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.
"Kodoku o kesu koto ha dekinai kedo kitto wakeau koto ga dekina yo."
("We cannot get rid of our loneliness, but I'm sure we can share it with each other.")
- Found Me
Yumi Kawamura
Chapter 26: Descend
Yue descended.
The world around her washed away and she felt like she was falling, completely blind. The only thing she could sense was an intense sadness, a grief that was all-consuming. She didn't know from where or what, but the sensation filled her with dread, it was all she could sense as she fell.
And then she was still.
She hadn't precisely stopped falling, that would imply a sudden and abrupt end to her descent. Instead, it was more like she'd never been falling at all. She felt her breath catch as if she'd woken from a dream - only to wake up in a nightmare.
There was a blood red haze all about her, and the light of a red star that shone up in the sky. A dry, heavy heat exuded from the ground, permeating the soil, coming up through the grime covered mosaic tile. A nearby pool of water gave off a stagnant stench. Everything was covered in soot and ash.
"Where am I?" she wondered aloud. Her voice echoed around the abandoned building. It was all a little frightening, being alone in this strange place. It all seemed very familiar, like she'd seen it before somewhere. The signs were in disrepair, but as she studied them, she recognized the names of stores she'd visited before.
She'd gone there with some of the girls from the embassy, a long time ago, a different lifetime one could say. It was there she'd spoken with Sokka for the first time. Somehow, she was certain, this was the Ba Sing Se Shopping Center, but she had no idea what had happened to it. The entire place had been devastated, absolutely destroyed.
The storefronts had mostly caved in, some even looked quite hazardous to approach. Electrical wiring had been displaced, swinging dangerously around. She had no idea if they had any power left, but she didn't want to find out. The only place that seemed remotely welcoming was a small antique store. Aunt Wu's - she knew that name. Katara had mentioned her before.
She walked inside. Her senses went wild. The place was a mess, pieces of glass had been strewn everywhere,and everywhere she looked, she could feel Azula's presence assaulting her. The shattered mirrors, some covered up, others merely thrown to the ground, spoke of something terrible happening here.
"Oh, Azula," she said, "Were you here?" She let out a sharp gasp as she saw on the ground, leading towards the back, a trail of blood drops. Azula must have hurt herself on the glass, but it didn't make any sense.
The back door was open, leading into an empty alleyway. Azula must have left through the back. If anyone could explain what happened, it would be Azula. "Please be all right, Azula," she prayed. She hurried out into the street, and saw the corrupted Ba Sing Se for the first time, saw the collapsed buildings, the streets torn up and the scorch marks across the sidewalk.
"Oh my, what - why is everything destroyed? What happened here?"
Azula had to wonder the same thing. Despite the tram door opening, the place seemed largely devoid of power. She scoured the area. This felt like a trap, everything about it sat heavy with her. Xiao scurried up behind her and bumped into her. "Don't do that!" Azula snapped. She cocked a brow as Xiao let out a yelp.
"Sorry! I'm just scared!"
"Well you should have thought of that before you ran ahead when I specifically told you not to. Do you think this is some sort of game, Xiao?" The place smelled of smoldering ashes. The seats were torn up, the advertisements had been incinerated, and the metal poles had been twisted and melted. From time to time, Azula would catch a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of her eye. "I would not be surprised if another of those so-called Scions has set us a trap."
"But! But!"
"You think I'm wrong?"
"No," Xiao admitted, "But I didn't even think of that! Why are you so smart and so cool, Azula? You don't seem to be afraid of anything!" Azula jerked her head to the side as Xiao lavished praises upon her. Something was in here, that much was certain. Whatever it was, it seemed to keep low to the ground, slithering like a python. "What's wrong?"
Azula glances back, before murmuring, "We're being watched."
"By who?"
"I'd like to find out that myself," Azula answered. She felt something brush past her leg and glanced down. Whatever it had been was already long gone, but it felt like rubber against her leg. The door on the far end of the room slid open as the other slid shut.
"Thank you for choosing Ba Sing Se Transit," the familiar pre-recorded message sounded. The tram buckled across the old stone tracks. It was surprisingly sturdy for something built centuries upon centuries past. "Ba Sing Se Transit reminds you to be considerate of others and to dispose of your trash in the proper fas- HI-o-n."
The voice slowed to a crawl, and it was replaced by loud static noise across the speakers. "Owies," Xiao moaned. "Too loud."
Underneath the static, Azula could hear voices - familiar voices, even - but voices she hadn't heard for years. An almost forgotten longing filled her heart, and just when she thought she could hear the voice clearly, the static stopped, replaced with a hideous shriek.
Then, the speakers died away into nothing. "What happened?" Xiao asked. "Did someone break the speakerphone or something?"
Azula didn't know. She didn't answer. Instead, she focused on moving forward. Whatever had happened, it was clear that they wanted her to move further. The only way out of this trap was through.
The speaker in the car fell to the ground suddenly. Azula whipped around at the sound. She saw the speaker on the floor and glanced up. A tendril or tentacle of some sort wormed its way out from where the speaker had been attached, and arced into the ceiling, burrowing away into it and leaving nothing behind but a shower of sparks.
"What was that?" Xiao's eyes were wide with fright. "Is that the Scion?"
"Possibly," Azula said, "Or a part of it."
"Where did it go? How did it do that?" Azula shrugged. She didn't have any answers for Xiao. She just stepped forward towards the next car, prepared to pounce. She noticed the draft first, but it took her by surprise to see the entire left side of the car blown out.
"Xiao, be very, very careful," she said, "I will not be catching you if you fall." She felt Xiao wrap her arms tightly around her legs and turned back, her eyes burning a hole into the top of the frightened girl's head. "Let go this instant."
