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Cruelty and Wickedness - Chapter One Hundred Forty-Two

On the caldera pathway.

Team Azula walked up the slope after Silah with their eyes gazing after the woman's cloaked back with even more disgust than before.

The only one among them who wasn't gazing at the killer in complete hatred was young Elle herself.

Only for the four to find themselves gazing on in returning wariness when Silah came to a sudden stop without warning once more.

As the three highborn women watched with suspicious expressions in their eyes as the puppeteer turned to gaze down over the ledge as if something had caught her attention once more.

Azula now glared back at Silah with the patience in her golden eyes having long since faded away.

"Could you possibly walk any slower?" Azula demanded in a frigidly irate voice as she stared venomously back at Silah's sunlit face as the puppeteer turned to glance back at her.

She never once backed down as she stared unflinchingly back into Silah's twisted dark green eyes.

As Zoi also stood her ground staring stonily back into Silah's disturbing eyes.

Ty Lee found herself shivering in fear yet again with Elle also standing in intimidation beside her.

"I realize that you are unable to comprehend this Azula as your lifespan is little more than a flickering flame but I will explain it to you anyway. When you become ageless like I am, time no longer has any meaning. I have all the time in the world and you don't." Silah stated in a frighteningly conceited voice as she stared back into the princess's boiling golden eyes.

The two firebenders glare furiously back at their seemingly ageless enemy with loathing in their eyes.

As Elle and Ty Lee listened to Silah's unnerving words in ever present disbelief.

"We could spend twenty years walking down this pathway and I wouldn't age a single day. By the time we conclude, you and your two subordinates will be what lesser beings call 'middle-aged' and I will still look exactly as I do now." Silah taunted in a deliciously horrifying voice with her predating eyes gazing back at the stunned faces of her enemies.

She savored each and every moment of the way that the princess tried to keep up her emotionless facade as if she was not bothered by her words.

And that was all it took for the four members of Team Azula to stand there in a state of trepidation once more.

As Azula and Zoi glared defiantly back at Silah's pale smirking lips as she let out another malicious chuckle.

'How is it that this wretch can live as long as Mava and not show the slightest sign of aging? She must have altered her body somehow…but how?' Azula thought as she stared coldly back into the hunter's eyes as Silah still smirked back at her.

"And now that I know that it pisses you off. I am going to walk even slower." Silah commented in a voice casual mockery as she turned to gaze back over the edge of the pathway while the princess glared a hole through the back of her skull.

Only for Azula to put one boot forward to exercise her royal authority as she stared callously back at the other woman's flowing silver head.

"No. You will not. We have walked far enough. We will talk here." Azula snapped in a severely imperious voice with her fists at her hips while she loomed over her young girlfriend's trembling face.

The two noblewomen glared back at the killer with their gazes burning in agreement as she still stood with their back turned to them.

As Zoi took note that Silah was staring down at yet another noble mansion as she scowled back at the woman.

'Why is this monster so fascinated by the people living below this pathway? What is she trying to accomplish by dragging out this damnable walk?' Zoi thought as her golden eyes formed a stony glare while Silah's kimono blew lightly in the warm breeze.

"Silah the Pale takes orders from no one. I will never be commanded by someone who has not bested me in absolute battle. Which means…if you wish to get any information from me at all you…will follow my orders on this walk Azula." Silah responded in an impassively unafraid voice while the team stood in outrage behind her.

The princess's amber golden eyes sparked with frustration over how the other woman refused to submit to her will.

Only for the seemingly immortal woman to turn to gaze over her shoulder at them once more with her dark green eyes honing on their young friend's nervous face.

As the three highborn women glared protectively back at the monstrous woman's face as she eyed the girl as if she was contemplating a matter that they were unaware of.

"Child. I want you to go up the pathway ahead without us to the top of that hill up there. I am going to have a word with your…friends alone. We'll rejoin you when I am through." Silah announced in an oddly softer voice than she had used just moments before while the girl back at her in confusion.

And just like that the three Fire Nation women bristled with a stare of endless distrust in their hateful eyes over the mere prospect of the girl leaving their line of sight in this monster's presence!

"Young Elle is not going anywhere outside of our line of sight with you lurking nearby!" Zoi stated in a fiercely gallant voice as she stepped forward with her golden eyes glaring back at the killer's undaunted face.

While Elle shook in appreciation as all three of her wealthy friends stepped forward to defend her.

