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.
Author's Note: I wrote something. I hope you like it.
"A man's gotta do, y'know, what a man's gotta do for life, the battle, yeah, got a little robust since we first met 'cause I have yet to put my fist down..'"
- Burn My Dread -Last Battle- Reincarnation
Lotus Juice
Chapter 23: Ego
At first, Azula wasn't quite sure where the door had taken them, but the sense of heat and urgency in the air slowly brought her around. Yue was nowhere to be seen. She was alone, and she was beginning to get afraid.
Whose bright idea was this to put the labs on the upper floors of the Ba Sing Se main building? She really had to wonder why no one saw this coming.
She growled.
Why of all places did this door have to take her to the scene of the accident. This was the exact moment her life took a turn for the worse. She had no idea where she could even go to be safe. She just had to hope that something would disturb things before she was caught in the massive explosion that would bind Agni to this world.
Lab Three, the Earth Spirit Lab, if she remembered right. Well, that eased her tensions a bit. She wouldn't have to worry about the wandering Agni at least. She hoped not, at any rate. Still, she had to use her time wisely. Locate Yue, and somehow alter the time frame.
A thought occured.
Couldn't she alter things so the accident never happened? Looking around, it was clearly too late to contain Agni, but they did not have a trained bender on staff when this occured. In fact, the only reason bending existed, she reasoned, was that the experiment caused a leak in the Spirit World. Did their actions in these pockets have any affects outside?
Perhaps her almost careless and wanton disregard for her safety in Toph's memories was a little hasty if that were the case, but still. Toph seemed to be the same, or did the maze shield them from those affects.
These were questions she hadn't thought of before.
"You're wasting time, you know!"
Azula turned to the source of the voice, even though she knew who it was. "I'm not. I'm considering my course of action."
"What's past is past, there's no changing it, not without giving up something in return, anyway. I mean, yeah, nothing is immutable, but the harder it is the change, the more you have to sacrifice. Since it's you, I thought I'd let you know."
Xiao smiled. "Thanks for the warning."
"I'm serious! Do you know what changing the past could do?" she asked. "No? Then I won't say!"
"I don't have time for these games. I'm trying to concentrate."
"Oh. Well, I'll be right here, then" she said, forlornly. "I'm always with you, you know. Even if you forget about me."
So she'd said. Azula tried to concentrate,. but she could hear the annoying humming from beside her. She saw Xiao lean from side to side from the corner of her eye, and in general just couldn't think. "Do you have something you wanted to add?"
"Yuh-huh! I wanted to cheer you on. I know it's been long and tiring, but you're almost there! Soon, we'll meet face to face, for reals! I'm so happy that you're bravely marching through danger to reach me. But this one is the toughest yet."
"So I see."
"But you'll do it, because you're Azula, and," she smiled, sadly, strangely, "And you're my friend. I know you'll do it."
"Friend?"
"You have friends, don't you. That's what you feel, deep inside. I just know it. And I'd be so happy if you wanted me as a friend." She seemed so earnest. What was Azula to do. She nodded, slowly. "Thank you!"
Xiao seemed oblivious to the world, but Azula couldn't afford to be. The doors down the hall blasted open and she heard someone coughing and crying. "Is there anyone out there?" a woman called out. She must have overheard the two of them talking.
She was about to say something to Xiao when it became clear that she was no longer there. It was infuriating how she did that! She looked around. It would be suspicious to say nothing. "Here, I'm over here."
"Oh, thank goodness someone else is all right. We need to get down to Lab Four," the woman said, "It's the only fireproofed place in the building not on lockdown." She seemed vaguely familiar, the way she talked and the way she carried her body. Water Tribe, too, and for a Water Tribe woman to be here - yes, the family resemblance fell into place. The same eyes, the same hair, everything passed down to her daughter.
"Kya Floes, I presume?" Azula asked. She noticed the woman was carrying something in her arms.
"I'm sorry, but introductions can wait," she said, "This boy needs to be put someplace safe."
Boy? She knew before even looking who it was. The odor of singed flesh gave it away. "Is he all right?"
"He received a nasty burn, but I don't know from where."
"He'll be all right," Azula said. "What about you?"
"I'll be fine," she said. "I'm not going to let my boss's nephew get hurt while I can do something about it, though." She smiled. "You know, you seem quite young yourself."
"I'm older than I look," Azula lied casually.
"Isn't that a school uniform, though?"
Azula couldn't think of a way out of that one. "School reunion," she said lamely. "Surprised it still fit."
"Oh, I see," she said. She put on a weary smile, and with a commiserating tone, said, "Rotten day for a reunion."
"You have no idea."
"I don't know what else to do," Kya said, opening the door to Lab Four. She winced when she looked inside. "Oh dear."
"It's the safest place. Lab Four was fireproofed. If we lock the door, nothing will be able to get in."
"Yes, of course."
"You should go in, too," Azula said. "You have people who need you." Kya looked at her, perplexed, her brow creasing as she racked her brain. She kicked herself. She had no way of knowing about Sokka and Katara ten years ago. "Well, so I assume. You have a family, don't you?"
Kya relaxed. "Yes. My husband and I have two children. My oldest is about his age," she sighed, "But - Mr. Houou says the accident's started some kind of chain reaction. If we don't do something now, things will only get worse."
Azula frowned. Ten years ago, which strange as it was to think, was the now for them, the Unification would be set into motion. Kya Floes would help Iroh Houou by stopping the experiment before the gate to the Spirit World would open large enough that the two worlds would begin merging.
Ten years later, a boy who happened to be the Avatar - who happened to be here today, though Azula did not know that - would return to Ba Sing Se and start the two worlds slowly coming together. Unwittingly, Kya's children would be drawn into the secret war and unintentionally speed that Unification along.
This was a woman who loved her children enough to sacrifice her own life for the chance at a future, even one as full of trials as theirs would inevitably be.
Azula clenched her fists tightly. It was not fair. No one, no one would have done that for her. "You'll die if you go back out there."
"Maybe, maybe not," Kya said, "But it doesn't matter. Someone has to do something. Mr. Houou can't do this alone."
"What can possibly be worth that risk?" Azula demanded to know.
"You're still young," Kya smiled, "You'll understand someday. You should stay in here, too. It's a bit ghastly, but, it's safe."
"I - I have a friend, she's still in here somewhere. I can't go yet."
"I'll help you look."
"No!" She said that a little louder than she expected. Kya looked shocked, and Azula scrambled for an explanation. "No, I mean, I mean you have more important things to do. We all knew the risks when we got involved."
Kya looked saddened, but nodded. "Do you think Mr. Houou will be able to set things right?"
"You doubt him now?"
"No, but, it seems so horrible. He's a gentle man, but sometimes his ambition exceeds his reach." She frowned. "I don't want this to haunt my children, or yours."
Kya looked to her as if she had the answers. A complete stranger to her, and she was looking for something comforting to say, some sort of reassurance that she was going the right thing. Azula grimaced. She knew full well that she'd be the one to pick up the pieces. Or, she thought she would be. That did not in the end appear to be her destiny.
She wished she knew what her destiny was, too.
But, all she could think of was something her uncle had said. "It's a bitter work, Mrs. Floes. But we'll get it done, somehow."
"Yes, you're absolutely right." She took Azula's hand and shook it. Azula could see the ground fragment as she shook her hand. "Thank you, Miss. May I ask you your name?"
