A/N: Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Daddy JkAlex is back and I bring you an early Christmas present. If you're all good, I might bring you the next chapter in the New Year.
I wrote this chapter thanks to the inspiration I got from reading the new Avatar comic where Azula was the protagonist! I was really looking forward to this comic and I have to say... it was kind of disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I loved the comic, but it left a lot to be desired because it didn't add much to Azula's story as such. I thought it would be like the Katara, Toph or Suki comics where we would get to know the characters more and they would develop. But that didn't happen with Azula. At least, it wasn't a very significant change in her character, like I was expecting, it was just a small change.
Azula in the Spirit Temple felt... incomplete. Maybe that's why I was a little disappointed, because I was hoping for more. Azula's character is great, and she has a lot of potential. Maybe she will appear in the next Avatar movie, which has already been confirmed, or in the Zuko movie. That would be amazing.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that.
For now, I present to you this chapter that you have been anticipating. So let us present it properly.
Ahem* Ahem*
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! JkAlex brings you the presentation for the first major showdown in this story! Tonight's lineup promises to be an all out battle.
In the right corner, from the city of Hari Bulkan. A firebending prodigy with burgeoning mental problems. She is 4'10" tall and weighs 94 lbs. The daughter of Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa... AZULA!
And in the left corner, from the village of Shu Jin. A novice swordsman who has demonstrated unparalleled talent along with unprecedented insolence and sarcasm. He is 4' 9" tall and weighs 105 lbs. The son of Piandao... PERSEUS!
JkAlex, acting as referee, stands between Percy and Azula: All right, I want an intense, epic fight. You know the rules, low blows, maiming and third-degree burns are forbidden, we don't want another Zuko screaming about his lost honor. But insults and witty remarks are allowed. In a Percy fight, fans always expect a certain amount of sarcasm and insults.
Azula, glaring at Percy: I'm going to roast you like a turtle duck on hot coals.
Percy, smiling mockingly: Careful, don't mess up your hair and throw a tantrum.
JkAlex, standing between them: Okay, back up. Save some for the fight. All right ladies and gentlemen, place your bets!
And without further ado... Let's go!
Chapter 6
Duel of prodigies
Azula
When Azula first saw Perseus, the son of Piandao, she found him to be an insolent and lazy boy. Not only did she find him shamelessly sleeping in her favorite reading spot, but he had the audacity to compare her to her worthless brother and not show her an ounce of respect.
Azula didn't care that Perseus was the son of the strongest swordsman in the Fire Nation. In her eyes, he was no different from a commoner with no manners.
So when he showed some skill in swordplay, she admitted to herself that he had piqued her curiosity.
The fact that he had made Zuko look like an incompetent fool at the beginning of the duel was a small-added satisfaction.
She had her doubts about this strange boy, so she turned to the one person who would give her the answers she wanted: her father.
She didn't expect the answer he gave her, though.
"In his own way, he's just like you."
She looked at him, confused.
"What do you mean, father?"
Although he was quite busy reading various scrolls, letters, and more recent cartographic maps of the Earth Kingdom, Ozai agreed to clear up his daughter's doubts by writing on what Azula identified as a letter she found curious. Was her father corresponding with someone? Her Uncle Iroh? Highly unlikely. From the few interactions she'd seen between her father and her uncle, they didn't have the closest of relationships.
"Even though he is only twelve-years-old and is a non-bender, he managed to defeat a trained firebender soldier, even though he was only a recent graduate," Ozai revealed to Azula's surprise. "He accomplished such a feat using a strange style of firebending-based swordplay that he claimed to have developed himself in only one year of training. Piandao himself, the greatest swordsman in the Fire Nation, called him a prodigy who would surpass him in a few years."
Azula was stunned as she listened to her father. That insolent and lazy boy was... A prodigy? Like her? It seemed outrageous. She had seen what he was capable of when he faced Zuko, and at no time had he shown any movement similar to firebending, which could only mean one of two things. The first was that her father had misjudged him, which was impossible, and she quickly dismissed the idea. Or that boy was holding back when he confronted Zuko, which was the more likely option.
"By the way, why are you so interested in this boy, Azula?" Ozai asked, giving her a quizzical look.
Azula made an obvious effort not to squirm under her father's gaze. She knew full well that he would not tolerate such a display of weakness.
