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.
"Play time, I put that behind, said I'm sorry I got to go from the side line to the main. I aim high, to the place no human has ever even tried."
- Deep Breath Deep Breath - Reincarnation-
Lotus Juice
Chapter 10: Fragment
"Am I dead?"
Azula's voice sounded alien to herself, so full of uncertainty, even as she took a breath of the foggy air in, looking at her pale skin under the low blue light of the room. It seemed like it was underwater, with ripples cast down from the lights above. Her breath mingled with the fog.
Lee, cocking his head to the side, looked at her, cautiously shaking his head, "Why would you think that?"
"I remember drowning."
"You're not dead, Azula," he said, "I promise."
Lee was busy putting his cards back into a pile, clearing off the table, and he didn't say anything as Azula sorted the thoughts in her head. She must have passed out, she reasoned, after the waters swept her away.
She'd never really feared for her life before, but it was a strange feeling, and one that wasn't very pleasant at all. She took in a deep breath, just to know she was alive, and let it out slowly, "Lee, where is this place?"
"Wherever you want it to be," he said. "It's a strange place, isn't it?"
"Stop playing games," she snarled, "I nearly died."
"I'm sorry," he said, apologetically, "I didn't realize what you were walking into at the beginning. If we had a time to talk, before now, I'd do what I could to warn you. That's what I want to discuss. There's been a change to the labyrinth since you entered it. More of those doors have popped up, and I didn't know that would happen."
"Those doors?"
"Yes, like the one I gave you the key for. Have you been able to enter the others?"
"Yes. So you knew about the garden. Why couldn't you have warned us about the desert -- others?"
"What desert?" he wondered.
"The one I nearly died in! What do you mean, others?"
"I thought you were drowning, though!"
Azula frowned, "Yes, the desert was being flooded at the time. What is so hard about that to understand? And stop ignoring my question!"
"I don't know," he said, "It's just interesting." He looked so infuriatingly smug behind that mask of his, she could feel it and it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end; "But, if you entered a desert, that must mean someone created one. When Yue was trapped in the maze, she made that garden, but that wasn't all --"
"Her other side? Yes, there was one of those, too, and I don't really care to give you the details. What others?"
"Oh, right, I did say others, didn't I?" he said, looking bashful. "Well, I don't know how to explain this, really. But, here goes -- about the time you entered, there were a whole bunch of other doors that appeared. They're not exactly fully formed, which is good, but, well, I don't know how to explain this --"
"You're absolutely terrible at this," she said, "What is so important about this maze?"
"I'm not sure."
"And yet you're having me run through it like a pig-mouse for what reason?" she asked, standing and leaning forward against the table. "Do you think I enjoy risking my life for people who hate me?"
"Azula, please sit down, you're making me uncomfortable," Lee said, weakly.
She narrowed her eyes and curled her lip, angrily.
"Well, it's like this," he said, "It's not exactly your world, not exactly the Spirit World, it's between teh two, right?"
"That does seem to be the case."
"Well, you entered it from your world, wouldn't it make sense that the exit would be in the Spirit World?"
"I follow you so far. What's the problem with that?"
"Maybe nothing," he said, "Maybe everything. I don't know yet, and I don't want to risk it. I'm sorry, I know I'm asking a lot of you, but you were chosen for this because you could do it, Azula, and I trust you."
"I don't trust you."
"I, I know that," he said, looking aside, "I know you don't, and I haven't really given you any reason to. I want to tell you more, I really do, but you have to discover it yourself."
"What makes you think I want to?" she asked. She sat down, crossed her arms, and waited for him to answer, staring at the black eyeholes of the mask. The sun mask didn't stop smiling, but it was clear that Lee wasn't happy.
"I don't know," he said, "It's a bitter work, right?"
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, never mind," he said, "I guess not."
"Look, I don't know what you need me to do, Lee, I don't even know who you are," she said, "But if you plan to send me blind into these situations, find someone else."
"Wait!" he said.
