...Azula woke up on a hard, cobbled-stone floor.
"...Euugh..." Azula groaned, picking herself up off the cold floor with her hands and getting up into a kneeling position, "What the...?"
...It was dark.
"...Ugh," she grunted in annoyance as she conjured up a flame in her hand to light up the space she was in.
...There was a door in front of her, with a barred window at the center top.
Looking around the area she was in some more, it looked...like some kind of...
The area looked to be a square room, with a folded-out bed, a toilet, and...nothing else.
...Is she...Is she in a cell?
...A cell? A...prison cell?
She got on her feet and looked around the room once more...
...What? This...This can't be...am I...am I in...
Prison?
...
"...Why am I in prison again? Am...Am I still in prison this whole time?" Azula asked herself, to anyone, really.
...She couldn't think of an answer...nor no answer came...
Azula still kept silent...until she glanced at the door and its handle.
...She walked up to the door and the handle, grasping it...
...and slid it open...
The cell door was open...meaning she can exit the prison cell...
"..." Azula scowled, "Okay, I'm getting to the bottom of this..."
She walked out of the cell room and observed her surroundings.
She seemed to be in a hallway full of doors...doors to prison cells, maybe?
"...It doesn't look like the prison I was incarcerated in," Azula muttered as she looked to her left and right.
Left and right...which way should she go?
...Azula chose to go to the left.
Turning in that direction, she walked up the corridor, each side of its walls full of multiple doors and rooms for prisoners to be locked up in...
...She soon came up to a pair of double doors.
Looking at them for a second, she grabbed onto the handle to pull the door.
It doesn't budge.
Raising a brow, her hand went to the other handle of the door and tried to pull it as well…
It didn't budge either.
"...Alright then," Azula mumbled. She turned around and walked the other way to the other end.
She kept walking...
...And as soon as she came up to her opened cell door...
...It swung closed.
[BUH-BAM!]
Azula was startled, jumping back from the sudden motion on her right.
"Ah!" she yelped.
...Everything turned quiet…
...She scowled at this occurrence. Not saying anything about it, she decided to just let that moment go...but she did pick up the pace when she passed the closed cell door.
But even then, as she walked, she tried to make sense out of all of this.
What...what is all this, exactly? Am I...being tested?
The Fire Princess racked her mind over what all this could really mean...
What did she hear about this place, this island? This...ground...
Azula paused in her walk.
Wait...ground...one of the people who live on this island, Vucen, I think... He said this island was a sacred ground…
"...Is this...all Spirit related?" she asked herself.
...
"..." Azula scowled, "So the Spirits on this island are messing with me, huh?" she glared straight ahead at the dark hallway, "Well, fine. If this really is a test, then I will accept it. I'll beat this stupid Spirit's test, and I will show it that I have what it takes..."
However...what is this test that this Spirit has me in?
That was what she was going to find out.
So she continued on her trek down the corridor.
...Azula then came up upon a pair of double doors, each of them closed.
"...Hmph," Azula harrumped.
She went up to one of the doors, reached for its handle, and pulled it with all her strength.
It was open and not locked.
As she opened the door, she entered whatever room these doors led to.
When she entered, she surveyed the whole room as best as she can in the dark.
The room she was in was wide...and it seemed like it was tall, as it has no ceiling. It also felt like a large circular room...
She looked to her left and right and found out that...
...There were rows of prison cells from each side of where she is standing, the cells circling around this whole wide area.
Once she got a better grip on her surroundings, she realized that this area...was a prison cell block.
She looked up, to see that this room has no ceiling. She lowered her gaze to ponder where she needs to go...
"...Hm. I guess I can just circle around this place," Azula noted.
So Azula went to her right to follow the other rows of cells that were surrounding this large area.
She walked...briefly glancing at the empty barred cell rooms whenever she passed them...and kept on walking.
...Still walking...
...Walking...
...She wondered to herself out loud, "What is this, a Spirit Prison?" she said with sarcasm, hoping to enlighten the mood.
...No one answered...
And with that, Azula kept walking...
...She kept walking, her flame still floating in her hand…
...
...
...
...The silence was giving her some discomfort...
...But she won't admit that. Not now, not ever.
...
...
...
...She still kept walking...
...
...
...Walking...
...
...
...Walking...
...
...
...Upon realizing that she had to have circled around the room enough to get to the door where she had started this whole trek, Azula stopped walking.
"...What's the point of this?" she asked herself and at anyone that may be listening in annoyance, "So I'm in some sort of huge prison, what does that have to do with me?"
...Everything was silent...
...Azula growled, "Tell me what you want from me, Spirit! I'm not afraid of you!"
...
...
...
"...Azula-Dear?"
Frozen where she stood, Azula's eyes widened as she heard the voice of her mother. It seems to have come from the wide inky blackness away from the prison cells.
"...Mo-..."
Wait…
Azula stood there, thinking of any reason to believe that that was her actual mother...
"...No. You're not my mother," she firmly says.
...
"Azula? Please, Honey...come here."
...This voice of her mother sounded...desperate. Not in a way that she's been caught lying, but she sounded...like she was in a hurry.
...Azula wasn't going to fall for it.
