AN: Well, I write that this is just one-shoot at this moment and it still is. Hovever, I saw that what was supposed to be only one-shot enjoys greater popularity than expected. So, for all of you who wating for the continuation, I decited to write this second chapter, which will leave a concrete foundation for a future story. Hovever, if someone of you wanted to write own story about prince Azalon and his powers and history, I have nothing againts it.

Hovever, before what all of you are waiting for, I allow myself to respond to your comments, because those who write them deserve for it.

- guytrouble76 - I am really happy that you like, and wish you all the best.

- lemmanu4 - Thank you for comment and suggestion and wish you all the best. I already have an idea for his plan to get Ba Sing Se - if I decide to continue it - and with using innovative technologies, but it will be a secret.

- Guest - I'm hapy that you enjoy and wish all the best.

- ScolaTitanica - It is probably hard not to like him and his temperament.

And now, I invite you to read and enjoy the fruits of my work.

It was a warm summer and, as always on such occasions, the palace gardens were a beautiful and pleasant place. Intense and influencing everything that is alive, the sun literally bathed everything in its undeniably beautiful - and to some extent - alluring radiance. All the greenery in the palace gardens seemed to glow under the influence of the sun, as if blessed by the grace of Agni herself.

In such an environment, two children played with each other, and they were two beautiful boys with typically childlike features. Their current interaction was not overly complicated, much less based on anything deeper. They just ran together, trying not to damage anything at the same time. These gardens were their mother's favorite place and they did not want to cause her any problems, let alone trouble.

The first, of the two brothers, was now ten or slightly older, and the second, though younger, but the difference was at first glance slight. Although there were not many differences between them, they were certain. The older one had his hair curled up in a ponytail, while the younger one was not only very long, but also loosely loose and could easily succumb to the wind pressure and flap like a banner or flag. Growth also distinguished the two brothers, in favor of the older of the two, of course. The last difference was the election of both brothers. The older one wore traditional, for the most part dark red robes with gold ornaments, while the younger one wore a black tunic, without a collar and with dark gold ornaments.

Two brothers - despite their many differences - tried to enjoy their childhood and those few moments. Few, because the older one spent a large part of the day training in the use of melee weapons and firebending, while the younger spent all days improving his intellectual abilities, broadly understood knowledge and engineering, as well as the use of the element of fire, but in a rather specific way . While the older one strictly adhered to the use of fire in a manner taught and generally accepted as standard, the younger one tried to form specific shapes from his flames. They were various tools, strictly intended for combat and more. From small arrows to large blades, glazes, and sometimes even animals such as dragons or great sea serpents and other wonders.

However, despite the obvious differences and the inability to spend more time together, both of them had a great time, and after a certain and difficult to define moment, a girl, definitely younger than the two, joined the playing brothers, but it did not mean that she was less efficient. Although the eldest and the youngest siblings did not like each other and often jumped at each other's throats, the middle brother was always able to inhibit and suppress their mutual antagonism. Born in the middle, he has always valued his family and its values, and has always tried to foster their bond so that siblings would never be divided.

The task that the middle-born always faced was not easy. Because the youngest sister of both brothers was malicious and manipulative, and she also did everything to prevent the eldest of the siblings from doing well. Nevertheless, the younger brother loved his siblings with all his heart and always did his best to prevent the division between them from going too far, to the point where the line was crossed, beyond which there would be no turning back.

None of the three of them bothered with the passage of time, it seemed that they had a great time all afternoon. Born in the middle at one point, he saw five black birds, with dark gray claws and three pairs of eyes, the color of which was nothing more than me and nothing more than a chaotic fire. At some point in his life, the boy realized that these birds were always and vigilantly following his every move. In particular, the young prince was being watched by the largest of the herd, which was not limited to these five individuals. The prince, from the moment he fought an extremely fierce duel with his sister, also began to observe the birds and analyze them. Quite recently, the boy discovered that the species name of these birds was the raven. They were creatures considered to be symbols of death, war and plague, as well as a harbinger of misfortunes. As if that were not enough, ravens have been considered extinct for many years. As you can see, however, these claims were not at all true.

"Zuko, Azalon, Azula." At some point the summons of the woman, the mother of the children she mentioned, came. This effectively prevented the boy from observing the largest of the five ravens, and after a while, "the ruler and his retinue" flew away. "Come to me immediately." She ordered, and Zuko and Azalon almost immediately ran to her mother, while Azula nonchalantly stopped in the town a few meters from her mother.

"Your cousin Lu Ten is dead." She stated as she looked each of the sons straight into their amber gold eyes, which immediately widened at the shock directly related to the content of her words. "He did not survive the battle." She added after a moment.

Azalon foreheads as his lower limbs begin to tremble, however he hasn't thought to show weakness or any signs of crisis. He blinked quickly, took a deep breath, and in the blink of an eye mastered the emotions associated with the fatal news. Once upon a time, controlling his emotions seemed more than difficult to him and caused him great problems. Now, however, it was not that much of a problem.

