Princess Azula of the Fire Nation was never a spiritual girl. Yes, she believed the Spirits truly existed, the Avatar was a clear reminder of that, despite being missing for almost a century. She simply did not rely on them as her uncle supposedly did. But that did not mean she wouldn't try accessing the Spirit World, if only to see if she could. Unlike her useless brother, she was aware of their heritage to Avatar Roku and as such knew they could have some sort of connection to the Spirits. And so it was in an act of boredom that she started meditating, attempting to find a way to enter the Spirit World. Keeping her mind as calm as ever, she meditated on the energies around her rather than inside her as she would to Lightning Bend and focused on them. As she opened her eyes, she saw she was no longer in her bedroom in the Fire Palace.

Instead she found herself beside a large mountain. She looked around and noted her chi felt… off. She tried conjuring a flame in her hand and found it impossible. She frowned before standing up and making her way to a nearby river. As she stared at her reflection, Azula scowled. With her hair down as it was currently, she looked like her mother, something she greatly resented for a woman who showed her no ounce of love, in her mind at least. It was as she stared into the river that she felt a presence behind her and whirled around on instinct, only to find a strange creature standing in front of her barely six inches in height, head tilted in curiosity as it stared at her. She frowned before turning from it and following the river upstream. She walked for a dozen paces before she became aware of the spirit following her. She turned around and glared at it. "Leave me alone," she shouted. The small bird-like creature chirped before flying and landing on her head before settling into her bun. She growled and swatted at it, only for it to hover for a moment and settle back down. She sighed. "Of course. Must not have any idea or care as to who I am." It leaned down until she was staring at its passive upside down face. Azula growled. "I cannot see! Move!" The creature moved back in place and she sighed before rubbing her temples. "Ok… how the hell do I leave this place? This was a fruitless endeavor."

She looked around before seeing a cave. She stared into it and frowned. Where just in the Spirit World, her chi felt off, this cave felt… wrong. Against her better judgement, she entered the cave, if only because she hoped the feeling would affect her unwanted passenger and scare it away. She looked around the dark cave and prayed her bending would work in this plane of existence as the creature started glowing. She glanced up and frowned. "At least you are good for something, though I'd hoped you would've left once I… entered… here…" Azula stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted what was in the cave. Several cells with bars made of black rock, each obscuring a black void. But it was the furthest cell from her that gave her pause. Whatever this black stone was keeping in, it didn't work. The black stone bars of the last cell facing her littered the floor in front of it, ending just a few feet from her. "What one Earth…?" On her head, she could feel the spirit trembling and backed away slowly. Whatever had broken out, if a spirit was quaking in its presence, it wasn't good.

Then she heard it. A low rumbling noise, jarring her to the very depths of her soul and coming from the void behind the broken bars. She stared into the void for a moment before she could feel something staring back at her. Somehow, despite the blackness of the void, the large shapes seemed to be darker and more ominous than the rest of it. Never once did Azula blink as she slowly started backing away from the cave, her eyes staring back in an act of defiance at something clearly more dangerous than she was. One black paw left the void slowly as, whatever the hell it was, advanced on her. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. A mass of muscle with black tar-like tendrils writhing like an octopus eel as a mass of teeth snarled at her before curling in what looked like a grin on a distorted face.

Azula grunted as she tripped on a rock behind her and broke eye contact. The… the only word she could use to describe it would be monster, then lunged at her and clamped its jaws onto her arm. She exclaimed in pain as the spirit on her head shrieked and the blast of sound blasted the monster off of her, its tendrils attempting to latch onto her arm as it tried keeping its grip on the prey that stumbled upon its den. She cried out in more pain as her arm burned from where the tendril touched her, burning her more intensely than any flame ever could. She clutched at her forearm and looked at the monster, pushing herself away as it snarled before bounding at her once more. Azula used her already injured arm to catch its jaw, gritting through the pain before she saw something glint in the monster's maw. Sensing it was somehow important, Azula shot her free arm into the mouth of the beast, ignoring the burning sensation as her skin burned against the flesh of the monster until she felt her hand grasp something solid.

Pulling with all of her might, she pulled out what looked like a golden and black amulet before hearing the monster unleash an unworldly scream as it backed away from her, coughing up its black mass onto the walls and floor of the prison, for what else could it have been, before collapsing onto its side and sank into its own pool of bile and, Azula assumed blood. Breathing heavily, she fell onto her back and laughed in relief and victory as her mind caught up to the events of what had just transpired. She looked to her side as the spirit looked at her, avoiding the black mass. "At least you proved useful," muttered Azula before staring up at the ceiling to catch her breath. Her momentary victory was short lived, however, as a grouping of low growls was heard from the other cells. She looked up and at the cells, seeing the black stone bars steaming and seeming to dissolve. She stared with wide eyes before picking up the amulet and the spirit and running for the mouth of the cave. She grunted as two black tendrils, larger than the monster's and pulsing with red and purple energy, latched onto her legs and tripped her up. She tried to pull herself free and what looked like a large claw stretched unnaturally long and gripped her uninjured arm.