The girl apprehensively released her hold and stared up at Azula with teary eyes. "I'm sorry, I just got scared." Azula glancd at the barely attached remains of the seats on the left side, and was taken by just how fast they were going. The tram tracks looped around Ba Sing Se and were something of a tourist attraction because of it.
She could see the other end of the loop from between the shattered remains of burnt out buildings. Though they seemed largely in tact, there were stalled trams on the tracks. Whatever powered this tram had not affected the tracks or the other trams in the slightest. "We have to hurry," Azula said.
They were on a collision course.
"Thank you for choosing Ba Sing Se Transit. Next stop: Weng Square." Azula groaned angrily. They didn't have long if they were already at Weng Square. She kicked off into a run when the speaker descended back into static.
"A- zul -"
That voice spoke again, the same exact voice, but clearer this time. Azula wasted no time, drawing her weapon and firing it at the speaker. The voice was replaced by a static shriek, and the same exact trendril burst out from behind it. This one flopped to the ground, rolling on its side as electricity slowly drained out. "You got it!" Xiao said, clinging desperately to the melted down poles as she walked after Azula. "What is it?"
"Electrical wiring, incredibly high voltage and heavy duty," Azula said after giving it a cursory glance. "Whatever this scion is, I think it's safe to say it's the power source. This is rather disconcerting."
"Are you scared?"
"Of course not."
"Of course not! Since it's you!"
"Precisely," Azula answered. "I've survived worse. Regardless, whatever is responsible for this must be at the front of the next car. I imagine we'll face some resistance inside." She approached the door apprehensively. It remained slid shut. "If this door ever opens."
"Behind us!" XIao shouted. Azula glanced back and then ducked to the ground when she saw the tendril shoot out from the floor and at the door. A ring of sparks flashed and it was gone, leaving not even a charred ring where it entered. After a minute, the light above the door began to flicker to life and the door slid open with a cheerful 'ding.'
"Rather unexpected," Azula observed, before striding into the front car. Xiao followed behind her closely. "Be alert, Xiao. This room will most likely be very dangerous, especially since this guardian is nearby."
"If you say so," Xiao said. The car rattled as the speed picked up again. It was a miracle the car hadn't derailed yet. The city of Ba Sing Se was blurring past the windows. Red and black smudged together, and the only constant was the red star in the sky.
She took a step forward, and out of the floor a winding tendril jut out inches in front of her. Sparks landed on the toe of her shoes before dissipating. The tendril wound up around Azula and disappeared back into the ceiling. XIao stuttered out a frightened squeak, and as the tendril vanished, they heard a tone from the speakers.
"Attention all travelers on the Jasmine Line -" the static began to overwhelm the speaking voice. But regardless, it continued, "-End of- Line - End - End - End - End-"
It repeated it as another voice vied to drown it out, a woman's voice, ever so familiar and yet, somehow, her memory refused to acknowledge it. "Azula, I really tried-"
And then all was silenced by that terrible shriek, echoing like a laugh, shutting off the static. The speaker seemed to explode as four tendrils burst out of it, lining around the door to the control room. They seemed to glow neon colors.
They were pulsing with electricity. "This is a conundrum."
"What do we do, Azula?"
"We'll have to sever them from their power source somehow," Azula answered. She surveyed the car, then checked her gun. She was dangerously low on bullets now. She really wished she'd taken more the last time they'd been in the dorm.
She wondered if she could make an airbending slice wide enough to take them all out. She had been leaning rather hard on Airbending in lieu of Firebending, but she still lacked Aang's finesse with the style.
It was worth a try. "I need some room, Xiao. Stand back." Xiao took a step back as Azula widened her stance and swung her arms around to gather up the wind in front of her and cut a long slice through it. The displacement and the movement sent the wave slicing across the car and cutting right through two of the electrified tendrils.
The loud shriek sounded from behind the door, pained and angry. The other tendrils retracted into the wall and the door slid open slowly. The room inside was pitch black. "Do we step in?" Xiao asked.
"Wait here," Azula answered.
"But!"
"Do you think you can hold your own in a fight?" Azula asked, testily. "No? Then, leave this to me. I told you, you're a liability."
"Oh, okay," she answered, forlornly. "Since it's you, I'll just wait here."
"Good. I'll be back when I stop this tram." She stepped through the door, and it closed behind her. The only light she saw came from the window, the red light seemed especially intense against the pitch inside. A shape seemed to crawl, captured in silhouette against the red skyline. Two points of light shone through.
There were noises all around her, wriggling noises and the buzz of electricity, the entire car seemed to be moving, as her eyes started to adjust. With a flicker, the shapes started to shine off neon lights of orange, red, blue, and green.
Slinking about the front of the car, the Priestess Scion wrapped her long, elegant arms around the control box, her silk mask white and and midnight blue, moving like waves in the ocean as she stared at Azula.
With a terrible electric shriek, she tore her claws into the controls.
Katara Floes was face to face with Katara Floes. The other girl was younger, her eyes a wild with controlled panic, and she was waiting intently for her instructions. "Take a deep breath," she instructed, "And let's start from the beginning."
Rain ran off her fingers as they held them spread out in front of her. Her younger self followed her lead. "Let's just take it slow," Katara continued, "Feel the water, push it towards her, let it wash over the wound."
The roar of thunder was loud and close, but it didn't break the older Katara's concentration. "You have to clear your head of distractions. You just need to feel the flow of water through your fingers."
"Okay," Katara the younger squeaked. She was highstrung, but a lot had happened. Her dormmate nearly got herself killed and she was now facing herself. Katara had to consciously remind herself that she wasn't real. "I got it. This is easy."