However, seeing the reactions of my older brother who had not dealt well with the emotional storm. His eyes were wide, his jaw literally dropped. And his limbs literally shook in a chaotic manner, without any coordination or rhythm, just as you'd expect from a child who had barely entered his teens. Azalon sincerely sympathized with his older brother, so he approached him with a quick and confident step, and then, as a support, put a hand on his left shoulder, effectively breaking him out of his dullness.

Zuko turned to his brother, and tears of pure sadness began to accumulate in the eyes of the sensitive prince. Unable to endure the sadness, he threw himself on his younger brother's neck and tightened his grip, and the tears began to flow in a way that was completely out of control.

Not knowing what to do properly, Azalon finally decided to return the fraternal embrace. A few drops of tears also shed from his eye sockets until the young prince let his eyelid fall. A few more seconds passed in this embrace until Azalon's eyelids lifted and his amber gold eyes met the still sad mother who only smiled sadly at the sight of this gesture between the brothers.

The prince had no doubts as to how their younger sister reacted to this news. Azalon knew Azule well, and he had no doubt that despite her apparent nonchalance, she lived the moment in her own way. It was enough to look into the younger sister's eyes only once, and the prince already knew that despite maintaining an insensitive and sadistic image, the princess was suffering from loss. Lu Ten was ultimately their cousin, and he had taught all three of Firebendig's basics when neither of them was even seven years old yet.

After a while, however, everything seemed to have completely changed. In an instant, the garden seemed to turn into a throne room, with Azalon leaning against one of the pillars of the room where he and his siblings were staying. His younger sister, Princess Azula, sat in a backed chair while Zuko either clumsily recreated the last moments of their cousin's life or clumsily practiced combat with a blade. Azalon was neither convinced nor sure of his older brother's motivation. Nevertheless, no matter what, he could only sigh in response to the moment Zuko feigned death in battle with exaggerated drama. Azalon struggled to suppress a mocking and malicious laugh, and instead limited himself to squinting at his brother's theatrical behavior. In all honesty, the younger brother had a love of theater and theatrical gestures, but that didn't mean he was going to show them off on such a fateful day as the news of their cousin's death.

Azalon had no intention of commenting on what he considered, at best, to be a pathetic and soon-forgotten performance, but his younger sister had a different opinion.

"You're wasting all your time playing with swords." She said mockingly and maliciously, but it was not the end. "You're not even good. I suppose our middle brother would definitely be better than you, despite his focus on books and his black fire."

It didn't take long for their older brother's reactions, for he rose in the blink of an eye, blushed and looked at his younger sister with his daggers, but exchanged a glance with Azalon, who only rolled his eyes at his behavior. Although the day was a sad day for all three, none of them changed their usual behavior, at least in the long run.

"Put an apple on your head and we'll find how god I am." He replied with open irritation at her teasing, then took a fighting stance to demonstrate his readiness to move from words to deeds. The younger brother clearly remembered the incident he had watched with his three friends at the academy, Huo, Sion and Xi'an. Each of the three has been his companion for many years, they trained both Fire Bending and sword fighting together, and jointly expanded their knowledge, both in the field of engineering, as well as combat and politics.

To this behavior, Azalon made no reaction at all and had no intention of reacting. And seeing Azula rise from his chair and begin walking towards Zuko, he chose not to speak at all unless it was necessary to cool the temperament of one of his siblings. In all honesty, what happened next managed to almost shake Azalon's resolve and throw him off balance. His younger sister nonchalantly spoke of their uncle's return to the capital after the defeat of the Ba Sing Se siege, which cost the lives of many loyal Fire Nation soldiers, the quality of which could not be overestimated. The loss of all those country loyal and Fire Lord soldiers was frustrating for the young prince, but the way his little sister talked about it all almost drove him mad. But what ultimately cast the cup of bitterness was calling their uncle a "loser" and the brazen addition to the fact that "He found out his son died and he just fell apart."

Azalon could not stand it anymore. He had heard many insults against their uncle from his younger sister in the past, but it was never something so biting and insulting not only to their uncle as a person, but also to mock his love for his own son. Azula and Zuko at one point sensed his rising fury and looked at him with a bit of horror, or so did Zuko. An unmistakable sign that the young prince was falling into a state of irritation was the release of several rather long fire-black whips, which quickly hit the floor and vanished shortly thereafter, as if dissolving into oblivion. Nobody responded to his outburst, none of his two siblings even considered such a reaction.

Azula remained unperturbed and looked at her older brother with both a nonchalant and malicious smirk. This only pushed the young prince further and fueled the anger in his gut. With quick and sure traffic he started straight on towards Azula, reducing the distance between them again and again.