Azula fumbled. Kya knew about both Iroh's nephew and niece by name, and Azula wasn't a common enough name to just say. It wasn't like she could get away by claiming to be named Lee, either. She shivered and scrambled for an answer. She couldn't use that name, so why not borrow - "Xiao."
"Xiao. That's a pretty name."
Of course, Azula thought, she did come up with it herself after all.
"Thank you," Kya said again. "Good luck finding your friend."
"I, yes," she said, stepping back cracks in the floor. "Good luck to you too." The scene shattered before her, the splintered image of Kya running towards her fate seemed to fade into darkness.
"She was funny. Why bother, right?"
"Xiao, I was wondering where you went."
"I'm always with you, remember!" Xiao peeked out from behind Azula's legs, looking like a little girl who'd just been scolded. "And another thing, how come you can take my name! It's not fair! Not fair at all!" Xiao puffed out her cheeks. "Oh well, since it's you, I'll let it go."
"Fine."
"You're so cool, Azula!"
"I'm curious. Do you know why these places do, well, this?" She pointed to the shattered world around them. Xiao laughed. "Well?"
"Why they do that? Because you want them to, right? That's why anything happens in the Labyrinth of Lethe."
"What do you mean?"
"This place is reality for those who enter," Xiao whispered conspiratorially. "I don't know what that means, but I guess it's why everyplace you've been to has been weird. Anyway, isn't this what you want?"
"I don't even know what's happening!"
"The same thing that happens to all who partake of the waters of Lethe," Xiao said mysteriously, putting a finger to her lips, a conspiratorial signal, and then laughed, "Or so I've been told! Anyway, we're nearly to the end of this, so let's go!"
"I have to find someone first."
Xiao narrowed her eyes, "Is this your secret friend that you've not been telling me about?"
"Why do you care."
"I don't! I don't!" Xiao said, unconvincingly, "It's just I thought you were so cool and always alone and independent!"
Azula frowned. She was, wasn't she? But that other part of her that seemed to be getting more and more confident every minute she spent in the company of the Bending Club spoke up, and Azula could barely understand why she said it at all, "That doesn't mean you can't have help sometimes."
Why she was lecturing this little girl was confusing enough. More strange was her reaction. She looked like she'd been slapped. "Well, well, fine! Be that way. See if I help you! I hope you forget everything, you know! Ev-ER-ee-THING!"
And she was gone. Azula never got used to the idea of things disappearing. It made her feel like she was getting lost back in her head. Like that last time. Xiao'd been there, too, pushing her along - she wasn't sure what to make of that, only that meeting Xiao face to face would surely give her all the answers.
She'd been driven by this the whole time, the desire to see her face to face, in search of the answers. And perhaps even Aang, though for the life of her she didn't know why he kept yanking her along with him.
She put her hand up to the shattered remains of the lab door. Zuko was safe inside. He would one day be taught, like her, to firebend, and would become a powerful bender in his own right. She frowned. How many years of their lives had been thrown at that singular cause, and what was the end result?
She was furious, for the first time she could remember a hot rage was starting to boil in the pit of her stomach. It just was not fair. Without her bending, without her purpose, who was Azula Houou? This was not fair, and it would not stand.
How many years - how many - how many - why did her brain go so numb? Like all who partake of Lethe's waters? She would have to see if that meant anything to the others, because for some reason, her mind was getting fuzzier the further back she tried to remember.
Yue - she needed to find Yue. One task at a time, and let nothing stand in her way. Her name was Azula Houou, and that was absolute.
Though they'd started out like small puddles of black ooze, they were growing at an incredible rate. They seemed to be devouring the very fabric of the world itself, and their forms started to take shape, as well as the strange and omnipresent masks.
"This is a problem."
Which was an understatement in and of itself. It was more of a monumental set-back, kind of like the entire - albeit flawed from the get-go - conceit of chasing after that boy was the chance he might actually be Aang.
There was no way that thing was Aang. Whatever it was, it definitely didn't want them to get to the center of the maze. Still, Sokka had more important things to do than postulate over its motivations and actions, such as avoiding the shadowy mass that was crawling over to him intently. It raised up one of its hands and slapped him across the face.
He landed on the railing a moment later. His feet never touched the ground. "Ow." He could hear Toph wince. That went poorly.
"Keep your guard up. They may be small, but they're still pretty tough!" Katara advised. No kidding, Sokka moaned as he tried to get his breath back. Water sprayed through the air as Katara leapt to the front. Her waterbending was getting even better than it was when they fought Agni, or so it seemed to Sokka.
He had a vague memory of having his rear end handed to him. Weird how that slipped in, he thought, finally getting his breath back. "Okay, which one of you hit me?"
The black puddles looked at each other. Two shrunk backwards. The one left forward craned its mask about to look at its compatriots, and then back at Sokka. It made a loud squeak.
"Oh, so it was you, huh?" Sokka brandished his blade about menacingly, "Well we'll see about that!"
The blade cut through the mask cleanly, and the shadows dissipated into a miasma. "Nice one, Sokka!" Katara cheered. "My turn!"
She washed down a torrent of water upon the next shadow, washing it over the ledge and plummeting down. "One more!"
Toph shoved her palms down upon the pathway, denting the surface with the force. "Oh yeah, still got it!" She dug her fingers into the ground and lifted up the earth as the shadow puddle came charging towards her. Where once metal plating kept anything from falling, with little time or mind to stop, the shadowy mass ran straight into a large hole in the platform.
"You sure showed that one, Toph!"
"Can't let you guys have all the fun," she smirked. "Next question. Where do we go?"
"I don't know about following that, that thing - " Katara looked pale. "What is it, anyway?"
"If I was to make a guess, I'd say it's whatever is creating those monsters. You saw those things come out of it," Sokka said, "Well, felt it anyway."
"Yeah, but they were pushovers!"
"I don't know, Sokka's got a point. They had those weird masks and everything."
"Whatever it is, we'll find out when we get to the center," Sokka answered. "Right now, we've got to find Zuko and the others. We kind of have to remember that Zuko's kind of an idiot."
"Sokka!"
"Oooh, Katara's got a crush!"
"Toph, stop it!"
"Well even you got to admit, Katara, Zuko can be an idiot." Sokka shrugged. Not that he particularly felt any ill-will towards Zuko, but it was, quantifiably in his opinion, a matter of truth and not any personal grudge long harbored against the cooler and more mature Zuko.
Nothing like that at all.
Not even remotely.
For serious, even.
Which didn't explain why Katara was glowering at him. "Let's just get going!"
"I think I ticked her off," Sokka observed. Toph walked over to him, consolingly patted his shoulder, before smacking him on the leg. "Ow! What was that for?"
"I don't know. Just felt right."
For Yue, seeing this filled her with dread. The seed of fiery absolution, a long and draconid humanoid ablaze, frozen in time. After all they'd been through, it seemed a painful reminder that the threat was not gone, merely delayed. Mankind's despair did not disappear overnight.
Azula had no conception of this, and Yue forgave her for being impatient. She was okay with that, but then again, she seemed awfully okay with a lot of things. She just smiled and apologized, "I must have drifted off."
"Anyway, like I said, I've been looking all over for you. We need to find the way out."
"Of course!" Yue looked a bit bashful, "We should."
