BOOK TWO

BLOOD

CHAPTER XII

Fog of War

Sea

In the blaze of a humid daylight, Aria felt the cool breeze of the South Pole's last kiss upon what exposed skin she had left, and allowed herself to shut her eyes. Sleep had proven scarce and far between in the decks of a Fire Nation destroyer, despite its ability to remain mostly steady along their chosen course. Water had always been her curse, and now that she was surrounded by it, perhaps her body was rejecting its dominance in a sort of destructive bout of pride. She wasn't sure why she had any of that left in her with all the humbling she'd dealt with, so perhaps it was something far less mystical.

For the first time in her life, she was alone, and everyone among her was looking for their next course of action.

When her father had commissioned the destroyer for their journey to Chin, she expected he send along a captain to keep it properly maintained and upkept, as well as manage all its personnel in the most efficient fashion. Unfortunately with the Fire Nation fleet stretched across the ocean separating the homeland from their enemy, there were none to spare, and he'd argued that it wouldn't be much different anyhow. The royal family was still the highest seat in all there was, and her role would be as it was now. Even so, she had no idea how to run a ship properly, and a little help would've been appreciated.

At least she had virtually unlimited amounts of fresh clothes stashed in her quarters, even if she had no intention of wearing the more lavish outfits. Why they were there in the first place, she wasn't sure.

Perhaps her worries were instead the nightmares she had about what horrors were being inflicted upon Kya and Bumi, and to what extent Nikuya was willing to go to ensure that Aang never found them again. She'd already proven to be ruthless enough to betray her own family, and she doubted she would stop short at harming children to achieve her ends. Just knowing she could do nothing to save them was enough to break her heart just a little bit more every time she was reminded, and Aria could only imagine what pain Katara and Aang had felt during the months that had passed. It had only been so long ago when she was holding Kya in her arms while Aang and Zuko bickered about her waterbending…and to think she would never see her again…

No…I will see her again.

Hopelessness was the enemy of victory, and she could not allow it to discourage her now, not with Republic City in the hands of a monster. Ensuring Chin's fleet couldn't be used by Nikuya, and her army could turn the tide of this war, and save her home from destruction.

And yes, this was a war, no matter who thought otherwise.

"Your Highness, do you think it wise to show yourself on the deck in contested waters?" an aged, yet refined male voice noted from just behind her at the deck's edge. "Empress Nikuya has proven adept at setting unseen traps."

Aria kept her eyes fixed on the endless sea as her hair flowed with the rushing wind. "Worrying about my safety is Valla's job, Minister Kazo. I insist you leave it to her."

The blare of wind tried to hide it, but she heard his snort. "With due respect Highness, your cowled retainer is not one for words, and I do not believe she has any interest in offering you counsel, so as with the Fire Lord's wishes, I will continue to fill that void."

She sighed, seeing no holes in his frustrating logic. "I thought a few months aboard this ship would teach you to trust me by now. I've spent my life watching out for myself, so I wouldn't worry too much."

Kazo's response wasn't immediate. "Simply because something has been doesn't mean it must always be. The Fire Nation has changed greatly since your father's coronation, and all for the better."

Aria smiled, looking back to where he stood a ways off from the edge of the deck. "I see why my father has kept you around."

He inclined his head. "We haven't always seen eye-to-eye, and it has got me into trouble with the more senior members of his cabinet. I think that is partly the reason I'm here in the first place…to keep discord out of his council while we are at war."

Aria frowned. She'd been told that Kazo was here to oversee the negotiations between Chin's ruler and herself, since she was no diplomat, and never had been. Trying to convince one of the most isolated fiefdoms on the planet to join them in their fight against Nikuya was going to take concessions, which Aria didn't have the authority to make. Kazo's familiarity was supposed to fill that gap, but of course periphery politics managed to worm its way in once again.

"…perhaps I have said too much," Kazo admonished himself.

"Not at all," Aria waved. "I told you to speak your mind from the beginning. I have no use for advisors who can't."

A hint of somber joy crossed his face. "Yes…a luxury that is unfortunately foreign to many who lived through your grandfather's reign."

"I know," Aria swallowed, clutching the hilt of the katana at her hip, the same one that had been given to her by Heruu. "Although I'm sure you didn't just come up here to scold me."

That was when Kazo's entire demeanor drained. "No…I didn't."

"Beloq?" she asked, unable to help a smile from breaching her lips.

"Beloq."


"This idiot is trying to get us all killed."