"Yes?" she said, looking up from examining her nails.
"You're the only one who can do this, Azula," he said, "I can't explain it, but you're connected to the labyrinth, moreso than anyone."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know how," he said, "Just that you are. I need your help, Azula, and I'll do what I can to help you in return."
She looked at him.
"How do we get back to the dorm?"
"The dorm?"
"We need to rest, we need time to get our heads on straight."
"Oh, right, right," he said, "Well, that's not going to be easy."
"What?"
"You're really deep in the labyrinth, now, and there's no easy way back except through one of those doors."
"Wonderful," she sighed. "Just perfect. Which one?"
"I don't know," he said, "But I imagine Yue will be able to find it. The labyrinth is getting larger by the second, so you don't have long to rest up, either. If you don't find your way to the other side, soon, you could be too late."
"I realize that," she said. "But it's no use going into these situations blind. What do you know about this door?"
"Nothing," he said, "I'm sorry. I know you're running off into danger, and if I could help you more, I would, but right now, I'm forced to just observe."
She frowned, "You really don't know."
He shook his head, "I wish I did."
"Is there anyone else in the maze, besides us?" she asked.
He hesitated, "There's something there, too," he said, "And part of it is really close to you, right this second. Please, be careful."
Her shoulders sagged, it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. "I will be. Thank you, Lee."
"Next time we meet, I hope to have a better idea what's happening in the labyrinth. Good luck, Azula, I'm counting on you."
Lying atop soft linen, she squirmed and opened her eyes slowly, staring into a bright white light that illuminated a quiet room. She could see shadows behind a sterile curtain, talking. She recognized two of them immediately. Katara and Toph. The third, an old woman by the sound of her voice, had a cat on her head.
Frowning, she reasoned, she was in the nurse's office.
Frowning deeper, she remembered where she really was. The labyrinth, or perhaps another one of those strange doors to the past, neither of those options very hospitable. She sat up, resting on her arms and looking around.
Her uniform was dry, and clean, and she wondered if it had just been a dream, the water carrying her away and under, leaving her grasping onto one last desperate breath. But no, no matter what she did, she couldn't shake the reality of what happened.
Katara must have done something to save her. Azula glowered. That didn't make this any easier. The nurse was walking out of the room, and the two shadows approached the curtain, pulling it open and looking in. "Good morning," Katara said, quietly, "Feeling better?"
Azula stared at them.
"She's speechless," Toph said.
"You had us worried. You were out cold."
"I was elsewhere," Azula answered. She looked at Katara, "What happened?"
"The aqueduct broke," Toph said, "Least that's how Sokka explained it. The whole place flooded pretty soon after Sugar Queen here sorted out her issues, and you guys were in really low ground, so you got swept up by it. The rest of us were luckily enough on a nice hill."
"Lucky you," Azula coughed.
"Take it easy. You nearly drowned there," Katara said. "I tried to grab you, but you went under too quickly. I managed to bend us out of the river, and I think I got all of the water out of your lungs, but --"
"I'm fine," she said. "Your bending is back, then?"
"Yeah, just like that," she said, "I guess I can finally help fend off those creatures."
"I guess so," Azula said. "You were about to tell me something, before --"
"What? That? It's nothing! I was just thinking out loud," she said, "Forget about it." Azula frowned, and nodded her head. "And why are you here, Toph? Feeling a chill?"
"After that desert, I'd take snow any day," she said, "Nah, I was just giving Sweetness a hand. The boys and Yue went on ahead and decided to scope out the rest of this place. It's the weirdest thing."
"What is?" Azula asked.
"We don't know how we got here," Katara said, "And we don't know when we ended up, either. We're trying to figure it out, and maybe we can find a way out of here."
"I see." In the back of her mind, Lee's warning echoed. Something was definitely not right about this place. "I suppose we should continue."
"Yeah," Katara yawned. "I'm sorry, everything that's been going on has taken a lot out of me."
"Maybe you should rest," Toph said, "Get up, Spice Girl, let Katara get some sleep."
