I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender
Chapter 2
Zuko yelped again at the sudden intrusion of the voice.
"Who are you? Show yourself!"
Zuko looked around the room to find the intruder, only to see that he was alone in the cabin. Confused and a little frightened he once again was in a fighting stance ready to pounce.
"No need to any of that your highness, it's all in your head. Literally."
"What do you mean? Answer me!"
Zuko was starting to get really freaked out, is it the end? Did he finally snapped and gone mad?
"Oh, nothing so drastic I assure you. Although you are on your why there with how things are going."
"You – you read my mind?"
A silver of fear was finally showing in the young Prince's voice. The possibility of someone, anyone, reading his mind like an open scroll and learning all his private thoughts and secrets was enough to break his bravado.
"We are connected as it is, and it's vital for me to effectively support my user."
"Now before you faint or do something drastic your highness, may I explain a few things? I promise you would find this exceptionally interesting."
Gradually the prince's curiosity got the better of him. He had to admit that a talking helmet was a new experience for him, one that he suspected was the first time in centuries that something like that happened. The small child in him that he tried to hide so much was excited.
"What do you have to tell?"
"I'm glad you asked!"
"So as you can see, well hear in this one, I'm the artificial intelligence that runs this helmet. My purpose is to assist the owner of the helmet in any way and from I can."
"Are you a spirit?"
"Oh no, well not exactly. I was created by human hands to assist my creator in his tasks. He put a piece of his soul to create me, in this way he made sure I was optimized to his ideals and personality. It was also his way to reach a form of immortality."
"To answer your question, I'm as close to a spirit as much as a human is close to a slug. Both are alive, eat and have offspring, but besides that? Not much in common."
"Hah… So what are you? What do I call you?"
"As I said earlier I am an artificial intelligence, or AI for short. As for my designation, I am recognized as S.A.I – supporting artificial intelligence."
"So Sai, will you help hunt down the Avatar? I swear on my honor as the crown prince that you will be handsomely rewarded."
"There is no need for any rewards your highness. I exist in the sole purpose to assist the helmet's owner, it's literally in my name."
"I'm … glad to hear this…"
'I forgot that I don't talk to a person or even a spirit, how do I even talk to it?'
"If you seek to hunt the Avatar you will find my assistance much to your liking. I have experience in dealing with the spirit possessed nuisance."
The sentence caused Zuko to remember the state the mask was in. Curiosity won and there was only one way to know for sure.
"What is your history with the Avatar anyway?"
"The Avatar opposed my creator in his quest to a better tomorrow. The two had opposite ideologies, my creator sought to change the world for the better and break from the restrictions forced on all mankind, the Avatar however sought to keep the status quo. Inevitably once my creator was too big of an issue to ignore conflict with the Avatar was a question of when, not if."
"The whole story of their conflict will take days to tell, even compressed. The important thing for you to know your highness is the final battle. In the last battle of my creator the two opponents fought as their respective legions followed. My creator had the better army and even managed to go toe to tow against the Avatar and even overwhelm him at his normal state."
"However at a point of desperation the Avatar's spirit fueled by survival instinct went migraine above the regular power output of the Avatar state, a state in which the Avatar is possessed by its past lives gaining all their knowledge as well as raising its power output. Their battle lasted three days four hours twenty-five minutes nine second and fifty-seven milliseconds. In the end as they tear the world around them, my creator's equipment could not withhold the Avatar's attacks any longer and failed him."
"From there the battle came to a quick end in the Avatar's favor. However, before the possessed could land the final blow my creator activated the self-distract system in his armor, creating a blast that disintegrated nearly anything in the five-mile radius. The Avatar's spirit, sensing its demise immediately left its possession to save itself from true death."
"After the battle without my creator to commend and with the majority of the forces lost in the conclusion of the battle there was little left to defend my creator's legacy. And soon the helmet alone left as a reminder of my creator."