"Well, don't get too confident yet," Katara answered with a grin, "That was the easy part, after all. This is where things get a bit more complicated. Lay your hands on the wound and feel the flow of her chi through the water. Do you understand?"
"Not really."
"You'll know it when you feel it," Katara said, patiently. "It's one of the greatest gifts of Waterbending, to be able to feel the flow of life, and to encourage it and turn its ebb to a flow." The other Katara looked over at her incredulously. "Focus!"
"Okay, okay." The other Katara returned to her bending, washing the wound with the rainwater. For a moment, she seemed frustrated. "This isn't working."
"Patience. You won't feel anything if you do't focus. Azula is counting on you, Katara, don't let her down."
"But - but I don't even like her."
Katara winced. "It doesn't matter whether or not you like her or not, she needs you right now, Katara."
"Wouldn't it make everything easier if she didn't -" the young Katara looked up to see her older self just staring at her incredulously. The older girl's thoughts were screaming at her, telling her something was wrong.
"-Just because something's easier doesn't make it right," she answered snappily. "I can't believe I'd ever think something like that." Azula groaned as a light blue glow emitted from the water around the younger Katara's hand. The girl was stunned. "That's it!"
"What is this?" she said.
"You can feel it now, the flow of chi, I mean?" Katara's younger self nodded in response. Encouraged, Katara continued. "Good. Bend it like you would in your exercises. Push and pull, take in the bad and spread out the good, let it flow through you."
"I, I think I feel it!"
Azula managed a low groan, and her eyes fluttered open briefly, her eyes focusing in on the hands that were pressed against her. "Katara?" she managed to grunt before her eyes drooped shut again.
"Azula!" the relief in the younger Katara's voice was familiar, like a forgotten memory. Maybe Sokka was right with his weird theory, Katara admitted. But if that was the case, where did that strange question come from. She couldn't remember having any doubts that day, even if it was a while ago.
Still, it would have been easier, wouldn't it? The thought was an insidious beast, sneaking past her better judgment and taunting her. It would have been so much easier, they would never have had to worry about her betrayal, or all the times they cowered in fear of her and the Phoenix Group. Things wouldn't have been the same, but they would have been easier.
"I'm glad it all worked out," she told the younger Katara, despite her own reservations. Even in the maze, Azula had been cold, distant, and causing as much trouble as she got them out of. Still, she couldn't imagine leaving Azula to die. "She deserves a second chance."
"You really think so?" the younger Katara asked.
"Well, yes. And I'm you, so I guess that means you think so too," she paused, then, quickly, she amended, "Well, you will, I guess. Either way, I'm just glad she's okay. She'll be okay, but she needs professional help, for sure. Who knows what all that electricity could have done."
"You're right, I should go and call them before anything - I'll go do that right now," Her entire posture had changed to something more awkward. Now that the tension had died down, she seemed a lot less nervous and more confused and Katara couldn't blame her - or herself, or however it went.
"Still," Katara said after her younger self disappeared into the building, "It's better than the last twin."
Zuko descended, but not at first. The entire hospital had become unbearably warm to him, suddenly. "Are you all right?" Ursa asked. She leaned forward, examining him quickly with a critical but motherly glance, "You look like you have a fever."
"I'm fine." He rubbed his forehead, surprised by the moistness under his hairline. Azula and Ursa didn't seem to mind the heat that was threatening to take him to a boil. "I just - isn't it hot in here?"
"Nuh-uh," Azula said. "Mom, come on, let's go."
"I'm fine, don't worry about me. You should probably get back, anyway," Zuko winced under the heat. It was like standing under a blazing sun in the middle of a desert, and getting hotter. "Maybe they've got some news."
"Well, if you're sure." Ursa smiled kindly. It all seemed like some kind of bizarre fever dream to Zuko, almost unreal, just seeing her like that. Still, he returned her smile. "Come along, Azula."
When they were gone, he quickly looked for a bathroom. The heat was exploding, growing in intensity by the second. He needed to cool down.
Glancing around, everything seemed distorted. The walls were melting, their white paint turning sickly yellow as it dripped down. The floor seemed to dissolve around him, turning into a molten liquid under foot, and he could feel himself slowly sink down.
He reached out but there was nothing to grab. Everything was melting away, falling down - and he was falling with it. The hospital became a blur of white, and he fell. It was more like a feather dropping, slowly flitting down.
The only point of reference he had was the swirling of white that fell in front of him, extending further than he could see. Otherwise, he was alone in a vast sea of black. The only thing he felt was the sensation in the pit of his stomach like a dream of falling.
And like a dream, it ended. Around him everything was caught in a red haze, and the heat he felt before was now a distant yet strangely vivid memory. There was still a lingering heat, but he paid it no mind as he started to acclimate to his surroundings and find them disturbingly familiar. The tables were a mess of twisted metal, but even in their distorted form, he could tell them at a glance. The wall stalls had been completely collapsed, and the main register had long since been torn off the counter - even the wallpaper had somehow clung to the walls, but had been torn and broken down by disrepair - this was the tea house. He'd worked there too long not to recognize it.
It was a disaster, but he felt strangely comfortable in this place.
"Hello?"
He went to the door and peeked out. Someone had called out, but glancing around, he couldn't see anyone. A large chasm had formed along the plaza. "Zuko, could you please help me, I seem to have missed my jump -"
He turned his gaze downwards. two sets of hands clung desperately to the remains of the pavement. "Yue?" He knelt down and peeked over the ledge. There the Moon spirit dangled above a river of sludgy sewage. "What did you do?"
"If it's all the same, I would gladly discuss this when I am not slowly losing my grip."
Zuko only paused a second to consider this before bashfully coughing and grabbing her by the wrists. A few minutes later, he'd managed to salvage some chairs and they were seated in the tea house.