"Help," she shouted out, fear gripping her heart as tightly as the monsters within the prison. The spirit shrieked once more, aiming it at the cave, knocking away whatever had shot out the red and black tendril and releasing her right leg. Azula cried as she continued to struggle, trying to use her single leg to try and pry herself from the clutches of the monsters. Slower and slower, she was pulled back to the cave, the spirit's shrieks now being evaded by whatever the monsters were. "Please…" Moments before she was pulled into the cave to the mercy of the monsters, a blast of flame and some stones were launched into the cave and Azula was released. Curling up, she kept her gaze to the ground, fear giving way to shame as she let herself stoop so low as to call out for help. Her. Princess Azula. She gripped her head as the roars of the monsters grew louder as did the sound of whoever was fighting them.

Then there was a grunt and whoever had come to help her landed beside her before the sound of roaring fire shot into the sky and the sound of several beasts running off before the sounds suddenly stopped alerted her to the monsters escaping and heading to… somewhere. "Oh," she heard a familiar voice mutter. "That's not good…"

"Lu Ten?" She looked up at the man beside her and saw her cousin wearing some strange metal armor and looking at her in surprise.

"Azula?!"

"Lu Ten," said the man behind Azula. "This is not good. They have escaped." Azula turned around and stared as she saw the form of an old man with the traditional Fire Nation hairstyle and a grim expression on his face.

"You're," she said. "You're Avatar Roku. My grandfather."

"Indeed I am." He bowed his head before turning to the prison cave with worry. "We arrived too late."

"What is going on?!"

"The Devils have been unleashed on the world."

"Devils?"

"Thirteen of the greatest evils the world has ever seen," said Lu Ten.

"Well…" Azula looked at her a hand, the black and gold amulet still clamped in it. "12, now."

"You…"

"You've been cursed," said Roku before kneeling beside her. She winced, only now registering how much pain she was in and held back an anguishing cry, rolling onto her back as the burning started intensifying. Roku maneuvered some water from the river to her and she felt her burns start to die down. She opened her eyes wide before staring up at the sky in relief. "The Devils' mere touch causes curses in its victims to instill paralysis through pain. That you can move at all is a miracle."

"I'm quite stubborn."

"Azula, I need you to tell me exactly what happened in there." After a brief explanation, Roku frowned and ran a hand over his beard. "This does not bode well. I had not anticipated the Devil to have already escaped. My vision showed me the cage being shattered. But I did not anticipate it finding a suitable quarry before I could even attempt to contain it."

"I suppose my choosing to try and enter the Spirit World is a case of unfortunate timing then."

"Very unfortunate. Unlike the Spirits, the Devils can slip into the Physical World at will and can posses human bodies. They can also spawn beings of great destruction and chaos known as Oni into the world."

"Oni are real?"

"And very dangerous. Not as dangerous as the Devils in their normal forms, but still formidable."

"At least there's one less Devil out there, seeing as I killed one."

"It's not dead, Azula," said Lu Ten. "The Devils are connected to each other. All of them need to perish but one has drunk from the well of everlasting life. It can't be killed, not for long at least. It will come back."

"That is why they were imprisoned…"

"And now they are loose. We must find them," said Roku. He glanced at the amulet. "You said this was in the Devil's gullet?"

"Why?"

"Hmm… Keep it on you. It may prove useful in the future. For now, we will help you return to the Physical World."

"What about the Devils?"

"That is our job, Azula," said Lu Ten. "You don't have to worry about it."

"Those monsters tried to eat me! If you think I will let such an action go without punishment…"

"Azula!" The Fire Princess jerked back in surprise. Lu Ten was never one to raise his voice. He was always calm and reserved in life. But it seems these Devils unnerved him to no end. "Please. Go back." Lu Ten walked away and Roku sighed before turning to her.

"The Devils are also capable of consuming even the natural born Spirits as well as our souls," he said. "But they aren't without weakness. Spirits and humans alike are capable of injuring them due to their unique nature of being part of both worlds, but such a thing cannot be called easy. We will do our part here."

"And me?"

