and Toph, definitely. But his time with the Gaang will be intermittent. It'll still be there, but it isn't the main storyline. I love writing his interactions with Toph though, that'll stay. And we saw a bit more of the Toph-Percy friendship in this one too.

HellRaiderS/WildMan98: Thank you! Appreciate the it and the updates will keep coming consistently, although the time between them will be anywhere from 3 days to a week, but no more.

Gabe1234: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the characters. Yes! You're the first one to say anything about them but it's one of the more fun parts for me. To have the main chapter title be Avatar style, and the secondary title be from Percy's perspective, in the style of the original pjo series. I'm glad you picked up on it.

MirrorWalker: You will definitely be seeing more of that side of Azula. About recognising them in the Kyoshi makeup...well... I won't say anything about that because it's a potential spoiler, but I hope you enjoy what I'm doing. It'll be maybe slightly different to what you're expecting.

HaywireEagle: Those are both interesting and possible outcomes for the situation that they all find themselves in. I hope you enjoy what I do with that particular aspect of the story and the rest of it.

Jctherebel: Thank you! And it wasn't ever really a vote, more just me testing the waters for what people wanted. The story wasn't ever really going to deviate from what I wanted because it's essential to my character arcs and themes. I'm pretty sure you'll like what I do with that particular part, but I won't spoil what that is. I'm glad you're enjoying it though, and hope you continue to do so.

DasChinButton: Thank you! Things will begin to change a lot more as we continue. At the moment, Percy has spent most of his time in his own little world. Apart from the drill, it's just been character changes and arcs within the girls. But soon, soon he'll impact the world a lot more. On the Olympian influence, there might be, though if it does happen, it won't be big, nor will it be plot changing. Basically, if it doesn't help more my plot along, or develop the characters in an interesting and influential way, it won't happen. But I hope you can continue to enjoy!

-PS