She was breathing heavily, apparently she'd tried and failed to pull herself over the ledge and it had left her winded. "Where are we, exactly?" he asked. After a moment of heavy breathing, she still seemed unable to answer. "Take your time." He stood up and examined the tea house.
She coughed. "I'm sorry." Another cough interruted her, and she cleared out her throat. "I just did not expect the jump to be quite as far as it was. I even made sure to have a good running start."
"It's okay." He seemed distracted by the frame of the door. Yue followed him as he traced it around and peered around it. "So -"
"Your questio, of course." She sat up straight, "We're still inside the maze."
"That's a relief."
"I agree." She glanced sideways at the twisted metal table. "I sensed Azula here, but I couldn't follow her across the chasm. I fear she does not wish to be followed."
"Or someone else doesn't want us to,." Zuko turned back to Yue, and he shrugged. "Anyway. Azula's here, that's great." He didn't sound very excited, Yue thought, but didn't say anything. "But what now?"
"All I can say is we must keep following her. You gave me quite a surprise when you suddenly fell into existence."
"Yeah, I had a long drop - or something."
"I know exactly how you mean." She smiled,, somewhat forlornly. "I suppose I was thrown into one of those collective memories Sokka was speaking of. It still seems almost like we were transported to the past, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. I saw my mother waiting for me the night of the accident." He paused, before adding, "It was awkward."
"I suppose we're seeing Azula's memories."
"Yeah, maybe." He grunted and pointed down the hall. "The back way's this way. You think she went out this door?"
"Yes, I think so." She hesitated. She wasn't sure how to bring it up, but slowly, she broached the subject. "I'm worried about Azula's mental state. Ever since we entered the maze it's been deteriorating almost to the point it was after her extended stay in the Spirit World."
Zuko glanced over his shoulder. She wasn't sure she wanted to continue under his intimidating gaze, but she took a deep breath and said, "I think we should be prepared for her to be erratic. You saw the damage to the tea house. Some of it was new.:"
"We don't know that."
"I saw Aunt Wu's store when I arrived in this place," Yue answered, undeterred, "Mirrors were broken everywhere. She was already seeing things that weren't there before, perhaps it's gotten worse?"
"And perhaps there's some good reason for it," Zuko retorted. He paused. Whatever he was thinking weighed heavily at him, his shoulders sunk, and his head bowed. "Whatever the case, we won't know until we find her."
"You're right. We should have faith in her."
Its claws tore into the control panel, tearing the power cords out as electricity pulsed through its body. It turned its empty amber eyes towards Azula as it did, almost coy in its posture even though it seemed entirely animalistic.
There was a jolt and Azula nearly lost her balance as the tram began to accelerate rapidly. The scion wrested its claws from the box, letting the cords flop lifelessly to the ground. From the back of the scion's head, tendrils extended to the ceiling like strands of hair. It moved with feline grace, a predator unnaturally slinking across the floor. Its back arched as it stretched.
Azula reached for her gun before deciding against it. Instead, she launched herself into a waterbending stance. The tendrils writhed around the walls like a neon jungle, and the guardian disappeared into their tangle like a tiger. "Come out." She waited, anxiously. She worked best under pressure, she contested. She would strike before it could.
The tendrils on the ceiling lashed down at her, their ends sparking like livewires. She'd experienced electrocution before - even if she couldn't recall the circumstances surrounding it - and she had no intention of experiencing it again. She slid to the side, then turned on her heel. Water wormed its way out of her bottle, ad with an arc of her hand sprayed against the tendrils.
They writhed almost as if they experienced pain, and from inside the tangled mess of lights and wires the scion screamed a lonesome, pained sound. Azula's eyes scanned the area. She was sure she'd heard it come from this direction. The water wrapped around her, anticipating the attack.
The creature pounced before she could react, appearing out of thin air from outside of the tangle. Electricity coursed through its body. Azula barely moved in time. She struck as she moved, but the scion was too quick, darting underneath the wide spray of water and appearing right in front of her in one fluid motion.
Azula stepped back, pulling the water back towards her as she did. It moved low to the ground underneath the arc of water, prepared to pounce again. Azula took another step back, twisting her ankle gently after. The guardian swiped one of its clawed hands forward and Azula swung her whole body to the side.
Tendrils from the wall pried themselves loose and after her, neon lights shining brightly. The scion made a low and ghastly screech while stretching across the ground. The tendrils on the back of its head seemed to quiver.
More tendrils shot out of the ceiling around Azula. Every inch coursed with power. Moving her hands in a close circle, she spun the water out around her, then with careful precision, she released small bursts of water at each of the incoming tendrils, drawing her hands stiff as she did. The tendrils writhed and then froze stiff as the water turned to ice.
The scion screeched again. This time it was the painful, hurt variety. It sounded more like a series of clicks and tones to her, but all the same, she could make out the pain pretty clearly from the way its body convulsed. Then, it turned its eyes to Azula.
"Water really hurts you. I wonder what will happen if I get some on you."
Intimidation didn't seem to work. The scion just stared right back at Azula with unblinking eyes.
"I guess you're not as smart as those Strangers." Azula readied herself. The scion slunk around her in a wide circle, walking on all fours. The tendrils on its head quivered and Azula glanced around. The walls seemed to be closing in. They were sparking with electricity.
The tendrils burst out from the ground, arcs of electricity crawling out from where they emerged. Azula narrowed her eyes. The scion pounced without warning. Azula responded in turn. She jumped back, nearly colliding with a tendril that pounced down on her, descending into the ground with another electrical splash. Azula rolled away. She drew more water from her bottle and readied it to counter attack.