She frowned, "Tch. Nice try, you imposter! Just come out and show yourself if you really are my mother!"
"...Darling...please...just...just come here."
"Why should I? You're not going to trick me!" Azula called out.
"...Azula...please…I...I just want to see you."
This thing is persistent.
Azula scowled, "Enough already! You're not my mother! Stop pretending to be someone that you're not!"
...Then, she heard sniffling...whimpering...and soft sobbing.
Azula's scowl softened, just a little bit.
"A-Azula...please...please come here...I-I just need to see you one m-more time...please..."
Her eyes widened in surprise at that statement.
What? One more...time? What does she...I mean, what does this...is this Spirit...
...She gritted her teeth.
No...no, it's a trap. I won't fall for it.
"Is that all you got!? Were you just trying to lure me by tricking me and saying that you're my mother!? Don't make me laugh! My mother's not here in whatever place this is! For all I know, she could be dead! Dead, you hear me! My mother is probably dead and already passed on from here! She's not in this damn place trying to mess with me! You hear me!? She's gone! Gone! But if she is somehow not dead, then...I don't care! She could've just left! And whether or not she did leave because of me, I also don't care! If she hated me, fine! I don't care! If she loved Zuko more than me, then fine, I don't CARE! If she started another family without us and just left us behind, then fine! I don't CARE! If she-If she never loved us, then FUCKING FINE! I! DON'T! CARE! I HATE HER!"
[KER-CLANCH!]
[THUD!]
...Azula froze...
...That...almost sounded like...
"...H-Hello?" Azula softly called out in the darkness.
...Did she...
...No...
...No, she couldn't have...
She didn't...she really didn't...
She didn't just...
...Right?
...
...Azula took a step forward into the darkness, her flame still burning.
"M...Mom?" Azula said fearfully.
...
…
...Silence...
...
[...Shiiick! Shiiick! Shiiick! Shiiick! Shiiick! Shiiick! Shiiick! Shiiick...shiiick…shiiick...shiiic...shiii...shi...]
...The noise was fading away...leaving it silent again.
...She took a few more steps...until she was now walking towards the supposed center of the room...dreading...
Dreading what she might have just done.
"...Mom?" she softly called out in worry.
She kept walking...walking...
...
...Until she is near a platform.
Azula's eyes widened in horror once more.
It was as she feared.
The platform...
...was used for executions.
"N-...oh no..." Azula breathed out.
She didn't want to think it. She didn't want to think...
Rushing over to the platform, where there were steps leading up to it, she sees if it's who she thinks it was, horrified at being right.
Once she got to the chopping block...
...There was no one there.
There was no body...no bucket...no head.
...But there was blood.
Fresh blood.
...Azula was starting to feel sick.
She breathed heavily, trying to calm herself down.
"O-Okay...okay...just...just calm down...you...you didn't...she isn't...she...sh-she isn't..."
I didn't...I didn't kill her...I didn't do it...I...I didn't make her die...
She took more calming breaths, easing the bile that was coming out of her throat...
...Y-Yeah...f-for all I know, she could've been someone else! She...that person who sounded like my mother...could've...been someone else...but...still, this person...they...they got…
Shaking her head furiously, Azula growled, gritting her teeth, "Stop, stop, stop! I...I don't...I don't care...if...someone...got executed...they...they might as well deserved it..."
...But...what if it's someone else's mother-
"STOP IT!" Azula let the flame in her hand be extinguished as she gripped her head with her both of her hands, her fingers in her hair as she shut her eyes. She bent to her knees and sat there in the darkness, trying to cancel out the negative thoughts that are plaguing her mind. "I-I don't care! I don't care! I don't care! I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I DON'T CARE, I DON'T CARE!"
...Silence...
...She opened her eyes, not seeing anything in the pitch blackness...
"..." Azula stood back up, igniting a flame in her hand once more, and observed the chopping block...
...She noticed that the blood where the head was chopped off...left a trail.
A trail off of the block and onto the stairs...and onto the floor.
...With morbid curiosity, Azula walked down off the platform and followed that trail.
Walking beside it, the blood trail still looked fresh as it led to a straight line...
...The blood trail swerved to the right.
Azula stopped to not step on the trail and walked to her right...
...It kept going...until it went upward again.
She followed the same trail...up and up she walked...
...A little more she walked...
...Until the trail led up to a cell.
The cell's barred gated door was opened...
...but the blood trail seem to not stop even when it entered the cell.
Azula paused in her step.
...This was likely a trap.
Now she's aggravated again, her face turning into a scowl.
"Seriously?" Azula tried to taunt, still recovering from that breakdown she had, "You expect me to be lured into a prison cell?" she scoffed, "Now you're just really desperate."
...No answer came out of the cell.
Frowning, Azula then said, "Well...how about I show a little light on the subject!?"
She extinguished her flame and then charged up a lighting bolt and shot it at the opened cell.
The lightning bolt hit the back wall of the cell, lighting up the room as it showed...
...From what she saw, no one was there.
Azula blinked, and soon she made another flame out of her hand. She walked toward the cell...wondering what was actually inside.
As the blood trail continued in the cell, she entered it and found from the light of her flame...