"Damn right she isn't!" Ty Lee exclaimed in momentary boldness as she tried to steel her nerves under the pale woman's chilling dark green stare.

"My royal servant stays here where I can see her." Azula snarled in a ruthless voice of her own with her icy amber golden eyes glaring back at her enemy's smirking face.

"H-huh? Why?" Elle pondered with distrust of her own in her voice only for Silah to turn to gaze at her once more.

Only to find herself trying not to flinch once more when Silah's dark green eyes directed a haunting stare her way.

"Because I said so, and because when you are trying to strike a bargain with a dark sage you obey. And that means, if you desire to learn anything that I know about this entity you will do as I say." Silah remarked in a voice of frightening calmness as she stared back into the young girl's helpless amber eyes.

The three highborn women's anger only grew to an even higher height over the way that the woman had completely ignored them!

As Elle stood for a moment with her inexperienced eyes still gazing back at Silah's beautifully pale face in distrust.

Azula stared on with wrathfully imperial amber golden eyes from behind her young girlfriend.

Only for her eyes to narrow when Silah let out a sickeningly soft chuckle yet again as she continued to make eye contact with her little girlfriend.

"But if it is any consolation to you kid. I can stalk and terrorize your friends at any time of my choosing. I don't have to wait for you to leave to do it." Silah spoke in a voice of maximum horror as she tipped her head back with a devious smile forming onto her lips while the girl scowled back at her.

And that was all that was required for yet another eerie wind to sweep through the air of the alarmed aristocrats.

Azula and Zoi stared frigidly back at their demented enemy with baleful glares in their vindictive eyes.

And then the three women exchanged an uncertain look with one another as they tried to ascertain what the twisted woman was trying to do now.

Only for all of them to turn to their young friend in concern when she started to pad past them up towards the monstrous woman.

Silah watched the girl's movement through the corner of her eye until Elle came to a stop standing mere footsteps away from her.

As the young girl crossed her arms over her chest in another attempt at appearing intimidating that had the princess rolling her eyes at her back.

Elle and Silah now stared right back into each other's eyes as they engaged in yet another stare down.

'Is it just me…or does Silah almost seem to behave cautiously around Elle?' Zoi thought with her focused stony eyes observing the two intently.

"Fine. I'll go on ahead up the hill…but I am letting you know right now. If anything happens to my princess and my oneesans while I am away…" Elle trailed off in a sterner voice as she stared up into Silah's cruelly entertained dark green eyes.

"Let me to take a guess. You're going to…kick me in my doo-dah?" Silah replied with a snort of amusement in her voice while the young girl still 'glared' up at her.

Team Azula visibly cringed together in unison as they glared at the killer's smirking face.

"Then you're not going to get anything out of me either." Elle declared as she let out a growl with her finger pointing up at the woman while Silah cocked a brow as she gazed back down at her.

The team stared at the girl with thoughtful expressions in their eyes as the puppeteer seemed to take a moment to mull over the girl's words.

Just before Silah watched with a spark of puzzlement in her eyes when the girl jabbed her finger into her belly.

"And that also means that I won't share any of my candy with you!" Elle exclaimed with her amber eyes gazing up into Silah's now perplexed blinking dark green eyes.

The three highborn women nearly stumbled in their step.

And the sound of Azula slapping her hand against her forehead resounded into the air as her fingers fell from her aggravated face.

And that was all it took for the team to gaze on as any chance of the monster taking the threat seriously went soaring right out the figurative window!

The sound of another strangely genuinely amused laugh resounded into the air that almost sounded different than all of Silah's other deranged laughs.

As the puppeteer laughed once more with a gloved hand over her chuckling lips as she watched the girl scowl at her for a final time.

"Right child. I'll remember that. No candy for me if I kill Azula today." Silah chuckled with her clothed fingers covering her smiling lips while Azula glared on with burning amber golden eyes.

And then she turned her head as she observed the girl step past her with her hands grasping onto the straps of her backpack.

Team Azula stared on with still vigilant looks in their eyes as they watched their innocent friend reluctantly move alone up the path ahead.

"I'll see you three soon then!" Elle called out in an apparently carefree voice as she waved over her shoulder at her three highborn friends.

The three aristocrats hesitantly gazed back at the girl in response.

Before they observed Elle depart onto the caldera pathway without them as they shared a guarded look with one another.

Until soon enough the girl disappeared from their view up the slopes and beyond.