"He and Zuko had a sword duel," she explained, not wanting her father to get the wrong idea. "Apparently, Zuko has decided to learn how to use a sword under Piandao's tutelage. And Perseus is helping him with the basics."
"I see..." Ozai commented, not looking up from the letter he was writing. "This boy's potential will be wasted if he spends time with Zuko. Your brother would not know how to take advantage of the valuable asset that boy could become in the future. But you... you could."
Ozai stopped writing and gave Azula a serious look.
"Father?" she asked.
He stood up from his desk and looked out the window behind him at the city that stretched beyond the walls surrounding the Royal Palace.
"Azula, as a member of royalty, you must surround yourself with people who stand out for their talents or qualities. And you must know how to use those talents to your advantage. The girls with whom you interact at the Academy are daughters of noble families with great influence and wealth in the social circle of nobility. You have chosen well to befriend them, for they will make good subordinates in the future."
Azula nodded at her father's words, even though he wasn't looking at her. It was one of the lessons he had given her about how a ruler should be, someone who only had competent and remarkable people as subordinates. If she surrounded herself with weaklings, that meant she was one too. And Azula adamantly refused to be weak. Her father would not tolerate weakness.
"You have a vision for the future, Azula, something your brother does not possess," Ozai continued, looking over his shoulder at her. "That is why I urge you to bond with this Perseus boy. If he proves to be an outstanding warrior like his father, he will be a valuable subordinate in the future."
That were the words of her father. Words that made her decide on a thought that had been forming in her mind since she had seen Perseus fight.
The next day, while reading the firebending scrolls in the Royal Palace library, Azula saw Perseus through one of the windows overlooking the garden. He was sitting in the shade of the tree where she had first seen him. His arms were behind his head and his eyes were closed, presumably taking a nap while waiting for Zuko.
After a few seconds of thought, Azula rolled up her parchment and headed for the garden, ready to find out if Perseus really had the potential to be a valuable subordinate, as her father had told her.
"So you're here again," she said, making her presence known.
Perseus opened his eyes and Azula was fascinated to see them. It was the first time she had seen someone with green eyes, brighter than any jade stone she had ever seen. His hair was black as ink, similar to Mai's, but it was unruly and unkempt. The headdress he wore did little to keep his hair in order.
"This is a good place to take a nap," Perseus said, settling down with the intention of continuing to sleep.
"Is that all you do?" she asked, annoyance creeping into her voice. "Taking naps?"
"Yeah, most of the time."
A frown slowly formed on Azula's face at Perseus' nonchalant attitude, reinforcing the image she had of him as a lazy boy.
"I can't believe you're just like me..." she muttered.
"What do you mean, just like you?" he asked.
Apparently he wasn't very sharp either.
"Never mind. I'll test it myself."
Determined to test him, she stood in front of him and looked directly at him.
"I challenge you to a duel."
Perseus watched her in silence, looking slightly perplexed, as if he did not understand the words he had heard.
"What...?" he said after a few seconds, confused. "Why?"
"My father has told me that you are a prodigy in the art of the sword, and I would like to put that to the test," Azula explained.
"Oh, I see... No, thanks."
Perseus leaned back, clearly not interested in a duel with Azula, who was growing increasingly irritated by the boy's nonchalant attitude.
"Don't you want to know how strong you are?" she asked. "To compare your sword skills with someone who controls the most powerful element?"
"I did that a few days ago. And I won."
Azula snorted. Not in mockery, but a way of dismissing what Perseus had done. Perhaps many would be impressed by the fact that a twelve-year-old boy had beaten an adult firebender, but not her. She admitted that it was intriguing that a non-bender had defeated a firebender, but to her, it was neither surprising nor something to be commended.
"You were up against a recent recruit," she said, "Someone who has barely scratched the surface of firebending. I, on the other hand, am different. I am a firebending prodigy."
Perseus opened one eye and gave her an appraising look.
"Yeah, so I've been told... Tell me, how long have you been training firebending?"
Puzzled by his sudden curiosity, Azula replied:
"I demonstrated the gift of firebending at the age of eight."
"Then I assume you have mastered the basic movements of firebending."
"Not only have I mastered them, I have spent years honing them to nothing less than perfection," she declared proudly. "For four years, I have trained rigorously to understand the intricacies of firebending. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I have become a master firebending."