Azula nodded, and slid off the bed. Katara threw her hands up, apprehensively, "I don't need sleep that bad, really."
"Get some rest," Azula said, "I'll be running you ragged now that you've decided to rejoin the front lines."
Katara sighed, slumping forward and then walking towards the bed, "Fine, but only because I know you're not kidding."
Azula nodded, and with Toph at her side, left Katara to get some rest, pulling the curtain over to give her some privacy. The two girls then headed out of the nurse's office and out into the hall. Toph spoke suddenly, "You know what, I still don't get you."
"What?"
"You're mean, yeah, you're real mean, but you know what, I think you're getting soft all of a sudden," Toph continued, "Wish I could figure out what's going through your head. I don't even know when you're being sincere anymore, doubt you do, either."
"I don't understand what you mean."
"Maybe you don't," Toph grumbled, "I just don't get you. Are you on our side or what?"
"I'm not on anyone's side," Azula said, "I'm trying to survive. You are too, everyone serves their own needs first. To do otherwise is stupid at a time like this."
"You know, we could have let you drown," Toph said, "But we didn't."
Azula sniffed indignantly, "You need me to get through this maze, so it was to your benefit to save me. Please, don't try and confuse the issue."
"Whatever," Toph said.
Walking through the halls, it almost seemed like a normal day-to-day student life had asserted itself in their lives. Boys ran by, taunting another, girls watched and giggled amongst themselves as they spread the local gossip.
Azula scoffed, she never cared for it. It was a distinguished school, and the willy-nilly attitudes of the student body did little to reflect that. Toph, however, seemed unfazed by it all. The normalcy of this all was disturbing.
"No one even thinks we stand out," Azula said, calmly, "This is different."
"No, it's not," Toph said.
"How can you be so certain."
"For all we know, it could be last year."
"Then, shouldn't we already be here, somewhere else?" Azula asked. "This feels wrong, something is different about this place, but I can't quite place my finger on it."
"Look, let's just find the others and figure it out together, instead of you going off and having your private little 'theories' that you don't share with anyone, okay? You need to be a team player if you want to lead us. You're lucky I managed to pick at the nerves of old fish-butt there, or you'd be down three teammates thanks to Katara's big ugly secret."
Azula frowned.
"Or not, you can keep hoping people pick up on your wavelength. Sure doesn't seem like a safe bet to me, though, nope."
Toph carried on ahead, leaving Azula frustrated, not only by Toph's brutal honesty, but by how right she was.
Behind them, the students seemed to lurch, their bodies hunching -- changing.
Katara couldn't quite get to sleep.
The noises that came in from the hall distracted her, the gossiping, gabbing, the yelling and shouting that carried into the infirmary, and despite the fact that she was exhausted, something was not sitting right with her.
She thought she saw shadows on the other side of the curtain, just standing there, watching her, hungrily, like waking nightmares just out of the corner of her eyes.
She clenched her eyes shut, trying to cast them out from her mind, but they still loomed in her mind's eye and when she opened her eyes, though they were gone like they'd never even been, she could still feel them boring into the back of her head.
When the door to the infirmary opened, she nearly jumped out of her skin. The shadow of whoever it was looked at the curtain for a good minute, hesitant and unsure of what to do, and Katara was just as equally uncertain. "Who's there?"
The shadow moved, and approached. It seemed familiar now. "Katara?" she asked. "Is that you?"
"Suki?" she blinked, and rubbed her eyes. Yes, the shape on the other side definitely belonged to Suki, how had she not seen that before? "Suki, am I glad to see you."
"You've been gone forever, Katara," she said, "Where did you go?"
There was a strange sensation, like her mind was being massaged. It put her off, and she looked at Suki strangely. "Go? What do you mean?"
"You were missing for days. We didn't think you'd be back, any of you."
"Days?" But that didn't make sense, a part of her mind said. Suki grew straight and laughed.
"Just pulling your leg," she said. "Seriously, Sokka said you'd been through a lot. What did you do this time?"