"If you encounter a Devil, do not fight it alone. Elemental prowess alone can do very little to harm them. While humans can hurt them, it would be suicide to fight them alone unless you were desperate."

"Considering I just killed one of them…"

"Please Azula. Do not let your pride and lust of revenge against the Devils to blind you. Had you not managed to pluck the amulet from the Devil's gullet, you would surely have died. The Devil you fought was the least intelligent of the 13. It's strength came in it's insatiable hunger and physical strength. It was the easiest to trick and to trap, but not to contain. Every century or so, it would break out, prompting those who could to trap it once again in the cage for the next century."

"Have you not tried to take the immortality away from the Devil that can't be killed?"

"In order to do so, Balance must be achieved in both the Spirit and Physical Worlds."

"So the Avatar is required?" Roku shook his head. "My next incarnation is only a part of the equation. The Avatar is the incarnation of Raava, the Spirit of Light. Her equal is Vaatu, the Spirit of Darkness from whom the Devils were spawned."

"So then we find this Vaatu and…"

"Vaatu must never escape. Untethered from Raava as he is, Vaatu will simply corrupt the other Spirits of the Spirit World and potentially spawn a new Devil."

"Then we contain him! If the Avatar can house this Raava, surely…"

"Becoming the Dark equivalent of the Avatar is not an option. The Avatar took millennia to master the connection to Raava. Vaatu is pure darkness and power. He would overwhelm whoever attempted to bond with him in an instant and become a threat the likes of which neither world has seen since the First Avatar."

"Then we find a way to control the Devils! With them the Fire Nation…"

"Would destroy themselves before you could even reach your retched father's ambitions!" Azula closed her eyes slightly as a gust of wind blinded her slightly. "Vaatu is not a force to be reckoned with and his spawn are just as volatile. Already, they will start spreading their evils throughout both worlds."

"If what you say is true, then the Fire Nation is in trouble as well! I cannot allow that!"

"If you wish to help, if only to save the Fire Nation and no one else, you must find Paragons of the other Elements."

"Paragons?"

"Benders who surpass even the Grandmasters of their elements. Learning the more advanced forms from their own training and from the observations of the other elements. Paragon Benders will be the greatest and most adaptable Benders of the Physical World.

"Then surely father, myself and even my foolish uncle would count!"

"While Lightning Bending is an advanced art, it can still be reached by others with enough practice. There are even greater forms yet to be achieved by a Paragon to then pass the knowledge onto others." Azula looked at her hands, the scars from the Devil marring her flesh. Forms greater than Lightning Bending? What on Earth could those be?! "I wish you luck, Azula. May you never have to encounter another Devil as long as you live. I only hope we can contain them. They may have escaped to the Physical World, but they must periodically return to the Spirit World to rejuvenate their energies unless they have found a steady supply of souls without the drawing too much attention to itself."

"Roku, we're in the middle of a war! There are countless soldiers out there they can consume!"

"Only one can sustain itself with the souls of warriors and soldiers. It feeds off of their physical strength and the intense anger and hatred held within those fighting a war with no end in sight. This one will prove the most difficult for us to track."

"Then I will hunt it! If it is one of the Devils who just tried to make me an appetizer, I want to see it burn!" Roku sighed.

"Very well. But heed my warning, granddaughter. The Devils will feed off of negative energies and emotions. Luckily, it seems you won't start your journey alone. Your new friend seems eager to join you." Azula glanced up at her head where the weight of the Spirit could be felt once more.

"This thing is not my friend!" She swatted at it again, only for it to repeat its actions from before, hover in the air for a moment before settling into her bun once more.

"And yet, you went out of your way to spare it from being consumed by the Devils in the cave."

"I was simply returning the favor. I'm not one to owe debts and he helped me against the Beast Devil."

"And it saved you again, or at least tried to, when the other three latched onto you. Had it not intervened; the Devils surely would've consumed your soul. As I see it, you owe this little one a life debt, do you not?" Azula scowled at her maternal grandfather for a moment.

"Just send me back, Roku! I want to get this hunt done with!"

"I will send you back. But do not forget my words."

"I will not. I'm not Zuzu, after all. Father drilled following instructions into my mind the moment my Bending awakened." Roku looked at her and sighed before sending her back to her body.

"Perhaps this may be your chance to break away from your father's ambitions. If that Amulet revealed itself to you, it can only mean you may hold the key to stopping them once and for all."

As Azula opened her eyes, she noted her arms now bore black markings where the burns had been in the Spirit World. She frowned and changed her now singed shirt and pants, hiding the markings with new sleeves before slipping on a pair of flame spider silk gloves to hide the markings on her hands. There was a knock at her door, and she scowled at it. "What is it?!"