...That no one was indeed in here.
Nothing on the folded-out bed, the ground, even the walls. In fact...
The blood stopped her in the middle of the cell room.
[CLANG!]
Azula jumped and yelped, "AHH!"
Turning around with the flame still in her hand, she sees that the gated door has been closed in on her.
She gasped...but soon, she became infuriated. "HEY!" she rushed over to the gated door and tried to slide it open with one hand, but it was sealed shut. "What the-hey! Get me out of here!" she put out the flame in her hand and began pulling the gate door with all her might. "Get, me, out!"
Still pulling the barred gate in the darkness, Azula tried to budge it as much as she could, but it remained tightly shut.
"Errrgh!" exclaimed the princess as she tried to give it one last pull, unsuccessfully not opening the door. As she let go, she cursed, "Damn it!" she conjured up a flame from her hand again, turning around to view the back wall of her now prison cell. "Just...perfect!" Azula growled, and advanced to the back wall, "What now!? What can I fucking do now!?" she kicked the bottom of the wall...and instead of just feeling pain, she felt...the very bottom of the wall collapse.
"...Huh?" Azula looked down, her flame lighting up what she just kicked.
...There was a hole at the bottom of the wall.
She stepped back a bit in shock and looked at this sudden indention.
"..." Azula, now curious, kneeled down and began to reach for the crumbled parts of the blocks that covered the bottom part of the wall.
Using her strength to pull out a piece of one block that was broken in half, the debris of the wall crumbled underneath it. Soon, Azula picked apart more pieces of blocks of the wall, tossing them aside as the bottom wall was reduced to rubble and revealing...an actual hole in the wall.
As soon as Azula cleared away all the rocks and dust to look at the hole, she was baffled.
…How...? Azula wondered.
"...I'm not gonna question it," she told herself. "If this is a way out, then I'll gladly take it."
And with that, she extinguished her flame and crawled through the darkness inside the hole.
She crawled through the hole, her knees and elbows scraping the fabric of her prison attire on the rugged ground. She kept going either way, though...crawling through this human-sized hole...
Although, she couldn't fathom why there would be a hole hidden like this in the first place...
She kept crawling...until she reached the end of the small tunnel.
Once she exited the tunnel, she got herself up and stood there, igniting a flame in her hand.
In front of her...were rows of prison cells on either side of a long hallway, to her left and right.
Azula frowned in annoyance. "Great...more prison cells..."
She began to walk forward down the hallway, passing by multiple cells, each of them shrouded in darkness.
Prison...
She never even thought of the concept of her ever being in a prison. She was royalty...was royalty...ever since her brother Zuko came into power, she was stripped from that. Labeled as a war criminal...a menace...a traitor.
Zuko could just go out and say it...he can stop acting. He thinks I'm a traitor. A menace...maybe even a monster...well, fine. I don't care what he thinks. He wasn't even my brother to begin with...he was just...just a fool who I thought was my brother...I actually cared for that idiot one time...
...Azula paused in her walk.
...He's the traitor. He's the menace. He's...no, he is. He's the monster! He ruined my life, ruined my chance at being the Fire Lord! Ruined my whole legacy! Him along with that...that waterbender girl! That…that bitch. She made a fool of me...she and Zuko made a fool out of me...Zuko would rather side with her...tch...his girlfriend I would presume. That's how far gone he is. Intertwining with a lowly, uncultured, stupid water peasant! The nerve! The utmost insult to the Fire Nation!
...She stood there, letting her sorrow take a hold of her thoughts.
...No. I won't let myself be drowned by these thoughts. I have Father...he sees value in me. He sees worth. He sees a good offspring. He loves...me..."
...
...Right?
Azula shook her head.
No, of course he does. He would've seen value in me if that was the case! He loves me dearly! He...He loves me...
...
...Right?
Azula never once thought of a time when she actually...felt loved...it was always out of respect...
...Her father loved her...right? He congratulated her, he praised her, he hold her in high regard...like she holds her father in high regard...
He's...proud of her...
...Proud...
The only time she ever felt loved by her father was...well, it wasn't a hug or anything like that, but...she remembered when she turned fourteen that he would look at her in admiration...
...That moment, though...didn't felt...right...
...She shut her eyes and shook her head again, fiercely this time.
Stop that...he's perfectly sane. He wouldn't...he wouldn't have been...no…
But upon hearing Anjera's story...how she got in prison...how she was...abused...
...Stop it. Stop. It. Father is not like that one bit...not one bit…
...Her mind drifted back to her mother...
...Did...Mother ever showed me love? Like...motherly love?
She remembers her lullaby...
How she healed her wound…
How...How she felt the fluttery but meaningful little kiss on her forehead when she was falling asleep...
...Was that...Was that love?
Motherly love?
...Parental love?
...She...She actually liked that feeling...a lot more...
...Did Mother ever felt that way about Zuko? Was that why Zuko is...what Zuko is now? ...They were closer to each other than I was with Mother...does Mother still...love me?
...
...
Does Zuko...still love me?
...
...
He never killed me...he never punished me...he just gave me mercy...whereas Father...would've just...end him...
...
...
...Why am I thinking these things?