Based on what Aria could see upon entering the cramped, stuffy engine room, it seemed that the only one at risk was Beloq himself, with his jacket and thick pants sprawled out at the entrance and replaced by a coating of sweat that drenched his hair and garments. Whole sections of pipes had been removed from the central apparatus, and she could see that some of those had been rearranged in a more streamlined fashion…although at the cost of a much higher pressure reading on the core gauge. If the steam engine did manage to rupture, then the blurted statement would actually become true.

"Wrong!" Beloq disagreed, just as the unbearable hiss of releasing vapor invaded everyone's eardrums. "It's whoever last tended to this engine that's trying to get us all killed!"

Groans from the deck workers were echoed as they watched behind her, covering their ears from the disruptive assault. Aria wasn't exactly enjoying it much either, but she trusted Beloq enough to know he'd deal with it in time. How he could still hear anything was beyond her, however, and it hardly mattered to the crew if she was the only one who didn't think he was in over his head.

Sweat poured from Beloq's brow as he tugged at the valve with his wrench, and finally the hissing ceased its whine. "And…there we go!" he cheered for himself. "Trust me, you'll notice the difference in a few days."

"Uh-huh," Aria nodded, waiting for him to continue. "And that difference is?"

He clanked his wrench against the largest pressure tank. "That won't need to be refilled as much…in fact I'd say about half as much now."

"You're huffing steam, tribe boy," one of the engineers heckled. "This is the best the Fire Nation has to offer. No ship has more range than her."

Beloq snickered. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Hey!" they puffed their chest, stepping forward with a contingent of like-minded Fire Nation deck workers. "You want to say that—"

"Why don't you all get some fresh air, huh?" Aria stepped between them, holding her stance casual, yet firm. "In fact, take the rest of the day off. Consider it a treat for all your hard work making this the longest-lasting ship in the fleet."

The stubbled, sweat-glistened man sniffed as his eyes met hers, and while when she had first come aboard he never would've dared speak his mind before her, he relinquished a sigh of resignation that certainly confirmed her statements. "If that's what you're offering, Your Highness."

She smirked. "It is."

"You heard your Princess," Kazo interjected before further remarks could be exchanged. "Now be off with it."

With Kazo's affirmation, it didn't take long for the engineers to take the hint, and one by one they cleared the room, heading off to their quarters to fetch rest Aria knew they all needed, even if they denied it. Once all the pleasantries were exchanged, and Aria thanked the minister for his help, only she and Beloq remained.

"Sage Aria, here's your white robe," Beloq remarked.

"Funny," she deadpanned. "Maybe if you didn't try to pick a fight with them, I wouldn't have to swoop in and save you."

"I'm just trying to help," he shrugged, collecting the last of his tools into his personal sack.

She snorted. "By being a dick about it?"

"Didn't know they would be so soft."

"You're doing it again," Aria admonished, letting a bit of warning slither into her tone. "I know they probably give you trouble for not being from the Fire Nation, but if you poke and prod the way you do, then it's hard for me to sympathize."

"The incapable tend to be frustrated by the capable," he tied his sack shut, and proceeded to slug it over his shoulder as he rose to his feet. "Can't change that."

Aria felt her fingers prickle with frustration, and she pulled her gaze away from his. "If you're going to do something stupid, let me know first."

He shrugged. "What I did wasn't—"

"Beloq," she half-growled, facing him again, and this time it was he who looked away as she bore down upon him.

"I hear you," he conceded, and for the first time she could see a hint of regret in his expression, maybe not for what he had done, but for their current contention. "Sorry."

Aria allowed her fingers to stretch one by one, and she relaxed. "It's fine. Forget about it."

She didn't come down her to scold him, in fact she had specifically gave him free reign over any modifications he wished to make to their vessel, especially after seeing what he could do with the sleds they had used back at the South Pole. With all the ideas he was constantly spit balling every time she was within earshot, it had felt like a waste not to let him do his thing. Of course, that came with the risk of him marooning them at sea, but if she was never willing to take it, then she'd never be able to reap the benefits of his expertise.

Alongside that, well…she trusted him, more than she was willing to openly admit. Beloq had an unfortunate tendency to allow his ego to overinflate in the midst of virtually any praise, so she had to almost treat him like a tiger monkey; feed him bit by bit instead of all at once. He was deceptively smart, however, which lead to him having issues with people who didn't understand him, such as with his fellow engineers.

Hell, not even she fully understood most of the time.

"The time off extends to you too," she offered, this time making it obvious that it was indeed an offer instead of an order. "Frankly, you look like you could use it."

Oddly enough, he didn't really smell that bad, which was strange with the amount of sweat dampening his clothing. Perhaps it was his natural odor, or he was more upkept than she ever cared to notice.

