Burn My Dread FES
By Iain R. Lewis
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games.
"Six to seven to eight to nine ten, I flip the script to make it to the top ten, go!
Dreamless dorm, ticking clock. I walk away from a soundless room."
P3FES
Lotus Juice feat. Yumi Kawamura
Chapter 6: The Secret Sands
The girl in black stood there. Azula didn't know precisely how to react. The girl smiled, and looked at her expectantly. She was called, and now, she wanted to know why. "You really came." Azula hesitated. What did that even mean?
"Of course I came, since it's you!"
"What's so special about me anyway?" Azula snapped.
The girl looked at her. She was hesitating, reluctant to speak the reason, and when she finally spoke, she did so with a nervous giggle, "Why does it matter? You're Azula, and since you are, I want to be there wherever you go!"
"Do you have a name?" Azula asked.
"Don't you remember? I told you, I didn't have a name, yet."
Yes, in the hospital, that's where she said that. This girl, whoever she was, smiled expectantly at Azula, as if waiting for the pieces to fall into place, like she knew they would. "Well, how about I give you a name for the time being, until you get one of your own?"
"Would you?" the girl's eyes lit up with childlike wonder, "That would be wonderful!"
But what to name a little girl? Azula wished she'd have Katara's opinion on the matter, since the girl was already so motherly as it stood. Azula was certain she'd have a hundred ideas for names, and while in her head, Azula only had two.
Ursa, and Xiao.
Ursa wouldn't do. Xiao, however, could work. It meant Little Dragon, which Azula quite liked the image of. And Ursa would most certainly not do, not at all.
"Xiao."
"I see," the girl said, frowning. "Xiao. Xiao. Zhi-OW, Xiao."
"No?" Azula wondered, almost a little pathetically.
"It's not perfect, but it will do for now," Xiao said, cocking her head to the side, "I was hoping for a name like yours. Cool, pretty, and smart. I want to be everything you are when I am as old as you are."
"Okay," Azula said, pausing. "Who are you, Xiao? Are you part of this maze?"
"Of course not, silly," Xiao said, "But you've probably noticed that you're the only one who knows I exist. That's why -- that's why I don't want you to ever leave me. It's important, so don't! I can't stand to think what will happen if I'm all alone."
"You would survive, and become stronger for it," Azula said. "But for now, at least, I will not simply abandon you."
"I knew you wouldn't!" Xiao said.
Azula stared at Xiao. She wondered if she was ever that young and foolish, so reliant on someone else's acknowledgement to give herself any worth. A knot formed in her stomach. "I suppose I should go for now."
"Oh," Xiao looked sad, "Okay. You'll remember me, though, right? Promise not to forget about me!"
"I -- I promise."
The food court was beginning to quiet down. Sokka let Yue continue to rest, the poor girl looked like she'd just gone through exam week without sleeping once, and it showed. She lightly snored as he waited for the others to return. One by one, they came.
Katara had a bunch of snack food in a plastic bag, while Zuko brought a couple of bags to store things in. Toph returned a bit after Zuko, lugging the water bottles. "She insisted," Zuko weakly said.
"I got it!" Toph said, tossing it on the table so heavily that it shocked Yue awake.
"Oh my!"
"Oh, sorry, Yue!" Toph said, embarrassed, "Didn't mean to smash it down so heavily."
"That's all right," Yue said, yawning, "I think I feel much better now. It would be wonderful if we could find our way back to the dorm. I think resting in a real bed would do me wonders."
"Yeah, I think you're right," Katara said. "So we're just waiting for Azula to show up. Guys, I know it's rude to talk about people behind their backs, but I think we should probably think about what to do about her sooner than later."
"What do you mean?" Yue asked.
"She tried to kill you, Yue, and she did kill Aang. Remember, from the start, she pretended to like us, but she just wanted us to be her own personal army."
Zuko sighed, "I don't know."