...When you finally find it...
Azula shot her head up forward in surprise.
…You'll find something...waiting...
She stared down the dark hallway...
...Everything stays...
...She kept walking through the hallway...
Right...
She kept going...
Where...
...and going...walking to the source of the voice...
You...
...She sees an end to this hallway.
Left...
...The end of the hall was an opened gated door to a prison cell.
... It ...
...Azula just stood there, wondering what she was supposed to do now...
She took a few steps forward, approaching the cell...and stopped when she stood in front of the entrance to the cell.
...What is even happening right now? Why am I really here? And...am I really going crazy?
"Azula?"
Startled by the voice, Azula gasped...
She recognized that voice.
"...Mom?" she said in a tired, but hopeful tone.
"...Azula? Honey...I'm here...I'm alright...I'm still here."
"...Are you really?" Azula softly challenged, "Or are you just a figment of my imagination?"
"...Azula, dear...I'm so sorry."
...Azula lowered her head with a bitter frown.
"...It's too late for that," she muttered.
"...I heard all that you said...about you hating me."
Azula froze...
"...You don't really hate me...do you?"
"...I...I don't know," Azula admitted.
"...I understand why you would be angry."
Azula looked up at the dark open prison cell, her eyes widened and her mouth slightly agape.
"You...do?"
"Of course, my sweetheart. I left...I left without saying goodbye...I'm so sorry."
"...It's more than that," Azula mumbled irritably, "It's..." she squeezed her eyes shut as she lowered her head slightly again, trying not to shed any tears, "It's just...why, though? Why did you leave? And why did you say goodbye to Zuko, and...and not me? It wasn't because of...I mean..." however, she shed a tear anyway, letting it slide off her right cheek, "You...You never hated me...did you?"
"...Oh darling…"
Then, her voice - the voice of her mother - answered her...
"No...I never did."
Azula's eyes snapped open and looked up, her eyes wide and full of shock...but also, they were filled with grateful relief and gratitude.
"Really?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course...I love you, Azula-Dear."
Those words...they came from her mother...she said those words to her...
Love...
"However, it's already too late...I did what I did...and I'm sorry..."
She frowned, "You mean...you...really did kill Grandpa?"
"...Yes...but...it was to save your brother...you love him too, do you?"
"...I...don't know...I don't know if I do, or..."
"...Azula..."
"...You..." Azula lowered her head, "...You committed treason, you know?"
"...I did..."
"...I...is it...would..." Azula shook her head and just went out with it, "Would you have done the same for me, Mom?"
"..."
...Now Azula looked up and stared forward into the blackness that was the cell, awaiting the dreaded answer...
"...Azula...of course I would..."
Azula just looked on forward, her eyes wet from tears, her face scrunched up with despair…
"...And I mean it...I love you...and I'm so sorry..."
Her eyes started to water as tears ran down her face. She whimpered as she grasped her eyes with her other hand, trying a futile attempt to not cry.
"Sweetheart...don't cry..."
Failing at trying to hold them back, she let the tears run down as she softly sobbed and sniffled.
"I..." she sniffled, "I just...I just want to know if you're okay...if you're..." she choked a sob, "If you're...alive..."
"...Azula-Dear...lower your hand away from your eyes..."
Azula continued to sniffle and sob, and she then lowered her hand away from her eyes, to see...
In the light of Azula's flame...
Azula's eyes widened in surprise as she gasped.
...Out in view was her mother.
Ursa.
"...M-...Mom?" Azula breathlessly said.
"...Azula...I'm here...I'm here, sweetheart..." Ursa told her in a comforting tone.
The woman was wearing what she last wore before she left Azula and Zuko, her elegant Fire Lady robes...she also looked like she might've aged a bit…
But all in all, she was smiling warmly at her daughter.
Azula couldn't believe it...it was her.
"...Is it...Is it really you?" Azula asked the woman that looks like Ursa.
Ursa's smile remained, "It is...I can only hope you can forgive me after all I put you through..."
The Fire Princess's eyes were still dripping with tears.
"...I...I do...I forgive you..." Azula softly says as her sight was on her mother.
"...I'm glad," Ursa said with a soft and warm smile.
"...But...are you...alive or...or are you dead...?" Azula asked the dreaded question.
"...That's the thing, is it?" Ursa's smile then turned into a melancholy frown, her gaze lowered to the ground.
"...What...What do you mean?" Azula asked her in apprehension, confused and on alert.
"...You'll have to decide what happened in due time," Ursa told her cryptically. She then turned around...and walked into the dark cell again.
"M-Mom? Mom? Mom!?" Azula called out to her in desperation.
Ursa walked back into the darkness...
"MOM!" Azula went into the pitch-black cell, hoping to catch up to her mother…
However, the cell seemed...like it went on...stretching further back into more darkness...
"...Mom?" Azula softly called out.
...It was silent...
...Until...
When you finally find it...
You'll find something waiting...
...Azula took a step forward and walked in further...following the voice...her mother's voice...
"Mom?" she called out again as she kept on walking.
Everything stays...
...Right where…
Azula went further into this long hallway of a cell, her flame lighting up the way...
...You left...