The scion sliced through the air with sparking claws. Azula moved to the side then pushed the water in a ball forward. The scion slunk after Azula, ignoring the ball of water in favor of a wide-open target. Azula grinned, her stance not wavering.
Push, then pull - the very basics of waterbending were the only things she could really rely on. Katara would have probably finished this with more grace, but the scion's eyes were reward enough. The water pulled back at Azula's command and then it was over. the electricity that was contained within the scion's frame burst forth in a blinding flash.
When her eyes recovered, she found nothing but the burnt remains of the scion's mask. The tendrils were gone from the walls, and she could see out into the city again. She nearly missed the red haze of the ancient sun.
The tram continued to barrel forward, even without the scion to power it. "This is bad," Azula observed. She ran to the control panel, which was torn but not broken. The claw marks made it difficult to read, and there were so many different buttons to press.
She had to trust her instinct.
She pressed a button. In the time it took for her heart to beat, the brakes slowly engaged. The stalled tram ahead loomed dangerously as they grew closer. The two trams collided wtih a thump, the force slowing the tram to a complete stop.
"Azula!"
Xiao pushed into the front of the car and grabbed Azula's hand. "Xiao." There were too many questions, she couldn't ignore it any longer. "Why are you under such tight guard?"
"Well, you see," Xiao looked apprehensively at the remains of the scion's mask. "Can we talk while we move? We're almost there, I can feel it!"
Azula was about to protest when she thought better of it. "Then talk." She pried open the door and climbed down to the walkway adjacent to the track. "We have plenty of time while we walk to the station."
"Okay. Well, you see." Xiao jumped off the tram and landed in an undignified pile. "Ow. These scions are a part of that thing at the center of the maze."
"So this darkness in the center of the maze doesn't want you to leave. Is there any particular reason you're not telling me? How did you even get here, in the first place?"
"I told you, I don't remember. I've always been here, Azula. Always and forever. You should know that by now! Anyway, I don't know why the thing doesn't like me, but I guess that's just how it goes. It's evil, it doesn't need a reason to do what it does. Does it?"
"Spoken like a true child. Nothing in this world is absolute evil."
"But we're not in your world anymore," Xiao countered, all while wagging her finger. "You don't know if this world has true evil or not because you're not from here. Anyway, these scions are made up of cast off thoughts and feelings of those who enter the maze. The closer we get to the center of the maze, the more powerful and plentiful they become."
"And what about the Strangers? Are they parts of this darkness as well?"
"No, not really," Xiao admitted. Then, she added with a big smile, "They're more like its food."
Azula didn't ask for any further details. Instead, she spent most of her time watching the rickety old walkway creak in the wind. The trams had stopped just outside of the last station on the line. It was near the business district in the lower ring. They took an awfully circuitous route around the city, Azula thought, to end up so close back to the dorm
"What's the matter?" Xiao looked up at her curiously.
"I'm just wondering where we're even going."
"Oh, didn't I tell you?"
"I suppose it must have slipped your mind between all of the scions and other business." Azula crossed her arms. She was not impressed. "Where are we going, Xiao?"
"We're going to your school!"
The school? There was a rather long path to the school through the lower ring - quite a few students received education there that couldn't afford the dormitory housing for one reason or another - but it was hardly the most convenient way. "And no doubt there are two more of those monsters on the way?"
"That's right!"
"I'm growing tired of this."
"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. You beat the first three, the last two shouldn't be any trouble at all!" The station was nearby. It took a moment to climb up, but the old tram station looked rather intact for something in the city. The chairs had been completely demolished and most of the ceiling had lost its tiling, but the actual roof was surprisingly in one piece. Even the ash seemed to be less concentrated inside.
"Damage doesn't look so bad."
"Just don't look down!" Xiao teased. Azula's eyes immediately turned to the floor. What at first glance seemed to be a complete floor was, on closer inspection, full of crumbling holes and a nasty drop to the street below. "Hurry!" Xiao rushed across the floor, her light weight making it effortless.
Azula took longer, keeping her balance along small strips of steady ground by keeping her arms outstretched. "Hurry, hurry!" Xiao tapped her foot impatiently as she waited by the stairway. Azula slowed down, simply to punish her impertinence.
"Come on!" She sighed boredly. "We've got to get there soon!"
Azula narrowed her eyes. "Soon? You seem in an awful big rush all of a sudden."
"We're nearly there, Azula! Let's just keep pressing forward until we reach the goal! Two more to go! Two more to go!"
Azula rolled her eyes. Stepping onto the staircase, she finally felt firmly on solid ground. Xiao was down the stairs practically sliding on the rail as she went. The girl was in more of a rush than ever, even in spite of the trap they'd fallen into last time.
She didn't take long to take in her surroundings. The Upper Ring may have been devastated, but the Lower Ring had been obliterated. There were very few standing buildings, most of them had been leveled down to their foundation. They riddled the streets with rectangular pits, and if it weren't for the sturdier, new structures, the entire area would have seemed like something in the center of the desert.
The wind swept ash over the streets. The red sun's oppressive heat bore down on them more intense than before, and the red haze seemed to radiate from the ground. Unlike the Upper Ring, there were few if any vehicles around the street. A bicycle, or the remains of one, had been thrown into the center of the street, its singular wheel spinning and squeaking in the wind.
Xiao slowed down "Eerie." She tentatively fell into step behind Azula. "So, when we get out of here, you promise not to abandon me, right?"'
"Abandon you?"
Xiao nodded. "It just seems like everyone gets abandoned outside of here. Inside, we need each other, but once we're free, I feel like you don't need me anymore and you'll forget me all over again."
"You cannot rely on anyone but yourself."
"I know, but I'm not strong enough yet."
Azula groaned. "I promise not to abandon you. Does that make you feel better?"