Her own father had told her that. The talent, skill, and above all, discipline Azula had demonstrated in her training had made her one of the youngest firebending masters in the history of the Fire Nation. This put her on the same level as her own grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, who was considered a prodigy in his time.
"A master firebending..." Perseus muttered in a thoughtful tone, as if considering something. Then he rose from his position under the tree, shook the dirt from his clothes, and looked at Azula. "Okay. I accept your duel."
"What made you change your mind?" she asked cautiously.
"I guess I want what you want. To see what a firebending prodigy can do. It will help me with my own training. So..." Perseus grabbed his sheathed sword that lay at the foot of the tree. "Shall we begin?"
At the prospect of facing someone her own age who was considered a prodigy in his own art, Azula felt a fire of excitement begin to burn in her chest.
"Follow me," she commanded, turning and starting to walk.
After a few seconds, she heard the footsteps of Perseus following her.
"Uh... Where are we?"
Perseus looked at the place where their duel would take place. It was not the open field where he had faced Zuko yesterday. Instead, they were now in a spacious room supported by huge columns of gold painted stone. The room lacked the ostentatious decorations found throughout the palace. On both sides were the large windows that reached to the ceiling, positioned so that they faced east and west, allowing them to see the first rays of sunlight at dawn and the last at dusk.
"This is the private room I use for my training," Azula said. "Someone like you should be honored. Aside from my father and my firebending instructors, you are the first to set foot in this place."
Perseus rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yeah. I'm so honored I could cry."
Ignoring the obvious sarcasm in his voice, Azula walked to the center of the room, where there was a rectangular depression in the stone floor.
Perseus, instead of following her, continued to inspect the room, walking to the windows where he could see the city spread out beyond the walls of the royal palace. And he looked into the various clay vases on the sides of the column.
"Wow, this water looks so pure, it could even cleanse my sins," he commented.
"Will you stop wasting time and come down here and get started?" Azula spoke, feeling her patience wearing thin with every second she spent with this boy.
"Apparently impatience runs in the family," Perseus mused as he placed the wooden lid on the vase and climbed down the stairs to be on the same level as Azula. "So, how do we do this? Does the first one to get three hits win?
"Normally, in a duel between Firebenders, the one who manages to burn their opponent wins. But since you are a non-bender, and you use a sword, what if the winner is the one who makes the other admit defeat?"
"That works for me," he said, drawing his sword and dropping the scabbard.
"A fair warning," Azula said, assuming her firebending stance, "I am not like my incompetent brother. Zuzu doesn't even have a third of my skills."
"Nor does he have a third of your arrogance, though you both share that temperament."
Azula narrowed her eyes as she watched him take the same stance he had taken with Zuko yesterday. Perseus watched her as well, his eyes reflecting the interest he felt as he studied her stance.
'He was able to defeat a trained firebender using Firebending based sword fighting moves,' she mused, 'Then he must be familiar with the basic stances.'
They watched each other closely for a few seconds, studying each other's stances. Azula saw that he had a solid stance. Determined to test him, she made the first move, throwing a fireball that he easily dodged by stepping aside. Sending another had the same result, so Azula quickly approached him and performed two horizontal kicks, sending out lines of fire. Perseus dodged the first by ducking and leaping over the second, then came down with a sword thrust that Azula dodged by stepping back and twisting her body backward. She supported herself with her hands and somersaulted, sending a line of fire with her feet that Perseus was able to block with his sword and arms.
Azula landed on her feet and watched as the flames from her firebending began to burn the sleeves of Perseus' clothing.
"Damn it, why do my sleeves always get burned when I fight a firebender?" he complained in annoyance.
Azula watched curiously as Perseus began to beat the flames on his sleeve rapidly until he managed to extinguish them, all without showing any sign of pain or discomfort from the heat. She raised an eyebrow when she saw that his skin didn't even redden from the heat of the flames.
"Interesting. I see you are quite familiar with firebending," Azula commented, not letting her guard down. "Many would panic at the sight of being burned. I don't blame them, though. Everyone should be afraid of fire."
She remembered the man who called himself her teacher, Kunyo. She remembered how he panicked when she burned his pants. A pathetic reaction, considering he was a Firebender. Perseus, on the other hand, wasn't the least bit upset.