"Azalon, I don't think it would be wise at the moment ..." The eldest of the three spoke very timidly, but glare at him was completely enough to temper his further intentions. Zuko curled up under the gaze of his younger brother and took a few steps back. He was terrified and no wonder, because until now Azalon had never found himself in such a state. He was annoyed, but never furious, and certainly no one had ever seen him close to fury.

The prince continued his march towards his sister, who barely held her mask of nonchalance and spite. However, it was enough to look straight in the eye to correctly read that her heart and mind were engulfed in fear of uncertainty, possibly in its purest form. Azalon took step by step until he finally approached his sister, then pushed and pressed her against the nearest of the massive pillars. Only at this point did the mask on the princess's face crack and disintegrate under the pressure of his anger.

"Enough." He said authoritatively and menacingly, but his tone was not a scream or a snarl, but was simply raised enough to get the effect he wanted. "You've said enough already, throughout your short life. You could insult our grandfather without repercussions, you might even mock our uncle. Honestly, I didn't care a bit. But by the mercy of Agni and her eternal flame, I swear I will challenge someone in the family sooner. on Agni Kai than I will let you mock our uncle's love for his son, as well as the fallen soldiers. "

"What is going on here?" A woman's voice echoed across the room that each of the siblings recognized without thinking or looking. It was their mother who began to slowly approach Azalon and Azula.

"I asked you, my children." She demanded an answer, glaring menacingly at the middle and the youngest of the siblings.

"I am teaching my dear sister humility and respect because apparently someone has not been able to teach her to do so." He replied impudently and still clearly nervous, so obvious that Ursa hesitated for a moment before continuing her march towards the children.

After all, their mother seemed to ignore the middle reply from her children.

"Your father is calling you, we will be in audience with Fire Lord Azulon. Get ready and put on your best clothes." She said calmly, despite what had just happened.

Zuko without thinking and practically ran right away to obey his mother's order. Azula did so less eagerly and only after Azalon allowed her to go. The princess clearly wanted to say something else, but, under the influence of recent events, did not dare to do so. As for the prince himself, he slowly started walking towards the exit, but was stopped by his mother who put her hand on his shoulder.

"Azalon." She spoke his name calmly, then knelt down and looked straight into his eyes. "What happened?" She asked. "This behavior is unlike you, you were always calm, playful and polite. Why did you treat your sister this way?"

"Sorry." He spoke softly, and his tone was now calm and devoid of the tinge of recent anger. "Azula mocked her uncle, his love for his son and indirectly of the fallen soldiers, I couldn't let her get away with something like that." Then he looked down and sobbed miserably. "I just couldn't let it go."

"I see." She answered affectionately, then took her son by the chin and, with a gentle movement of her hand, forced him to reestablish eye contact. "But I have no doubt that this is not the only reason for your behavior." She said, gaining a surprise from the prince that he clearly did not expect. "What is really bothering you."

Azalon sighed, then controlled his emotions. "I'm afraid." He answered without a shadow of a doubt or shame. "Probably for the first time in my short life I'm afraid of something."

Ursa was surprised for a moment, clearly not expecting such a confession from her son. "What is the cause of your anxiety. Until now, I have never seen you angry or scared, and now I have seen both."

The prince looked straight into his mother's eyes for a brief moment, but was afraid to say anything. As if fearing to reveal any weaknesses that could be used against him. Nevertheless, he knew that he was talking to his own mother at the moment, from whom he never had to hide any secrets or fears. Eventually, he took a deep breath and decided to speak.

"The death of my cousin made me realize that we all must ultimately die." He stated, then swallowed with undisguised fear, his gold amber eyes sparkling with fear. "Everything has to pass in the end, every living thing. That's what scares me. The fact that sooner or later everyone will die. Regardless of position or wealth. Even I have to die then and my body turn to dust. I have to take it. take into account and be afraid of her. " He spoke the last sentence with a trembling and anxious voice, as if he had been afraid to throw it all out and show anyone around him so far.

Ursa looked at her son with understanding. Then she decided to help him emotionally and embraced his neck. "It's all right, I'm with you and I'm not going anywhere. As long as I can, I will be with you and your siblings."

Her words seemed to soothe him a little. Azalon finally returned the embrace, enjoying and grieving at the brief moment at the same time.

"But death is natural, Azlalon." Ursa stroked her son's head, made it tender and gentle, knowing perfectly well what her son needed. "We have to accept this, or else the world would at best become a stagnant place where the same beings still exist and where nothing ever changes."

Her answer, however, did not satisfy the young prince, who broke free from her embrace and looked her straight in the eye once more. He was afraid, his trembling eyes and facial expressions were the best proof of that. Ursa was probably so worried about any of her children for the first time in her life.

"But sooner or later we're all going to die!" They would almost scream with despair and undoubted fear, he hardly allowed his emotions to escalate. "You, me, grandfather, father, Zuko, Azula, uncle, and my cousin has already passed away from this world! Why !? Just because it's natural !?"