"People change," Sokka said. "I think we should be giving her a chance. I mean, she managed to get us through the garden. Benefit of the doubt."
"She was more than willing to let you guys rot there, you know," Katara said, gravely. "She's as self-serving as ever. She's been mocking us the whole time."
"As soon as we're no longer useful, stab in the back?" Toph asked. "Yeah, that's her style, all right. Definitely got a bad feeling."
"I don't know," Yue said, "I sense there's something different about her, and I'm not just talking about her bending. Remember what she did for us all in the Tower. She stayed behind and gave us a chance to stop Iroh."
"Yeah, because she realized she was totally crazy!" Toph said.
"I don't trust her, at all," Katara continued, "We should probably be ready. Hopefully we can get our bending back in time."
"Look, sis, I know you just love believing the worst in people, but don't you think you're going just a bit far. Aang thought there was good in her, and he was right about Zuko, why not about you. Isn't that right, Zuko?"
Zuko grunted.
"You've been awfully quiet about this, Zuko," Katara said, "I know she's your sister, but you know her better than anyone. So, what do you think?"
"I don't know," Zuko said. "She's always been this way, as far back as I can remember."
"So, you agree we should do something about her?" Katara asked.
"No. But I don't think we can trust her yet."
"Way to cast the tiebreaker, Zuzu," Toph muttered. "So what do we do instead? Watch our backs at every second of the day? Because we're all going to need sleep sometime."
"I don't know!" Zuko snapped. "All I know is that I saw her save Aang on top of the tower, and I don't know how else to put it -- there's some good in there, but she doesn't remember it. Or doesn't want to, maybe."
"Right now, we need her," Yue said, "And hopefully, she will remember in time."
"I don't know how you guys can just forgive her like that," Katara sighed, throwing her hands up, "Fine, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Didn't warn you about what, pray-tell?"
The look on Katara's face as it went from a shade of blue to pink and finally to red seemed to force Yue to keep down a guffaw. Katara slowly turned around to acknowledge the speaker. "Azula, you're back."
"Yes, I am." Azula took a seat at the table and looked at everyone, nodding as she consulted some internal check-list, everything so perfect and controlled. "Very good. Everyone seems to have rested up. It's time we return to the maze."
"Can't we just stay here?" Toph moaned.
"No, we can't," Zuko snapped right back. He stood up.
"What did I do to you, Zuzu," Toph muttered, but she didn't press the issue any further, slumping in her seat, her face laid against her fist. Azula sighed.
"You know well enough why we can't stay here," Azula said. She tentatively added, "Though I can understand why you would like to rest for a while longer, it just isn't --"
"What Zuko meant," Katara said, putting a hand on Toph's shoulder, "Is that we need to help Aang. He may be in danger, and until we know for certain why all of this is happening, we shouldn't rest too long."
"I know, Katara," Toph murmured, "Just so tired."
Azula narrowed her eyes at Katara, who gave her a split-second grin. It chilled her. It wasn't usual that she was beaten at her own game. Sokka watched the exchange curiously. "Why don't you girls go on ahead. I want a word with our leader real quick."
"She's not our leader," Toph bristled.
"Whatever Azula is, then," Sokka said, tiredly, "Go ahead, I'll be fine! Really!"
Katara looked at Azula for the briefest of moments, before turning back to Sokka. She nodded slowly, and said, "Come on, Toph, let's get going."
The three girls left, leaving Azula seated with Sokka at the table, and she looked a bit perplexed. Sokka's face was quite serious, for a change, set in a stony expression that didn't betray a hint of emotion. If it weren't for the way his finger nervously tapped against the table, Azula wouldn't have had a clue what he was thinking.
"You should be careful, around Katara I mean."
"Oh?" She arched her brow, "And why are you telling me this, Sokka?"
"Why? Because I don't want to see you getting hurt because of her stupid grudge. Look, don't get the wrong idea. The stuff you did before? The person you were before? I hate them. Everything about you was rotten, there wasn't anything good there."