"Well, I was training with a firebender who had just discovered his own bender," Perseus replied with a shrug. "Accidents were pretty common. So, as you say, I'm quite familiar with fire."
A mischievous smile formed on Azula's lips as she assumed a much more aggressive fire stance.
"Oh, believe me. You're not familiar with a fire like mine!"
She jumped hard, performed a forward somersault in the air, and descended with her flaming leg to strike Perseus. He dodged by rolling to the side and quickly got to his feet, which was the right thing to do as Azula continued her attacks, performing a sweep with her feet that he managed to dodge by jumping, though he had to cover himself with his sword and arms again as Azula raised a wall of flames at him.
She acted quickly, seeing her opponent momentarily blinded, and sent out a concentrated fireball. Perseus tried to block it with his sword, but was sent flying into one of the vases, smashing it and crashing into the stone pillar.
"Is that all you have?" Azula asked scornfully as she watched Perseus slowly rise, drenched with water from the vase. "I must say, I am quite disappointed. My father overestimated you when he called you a prodigy. He said you used a firebender's moves in your duel with the soldier, and your father said you created them yourself. Tell me, why don't you use them now?"
Perseus shook off the pebbles in the vase and pushed aside the wet strands of hair that clung to his forehead.
"Do you want me to use them?" he asked through clenched teeth. "Fine, you asked for it."
Azula watched curiously as Perseus assumed a new posture, and she had to admit that she saw a disturbing similarity to a firebending stance. Legs shoulder-width apart and slightly bent, arms raised, he held his sword at eye level, tensing the blade parallel to the ground as he pointed forward. A solid, aggressive stance.
But what caught Azula's attention most were his eyes. They reflected a fierce glow that had not been there before. A look worthy of a firebender.
Determined to test him, Azula sent out a concentrated fireball. Perseus, instead of dodging as he had before, swung his sword hard and slashed at the fireball, scattering it. She hadn't expected him to be able to cut the fire with his sword. That, coupled with the alarming speed he didn't have before, left Azula static as Perseus attacked her with a slash aimed at her abdomen. She could feel the blunt blade make contact with her body and then quickly disappear, leaving a burning sensation on her skin and causing her to fall to one knee, clutching her stomach with a grimace of pain on her face.
"Is this acceptable to you, Princess?" Perseus sneered as he slung his sword over his shoulder and looked down at her with a playful yet mocking smile.
"A stroke of luck, that's all," she growled, rising to her feet. "And don't you dare call me that."
For the first time since the duel began, Azula realized how dangerous it was to face a swordsman like Perseus. If he didn't have a blunt sword, a single accurate strike from him would be enough to defeat and possibly kill her. He needed only two swings to prove it. That caused her an uneasiness she had never felt before.
"Really? We'll see about that. Besides, I think the nickname fits you," Perseus said with a shrug. "Unless you want me to call you something else. What did you call your brother? Ah, yes, Zuzu. So you would be... Az-az? Zula? Lala?"
Azula gritted her teeth. A growl escaped her throat and her brow furrowed. She knew Perseus was baiting her, urging her to let her anger get the better of her and lash out in fury without any technique. Well, it wouldn't work.
"I am Azula, daughter of Prince Ozai," she growled, taking an aggressive firebending stance. "And I will teach you to respect your superiors, insolent boy."
Azula didn't know what was worse for her. Being beaten by a non-bender, or being on the receiving end of his taunts. What she did know was that both were a clear blow to her pride. And she would not stand for such blatant disrespect.
"Bring it on, fire girl" Perseus smiled defiantly and adopted a stance of his own that looked just as aggressive.
Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds, eyes narrowed, assessing each other's stance.
In unison, they both attacked.
Zuko
It was after noon when Zuko finished his lessons for the day. Since he missed yesterday's sword training, teacher Jia had seen fit to make up for lost time, so she added an extra hour to the lesson where he studied the major colonies of the Fire Nation and how they were built. As if that weren't enough, she also gave him double the homework, researching the most outstanding contributions made by the major islands of the Fire Islands. Zuko suspected that the woman took sadistic pleasure in drowning him in homework and studies.
He almost jumped out of his seat when she told him they were done for the day and put his things away with the speed of a mongoose lizard chasing its prey. He left the study and quickly made his way to the garden, not bothering to take his things back to his room as he went in search of Perseus, with whom he had agreed to meet as soon as his lessons for the day were over.