Ursa did not answer his son's question, but only looked at him with sadness and empathy in both her eyes and face. She loved all her children, and the sight of an eternally content and kind son in such a state of despair and hopelessness. It was as if a red-hot rod had pierced her heart through. Leaving only a void and the pain that comes with it, unpleasant and agonizing.

"Why must everyone I love die eventually?" He asked no one in particular, and tears began to leave his baby's eyes once more. "Why should I accept something so much cruel like this?"

Ursa felt the pain once more, and unable to do anything, she just looked at the sobbing boy. She wanted to hug him again, but this time Azalon wouldn't let her. He withdrew a few steps back, then his gaze froze in front of his mother, who clearly did not expect such behavior from him. Especially that his mood changed dramatically from moment to moment, because now he was composed and full of determination. For a moment, mother and son exchanged completely different looks. Ursa was confused and looked at her son with ever growing anxiety, while Azalon was composed and steely looking, worthy of a man who, instead of a heart of meat, had it made of the coldest pieces of steel in existence.

"Mother." He broke the silence between the two, his voice full of something like an iron resolution he had no intention of breaking. "I will never submit to what is supposed to be natural and default." He announced, then shouted furiously and with some fury. "I'll never accept my own mortality and never give up on it, I'm not pathetic enough to let anything prey on me! Even if it's natural!" Then he ran out of the room to prepare for the meeting in the throne room. He left behind his undoubtedly confused and terrified mother.

Within an hour, Azalon and his mother, father, brother and sister found themselves facing the Fire Lord Azulon, from whose name the young prince got his own name. Honestly, the old man was intimidating to say the least. Despite his very old age, the Fire Lord remained vigilant and powerful, ready to face whatever threats and adversities he encountered. From his high position, he towered above all gathered. In turn, the fires in front of his throne burned very vividly and abundantly, which additionally confirmed his great power.

Azalon had great respect for his grandfather - for his power, as well as for his long, stable and extremely successful rule for the Fire Nation - and thus looked at him exactly as he thought of him, without fear or unnecessary smile at that moment. The prince kept a straight face, wanting to impress his grandfather as much as possible.

No one would openly admit it, but Azulon seemed to respect his - until recently - third grandson to some extent. It happened several times that Azalon personally received lessons and guidance from his grandfather. It was an honor neither of the young prince's siblings nor his father had received. Azlon's only uncle, Iroh, was trained and received lessons from the Fire Lord Azulon.

As soon as he arrived at the throne room and faced the Fire Lord, it became clear what Prince Ozai really wanted. He wanted to show his offspring in the best light possible, and perhaps steal the priority to the throne from his older brother. Although Azalon respected his uncle, he could not refuse his father to act efficiently and successively pursue what he was going to achieve, and that was to become the lord and suzerain of the Fire Nation.

At present, all three of Prince Ozai's offspring have been questioned by him in the field of historical and military knowledge. While Azalon and Azula were doing very well, their older brother was constantly stuttering and making minor or major mistakes, he was undoubtedly stressed out by the whole situation. However, Zuko's situation was completely irrelevant to Azalon at that moment, what mattered was only the satisfaction of his grandfather, with whom the prince had a kind of family bond.

"Tell me ..." Prince Ozai began another question, in his deep, calm and measured voice. "What should be done when our army has surrounded the larger enemy?"

Zuko was going to answer, of course, and he was already starting to answer, but he got lost again. However, to the surprise of everyone present, it was not Azula who took over her brother's question, but Azalon. As a result, the princess frowned at him and pouted softly, which did not escape the attention of her older brothers.

"Leave a seemingly open escape route to the enemy. Show the enemy where they can withdraw while setting deadly ambushes for the enemy. If the other side wishes to live, it will take advantage of this opportunity. In this way, our army can not only defeat and destroy a larger enemy, but also to avoid the bloody battle of destruction that could go on to the last surviving enemy. " He replied stoically and without unnecessary emotions. Considering how expressive Azlon was and how often he expressed his emotions.

"Correct." Ozai replied coolly, smiling for a brief moment at the same time. "How to make the soldiers obey?"

"Intimidate them. Make them clearly understand what will happen if they do not obey." Azula answered the question with a slightly sadistic tone of voice and a sinister smile. "In this way, no one of our soldiers will dare to withdraw or oppose orders, fear will keep them under control."

"To be honest." Azalon replied after a while, contradicting Azula's claims and earning himself a raised eyebrow on the part of his siblings and parents. Fire Lord, too, was surprised and frowned as he looked at the young prince. "If the commander is honest with his people, they have every reason to trust him and follow his orders, regardless of the situation. They know that the supervisor has clearly explained the situation to them and is not trying to hide anything."

"And why do you reject the use of fear?" To everyone's surprise, the one who asked this question was Azulon, who was looking at his grandson with the unmistakable desire to get an answer to his question.