All the while as the puppeteer turned to smirk back at the faces of the three glaring women with her lifeless warrior king doll still standing behind her.

"What are you playing at Silah?" Azula questioned in an unfathomably glacial voice as she stared callously back at Silah as she began to walk toward her with that same infuriating smirk on her lips.

"My sentiments exactly. We are getting sick of playing your twisted games." Zoi stated with a frigid edge to her ruthless voice while Silah smiled back at her.

Ty Lee remained where she stood beside her two companions as she tried not to shiver as Silah stalked towards them with a gleam of cruelty in her eyes.

And then Silah came to a stop beside the three wary highborn women as they never once took their hateful eyes off of her.

"Oh, not much Azula. I just…wanted to take a moment to admire how cruel you three are." Silah answered in a voice of enigmatic menace as she turned to gaze back at the three confused faces of the highborn women.

Zoi and Ty Lee stared back at the monster with a greater discomfort in their eyes than their emotionless princess.

Only for the three aristocrats to watch with uncertain expressions in their eyes as Silah turned to gaze back down over the ledge below at yet another noble mansion.

And before any of them could so much as even open their mouths to speak Silah held a gloved finger over her lips.

"Shh. Wait for it…you'll hear it…" Silah trailed off in a chillingly joyful voice with her gloved finger before her lips while the trio stared in distrust back at her.

And not a second later the sound of a pained cry ever so faintly split into the air while the two noblewomen fell into a suddenly unsettled silence.

Azula stared back at her enemy with her amber golden eyes furrowing in bewilderment.

Just as Silah turned to smile almost victoriously back at the faces of the three highborn women.

Only for the sound of what sounded like a whip striking flesh to follow soon after as Ty Lee stepped back with her brown-gray eyes already widening in realization.

"Ah. There it is. Sounds like some poor slave girl is getting quite the beating down there…. Water Tribe…I presume?" Silah chuckled in a heartless voice as she smiled devilishly back at the stunned faces of her enemies.

As she set her gloved hands upon her hips while she took tremendous delight in their speechlessness while another cry echoed into the air.

A cry so sorrowful that Zoi and Ty Lee were instantly rendered into a state of unspeakable shame.

"She sounds young. What about her? What about her family…Zoi? Are you going to deliver flowers to their graves?" Silah asked in a taunting voice as she watched the noblewoman's golden eyes grew wide in unusual shock.

And for once the proud captain found herself unable to even will her body to move.

It was all Zoi could to stare down over the edge of the pathway with her eyes expressing a tremendously unsettled gaze.

Her hands shook at her hips as she once again found the long-held pride that she has had in her nation slip even further away.

Before Silah turned to gaze at the princess's cold face as she smiled back at the younger woman with a knowing gleam in her eyes.

"That girl doesn't know how utterly monstrous you are…does she? What would she think if she saw this? You should be thankful I sent her away it would have been all too easy to twist that love that she has for you into disgust. The people's princess…" Silah stated with a demented chuckle as the princess glared at her through the corner of her furious eye.

Just as she reached out a gloved hand to stroke the princess's frozen cheek as she leaned in to smile even closer.

Azula stood unmoving with her ruthless eyes glaring back at her enemy in hatred just as clothed fingers brushed against her skin.

"Those are some lavish clothes that you are wearing honey. But it's all just an illusion of sophistication…when in all reality all you are is a monster." Silah whispered in a sadistically captivating voice as her gloved hand came to a rest on the princess's armored shoulder.

The princess listened with her amber golden eyes flickering with some long-buried hint of emotion.

As Ty Lee and Zoi still found themselves stuck to their spots on the rocky pathway.

All of their eyes gazed down below when yet another wail flowed into their ears.

"Is this the march of civilization that your nation is bringing to the Water Tribes? Endless raids and pillaging? Butchery? Raping their women? Slavery? Well girls?" Silah purred with a malicious chuckle escaping her lips while she stared back at the three highborn women's unnaturally stricken faces.

The team stood devoid of movement with their eyes gazing down as they continued to listen to what sounded like a little girl's distant cries for mercy.

Just as all three of their eyes widened when they each felt one of the woman's arms begin to wrap around their necks.

All the while as Silah wrapped on arm around Zoi's stunned neck.

And then it reached out to snake around Ty Lee's trembling neck as the noblewoman was pulled in by the puppeteer's gloved hand.

And Azula gritted her teeth in her fury as she too felt the woman's arm coil around her neck in a mocking show of affection.