Azula cast a sidelong glance at the frozen spirit, "So that's the thing that beat Aang? Pathetic."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Yue answered, "After all, a lot happened in the ten years. I can't believe we are seeing what happened that day ten years ago." Yue noticed that Azula seemed pale and her focus seemed hazy. "What happened, Azula?"
"What do you mean?"
"You seem unnerved?"
"Oh," Azula coughed, "It was nothing. I just need to find my brother and give him a piece of my mind. He seems determined to drive me insane."
"Don't push yourself too hard, Azula."
"I'll be fine. We just need to keep moving." Yue clasped her hands together fretfully. "I think I know the way out of here."
Not that she really knew, but Azula felt confident that she could figure it out before Yue began to worry any more. The sepia-toned inferno around them flickered and jumped like a scene from an old film reel being played through a broken television screen.
What Azula really needed with consistency. Move forward, never look back, never doubt your actions and never apologize: that's how she always behaved before. Now, she was beginning to slow down, to take a second look at her actions, and to consider just how they affected her companions.
Companions she didn't need, either. She could succeed alone.
But she just told Xiao the opposite. She just - it was all a series of quick, short thoughts that launched out of her brain in rapid succession, each more contradictory than the last. She was a contradiction, in the first place. Trapped in this sepia nightmare, with her only companion the very thing she'd sworn to defend her world from.
"Azula?" She kept calling her name whenever the headaches were loudest, like she could see into her head. Azula remained composed despite everything, so Yue's extraordinary senses could be the only possibility in Azula's mind. Whether or not that was truth was irrelevent as long as consistency was maintained.
:"What is it this time?"
"I think we're close," Yue said, "I can sense another door."
"Excellent, just as I expected," Azula said with a confident smile. "Let's hurry. I'm sure my brother is expecting us to burst in and rescue him with displays of tragic heroism any second now."
"Of course," Yue agreed, but it seemed to lack any real enthusiasm. "But, Azula, are you sure you're ready?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you haven't exactly been well since we defeated Sokka's Stranger." She paused, then said, with a little more resolution, "No, it was before that. From the moment you rescued me I worried something was wrong."
"What are you talking about? I'm fine," Azula insisted. She gave Yue an icy glower, "Not only am I all right, I'm more than adequate to defeat Zuzu no matter what form his Stranger may take."
"I'm not talking about your fighting abilities," Yue said, "But you've been acting peculiar this whole time, not as severely as before but it has been worrisome. And even stranger still, I am sure I sensed you with someone else earlier, but the second presence faded before I could be certain."
"That was probably Kya Floes," Azula answered, dismissively, "You are acting like I'm going insane, Yue." She probably was, Azula admitted to herself, but said instead, "I am perfectly fine. Relax."
"If you say so," Yue agreed, her voice sounding as broken as her protestations.
"Let's just keep moving."
"Okay, we've been moving forever. Can we sit down for five seconds. My feet are getting blisters!" Toph's protestations were echoed silently by Sokka, but Katara seemed more tired of hearing the complaints.
"Fine!" she snapped a bit harsher than she'd intended, "Just for five minutes, though. After that, we're not stopping until we find Azula and Yue."
"If they're even in this dimension or whatever," Toph said, flopping on the steel frame walkway with abandon. "Maybe they're in some weird time pocket like we were, and getting killed by weird smog monsters like we were."
"That's a possibility," Katara echoed, "But even if that's the case, we have to find Zuko, too."
"Oh, like Azula's going to let some cloud kill her," Sokka said, "She's got more lives than an octopus has arms."
"That's true," Toph said with a smirk, "She's invincible, in that funny when it's on our side sort of way."
"What about when it isn't," Katara asked, suddenly. Toph groaned and let her head crash against the floor. Sokka echoed her sentiment by rolling his eyes.
"You think she's really going to turn on us, now, Katara?"
"Did I say that?" Katara asked, indignantly. "What I meant is we're facing Zuko's world right now, but where do we go after this?"
Sokka grimaced. That did make sense. "But-"
"But what? We don't even know if this maze has an end or not, and you can't really believe she really doesn't have another side, do you?"
"Okay, it's a bit far-fetched, but still!" Sokka scratched his nose, giving a big goofy grin, "It's not like her other self can get her riled up. Just wait and see, everything's going to work out just fine."
"Wishful thinking isn't going to get us anywhere," Katara tutted. Sokka's grin deflated and he stroked his chin.
"We'll be able to take it. We've come this far, right? If the pattern holds, Zuko's firebending will be back. We'll be at full strength and even without Azula's help, I think we can take it."
"I hope so, Sokka, I really do."
"Let's get going. Zuko's not going to rescue himself."
"Yeah, right, he's too busy being all grumpy," Toph said as she pulled herself off the ground. "Let's go!" She led the way with a good deal of enthusiasm. The passage they took wound around the darkened inner hallways of the base, but there were changes, small but noticeable, in the walls and the floor. The walls became less a matter of function and more decorated. A painting here, and a view of the cosmos outside there, a floor that was more comfort than practical, and the asteroid's caverns were covered by thick black steel.
Eventually, even the low red light changed to white and bright. "We must be getting close," Katara said. She sighed in deadpan, "Look at the decor."
"Wow, talk about an ego," Sokka said. "Sculptures of himself. Looks like he's doing some kind of silly dance."
Katara giggled, "Yeah, looks pretty silly." Spirit Blue's statues were arranged in a circle and the room itself looked like some manner of waiting room. A large, sealed door placed at one end of the room looked particularly ominous,
"Yeah, whatever, looks fine to me. Let's go!"
"Hold up." Sokka took a quick evaluation of their surroundings, cupping a hand to his ear. After a moment, he said, "I think I heard something."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Just sounded like," he paused again, his eyes widening in surprise. Katara and Toph could tell why, as the noise was clear enough. A shout, metal colliding against metal, a bang, Sokka succinctly summed it up, "Fighting!"
Moments earlier, but not many, Azula and Yue spiraled further down into the abyss between time and memory. The fragments of the laboratory shattered completely, leaving only a narrow pathway made up of the memory of the building. It circled further into the empty space that seemed to give off a faint and lonesome light.
Yue pursed her lips together nervously, examining the fragments of glass that spun about lethargically in the abyss
They seemed lonely, like a vague memory in the recesses of some cosmic mind, only barely registering, never once recalled or relived. And Yue and Azula were the dreamers passing through, their destination a door that was completely out of place amongst this timeless expanse. "You've been quiet."
Azula didn't usually bother people from their revelry, but something about the way she said it seemed desperate just for an answer. "I was just thinking how unusual all of this is. It's beautiful, in a way. Very abstract."
"It's rather pointless, though," Azula said.
"Why?"
"The past is past," she answered, "We can't dwell on it."
Yue sighed. While she wasn't wrong, strictly speaking, she seemed to fundamentally misunderstand the reasons. "Azula, the past makes us who we are, don't you think? While we shouldn't dwell on things we can't change, we shouldn't simply disregard it, either."
"If you really believe so," Azula said, shaking her head. "Once we're out of here-"
"Well, if you're so eager to get out of here," Yue laughed, playfully before lifting her dress off the ground and bursting into a dash, "Then let's race!"
"What? Are you serious?"
"Afraid I'll beat you?"
Azula's competitive fire burned bright at the challenge. "Hardly! I just don't think it's fair for you." She grinned. Giving her a head start was only fair, after all, which begged her the question why she was allowing it. She made a sprint to catch up. She would doubtlessly reach the door before the princess, who was already fumbling, but she seemed quite happy all the same.