"Because it is a very short-lived tool, and it can prove dangerous to those who try to wield it." The prince answered without thinking, then began to develop his thoughts. "In the beginning, it may have the desired effect and improve the discipline of soldiers as well as their obedience to commanders. But in the long run, however, soldiers will either stop taking threats seriously or get fed up with it all and eventually rebel. At worst, when The power and authority of the commander will weaken, the soldiers will simply stop obeying him and become an unorganized mass that will be practically indistinguishable from the mob of ordinary thugs and thugs. This is the main reason why I consider honesty to be the better method of making myself obedient. "

There was silence for a brief moment in the throne room, but interrupted by the Duke of Ozai, who simply moved on to the next question, as if his youngest son's answer made no difference at this point. "And how was it your great-grandfather Sozin managed to win the battle of Han Tui?"

Once again, Zukko was ineptly trying to answer the question, but his indecisiveness and hesitation were immediately taken advantage of by his younger sister.

"Because even though his army was outnumbered he cleverly calculated his advantetges." She spoke calmly, trying not to show that she was still annoyed at her older brother for contradicting her answer. "The enemy was downwind and there was a drought, their defenses burned to a crips in minutes." The last words were accompanied by a smile and a certain arrogant dose of complacency.

"Careful planning and organization were what made my grandfather triumph." Azalon added quickly. "In turn, the demoralization and terrible preparation for defense was what ultimately resulted in the defeat of the opponent." However, no one seemed to pay attention to his words.

"Correct my dears." Prince Ozai said this, and his voice showed satisfaction with both children. However, it was not the end, their father had one last word in mind during this audience. "And now, would you show grandfather new moves you demonstrated to me?" Even though it sounded like a question, it was in fact an order that the siblings had to obey without delay.

Azalon decided to give way to his younger sister, who took advantage of this without hesitation. Azula started her presentations with breathing exercises, only to get to the bottom line and something much more specific. She took a fighting stance for a split second, then released a fireball, both from her hands and feet. She faked dodges and counterattacks. Her fireballs were of impressive size, especially considering her young age.

Out of the corner of his eye, Azalon noticed that a display of her great abilities and talent met with Zuko's wide eyes, while their father seemed to be pleased with this display of power. At least that was what the little smile on his face indicated. Azula's show, in turn, was crowned by forming and sending a powerful fire blast towards their grandfather. Only so that he can then dignify himself on one knee in front of him in an unequivocal display of respect.

"As you can see, she's really wonderful, just like her grandfather who gave her her name." Ozai declared with a seemingly calm voice, however he tried to conceal his unusually great satisfaction with his daughter, which was in stark contrast to his father's utterly unshakable attitude.

After a while, Azula rose and returned to her seat, between her two older brothers. Meanwhile, however, Azulon turned his gaze to the middle of the sons of the Duke of Ozai.

"What about you, Prince Azalon?" He asked with a raised eyebrow what met the silent annoyance on the part of his son. "Will you also show me what you can do?" It was also a tacit approval of his other grandson, still alive, that Azalon noticed. Considering the fact that Fire Lord had taught the young prince several times, this could have been considered favoring the young prince.

Azalon was not going to waste a second. He got up and walked close enough to the fire to be able to safely demonstrate his skills and movements. Like his sister, he started with a few simple breathing exercises. Then he proceeded to demonstrate his offensive abilities. It came as no surprise to anyone present that the prince's movements were unusual, as were the shapes of his black flames. Instead of forming simple spheres or blasts of fire, the prince decided to form his flames into all kinds and types of weapons. And the movements with which he sent her away were elegant and graceful, instead of the usual heavy combat moves.

This clearly drew a difference between the prince's style and the typical offensive moves of Firebenders. While by default, people who used the element of fire used emotions such as aggression and fury, the prince bending used passion and ambition, as well as a great love of elegance and the right style.

However, it was not the end, because to everyone's surprise, the flames of the young prince, after being dispatched, most often touched the floor and continued to smolder. No one present was aware that this was part of a plan prepared especially for the moment ahead.

As soon as he sent another great glaive into the ground, he began to make quite effeminate and simply strange movements. For a moment and by eye, the young prince noticed that his father seemed enraged by this and planned to end his middle child's show. However, this only happened for a moment, and until Azalon's fiery weapons began to distort and then form into what appeared to be a tornado around the young prince. Azalon's black and dark flames seemed to be literally dancing around him and forming one great symphony. However, it soon became apparent that some of the flames in the ditch in front of the Fire Lord's throne turned black and joined the flames dancing around the prince, thus magnifying the tornado.

Five seconds elapsed, and in the next moment the flames forming the tornado began to spread all over the throne room and swirl, both between the pillars and between the individual members of the royal family. Some of the black flames even started dancing near Azulon. Again, all the black flames seemed to dance to a perfectly synchronized rhythm. Like hundreds of subconsciously coordinated dancers, dancing to one and the same melody.