The puppeteer now held her arms around all three younger women's shoulders as they still stared down in a frozen silence.

"Now…I have another riddle for you three ladies. If your nation enslaves the living and I enslave the shells of the dead. Are you not even more evil than I am because your nation's slaves are cognizant of their suffering whereas mine are already dead?" Silah inquired in a voice of delectable cruelty as she smiled back at the faces of her speechless enemies.

The trio stood there in a silence so thick that a sword could cut through it.

As Zoi's eyes continued to widen in unimaginable disgrace.

She felt a duty to rescue the little girl down below rise up from within her increasingly furious chest as she clenched her jaw.

And Ty Lee could only stare down with a tear streaming from her progressively devastated brown-gray eyes.

Azula showed the least emotion of all of them as she turned to glare frigidly back at Silah's pale face smirking so deviously back at her.

And then she harshly slapped the woman's arm off her own while blue fire burned from her fist.

"Don't expect me to believe that you care about slaves. I know well enough that Father supplied you with bender slaves in payment for your services that you then converted into your revolting dolls." Azula hissed in a rigidly severe voice as her callous eyes glared back at the puppeteer's remorseless face.

The two noblewomen horror intensified by many levels as they stood there gazing on in even greater revulsion!

Only for Silah to simply chuckle with her arms falling back to her sides once again as she stared back into the princess's glaring amber golden eyes.

"What can I say Azula? While I can easily gather benders as material for my puppets of my own accord. There is convenience to be had to shopping at a market." Silah commented with a cold-hearted shrug of her shoulders while the two noblewomen gazed back at her in absolute revulsion.

And even a woman as cruel as Azula was struck by the sheer inhumanity of Silah's reply.

"In any case. You misunderstand me Azula. I am not trying to take any moral high ground here. Actually…it's the opposite. I am trying to teach you how to let go of your morality." Silah spoke in a voice of uncanny calmness as she gazed back at the princess's disbelieving face.

The three highborn women stood there in a state of unease as the killer gazed back into their eyes.

"You must learn to embrace your wickedness. If you cannot do that…then you will never be ready to war with me." Silah stated in a spine curdling voice with her predating dark green eyes staring back into the shocked faces of her three would be victims.

Azula now stared coldly back into the killer's dark green eyes as she let out a cruel scoff.

"You are a fool if you think that I haven't embraced my wickedness and an even greater fool if you think me incapable of going to war with you!" Azula snapped in a voice of profound royal wrath as she glared venomously back into the pale woman's narrowing eyes.

While the two noblewomen stood in a stricken silence with their eyes still reflecting a rising gleam of an unsettling emotion as they heard yet another cry below.

Only for the trio to tense up when Silah pounced forward at the princess like a ravenous predator without any warning whatsoever!

Until Silah nimbly dropped down on both feet with her face looming uncomfortably close into Azula's enraged amber golden eyes.

"No, you have not! Not at the level that I require!" Silah snapped in an immeasurably petrifying voice as she leaned in to stare eerily back at the princess's reddening face.

Her dark green eyes peered right back at the young woman's outraged face at a distance so close that their foreheads nearly touched.

As Ty Lee turned to gaze over her shoulder with understanding in her horrified eyes.

This woman wants to force Azula to become just as depraved as her!

All for the sake of some mad game of predator and prey!

"You…" Azula snarled under her breath only to find herself glaring on with her flames flaring to life as the puppeteer still pushed her face in to loom in her line of vision.

"Do not think for a moment that defeating Long Feng and hunting the pacifistic Avatar makes you even remotely prepared for me. I am a terror of a completely different league. Spoiler alert honey…the charisma to command an army isn't going to save you from me." Silah declared in a voice of absolute monstrosity as she gazed ravenously into the princess's proud eyes that shook in outrage.

Azula stood with her boots unmoving as she glared back at the other woman's pale countenance with her amber golden eyes burning in limitless hatred.

As Zoi and Ty Lee stood motionless with their eyes unable to divert from gazing down over the ledge in escalating unease.

All three highborn found themselves begrudgingly captivated by the hunter's every word.

It was as if she was a danger so great that she required their complete and undivided focus!

"I demand something far different from the two of you. I demand total and unbridled war…a war with no restrictions…no holds barred. Allow me to show you what I mean." Silah remarked in a tone of utter menace as she turned away from the princess's seething face to stare down over the edge at the edge at the distant mansions below.