Strangely, that seemed infectious. "Beat you!" Azula said, triumphantly.
"So you did," Yue smiled back. She mocked a quick bow. "I am respectfully bowing to your superiority."
"Clearly." Azula followed with one of her own, "I am bowing to your humility. Respectfully, of course."
"Of course."
"D'accord," Azula said finally, "Now, shall we see where this door leads us?"
"Yes. Be careful, Azula," Yue said, "I have a bad feeling about this." Azula nodded, but turned the handle regardless. There was no way to go but forward, and nothing else to do but open the door. She pushed the door open.
They were now in a room filled with bright light that replaced the red light of the emergency power provided everywhere else in the secret base. Artists' renderings of various celestial bodies were adorned on the wall in ornate frames, and there was a sense of tranquility and meditation all about them. "Typical Zuzu," Azula muttered. It still didn't make much sense. It was clearly out in space, the windows confirmed that, but it looked less like a secret base and rather a rather comfortable home.
"How unusual," Yue added.
"I suppose. This is Zuzu's subconscious, though," Azula continued, "It's likely that we're reaching the core of the base. His inner sanctum, if you like."
"And that means Zuko must be nearby. Our Zuko, I mean."
"Both of them, I bet," Azula said. "I'm looking forward to this."
"Wait, there's a powerful presence here," Yue warned. Her brow knitted in puzzlement, "It's that one that's been chasing us! It's very nearby."
"Define very."
Yue opened her eyes and smiled weakly. "Turn around?"
"That is about what I expected," Azula answered with a sight. She grabbed her pistol and turned. The metal monstrosity loomed menacingly behind them, blocking off the passage. "Let me guess, that's the way we have to go."
"Yes." Yue looked a bit helpless, "I can't tell if any of the passages lead around, but I think we should run."
"Noted." Azula fired twice. The bullets seemed to just bounce off of the mask, harmlessly falling to the ground. "This is getting tiresome. I refuse to run anymore."
"I don't detect any weaknesses, Azula," Yue warned. "Your bullets are just bouncing off, and I don't think bending's going to be very effective either."
"It's just a matter of applying the right amount of force at just the right point," Azula retorted. "I just need to focus." Easier said than done, she'd be quick to admit, but she was more capable than anyone when it came to applying force. A confident smirk spread easily across her lips. Bending the air, her feet left the ground and she seemed to hover in mid-air.
And it seemed like time slowed down as she reached the apex of her jump. Her brain worked in overtime, cursory simulations of every action she could take running through her mind's eye She decided, she acted, and she struck.
She'd admit it was a gamble freely, but she was confident enough that if she struck with quick, probing strikes, she could find some sign of imperfection in the metal frame, Her toe connected with solid steel but she used the momentum from the jump kick to flip around back and struck wtih several quick open-palm swipes down the back of the mechanical monster. Its armor plating refused to crack, Frustration was mounting. She shifted to its flank as the creature moved, the pistons and pumps of the borrowed machinery making an ominous noise as it did.
She kicked at its knees, and swung a fist at its side, but it hurt about as much as punching a solid brick wall could. She grunted. Earthbending wasn't working. She'd have to resort to waterbending. Which, despite her strides previously, did not inspire her with confidence.
"Watch out!" Yue cried. Azula was distracted from her contemplations at the sight of the mechanical suit lifting up a massive, cartoonish sword. Azula grabbed a bottle of water as quickly as she could and let the water burst out of the plastic container, freezing it as it splashed into the construct.
It slowed it down, but only for a brief moment. The ice cracked under the force exerted by the machinery, and the sword came down all the same, but Azula wasn't there. She'd retreated back, and frowned. "Perhaps Firebending?" Yue suggested.
"I don't think I can," Azula said, "I can't seem to -"
"That's peculiar," Yue observed.
"No time to discuss it," Azula grunted as she pushed herself forward.
The next few minutes seemed a blur of action.
Azula's rush slowed to a stop, the spirit's attack ceased, Sokka called out to Azula, and Katara drew their attention to something that would momentarily be obvious. All at once, the noise of the battle ceased. A figure cut clean through the spirit's mask, and stood their, dramatically, as the metal abberation slowly fell forward before exploding in a large ball of fire.
His pose didn't waver, not even with the proximity. The mask still the grim parody it always had been, and his features invisible to everyone. If he even felt the heat, he made no action that made that clear. He just stood, like a statue, for a minute, holding a heroic pose.
It would have been ridiculous if not that he'd just stopped the spirit in one strike.
Finally, he spoke. "You actually came. Hah! I expected as such." He shifted his pose, nodding his head along with his speech. "I expected you to come, and so, you came. It's all falling into place. This monster you sent to defeat me stood no chance!"
"Yeah, sure sounds like typical tv writing," Toph muttered.
"Hah, I suppose you've come to rescue your ally. No matter. He remains within my inner sanctum, where I contemplate my duties to the OZAI Mainframe!"
"You have to contemplate your duties?" Sokka rolled his eyes, "Totally daddy issues."
"Your disrespect has been noted. When Orika-Zatar conquers your puny planet, I shall make certain you and yours will be enslaved to clean my toilets! HI-YAH!"
"Oh, you hear that, Sokka? It's on, now!"
"Quiet, Toph, the grown-ups are talking," Sokka waved off dismissively, then adding at the Spirit Blue's direction, "Yeah, well, your mother's an aardvark."
An awkward silence fell around them. Katara was the first to speak. "What's an aardvark?"
"I have no idea. I just thought it sounded cool."
"If the beings of your race have as puny an intellect as yours, conquest is assured. HAH!"
"Shut up! I can think of a hundred better insults than that, I just was, uh, testing you. That's right! It was a test, and you passed, Zuzu."
"Enough about Sokka's puny little brain," Azula snapped. "Release my brother or else I'm going to get mad."
"If you want to see him so badly, then come to my Inner Sanctum, if you dare." He reared his head back, and said, "Aha-ha-ha-ha!" Then, grabbing his wrist, he disappeared in a column of blue light. A moment passed before anyone reacted.
Yue apprehensively began, "He seemed quite confident."
"No kidding," Sokka said, "But Zuko's always had that 'I'm totally better than you' thing going on."
"Ha! Zuko? Confident?" Azula began to laugh from her belly, unable to continue her thought while the others just looked at her in confusion.
"That aside, who wants to bet he's going to go all monster on us when we get there?"
"He does seem to be expecting it," Yue said, "I can think of no other reason he would taunt us into entering his sanctum."
"Do we have a choice?" Katara asked. There was no need to answer. Azula, however, recovered from her laughing fit and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
"Zuzu is about as confident as a lemur facing a platypus-bear, which is to say, not very," she elaborated through a contented sigh. "Honestly, I'm amazed you didn't realize it sooner. His desire for validation outweighs his better senses."
"That's how you blackmailed him?" Katara sniped.
"Katara, I've blackmailed my brother more times than I can remember," Azula said. She felt that this was true despite her cloudy memory, but she wasn't sure why, "You're going to have to be more specific."
She answered with another question, "What do you think I mean?" There was something about the way she asked that made Azula pause. She vaguely recalled something in the back of her mind. Ghosts and a bamboo forest and a great spirit corrupted - all a big haze, but elements could still be made out like the shape of a mountain on a foggy morning.