"I am taking time off," he said, gesturing towards his work. "Tinkering is what I do, remember?"

Aria scoffed. "Fat chance. Surely you did something else with your village. Dice games? Dancing?"

Beloq narrowed his eyes. "Valla told me the Fire Nation discouraged dancing, or was that under your granddaddy?"

"It was banned, actually, just underneath dissent against the royal family, as far as I know," Aria corrected, only to shake her head in annoyance. "Why don't you just answer my question?"

He shrugged. "I did."

With a snort of warm air through her nose that nearly combusted into fire, Aria grasped his sweaty wrist tightly and dragged him along.

"Hey!" he protested as he nearly stumbled up the stairs. "Aria!"

"Come on, water boy," she snickered. "Time to show you how to really unwind."


Ba Sing Se

Within the walls of Ba Sing Se was another world completely divorced from the happenings of outsiders, almost as if the physical barrier did more than just ward off invaders, but also the consequences born from the constant churn of strife. Whether that ignorance had sheltered its people from the most corruptive of influences or hindered their growth in the long run was still a debate with time as its overlord, and Iroh's failure to discover so during his invasion had been a great displeasure to the Fire Nation. An entire continent could be on the verge of being conquered, and yet without Ba Sing Se under their banner, the Earth Kingdom was just endless, costly wasteland. The idea that the city's people could live unmolested by Fire Nation glory had always roiled at the bottom of Azula's gut, and she was never one to let a wound fester for long.

She discovered quite quickly that once the walls of the great Earth city fell, its people scurried like insects out from peeled bark. Instead of constant reminders that there was no and never would be war in Ba Sing Se, there were posters plastered all over the lower ring depicting stories of soldiers clad in glistening armor bedding women, drowning in wine, and slaughtering Fire Nation oppressors in wholesale. In a way, she almost felt like these mongrels owed her a favor for spurring such a fervor within the masses, and if only it hadn't led to the assembly of Nikuya's horde, she might actually be proud of them.

If there was anything she enjoyed, it was the fact that the lower ring was far less disgusting than she remembered, which certainly was due to the fact that so many of the working age occupants were certainly rampaging across the Earth Kingdom from their new home in Republic City. Why Nikuya had chosen to retain the city's name was probably for optical reasons, or her way at irony. It's what Azula would've done, after all.

She felt herself smile, one that not even her heavy makeup was able to hide. "Does it bother you that Ba Sing Se has become everything you worked so hard to prevent?" she hissed, maintaining her walking pace behind Long Feng and in front of two Dai Li agents. "Looks to me like there is war in Ba Sing Se."

Long Feng certainly had some sort of retort regarding her own fate after her father's defeat, but since they needed to preserve her identity as just another agent of the Dai Li, he would be forced to hold his tongue. Torment of the helpless was always the best, after all.

Her toe stubbed against an uneven section of their walkway, firing a spreading ache down her foot and into her leg, before managing to regain her balance before falling completely.

"The Lower Ring isn't known for its maintenance," Long Feng warned. "Watching your step is what I'd suggest."

"Of course," Azula grimaced, but redrew her smile into her expression as she straightened herself. Without a doubt that had been his earthbending that created that divot, as it hadn't been there the second she looked. The dull ache that lingered in her toe would serve as a reminder for reprisal. Unfortunately, she needed Long Feng and his albeit limited resources if she was going to exact her revenge and return to the Fire Nation, where instead of flailing in the dark at the expense of others in this unfamiliar land, her entire network she had built would be back at her disposal. She'd thought she had lost it all when she'd been captured, but the useful idiot before her hadn't been able to resist trying to take advantage of her.

The stench of festering feces nearly made her vomit, but after spending so much time in her cell, her nose had become much more resistant to such impulses.

"Eyes front," Long Feng whispered, just as Azula heard the familiar clunk of armor that was accompanied by the marching of the Earth Kingdom's new and improved enforcers. She was almost jealous the Fire Nation had never thought of such imposing masks and designs for each individual soldier, albeit all maintaining the same outlook. They struck fear into the hearts of all those they passed, mothers clutching their young boys and girls into their arms as they passed, making their presence as small as possible before their protectors came up with a reason to notice.

One of the soldiers held a ragged boy no older than seventeen by each arm, and dragged his screaming form with them as he plead to be set free. Azula snorted. Such a sniveling little brat should be thankful he was being dragged off to serve the royal family that had allowed him to reach his age in the first place. It had to be better than living among the filth he had grown up in.

"It appears the Earth King has more of a backbone than I remember," Azula noted as the enforcers left earshot. "I'm almost impressed."