Zuko expected to find him sleeping at the foot of the tree by the pond, as he had done every time since he started teaching him. But when he arrived, there was no one there except the turtle ducks swimming in the pond. He looked all over for him, but couldn't find him. Did he get tired of waiting for him and leave?
"Oh, Zuko!"
He turned to see Azula's friends Ty Lee and Mai approaching.
"Hi!" Ty Lee greeted cheerfully.
Mai, on the other hand, gave a more reserved greeting, keeping her distance. She refused to look directly at him, only glancing sideways and getting nervous when their eyes met. Zuko didn't think much of it, Mai had always been strange.
"What do you want?" he asked, cautiously.
If he knew anything about the lively girl, it was that when she and Mai were together, Azula wasn't far away. And they would come over to talk to him, which meant they were looking for a way to tease him or play a prank on him, like they always did in the past.
"Have you seen Azula?" Ty Lee asked. "We've looked all over the Royal Palace and can't find her."
"How should I know?" he asked annoyed.
"Jeez, relax. This moody behavior is bad for your skin, you know, and your aura becomes quite explosive."
Zuko corrected himself. Mai wasn't the only weird one, Ty Lee was even weirder. Azula's friends were weird, maybe that's why they hung out together.
"Uh... Are you looking for someone, Zuko?" asked Mai a little hesitantly.
"Yeah, Perseus," he answered indifferently.
"Oh, the cute boy from yesterday!" Ty Lee remembered, looking around wildly with the intention of seeing him. "Is he here?"
"He was supposed to wait for me here and then go to Master Piandao. Today is the day he will test me to see if I will become his disciple."
"Maybe he got lost?" Mai guessed.
"Maybe..." Zuko said.
"How about we go look for him?" Ty Lee suggested. "Maybe we'll find Azula too."
Zuko's first thought was to refuse. He didn't need any help, especially not from his sister's friends. But he had to find Perseus. After all, he was the one who would speak on his behalf to Master Piandao to be accepted as his student.
Ten minutes into his fruitless search, Zuko returned to the garden, feeling frustrated and irritated. He looked everywhere Perseus might be, but could not find him. The Royal Palace was huge, with dozens of rooms and corridors. If you were looking for someone without knowing where to look, you could go for hours without finding them. He had asked the guards, but none of them had seen Perseus or Azula.
Ty Lee arrived in the garden a short time later. Judging by the look on her face, she hadn't been successful either.
"I don't understand," she said, confused. "Where could they be?"
Rounding the corner of a hallway, Mai suddenly appeared, tripping over her own feet and almost falling face first to the floor, but she managed to regain her balance. She looked even paler than usual and was breathing heavily, as if she had been running.
"I... found them," she gasped, trying to catch her breath.
"Them?" Zuko asked. "Where?"
"In Azula's training room, a guard saw them enter. They..." Mai had a worried look on her face. "They are fighting."
Both curious and confused that Perseus and Azula were fighting, Zuko wasted no time in following Mai into Azula's training room. Since Master Kunyo had been exiled to the Earth Kingdom's colonies on his father's orders, Azula had been given not only new instructors, but also a private room for her training. Zuko, on the other hand, had been left without a teacher, and his firebending training was on indefinite hiatus.
When they arrived at Azula's training room, the three of them stood in shock and bewilderment at the scene before them.
Azula and Perseus were locked in a heated and intense confrontation. Azula's orange flames flew from her hands and feet with an intensity and ferocity Zuko had never seen her display. All of her attacks were designed to overwhelm Perseus, but he used his sword to cut and dissipate the burning flames with a skill and dexterity he did not believe possible for a twelve-year-old boy, and then attacked Azula with the dignified ferocity of a firebender.
"Incredible..." Ty Lee murmured in fascination, the light of the flames reflected in her eyes, mesmerized by the confrontation unfolding before her. "It is as if they were dancing... A deadly and beautiful dance..."
Zuko could understand why she felt that way. Azula's movements were graceful, elegant, one could even say beautiful, but they were also deadly and very dangerous. Firebending was a volatile and destructive art, ready to burn everything in its path if you didn't know how to control it. And Azula did, better than he ever had.
