Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Teen Titans. I own only the plots/ideas/situations that I have placed the characters in and any OCs.
Important notes: Reminder when the you see un-Italicized letters in a sea of Italic those are the characters thoughts. In order to properly read the demonic language that I just completely made on the spot, actually not really I've started trying to create my own language for some original stuff and yeah you don't care about that, here are some rules. For every five letter word, the first letter of that word is silent for example; the word Sakar would be pronounced Akar.
TRIGGER WARNING! TRIGGER WARNING! TRIGGER WARNING! THERE ARE TRIGGERS IN THIS CHAPTER. PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
Fractured Minds
Chapter 12: The Demons of Madness Hold You
"What do you need me to do?" She couldn't get the words out fast enough. Raven didn't give her a verbal response right away. So she watched as Raven wrote bright red symbols in the air and chanted. "Sakar Tor. Katou Zon. Sakar Zen Ji Rem Tai Sakar. Terla Xenka Zon."
The symbols began to writhe as if they had been hit with lightening, after a moment they stilled. "Tell me Zen, how do you feel about commanding your own army of," She saw an ocean of self-loathing fill Raven's eyes, "Fire spirits?"
It was a struggle to keep the words she desperately wanted to say from leaving her mouth but she did managed to swallow them. "And what will I be doing with said army of Fire spirits?"
"Evacuate the patients of Ashfall and the spirits will do the rest, but they'll need focus." She saluted Raven and was instructed to hold still. A moment later and an unquenchable heat spread throughout her body as the symbols met with her skin.
"Sakar Rem Kal Inan Zxn Calon Eonra Sakar." As Raven fell silent, she heard a hiss as dozens of fire spirits came into being around her.
"Kyrak, Zemra, and Norse, front and center." Three of the Fire spirits appeared in front of Raven.
"You three will protect what I've marked, with your life." The three spirits bowed and drifted in the direction of Azula's cell. "The rest of you will do as the Sakar Rem Tai commands."
It wasn't until all of the Fire spirits present had bowed to her that she understood what Raven had meant or rather who she meant by Sakar Rem Tai. One could forgive the waterbender for not being quick on the uptake, after all, it wasn't every day that she got handed an army of Fire spirits.
A cool breeze chased the warm haziness clouding her mind away. The first thing she noticed was that she was resting against a wall of some kind and she heard the crash of waves against a shore. The silver pale light sparked a thought in her mind. There won't be a full moon for two weeks...what the hell is going on? Where am I? Flashes of light, the hissing of steam, and frozen blackness. The rush of her memories was disorienting and made her nauseous. Looks like I'm staying right here for the moment.
"Friend Raven will be most glad that you are awake." If her body wasn't weighted down, she would have jumped out of her skin at hearing the voice. Her eyes were drawn to the speaker. Is her skin orange? Her eyes are like emeralds. She's got to be an earthbender.
"You're friends with Raven?"
"Yes," There was a genuine smile on the woman's face. "You may call me Starfire."
"I'm Zen Ji. But every one calls me Zen." She tentatively returned Starfire's smile with a shaky one of her own.
"Well Starfire, I feel like I've been turned inside out and I'd really like to speak with my friend." She said and wasn't all that shocked when Starfire flew closer to where she was before answering her question.
"Friend Robin is having the word with Friend Raven. Her appearance with you and Azula was unexpected. Friend Raven asked me to do the company keeping of you until she is done getting the dressed down from Friend Robin."
"And where is this lovely vacation spot that I've been dragged to?" Her head was getting fuzzy again and she needed to focus on something else.
"You're in Jump City." Starfire had just finished speaking when a section of the wall that she was leaning against slid open and a man in yellow, green, and red stepped onto the roof. An instant later and her friend rose out of the ground.
"Star we've got a bank heist down town, gray district." He said and in the blink of an eye Starfire was right next to him. "Cyborg will meet us there."
The man spared Raven a brief glance and said, "Was there really nowhere else?"
After a moment of silence and an unending glare from Raven. The man nodded and loosed a sigh before sprinting to the edge of the roof and leaping off of it. Starfire wasn't far behind him.
As soon as they were gone she said, "Raven we need to have a serious talk about how you can hide the fact that you have an army at your beck and call. Why do I feel so...wiped out?"
