A. N. : Transitional chapters are hard... so many things to set up and explain, so little fun to have. Also Qin talks way too much. Who allowed him to be so verbose ? Anyway, for those curious about the Dai Li's techniques, this is probably the most in-depth I'll go in this fic, so you guys better enjoy !
Qin is just standing there.
Ty Lee's anger rises once more, her blood boiling at the sight of him, calm and relaxed like always – she can't help but remember the time she tried meditating with him and nearly fell asleep from matching her breathing with his and it hurts, it still hurts to have trusted him.
It would be easier if he had changed the moment she let him know she knew the truth. If everything had been a trick.
She doesn't dare speak, not trusting herself to not just start shouting at him. She wants him gone, she wants him gone – he helped take Azula to safety and she is grateful.
Her aura must surely be a mess of fuchsias and old pinks.
Mai doesn't have the same issues, because while they did paint each other's nails a few times, she was still too lost in her grief at the time to care much about the world around her, Qin included. That's probably why she is the one to address him now.
Ty Lee told me what you did, she says. It occurs to Ty Lee that, just like she doesn't know the extent of Qin's abilities, there's no way for him to know exactly what she is aware of.
Mai doesn't elaborate, though. Probably to force him into trying to guess what he can and cannot say, and to make him reveal more on accident.
He doesn't look too fazed, however. Just – nods, slowly. Bows, not in the usual way Ty Lee has seen Earth barbarians do, one fist in the opposite hand. Not, either, in the casual Fire Nation way with the rising flame, or the formal way that requires kneeling. No, he keeps his arms against his body, and bends at almost a straight angle, head low, hair falling down his shoulders as he does so.
I would like to apologize for my actions, he says, gold sparkles muted on his dark green aura.
Contrition. Humility. The recognition of one's fault regardless of status – or at least Ty Lee thinks so, if the gold really indicates noble blood as they'd theorized back when she trusted him.
His apology is sincere, and Ty Lee doesn't know what to do with that. She lets him go on.
Everything I did, I did for the sake of you three – and oh, Ty Lee nearly strikes him then and there – however –
He ought to have asked for permission. And he realizes now that his usual way of doing things did not fit the situation, and as such he is deeply sorry.
Alright so Ty Lee still wants to punch him to unconsciousness, but also – what in Koh's name does he mean he did it for their sake !?
Mai asks what he did exactly at the very same time, and Qin raises his head with an expression Ty Lee never saw him wear before. Confusion ?
She looks at Mai. Both questions are important, but obviously asking them at the same time won't do. Elements cycle game ?
Actually, before that – Ty Lee turns to Qin again. She still doesn't trust him not to do something while they interrogate him. She should probably at least disable his bending.
Just to show how much of a better person she is than him, she asks for Qin's permission.
Not that she plans on not doing it if he refuses, but hey. He doesn't need to know that beforehand. Plus, his reaction should give Ty Lee a few hints on how honest he is, or how much his mind bending thing relies on actual bending to work.
He looks slightly disappointed, aura dulling a little, but most bender aren't exactly thrilled at the prospect, so that alone doesn't mean much. He does agree, though, after a sigh – his aura doesn't brighten at all, which tells Ty Lee that he probably can't take advantage of this sort of situation, but that he is ready to submit himself to it for one reason or another.
Maybe he wants her to trust him, maybe he is weirdly obedient, maybe he just guessed he had no real choice in the matter. Who knows ?
Either way, Ty Lee strikes him – pelvis, where the femurs meet the hips to ensure he can't root himself in the earth, lower vertebrae, under which the Earth chakra resides, and the upper body, the fourth cervical and the pressure points two fingers above the shoulder blades, to disable everything below that, albeit for less time than other strikes, since deactivating these points completely can be fatal if she's not careful.
Hence the uprooting, to give her more time to react in case of a fast recovery of both motor functions and bending.
She lets Qin flop over like a dead fish and has to refrain from laughing when he splutters after getting sand in his mouth. Well, as funny as it is to see him get a taste of his own medicine, interrogating him while he eats sand won't really help much, so Ty Lee rolls him over onto his back.
This time, she can't help but chuckle at his deadpan thank you.
His aura is still the same disappointed shade of green. Huh. She expected a shift as he realized what exactly he signed up for and grew more anxious at his inability to move or manipulate his chi. And sure, he's uneasy, but… either he is made of literal rock, mentally at least, or it's not his first time experiencing something like Ty Lee's technique.
She isn't sure which one is the more disquieting thought.
Anyway, questions time !
Mai goes first, since hers is more practical. What did he do to Azula and her, exactly ? And how ?
Qin hums, takes a moment to think. In short, he says, he implanted at few commands in their minds, nothing too complex or invasive. Calm down and relax, do not be overtaken by negative emotions.
The goal was to help them navigate their grief over losing Prince Zuko. That it also allowed him to stop them from fighting in anger was simply a side effect of the commands themselves.
Mai makes a face like she just bit down on a particularly bitter lemon, skin and all. Ty Lee wants to kick Qin's face in.
How, Mai asks again after an uncomfortable silence. Her voice is rough. Cold. Qin doesn't seem fazed – his expression remains calm as ever, and his aura is still the exact dull shade it's been since Ty Lee asked to chi-block him. Or maybe just slightly different, less muddy and more pastel, not the same as usual but a quieter mood than at first.
There are various techniques, most of them relying on modified states of consciousness that make the subject more susceptible to suggestion, he says like he's reading an instruction manual on how to be the absolute worst. Certain plants, as well as repetitive patterns of light or sound, will help induce such a state, and from there it is only a matter of implanting commands, either directly through words, or indirectly through repeated conditioning.
Simply put, if the person feels relaxed and at the same time is presented with a certain stimulus enough times, they will associate that stimulus with calm, and being subjected to it later on will trigger a shift in behaviour to reflect that connexion. The trigger Qin used for Mai and Azula – he still calls them Ladies, Ty Lee notices, even though they are in exile, without titles anymore – is a specific pattern of lights he controls by changing the orientation of the crystals in his ears – or other ones if necessary.
That… wasn't simple at all. Qin's language is way too formal, stuffy and technical in a way that reminds Ty Lee of Auntie Mei Lin's conversations with court physicians. But she got the gist of it.
It's not good, far from it, but Qin didn't lie – if his unchanging aura is any indication – and that means if she's careful, she can stop him from doing more damage. She'll have to look through Auntie Mei Lin's scrolls to see if there's a way to undo Qin's work, now that she understands it better.
If only she could just stop him from bending forever…