"My, and here I was about to fall head over heals for you," Azula drolly smirked.
"Whatever," he said, dismissively. And Azula's eyes widened ever so slightly.
It was to be one of those talks, was it? So be it. "So, why do you help me and not side with your sister?"
"I don't know," he answered. He wasn't lying, that was what made Azula most interested about this. She leaned closer. "You just seem different, now. Like, I don't know, you had something there that you lost but someone found it for you."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, that stuff we were talking about earlier, about how Yue's repressed feelings created that spirit? Well, I got to thinking," he said, "We all got sides we don't see. It's like a play, we got all these costumes and props we use, masks we wear, so people don't see who we are under the make-up. All that lying and trickery, just makes me wonder, maybe I didn't see something and Aang did."
"I see."
"He believed in you 'til the end, you know. He used to visit you almost as much as your brother did."
"I'm honored by your fleeting presence."
"Look, he visited you every day he could, Zuko and Aang both."
"I know," Azula scoffed. "But I'm not sure I can accept that his reasons were altruistic, not yet. Sokka -- you do not understand and you probably never will."
"You're right."
"Of course I am."
"But that doesn't mean I don't have an idea," Sokka said, "Your Dad was a piece of work, no offense. I mean, Zuko's told me some of the stuff he put you through. They did tests on humans, huh? Tried to make them Benders and you two were there --"
"No," Azula said, coldly, "We won't discuss that now. Perhaps never."
"Right, yeah, sorry," Sokka answered, darting his eyes to someplace that wasn't her frigid eyes. "Look, all I'm saying is, from what I heard, he never trusted you, and I guess you probably never trusted him."
"Maybe," Azula frowned. She looked uncomfortable, and Sokka's analysis seemed to strike too close to her heart. "What I simply meant was that I will never have the happy loving sibling love you have with Katara."
"I don't know about that," Sokka said, "I fight with my sister all the time."
"It isn't the same."
"Guess not," Sokka said. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you'd probably better watch out."
"Yes, of course," Azula said, looking at him, curiously. "And I thank you for that. I was aware of Katara's animosity, but still, the sentiment is," she tried to think of a word, "NIce? No," she dug deeper, "Touching."
"You're welcome," Sokka said. "Come on, everyone's probably waiting."
"What took you so long?" Katara nearly shouted when they arrived, "Security's been wondering why we're loitering around here, and they're getting really suspicious."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Azula said, "I should have told Zuzu to dress a little less threateningly. Really, the yanki look isn't you, brother."
Zuko just glowered at her. Azula smiled, pleased at his reaction. "Let's get going, then, what are we waiting for?" Sokka said, pushing the Houou siblings out of the way as he opened the door into the maze. "Our destination awaits."
"What a convenient way to travel," Yue said, ponderously as she stepped through. The cool air of the labyrinth seemed punctuated by a warm breeze. Yue's expression turned more alert as she stepped further in.
The others looked around, a bit surprised. "Usually this place is so cool," Toph said, "The heat's not a bad touch, but, hey, it probably means something's about to eat us. Yue, you see anything?"
Azula frowned. The warm air was dry and she could feel her skin wanting to shrivel up with every breath. The obnoxious tune from the store faded away into nothing when Zuko closed the door behind them. The maze seemed different. The walls seemed to be darker, narrower, as shadows loomed larger.
Yue frowned. "Something is close, yes. We should probably proceed carefully." She smiled, "The good news is, we aren't too far from another one of these doors. Perhaps it will lead us closer to the dormitory?"
"I doubt it," Zuko said, "But maybe we should investigate it anyway."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Katara said, "It may be locked, anyway, and either way, we're really not that well rested. I think we should just see if we can't find the dormitory the old-fashioned way."
"Azula, it's up to you," Yue said. Azula frowned. Katara made a couple of good points, but at the same token, her instinct favored Zuko's decision.