"You're a fool to think Kuei has any control over this city or this Kingdom," Long Feng interjected. "The Divine Empress is the one who established the Qianfeng, and they continue to carry out her will when the Earth King is otherwise preoccupied."

"Hm," Azula noted with a hint of mock disappointment. "And here I thought the Divine Empress inspired devotion instead of enforcing it. Isn't that what all the posters are for?"

Long Feng paused before an alleyway in between two stacked slum tenements. "Families sell their children in exchange for monthly wages. For many in the Lower Ring, it's the only choice they have to survive."

Azula shrugged, leaning behind his ear. "The weak are meant to be, and weak they will remain."

He hardly reacted. "You are lucky your flames burn brighter than your dwindling mind, Your Highness," he said, before flicking his head.

A hard impact crashed into the back of her skull, and before her world went black again, she felt the infernal heat so familiar, it nearly thrusted her back into consciousness.

How much longer must you play your game?

She thought he'd left her with her cell, but she should've known better.

Free me, Azula! Free your Phoenix King Ozai!

There was no escaping him.


Sea

Aria had thought that dragging Beloq out of the depths of the engine room would also bring some sunshine to her dreary day managing the ship, and in a way the change of pace was a much-needed reprieve. Despite Beloq's protesting, he did eventually submit to her insistence, and they eventually decided that pai sho was a good choice to pass the time.

Unfortunately, all it seemed to do was remind her how bad she was at the game, as well as how much Beloq liked to gloat about it. It seemed like the more he was winning, the harder he was smacking his tiles against the board as he placed them, and she could only watch in confusion as each of her feeble strategies were demolished one by one.

"And…there!" Beloq exclaimed, stamping his final tile as he claimed yet another victory. "That's another win for me."

Aria scowled at the board, before blowing strands of her hair out of her face. "Do you enjoy tormenting helpless women?"

"This was your idea," he reminded her with an insufferable shrug, to which she'd already grown numb to by now. "You should've known you were dancing with a master strategist."

"You're right," she agreed. "We should try sparring next."

Some satisfaction rushed through her as his bloated smile slowly morphed into a nervous one. "Uh…you see, after such a long day…uh, my arm isn't feeling all that great," he pointed towards his right shoulder, rolling it out. "Maybe another time?"

"Awww," she cooed. "Your poor little shoulder hurts? That's for letting me know that I'll have to carry you to safety if we were to come under attack sometime soon."

"That's not what I said," he pulled his arm down, stamping his hands to his lap. "I'm just…saying that I shouldn't waste what strength I have on such a silly competition."

"I thought you were a master strategist?" she asked, feigning glowing interest. "The quiet gear-head who could beat a master bender with one, well-timed move."

"In pai sho, sure!" he smiled. "Although I do admit I feel somewhat guilty beating down an inexperienced rookie. I'd hope you'd feel the same about sparring."

A lopsided grin revealed itself from her lips. "So you're acquiescing to the fact that you wouldn't stand a chance against me?"

"I'm acquiescing to the fact that you can conjure columns of flames and I have a mean right hook."

"A mean right hook," she echoed with exaggerated interest. "I have to see this."

He stammered. "U-uh…it's more effective if I have a wrench."

"So you can bludgeon people," she recognized, expressing mild disappointment. "So could an old man with his cane."

Aria couldn't really tell if she had backed him into a corner of if he was deliberately messing with her, which seemed to be a common theme when it came to Beloq. She could never really tell when he was being serious, which was frustrating when she was trying to get back at him for making fun of her in some new, creative way. He may not be very good with his fists, but it seemed like every other avenue under the sun he had covered. It almost reminded her about her inability to waterbend, despite learning from Katara, and even spending time with Valla, who quite literally waterbent in a Fire Nation fighting repertoire.

Guess it's impossible to be good at everything, isn't it?

Despite that, it was her duty now more than ever to at least be moderately competent in all four elements, especially with the true Avatar forced to the outskirts of the world searching for his two missing children. Republic City's fall and the establishment of Nikuya's Divine Earth Empire had reignited the flames of war across the world, with the Earth Kingdom broiled in a chaotic, continent-spanning civil conflict. Various factions had arisen from all corners of the Kingdom either to back Nikuya's claim or press their own upon the now lonely suzerainty of Ba Sing Se, which while bloody, had forced the false Empress to turn her sights away from the Fire Nation at least for now. Even so, the Fire Nation's naval superiority over the Mo Ce and Silver Seas could never be matched without outside assistance or a consolidation of vessels not already under her control.

