Chapter 13: The village of Fu Jet

Normal POV

A few days of traveling later, the group arrived at the village of Fu Jet, which lied in the region of Shai and which was also the place the mansion of former warlord Mogui and his family was located.

"There it is." Zaheer said as he pointed out the Mansion to his friends from on top of a hill.

"Charming. Didn't change one bit." Ghazan said as he looked down at the mansion with a smirk on his face.

"Stop that." Ming Hua snapped at Ghazan as she smacked him on the back of his head with her water tentacle as femke wrapped her arm around P'li, who looked down at the mansion with a sad look in her eyes.

"He isn't there anymore, it is going to be fine." I assured my best friend as I gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"I know. Despite that, I don't want to go in there again." P'li said as she looked at the mansion it had al started for her, still haunted by the things morgai put her through.

"I understand, but we have to get in there to find whatever Laniban was talking about." Femke said as she gave her friend a small re-assuring smile, at which P'li smiled back while Ghazan frowned.

"Wait, Combustion Man's real name is Laniban?" The lavabender asked.

"We now at least know his real name so we don't have to call him 'Combustion Man' all the the time. That nickname always felt off to me." P'li smiled as the group now walked through the small forest towards the village from which they would get to the mansion.

"Pretty old-fashioned town. It reminds me of Downland in Magix." Floxy grinned as he looked around.

"Downland?" Ghazan asked as he looked at Floxy.

"Downland is a Kingdom under a Mountain where the Downland people live, they look a little like how the earth people believe aliens look, and they don't ever see the sun, I will take you guys there someday when we're in Magix again." Femke said as she looked at some people with a small smile. "Also, whisper next time you address the Pixies and Elves. They're invisible for non magical beings." Femke continued on a whispering tone after they turned a corner to a alley were no people walked.

"Why are they?" Ghazan asked as he looked at the elf on his shoulder.

"Because the people of this world don't believe in our realm's magic. They can't see the elves and pixies. Kind of like how some people don't see Spirits." Femke explained as they passed a fruit shop, were the older woman who owned it looked up at them with a small smile, waving a little at P'li who gave her a wave back.

"Some of the villagers still seem to recognize me from when I was Mogui's slave." P'li said as the baker waved as well.

"Seems they are very fond of you." Femke smiled as she gave P'li a small hug as she waved at the people who looked at the brunette strangely before they waved back.

"Along with Miss Ti they were the only ones that made I was able to survive that hell." P'li said calmly as she looked at some of the townspeople walking by her.

"They must have known what Mogui was doing. Why didn't any of them call officials? Maybe someone had been able to get you out of that mess." Femke asked perplexed, knowing that if Aang or Zuko had heard about the terrible situation she had been kept in they had come at once to get her out of there.

"Because they were afraid if anyone dared to stand up to Mogui or tell anyone else how I was being treated, Mogui would kill them." P'li said with a sad look in her eyes as she remembered the one time someone from the village had tried to get the word out about her circumstances, that woman was killed on account of treason of her village a few days later. She had been the one to kill her.

Femke's POV

"Wait, if no one ever got the word out about how P'li was being kept, how did you guys knew she was there?" I asked Master Xai Bau.

"We had some inside information from some of our people who were in the village and saw how Mogui treated her." Xai bau explained as he looked at the gate we now arrived at. "And that no one can get the word out about someone's situation doesn't means there aren't any whispers about it." He added as he placed a hand on the gate and gave it a firm push.

"Damn it. Locked." xai bau muttered, which made me grin as I pushed him to the side.

"Leave this to me." I said, doing the same as Toph had done, spitting in my hands before I placed my hands on the metal door and bending them until it fell down with a loud crash.

"Knock knock." Ghazan smirked as he walked past me over the metal door and towards the wooden front door.

"Now what?" Zaheer questioned as he placed a hand on the wooden door, which was locked as well.

"Anyone have a key?" Floxy questioned from my shoulder as Sapphire and Arsenio flew down to check under the mat before the door for a key.

"Worth the try." ghazan smirked as he now used his fully body to try and bust in the door. It didn't work.

"Maybe she hid it someplace else." P'li smiled as she looked at me, then looked up at the water drain above the door, smiling she got on her toes and grabbed the key from out of it.