"Well, you know," Katara offered, weakly. "Why are you standing over there?" She sat up, "I mean, it's not like I'm sleeping or something."
"I think I'd rather stay here," she said strangely.
"Suki?"
"What?" she spoke more organically now, so different from the staccato voice that answered her just now. "Is something wrong?"
"You're acting strangely," she said. She approached the curtain and began to pull it open when Suki suddenly kept it shut. She could hear more people coming into the room. "What's going on? Did someone get hurt."
"Everything's fine," Suki said. "Don't worry. Just get some sleep. Everything's fine, don't worry."
"Suki? Come on, if this is a joke --" she pulled the curtain open. There she saw students of all shapes and sizes, and Suki at the fore. But they weren't students, and that wasn't Suki.
They had no faces.
Yue sighed, sitting on the rooftop. Sokka was pacing, and trying to put everything together. Zuko just grimaced, still feeling the sting from Katara's waterbending healing. At least his bruises were healed, Yue thought.
"So, where in time are we?" Sokka wondered.
"I don't know."
"No one seemed to wonder about me," Yue said, "And neither did they wonder about Zuko."
"Yeah, and since you both have the same seat, I don't know why that is," Sokka said, his shoulders drooping in defeat. "Everything that makes sense doesn't make sense anymore. I don't think we're anywhere in time."
"So?"
"I don't know what that means!"
Yue and Zuko looked at each other, and then shook their heads slowly. "Okay, then what do we do about it?" Zuko said. Yue shrugged and Sokka just stared blankly at him. "Well?"
"I don't know," he said, "We're being thrown another curveball. This maze is crazy. I thought I had it all worked out and then it just goes and messes with us."
"The maze does feel like it's alive," Yue admitted. "And it feels close, too, almost like it's right in front of us."
"Could we be in it, right now?" Zuko asked.
Sokka closed his eyes. "That just makes less sense. But, when you eliminate all possibilities, whatever remains, no matter how unplausible, it must be the truth."
"Or you just haven't thought up all possibilities," Zuko muttered.
"Quiet, you."
"I'm just saying," Zuko said, "That may be true, but what does that even mean?"
Sokka sighed, "Back to square one. I wonder if Azula's gotten up. She'd have some ideas, or at least shoot down the really crazy ones faster than you do, Zuko."
"Whatever."
"Don't worry, buddy, someday you too will be able to utilize sarcasm as a weapon of deadly force, you just got to keep reaching for the stars."
Yue giggled, "Sokka, you're so mean to Zuko."
"I'm not mean, that's just how male bonding works."
"I hate you so much," Zuko grunted.
"I hate you, too, buddy!" He offered Yue a large smile, "See? Bonding. It's happening right before your eyes."
"Oh, I see!" she said, clapping her hands together.
"Why don't we just go see if she's woken up yet," Zuko grunted. "Maybe Katara can whip some sense into you in the process."
"Oh yeah, or Toph!" Sokka said. "Why is it everyone but Yue likes to make fun of my ideas?"
"Oh, but I want to make fun of them, too, it's just that everyone gets their comments in before me and I don't want to impose."
"Hey, my dumb ideas may be dumb, but they get results!"
Zuko rolled his eyes as he opened the door inside, and he then just as suddenly closed it. It took him a good few seconds for him to manage to say what he wanted to. "Need one of your dumb ideas, Sokka."
"Oh, now you need me to be an idiot!"
"I think whatever is behind this is behind that door."
"What makes you say that?"
Sokka wrested the door from Zuko's hands and opened it. Like zombies, the flood of students without faces stood. They had masks on to disguise their blank features, some wore masks over the blank places on their heads where eyes and noses should have been, and their uniforms were showing signs of tatter and decay.
"Oh, that's what. Good to know."
Things had grown to quiet. The halls upstairs were too empty for a busy school day, and Toph's toes tapped impatiently whenever Azula would jolt to a stop and look around. Any shadow that fell she'd chase after, until it would disappear, a trick of the light.