"Apologies, Princess Azula," said one of her handmaidens, Li Mei. She only bothered to remember the girl's name because she was the only one to massage Azula's aches from training away. She was also the only one who showed no fear towards her, despite her normal behavior, thus earning Azula's respect and annoyance. "But your brother is about to be banished." Azula rolled her eyes before moving to the door and pausing as she looked at herself in her personal mirror. Something felt off about her, and the Spirit she was forced to bring with her was nowhere to be seen. If it weren't for the black markings on her arms and legs, she'd have thought it a dream. She tied her hair into a bun once more and opened the doors. Li Mei stood at the same height as Azula and had the most unique feature that also helped Azula remember her name. One light green and one amber eye. Li Mei was from one of the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom and was brought to be a servant in the Fire Palace when both she and Azula were 8.

"Li Mei. Why should I care about my brother's banishment?"

"He is your brother. We can't choose our family, after all."

"No, but I can choose my servants. Give me a reason why I shouldn't banish you as well."

"I am the only one who can properly rid you of the day's aches and pains, and you know it. And it takes too long to break in a new servant. It's also impossible to find one who isn't afraid speaking her mind to you, Azula." Azula scowled before smirking.

"Good enough, I suppose. Come along, Li Mei. Let's see my brother off."

"Where did you get that?"

"Get what?" She spotted the servant looking down and Azula noted the amulet was hanging from her neck. Azula frowned slightly before tucking under her shirt.

"Never you mind! You don't get paid to ask questions."

"No, I get paid to be on my hands and knees, bending to your every whim. And I pleasantly wait for it to be in more than than just the one." Azula blushed before growling softly and walking away. The two found teasing each other to be a common pastime between them. Seeing the other flustered seemed to be a pleasing middle ground between princess and servant, even if neither one was capable of actually acting on the teasing in more than just fantasy. "And with that, I am two points in the lead."

"You will be quiet you insufferable little…"

"Yes, Princess Azula." Li Mei smirked as she followed her master. The princess and servant made their way to the courtyard where Azula found Iroh calmly sipping a cup of tea, waiting for Zuko. Azula frowned before turning to Li Mei.

"Wait here. I need to have a word with my uncle." Li Mei nodded before staying at the entrance to the courtyard as Azula walked to her uncle. She'd never been one to actually converse with the failed general, not without needing to keep appearances of disdain to her father's spies, but right now, she needed to know everything she could about the Devils and since she wasn't about to return to the Spirit World anytime soon, Iroh was her only option. "Hello, Uncle."

"Azula," said Iroh peacefully. While not as much as Zuko, Iroh still had some level of affection for his only niece. When she wasn't acting like her ruthless father that is.

"Accompanying Zuko on his banishment, I see?"

"Unlike your father, I'm not about to abandon your brother. He is family, after all."

"I see." She glanced at him before sighing. "Uncle Iroh. How much do you know about the Spirit World." The old man looked at his niece curiously.

"I know a great deal more than most. Why the sudden interest in the Spirit World?"

"Do you know anything about…" Azula glanced around, almost anticipating that the mere mention would bring one bounding to her at any moment. "…about Devils?" Iroh's face grew grim. Only a few were aware of the existence of Devils and those that were either knew enough not to bring them up or worshiped them.

"I know there is an age old myth about something referred to as the Ancient Evils of the world. That they are dangerous beings that once threatened the land."

"And there are 13 of them, yes?" Azula noted her uncle's eyes narrow slightly.

"Where did you get that information?"

"Let's just say I did some… studying out of boredom. I learned that there were 13 Devils, spawned from some great Darkness. That they cannot be killed. I wanted to know, if someone were foolish enough to try and control these Devils, if they were real, how much danger the Fire Nation would be in."

"The Devils are said to be uncontrollable evil beasts, the bane of all existence and all responsible for one of the vices, sins and evil in the Physical World."

"And if these 'Devils' were real, how would one be captured?"

"Why all this interest in the Devils, Azula?" Iroh eyed his niece suspiciously. Azula looked at her uncle and sighed. She glanced around and removed one of her gloves, revealing the black marks on her hand. Iroh stared at her hand before moving to obscure it from any prying eyes so she could place the glove back in place. "You've encountered the Devils."

"I did. And they have gotten loose. Avatar Roku and Lu Ten are hunting them in the Spirit World and feel they may have slipped here. They are a clear threat to the Fire Nation, based on my personal experience. We must do what we can to save the Fire Nation from them."

"And the rest of the world."

"The rest of the world can burn for all I care. All that matters is the Fire Nation!"