"Its a side affect of the magic I used on you. A good night's sleep should have you feeling right as rain." She nodded and was starting to drift off as Raven moved closer to her.
"Wait where am I?" She was going down fast.
"On Earth or the world that I live in, normally."
"Oh that's nice..." Before she could succumb to sleep her mind processed Raven's words. Her eyes shot open and she took in her surroundings. There was a strange array of markings on the ground in front of her and just beyond it was a sight that she'd never seen before, the coastline dotted with millions of lights. Not even the Firefly festival could've compared; once every twenty years every Fire Nation citizen was ordered to capture a firefly and on the night of the festival, release them to light up the night in remembrance of the past, present, and future of the Fire Nation. "This is incredible but why'd you bring me? I figured your sole concern was princess Azula."
"You're the first person whose called her that without making her title sound like a nasty insult." Raven sounded so despondent as she spoke.
"We all do horrible things. But for some reason the more famous you are when you commit atrocities the greater the infamy is when you fall from grace. It sickens me that because she tried to kill the avatar and his friends, she's synonymous with pure evil." She closed her eyes against the flood of images, the tableau of blood running like a river, a body curled in on itself, and burnt flesh.
"Yet murderers get to walk free. An entire nation of the vilest criminals get to go scott free because they were just following orders. And the princess wasn't? What was she supposed to do when her father ordered her to capture and kill the avatar? Say no." She did nothing to stop the bitter laughter that bubbled up and out of her mouth.
"That's why I brought you with us." She quirked an eyebrow at Raven's remark, "You can see what kind of life Azula was forced to live. And she's going to need all the help she can get."
"Not because we're friends?"
"That too." That small 'just for the people I care about' smile spread across Raven's face as she offered the waterbender a hand. "Its time for the nickel tour and a run down of the ground rules before the others get back. Robin's a little upset that I dropped in with you two unannounced."
She returned Raven's smile as she took the offered assistance. "Hey you ever think about giving out fur-lined parkas for when you do that abyss of frostbite thing?"
Raven shook her head and headed for the section of wall that moved and motioned for the waterbender to follow. "First rule, no one is allowed in my room."
It was the smell of cooking meat that helped her combat the exhaustion and wake from slumber. Bleary eyes met with an expanse of black fabric and her mind drew a blank on where she was. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
When she heard hose familiar words she rolled over intending to sleep for a little longer then everything came rushing back and with a jolt she shot bolt up right. Then she fell face first off of the u-shaped couch. A gray throw rug broke her fall. Ow.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
Her eyes narrowed and slowly she rose from the ground while trying to tame her mad scientist hair. Then she straightened her rumbled clothes before directing a glare at her friend. "Oh hardy har har. We can't all be as unflappable as a rock."
A single indigo brow rose. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
"If you're going to be this impossible, this early, at least tell me what's for breakfast."
"My world famous heart attack breakfast of champions platter, complete with your choice of: English muffins, white toast, chocolate chip bagels, fresh sconces, or cinnamon rolls."
In an instant she was facing the speaker and she took an involuntary step back. He's half metal like Azan. Those memories were an unwelcome intrusion."You're half metal. How did it happen?"
She was aware that Raven had stopped chanting and the half-metal man had shifted his attention to make eye contact with Raven. A full minute passed as she watched them hold a silent conversation. His eye, the red one, flashed harshly. 'What did you say to her?' Raven shrugged. 'Don't look at me like that. I didn't say anything to her.'
"My dad," Her tensed muscles loosened and she felt that a weight had shifted off of her. "He couldn't sit back and watch me die." As he finished answering her he set three large plates on the gray counter in front of him. Then a fourth was set down, away from the other three.
"My apologies. It happened to a friend of mine...against his will and they turned him into a weapon. When I saw him again he wasn't the same." At this he fumbled with a couple utensils and they clattered loudly on the counter, one of them slid off and landed on the floor.
The smile he flashed her was a little forced. "You look like a cinnamon roll person to me, doesn't she Rae?"
"Definitely a cinnamon roll person."
"What's a cinnamon roll?" She asked as she followed Raven to the counter. And finally saw the 'world famous heart attack breakfast of champions platter'. The first three plates had four strips of bacon, two bratwurst sausages, cheese covered hash browns, half a ham and cheese omelet topped with sautéed mushrooms and onions, and a stack of flapjacks drenched in syrup and melted butter. The fourth plate had four medium rare rib-eyes stacked on top of a raw sixteen ounce t-bone.