Azula's tyrannical amber golden eyes followed the hunter's every move as she watched Silah through the corner of her eye.

As Zoi and Ty Lee remained in a similar state of fixation as they gazed out of the corner of their disturbed eyes at the killer's heartless face.

"Jaran. Fire." Silah commanded in a voice devoid of compassion as the three women listened with alarm in their widening eyes.

"What…are you doing?" Zoi asked in a much quieter voice than usual with her golden eyes still expressing her shame.

Before her eyes widened when she spun around to see the warrior king hurling a giant boulder over his head.

And just like that the three members of Team Azula stared on with disbelief in their eyes as it was rocketed into the air over the caldera!

Only for it to be swiftly exploded with a blast of the captain's firebending as the noblewoman stood with her steaming fist hand out before her glaring face.

Silah chuckled with her gloved hands on her hips as she watched the chunks of smaller rocks rain down over the houses below.

As Azula stood glaring imperial daggers back at the Silah's smirking face as her amber golden eyes just brimmed in anger over the woman's gall.

"And that my dears, is precisely what I mean. How will you two fight me with your undivided attentions if you are distracted by needless concern for your people? Say…I attack you in a highly populated Fire Nation city. What are you going to do? Are you two going to hold back so that you don't burn hundreds of your own citizens to death with your ascending flames?" Silah pondered in a voice of tremendous cruelty as she stared back at the stunned faces of her enemies.

The three highborn women stood there unable to even mouth a word of reply to the beyond evil question.

Even Azula was caught off guard over the prospect of just butchering her own people by the hundreds in mass for no reason whatsoever.

Then Silah's hunting dark green eyes formed into bloodthirsty slits as she stared powerfully back at the two firebenders disquieted faces.

"No! You ignore them. You must learn to fight without any regard for Fire National casualties if you wish to have any hope of defeating me. Their lives do not matter. Your one and only concern is the hunt." Silah scolded in a strikingly horrific voice while her words flowed menacingly into the three younger women's eerily speechless ears.

Azula, Zoi and Ty Lee could only stand there in silence in shock as they processed the monstrosity of their otherworldly stalker's words.

Just as Silah leaned in to gaze back at the princess's stony face as the young woman fought to keep up her royal composure.

While prideful amber golden eyes glared back into dark greens with defiant ferocity.

Before the puppeteer reached out a gloved hand to set it on the princess's armored shoulder once more as a cold sigh escaped her lips.

"Stop deluding yourself that you are anything more than a monster and accept that you will never be loved. Your family doesn't love you. Your people most certainly don't love you. Even the love of that girl…will vanish as soon as she sees your true inner monster." Silah spoke in an almost softly demonic voice with her gloved palm grasping the younger woman's shoulder while the princess listened in a furious silence.

Azula's amber golden eyes almost flashed with a spark of madness as she stared with her lips pursed into a glower.

The two noblewomen turned to stare at the deranged woman's smirking face with stunned looks in their eyes.

"You're just like me. But unlike me. I've already accepted it." Silah purred with a smirk growing onto her lips while the princess glared at her through the corner of her infuriated eye.

Just before the princess angrily swatted the puppeteer's hand away once more as she turned to glare hatefully into the other woman's smiling face.

The sounds of the girl continuing to cry below rang ever presently into the ears of the appalled noblewomen.

"Oh, lighten up girls. Enjoy yourselves. Have a good time. That's what this is all about isn't? War is meant to be fun after all." Silah stated with an unsettling chuckle leaving her lips while she set her gloved fists on her hips.

She gazed back at the glowering princess and the two unusually horrified noblewomen.

"Oh, I will. I can assure you of that much. I am going to enjoy every moment of immolating you." Azula replied in a voice of boundless royal wrath with her venomous eyes glaring back at Silah's porcelain smirking face.

"Do you three know what the most beautiful thing is about mortal combat?" Silah questioned in an eerie voice that flowed into the ears of her three taken aback enemies.

And when the three younger women failed to respond she turned to gaze back at them with a genuine smile on her lips.

"When you're fighting for your lives just you were back in that cavern…. nothing else matters. Thrones. Glory. Rank. Nationality. Your family. None of it matters. All that matters is whether you live or die." Silah explained in an overpoweringly captivating voice while she stared at the astonished faces of the three highborn women.

Team Azula could only stand there with their eyes gazing on in an unnerved entrancement as dark green eyes stared back into their souls.

