It turned out that Azula had a private estate only an hour from the Boiling Rock. As soon as the war balloon landed, I found myself hurtling towards the ground again. The last thing I saw before complete blackness was Mai standing over me with a look of distaste on her face.
When I woke from the darkness, the first thing I noticed was the throbbing pain in the side of my head. Mai must have knocked me out with the handle of her knife. At least they had removed the chains on my wrists and ankles. I pushed myself up off of the hard floor of the small prison-like room I was in, only to find that when I moved away from the wall there was a strange pulling around my neck.
I reached up to touch my neck. A band of metal chilled my fingers when I touched it, and I turned to find the end of a chain attached to the wall from the restraint. What did they think I was, a dog?
"You like it Zuzu? We had it specially made just for you." Azula said lazily from the doorway, pretending to inspect her fingernails. I jumped, not expecting her to be there. "We have lots of use for you, you won't have to worry about getting bored, brother. Isn't that fun?" She said cheerily, but I could see right through her charade. I knew that whatever she was going to do to me would be the opposite of fun.
"Azula?" Ty Lee called from outside the room. Azula motioned with her hand for the pink girl to come in.
"Go crazy. I have things to do, see you later." Azula stated blatantly, walking away.
"Come on, Zuko, this is gonna be fun!" Ty Lee squealed, pulling my arm. She seemed to have forgotten about the chain around my neck. I gasped as the pressure cut off my breathing. She beamed at me, reaching behind me to unhook a clip on the chain. I tumbled forward, not expecting the sudden release from the wall.
I was being pulled through the halls by Ty Lee when Mai came out of a doorway and grabbed her hand.
"You missed the door." She stated with a sigh.
"Oh. It's set up though! Did you see it?" The acrobat girl said.
"I did." Mai said, turning around and walking into the room. Ty Lee pulled me behind them past a table full of knives, and up to a disk on the wall with leather restraints on it.
"What is that?" I said, eyeing the knives and Mai distrustfully. Mai ignored my question and pushed my shoulders against the disk.
"Stay." She said to me, reaching down to strap my right wrist down.
"Why do you all keep acting like I'm a dog or something?" I complained, trying to pull my hand away from her uncaring touch.
"Be quiet and be still." Mai scolded, pulling the leather strap tighter before moving on to my other hand and then my ankles. I struggled against the straps when she finished, wincing as the leather cut into my arms. Then she moved away from the wheel to her table of knives.
"Will you quit squirming, you're just making me want to do this even more." Mai threw a curved dagger, watching as it thudded against the wood between my thighs.
"I've wanted to do this for the longest time." Another dagger landed next to my shoulder.
"I wanted to throw my knives at you, just close enough to your skin that I could see the fear on your eyes, but not close enough to cause a wound." Another hit fearfully close to my burnt ear. I looked away in a feeble attempt to hide the panicked fear in my eyes. That was what she wanted.
"I hate you for leaving me without even saying goodbye." Her knife hit next to my side. "Spin him." She ordered Ty Lee.
"WHAT?" I screamed, struggling again against the leather bindings on the wheel.
"Shut up." Mai said to me. As Ty Lee spun the wheel, Mai threw daggers at me, and I could see her satisfaction when I stared at her in fear. She wouldn't just kill me then, right? Hadn't she said she wasn't going to injure me?
My vision started to swirl as the wheel spun around. The room became a haze of daggers and fear as Ty Lee spun me faster and faster until I felt like I was going to throw up. Suddenly, Mai yelled out for Ty Lee to stop the wheel. My sight leveled out once the wheel stopped moving. I watched Mai's last dagger fly through the air, trying desperately to hide how scared I was.
The dagger seemed to move in slow motion as all three of us watched its progress towards me. It embedded itself in the wood an inch from the top of my head with a thump. I released the breath I had been holding, trying to remind myself that Mai wouldn't just kill me. Azula had said they had use for me, so that meant they weren't going to kill me, right?
The slightest bit of relief joined the constant feelings of dread and minor fear. Mai looked me in the eye, but despite her bored expression, I could see pity and sympathy in her eyes. I wanted neither.