Out of the corner of his eye, Azalon noticed the surprise on his father's face, the anxiety in the expression on his mother's face, the jealousy and admiration of Azula, and pure terror in both the expression on his face and in the expression in his older brother's eyes. Zuko had always been quite cautious about learning to use the element of fire, but now, he was just terrified of his brother's feat and could hardly hold back the reflex to flee, from a power well beyond his present abilities.

After all, this extraordinary show had an impact on Azlon, for whom the show was a real ordeal. Although he tried not to show fatigue or any weakness, it was clear to himself that this show would be quite costly for him in its consequences. It didn't matter, however, because now what mattered was to impress the grandfather and father, as well as to cross all the borders that stood in his way. However, even with ambition and willingness to exceed his limits, Azalon feels that continuing to exploit his Chi could lead to his burnout and ultimately death, which would almost certainly be unpleasant.

So wanting to end this before it's too late, but in the right style at the same time. Azalon began to draw towards him all the black flames that had begun to form into balls in his hand. Once all the flames had formed into one and quite a large ball of black flames, Azalon clenched his fingers into a fist and the flames slowly began to dissipate until they finally dissipated and left almost no trace of them except smoke, which soon ceased to be visible anyway .

And after the show ended, Azalon fell to one knee in front of the throne and the flames, showing a sign of respect and obedience to his grandfather and the Fire Lord. Although he was tired and exhausted to the bone after the show, he had no intention of showing it. So the only signs of fatigue were the many drops of sweat on the face of the young prince.

For a moment there was a deathly silence in the room, which was broken, at least unexpectedly. The reason for this was simple, for Azulon began to clap and show approval to his grandson, which surprised everyone present in the throne room. Azalon had the slightest doubt that even his father was as surprised as he was by this fact, perhaps even furious. The young prince knew that his father had sought the approval of the Fire Lord for years, but to no apparent success.

"Your show was perfect, grandson." He spoke after a short moment, but his hard gaze did not change even for a moment. "I am more than glad. Now, you can return to your seat."

Azalon rose with great grace, bowed to his grandfather, then began to return to his place the eye of his younger sister. He tried to maintain the highest possible dignity, so he did not show fatigue for a moment and walked proudly, decisively and at least regally. Perfectly suited to his high status.

"You'll never be as powerful as we are, Zuzu." Azula whispered malignantly in both her expression and voice. "You will always be worse than us, no matter how hard you try, you will never equal us. You are a walking failure, nothing more."

This elicited an almost immediate reaction from their older brother, who frowned in irritation and stood up. "I, too, would like to demonstrate what I have learned." He announced confidently and decisively.

Azalon frowned, both in annoyance and disappointment with his older brother, and was unable to suppress these feelings, despite the love he had for him. Perhaps Zuko was born earlier than both him and Azula, but that by no means meant that he was any more mature than his siblings. Azalon was always irritated by her older brother's irritability, as well as a certain naivety and immaturity. Although he realized that his older brother was just going through puberty, he should stop acting like a spoiled child.

Azula moved closer to Azalon's side after a while, as well as began to whisper in his ear. "I bet he won't do any of the exercises correctly and to the satisfaction of our father." She stated with a mischievous smile and the same twinkle in her eyes. "If it doesn't, I'll help you wash your back at the first opportunity. What do you say?"

Her brother considered his options and the potential possibilities for a while, though he wanted to believe in the possibilities of his older brother, he knew it would be an act of stupidity. Ultimately, however, and quite quickly at the same time, he replied. "I bet that at least the breathing exercises and the subsequent demonstration of offensive skills will be done correctly. If not, I'll help with your bath."

"Bet." She announced this, and they both began to observe the older brother's presentations. Initially, Azalon even hoped that his older brother would do at least the first few exercises correctly. Indeed, he had done the breathing exercises and putting on a combat posture correctly, or so it seemed at first glance. However, the next few moments already brought a bitter disappointment. At one point, Zuko just fell, and the quality of his fireballs was not even satisfactory.

"You won." Azalon announced unexpectedly, earning his sister's malicious smirk. "It will end a lot worse and definitely sooner than I thought."

"I told you." She whispered maliciously, then poked him on the rib. "Tonight you will help me to wash and you will be my servant."

"Not exactly." He replied, then looked at her with a no less mischievous smile. "I'm just going to help my beloved sister, just like my big brother should have done." After he nudged the rib back, they both chuckled.

But when it stopped, they both turned their attention back to their older brother, who fell to the ground a second time and just as pitifully. Unable to get off the ground at all to such an extent that Ursa had to help him get off the ground. It was also an unmistakable sign that even the breathing exercise had not been performed by him correctly. Once Azalon realized this, he couldn't help but slap his forehead, which was met with Azula's giggle and involuntary gaze from their father.