The creaking got louder. Hands reached at the corners of the maze, pulling closer.
Azula was about to speak when Toph interrupted her. "Hurry it up, Power Princess!"
"I am!" Azula snapped. "We'll investigate the door." She would trust her instinct, since it never let her down before. "Maybe it won't lead us closer to home, maybe it will, but even if we can't enter it, there must be a reason Yue is drawn to it, yes?"
"I suppose so," Katara moaned. "All right."
"Anyone feeling a little claustrophobic?" Sokka wondered, "Like, did this place get smaller?"
"It's a trick of the light," Katara said. "Toph, you don't feel it, do you?"
"Nope."
"See? It's your eyes playing tricks on you," Katara laughed.
They walked down those corridors, not noticing the looming shadow behind them, clawing at the walls, moving ever so closer, casting its shadow deep across them, and vanishing when they would turn behind.
"Something's following us," Azula said.
The spirit lingered silently above them, its fingers dug deep into the stone.
"Yes, I feel it too," Yue said. She looked back, and frowned, "But where?"
Like stalks, arms with many hands struck out for the ceiling above them, slipping like a moving shadow above them, moving in the direction they proceeded, while their eyes were cast behind. It dropped down and clung to the walls, waiting for them to move.
"It's moving around," Yue said, "But I don't see where --"
The creature saw her and knew her to be its greatest threat. Yue turned and found herself thrown against the wall by two long, powerful arms. She cried out, and the others turned to see nothing but a lingering shadow.
"What happened?" Katara's voice was more alert, more caring. She put down her bag, and approached Yue. "Yue, are you okay? Speak to me!"
"I'm fine," she murmured, "It's nearby. A shadow --"
In the nest of hands and arms that made up the spirit, small white eyes opened up, and a long, crescent moon smile formed beneath them. Arms struck out from across the way, knocking Katara off her feet and climbing up to the ceiling, pulling the image across the ground.
"Where is it? Let me at 'em!" Toph shouted. Zuko drew his swords and struck at the dangling arms. The creature made no noise, but its face changed from a smile to a scowl. The arms dropped to the ground, melting into the cracks in the mortar, and vanishing.
"There, that one hurt it!" Sokka laughed.
"I don't think it did," Zuko said. He prepared to strike back when another set of arms grabbed him from behind, pulling him into the wall with a loud smash.
"Zuko!" Yue called out, "Get up!"
"My turn," Sokka said. "Boomerang'll get him!" He threw it at the ceiling-suspended spirit, and it bounced off of the hands, falling to the ground. "Or maybe it won't."
"I don't think this is working," Azula said. She grabbed a bottle of water from her pack and opened it.
"You can waterbend?" Sokka's voice sputtered out in surprise. Azula smirked, bending the water out of the bottle and --
Knocking herself clean into the wall, leaving her sopping wet. "Apparently not," Toph chuckled. Azula pulled herself up, and drew the air in around her. The sudden vacuum caused the spirit to turn in her direction, Arms lunging out to grab her.
They were blown aside by the cyclone of wind around her. She moved in perfect time with it, striking out, and the wind became like an extension of her movements. The spirit was knocked down from its perch, but pulled itself up quickly, latching to the wall and moving with a great burst of speed towards Azula.
"Guys," Sokka began, "We should maybe run."
"I agree," Yue said. "Azula, we can't win this fight!"
"I disagree," Azula said, coldly. Gale bursts of wind tore through the corridor, throwing the spirit against the wall and letting it drip slowly to the ground. Its arms extended forward, more ripping out of its body and it grew, larger and larger.
"Azula! You're going to get us all killed!" Katara shouted.
"I have control of the situation," Azula snapped right back. Yue looked to Katara and then back at Azula.
"Azula, please, we need to retreat!"
Azula scowled. The multitude of arms struck her, knocking her back and forther. Barely holding onto her footing, Azula cast her eyes around the long passage. The hands were everywhere, but she couldn't see the spirit anymore.