That's a lot of meat. Who's- Her thoughts were interrupted as a small plate was slid in front of her. A frosting glazed pastry rested on it. "A sample for the uninitiated."
"Zen, this is Cyborg." Raven said as Cyborg grumbled something that sounded like 'spoilsport'. "Cyborg, this is Zen. Is it ready yet?"
He nodded, "The broth's in the green one."
The waterbender's attention was drawn back to the food laid out on the counter and after she got her first taste of the cinnamon roll, she attacked the rest of her breakfast like a starving man at an all you can eat buffet. So occupied with good food and Cyborg's running commentary about scones she didn't see Raven's impressive magical display. The kitchen was filled with flying utensils: a bowl, a spoon, two tea mugs, a tray, and a ladle. Both the bowl and ladle made a detour at the green pot but only the bowl settled on the tray.
It wasn't until after Robin, the waterbender assumed it was Robin, had joined her and Cyborg that she noticed Raven wasn't there. She did however see that the plate full of meat was empty with five stark white bones on it.
"Starfire," The alien princess looked at Raven but it did nothing to quell the uncertainty that she felt. "You can do this. I know you remember how confusing it was to adjust to living on earth. And she...was on the losing side."
Her eyes were wide as she met Raven's and the answer was just as she feared. "One hundred years of war and it ended six years ago. She was raped repeatedly. Her mind is unstable and they just took advantage-" Unlike most of their team, and especially after fighting Trigon, Starfire gradually overcame her inherent fear of demons and by extension Friend Raven. The hug wasn't short and it served to calm both of them. They both pulled away at the same time.
"I can do this. But she'll feel safe around you. Probably."
She saw the faint smile on Raven's face before she took a step back and allowed Raven to knock on the door. "Azula are you awake?"
"Yes"
"May we enter?"
"An illusion of choice, not that I have a choice at all really," There was a pause. "At least you're a step up from the last hellhole I was unceremoniously thrown in. And if you dragged that waterbender with you, she's not wanted. But again I have no say in the matter."
"No I did not bring the waterbender with me. But a good friend of mine and she'll be of more help to you than I ever will."
"I doubt that."
With a wave Raven opened the door and entered the dark room. The room evoked some of the unpleasant memories that she associated with the room's former occupant. The walls were earth tones; reds and browns interspersed with gray and black. The ceiling was a reflection of the night sky, or rather Beast Boy's interpretation of it.
Like a magnet the half-demon's eyes located Azula in the farthest corner from the door. Azula's knees were drawn to her chest, her chin sat on them, and her eyes watched the yellow-orange flame that flickered in her hands.
"Where am I?" She asked, her eyes remained focused on the flame.
"In another dimension." The half-demon's answer angered her.
"This isn't the spirit world and I wasn't born yesterday." The flame was little more that a spark at this but it did not go out. "It doesn't matter how pretty you make it nor does it matter how much freedom I seemingly have; a cell is still a cell."
"Humor me and put these on before you look out that window." Haunted gold eyes slowly shifted away from the fire in front of her to glance toward Raven and when her eyes returned to her hands she saw a pair of glasses floating in the air, above the flame she held. Those aren't normal. The lens's look darker. Wait...it's another hallucination, things can't float like that. But then again she supposedly healed me.
"What are these?"
"Sunglasses. They reduce the glare of the sun. Your eyes will be more sensitive to light and these will help your eyes re-adjust."
With one last look in Raven's direction she grasped the floating sunglasses and held back the gasp of surprise as the glasses really were floating in the air. After inspecting them briefly she slipped them on. And was drowning in unease as the room was instantly darker than before. She rose from the ground slowly and kept her back pressed to the wall as she inched her way toward the window. When she reached it, the curtains moved aside on their own. She cast a wary glance at Raven and upon seeing that the woman hadn't moved nor had she seen anyone else enter, only then did she gaze out of the window.