She kept going...until...she heard something.
[...Shiiick…]
Azula froze.
...It...
[...Shiiick!...]
...It was the same noise she heard at the execution block...
[...Shiiick!...]
...It was getting louder...
[...SHIIICK…]
Azula took a tentative step back...but got herself ready in case something was going to attack her.
[...SHIIICK!...]
...She could see movement in the darkness, dozens of feet away from her...
[...SHIIICK!...]
...The body moved closer in the light...
Azula's eyes widened a tiny fraction, her mouth partly agape.
[...SHIIICK!...]
Appearing in the glow of the flame...was a person.
[SHIIICK!]
The person...had only one arm...just one arm.
And that arm, being its right arm, absolutely bulked with muscle, was carrying...a large and heavy broadaxe.
But the person itself looked almost...abnormal.
The person looked to be a male from his physique, tall and muscular, his chest strong-looking as his torso looked thick. The man was just wearing loose red long pants along with a golden belt-sash around his waist, his feet showing that they are bare.
But what was...disturbing about this man, even with the inclusion of him having but one arm, was that his whole upper body...was covered with metal plating...
There was metal plating on his whole chest and stomach, and metal plating on the bicep, the tricep, and on the top and bottom forearm of this man's arm. But what really looked wrong was that...the metal plating looked like it was...bolted on his skin.
But that wasn't the most disturbing part.
It seemed the man...didn't have a face.
His face was also metal plated.
His whole head was bald, but his face was just...a metal plate. A metal plate that looked like it was bolted onto it.
In fact, there weren't even any facial features on this man's covered face. It was all...just a blank piece of metal.
The metal plating all over his body actually looked like it was part of him in some way...
But with that said, his metal-plated face was expressionless...however, Azula could hear muffled breathing...
As well as muffled groans.
Azula took a step back, taken aback by this...monstrosity. She didn't know what to make of this...this thing.
All she knows is that this...one right-armed monster was advancing toward her, carrying the broadaxe in his hand as he was dragging it on the ground.
"What in...?" Azula muttered in horrified awe.
This monster of a man slowly got a little closer to Azula, his right hand dragging the broadaxe as it made the same noise she heard a while ago.
[SHIIICK!]
[SHIIICK!]
The person paused...and began to lift his right arm, the broadaxe being lifted as well in his hand.
He was lifting it over his head...
Azula snapped out of her shock as she quickly realized that this monster was about to attack her!
Jumping back, she cleared her emotions and zapped blue lightning at the fiend.
It struck the man's chest, right at the metal plating on it. The man twitched and convulsed, emitting pained muffled groans as the electricity from the lightning bolt scarred bits of his skin.
Taking deep breaths, Azula stood there, her stance still in place as she stared down at the monstrous-looking one-armed man.
However...once his moans died down, he then...continued walking, albeit sluggishly, with the broadaxe in his hand!
Azula's eyes widened at how this person is still standing, much less walking after that attack!
He's...He's still going!
"Stay back!" Azula yelled at him as she fired another blue lightning bolt at him.
It struck him again, this time right at the metal-plated stomach.
More pained muffled moans and groans came out of the man's non-existent mouth as he convulsed and twitched from the electrical shock once more.
...But after a pause, he still kept shuffling his feet towards her! And from the look of his stance and his body language, as well as how he was gripping that broadaxe, he was not happy.
Azula's mouth dropped, her eyes still wide. "No, you-you're not...how can you...?"
The monster didn't answer as his ax was still in the air, ready to bring it down. And with his one arm lurched back...
He did.
He swung the broadaxe down, but Azula jumped back from the attack just in time.
[WHA-CACK!]
Although she stumbled, she still regain her footing. But at the moment she was trying to understand how this...this person? Man? ...Monster? Either way, she was trying to understand how this thing is still walking and even living after those two lightning bolt attacks!
He's...no, it. It. It has to be a Spirit! There's no possible way! But...what Spirit looks like this!? It looks...human! What is it!?
Deciding to use a different tactic, Azula fired some firebending at this supposed Spirit, shooting flames from her punches.
However, while the flames did hit this Right Hand Man(she might as well call it that), as well as making him exclaim in pain through muffled yells, when she made a flame out of her hand to see the damage she'd done on him, it appeared he was still...standing! Lifting up the heavy broadaxe again, he propped the weapon on his right shoulder and just kept going!
In fact, this thing looked like he was even more pissed. He took a couple of steps and used his right arm to prepare to slam down the broadaxe on her.
Not wanting to be in the crosshairs or in the range of this thing's weapon, Azula turned around and high-tailed it out of this corridor cell. But not before she turned back around, gathered fire from her breath, and punched two fists to shoot out large flames, as well as blowing a large fire-breathing dragon-like flame out of her mouth, straight at this monster.
The flames looked like they consumed the fleshly parts of his body, making them all lit up on fire. The man was now screaming in pain, all of his cries muffled as he stood there, letting the flames eat up his flesh, while the metal plating bolted on his skin became red hot.
Not caring if she made a small victory or not, Azula then turned around and ran in the opposite direction, out of this abnormal cell. The Right Hand Man was still burning in the distance, letting the light that was there die out as she tried to escape from it.