"Absolute failure." He whispered loud enough for Azula and Ozai to hear. Then he struggled to keep from covering his amber golden eyes. He looked at his brother with both pity and irritation, but neither of these feelings was dominant in him. It was as if he hesitated between the two, on the one hand, disappointed by his older brother's weakness and stupidity, but on the other hand, full of regret and compassion for him.

"I told you." Azula replied, repeating both her previous words and, after a while, a nudge in the ribs, which was also reciprocated in this particular case.

"Prince Ozai." Fire Lord's voice was irritated and harsh in the room. "Why are you bothering me with this? Just say what you want straight out, let the rest go away immediately."

Ursa, Azalon and his siblings carried out the order, but it was the middle sibling who moved as soon as possible to leave the room, with the desire to get to their quarters as soon as possible.

It was the last moment when the picture seemed to be one and coherent. Only a few seconds later, everything seemed to be plunged into utter chaos and disorder, hundreds - perhaps even tens of thousands of memories - seemed to be mixed up and transformed into one moment in an instant. Until the prince tried to fall asleep on one of the nights. Even after a few days, he was still tired and exhausted from his display of skill in front of his grandfather. The prince's ambition and pride had almost cost him his life.

Azalon was lying on his bed, and the omnipresent darkness did not help him to fall asleep. The tiredness was so great that he was unable to fall asleep or think clearly. Everything seemed to be one big chaos to him, until the door to his room was opened and to his great surprise, his mother was standing there. However, on top of her beautiful robes, she also wore a long hooded cape. Additionally, she had a bag suspended by the frame. The sight surprised Azalon, but he was too faint to react. The prince only looked apathetic in her direction.

"Azalon." Ursa whispered as soon as she approached him and took his place on the edge of the bed. She put her hand on the forehead of her son, who was lying on the bed at that moment. The expression on her beautiful face seemed to be a mixture of warmth, care and incredible sadness to the young prince. "I'm afraid I have to say goodbye to you, son." A few drops of tears poured out of her eye sockets.

"WHAT?" He asked, he tried ineptly to raise his tone of voice, but the fatigue was still too great and too overwhelming for any living thing to overcome. "Why?" He asked, calmly, and trying to keep his mental clarity, some tears shed from his eye sockets as well.

The mother stroked her other son's face for a moment, staring straight into his tired and watery eyes. After a while, she kissed his forehead, which only increased his sadness. "Because I have no other choice at the moment. Especially since for the three of you it will be the best option at the moment, or at least the least harmful of all."

"Do not go." Azalon grabbed a piece of her beautiful and extremely expensive dress with great difficulty, but his mother simply removed her hand and placed it next to him. "I've already lost my cousin, and I can't lose you, just like him. Please, stay with us."

"Look after your siblings and don't let your brother and sister become enemies." She whispered, then kissed him again and closed his eyelids with her hand.

"You were taken from me too?" He thought, but while it sounded like a question to his mind, it really had nothing to do with the question. For a moment he had doubts as to whether what he had seen was actually true. But soon all doubts left his mind, and in his wounded heart only regret and bitterness remained, which after a while began to turn into nothing more and nothing less than pure anger.

"Cousin, and now you." He stated as if it were to be the accusation of the worst possible crime committed in the history of all mankind. "You've all been taken from me. But who will be next?" The question rang in his mind for a while longer, seemed to last every minute, then hours, maybe even days.

Azalon completely lost all sense of casu after a while. As if the line between consciousness and unconsciousness has been completely blurred. Sometimes even the prince seemed to hear all sorts of voices around him. Sometimes, the prince heard completely anonymous and unknown people. Sometimes the prince heard familiar voices, his older brother, Azula, and sometimes Azalon felt as if he could also hear his own father, though the latter impression seemed to him to be completely deceptive and merely a product of his subconsciousness.

This state of helplessness slowly began to make him irritated, and the irritation slowly began to turn into anger, the anger slowly began to turn into fury, and the fury slowly turned into madness or something very similar. After a while, however, all such emotions completely subsided and only a dark void was left. It is as if Azalon's soul has been completely and completely burned out.

However, nature abhors a vacuum, which was also reflected in this particular case. The vacuum gradually gave way to a nascent resolve, as if the prince's soul, heart, and mind were slowly beginning to undergo some form of self-regeneration. Perhaps it had not fully developed yet, but slowly it began to develop in the heart, soul and mind of the young prince, a certain idea began to form, which after some time was expressed by him in an extremely blunt manner.

"If death and the loss of the people I love are to be something natural, I reject it!" He thought, and his inner heat slowly revived and took shape again. "I reject the natural cycle that only leads me to lose the people I love! Only weak people accept reality as it is!" At that moment, a vision of his mother, commanding him to look after his younger and older siblings, flashed in his mind. "Mother, even if you passed away or do not belong to this horrible world anymore, I swear that I will keep my word. I will take care of my siblings, I will free them and myself from the bondage of mortality. We will become strong and we will overcome death. You have my word for it, mother ! "

At this point, however, it all lost its meaning, coherence, and any distinction, all in the face of reappearing chaos and disorder, until two words sounded out.