"That's not important. We need to get to this inner sanctum. Yue?"
"It's only about a minute's walk from Zuko and his imposter," Yue answered. "But something doesn't feel right. We - we should definitely hurry!"
"Zuko's probably about to lose it," Toph said, "Let's book!"
A door opened, and a room entered - the inner sanctum of the Stars of Solitude looks about as one would expect of a serial villain. The asteroid's floor had been cut open around the center and a transparent surface - much harder than glass but just as clear - stared down into the abyss of space. A sun of red and blue hues burned in the distance, and the stars seemed somehow less brilliant besides it. The asteroid's cavernous ceiling was full of jutting stalactites, and the walls were of a foggy grey steel.
Zuko stood at one end of the room, across from him, the Spirit Blue spoke in strange and sinister tones. Between them, a projection of the OZAI Mainframe lingered in the air, unspeaking, its garbled, barely human face seemed all the more terrifying at that scale. It flashed red and green as the projection distorted.
" - Oh, your so-called friends have arrived, I see. It took them quite some time to get through. We put them through quite an elaborate trap, you see. It's a pity you refused my offer for a tour."
"I'm getting tired of hearing this. You just keep going on and on, but you don't make any sense."
"Don't I?" The distorted projection stabilized, its face now arranged in a disapproving frown. "You know what you are, that's why you keep pushing everyone away. Makes it easier that way, just like our father always told us. People are valuable as tools and are otherwise about as worthwhile as some kind of domestic animal."
"That's a terrible lie," Zuko said.
"He still believed it. He may have been crazy, but you're still his son. I know you feel it, the pressure of all those expectations. You're Ozai's son, you've got to do great things. Anything less and you'll be written off as little more than a footnote."
"I -"
"Don't tell me you don't want the power and prestige that comes from being the president of the biggest corporate group in the world. You're just scared because the board is getting antsy about a high school graduate running the company. Already, they're saying you'll never live up to your father's legacy. Admit it! You've got the wolves at your door, Zuko, and you're about to go spare."
"Shut up," he bellowed, "You don't know anything."
"But I do. Isn't that right? You all know exactly what this is. You've all seen it before. Repeat after me. I am you -"
"Zuko, just get this over with!" Azula shouted. "I'm going to enjoy disassembling this one piece by piece."
"Typical Azula, always lying," Spirit Blue said. "Yet, you still believe her everytime. You're such an idiot! How can you do anything right. That's what we keep saying, isn't it? We don't even have enough confidence to stand up to our comatose sister."
Zuko gripped his head, angrily growling all the while. "Leave them alone."
"Or what, Zuko? You'll beat me up? That's all we can do. We're punks, delinquents, the most we can hope to amount to is a schoolyard bully. We don't have the brains to run the company, and we certainly don't have what it takes to live up to your father's expectations."
"You're wrong. I - I won't be like him. You don't even know the first thing about me."
The projection flickered and died, the image dissolving into a shadow that began to writhe around the Spirit Blue's leg. It enveloped him as he laughed. "I know everything about you, Zuko. I'm you, remember?"
"No - I can't -" He gripped his head even tighter, but his fingers grew weak and his eyelids drooped. He futily fought to retain consciousness as the shadows enveloped his Stranger entirely. Under their feet, the room was lit up by the light of a distant nova. It cut a line through the shadows, giving it shape and form. The other Zuko stood taller than them, but he did not tower as the others before had. It stood with six arms, each pair with a set of dao blades, moving in a complex kata. He was dresse in an elaborate blue suit, looking like some kind of old Fire Nation soldier.
But it was the head that drew Azula's attention. A face like the Blue Spirit faced forward, but on either side it was flanked by another face. To her right, she saw a red, blustery face that she could immediately see as a parody of her father's, set in a permanent rage and to her left, she saw a serene white face, eyes closed in a calming fashion. She knew that face, and she could feel something rise up in the pit of her stomach. It couldn't be -
"I am free of that coward at last. I'll carve out a new legacy, starting with you interlopers!"
"So, Azula," Katara muttered, "Still excited about tearing him to shreds?"
"More than ever, Katara," Azula retorted with a low growl, "More than ever." Ill met by starlight, Azula thought as the figure of Zuko's Stranger moved with the shadow trailing like a fireball's tail. His swords caught the starlight alternately sheening under the frigid blue and infernal red lights, and they struck.
It was like some sort of dance, each blade moved towards a different target, and each of them ducked or dived away. The Blue Spirit face's sick grin remained affixed, but a red point of light somewhere in the recess of the demon's eye shined even brighter. Two sets of swords came flying through the air towards Azula, and she flipped back, the last set stabbed forward at her. Azula corrected herself mid-jump, and barely landed between the two steel blades.
Sokka drew his own blade and struck back, aiming at the right flank. Two sets of right arms brought their blades around to block, wrapping around the black metal weapon, and pulling him in closer.
A lance of ice interrupted the stranger's attack. Colliding, it shattered, fragments grazed past Sokka's face, and Zuko's blades released his. "This guy's good," he said with a heavy breath, before bringing his sword around to slash again. The Stranger was cut right across the nose of the blue face, and through the force caused the three faces to spin around wildly.
"No kidding," Katara said, wrapping a globule of water around her as she repositioned herself. "You nearly became a shish-kebob."
"Thanks, sis, knew I could count on you!" Sokka smiled right back.
"Enough talking, more fighting," Azula said. "Yue, status report!"
"Give me a little bit. These things are a lot harder to read than they look," Yue answered. "Though, this Stranger seems to be changing. Be careful!" Azula nodded, then cast a glance around the room. She didn't see where Toph had gone after Zuko had sent them into disarray.
She saw her now. Or rather, she saw her handiwork. The ceiling began to rumble ominously as a fissure ran around the stalactites. A controlled cave-in, Toph's handiwork without a doubt, brought down the makeshift stone spear on the other Zuko's head.
Then the stalactite shattered in a fiery blaze. "What the -"
The heat clearly came from the Stranger's hands, the fiery red face now placed facing forward observed the remnants as they rained down over the sanctum. "He's using Firebending now," Yue observed, "The faces - I wonder -"
"We got it, avoid fireballs," Sokka said, "It's just like fighting any other firebender, right?"
"How many firebenders can fire six fireballs at once?"
"Good point, Katara, very good point."
"Yeah, I hear I have those sometimes," she retorted. Zuko's Stranger craned its heads around curiously for a moment. Azula, in response, readied herself to attack while the others followed her lead. The other-Zuko gripped the swords in his hands tightly, and then threw all six into the air. They reflected myriad colors as it caught the various stars lights.
And the Stranger himself shot out a wave of fireballs around him before grabbing each sword and, flames dancing across the blades like dragons, charging for Azula. She managed to deflect the fireball with ease - a gust of wind was all it took - but the attack came relentlessly. She ducked under the first attack and spun around with a sweeping kick that started up a small tornado.
The fiery blades just dispersed the winds before coming down in rapid succession at her. She rolled to her feet, feeling the hot breeze to her back as she did. His face shifted now, back to the Blue Spirit's ugly visage: the flames dispersed and his movements became swifter, his attacks became difficult to read. The sudden burst of speed threw her off, and she could feel a blade cutting her uniform and leaving a scratch on her arm.