"We cannot survive without the other nations and elements, Azula. Just as the four elements balance each other, so to do the other nations."

"In case you haven't noticed, Uncle. That is no longer the case! Grandfather Sozin wiped out the Air Nomads and we have our sights set on the Earth Kingdom! It won't be long until we achieve victory and the Fire Nation conquers the entire world, as we were meant to do!"

"And what then? What happens when there's nothing left to conquer? When there's only one source of power left in the world? What happens when someone comes to take the heads of our family to conquer us? We've known nothing but bloodshed for generations. It won't be long before that bloodlust gives way to our family paying what is owed to us for the pain and suffering we have caused for a century."

"No one would dare attack us!"

"And no one would dare exterminate all of the Nomadic Air Monks in an attempt to rid the world of the Avatar. It's inconceivable." Azula paused as her own logic was thrown back at her. Iroh breathed deeply before looking her in the eye. "Thank you for warning me about the Devils, Azula. I will be on alert about them. Whatever you do, do not let more people know about them than is necessary. There are groups dedicated to worshiping the Devils as gods. If they learn the Devils have escaped their prison, they will stop at nothing to aid the Devils in bringing this world to ruin."

"Then I will burn every last one of them." Azula sparked a flame in her hand for emphasis and paused as her flames were a darker shade of blue than normal.

"The Devil's curse has begun to take its effect on you."

"Roku never told me what this curse entails other than paralysis. I killed the Devil before more of the curse could set in."

"Which Devil did you supposedly kill?"

"It was like a wolf, but its skin was a mass of writhing tentacles that caused the burns on my left arm."

"Hmm… I do not know much about the Devils. But I think I remember learning they will be reborn from the survivors of their curse."

"So if the other Devils aren't dealt with…"

"Then I am afraid you will become this wolf Devil. It may take time, however. If you can find a way to purge the curse from your body, you may be safe."

"How would I do that?"

"There are a number of spiritual remedies throughout the world, but they may not work. The best option, in my opinion, would be to find a master of Chi Bending. It is a very ancient art, older than the elements."

"And who practices this?"

"Almost no one. This was a Bending art used by the ancient Lion Turtles. You could try to find a skilled Waterbender who has mastered healing. But normal healing alone would be insufficient…"

"What kind of healing would I need?"

"An elemental cleansing. This can be done by the healing properties of Spiritual Water and Celestial Fire combined."

"Celestial Fire?"

"A rare form of fire found in volcanoes with a clear connection to the Spirit World. Unlike most flames, Celestial Fire can heal one of their wounds if they were born with the ability to heal with their flames."

"How can I find someone of that skill?"

"That I do not know. I do know, you can find Spiritual Water at very special places where the Spirit World and Physical Worlds are connected. It is best to collect the water during the Equinox so that the healing properties can properly balance with Celestial Fire. As for finding a Bender to use the water to heal, the only Benders I know who can do such a thing are in the hidden Northern Water Tribe." Azula paused for a moment before looking at him.

"Were the dragons aware of this fire?"

"I believe so."

"And you killed the last one. The only being that could've helped me find Celestial Fire and it's gone." Azula sighed. "Then I am doomed." Iroh placed a tender hand on her shoulder.

"Do not give up hope so easily, Azula. Fate often has a way of working things out in the end." Azula sighed before doing something out of character and hugging Iroh.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"You must be extremely worried for your own safety if you are showing affection to me of all people."

"Simply showing my thanks is all." Azula straightened herself, ignoring the questioning look she felt coming from Li Mei. "Goodbye, Uncle. Do try and keep Zuzu out of trouble." Li Mei looked at her as she walked over.

"That was unexpected," she said.

"Silence. Come with me, we have some investigating to do."

"On what?"

"Spiritual remedies and research on curses."

"And why would that be?"

"You don't need to know right now, Li Mei. Just find as much as you can on both subjects and make it quick."

"Of course, Princess." Li Mei hurried off and Azula looked at her hands before scowling. Those Devils would pay!

(Author's Notes)

Ok. So here's an experimental story that popped into my head and that I've been trying to find some help for regarding the other Devils. If someone would want to help with the remaining 12 Devils, let me know in a PM, not a review. For now, it will be a unique tale that may or may not gather a following. If you want more of this story, leave a review and let me know. I don't know if anyone will find this interesting enough to actually read and want to follow, but if you do, thanks for taking an interest. If you're a frequent reader of my stories, welcome back. If you're new to my work, feel free to check out my other stories. Hope you're all doing well and are staying safe in these troubling times. Until next time, Y'all!