The sight of an unfamiliar coastline greeted her. But all thought of caution and danger vanished when the sun's rays hit her skin. She inhaled as she felt the stirring of her fire chi and held for a moment longer before exhaling slowly. It was the first time in a very, very, long time that she relaxed. So relaxed that a moment later found her entire body in the sunlight. She wasn't aware of anything outside of the sunlight. Not the soft thunk of a tray of food being set down nor the presence of another person entering the room. It was just her and the sun.
"That is Jump City and this is Earth, my home." Raven's voice caused Azula to whirl around and shrink back against the window refusing to give up the only thing that she took comfort in; the sunlight.
"You are not a prisoner here. But there are a few ground rules that you are required to follow and places that you won't have access to. I'll have-" Raven forced herself to take a deep breath as her cloak's clasp started flashing yellow. "Fuck."
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Starfire fidget nervously. "Sorry Star. Its Dr. Light. Please make sure she eats."
A flash of black heralded her departure.
The room's remaining occupants were plunged into deafening silence. Before it was flooded with bright orange-yellow flames. Then the alien princess was forced to dodge a round house kick that was aimed at her head. Starfire's eyes lit up and narrowed as she fended off Azula's flurry of attacks.
It was when Azula's attacks lost their vigor that Starfire countered by rushing her. Caught off guard Azula was taken for a ride through the window. As glass shattered and fell around them she felt the inhuman strength twisting her arms behind her. The strength in the orange skinned woman's grip surprised her but what stilled her attempts to escape was what was said, "You've no honor. You have weakness. I do not fear the rutha."
"You can't treat me like this. You can't treat me like Zuko!" This desperate cry from Azula bewildered Starfire. "Zuko?"
Starfire flew higher heading for the roof. Azula was heedless of her surroundings as the sudden waking nightmare reached fever pitch, "But it was my idea to burn everything to the ground. I deserve to be by your side."
Azula's words viciously tugged at something inside of Starfire as they landed on the roof. When they were both down, Starfire let go of her captive. As soon as Azula was free she rounded on the alien princess. Azula's eyes were hollow, "You're both fools."
Sub-consciously Starfire took a few steps back but to her dismay Azula matched her step for step.
"Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again. And let them rot."
Those were the last words that Azula spoke before she collapsed and Starfire saw, that that hollowness had faded from her eyes.
Her father's flames danced before her eyes as she waited for him to speak. It wasn't a long wait. "You've disappointed me with your poor judgment. Not even that circus freak was any good. Despite numerous assurances."
Each word cut and burned like a fire dagger. She did her best to remain un-moving as he continued his diatribe. "I expected more from you. Torture to teach them exactly what those who betray the Fire Nation will receive, a long and painfully drawn out death."
She had wished endlessly to be as far away from him as she could get but it never came true and after everyone abandoned her, she gave up on the foolish notion of escape.
"In order for you to remedy this oversight," She shivered as his voice seemed to caress her ears. "I'll have both of those traitors put to death for their actions,"
She was having trouble drawing breath as her heart constricted and an icy chill left her numb. I won't let him. I can't let him. They're my friends. No they were my friends. My friends.
"Please Zula." As the acrobat's pleas echoed in her ears the princess sent a imploring 'help me' look in Mai's direction.
Mai shrugged in that effortless elegance that is distinctly Mai. "You know that once she's got her heart set on something that we all simply must do together, it gets done. Lets just get it over with."
"Hey!" Azula and Mai both looked at Ty Lee, one with a malicious glint in her eyes, the other with a brow raised. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not here."
Azula would never admit, not even under pain of death, that a pouting Ty Lee was the cutest thing in the world. Not even her stuffed dragon Sokon could compete, something else she would deny ever owning and labeling 'cute'.
Azula sighed and Ty Lee immediately perked up, as she somehow knew it was a sigh of defeat. Her intuition was quickly proven right. "If we must."
She wouldn't, couldn't, hold back the squeal of delight as she tackle hugged her princess. The both of them tumbled to the ground. Azula sent a glare in Mai's direction and when they were no longer being so obviously observed, Azula returned the hug and chuckled at Ty Lee's antics.
Mai looked on in utter disbelief as she tried, and failed, to keep her damn face muscles from twitching their way into a smile at the sight. Agni looks like I owe Ty forty gold pieces. I didn't think that Azula could manage cute or cuddly.
