Travels through the Alphabet with Mai
Part 5: Evil
Mai could feel it uncurl inside her sometimes, unwinding slowly like a drowsy serpent, drowsy but eager to slither out and show itself. Everyone had darkness in them somewhere. Some people hid it better or controlled it better than others. And there were those who embraced evil wholeheartedly, succumbed to it, lived it. But evil was there inside everyone, laying in wait, anticipating a slip up, a desperate situation, unquenchable anger, anything that might call it out.
Her darkness was often awake around Azula. The princess could be cruel, seemed to enjoy hurting others, making them squirm. And sometimes, not always, Mai enjoyed the sight. The girl's confidence, her strength, her intelligence, her power, were all compelling and if people got caught up in Azula's web somehow, suffered her wrath, well, that was hardly Mai's concern.
Dai Li agents could be so terrified of Azula that they almost wet themselves and that was amusing. Azula's coup provided the most fun Mai had experienced for years. In fact, Azula's stop in Omashu to recruit her was just what she had needed. In Omashu she was dying of the dullness, withering away, a tree without sun or soil or water. At least with Azula, she could escape the watchful eyes of her parents and their stupid expectations. She could defy them and use Azula as an excuse. As a young girl, Azula and the palace had been her only way out. In Omashu, it was no different.
Mai ignored the dozens of cruel acts perpetrated by her princess. She went along, carried by the swell of adventure and possibility. And the people were nameless anyway, unknown to Mai. Was the act of standing by, letting something happen, was that evil in and of itself? Mai wasn't certain and pushed such thoughts away. She was no philosopher, just a teenage girl trying to get by.
It wasn't until their confrontation at the Boiling Rock Prison that Mai saw Azula as truly evil. When the princess spat the words "No, you miscalculated. You should have feared me more," her eyes blazing with fury and the need to grind Mai down to nothing, Mai knew evil's face. And she never wanted to see it again.
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A/N: Not quite happy with this drabble. It took forever and I kept fiddling with it. I never do that. On to happier times with 'f' I hope.