"Will someone just grab her and let's get out of here?"
"Right, on it," Sokka said. He threw himself into the fray, sword cutting through the shadowy sinews. He reached out and grabbed Azula by the wrist and pulled, much to the girl's shock. "Let's go!"
Azula could do little more than let herself be dragged along as the group ran through the corridor, the horrible scraping sound of a thousand hands clawing down the hallways growing quieter and quieter as they did.
"Okay, we definitely need to get away from whatever that is!" Toph shouted. "Even I could see you guys getting your butts kicked!"
"We're very close to that door," Yue said, brightly, "Perhaps we can use that as a way to escape from it."
"Sounds good, let's move it," Sokka exclaimed. Azula slowly wrested her arm back from Sokka and stopped. He turned, and everyone slowly stopped, looking back at her. She sighed, grabbing arm and rubbing it.
"I said it was under control," she said, quietly.
"Doesn't sound like she's got anything under control," Toph muttered in retort.
"It was under control!" she snapped back.
"Azula, please calm down," Yue said, interposing herself. "We need to conserve our strength, for now."
Azula frowned, looking Yue over, and then, finally, she nodded. "Excellent point, Yue. Very well, this time I will overlook it, but remember, I'm the one calling the shots, here."
"Why?"
Everyone's eyes darted to Katara, except for Sokka's. He was too busy closing them and pinching the bridge of his nose to turn. "Not now, Katara, any time but now."
"Isn't it obvious? Aang chose me to receive his powers, obviously I should lead."
"I don't know how you got his Avatar powers, Azula," Katara said, looking her dead in the eye, "But if you don't watch yourself, I'll make sure to take them from you, by force if I have to. I don't know how, but I'll find a way."
Azula and Katara stared at each other for what seemed like an uninterrupted eternity, until the sound of the scraping hands of their pursuer became louder. "Guys, not exactly the time," Toph said. "We need to get out of here, and fast."
The door, which like the ones before was not really so much a feature of the maze as an adornment, hanging just above the ground like it were a hanging portrait, It was adorned in blue and white, a small ivory plate was bolted into the door, on which was inscribed "II." An ornate handle shaped both like a fish and a girl was held tight, locked.
The dry heat that permeated the corridors seemed to be eminating from behind it, and beneath it, grains of sand had leaked out from the small gap between the frame and the door. None of these details mattered.
The creature was in hot pursuit and the Bending Club were forced into a corner. Its myriad hands pushed them down the hallway, slamming them across the ground. "We're so close," Yue murmured, "Just a little further!"
Azula whipped up the air around her into a furor, throwing out gusts of wind from her outstretched arms and trying her best to avoid the multitude of arms that jut out of the wall in her direction. Katara was already running for the door, when she was knocked clear aside by a long, snaking arm.
Sokka swung his sword at it, and turned to grab the handle. "It's locked!" he shouted. "Azula, that key!"
Azula nodded, spinning around with a wide roundhouse kick and grabbing from her bag the strange key that mysterious Lee had given her. She threw it back towards Sokka, and moved to avoid being slammed back into the ground by the massive shadowy hand that shot out of the ceiling.
"Is it me or is this thing getting bigger?" Zuko snarled, blades cutting through the spirit's shadowy tendrils as he shouted.
"It does seem to be," Yue squeaked.
The key landed on the ground with a clank. Sokka reached for it but was thrown aside by the spirit's many limbs.
"Someone, get that key!" Sokka shouted. "Toph! Katara! Yue! Anyone!"
"Oh, I'll just look for it," Toph shouted, anxiously.
"Well, if you can remember how to Earthbend, too, that'd be peachy," Sokka retorted.
"I've got it!" Katara said, reaching for the key. If she was paying more attention, she would have seen the markings on the key change to match the door, but she was too busy reaching to open it. The key dove in, and Katara pulled it out as the door swung slowly open.