As soon as she came out of the cell, though...
"Wha-AAH!" Azula exclaimed.
She felt a hand come out of the bars of the cell to her right! It grabbed her arm and started to pull her to the cell.
"AAAH! L-Let go! Oh Spirits, let go!" Azula desperately shouts at the arm.
Seeing that it won't, Azula conjured up a flame and fired at whoever was in the cell.
"AAAAAUUUGGHH!"
She ignored the agonized female-sounding scream, as the hand successfully let go of her arm.
But as soon she backed away from the cell, her back hit the opposite cell door on the other side of the hallway...
And another arm wrapped around her neck!
"AH! AACK!" Azula yelped as the arm held on tightly to her neck.
She decided to try and scratch the arm with her nails, and while she did cut the skin on this arm, it was still holding her in place.
"Let go! Let go! Let go!" she then tried to pry the arm away from her as she pulled it off with all of her strength, letting her nails take hold of its flesh as it practically scarred the appendage.
"AAAAUUUGGGHHH!"
The arm then finally gave in and retreated back into the cell. Azula was freed and stood in the center of the hallway. She looked forward at where the monster would be standing in the distance, and upon seeing the flaming light it gave out from when she shot firebending at it...
Wait...
Azula's eyes widened in horror.
The Right Hand Man...was practically running towards her. While he's still in flames!
"...Oh shit," Azula softly cursed, panic starting to rise.
The monster then gave out a loud muffled war cry, indicating it was ready to do harm, as his one arm was carrying the broadaxe in his hand and raising it over his head. The embers that were around his body made him look like a raging hell beast, the flames devouring his whole body as he still kept burning and running towards Azula.
Now, Azula truly did turn around and booked it.
Upon running, she sees that there were more hands that are now coming out of the cell doors, trying to grab a hold of her. But she kept running in the middle of the hall in a straight line, not once getting close to the hands if she wanted to be held down while Right Hand Man finished the job. In fact, she fired shots of firebending at the hands, burning them as they retreat back into the cells.
So she kept running, firing back shots at the hands whenever she can, and never once looked back. The raging heat from behind her lets her know that the monster is still gaining on her.
She ran, short-winded of breath as she actually was feeling stressed, in fear of her own actual life...
It was then, she realized...
She was actually scared.
Okay, I admit it. I'm scared! Is that what these Spirits want for me? To admit that!?
As she ran, it soon occurred to her, that this hallway felt longer than usual.
What is happening?! Where is that hole I crawled out of?! Why is this hallway going on forever?!
Then...she tripped.
"AAAAH!" Azula screamed as she fell...
…Right into a hole.
She fell through another hole...and screamed all the way down...
...
...Azula woke up with a gasp.
It was still dark...pitch black as the eye can see...
...However, she was laying on...grass.
"...What?" Azula sat up and ran her fingers through the blades of grass. "...I'm...outside?"
...But...no...that...that isn't...that can't be...that's wrong. There's no way that can be right.
"..." Azula ignited a flame in her hand. "...I just...fell through...three holes..."
She got up on her feet, using her other hand to support herself as she pushed herself off the dirt-filled ground...
Is she...really outside? Is it also nighttime?
She stood there, looking around her surroundings...
"...This...This has to be Spirit World-related. It...It has to be," Azula told herself...
But then she saw the flame in her hand...
"...Wait...if this is Spirit World related...then...I wouldn't be bending..." she rationalized herself.
...Where...Where was she then?
"...Am...Am I really outside? And...is it really nighttime?"
Just...where am I? What is even happening? What's...What is even real?
Azula still stood there, pondering what all of this even entails...
...When you finally find it...
Snapping out of her thoughts, Azula froze once again, hearing her mother's voice.
...You'll find something waiting...
"...Mom..." she said softly.
Or...is it really her? Was who I saw really...was it really Mom?
...She just doesn't know anymore.
"...I just...I think I just need to keep moving...I guess?" Azula frowned as she looked at the flame she has in her hand, "...Somewhere...anywhere, honestly...wherever that may be...I just want out of this...whatever this place is..."
Determined to keep moving forward, Azula walked through this grassy field...in the middle of the night...she thinks?
...Everything stays...right where...
...She kept on walking...
...You...
She wonders where she is, what this place is...
As she walked, she passed a tree…
She stopped for a moment to look at this tree...and kept moving...
Then there was another tree that she passed...
...And another...
...Is she in a forest?
...These trees...seem familiar somehow...
...Left...
She kept walking...
...Until she felt a dip in the ground.
"Uuf..." Azula looked down and saw that...she was at an edge...a man-made edge...
She continued onward as she kept looking down...until a few steps in, her shoed feet were on damp soil...water...
"...Wait..." Azula soon realized... "...This is..."
She looked up...and stuck out her hand to light up the path in front of her.
...It was a body of water...and there are lilypads on the water...
...A pond?
"...Is this..." Azula's eyes widened in shock, "...Is this the Royal Garden?"
...Is she...
Home?
...It...
...Is she finally home?
What is actually happening?
"Am I...Am I home? Is this...Is this..." Azula couldn't help but feel her eyes water up with tears again, a small smile emerging on her lips.