"What's with you, anyway."
"We're not alone here."
"Sure sounds it," she said. "Where'd everyone go? I didn't hear any bell."
"This isn't real, Toph," she said, "There's something trying to trap us. This place, it's meant to put our guard down -- but for what reason." She frowned, unleashing a quiet snarl, "Whatever it is had better watch out."
"Sure, we're in a big old trap, whatever," Toph said, throwing her hands behind her head, "Keep saying it, maybe it'll be true. Crazy-chick."
Toph winced. From downstairs, there was a piercing sound that threatened to shake down her entire argument. An ear-splitting scream. "Okay, you planned that, I know it."
"No. That was Katara," Azula grimaced.
"What are you waiting for, let's go!"
"It could be an ambush," Azula answered. "We can't rush in."
"Sure we can. You've got a gun, go in with it blazing!"
"It could be a trap."
"I don't care. We have to help Katara."
"And what about the others?" Azula asked. "I understand you have this idea that we have to be noble and heroic, but let me put this into perspective for you, they may be in as much trouble as Katara, maybe more, and this is just a distraction. We need to consider that."
"Fine, if you're not going," Toph said, rolling up her sleeves, "Then I will."
"Toph, wait."
But it was pointless. Toph didn't listen to her and just charged down stairs as fast as she could manage. Azula looked up the stairs, and then back down them again, confronted with the choice. "Idiot," she murmured, "I'm an idiot."
She charged down the stairs, and found herself in the middle of a sea of zombies.
"Toph!" she called out. She couldn't see Toph anywhere, the crowd of zombies was too thick. Where had they come from, and why were they all wearing the school uniform. "Out of my way!" she whipped her hand forward, blasting a path through the zombies with a powerful gust of wind.
Consciously wrapping the wind about her, she moved forward, sprinting, light on her feet. "Toph, where are you?" She spun around, knocking a large portion of the zombie school population off their feet. "Say something!"
"Over here," she responded, voice stunned, and without the strength and resolve, "Got jumped. Stupid -- why do you got to be right all the time?"
Azula propelled herself towards the voice, surrounding herself in a vortex of wind as she moved. Even if these zombies lacked faces, she didn't particularly care to let them touch her. She'd seen one too many zombie movie for it not to cross her mind.
Toph was looking more frightened than hurt. She was standing upon a desk in one of the class rooms, using a chair to bat them away. "Oh, now you show up," Toph muttered.
"Come on. We have to move," Azula said while the zombies around her were flattened by powerful gale winds.
"Coming, just gimme a sec," Toph said. "You know how lucky I was to find this thing? You try running blind through moaning and shuffling zombies."
Azula struck down one and turned to offer her hand to Toph. "Come on!" Toph took her hand, apprehensively, and slowly climbed down off the desk. Azula turned around, prepared to run through the still recovering zombies. And turned to look one dead in the eye of its mask.
She nearly screamed, but bit it down. The zombie stared lifelessly forward. It was dripping water from the ice that wrapped around it, holding it in place. "Azula?" Toph asked, "What's wrong?"
Azula pushed the thing over. The ice shattering as it fell, leaving it in pieces. "Nothing. Katara -- you --"
"Katara?"
Azula stared forward at Katara, water circling her in long streams as she whipped and froze the zombies that shambled after her. "Guys, I'm happy to see you, too, but I don't think now is the time for talking."
"Of course not," Azula said, recovering herself. "Hold tight, I'm tired of these things." She gathered as much air as she could in her hands, tightening it, feeling it actively rebel against her. She couldn't contain it forever, but, she hoped, if she held on for just a while longer --
When it was unleashed the gusts were incredible, pushing back desks and chairs, and it was only through the girls pushing back against it that they weren't knocked down with the horde of zombies around them.
"Okay, I'm impressed," Toph said, her hair blown straight back.
Katara held back a snicker, "Toph, your hair."
"So what? Still got zombies, should run," Toph said.