He moved in, spinning the blades in a grand flourish as he prepared to continue his assault. Toph shouted and kicked up small fragments of stalactite debris Zuko's other self looked up at the sound. The fragments rocketed towards him, but with what seemed like a fluid movement he struck down each and every piece, before moving with trailing shadows towards Toph.
"That's right, pal, come and get it."
The blades moved like fans, twirling expertly between the long, clawed fingers the Stranger had sprouted in its transformation. It was hard for anyone to see his movements, merely the after-images that it left behind in the inky blackness. Toph didn't need to see. She simply needed to feel.
The glass made it more difficult, but she counted the times she felt it vibrate, and she waited until feet sent finer, distinguishable vibratios across the asteroid's cold ground before she acted. A sharp piece of earth jutted up under her feet, tearing through one of the Stranger's arms. With a liquid sound, it cut a line through and severed it from the rest of the body. The gout of shadows splurged out momentarily before stopping. The arm wriggled on the floor before rejoining the darkness completely.
"Got you," Toph said. She could feel the Stranger hesitate. The Blue Face screamed out in pain, but the Red Face's scream was one of sheer fury. The heads spun around again, and Red took the lead.
"Watch out, Toph!" Yue cried.
"I'll burn you all to the ground!" The Stranger Zuko's right side sagged, the missing limb leading to it being favored, but the two remaining arms on that side channeled fire and rage. His whole body seemed consumed by the heat and flames, and Toph slowly backed away.
Like two dragons, the fires arced off of the other-Zuko and spun around the room. Azula hit the ground hard as the force of the blasts knocked her onto the glass. She looked up and saw the others similarly jostled about as the other-Zuko sagged his shoulders. The head changed to the white face.
The faces all shut their eyes, serenity filled the White Face's expression even as painful distortions ripped across the Stranger's body. His body arced its back in excruciating pain as a new arm ripped out of the hole left behind by the other. It was longer, ganglier, but it looked all the more menacing for the replacement. The Blue Face took the lead again, examining its new arm and appraising it before pulling a sword out of the shadows and twirling it around.
"It just regenerated completely," Yue said, "The white side must be able to heal wounds the body sustains."
"Not all wounds," Azula said. "Sokka gave him a pretty scar across the face, and that's still there."
"Duh, the masks are the weak spot," Sokka said. "I think we were all thinking that, Azula. We're not that dumb."
The blades twirled in a large flourish. He was taunting them, wanting them to come at him with everything they had, and no doubt confident that he'd be able take it. Azula had her doubts about that, but it seemed Sokka'd already taken the bait. "You idiot, you're playing right into his hand!"
"No, I'm - not!" He stopped suddenly. "Katara, now!"
"Got it!" She rushed up behind Sokka and set herself into the octopus stance, letting each tendril come out and attack in rapid succesion. The blades collided with the attacks, severing one while blocking another, matching blows for blows while Sokka turned on his heels and rolled to the side.
The Red Head seemed to growl as Sokka steadied his arm and made his attack. The Blue Face's red pupils turned in time to catch the attack, an arm moving to parry, when a tendril of water pushed it down. Sokka slashed in a small arc across the same length as his first strike.
"Got him!" Sokka said, pumping his fists as the shadows gushed out of the wound. The Red Face took to the front as the Blue Face's eyes faded into the black, and growled.
"Good one, Sokka!" Yue cheered, "Just two more to go."
The Red Face screamed out in inarticulately, then, with a heaving sigh, "Watch your hopes for victory vanish as I turn your world upside-down!"
The room rumbled ominously, and Azula felt her feet leave the ground. "Not again," she moaned quietly. Paintings and a small table with a calligraphy set atop it, as well as a collection of sculpted busts of, not surprisingly, the Spirit Blue floated up; anything that wasn't nailed down left the ground. The Red Face seethed in rage, his rage becoming heat and the heat becoming flame. He cast it off in a large wave, and everything, and everyone, went flying.
"Ugh, I got ashes in my mouth," Sokka said, between rubbing his tongue clean and spitting.
"Be thankful he's only used his Firebending in such unfocused waves," Azula said, the irritation written all over her face as she wafted past him, upside-down, "If he were focused, we wouldn't be here talking about ashes - we'd be the ashes."
"Oh, thanks for that sombre thought, milady," Sokka retorted, "Can we focus on not getting picked off one by one and not on how wonderful Firebending is?"
"An excellent suggestion," Azula answered, "We need to destroy the red face, now."
"Okay, angry face, got it."
"Perfect. Oh, ink blot."
"Ink blot?" Sokka asked, confused by Azula's sudden interest in psychology until he turned around and saw a slow moving cloud of ink coming in his direction. It was hard to make out in the shadows cast by the ensuing novas. "Gah!"
"This place is a mess!"
"And I can't see a thing!" Toph complained.
"Yes, that too. Azula, what do we do?" Katara asked. Azula grabbed hold of one of the hanging stalactites and closed her eyes. "Well?"
"I think we should improvise. Does that cloud of ink give you any ideas?" Azula said, her eyes opening and her expression turning smug.
"I think so?" Katara sounded uncertain. Unsurprising to Azula, but there was a sound like something dawned on her. "Oh, okay. I think I see what you're saying.":
"Wonderful, since I'm out of water," Azula said. She kicked off the stalactite just in time to avoid a column of flame. The Stranger was on the move. He moved through the zero-gravity sanctum like a fish in water. Every movement swift, no motion wasted. The flames encircled him again and he spun around, a spiral of fire erupting from one of his many fists, and from another came a large blast that traveled towards Toph with a terrible speed.
Azula blasted aside the spiral with a gust of wind, but she couldn't stop the blast. Her warnings shouted too late, Toph only vaguely became aware of the fire before it connected, shouting in pain as the blast collided with her. "Toph!" Katara cried. Her clothes were singed, but she seemed to have only a few minor burns.
"Katara, focus on him, now," Azula said, "She'll be fine."
"She's hurt and you want me to ignore her?" Katara shouted, her voice raised in anger.
"If you wish to put it so bluntly, yes."
"Give me one good reason."
"Because she, and all of us, are going to be a lot more than singed if we don't stop him from Firebending."
"She's right, Katara." Sokka pushed himself down to Toph, "I'll make sure she's okay. You and Azula have the best shot of taking this guy down right now."
"Fine." She flung the cap of the water bottle off and forced the water out. It hovered in the zero-gravity like a large bubble. Just as she'd expected. "Azula, catch!"
She bended some of the water into a ball and with a flick of the wrist sent it flying towards Azula. She managed to swing around and catch it, the globule swinging around her back and then to her front before expanding into a large bubble of water. "Thanks," Azula answered.
"Water's not going to help you. My rage burns hotter than any sun!" Zuko's other self screamed. His hands moved in a confusing dance, and flames danced between his fingers. Arms crossed, then another set thrust out. The result: large, complex streams of flames shot forth from the Red Faced Stranger. Azula frowned, the way they moved made it difficult to predict. She choose to strike back,
She knew Firebending well. She was well acquainted with the inner workings of the artist bending the flames but she was not familiar with whatever it was this other-self was doing. She knew Firebending to be a matter of discipline, perfection. Her brother? No, he chose to focus his rage and make it useful. Commendable, if ultimately futile. it stifled his growth as an artist, and would one day lead to his downfall.