But even with all her skill and power, Azula was unable to subdue Perseus. The young swordsman sliced through her attacks with a skill that not only rivaled, but perhaps surpassed Azula's. Each stroke of his sword was precise and deadly. And every step he took forced Azula to back away, to keep her distance from the sword.
This was a duel between two prodigies in their respective arts.
Azula sent a barrage of fireballs that dissipated with each swing of Perseus' sword as he closed in, like an unstoppable battering ram that sliced through anything in its path. Zuko still found it surprising that he could dissipate flames; it was something he had only seen a Firebender do.
When they were within a step of each other, Azula drew back her fire-wrapped fist and Perseus raised his sword, ready to drop it. Zuko watched in utter shock as both attacks collided with such force that it caused a small explosion of fire and sent them both tumbling backward.
Azula fell to one knee, gasping heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Her face was drenched in sweat, and her disheveled hair stuck to her forehead. She looked exhausted, which made Zuko wonder how long they had been fighting.
Perseus, on the other hand, didn't look that tired. The only signs that he had been fighting were the light sheen of sweat on his forehead and the singed sleeves of his clothing. His breathing was barely labored as he stood upright.
He turned to look at Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee who had been watching the confrontation.
"I think that's enough," he said.
"What...?" Azula's voice came out as a choked gasp as she looked at her opponent, incredulous that he had decided to end their duel. "This isn't over yet!"
"Believe me, this ended the first time my sword 'cut' you."
He went to pick up the scabbard of his sword and then sheathed it, ending the duel.
"So... it's a draw?" asked Ty Lee, confused to see that Azula and Perseus were not continuing the duel.
"More like a... truce," Mai commented.
"No, Perseus won," Zuko said, seeing the way Azula held her stomach and the linear cuts on her clothes.
If Perseus hadn't been wielding a blunt blade, Zuko was absolutely certain that this duel would have ended long ago.
"What are you guys doing here?" Perseus asked as he approached them.
"We? What were you two doing?" Zuko asked, frowning accusingly.
Perseus shrugged.
"Is't not obvious? We had a duel. Your sister insisted on confronting me."
"I refuse to accept this!" Azula declared, approaching them and standing directly in front of Perseus, her frown reflecting her displeasure. "Do you hear me? Don't think this is over."
"Uh... Okay?"
She narrowed her eyes at him coldly before she snorted and turned and walked away. Mai and Ty Lee looked at each other in confusion for a moment before following her, though Ty Lee stopped for a second to wave goodbye to Perseus and Zuko.
"Dude, What's wrong with your sister?" Perseus asked, confused as he watched Azula leave.
"Do you think I know? Azula's always been a little crazy," Zuko looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "Although I had never seen her like that before. I guess she didn't like losing to you."
"Great, now I have to take care of a firebending lunatic." He looked irritated at his singed sleeves, the result of his duel with Azula. "You firebenders love to burn my clothes."
Zuko looked at Perseus with curiosity. The sleeves of his clothes were completely singed, exposing the skin of his forearms. But what caught his attention was that despite facing Azula and being exposed to the searing flames of her firebending, his skin showed no signs of burns, not even redness.
"Okay, let's go," Perseus said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I need a change of clothes. And we better meet my dad before all the candidates to be his disciples arrive. You are one of them, so you need to be there before he starts evaluating them."
Zuko nodded in agreement and walked beside Percy, brightening at the prospect of finally learning from Master Piandao and beginning his training as a swordsman.
After picking up the dao swords he kept in his room and saying goodbye to his mother, who wished him good luck and gave him a kiss on the cheek (much to Zuko's embarrassment), he and Perseus walked toward the exit of the Royal Palace. What neither of them expected was to find a palanquin at the entrance being carried by four royal servants.
"What the hell is that thing?" asked Perseus, looking at the artifact from top to bottom as if he had never seen anything like it before.
"It's called a palanquin, and I doubt a commoner like you would know what it's used for."
The cloth covering the sides of the palanquin was pushed aside so they could both see Azula, accompanied by Mai and Ty Lee. Azula had changed out of the clothes damaged in the duel with Perseus and had fixed her disheveled hair. She seemed as if she had never had an intense confrontation with a non-bender where she was overwhelmed.