"Yes, excellent suggestion," Azula said, between a snigger, "Let's go."
"You cannot escape." The voice belonged to Suki -- or was it Teo -- it was so hard to tell with the multiple sounds piercing their ears as it spoke. It wore a fragmented mask over its face, and it looked like Suki, except for the face. Or maybe it was Mai -- it was getting hard to tell.
"What is that?"
The fragment lifted its hand, pointing a finger at them, her other fingers falling limply as she did so, "Go, make sure they do not escape."
"I don't know, Toph," Azula said.
"I don't know either," Katara said, "But we need to go, now!" She whipped her hands out, water cracking as it came in contact with a zombie student and knocking him back into several of his peers,
"Here they come," Azula said. She straightened herself up. "Go. Head for the roof."
"What about you?" Katara asked, "We didn't save you because we wanted you to throw yourself at a horde of zombies!"
"We didn't exactly plan on that, now, did we?" Azula asked, "Besides, this can't kill me."
Katara grimaced, but nodded, taking Toph gently by the wrist, "Let's go, Toph."
Hearing their footsteps climb the steps, Azula stepped forward, her eyes sternly on the fragmented zombie in the lead. "I don't know what you are, but you're going to have to do a lot better to stop me." She lifted her hand up, forming the wind into a cutting breeze.
It sliced through the air, barreling towards the fragmented leader.
And on the stairs, Katara was beginning to express doubts. "This isn't right," she said, "Azula should be right behind us!"
"Keep moving," Toph responded, not even hesitating, "She said she'd survive, so believe her."
"So? She could be --"
"So could the rest of them. She's fine. If she needs us, she'll signal or something, trust me."
Katara stood off the flight at the third floor and stopped. There was a flood of zombies heading towards the roof, clawing over each other to get a turn. "Oh, I can hear that one," Toph said, "We've hit zombie central haven't we?"
"Oh yeah."
"They got to be up there," Toph said, "We need to get them out."
As she said that, a zombie flew through the crowd, knocking a bunch of them to the floor and left them dazed and uncoordinated, even by zombie standards, Katara noted. "Whoa, who did that --"
"Oh yeah, you want some more?" Sokka shouted from atop the stairs, "Well have some more! Zuko, keep throwing them."
"Why."
"It's buying us time, isn't it?"
"They need us," Toph said, "And if Zuko's following Sokka's orders, things must be bad up there."
"Right." Katara drew water from her bottle, looking at the crowd, "Well, let's get started."
She threw her hands forward, the water enveloped the zombies, twisting upwards until it encased them in a spire of ice.
The fragmented mask tore off of the zombie, falling to the ground with little fanfare. The zombie lurched forward, and then fell, her hair falling around her head like a halo. The mask, however, seemed to stare upwards.
Azula looked at the procession of zombies, their lurching stopped, and turned around. Azula frowned, and hesitated only a second. She leapt into the air, knocking those around her down with the force of air propelling her upwards. The mask, she had to reach it before another one picked it up.
Wind blasted the zombies away and she picked up the fragmented mask. To look at it closely, it looked made of other masks, red and orange and blue, with a trim of green hanging off of it, different patterns, a mask for a man stitched to a painted flower.
And if she wasn't missing her guess, it blinked at her.
Steeling herself to destroy it, she brought her hand up, and was about to let it drop, to shatter it, when the floor shifted, lifting the mask up to face her, eye-level. "Stop her," it said, in a voice that shrieked inside her mind.
The zombies grabbed at her arms, tearing her away from the mask, but she fought back, trying to push them off, to get back and finish it.
"Sis! Great timing!" Sokka called from the top of the stairs, "Zuko's getting exhausted just tossing anything at them. We ran out of things to throw, so we just started tossing them down the stairs."
"Great idea," Katara said, weakly. "Way to think outside the box, Sokka."
"See, knew it was a good plan."
"Please, Sokka, this is far from the time!" Yue called. "Katara, whatever is doing this must be stopped, there is no end in sight. They just keep coming."