She was breathing too fast as the flood of her memories abated, she forced her breathing to slow. It wouldn't do to be off balance and show him how badly his words were affecting her. But it was agony. How can I possibly still care for those fools? Why-
"And you will be their executioner." It took everything in her not to jerk back at his words. A fiery tempest filled her mind and with every beat of her heart, the flames burned hotter.
"No." She took no satisfaction from the way he jerked back as if struck, at her defiance. She allowed him to dictate her life, he was all she had, but this was a step too far.
A smile, twisted and crooked, appeared on her face at how dangerous his voice sounded, she was unaffected as the tempest hissed and licked behind her eyes. "What did you say?"
"I said no. I will not kill them and I won't let you kill them either." Her voice was low but even, as she stood and deliberately extinguished the wall of flames separating them. Her eyes met his and she refused to look away. He sneered back and as he made to reignite the flames, she beat him to it. The low wall of blue flames flickered ominously. "Agni Kai."
"You dare to challenge me." He growled at her.
"I fight for their lives." She saw the muscles in his jaw clench as his eyes narrowed to little more than slits.
"Insolent child. You'll suffer for the embarrassment at the Boiling Rock." The doors were flung open and the throne room was filled with imperial guards, drawn by the commotion.
"Stand down. I've challenged my father to Agni Kai." As she spoke, much to his outrage, his, his imperial guards bowed and then form a large circle around Azula.
"I accept." He spit out. He rose gracefully from his seated position and jumped over the wall of blue flames to the ground below. And slowly made his way toward the circle of guards. The guards nearest him created a wide opening for him and when he was past, they closed ranks.
They moved in unison as they bowed and settled into their stances."In this hour we bear witness to Agni Kai. The challenger will now voice their grievance and state their desired out come if they achieve victory."
"My father thinks he can order me to kill two of my subordinates, I have refused him. And he's refused to see reason." A flash of black and then of white filled the edges of her vision. She fought down a wave of panic and forced herself to finish. "When I have victory, life and standard imprisonment will be granted for Mai and Ty Lee."
Before the guard could prompt him, her father spoke, sparks nearly flying from his mouth. "My daughter is an insolent child throwing a tantrum and is blinded by the blow dealt to the war as a direct result of her subordinates' actions. She is as culpable as the soldiers under her command. I question her loyalty to the Fire Nation. When I have victory, she will face banishment and exile to Kyoshi Island. Which will be cleansed of all other human habitation before her arrival."
There is no traditional gong to signal the start of their duel. There is a breath that breaks the silence. And then. "Begin!"
She dives for the ground and rolls under the wave of flame that pass overhead. As her momentum slows she rises, expelling flame from her mouth. He spins to avoid the circular burst of blue. His arms move back and forth in a steady rhythm launching balls of flame in rapid succession at her.
She deflects each one with a blue fire dagger as she closes the distance between them. As she swipes the last one into smoke and sparks, a wave of heat is her only warning as a massive fireball rushes at her. A volley of smaller fireballs follow behind. She is already aloft and performing a back-flip as her father's attack meets her. Coils of blue sparks gather at her feet and as she falls the sparks flare into a blaze. She stomps the Solar Flare into nothingness with a storm of blue. Her body is in constant motion as she dances in and out of the path of the smaller fire balls.
She deftly dodges the last one and is forced to launch herself into the air. The fire whip grazes her left leg. She locks her jaw and swallows the grunt that tries to escape. She uses the pain to focus her mind and ejects another burst of flame from both feet, to gain more height.
Her whole body is spinning in the air, drawing the flames around her in close before more flame pours from her hands and mouth, creating a funnel of fire. The funnel touches down on the floor as her body flies from the top, she performs another back-flip and kicks out toward the funnel.
He does not see her land lightly on the ground behind the fire cyclone, nor does he see her begin her dance. What he does notice is the cyclone closing on him and the heat drives him back. But no matter how far he moves, the cyclone dogs him. Then impossibly and just as it would swallow him, a whimper rends the air. "I yield!"
The fire cyclone dances back and forth before slowly growing smaller. Smoke and sparks add even more heat to the air. "What did you say?"
He whimpered again as his daughter is revealed, she was awash in the light from the dying fire cyclone, in stark contrast to the darkness around them. A blue fireball is being tossed carelessly into the air as her footsteps approach him.