"And that… is what I want to experience with all of you. You'll see what I mean once you arrive for mortal combat." Silah commented in a softly fixated voice with her gaze lingering on the two firebenders unusually surprised faces.

Ty Lee gazed down with her brown-gray eyes trying not to cry as she listened to the helpless cry from the mansion below.

As Zoi gripped her fists at her hips with her golden eyes staring down with a disgusted gleam in her ashamed eyes.

And Azula could only stand there with anger building in her ruthless amber golden eyes already able to sense that Silah had driven yet another wedge between them!

"I am Silah the Pale and I am here. I have already arrived. I arrived long ago, and I am waiting for you to arrive so that we can begin." Silah announced in an unfathomably disturbingly engrossing voice as she smiled back at the two firebenders as they glared at her through the corners of their eyes.

And then she wordlessly stepped past the three unmoving highborn women with another soft laugh departing from her lips.

The three members of Team Azula stared back at Silah with a paranoia like no enemy they had ever encountered before flashing before their eyes.

'Arrive…' Zoi thought with her golden eyes momentarily glaring at Silah's back as she started to walk once more.

And she knew well enough that Silah wasn't talking about their destination at the end of the caldera pathway.

No.

She was referring to their inevitable death match.

Before she turned her disgraced gaze back down to the noble mansion below as ground her teeth together in growing fury.

She ignored the irate stare that her princess was directing her from the corner of her line of vision.

"Well, I'll see you three up the hill then. Feel free to take your time trying to decide what you three are going to do about that wailing. I can always talk to the kid without you." Silah laughed in a stunningly cutthroat voice that was devoid of compassion while the princess's boiling eyes glared after her back.

The two noblewomen remained as if glued to their positions with their rueful eyes gazing down over the ledge below.

Just as the princess turned to stare coldly at her two companions with very little sympathy in her eyes as she studied their faces in aggravation.

Her gaze focused more on her captain's face in particular as she watched an expression of rage overtake her eyes.

Before Silah turned to glance tauntingly back at the trio for a final time as Azula stared intimidatingly back at her with wrathful amber golden eyes.

"You could always be her hero Zoi. You are Azula's equal in might after all and you're the intended heir to the most powerful noble clan in the entire word. And with the rise of the anti-monarchy movement in the Fire Nation the Royal Family is losing respect day by day. Their authority is not what it once was." Silah advised in a delightfully sinister voice with her chilling dark green eyes gazing back into the warrior's widening golden eyes.

The effect of her words was instantaneous.

Azula spun around to stare in unimaginable outrage at the killer's pale smirking face while Ty Lee listened with an annoyingly emotional expression in her eyes.

"All that matters in the end is power and you have that. If something bothers you and if you truly are the hero that you have always wanted to be. Then just use your influence to change it." Silah called out in a cold-hearted voice while the captain gazed down with her golden eyes nearly exploding from herd eyes in her mounting fury.

The princess stood with her fists crushed together at her womanly hips as she glared after Silah with her eyes expressing her royal rage.

And then the puppeteer laughed elegantly once more before she resumed her stride up the pathway.

Azula was left standing there with her gaze instantly focusing on following after Silah so that she could stand guard over her girlfriend.

Only for the fury in her eyes to grow to an even higher height when she saw that both of her companions seemed hesitant to continue on!

"Zoi. Let's go." Azula commanded in a voice of absolute authority while she stared in annoyance at the older woman's incensed countenance.

Ty Lee stood between the two with her brown-gray eyes conveying unmistakable disgust for the atrocities that her nation was committing.

"This is not the glory that I imagined for my nation and I will not to turn a blind eye to it anymore!" Zoi shouted in an indignant voice with her golden eyes spinning to stare back at her princess's taken aback face.

Ty Lee gazed at her fellow noblewoman's back with rising surprise in her eyes.

As the sound of the puppeteer chuckling in amusement resounded into the air as she walked away while the princess glared in outrage at her back.

"As of this moment forward, I am an advocate for the liberation of all slaves and if you insist on continuing this barbaric practice when you become Fire Lord…" Zoi trailed off in a fearless voice as she gazed back at her leader's now furious face while amber golden eyes glared back into her own.

Ty Lee stood gazing between her two companions as the two firebenders glared back at each other.

"Then I will just have to advocate for it without you." Zoi stated in a resolute voice with her golden eyes meeting her princess's intimidating gaze.

"It isn't your place to give your Fire Lord orders Zoi." Azula snapped with her royal ire seeping from her callous voice as she stared hard back into her warrior's stoic golden eyes.