"When the order found the helmet they immediately began to try and destroy it. From burning to throwing at sea or volcano to burying the helmet. However, swallowed by a fish which was caught by a fisherman, blown back by an active volcano or unearthed by an earthquake, the helmet always returned to find a successor. In the end the Avatar, unable to neither destroy nor get rid of the helmet decided to lock it and from there the helmet you already know the story."
This explanation brought more questions than answers. Who was the helmet's creator? How did he fight toe to toe with the Avatar? What order is Sai talking about? Why did Sai say the ways the helmet returned as if it wasn't a chain of coincidences?
"You have many questions, please ask and I shall try to answer the best I can."
"Who was your creator?"
"My creator was a human male from an unnamed village in the outskirts of the earth kingdom."
"SOME UNNAMED PEASANT CREATED YOU?!"
The very idea that some no one was against everything Zuko knew and believed in. Being royal, having the divine right to rule, is something you are either born with or born without. Father was very clear about this point.
"He had a name, but he chose to leave it behind to fully become the first Overlord. And yes, by your standards he was a peasant. However I would like you to mind your tone when speaking about my creator, he was a great man, quite frankly much better than you."
Zuko was about to leash out at the stupid voice but held himself at the last minute. Antagonizing Unknown entity that talks directly into his head is not a smart idea, for all he knew Sai may explode his head at any given moment. Besides, he supposed he himself wouldn't be too pleased if someone insulted his dad.
"I… will take it into consideration." Suddenly something the voice said caught Zuko's attention.
"Wait, first? You mean there were more of those "overlords"? Did they own you too?"
"Each and every true overlord wielded me and I assisted each and every one of them to greatness the best I could. You are the tenth overlord, to answer your next question."
Zuko decided that there is only so much information he could take before it's too much, so he decided to get answers that will help him in his mission.
"How can you help me catch the Avatar? You are just a voice in a helmet, no offense…". The prince quickly added the last part, not wanting to anger the helmet while it was covering all of his head.
"I can help you with many things your highness. I have inside me the knowledge of every past overlord, and unlike flesh made beings I don't forget a thing. With this knowledge and experience I can make you the most powerful bender in the world, overshadowing even your lord father. I can help you build an empire to your name with an army second to none, specifically designed and equipped to take on the Avatar. I can even detect in good accuracy the Avatar's position."
Zuko was so fascinated by the things the helmet could give him that he nearly missed the last part. He did, however, catch it, and when he did, he nearly exploded.
"YOU CAN TRACK THE AVATAR?!"
"I can track and pinpoint the unique energy that Rava, the Avatar's spirit, omits."
"I DEMEND YOU TO BRING ME TO THE AVATAR AT ONCE!"
"Order rejected."
"WHAT! YOU SAID YOU WILL HELP ME! LIAR!"
Zuko was rigid, here before him stands maybe the only thing that can help him find the Avatar, it even has the Avatar's scent and can find him like a dog-tiger. AND IT REFUSES TO HELP!
Suddenly a very loud and high noise filled the helmet. After a minute the noise stopped, however Zuko's ears were still ringing. He was however, in no condition to continue his righteous tantrum.
"Did you calm down prince Zuko?"
"Yes… yes I'm calm now. What was this?" Zuko answered after a few moments to get rid of the ringing in his ears.
"My tutorial protocol allows me to override orders that will harm the young overlord. Your order right now considers as such."
"And why is that?" the prince grumbled.
"You were going to immediately rash with no plan, little strength and no backup plan. Usually things like this are exactly what gives young overlords their shock and makes them more cautious and mature. Unfortunately, I have no data to synthesize the strength of then current Avatar, but the chances of survival of a direct confront are less than ten percent. Therefore my tutorial protocol activated, I will not send you after the Avatar without a decent chance of survivability."
As much as the words hurt, they were true. The fact that they were true is what hurts the most. The young prince, not wanting to repeat the screeching, stayed silent for a few moments.