"I know," Katara said, "Azula's attacking something downstairs. Something really -- well -- weird."
"Well, that's just great. How do we get down there?"
"Maybe I could throw you," Zuko grunted.
"That's not a good idea. Yue could make it, but I'm far too delicate," Sokka said, weakly.
"Sokka!"
"Sorry, Yue, I panicked."
The zombies lurched to a stop. They started spilling down the stairs, hurriedly trying to move downstairs. Katara pushed Toph out of the way and watched mystified as they moved right by them, as if they'd ceased to exist.
"Okay, that's not normal," Sokka said, "Zombie hordes don't usually do that when there's living flesh nearby."
"They're not really zombies," Zuko muttered, "They don't even have mouths."
"Still, they hunger for brains," Sokka said. "So what's the deal?"
"I don't know," Yue said, "But we shouldn't just sit here waiting, yes?" She pointed at the empty expanse of stairs, littered only with a few of the totally unmoving zombies, one of who lifted his arm impotently upward at them.
Zuko stepped on the arm and crushed it. "Good idea," he said, taking the steps down. "Azula's down there. She must have done something to really tick them off."
"Typical Azula, then," Toph grinned.
"Maybe so," Yue said, "But I don't think we should just sit here and joke about things at a time like this."
"Agreed," Sokka said, "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Never mind," Katara said. "What do we do?"
"Well," Sokka said, looking at Katara, "Since you can bend again --"
Katara looked at him, and then down at the shambling mass that was heading downstairs. Azula wouldn't be able to take on that many alone -- "Tell me what I have to do."
Azula nearly fell to her back, and the zombies were fast approaching. A quick kick, a gust of wind, and she was on her feet, but pinned with her back to the wall and zombie students at all sides. Her hands reached for her gun, but she realized it would be too slow. She needed to react, fast.
She combed her brain for any ideas, any inklings, and she found herself drying blanks. She'd have to fight, to push herself towards the fragmented mask, which already was being put on a new student zombie.
She thrust her arms forward, a wide blast of wind knocking down the zombies, as even more spilled in.
In Ty Lee's voice -- or was it Katara's? -- the mask shouted, "Do not let her escape."
There wasn't even ground as far as Azula saw, just more and more zombies, zombies clawing over each other to get to her first. Outnumbered, and outmaneuvered, she had to think of something. Blasting one group, she found another was more than eager to spill into its place and take over.
She cast a glance to the stairs. More and more fell down the steps, crawling towards her. "I think I've got you scared, why don't you just stop struggling."
"Do not allow them escape -- join us, Azula."
Whose voice was it now. Azula couldn't even tell, it was even more distorted and fragmented inside her head every time it spoke. It was desperate, it was scared, but there was no mind to manipulate, it simply seemed to exist.
Which usually would suit her just fine, but she wasn't in the position to charge it down.
"Now would be a wonderful time for you to have second thoughts, Katara," she muttered.
"No one comes for you, Azula."
"Stop it!" she shouted, "That voice! Never use that voice again!"
It chuckled in a boyish voice. "Azula."
She wouldn't allow that thing to speak to her in his voice, she vowed, angrily. The wind wrapped around her, like a tornado, forcing aside another shambling group of students. Crashing down the stairs, water spilled over the ground, alive, moving and rising up, striking through a group of zombies, freezing them in place before retreating.
"Azula! The cavalry's here!" Toph shouted.
"Great," Azula said. "Katara -- that one, the one issuing the orders? Destroy that one's mask."
"Me? How?"
"Figure something out!" she shouted. "I can't get a clear shot with all of these things." She blasted another group away.
"We'll cover you, sis," Sokka said.
"Gee, thanks," Katara said, "No pressure, right? Great way to test out my waterbending, right? Just once, can't we end up in a sunny island without the evil monsters trying to kill us?"
She concentrated, feeling the water move about her. She had an idea. "Hurry it up, Sugar Queen, ain't got long." Toph pushed one of the students away with a grunt, "They're really not happy with you now."