"Azula, where are you going?" Zuko asked, surprised to see his sister leaving the Royal Palace. The only time she ever went out was to go to the Royal Fire Academy for girls.
Azula rested her elbow on the palm of her hand and looked at her nails, searching for any imperfections on her perfectly filed nails.
"The same place as you, brother," she said. "I will accompany our father to witness the creation of this select group of elite swordsmen to be trained by Piandao. That will be good entertainment, won't it, girls?"
Ty Lee and Mai nodded. Strangely enough, they seemed excited to go.
Zuko's face brightened at the thought of his father being present at the tests. If he could stand out among all the candidates to be a student of the Fire Nation's greatest swordsman, maybe he could impress him and prove his worth. He would prove that he was worthy of being someone of royalty, someone with the Fire Lord lineage running through his veins.
But Azula's presence made him cautious. Even if Zuko couldn't read his sister's mind most of the time, he could read some of her behavior. She was hiding something else. The mysterious smile, along with how cryptic her words were, only pointed to one absolute truth that he knew very well; Azula always lies.
Zuko snorted at the irony.
"And you have to ride that thing instead of walking a few blocks?" asked Perseus, still looking at the palanquin like it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. "And they say I am the lazy one."
"I wouldn't expect a commoner like you to understand the customs of the upper classes, let alone royalty," Azula replied condescendingly. She still looked annoyed by the way they finished the duel.
"Apparently, running is not one of them."
Ty Lee chuckled softly, but a glance from Azula in her direction immediately silenced her.
Azula watched Perseus for a few seconds with a look of irritation and frustration on her face before she angrily ordered the servants to move.
"You should stop acting like that," Zuko advised once Azula was gone, though it sounded more like a warning.
"Like what?"
"Impertinent, especially to royalty," he remarked. "I don't know how life is in your town, but here in the capital, it's different. You get in trouble if you don't show respect."
Normally, Zuko wouldn't have cared if Perseus got in trouble for his attitude. Even though he was the son of the Fire Nation's most famous swordsman, he was still a commoner. And the insolence and impertinence he had shown so far would be cause for severe retribution.
But Perseus had helped him understand the basics of being a swordsman. He had advised and guided him in his first steps. So he would return the favor by doing the same. His honor demanded it.
"Hey, it's the problems that are looking for me," Perseus defended himself. "Besides, why should I respect someone just because they were born into a privileged position? If you ask me, that sounds pretty stupid."
Zuko didn't know whether to be amazed or outraged by Perseus' insolence towards the members of the Royal Family. It was unprecedented for him. Even the highest nobles of the Fire Nation bowed in the presence of a royal, showing submission and absolute respect, recognizing them as a superior bloodline. Perseus, on the other hand, had no qualms about speaking his mind, even if it got him into trouble.
"Didn't your father teach you to respect those above you?" he asked.
"He taught me to respect those who deserve it."
"And in your opinion, who are the people who deserve respect?"
Perseus was silent for a few seconds, thinking deeply about Zuko's question. Then he opened his eyes slightly, as if he had had an epiphany.
"Those who demonstrate the seven great virtues," he explained.
Zuko looked at him, confused.
"What?"
Perseus turned to look at him with a strange seriousness he had only seen in him when they were dueling.
"When I began my training as a swordsman, my father said he would teach me not only the way of the sword, but also the way of the warrior. Someone driven by the seven great virtues. Justice, Respect, Bravery, Honor, Benevolence, Honesty and Loyalty. I have tried to follow that way, but it is not easy. It's really... really hard. So I respect people who have those virtues."
Zuko remained silent, pondering his words. He wondered if this was the path he would take if Piandao accepted him as one of his disciples.
When they arrived at the mansion where Perseus and Piandao lived, they could both see many people gathered in front of the closed doors. They were people between fifteen and sixteen years old, wearing clothes that reflected their social status.
There were those who wore elegant silk robes with bright colors of black, red, and gold. Their hair was perfectly combed and arranged with ostentatious headdresses. Zuko had seen such people walking the streets of Hari Bulkan; they were members of the upper class.
Then there were others who wore simpler and more modest outfits. They were the people Zuko saw walking the streets of Harbor City. Merchants, fishermen, carpenters, people of the middle class.
But there was a small minority of people who wore faded and somewhat tattered clothes. Some didn't even wear boots or any kind of shoes, they were just barefoot. Zuko was stunned when he saw them. It was the first time he had seen people dressed like that. People who were in such a... pitiful state.