"Handy to have a tall friend." I smirked at P'li as she opened the door.

"Where's the fun in that?" with a raised eyebrown

"Sorry." I started, but stopped as I heard something crack.

'Must have been a mouse or something.' I thought as I looked around in the dark..

"Can we turn on a light?" Ghazan asked, as I heard some shuffling next to me. "We got three firebenders now. Shouldn't be hard."

"And notify that we're here? I don't think so." Ming's voice called from somewhere before me as the shuffling continued. I felt a chill run down my spine.

"Are you alright, Femke?" I heard Zaheer call from behind me as I felt his hands on my shoulders, which made me thankful it was so dark. At least no one saw I blushed at his touch.

"I'm fine. I'm just having a feeling we're being watched by something." I said as my eyes slowly got used to the dark, which made my werewolf sensed kick in.

"Your eyes are glowing." Ghazan said but I stopped him, holding my finger in the air as I sensed something near us.

"What is it?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me, shocked. I felt a chill go down my spine. I was sure of it now. There was something with us in this house.

"Everyone get behind me!" I called now as I saw a dot of red and blue rise in the hall. Upon seeing this, everyone did as i told them as the light took the form of a human body and when the facial details appeared I heard P'li gasp behind me.

"Mogui."

P'li's POV

"Mogui" I whispered, looking at the monster that had made my life miserable for nine long years with a dumbfounded look. Zaheer had told me he killed Mogui when he came to free me. Yet he was standing here before me.

'Did he lie? No. He looks like a ghost and all those chains must represent some sort of punishment. Serves him right for how he treated me.' I thought as the ghost of my former master look at the group before him, smirking when he saw me, which made my heart leap in fear but i didn't showed it. I took a deep breath and readied a combustion blast at him, making it go right through him at full force.

"You dare attack your master? And here I thought you had become wise and realized your place." Mogui bellowed as I inhaled and blasted his way again even though I couldn't physically harm him anymore.

"The only reason I came back is because someone told me I could find out the truth about my parents." I snapped at the man, hiding the fact that I was trembling on my feet right now, not wanting the others to see i was still afraid of this man after all these years.

"You're not my master anymore! I'm a free person now!" I snapped at the man that used to be my master with a scowl on my face as all the anger, sadness, fear and abuse I had taken from him over those nine horrible years started to well up a rage inside me.

"You really think they will treat you any different? Don't make me laugh. You were born to serve." Mogui said as he pointed at my friends after which Femke growled and took a step towards Mogui with a rage in her eyes I had never seen from her before, only to be stopped by Zaheer, who took her shoulder and shook his head at her, signing to her this was my battle.

"I'm not their property." I said as I pointed at them. "They are the most amazing friends and allies I could have ever wished for. They were the family I never had. They're nothing like you!" I snapped at him.

"Did you ever consider what you were doing? What you put me throught?" I now snapped at him as I took a step towards the ghost who backed away a little as I fired another shot through him. "You beat me up! Starved me! Tied me to that pole in the open field! I wasn't even human to you! I was five years old!" I screamed as tears of emotion welled up in my eyes at the very thought of all those moments of despair.

"Big talk, coming from you." Mogui countered.

"It's the truth!" I raged at Mogui now, as more things blew up around me. "It was horrible! It took Zaheer and the others years to get me to a point I felt safe around people again." I yelled outraged as tears welled up in the corners of my eyes at the thoughts about all those years I had been locked away at this place, all alone.

"Would you stop?" Mogui said, his chains rattling as he crossed his arms.

"What I don't understand is why someone as monstrous as you can be the husband of someone as nice and gentle as Miss Ti." I said firmly. "Let alone the father of someone as amazing as Hong Lee." I continued, remembering Hong Lee had been the only friend I ever had in that time.

"Hong has his mother's weak nature!" Mogui snapped, his eyes softening at the mention of his son.

"She wasn't weak! She was the best thing that ever happened to me, thanks to her love and kindness I'm still alive." I said as I turned my back on Mogui. "Thanks to her I made it out of that hell and became the real me. Found people who loved me. The real me." I smiled.