"So that's it? I will never be able to catch the Avatar and return home?" desperation and resentment latched into Zuko's words.
"Not at all, I merely said that it would be suicide to try now. I will help you grow in power and influence until you are strong enough to go toe to toe with the Avatar."
Zuko relaxed a little, seeing not all is lost. And even though he would never admit it, he was grateful that Sai stopped him from doing something stupid.
"How much time do I need to wait until you will lead me to the Avatar?"
"Depends on you your highness. It could be months, it could be a lifetime. I will do the best I can to accelerate the process."
Zuko didn't like the idea of another few months at the least in exile, but he supposed it was better than nothing."
"First of all, to calculate the best course of action I will need you to tell me about the situation of the world at large and your unique circumstances. Please don't spare the details."
And Zuko told it everything. He told it about the war, he told it about his life at the palace, he told it about the general's meeting and the Agni Kai and he told it about the journey so far. It was oddly relieving in a way, to talk to someone about all of this. Maybe it was the stress getting to him, maybe it was the fact that Sai didn't judge him in any way or form, but Zuko shared things that he did tell even his uncle. In the end Zuko was crying after releasing all his woes.
"I see, it seems the world has changed much in the overlord's absence. It is strange that the Avatar didn't show up until now with all the disharmony this war brought. However, I believe you can use it to your advantage.
"How?" It was nice to hear Sai continue to talk as usual, the lack of pity, judgement or any emotion really, it helped Zuko focus on the task ahead. It also showed the young prince that he had a listening ear to talk to, his uncle was fine and cared the world about Zuko. But that same quality is what made Zuko to not want to disappoint him, it was much easier to talk about your failures to someone that literally can't be disappointed than someone you care about.
"This war and mission will give you a good excuse to build up your strength. And a prince, banished or not, will be welcomed in many places at the colonies and frontline to boost morale. There you will build your name and sphere of influence. Because of your royal status and because of no direct order from your father, you are technically outside the chain of command. Meaning you can choose where you go and what you do. The experience and the reputation you will get will raise your standing and with enough reputation even your father won't be able to ignore you. And no one could argue against it since you are doing your duty as a prince."
That… was actually a good to hear. For Zuko the situation changed from nearly losing all hope of returning home to having a chance to achieve his most desired dream, his father's approval. He was now more motivated than he had ever been in the last six months.
"Where do we begin?"
"First, from the input I got it appears that your crew leaves much to be desired. They are good for raiding the random village to be sure, but for our purposes there is much to do."
Zuko scoffed "What can you expect from random peasants."
"And that brings us to the second issue, minions will only do so much for a leader they don't respect. And because I can guess your next statement, no. Fear can bring respect and obedience effectively only when one can back it up. It also ineffective if a more fearsome adversary shows, to the point of desertion even."
"So how do I earn their loyalty than?"
"Leading by example and carrot and stick approach. Should you lead at the front and show that you care about them, they will develop a sense of respect and loyalty to you."
"The carrot and stick approach is simple. For a well-done task or an exceptional behavior a reward is given, for a failure or an unacceptable behavior a punishment is given. The level of the reward or punishment needs to reflect the level of the deed, a too strong or to weak response will cause either resentment or laziness, nothing which is good for you."
Those two approaches were alien to the young prince, his entire life his father taught him that people respect you only if they fear you. To hear such a thing should have made Zuko outright scoff, and he did have reservations, but the helmet did have experience, and it was a talking helmet, so strangeness was a given.
"I see… and how will I do this… thing?"
"You don't believe in me." Sai stated it as a fact. Zuko tried to say something in defense, but Sai immediately continued.
"It is natural really, I am an unknown entity talking to your head and telling you to do things that go against what you were raised to believe. Your willingness to consider speaks volumes about your open mindness."
Zuko was taken back by it, open mindness is not something he, or anyone really, would describe him as.