The bright sunlight cast into the corridor, forcing the spirit back. The hands caught in the rays of light that burst out of the door began to sizzle and burn. "Guys, hurry!" Katara urged. The creature screeched in an inhuman tongue as the light threatened to engulf it, but the Bending Club scurried through the door.
Azula and Katara took up the rear. "The key," Azula said, holding her hand out for it. Katara reluctantly reached out to return it. "What are you waiting for?"
A cornered animal will fight back until the last, and the spirit, cornered as it was, resorted to primal reasoning. Shooting out its arms through the light, pushing past the pain, the spirit grabbed at the key, pushing Katara and Azula barreling through the door.
The key fell from the disintegrating shadows, falling through the door.
It landed in the desert dunes. There was no one around to see it.
It was much the same for Azula.
First thing, was everything accounted for. The added sand in her hair and clothes not-withstanding, it seemed that she was quite in one piece, which considering the situation a moment earlier, was definitely something of a miracle.
Secondly, she tried to remember the last few minutes clearly. She had been falling for only about ten seconds, but it was enough to cause her to focus strictly on that. Whoever placed a door in this place, they didn't have the sense to put it close to the ground. The rest of the time had been spent in a daze. The sand had softened her landing, somewhat. It wasn't, however, ideal.
The pain in her head was finally beginning to subside, and she was relatively sure she was all right. That led her to focus on her belongings. The bag, with all of the supplies she had, was strewn about the dune. She would have to take care of that shortly, but right then and there, she preferred to remain focused on her bearings.
The final thing she needed to worry about was the rest of the group.
"Is everyone all right?"
There was no answer.
This was wonderful, they either broke their necks with the fall or they'd been separated -- again -- and with the memories of the fake Yue from the garden clear in her head, she now had another very large problem. One of her friends -- her team -- would be acting very strange the next time she saw them.
A desert -- perhaps Toph's? -- she amused herself with thinking of an Other-Toph. Probably, she reasoned, able to see, no less.
Toph seemed the most reasonable person to have created a desert. The air sucked up all the moisture in her skin, and left her lips feeling parched. The sun served only to make the landscape more bleak. Her feet sank into the sand,
It went on forever, Azula thought.
There were no landmarks, no large rocky hills, no lonesome cacti, just sand, sand everywhere. The heat was getting more and more unbearable as she walked forward, leaving a long trail of her footsteps behind. Where else could she go but forward.
Azula walked for eternity.
She, however, was only human. She took a conservative sip of her water, suddenly very glad to have it with her. Her feet felt scratched from the sand that got in her shoes, and she had already undone the handkerchief of her uniform, letting in some air -- dry and hot thought it was -- cool her.
She collapsed in the sand a moment later, spilling much of that water in the arid sands.
She looked around her. Everything seemed so similar, that it was hard to tell where she was or where she was going. However, there was one very clear sign in front of her that filled her with rage and frustration.
In front of her were a set of footprints leading out forward. She stood, walked over to them, dread filling her as she surveyed them. Though they were covered up, she could still make out the size and shape of a feminine shoe belonging to a Phoenix School uniform. She placed her foot next to one, and pulled away.
She stared at them.
They were hers. There was no doubt about that.
"Circles. I've been walking in circles," she said. "All this time." She felt her focus become blurry, and she laughed, a harsh, empty laugh, "All this time! Perfect! How long have I been here, days? Weeks? Months?"
She wouldn't be beaten by this, not by anyone, and least of all by herself. She fought hard to reason, there was no way she'd been in here for more than a handful of hours, probably much less than that.
It was that sun, playing tricks on her. It hung high over her, casting a shadow across the sand, growing long, like spindly fingers across the irridescent sand. It glimmered as her shadow waved across it, the sun seeming to move as she stumbled.
Azula stopped. She turned herself around, and she began down a different direction.
To be continued.