"Why aren't they supporting you right now then?" Mogui mocked me as he looked at the roof above us were Femke and the others were, whom had gone off while I was yelling at morgui

"Because they're helping me find out about my parents so I can ask them things." I told Mogui as Femke dashed down the stairs with something in her hand.

"I think we found it!" Femke smiled as she handed me two things, one was a letter and the other was a photo of me and my parents, taken the day they had brought me here. A memory came to me.

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"P'li! Get down here at once!" My father called from down the stairs that morning which made me instantly jump up and get dressed, not forgetting to at least look a little presentable as I went down the stairs, knowing today was the day, today I was going to that relative that could teach me more about my powers.

"About time, now get your bag and hurry! We have to be there before sundown." My father barked at me which made me nod and pick up the small sack with belongings I had. It wasn't much, the most important thing was my favorite doll Anni whom I had gotten from a kind lady in the village who had looked at me with kind eyes as she had told me it was very old and that I should take good care of her.

'I hope she gets enough air in the bag.' I thought as I got in the back of the little cart my father had rented for the journey before we started to drive through the small city to the village of Fu Jet where the relative lived. As I looked out of the window I could swear I saw the kind old lady stand in a back alley, looking at me sadly as she waved at me. I smiled at her and waved back, not understanding why she was crying.

"Look, Anni." I beamed as I got my doll from out of my bag and held it before the window so it was smiling at the woods that were now all around us. "I'm sure he will be very nice, and I will be a great Combustion Bender at some point." I told it as I hugged it close, looking at the forest around me with a smile on my face. I was going to learn to be the best Combustion Bender in the world. Then I would be able to use my powers to earn money and be able to feed my parents. We reached Fu Jet, were my father got me out of the car and got a hold of my arm.

"Now listen up. When Mogui comes up to us you will bow down before him and call him 'Master', understood?And don't look him in the eyes. He can't stand that." My father barked at me, which made me nod and look down at Anni with a small sob.

"And that doll of yours isn't coming along. What would your Master think of you?" My father scolded me and before I could do anything he had taken Anni from my arms and had burned it with his firebending which made me cry in terror, since that had been the only doll I had ever gotten.

"Stop that, you're too old for toys." My father told me as he led me through a big gate towards a very big mansion where I would live from now on. I looked at it with big wide eyes as two people; a man and a woman came out of the house and walked to my parents, who bowed before him, looking at me firmly when I didn't, which made me remember their words and bow down as well.

"Good afternoon, Master." I said with a small voice, feeling this man wasn't nice when I looked up at him a little.

"Good afternoon." He replied as he forced a walking stick under my chin and looked me in the eyes which made me gasp and lower my eyes at once, remembering my father told me Mogui didn't liked to be looked in the eye directly.

"Tell me your name." Mogui asked as he walked around me.

"P'li. My name is P'li, Sir." I stumbled as his cane poked me on a few places. "And how old are you, P'li?" morgai asked as he stopped right next to me, looking down at me.

"I'm five years old, mister." I said with my head down so I wouldn't look him in the eye by accident. Instead I looked at the woman who was standing behind the man. The woman was looking at me very kindly. She had a young boy standing behind her, who looked at me curiously look as my new master inspected me.

"She seems a little skinny for a five year old don't you think?" The woman asked her husband with a small smile on her face as she gave me a loving smile.

"My parents barely had the money to feed us all, Miss." I replied before my master could, which was a big mistake.

"Don't ever talk over me young lady!" Mogui snapped at me which made me nod in fear as the man looked at my parents with a smirk on his face. "She will do, though I will have to work on her manners." The man said, before he took a bag with money from his vest and handed it to my father, who nodded with a bow.

"Thank you Sir. Good luck with her." He said before he and my mother left without saying anything to me anymore, leaving me with that horrible man for the nine long lonely years that came after that. Until Zaheer finally set me free.

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"Excuse me?" The voice of Mogui called me from my memory, making me look at his ghostly face with a scowl.

"How could they just walk out on their five year old daughter? Like it didn't matter to them at all!" I said as I saw Femke open the letter and started to read it. "While they saw how you treated me." I said remembering they had walked out on me, even after how Mogui treated me.

"That might be because they're not who they claimed to be." Femke gasped, which made me look up at her.

"What?" I gasped.