"I…I support liberation too Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed with unusual bravery in her voice as she stood gazing back at her royal friend's glaring face from beside the captain.

The warrior turned to gaze over her shoulder into her fellow noblewoman's eyes as they shared a look with one another.

When they had first met, they didn't even like or respect each other in the least.

And now they were starting to see that it was possible for them to see eye to eye after all.

"Perhaps it isn't Princess. But Ty Lee and I are well aware where Elle stands on the matter." Zoi responded in a voice of stony composure while the princess stood with her fists crushed against her hips.

Azula glared back at both of her defiant subordinates with her glacial golden eyes expressing her fury over being defied.

And yet what truly angered her more than anything was that she had no retort to say in reply to her warrior's statement.

"Azula…when that monster is praising you for being cruel. You shouldn't take that as a compliment. You should do the opposite of what she says." Ty Lee pleaded in a gentler voice than that of the warrior's while the princess still glared back at them with prideful amber golden eyes.

As Azula stood there with her angered ears still picking up the faint sounds of a fading little girl's cry from the mansion below.

"Princess. Do you actually think that you can have a girl stand beside you as your lover who suffered under one form of slavery and nearly was sold into another…and still support it and at the same time keep her love?" Zoi questioned in a fearless voice as she stared back into her princess's mighty burning gaze as the younger woman glared into her eyes.

The unbelievably proud princess stood there with a regal scowl on her pursed lips as she let out a snarl akin to that of a wrathful dragon.

"And if by some chance you had managed to convince Naoki and Katsu…two former slaves to return with us. Do you really think that they would have remained loyal to you after discovering that our nation deals in slavery? They would have revealed it to Elle and they would have turned her against you. Which will eventually inevitably happen anyway when Elle finds out the truth." Zoi stated in a serious voice as she stared back at her princess's scowling face.

And once again what infuriated Azula the most was that she knew that her second in command was right!

"I am going to craft Elle and raise her up into the highest form of noble. And once I do, she will be above all of this and we will rule this world together." Azula insisted in an exceedingly stubborn voice with her amber golden eyes staring severely back at her warrior's unconvinced face.

"Princess…you and I know that even if you manage to shape her into a noble that her stance on this matter will never change. And sooner or later you are going to have to accept that." Zoi spoke in a warning voice while her golden eyes met her princess's narrowing penetrating stare.

Ty Lee gazed on in agreement from where she stood beside the captain.

Only for the princess to let out a callous scoff as she threw an annoyed hand over her armored shoulder.

"Enough of this. Go ahead and cry over some Water Tribe slave girl if that is what you wish Zoi. I have more important matters to attend to right now." Azula scoffed with a cruel sneer escaping her lipstick painted lips while she ignored the angered stare that her warrior was now directing her way.

Before she turned around and began to swiftly stomp her way up the caldera pathway while her amber golden eyes stared imperiously ahead.

Ty Lee hesitantly forced herself to move along as she resisted the urge to vomit with a tear still brewing in her eye.

Only to find herself gazing on in shock to see that the warrior had yet to move from her spot before the caldera ledge.

And even Azula halted in her walk as she turned to glare over her shoulder at the noblewoman as Zoi turned to gaze down at the mansion below.

Her amber golden eyes sparked with frustration as steam started to mist from the warrior's powerful muscles once more.

And that was all it took for her to know that this would not be the last that she heard of this Water Tribe slave girl!

Zoi glared down at the mansion with her hair flowing in the wind behind her while a fading whimper carried lightly into her enraged ears.

And then she clenched her fists at her hips while steam continued to rise from her body as she exhaled fire from her lips.

She paid no heed to the gazes of her two teammates as they stared back at her in surprise on the pathway.

Just as her golden eyes took on a stare of determination like no other as she glared in revulsion down at the mansion on the cliffs below.

As she felt a fire begin to rush through her veins that inspired her to act.

A fire that had been born within her from the words of Elle and Lana Turner!

'I'll come back for you! I swear upon it as my honor as the Dragon of the Song Clan! I promise you little one! I will return at nightfall!' Zoi thought with her eyes taking on a steely decided stare while her fists hung at her sides.

And that was a vow that she intended to fulfill.

On her long-held pride as a warrior.

And her newly born pride as the big sister of Elle Turner.

AN:

Alright, so I am going to be brief in this afterword.