...I...I can't believe I'm...
...Azula's smile then gradually dropped.
...Wait...is this...really home? ...Or...am I...not at home?
...
...
...
...Drown...
Azula snapped back to reality.
The voice...it sounded...female, but...deadpan...not like her mother...
"...Who...Who said that?" she asked anyone.
...Drown...
That time, it was slightly louder...
"..." Azula gritted her teeth, "...Answer me."
...Drown...
"...Whoever is out there, you will answer me," Azula said with a threatening edge in her tone.
I can't take this...I don't care...I just want this to end already...
...Drown...
The voice got a little louder...
"...Answer me!" Azula yelled in impatience.
...Drown...
"...Just...Just get it over with," Azula seethed, "Just get it over with!"
...Drown!...
The voice was getting louder...
Azula was livid right now, "Come at me, you fucking bastard! I don't care!"
...DROWN!...
...Tears started to go down her face as she grimaced and wept, the feeling of confusion, despair, and maybe, just maybe...
"...Just..." Azula whimpered, "...Just do it."
...maybe she even admits...
Defeat?
...
...
...
...No.
She won't...she won't admit defeat.
DROWN!
Then...
[FA-WOOOSH!]
Startled by the sudden emergence that was coming out of the water, Azula stumbled back as the liquid itself went upward and sprinkled onto her form.
"AACK!" she exclaimed, the water raining down on her, extinguishing the flame in her hand.
Shaking her arm off the water that snuffed her light out, she got up quickly and used her other hand to make another flame in her palm to see what monstrosity was in front of her.
What emerged out of the water...was a giant stark white-looking right hand!
But that wasn't all...
While it looked like it was connected to a wrist, it also looked like the palm of the giant hand had some sort of...face on it.
The face had a pair of black-looking eyes on the top of his palm, as well as a razor-teeth mouth that is in the center of the palm.
Azula's eyes widened in shock at this...thing.
What...What on earth? Wh-What in all of the Spirit World is that!?
Then, a roar came out the mouth of the hand!
"RRRROOOOOOAAAARRR!"
Azula didn't waste any time. She fired a fire blast with a punch of her fist, and another fire punch with her other first. Soon she kept fire-punching at the monster, not stopping once.
The monster roared out in pain, the flames engulfing its palm, as the embers passed through its fingers.
It looked like Azula was winning, as she kept on firing. Then, she decided to do one last attack, a lightning bolt straight at the 'face' of this thing.
Clearing her emotions, she readied it and produce blue electricity, which she zapped the monster in the face!
As it stuck the creature, it roared out an unholy shriek, twitching and convulsing from the shock attack.
Feeling like victory is won, she backed away from the monster, savoring the moment...
...Until the hand...reared back and slammed on the ground, at the edge of the pond.
"AH!" Azula backed further away from the giant hand.
The stark white hand's fingers were twitching...and then its fingers curled upward and began pushing itself forward. Then, the hand picked itself back up to make it 'stand' properly...and began to slide towards her...
Backing away a little faster, Azula realized it was slithering toward her!
Like a snake.
It even hissed a snake-looking tongue out of its mouth as it went closer to Azula.
And that was when she decided right there to turn around and run.
She couldn't see in the dark, and so, with quick thinking, she decided to fire some firebending in any direction at any place to help get her some light on the subject. Luckily, she struck the trees, and they soon gave a way for her to navigate...
Although, the fire from the trees spread...and soon they lit up the whole area.
After she struck another tree, she began to realize...that this was a bad idea.
While she can see the way, it made the air around her thick with smoke, causing her to cough. Looking back to see if the Hand Snake(not a creative name, but she didn't care at this point), she saw that the creature wasn't following her anymore.
Coughing, she thank Agni and walked around the trees, each of them now burning thanks to Azula's firebending. It was getting hotter and the air was getting thicker...
Azula coughed, "Shit...I...I can't believe..." cough! "I can't believe I..." cough, cough! "...let myself get in this mess!" cough, cough, cough! "I...I need to get out of here-"
[CRA-CRAAAASH!]
Azula quickly turned around behind her and saw...
...A tree being ripped out of its roots and being crushed by the Hand Snake's large fingers!
It crushed the tree, gripping it while it was still on fire. The Hand Snake soon broke the tree in half like a twig, probably getting splinters on its palms, but was still moving forward to try to get to Azula.
Eyes widening in horror at how this thing was still going, as well as how easily it destroyed that tree, Azula didn't waste any time and booked it again, trying to escape the Hand Snake.
She ran and ran, passing through flaming trees as she, even some trees that weren't there before, were also aflame.
Everything was burning down...
...Down...
...Down...
...Down...
But Azula kept running for her life, coughing up a storm, but still trying to run away from the Hand Snake.
I...I will not die...I will not die here. Wherever here is! I...I will...I will fight! I will fight anyone who will challenge me! I am not weak. I am not weak. I am not weak!
Azula skid to a stop and turned around, facing the Hand Snake with a venomous glare.
"You will not best me!" she yelled at the monster.
Seeing the monster coming up to her, the Hand Snake advanced toward her...
And Azula fired not one, but two blue lightning bolts!