Which was why Aria was on her way to Chin, to ensure that Nikuya never got her hands on perhaps the largest standing fleet in the Earth Kingdom…and it was about time they took their turn on offense for a change.

Just like with Beloq.

"Look, I have my methods," he argued. "If they work, then who cares, right?"

"So you're shameless, is what you're telling me," Aria pointed. "I mean, I could've gathered that just by watching you beat me."

Beloq winked. "When you become a pai sho master like yours truly, maybe you'd understand the thrill of victory."

With a small raising of her chin, Aria built up a sizable amount of heat into her throat, before unleashing a weak, yet certainly hot torrent of oven-temperature air onto Beloq's face. Immediately he shuddered in response, terror infecting his eyes as the expected follow-up of flames played out in his mind…but never came.

Aria laughed. "Deck officer! We've got an engineer pissing on the deck!"

Beloq blushed with embarrassment as he tried to pick himself up. "Very funny, Princess," he conceded, before giving her a sly smile. "Even if you did just basically blow me a kiss."

Aria rolled her eyes. "I'd sooner blow a kiss to an elephant koi."


By the time the moon had risen above the sea, the ship had returned to a quiet state only accompanied by the sound of the steam engine continuing to push them along towards their next destination, which was one of the final Fire Nation colonies within the Earth Kingdom that had nearly completed its rehabilitation. Her father had long promised to retract the forces that had occupied the western coast of the Earth Kingdom after the war had ended, and while many of their colonial battalions had been recalled, Nikuya's attacks had stalled the process. What once had been occupied villages were now becoming strategic defense zones overnight, which Aria understood was necessary for the Fire Nation to protect itself and the citizens of these villages. The Empress had already proven she was willing to do whatever it took to achieve her ends, with rumors suggesting that Fire Nation citizens who had been captured in Republic City's fall had been forced into relocation camps…some rumors suggesting far worse.

Aria understood the sins of her forefathers, but that didn't justify such drastic measures of retaliation, no matter who they were. Most of these people were mere families who had nothing to do with what her family had facilitated in the Earth Kingdom, but she could see now that they would all serve as collateral in the wake of the woman's warpath.

If only she had her neck in her grip, feeling her skin burn underneath her palm as the smell of charred flesh filled her lungs. With all she had made suffer, it was the least she deserved.

Aria shut her eyes, and allowed the growing inferno within her gut to simmer away. There was nothing she could do about it now, not until they arrived, and not until she could convince the remnants of Chin to stiff Nikuya out of their fleet. Knowing the potential blow she could land with this attack would have to be enough to sate her hunger for now.

If they could just move a tad bit faster…

Casting aside her warm robe to the deck of the ship, Aria invited the cold chill of the night breeze, allowing it to flow around and through her as if she was a mere stone in a river. She became an obstacle so ground that the world itself had accepted her as one with it, and the tides of energy that flowed between every living thing continued on and on into the horizon behind her.

Using the bow of her vessel, she reached out and pushed that energy behind her. She repeated that motion again, again and again…feeling her hands bathe in the current as she dipped her fingers into the invisible yet omnipresent force. With a pivot, she did each side, over and over, again and again. It was all there, responding to her…

Yet the threads that connected her commands to the physical world, the water that surrounded her, remained unmoved.

She'd been born when fire pledged its loyalty to her, and turned twelve when earth, and fourteen when air did the same. A few days ago she had turned seventeen, and after three years of trying to bring the final element under her boot, she was no closer to its mastery than when she started. Hell, mastery was doing more heavy lifting than she deserved, as the events of the war had forced such a heavy reliance on her most powerful element, to the detriment of her affinity to the others.

Aria dragged harder, but those threads still refused to budge, and her frustration was expressed through a belching of fire from her mouth. One of the most important parts of being the Avatar was the connection they had to their past lives, something that Aang had experienced at a far younger age than Aria was now. Still she was yet to be paid a visit by any, and perhaps that was why she was destined to flail in the dark until mere chance granted her the ability to be as she was born.

If she even was at all.

What the fuck is the point? Why am I here? Why give me this power if I'm not meant to use it?

"Your majesty," Valla's voice emerged from darkness, her presence never felt by Aria until she revealed herself. "I must insist you retire below deck for the night. The Silver Sea is still rife with danger."

Shaking off the surprise, Aria kept her eyes fixed towards the moon-lit horizon, and felt that image of Nikuya in her grasp return to her. The Empress knew who she was…and Aria was going to rip those answers from her one by one.

"Such is the path we walk, Valla," Aria said, and retrieved her robe.

Nowhere was safe. Not for her.

Certainly not for her enemies.


Sorry for the wait. Let's get to it.