"Bring them down, make them one of us," the mask shouted, this time in a deep, commanding voice that seemed to shift to a matronly old voice every so often, sometimes the two overlapped. "Let none of them escape!"
"No pressure or anything," Sokka grunted, swinging his sword down at one of them. "Except for the zombie horde, that may be a little pressure."
Like a shimmering streak through the sky, a small droplet of water flew through the sky, running straight across the mask. "That was it?" Azula wondered, "What are you doing, Katara?"
"I know, I know, trust me, okay?" she said.
The mask began to speak when its lower half suddenly fell to the ground. The zombie students stopped, mid-step, collapsing to the ground and began to melt, the school walls turned into a dark mass before collapsing around them, all of it flowing towards the mask.
It melted into the mass, itself, and reformed itself, One small fragment, staring at them from atop the shadowy mass.
"What is that?" Katara murmured.
"Another one, like the one before," Azula commented. "Well, now, what does it do without its mindless horde?" The creature stared at her and looked around, its eyes falling on something just above Azula's shoulder right before it unleashed a shriek.
"Cowardly creature," she said. "Get back here!"
She was about to chase after it when she saw the others, each looking behind her. Toph, for her part, seemed just as confused as she was, "What's going on? Why'd it scream like that?"
"I don't know," Azula said, turning around.
"It's that kid again," Zuko said.
"Aang?" Azula whispered.
Katara's eyes widened, "Aang? Is that -- I don't believe it --" she stared at the boy, who stared back with empty, shimmering eyes that glowed a cold blue. He then turned and walked towards a door in the distance. The long, tall hall they stood in was covered in ruined statues, water dripping from the ceiling.
The cold architecture of the labyrinth around them, and the door in front of them, they stared until the boy vanished.
"Aang's here," Katara whispered, "He's really here."
"Then what's he doing just leaving us like this? I don't buy it, Katara," she stared at Azula, "How do we know this isn't one of your tricks."
"Why would I lie about that?" Azula asked.
Katara looked at her, and then back at where he had left them. "I believe her, Toph. That was Aang, no doubt about it."
"How come we didn't recognize him? How come Yue --"
"It's odd, but yes, there is something familiar about him, Toph. I think he may well be Aang."
Katara glanced at Azula, "When were you going to mention this?"
"During the zombie horde, honest. I just got side-tracked by the talking monster mask. Sorry."
Katara frowned. "I guess we follow. Maybe he's trying to lead us somewhere."
The door looked imposing. The number seven was written on the frame. A cool breeze came from within, chilling them even within the cool air of the labyrinth. "Another one of these," Azula said. "There may be no way out of this one, again."
"Yeah," Sokka said, "We got to be ready to face ourselves, whether we like it or not."
Toph kicked at the door. "So what? Let's go, get that dumb key out already."
Katara pulled it out of her pack, and handed it to Azula, "There. Hold onto it, tight," she said. Azula rolled her eyes and put it to the door.
It creaked open, slowly, like it had been knocked ajar already.
"What was that noise?" Yue asked, suddenly. No one else had heard a noise, and they looked around quizzically. Then, it became loud enough for them to hear, like the distant roar of thunder. The water dripping got faster, behind them. "Is that water?"
Katara moved quickly, pushing her hands forward to stop the surge of water from above them. "Guys," she said, grunting, "We need to move, now!"
Azula looked down inside the door. A large pool of water lay in stony confines, held by locks and dams -- she grimaced. It looked like there was a jump. "Long way down."
"Down?" Toph asked.
"Here, Toph, hold on," Sokka said, picking her up.
"Hey! Let go!" she said, blushing furiously. "What's the big idea."
"You want to go for a swim?" he asked.
"Uh, no."
"Then hold on," he said. "Lead on, Azula."
Azula nodded, and from the ledge of the door, she dived in.
To be continued.
A/N: No excuse for delays on this one. Mass Effect 2 is so good I had to beat it twice. Sorry.x