But despite the differences in their appearance and clothing, there was something they all had in common, and that was that each of them carried some sort of sword.
Zuko knew who these people were, candidates to become Piandao's disciples.
"Tell me, Zuko, do you think you have what it takes to be a swordsman?" Perseus asked, looking at all the candidates.
"What are you talking about? Your father has already asked me why I want to be a swordsman. And I already told you. You were there."
"He asked you the reason for holding a sword. I ask you if you think you have what it takes."
"But you said you were ready!" Zuko replied.
"That is what I said. But what do you think?"
Zuko did not answer. At least not right away. He turned to look at all the people who had come to follow Piandao's teachings.
Justice, respect, bravery, honor, benevolence, honesty and loyalty.
The way of the warrior.
For as long as he could remember, he had been taught to respect his family, honor himself, and be loyal to his nation above all else, so he could understand these three virtues. Respect, honor, and loyalty. And though it was often overwhelming, he strove every day to live up to the expectations placed upon him as a member of royalty, as the son of Prince Ozai. Those three virtues alone took all of his effort, and even with them, he felt it was not enough. It would never be.
But Perseus, a boy two years his junior, had decided to go further, to follow a much harder path. A path that not only demanded the best of one, but also one of constant growth.
Did he have what it took to walk that path?
"I don't know..." he admitted.
For some reason, Perseus smiled at his answer.
"Well..." he said, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Then let's find out."
...
..
.
And that's all for now, dear readers!
I hope you enjoyed the confrontation between Percy and Azula.
I tried to be as objective as possible, without playing favorites. But no matter how I looked at it, it seemed very unlikely to me that Azula would win. Percy has formal training in swordsmanship from the Fire Nation's greatest swordsman, has developed his own fighting stance, has the Curse of Achilles, and is a demigod son of the Big Three. Not to mention, he crashed into a water barrel during the fight. Azula didn't stand a chance.
Also, if you've been paying attention, Azula still doesn't have her signature blue flames. I will get to that later in the story.
The story is progressing a bit, especially the friendship between Percy and Zuko. They are not "friends" yet, more like acquaintances. I want to develop their relationship slowly until they have a really strong bond. I hope I do that well.
I also want to develop both characters. With Zuko going down the path of being a swordsman and having someone like Percy in his life. And with Percy going down the path of being a warrior and mastering the seven great virtues. So far he only shows signs of having 3 of them, what do you think they are?
Now I will respond to some reviews that I thought were important to answer in order to clear up doubts:
Trife: The relationship between Percy and Azula is definitely going to grow. Now, will it be in a friendly or romantic way? I'll leave that up for now. The story is just getting started.
Imheretolive08: I'm sorry, but Percy still won't accept his full potential. I think I've already expressed the reason why he doesn't accept all of his powers. But no matter. I'll get to that later.
karatekid72700: Percy will definitely meet Team Avatar, though it will be later in the story.
AnonymousGoose606: I can't reveal much about what will happen later in terms of monsters or mythological creatures in the world of Percy Jackson because it would be a spoiler. But I can say that they will be part of the world of Avatar.
As for Azula, the fire sage who heals Korra, her identity is still unknown. She may or may not be Azula. With the information we have now, even with the comic that came out of Azula, nothing has been revealed. So it's just theory at this point.
Anaklusmos404: Percy will develop his demigod powers later in the story. For now, he just relies on his sword skills.
Guest 1: Sorry, but no. The advice Percy gave Zuko about trying hard instead of comparing himself to others doesn't apply to him, because Percy was trying hard to become the swordsman he always wanted to be. Percy feels like a freak because of his demigod abilities, which goes against being a "Fire Nation" citizen. So he rejects them and doesn't accept their powers. At least for now.
IgnisPrimus: Exactly. Percy feels pretty sleepy all day due to the curse of Achilles. His body needs to rest and eat a lot more because of the curse. In the books, Chiron mentioned, "Achilles had to take about twenty naps a day because of his curse". So that's something that Percy suffers from, having to sleep a lot.
For the rest of the people who wrote to support him, thank you very much!
Anyway, that's all for now.
And without anything else to say... A psychological hug for all of you, beautiful ones!