[ZAAAAAPP!]
[ZAAAAAPP!]
The monster roared, the electricity frying its skin, much like the flames were scorching its skin from navigating the forest. Flesh popping and sizzling, it roared out in agony, its large fingers convulsing violently.
Then, to finish it, Azula fired a lightning bolt at a nearby burning tree's trunk, the base of it looking like it was about to fall over from the fire rotting the wood. It exploded, and the tree fell over...right on top of the Hand Snake.
The burning tree landed on the creature, which it slammed on the 'wrist', that part supposedly being its neck. A sure sound of a CRACK made it known that it landed on the thing hard.
The Hand Snake jerked upon the impact and collapsed...effectively killing it.
Azula panted and coughed, turning around and not even checking to see if it was really dead. She was sure it was. She just needed to get out of this oven. So she ran up further, never stopping...
...Until she realized...out in the distance, there were trees all on fire...in fact, there was fire everywhere...which there was no way out...
Coughing up a storm, Azula slowed down and gradually stopped running as she stood there, hands on her knees as she coughed up a lot of smoke from the trees she burned down. She closed her eyes tightly to not let the smoke burn her eyes, but she tried to keep herself going...
So she took a few more steps...and kept going...
...Until she tripped.
And just when she did...she fell...through another hole.
"A-ACK! AAAAAUUUUUUUGHHH!"
The wind was blowing at her face as she kept falling...falling...falling...no longer seeing flames blazing, but now seeing endless darkness...
Falling...
Down.
...Azula woke up, laying on her back.
"Uuuugh..." Azula groaned.
She can...somehow smell fresh air again...
...But it was still dark.
Groggily sitting up as she puts a hand on her forehead, she sat there as she grunts, feeling the heavy dizziness swarming in her head.
"What...?"
...She groaned.
"What in the...?"
Azula then stood up on shaky legs, getting her stance right. After getting her bearings, she made yet another flame in her palm.
...And lighting up her way, was a door a few feet away in front of her.
"..." Looking around where she is, she sees that this area was all...just one room.
...Not commenting on that, she went forward to the door.
When she was near it, she reached for the door handle and slid it open.
...Inside...looked like a room...a room that was decorated in the style of the Royal Palace...
...
...
...But she looked down...
...
...
...and what she saw...
...
...
...was another hole.
...
...
"..." ...Azula had enough.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?"
Azula screamed out, her echo vibrating down the pit.
"..."
...Azula then just couldn't take it anymore.
She let it all out...her tears...
She snuffed out the flame in her hand and got down on her knees, her hands up to her face as she sobbed, the feeling of...of...
Sadness?
Despair?
Irritation?
She cried loudly, wishing she could make sense out of all of this…
She whimpered and hiccupped, "What..." she sobbed some more, "...What do you want from me?"
...No answer...
She continued to sob...cry...weep...
...Until she gradually let go of her face, her tear-stained eyes staring down at the hole.
...She got up on her feet.
"...Fine," Azula said, but not with malice nor irritation.
She was just...done.
"...I'll keep playing your game...let's go."
And Azula took one step...
...and fell right through the hole.
...Azula woke up again.
She was laying on her front.
"...Ugh..." she got up, putting her hands and knees on the ground to pick herself up.
...Something was different...
...There was a torch holder on the side...of a door.
"..." Azula cautiously approached the door.
Well...at least I don't have to use firebending to see my way.
She walked up to the door...and reached for the handle...
Please let this not be another hole...
She opened the door...
…It was a hallway...a lit hallway, with torch holders lining the walls...
"..."
Azula said nothing, but she was still wary of what will and might happen if set foot in this hall.
...She might as well go on in.
So with that, she went down the hall.
…Walking...
...Walking...
...Walking...
...Walking for what seemed like a mile now.
"...Is this...am I dead?" Azula said to herself, "...This has to be some...some form of the underworld...some form of...of Hell..."
...She kept walking...
"...Maybe...I am...dead?"
Then-
"NO, DADDY! PLEASE, DON'T!"
Azula paused in her walk.
Her eyes shot wide.
Wait...that-that voice...that sounded like..."
"...Anjera?" Azula questioned.
"I-I'm sorry! Please! J-Just please don't make me do it again!"
"Anjera!?" Azula looked around the hall, trying to find where her voice is coming from. "Anjera!?"
She then ran forward...
...Until she sees a door far off in the distance.
"NOOOO! Daddy, no, please!"
Dear Spirits, what's happening to Anjera!? W-What is even happening!? How is she even here!?
She kept running towards the door...
...And when she came up to the door, she grabbed the handle and swung it open.
...Aaaand cut! :D
Well, I actually did it! Right after the Silent Hill Transmission Livestream! 8D And yes, cliffhanger, but don't worry, the next chapter will come soon! However, I think it was a good thing that I stopped here...yeah, crap is about to get down and real, yo. D:
Either way, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! I love to hear what you all think about it! :) Give me a follow, a fave, and a review! I love them dearly! ^_^
Also, how are the monsters? I hope you all caught the symbolism of what they all represent! ;D
Thank you all for reading and keep on rocking everybody! X)
-TSP