"Do you really mean it?"
Azula grunted at angrily at the question. Wasn't it enough to just say so? "Yes, of course I do. Don't be stupid."
Xiao became quiet, casting a glance over at Azula before directing her gaze to the pavement, finding interest in the holes riddled into the ground. The toppled remains of buildings blocked off most of the byways and shortcuts Azula knew of, and the old shopping district seemed a little lonesome without the crowds, even a little creepy.
They passed by a lonesome automobile and came to a pile of rubble. It was a dangerous looking hunk of metal and concrete that came from a nearby ruined building. Most of the building seemed to have fallen straight into the road. "This was the way to the school," Azula said. She glanced around and waved Xiao to follow her. "I know a roundabout way through to the other side."
"Couldn't we just climb?"
"Structure's too unstable. We're more likely to get ourselves impaled on something."
Xiao followed Azula down the alleyway, and onto another parallel street. The buildings on this end had fared better, but there was still less of them left standing than she'd seen anywhere. "Whatever this city is meant to be, it certainly didn't like this neck of town."
"No, it most certainly didn't," Xiao agreed. While Azula glanced down the broken down alleyways, Xiao fell out of step with the older girl, glancing around. She seemed bored, and Azula would sometimes catch her yawning.
"This way."
Xiao jogged after Azula, trying to catch up. The girl had ducked into an alley and disappeared. Running as quickly as she could, she nearly stumbled right into Azula, who had stopped on the other end of the alley. "Why did you run off like that."
"You weren't paying attention. Be thankful there wasn't another guardian just lying in wait for you to get distracted."
"Oh."
Azula straightened herself out. "It's important to be alert and punctual, Xiao. Who knows what could sneak up and surprise you." There was a low rumble as Azula spoke, low enough for her to miss, but Xiao's ears pricked.
"Azula, I don't think -"
"Just remember what I said in the future," Azula continued, "I won't wait up next time."
"That's fine, but Azula -"
"What?" The rumble grew louder and Azula glanced back to see what it was. In the distance, the pile of rubble seemed to quiver and quake. Small pieces of debris fell off and rolled along the pock-marked street. "What is that?" Azula wondered.
"I don't know."
"We better hurry."
"I agree."
They started down the street as the wall gave way. The debris scattered as a six wheeled vehicle burst out of it. It barely even slowed as it passed by, squeeling loudly as its wheels burned rubber against the pavement. The green paint flecked with red rust and twisted black singes barely received a ding from the small pieces of concrete ad metal that banged against it as it tore down the street.
At the front of the car, a leather mask that seemed constructed from several other masks, had been awkwardly placed. It shone its off-color lights through the haze. Azula glanced back over her shoulder. There was no way they would be able to outrun it. It got closer and closer with every passing second.
"Xiao, we need to find someplace to hide."
"But where?"
"I don't know. We just need to get off the road." The imploded buildings alongside the road gave very little cover. The scion was already driving over the remains of burnt out automobiles as it went. It seemed to devour them, adding pieces to its frame, leaving nothing behind but the scavenged skeleton.
As a result, it was getting larger. A pile of rubble would only be a minor speed-bump to the monstrous vehicle. Azula needed something more intact, something with actual structure that the scion wouldn't just tear to shreds.
And they needed it now. She could hear the rumble of the engine right in her ears. "Come on!" Xiao pointed Azula towards a building, some old tenement building that had somehow been spared, "In here!"
Azula pushed Xiao inside and tumbled to the ground as the vehicle zoomed by at a hundred and sixty-five miles per hour. "Somehow," Azula said as she stood herself upright, "It does not surprise me that even devoid of all life, Ba Sing Se drivers are the worst on the planet."
Xiao tittered happily. "You're funny, Azula!"
"I've been known to have my moments." Azula supposed a momentary bit of narcissism wouldn't hurt. "Anyhow, we have only a matter of minutes before that thing turns around and plows through here."
"What do we do?"
"We need to find a permanent way to end this menace." She glanced around the building. The door had long since fallen out of the frame, and the entire place seemed hollow, but the interior had survived the devastation strangely in one piece. There was a hole in the ceiling that exposed a bedroom overhead. A bedframe that had long been devoid of a matress hung precariously atop it.
Altogether, it seemed rather ill-equipped for dealing with that monster car. She'd have to improvise. "XIao, I think you'd better -"
"Hide?" Xiao crossed her arms, "No! I'm going to help you this time!"
"You'll probably end up run over."
"I don't care!" Xiao said, "I'm not some helpless little girl!"
Azula opened her mouth to argue when a bright light came in through the empty windowframes. "Fine," she hissed, "But I won't wait up for you if you fall behind." She grabbed the girl and squatted down low.
"What are you doing?" Xiao asked.
"You'll see."
The wall crumbled as the vehicle drove right into the common room, and Azula lept up through the hole in the ceiling, carrying a screaming Xiao the whole way. She kicked the already teetering bedframe over, sending it hurtling down towards the waiting scion. Then, she dove out a window, and back to the streets below. The car was already beginning to pull itself around. "Oh no!"
"Oh yes," Azula retorted. She landed, the earth jutting up around her like a splash. She kicked one of the large jutting stones towards the vehicle, then bounded off the flat of another, taking off down the road. "I need to put you down now." But even saying that, Xiao clung tighter. "Xiao, I need my hands free."
"But this is scary!"
"Do you trust me, Xiao?" The girl nodded apprehensively at the question, "Then follow my lead and don't get left behind. I promise you won't get hurt."
"You pinky swear?"
"Sure, why not." Azula shrugged. She put the girl down and then broke into a dash. "Come on!"