"I-I-I y-yield." The only other time that he's ever felt this level of fear was when his father, Azulon, personally instructed his firebending lessons. His breathing was ragged and shallow as her boots stopped before him. When did I...get on my knees?
An indescribably unpleasant, almost painful, heat neared his chin and instinctively he looked up. The cause of the heat was a blue fire dagger and when he looked up, he brought his nose level with it; later he would find a contact burn on the tip. "And?"
"Mai and Ty Lee have their lives and will be treated as standard prisoners." He briefly considered having them quietly executed later. But the fire cyclone super imposed itself across his vision, and that was why he acquiesced to her demands. What kind of monster have I wrought unto my self and the world? He repressed a shudder at that thought.
Once silence fell upon them he saw the fire dagger wink out of existence and then she turned on her heel to walk out of the circle of guards. He did not rise from the floor until the doors to the room had closed behind her.
In the safety of her room she collapsed on to her bed from sheer exhaustion. Behind her eyes the flash of black and of white returned with a vengeance. The black and white were slow to take shape but as she drifted off the after image of two enormous dragons had burned across her eyes. If she dreamt, she doesn't remember for she woke to a hand over her mouth and one around her throat.
A weight pinned her in place and a whisper in her ear made that weight heavier. "No one defies me, Zula."
The weight shifted but did not grant her freedom of movement as she breathed flame at him. "Ah, ah, ah. There will be none of that." And a moment later it felt as though she'd been frozen in a block of ice. Terror unlike anything she'd ever experienced bogged her mind down as she felt her Dragon Breath taper off. A moment later and she coughed up sparks. No. No. No. No. No. No. And suddenly Rage flared, temporarily drowning out her fear as his earlier statement shone through.
"You don't get to call me that. Only Ty-"
One moment her father was looming at a distance and the next his eyes were boring into hers, his breath caused goose flesh to raise across her cheek were he exhaled, and his hands were holding her arms down. Tears gathered in her eyes as his fingers plucked the edge of her tunic at the base of her neck. She didn't let them fall as a searing heat cut it away. She closed her eyes as she felt the brush of his lips upon her skin. More goose flesh raised as he moved to a more sensitive area.
The Rage was back and she started thrashing but she stilled when his words, a sultry caress upon her skin, reached her, "I promised you that you would suffer for the Boiling Rock now cease your pitiful resistance or I will bring your precious circus freak to the capitol. Then she will service me. Every. Single. Night."
When he was satisfied that she would no longer fight him, he lips were on skin once more. No sound escaped her throat but she knew it would be a near thing throughout this night, and those are the moments that she will wish for death, for rescue, for someone to stop him. But no one ever had. No one ever will. This thought had her tears spilling over. As her tears fell she heard a voice that, strangely, brought to mind the color black. "I'm proud of you for saving your friends, my little Firefly."
She knew nothing beyond the weight pinning her to the mattress and her father knew nothing but the punishment he visited on his weak progeny. He left her alone, broken, and bleeding in the early morning but dawn was awhile away.
A shadow slipped into Azula's room from the balcony they'd planned Azula's assassination out weeks ago. A pair of dark blue eyes saw the blood drip off of the bed.
The shadow was just turning to slip back out when a pain filled cry froze them in place. Indecision gripped the shadow before they took a step toward Azula's whimpering form. As they approached they saw how Azula curled in on herself. They heard the quiet sobs that told them more of Azula's agony than the whimpering did. It told them her wounds ran as deep as her soul.
They reached out for Azula and just as their hand would have brushed against cloth, they saw Azula tense, as if she could sense their approach. They slowly stepped back and before their resolve broke water was swirling through Azula's head, coaxing her into a deep sleep. When sleep took Azula, she relaxed on the the bed, they saw the true extent of her injuries. The shadow reached for a second, smaller water skin, and uncorked it.
They had the water around their hands and lowered it onto Azula's throat. The shadow worked diligently. And as dawn spilled into Azula's room, the shadow was gone as was the severe burn around Azula's throat. The rest of her injuries weren't as tender as they had been. She didn't notice any of this upon awakening as a giant imposing white dragon was what greeted her when she opened her eyes. It said, "Burn the one responsible. Make little Zuzu suffer."
She was helpless to resist the command and she barely paused to don her armor before ordering an airship to be prepped for her.