Azula hoped today would be that day. Waterbending was another beast entirely, an entirely alien series of procedures that acted more like a dance than a battle. Respect and humility were never things she put much stock in. Still, humbly, she respected the water to act as her shield and then, her lance. The heat of the flames was intense and she could feel it evaporating what little water Katara had lent her, but at the same time, she was confident it would hold.
It would hold because she trusted it to, which was about as foreign an idea as any that had entered her head since she came to the labyrinth. There was little comfort in Waterbending, the very act of doing so left her in an unfamiliar place. But she couldn't deny she needed it right now.
Rarely in her life had trust been rewarded. Today, she noted the exception. The water was boiling, but it was not broken, and it would cool, slowly, but surely turning to ice. She felt more comfortable with ice than the liquid stage, after all. Ice was rigid and ice would follow her instructions to the letter without any of the little surprises a Waterbender was trained to expect.
Katara chose a different method. She let the water surge forward still liquid, and with no signs of it freezing. The two attacks came at Zuko's imposter at the same time. His dao blades sliced through the ice lance, splitting it into tiny pieces before it shattered on the ground, The burst of water Katara sent out merely flowed around the blades.
Katara was a master, after all. She was, much as the sentiment burned her up inside, better than Azula in this regard. In many regards, some would say, but this one most of all. The way she controlled the water, her entire focus on it, looked as elegant as any dancer. She faced the fiery heat of the Red Face Mask and didn't break a sweat. She moved and the water with her around the complex counter attack. A fireball would be absorbed by a freezing globule of water, melting the ice as it extinguished, the droplets rejoining the whole. Whenever a stray gout of flame got past her assault, she dodged it with a push off the wall, but her concentration never strayed.
"Amazing, Katara," Yue breathed.
"Stand still so I can incinerate you!" Zuko's other-self's temper seemed almost cartoonish and hyperbolic, but somehow, Azula found a bit of humor in how like him it all was.
"Only if you stand still so I can get a clear shot at you," Katara retorted though her mind was clearly elsewhere.
"How about you both stand still and have an old fashioned showdown?"
"How about you shut up, Sokka, before you give him ideas," Katara retorted.
"I'm just saying."
The complexity of the dancing flames and the flow of water made for an almost beautiful sight. The two elements seemed to match blow for blow, move for move, like some kind of bizarre choreography.
Zuko's Stranger moved through the circling water, a trail of fire and shadows at his heel as he moved to position himself outside the spinning globules. Azula frowned. Whatever he was going to do looked like it would be devastating. The fires on his finger tips, the flames that danced on the edge of his blade, and the heat that he emitted from his eyes made her hair stand on end. Katara wouldn't be able to dodge this, she could already see that.
If Katara did, she made no movement to stop. The water surged through the zero-gravity, pulling along each bubbly globe at Katara's command. Azula eyed the floatig bits of debris and an idea formed.
"Yue, help me distract him," she said, grabbing a bust.
"Me? But, how?"
"Follow my lead," she said. She pushed the bust at the Stranger's head. It hit with a loud bonk, and stray flames flared up and died on his fingers. Yue's eyes widened like saucers, and reached for a nearby table.
Though he seemed momentarily distracted, the actions only seemed to fuel the flames. "This isn't working," Yue called.
"It's bought Katara some time," Azula answered. Then she spotted something else and grinned, "And I'm going to give her the opportunity she needs." She kicked over to another hanging stalactite and grabbed hold of it. She could see what she was looking for floating innocuously through the air.
Her brother's other-self really should remember to cap his inkwells, she thought, bending the ink like it were water. At the very least, this distraction would prove too much to ignore. The ink followed her commands and rained down on the mask.
It wasn't enough to even register at first, but when the whole of the dark sludge came down on his face, the other Zuko reeled back. The flames dispersed, and two sets of hands hurriedly worked to clean the substance from his eyes. "Katara, take your shot now!" Yue said, "He's wide open!"
"Right, Yue, I see it." She smiled, "Thanks Azula."
"No problem."
Katara wasted no time. The water surged forward again, this time its target was unable to move or respond. "Here!" Katara shouted, "Let me help you with that!" The water hit the mask hard and kept coming, freezing over as it did. Cracks formed in the red mask, and the scream of agony from the White Face coincided with the gravity returning to the room.
"He must have needed to concentrate to keep us afloat," Yue observed. Azula was less than pleased. She landed in an undignified pile, alongside Katara and Yue. She cast a look over at Toph and Sokka.
"You guys all right?" Katara asked.
"Ow, just a little burn."
"Katara, tend to that. We'll deal with the last one," Azula said. Logically this should be simple. A non-violent face so far, after all, would be defenseless without the two guardian masks. However, Azula wasn't willing to risk that being true. "Be ready for anything."
"You - how dare you!" the last face said. The hauntingly familiar face stirring something deep inside of Azula. "I'll make sure you feel every bit of that!"
The lights in the room shifted from blue and red to a stark white. Everyone looked ghostlike, everything a stark contrast between black and white. The swords caught her reflection. It was unusual, she supposed, to see yourself looking so much like the dead, especially since she had practically been among them.
Azula reached for her gun. A menacing click, and the image of herself in the reflection on the blades pointing that gun at a familiar face, one she hadn't seen in so many years. He was testing her.
"You wouldn't shoot me, would you?"
It wasn't Zuko's voice, and it was no taunting question. She saw her in the reflection - she looked like a ghost, and that's all she was, after all. Azula felt her finger on the trigger, but she couldn't seem to pull it. She couldn't hear anyone else, she couldn't see anyone else anymore, all that mattered was the woman in the reflection.
"I never meant to hurt you, Azula."
"Lies," Azula said. "You - you -"
"I always loved you, Azula. How could I not?"
"More lies. You're not real. You're just a trick. He's trying to trick me into - I have to -" It was funny how logically she knew what was going on. Cold logic dictated quite clearly that none of this was real. Her mother wasn't with them anymore, and even if she was, she wouldn't be here. This was one of Zuko's tricks - his counterpart's, anyway.
But try as she might, she couldn't shake the emotional side of it. This was her mother's face, her mother's voice - she didn't know how she felt about any of it, but it stayed her hand and that counted for something, didn't it?
Cold logic faced down emotion.
"Since it's you," Azula said, her voice level, "I'll say a prayer for your memory."
She pulled the trigger.
The scream of anguish wasn't her mother's. She felt a chill run down her spine as she loosened up. Whatever trace amount of doubt was gone, and what remained was the sight of the shadows dispersing and the lights flickering back to life.
"What just happened -" Toph sounded dazed and, Azula smirked, she couldn't exactly be blamed. It seemed whatever had happened, the other face had done the same to the otthers. Only Azula seemed able to act.
Of course, she wasn't exactly proud of that. She'd leave that one alone unless asked. The more important question was Zuko.
He was stirring, and Yue rushed to help him up. With a dopey expression on his face, he stared around at everyone, and then slapped his head. "I did it, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you sure did," Sokka said. "Don't worry. It happens to the best of us. By which I mean me."
"Whatever," Zuko said. "My head's killing me. I don't really remember what happened but - you guys came for me?
"You may be a jerk," Katara said, a warm smile on her face, "But you're our jerk. Don't forget that next time."
"I'll try not to." He looked over at Azula, his expression turning to one riddled by guilt. "I'm sorry, Azula."
"What?"