"Your Highness!" Someone said in a raised voice.

At first, Azlaon was completely confused. Yet the words spoken by an unrecognized - but strangely familiar - voice echoed in his mind like an intense scream in the vast and empty space. The echo seemed to carry on for a while longer.

"Your Highness." The same person repeated, but this time the tone of the voice was much lower than a moment ago. After a while, however, Azalon felt someone shaking him. This finally caused some reactions as the prince slowly awoke from sleep.

XXX

"Your Highness, Fire Lord requests your immediate presence in the throne room." The man still unrecognized by the prince announced.

Azalon moved into a sitting position, and in response to the words addressed to him, he only yawned lazily and drowsily, and a few tears flowed from his eyes. When he re-opened his eyes, he realized that he was lying in his room, in the royal palace.

His private quarters were spacious, tidy and filled with all kinds of objects. Starting with a variety of weapons such as: Dadaos, Dual broadswords, katanas, Guan Daos, Hammers, Jiis, Kanabos, Nunchakus, Pu Daos. In short, anything that could be used in combat by a warrior. Additionally, there were books with a very varied content in the headquarters. Most of them concerned mainly metalworking methods, military tactics and strategies, mechanical and construction engineering, as well as two specific books. The first one, concerned with the art of state management, was entitled "The Prince" and its author was a politician and diplomat of Fire Nation at the court of Fire Lord Yosor, Nico Machi, who lived many centuries ago. The second book was as strange as it was unusual, for it was a treatise on brewing and drinking tea that his uncle had sent the prince many years ago during the unsuccessful campaign to conquer Ba Sing Se. The last type of items in the room - apart from the bed and the desk - were many blueprints, which in the overwhelming majority of cases were sketches and designs of experimental or prototype types of weapons.

After looking carefully around the room, the prince rubbed his tired eyes, and his gaze fell on the maid, who was kneeling next to him and was shaking him a moment ago. She was very beautiful and young, in fact only two years older than Azalon. Her hair was long and auburn, which was quite unusual by Fire Nation standards, and the woman's eyes were a deep gray. She was slim and clad in loose, flowing black robes made and donned by her at the personal orders of the prince. Her name was Agi and he was one of the four personal servants of the young prince, chosen by him personally on the basis of their beauty, knowledge and skills. Often, some malicious ones called these four "Azalon's Concubines", but this was just a malicious rumor.

The prince finally got up and then began to stretch his muscles, still not responding to the message from his maid. However, when he finished his activity, his gaze fell on calmly waiting Agi. Azalon smiled at her, and despite his rather chaotic and devoid of the usual glow, he still looked extremely friendly and warm, and his maid returned the smile.

"What time is it Agi?" He asked, but was aware that the sunrise had taken place some time ago.

"The clocks point to ten o'clock, Your Majesty." She replied smiling, undoubtedly amused by the late hour of his wake up call. "I believe tonight has not been as unpleasant as the last six."

Agi was alluding to the fact that Azalon had had nightmares for most of the last week and therefore didn't sleep very well. Strong and extremely intense shadows under his shining eyes were the best proof of this. Nevertheless, Azalon still retained its strength and energy, necessary for proper functioning on a daily basis and fighting with the use of the element of fire.

"Unfortunately you are wrong." He replied, then his smile faded a little. "Tell His Majesty that I will come to the throne room soon. Also tell Katani and Zyri to prepare a bath for me, and have Zaria prepare breakfast, I have to be ready and look so good as this is posible." The prince mentioned the other three servants who dealt with duties other than Agi, so they approached the prince less often than she did.

"Of course, Your Highness." Agi bowed politely to her master, after she left his quarters with a graceful and quick step. Thus leaving the young prince to himself.

It didn't take long for Azalon to yawn again and then began to prepare to meet his own father, who had been ruling the Fire Nation as his suzerain for several years. At first, he went to the desk and took out a rather large mirror from one of the drawers. Then, prince he looked at it and saw own reflection. Time which had elapsed since the days he dreamed of that night had changed him fundamentally and heavily.

Azalon was't longer this same boy. He became an adolescent and fifteen-year-old teenager. His hair was very long, it was calmly reaching his back and it was devoid of any ornaments, which could indicate his royal position. He has grown overall, and his arms have grown, thanks to many days of intense physical exercise, which have decisively and significantly assisted this process. Overall, despite his still young age, Azalon had an athletic build, which, however, on a daily basis was hidden under a black tunic with dark gold ornaments and high collar.

"So, it's time for a new mission from you, father?" He asked no one specially, and afther a while he left and started to prepeard himself for this, which ultimately had to come.

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