Silah had Elle walk ahead of them, because she wanted to make a point to Azula to show her that she was one moment away from losing Elle's love. And Elle potentially coming to see her as a monster just like everyone else

Silah wants Azula to embrace being a monster like her, and to let go of any potential morality or regard for her own people just as she let go of any regard for the people of the Earth Kingdom.

Silah's words to Azula also reflect how she feels about herself and how she sees herself as a monster that can never be loved.

Silah believes that Azula has not yet fully accepted that she is a monster, and that she is merely trying to hide her true nature as a monster under a facade of aristocratic sophistication.

I also wanted to say that I feel that it is in character of Azula to be too proud in her belief in Fire Nation superiority to openly show concern for the Water Tribe slave girl like Ty Lee and even Zoi did.

Azula realizes in her mind that when she becomes Fire Lord, that abolishing the Fire Nation slave trade is something that she will inevitably take action on with Elle as her lover. But she is too prideful to admit that she is going to have to change the Fire Nation if she wishes to keep Elle by her side.

And not just for Elle, but if the Fire Nation wishes to coexist with the rest of the world, they cannot continue to wage war on the other nations forever.

In a sense, Azula is at war within herself, between being the ruthless heir that her father has shaped her to be, and the person that Elle believes her to be. On some level, Azula understands that she isn't going to be able to craft Elle into an elitist aristocrat. But she says that she is going to do so, rather than admit that she is considering giving into the whims of a commoner girl.

In short, Azula by now understands that the Fire Nation has to change, at least on some level. She just isn't ready to openly admit it.

This was also a moment that reflected a progression in Zoi's character as she begins to lose faith in her long held pride in the Fire Nation as it is now. She is beginning to feel inspired by the words of Elle and Lana to be a better person.

This is huge, because while you'd expect Ty Lee to care, it shows that Zoi has come a long way since the start of the story thanks to Elle. Slavery has never been something that Zoi liked, but Zoi has always been so focused on seeking glory on the battlefield and bringing victories to the Fire Nation, to open her eyes to what the Fire Nation is doing to the rest of the world.

Just like many other people in the Fire Nation, Zoi was indoctrinated to believe that the Fire Nation was sharing their greatness with the rest of the world. And also like many others in the Fire Nation, Zoi was highly encouraged to join the military. As a highly skilled warrior, she found her place on the battlefield, and she soon became obsessed with finding glory. And it was not until Zoi met Elle, that she began to consider that there may be more to life than battle and war.

Zoi was also correct when she told Azula that if Naoki and Katsu had come back with them, that it would have been disastrous when they inevitably found out that the Fire Nation deals in slavery. Which would have resulted in Naoki revealing it to Elle, and then Azula would have to deal with the fallout.

So, we're going to see where this goes. Zoi's belief in her nation has been shaken, Ty Lee found the courage to say that she does not agree with it after Zoi voiced her own thoughts. And Azula is too stubborn to admit that change is need. And they all know how Elle will feel about it when she eventually finds out.

On another note, I'll briefly give an update on my health for those that are curious, and for those that aren't, feel free to skip over it. I am still not doing well, I started on the ketamine nasal spray, it actually helps quite a good deal. But not enough for me to be fully functional. It gives relief, but it is only temporary. It lowers the pain in my head from a 10 to like a 6, but then it goes back up again.

At this point, there is no surgeon fully convinced that the looping arteries are the cause of my suffering. We only have the one surgeon in NYC saying it could be possible, but he was not willing to operate without evidence. The other doctors think my body is in a state of extreme pain from being in a migraine for so long, that I am now hyper sensitive to pain all over, and that we need to break the cycle so to speak.

I have been told if it is the arteries, that we can only treat the symptoms for the time being. In a way, I hope it is not the artery abnormality. Because I find the thought of having a structural problem that no one will operate on to fix terrifying.

I am going to be going back to Jefferson Headache Center for another admission sometime in possibly January. This time they will treat me with the ketamine more aggressively from the start, in hopes that it will give greater relief.

So, that's where I am at right now. I finally finished the chapter that I have been writing since July. Until I feel better, chapter updates will continue to be slower. As I can only upload as fast as I am able to write new chapters. The story is still always on my mind, and it is still going. It is just moving more slowly because of my health problems.

The next chapter will be almost double the length of this one, and as you might guess from the title below, Elle is going to interact more with Silah.

Until then.

Stay tuned for next time.

For chapter one hundred forty-three! The Two Artists!