"I shouldn't have lost my temper, I shouldn't have -"
"What's done is done. If you think I can't take one of your weakling punches, you're sadly mistaken." She rolled her eyes. No sappy family moments, noot with them, she vowed. At least for the time being.
"Yeah, I guess I was." He shook his head. "For the first time in a long while I feel like I can think straight."
"Welcome to the club, Zuzu!" Toph said. "Bet you can firebend now and everything."
He ignited a spark on the palm of his hand, and smirked, "Yeah. Can't believe how good it feels to finally get that back." He threw a glance over at the center of the room where the Spirit Blue had appeared. He watched Zuko silently, but expectantly. "Well, guess there's nothing for it - I've got to face myself."
He walked up to the doppelganger and appraised him. "I used to dream of being a hero like that, didn't I, Azula?"
"It was adorably pathetic."
He smirked, "No kidding. Good and evil isn't exactly easy to tell apart most of the time. Can't just put on a costume and be a hero, you've got to earn it. All this time, I've been angry at myself because I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing or not. I was afraid, too. Afraid I'd end up like my father."
"See, daddy issues," Sokka piped in. Toph swiftly silenced him with a punch to the stomach.
"But I'm not the man my father wanted me to be, or even the boy my mother tried to protect. I've got to be my own man now. Growing up and leaving that behind isn't easy, but, it's time."
The Spirit Blue nodded, vanishing into nothingness the same as the others before him. Zuko looked back at the others. "I - I've got a lot to apologize for, don't I?"
"Nah," Toph said, "We got to kick your butt pretty fierce, so I think we're even now."
"I totally sworded you in the face."
"That's not a word, Sokka."
"I don't care, Azula, I totally did."
Azula shook her head slowly. "It's about time we get moving. Yue, do you see a way out of here?"
"Um." She pointed. Everyone followed her finger to the glass surface in the floor. "There."
"I meant a door back to the maze." Azula sighed and shook her head. She didn't have time for everyone deciding to become comedians.
"So did I."
"Huh?" Katara felt around the glass and then gasped in astonishment. "There's a trap door," she said, pulling a nearly invisible handle and revealing a stairwell. "But, this leads out into space -"
"With the Stranger quelled, these mazes seem to open up a way out of them," Yue said, "It was probably not there before, but now that Zuko is back, it's appeared."
"These mazes are weird," Sokka said. "I don't even want to think about what kind of maze Azula's made up for us."
"What makes you think I have."
"Let's just leave the possibility up there, that way instead of being shocked by finding you have one, we can be pleasantly surprised that you don't," Sokka said in saccharine sarcasm. Azula rolled her eyes.
"Whatever makes you happy, Sokka. That is my only desire," she mocking said. "I am but your loyal servant."
"That's more like it. Now fetch me some seal jerky."
"Guys?" Katara poked her head up from the trap door, "Are you coming or not?"
"Coming, coming."
The stairwell was long, but the cosmos that seemed to push itself aside for them soon faded and was replaced by familiar grey walls. The monolithic Labyrinth of Lethe lay out in front of them. The only lights came from burning blue flames held by distorted statues.
"Guys."
Katara looked around the group. Something was off. "What is it, Katara?" Toph asked, tiredly. "We need to get Zuko someplace to crash before he goes all comatose on us."
"I'll be fine," Zuko grunted. "I'm sure Azula wants us to get moving right away."
There was no answer. "I don't think Azula's here."
"What do you mean, you don't think Azula's here? She was right behind me," Sokka said. He turned around. There were no stairs back up. He'd have been surprised if he didn't already expect it. "But I could have sworn."
"Me too," Zuko said. "I saw her when we were climbing down."
"We need to find her!" Katara said. "Yue, do you sense her?"
"Not nearby, but I'll try -"
"Okay, the rest of us will look around. Don't go too far." Katara kept a calm face on despite the concern evident in her voice. "This maze is trying to separate us again and I'm not going to let it. We've come too far to get lost now."
"- I've found her. She's still inside the maze, but she's very far away. We'll need to hurry."
"Why?"
"Because something is heading right for her."
"What sort of something?" Sokka asked, hopefully, "Like, the Winter Solstice Fairy Bringing Her Presents something or Unspeakable Horror from Beyond the Furthest Ring something?"
"Um. I think the latter."
"That's what I was afraid of. And just out of morbid curiosity, where in the maze exactly is she?"
"I'm not sure," Yue said, "It's hard to get a full sense of the maze, but if I were to make an educated guess -"
"She's at the center isn't she?" Toph asked. "That's why you're saying everything so slowly like you don't want to say it."
"Yes." Yue's voice was very tiny.
"Let's move. We had to go there anyway," Zuko said. "I'll be fine. Just don't expect me to be able to fight off anymore of those big spirits." He rubbed his head and smiled the best he could. They took a moment to collect themselves, and then walked forward towards the center of the maze.
"Azula."
Her head was killing her.
"It's been a long time since we've met face to face like this. Do you remember what we spoke about then?"
She couldn't find the words to respond. When she tried, she felt a sudden sickness in her stomach and a desire to expunge whatever it was that caused it.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you've had so much to do. We've spoken so many times since then, haven't we? Since it's you, you probably already figured out that I wasn't really there. I've been here the whole time, waiting for you in the center of the Labyrinth of Lethe. I've been waiting for you to come and free me."
The girl laughed.
"It's pretty cruel of me to ask if you remember, isn't it? I've asked you to remember so much even though all you want to do is forget. That's why you made this place, you know - to forget everything."
Azula opened her eyes. Where was she?
"Oh, you haven't left the Labyrinth. Actually, you've never left it since you entered. All of those different worlds are merely fragments of the maze that your so-called friends helped build for you. As to where exactly you are? Well, that's more complicated than that."
She could see red as far as she could see. Everything was covered in that sickly, anemic red. The rubble, the buildings, the street lights that were bent and torn out of the ground - all the color of fire and blood.
"Do you recognize it? I think you should. We're right outside your dorm - what's left of it anyway." Azula turned around. It was definitely the dorm building, but it looked more like a burnt out husk. Everything looked like it had been razed in some manner of terrible holocaust. Azula coughed, viciously, her voice returning slowly, weakly at first, but with growing strength.
"We're in Ba Sing Se?" Azula could hardly believe what she was seeing. "But what happened?"
"I told you, we're inside the Labyrinth of Lethe where I've been trapped this whole time waiting for you!" Xiao seemed impatient, even anxious. Something was off about her, but then again, that was always the case. The way she looked so familiar, especially, but only a passing resemblence to someone she knew. "But now you're locked up in here with me. But it's okay, since it's you, you can get us both out."
"How?"
"You'll see!" Xiao promised. She took Azula's hand and dragged her down the ruined streets, towards the shapes on the horizon that looked like skeletal shapes against the hazy red sky.
...I found myself inside Xiao's prison with no memory of how I got there, or why I'd even gotten separated from the others at all. It was like some kind of nightmare world, where everything was dead and burnt out. I could hardly imagine what could have caused such devastation.
I don't think I quite recovered from the battle with Zuko's other self. The Strangers we found, strange doppelgangers that they were, always stirred up some sort of dark, musty feelings whenever we fought them, but this time, it was all too personal. I couldn't sort out how I felt. I don't think I ever will.
But all the same, with this lingering sense of doubt in my heart, I ventured forward into the Dragon's Den - the Magatsu Ba Sing Se that lurked at the center of the maze al along.
To be continued...