Xiao followed after as fast as her small legs could take her. She took a glance over her shoulder. The car was already fast approaching, the stone Azula had fired sticking right out of one of its headlights. "Azula, it's gaining!"
"I know already!" She turned suddenly into an alleyway. "This way!"
Xiao turned after her, only to see the alley led to a dead end. "Azula, what are you doing?"
"I'm improvising, clearly." She leapt up into the cradle of a fire escape. She kicked the rusted ,ladder down. "Climb up here. Trust me."
"Uh, okay." She grabbed hold of the rungs and tried to scurry up to Azula. All too quickly, things seemed to go wrong. The car squealed as it turned and then accelerated into the alleyway. It took out the building on the other side without a second thought, and the fire escape started to shudder as the wall it was attached too slowly crumbled. "Azula!"
"Get up here now!" Azula's eyes never once left the vehicle, even as she barked out her orders. "This is almost precisely how I expected this to happen." Xiao braved the quiverig ladder, and soon climbed up besides Azula. "Get ready to jump."
Xiao glanced over at Azula. "Okay, since it's you, but what was the point of this?"
"Buying us time. No matter how much power it has under the hood - now!" She leapt off the walkway and Xiao clumsily followed. " - Excellent, now, where was I? Oh yes. No matter how much power it has under the hood, it cannot easily remove itself from the rubble of two buildings."
The car did seem to struggle, its wheels squealing in protest at the action . "Wow. You're amazing."
"Yes, I know." Azula glanced down the street. "We need some distance. I still haven't found a suitable place."
Xiao started to ask what she meant, but before she could even open her mouth, Azula broke into a sprint. Xiao felt her lungs protest, her legs were already starting to ache and her feet were going to blister. Still, she followed after, since it was Azula after all. She had no other choice.
The rainwater had grown heavier. To Katara, the entire world seemed to be a blur of muddy colors, swirling together like a watercolor painting. The horizon was one long blur of black and grey.
Her hair stuck to her head as the rain ran heavily down her nose. "I don't remember it ever getting this bad." She looked for someplace to get some cover from the rain. She didn't want to move Azula, since the girl was still unconscious from her shock, but if they didn't move the rain would soak them to the bone.
She reached to lift Azula by the shoulders when her hands went right through. Azula's uniform dissolved into a red and black puddle through Katara's fingertips. She gasped, jumping back. The rain was washing Azula away, and it mixed into puddles that had formed at the corner of the roof. The roof itself seemed to be dripping away down to the streets below, where the people had slowly begun to drip to the ground, washing the roads in a myriad of faded colors.
In fact, the only thing in the city of Ba Sing Se of any substance was herself. "This isn't right." She rushed for the door, but the handle splashed away as her hand swatted at it. There was no door out of this memory, no way back into the maze. She shoved her way through the door, raining a pale blue splash down on her head as she did.
The rain had already come in through the ceiling, and it flowed rather heavily down the staircase. The torrential downpour was stripping away the floor. Soon, large holes had formed, pouring water down with increasing intensity. Katara had no choice but to descend.
But there was no way to outrun the rain. The water was rising, and the world itself seemed intent on melting away into a rainbow stream. She waded through watercolor memories, an entire day washed away by the rain.
Her foot burst through the floor. It stayed, caught, and she struggled to free it. "Not now," she pled. Aroud her, the ceiling began to bulge as the rain started to push down in greater force. the water that had only come up to ankles swelled with the crashing of the ceiling,. Reds and blues and browns and greys mixed together swirling as the water slowly climbed higher and higher.
Katara raised her chin, trying to keep her head above the water as more and more rain She hoped for a miracle.
Then the bottom gave out.
Her foot was free as the rest of the floor around it dissolved into the rain. She and the rainwater fell, descending through an empty expanse. She opened her mouth to speak but she could make no noise.
Sound and light seemed to be sucked downwards into the darkness. It was like a blackhole where nothing could outrun it. She fell and she fell until she was no longer falling. The disorientation lasted only a second. The blackness was gone, her feet were dry, and she found herself in a tram. "What happened." She glanced around. The seat had been torn up pretty bad, but not as bad as the other side of the car. The entire side was missing. Thankfully, the thing wasn't mobile. She could reach a walkway if she hopped.
There were footsteps coming along it. Clanking and creaking, and yet the walkway seemed sturdy. She glanced down the length of the track. She could make out two figures in the red haze. They seemed human enough, so she stepped down. "Hello?" she called down. The figures stopped, and one of them called back.
"Katara!"
"Yue!" She ran down to meet them. Yue met her halfway, the relief evident in her face. "Am I glad to see you!"
"As am I! Zuko was telling me what happened after I vanished - I was worried you were hurt."
"I'm just glad you two are okay. You scared me half to death!"
Zuko grunted, rolling his eyes. He tried to remain nonchalant, but he couldn't quite fight back the smirk. "I suppose we should expect the others to turn up soon."
"I hope so." Katara took a look at the city of Ba Sing Se as it spread out around them. "Where are we?"
"We're not quite sure," Yue said, her smile fading, "All I know is that Azula has come this way. We heard the tram from the tea house."
"The tram?" Katara looked over at the trams. "You mean this one?"
"Looks like it stopped in time. That's good. I don't know what Azula is doing." Zuko started down the walkway again. "We shouldn't stick around in one place. We haven't encountered any spirits or any of those things since we got here, but I don't want to take any chances."
"That makes sense. Is Azula far?"
"She got a large lead on us," Yue said, "I can sense her moving, but it's erratic and confusing. I don't know what it is about this maze, but I keep seeing her in two places at once. I must be getting some sort of interference."
Zuko shrugged. "It's probably that thing you mentioned."
"What thing?"
Yue puffed out her cheeks as she blew out air. "I didn't really want to bring it up, but Zuko's right. I sense something, something large nearby."