Her heart was pounding painfully, her breathing fast and shallow, sticky cold sweat roll down her face. A scream ripped from her dry throat as she shot upright on the bed. The memories that haunted her dreams weren't quick to fade and in this state, her mind was a mess of panic, rage, and helplessness. Her breath was quickening and her heart was racing faster as she heard a soft click and footsteps.
"Star she's awake." The unfamiliarity of the woman's voice cut through her panic like a knife through butter. With the memories finally gone, her gold eyes flitted about the dark room and landed on the speaker. It was the waterbender from that hellhole. Faint light lit the room a moment later and she scrambled back until her back hit something solid.
"Easy, I'm not here to hurt you."
"I've heard that before." Her voice cracked from disuse. The waterbender made no obvious movements. And a chuckle reached her ears. "Do you really think that Raven would let me do anything to you?"
She hated how that name calmed the instincts telling her to fry the waterbender and escape as the waterbender writhed on the ground. "Strangely no. She'd probably rip out your spine with those shadows of hers or something."
Another laugh filled the air and both of them turned to regard the third woman as she entered the room.
"Friend Raven wouldn't go that far but Rage would." Again she hated how mention of Raven elicited trust so easily from her and toward these strangers.
"What do you want?" She was in no mood for entertaining and she just wanted to sleep or set something on fire. "And where am I? This isn't the room that I was in earlier."
She saw the two woman exchange looks before the one who spoke last nodded. At that the waterbender exited the room while the other woman moved closer but not too close."We were forced to move you to a containment room when you started throwing fire around in the throes of your mares of night. In this room the flames wouldn't damage much of anything."
"As to your first question. We want to help you Friend Azula." A vice closed around her heart and squeezed it full of pain. The woman's voice was kind and she couldn't tell if there was an ulterior motive. But this woman with eyes like emeralds and a laugh like sunshine reminded her of Ty Lee. So kind, so warm, and not an ounce of guile in any way shape or form but willing to protect her from herself and her father.
Her voice was weak and soft, she hated it, as she asked one question of the woman. "Why?"
"We share the same burdens." At her searching look the woman elaborated, "Of the right to rule, of expectation, of strength, of wounded souls, of losing sense of our true selves, and of being locked up in a hellhole."
A hardness, that separated this woman from Ty Lee, solidified in the woman's eyes. Hardness forged in darkness and pain, then as quick as it was there, it was gone; replaced by warmth. "I'm not of this world Friend Azula. Or rather not earth at least. When I crash landed on earth I was being hunted. And when I met Friend Raven and the others I had just escaped my captors. But my friends broke through the hard exterior and showed me kindness. I thought them weak. They taught me that showing weakness wasn't always a bad thing."
"Weakness is unacceptable." A sigh was the woman's only response. And for a long time an uncomfortable silence stretched between them.
"On Tamaran, my home," The woman paused and when she turned her attention to the woman, "My people are warriors. We are blessed with incredible strength and the capability of flight. I made my first kill at the age of four. It was an assassination attempt on my life and my caretaker watched from the doorway.
Tamaranians are hunted mercilessly by many other races that live among the stars. We can not afford weakness in anyway or we are slaughtered like animals. Friend Raven is the only one of my friends who knows how many I've killed. She knows how much I suffer the memories so that I may remember the lives I've ended. Many times I've woken her with my screams and many times she's sung me back to sleep.
It takes a different kind of strength to reach out for help. It does not make us weak nor does it make us powerless, Friend Azula. It makes us human or well...you at least." The alien princess struggled with her speech, it was imperative that her new friend understood her.
There was a rustle of cloth and a defeated weary sigh escaped her as the woman fell silent. "Who are you?"
A smile spread across the woman's face and there was a slight pang as the smile reminded her of Ty Lee once again.
"Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran. Please call me Starfire, Friend Azula."
Alright I'm going to go bath in hellfire now. I am really astounded by how much I've grown in my writing but also really, really mortified for the last chapter and this one. I think being vague makes it a whole lot worse. And if any of my readers stop reading this because of the sensitive issues within these two chapters, I do not blame you and please take care of yourself. Its also way I put up the trigger warning. Thought why I didn't do that before is unacceptable and I profusely apologize to any of my older readers whom I may or may not have caused a jarring and traumatic PTSD episode with the lack of warnings.