"Their not who they claimed to be. The letter says so. It is a letter from Ti." Femke said as she walked to me and gave me the letter. I took it over and read it;

My dear P'li

If you read this letter, it will mean you have returned to the place your story started.

I have wondered where you went of to from the day I got the message Mogui was killed and I was very shocked to see your picture in the newspapers, saying you were arrested for attempting to murder the Avatar.

I hope that is all behind you now. I have a reason to leave this letter for you.

You see, the people that left you with Mogui are not your biological parents.

Come and see me in Ba Sing Se's upper ring as soon as you can. You will be able to find the mansion as it has the same symbol on the front gate as you have on your forehead.

I will always be there for you if you need me and both Hong Lee and I wish you the best.

Miss Ti

I read, making me tear up a little since Miss Ti still had a place in my heart since she had been the only person in the mansion who had ever cared about me. She and her son Hong Lee had been the only rays of hope back then.

"We're going back to Ba Sing Se." Ghazan said.

"Why couldn't she just write down who her parents were in the letter?" Ming Hua questioned as I looked at the letter with a dumbstruck look, unable to believe what Ti had written. She was not only still thinking of me and had seen what had happened to me the past decade but she had also wanted to contact me because my parents weren't my parents.

"I don't know but maybe it was too important to write down. She might have been scared that Mogui's ghost would take a peek and try and dispose of P'li's real parents to get back at her for Zaheer taking his life," Femke said as she pointed at Mogui. "In any case, we better go to Ba Sing Se at once." Femke said.

"Hold on. Before we go, there is one thing I want to show you." I said with a smile on my face as I took Femke by her hand and pulled her through a small door that was hidden behind a portrait of Mogui's father. Femke looked at me confused as I pulled her through the small gate into the dank dungeon behind the soldiers quarters I had once called my home and started to slowly look at the doors as my memories ran at top speed, stopping before a door near a dead end, and looking at it silently.

Femke's POV

"Where are we?" I asked as I looked at the door, not quite understanding what we were doing here, though I had a feeling where she had taken me.

"This is where I lived when I was Mogui's slave." P'li said as she placed her hand on the doorknob with a stern look, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before she swung the door open, revealing a small room, just big enough for the two of us to fit in, icy cold and pitch dark.

"How terrible." I said as I took one step towards the wooden bench and placed my hand on it, just feeling the negative energy radiating from this place.

"Try and live here for nine years." P'li said as she stood next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "That's behind me now." she said.

"It's horrible how warlords like him can do this. That authorities weren't helping you one bit is terrible, too." I growled, kneeling on the ground with a sad look in my eyes, for one moment totally understanding why P'li chose anarchy over getting a normal family.

"It was horrible. But it's behind me now. I confronted Mogui and that made me feel better. Even though it will never truly leave. I'm ready now. Ready to move on. Ready to become a Voortrix." P'li said as she kneeled next to me and looked me in the eyes sternly.

"You're a very strong person, P'li. I'm proud to be your friend. Not because of what you have but because of who you are on the inside." I smiled at her as I wrapped my arms around her.

"Thanks. You and the others are the best that ever came in my life." P'li smiled.

"Let's go before the others get worried about where we…" She started, stopping when she saw Mogui standing in the doorway, looking at us with glowing eyes as he blocked the doorway.

"Go away. I'm not scared of you." P'li told Mogui as she got in front of me as if she was trying to protect me.

"You will be once more. You will never leave this place again." Mogui smirked as he launched himself at us as darkness overtook us.

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And with that I end a relatively small chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Just as match as I enjoyed writing it.

A/N:

As I was writing the chapter I suddenly got the idea to make Mogui ghost appear here since ghosts can be punished for their misdeeds by letting them stay on earth with chains on that represent their misdeeds, I took 'A Christmas Carol." as inspiration for this scene.

It was a idea combination of me and Paranoidgirl to let P'li confront Mogui for his mistreatment of her, which was what she needed.

Despite everything, P'li wanted to show femke her old cell, this was more because I didn't want Femke asking her to show it, since she knew how much it hurt her to be there and it thought it would be a good place to finish the chapter.

Okay that was all guys, thanks for reading and if you want to know what happens next I suggest you keep reading and leave a review!