"How large is large?"
"Big, large, huge," Zuko answered. "We're getting close to the center of the maze."
"And hopefully to the bottom of this. I'm tired of everything trying to kill us. We don't even know how long we've been in here." Katara fell into stepp beside Zuko. "Nothing in this maze is ever as it seems."
"No kidding."
They walked under a blood red haze towards the station house. They cast fatigue from their thoughts and continued walking towards the center, finding Azula foremost in their minds. "She'd better be all right," Katara said. "I've saved her life one too many times for her to die now."
She laughed, but the air around them remained heavy. The city of Ba Sing Se stood a bitter shadow of the world they knew.
Sokka became one with his blade. It'd been a while since he'dn fought like this, his every instinct seemed finely honed, like he'd prepared for this moment every day of his life. The heat and misery Agni seemed to radiate was hard to ignore, but he refused to give in.
The heat was doing something to the primordial spirits. Their heads - or whatever they had - turned up to look at the ceiling. They pushed past. The spirits that had come to their aid were tired and weak. He couldn't blame them. The primordial creatures just ignored them, brushing past them. The building was shuddering. Agni's voice seemed to sear into his thoughts.
"This is the way the earth will decay..."
When he could think, when that voice stopped causing his bones to shudder, he focused on finding everyone. The creatures were barely even paying them mind. One's tentacled face wagged as his sword cut through its elephantine form, but the ones behind it surged past, looking to climb the crumbling remains of the tower.
It was becoming more and more precarious up there. The seed of Agni's rebirth was peeling apart, layer after layer. The steel cords that had been tied to the ground snapped, the flailing tearing through some of the lower floors. There was a loud rumble as the rest of the building shifted in reaction.
The spirits he could see. They were slowly being overrun. Some still fought but their energy had long been spent.
He couldn't see Azula.
The thought sent shockwaves through his heart. "Azula!" He thrust his sword through the creatures. "Azula! Where are you!"
He kept shouting as he pushed through the throngs, severing pieces of them from their body when they got in his way. The feeling of dread in his stomach grew tighter. Even if this was only a memory, a collective moment in their history brought to life just like he knew objectively to be the case, he wanted this to be a real chance.
A chance to change everything. "Azula!"
His voice died in his throat as he saw her. The charred bodies of the primordial spirits around her looked fresh, barely even returning to wisps of darkness, and Azula herself had lost her composure. She was laughing.
It wasn't the insane, mentally unbalanced super-villain laugh she'd been sporting earlier that day, he noticed. "Azula?"
"Sokka," she answered between one of her laughs. "Don't you think this is amusing?"
"Not - not really, no. Kind of weird, really, and sad."
"I chose this fate of my own free will," she answered. "The spirit body we assume to enter this world reflects the pain back to our real bodies - we knew that risk when we first started our little expeditions." Her laugh was so low and melancholic, stopped only by grunts of pain.
"Well, yeah. But -"
"Let's be frank." She clutched her stomach. At her feet, she was bleeding, "There was no way I was coming out of this the same. Do you know the strangest part? I can't even remember what I was doing - isn't that funny? I should, shouldn't I? But I can't -"
"Azula - you're not real."
"Sadly, that's the same conclusion I've come to. None of this is. You're the only thing out of place - so are you real, Sokka? Are you the dreamer or just in the dream?"
"What?"
Azula coughed. "I'm gettig delusional. This feels real - the pain, I mean. I'm probably dying. That's inconvenient."
"You'll be fine - believe me, I know."
Azula frowned, but didn't question it. "Aang - he'll win."
"Yeah, he will -"
"I know that! I was stating a fact." She glared at him. "I'm just - glad for him. He gets to see his future. And mine was empty from the moment I was born."
"That's stupid!" Sokka snapped. "If Aang heard you say that, I don't know what he'd do, but he'd be so angry, just believe you me."
She laughed again, the same low laugh. "You're right. He trusted me - and this was my ultimate act of trust. I bought him the time he needed, didn't I?"
She wasn't real. She even acknowledged that was true. She was the fragment of a memory of the seven of them. And still - she needed his affirmation, she needed to know. "Of course. You're Azula Houou, like anything you do isn't perfect."
She smiled through the pain. "Precisement."
The tower shuddered again. "Oh great, not now! Azula! Agni's almost awake. We need to get out of here now."
"Are you mad? You said yourself this isn't real. Sokka Floes, I don't think I even begin to understand how your mind works. Sometimes, I think it must be broken. Besides, a Houou faces her destiny head on."
"Are you crazy?"
"Just a little, I think."
The tower was never really any that would survive any normal conditions. It was held together by memories and despair, and when all of those were unleashed through Agni, the building was quick to realize that. The entire floor was giving way as the floors beneath it - several times smaller and made of much less stable material, began to buckle under its weight. The fiery wrath of the massive steel dragons Agni had created was not helping. One of them tore off one of the walls, leaving behind a molten stone..
"Azula!" Sokka cried, "We have to get to the top!"
Azula stared at the destruction in wonder. The fiery remains of several of the primordial spirits plummeted from above. The Spirit World, alight with red fire, seemed to go on forever. The cataclysm underway had a morbid beauty to it. She could not tear her eyes away.
And Sokka watched her as the building began to finally tear into pieces, as Agni's voice thundered, At last, we awaken.
The building was reforming around them, and Azula stood on a tattered platform, staring at the fires below even as her feet slid closer to the edge. The beauty she saw and the terror in her eyes, Sokka knew that only one person could have bore witness to this moment.
Azula herself.
She remembered that she descended towards fire with a terror so profound that she could not tear her eyes away from the inferno that awaited her.
To be continued...