Ty Lee approached the wheel, seeming to think I was weakened. She quickly released me from the straps. I collapsed on the floor, grunting from the pain of having to hold myself up for so long. I untangled my limbs, trying unsuccessfully to lift myself up to stand. I fell in a heap beneath their feet.
"You're weak." Mai said accusingly. I gritted my teeth, hating myself for abandoning my training while in the Earth Kingdom. I was not in top shape, but I was still strong.
" I am not weak." I growled, pushing myself up again to face her. She shook her head and said in a bored voice,
"You can't even find the strength to stand, and all I did was hang you on a wheel, throw daggers, and spin you." Mai turned and walked toward the door, her heels clicking as she neared the hallway. I let out a feral growl and swung an arc of flame at her feet, groaning as she easily jumped over it. I was granted a tiny satisfaction as a small corner of her dress sizzled.
Mai's expression darkened. She marched angrily back towards me, towering over me and glaring at me threateningly. "Call Azula. We have to deal with this now." She addressed Ty Lee, who summersaulted out of the room to find my sister. Mai then turned back at me, her gaze icy as she spoke. "Having your boyfriend as a slave is bad enough, I'm not going to let you attack me." She flipped a knife out of her sleeve, pressing the point against my collarbone.
A tiny glimmer of hope formed in my mind. I couldn't get out of here alone, but maybe Mai still loved me a little? She had called me her boyfriend. That would make this entire predicament more bearable. My hopes were crushed with her next words.
"Can I really call you my boyfriend anymore, after you left on some useless search for the Avatar?" Her tone had dropped the anger, and she talked in her usual bored voice again. That didn't change her words, though.
I shrank back from her blade and lowered my eyes to the ground. I regretted that decision more than anything. When I tried to tell her that, Azula came barging into the room. She was holding what looked like an ostrich-horse crop. My eyes widened at the sight of her furious expression.
"Tell me Zuzu, why is Mai's dress BURNT?" Azula snarled, and I flinched when she pushed my chin up with the end of the crop. A frighteningly deadly look appeared in her eyes. Without warning, she wrenched my shirt off me. I cried out, not expecting the sudden intrusion. Azula pulled me up and forced me to bend over the table.
I struggled against her, growling as she motioned to Ty Lee. The acrobat moved in front of me and held my wrists down. I grunted, trying to pull away, but my movement was cut of as a sharp blow was administered to my hips.
Azula snickered as she whipped my backside with her crop. I howled in pain when the crop hit my tailbone. The blows moved up my back, leaving a path of stinging marks. I could faintly hear Ty Lee trying to convince me to loosen my muscles, and her fingernails were cutting into my wrists as she kept me from squirming.
Mai asked Azula if she could leave, because apparently my pain was boring. Azula laughed cruelly and insisted she stayed to watch my punishment. Mai begrudgingly accepted my sister's request, watching me in silence as I tried to kick out. I could hear myself screaming, but all I could think about was the pain. It overwhelmed my mind, pushing everything else away.
Eventually my voice gave out, and the room fell into silence, except for the relentless slap of Azula's crop against the thin fabric of my pants. Every inch of my back and bum stung, and my sister seemed intent on tanning my hide. My vision began to cloud, dots swirling around in front of my eyes.
Ty Lee broke the gap in conversation. "He looks like he's gonna pass out, Azula." Her voice sounded...worried? Since when did any of them care? I saw Mai look at me with pity in her eyes. I would have been angry, but I was still in too much pain to think properly. Azula groaned and reluctantly stopped her blows. Ty Lee released my wrists, and I collapsed in a heap under the table.
My sister scowled down at me, reaching the crop down so it was in front of my eyes. "From now on, you will not firebend unless told to do so. If you do, we will repeat the punishment until the command gets through your think skull." Azula sneered, promptly turning and marching away. Mai and Ty Lee followed in silence. They left me where I was, collapsed and bloody. Azula had beat me for more than half an hour.
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Me: I am renting Zuko and Azula's crop to anyone who leaves a helpful review!
Zuko: WHAT? You already tortured me!
Me: Be quiet. I have medication that will make it not scar.
Zuko: AAAAHH!