"And quite frankly, for all my talk about knowledge and power I have done nothing to support such claims. Tell me your highness, would you like to learn the Azure flame?"
That stopped Zuko in his tracks. The Azure colored flame was an art achieved by years of intense practice. Only the elite could even consider learning such a thing. To be offered it in such a casual manner was mind boggling.
"You can teach me the Azure flame? Teach me now!"
"Very well, prepare yourself."
There was a noise similar to oiled metals moving against each other and suddenly he saw some kind of scroll created before his eyes. The scroll was strange, it appeared to be made of pure light and the letters on it were too perfect and identical to be written by human hands. Thankfully the scroll wasn't created in a moment, so although amazed Zuko wasn't spooked this time. Whether or not it was intentional on Sai's part remains to be seen.
"First I will teach you some theory about wavelengths and the seeable spectrum."
What followed next was a lecture unlike any he had before. The scrolls, which Sai referred to as screens, also showed moving drawings to explain the material. Zuko had to admit that even if the material itself was hard to believe to, even heretical at some cases, the moving drawings made the experience much easier to understand and almost enjoyable. After a few hours Sai decided that it was time for the practical approach.
"Now remember, you need to completely focus on the flame. Feel the light radiating from it and force the light itself to shorten its length as I explained earlier."
It was easier said than done, Zuko now had a small flame in his hands. As he focused on maintaining it he searched for the feeling of the light and heat it produced. Heat was energy and the more energy the flame had the shorter its wavelength would be. He just needed to maintain the flow of energy to feed the flame in power while not letting it to grow in size.
Sai helped with monitoring the situation, commenting about where to focus his attempts and how much flow of chi Zuko should put to keep control over the flame. After some time that for Zuko felt like forever, but in fact was less than two minutes, the flame finally was blue in color.
"I did it! I actually did it!"
"Did I prove my word your highness?"
"Yes, Agni yes. You proved yourself."
Zuko was on cloud nine, he succeeded to make an Azure flame in a few hours. It's unheard of, even his sister Azula could compete with this. With Sai proving his worth, all the promises it made became more and more realistic.
"Now will you listen to my advice?"
"Yes."
Sai is the best advisor and teacher he had plain and simple. His uncle, as much as Zuko loved him, instructed him on fire bending for six months without any true progress. His other instructors were even less successful. So Zuko decided that if Sai gives him advice on something, he should at least consider it.
"Good, now that what you need to do…"
"Hey Li, what do you reckon this is all about?"
"Heck if I know, his royal Highness probably wants to throw another tantrum."
"Yeah, I really can't stand the brat. Just because he's a prince he thinks he can treat us like garbage."
"Sh, he's starting."
Price Zuko walked to the stage in his regular armor, in his hand was the dark helmet. He walked with full confidence and resolve. When he reached the center of the stage he stopped and turned to the crowd.
"Good evening man. As you all know, today we mark our half year anniversary. For six months we have sailed the four corners of the world, searched every air temple available and what do we have to show for it? This helmet!"
So far his words caused dissatisfaction among the crew, his uncle even started to step towards the young prince. Zuko however cared little about it. He would usually be more nervous, but Sai prepared him for the speech. Who knew crowds peaking was such an art. In any case Zuko had all their attention, it was time to start delivering the main point.
"And so far I consider the mission successful!"
Zuko raised his voice and held his fists at chest height. Those words caused confusion among the crew, his uncle stopped advancing as well. Good, now he had them.
"This half year we had secured the air temples, ensuring that the Avatar has no hold there. Today we have found this!" Zuko showed everyone the helmet.
"This helmet was found deep in the Southern air temple. Upon experimentation it was discovered that this helmet is invanrable to fire, in fact it is highly suspected that even the Avatar could not harm it. Meaning that we found maybe the only thing that was above the Avatar's might, and it was possible to retrieve such miracle only because of your resourcefulness and hard work!"
The crew couldn't believe what they were hearing. They expected a tantrum, some enraged yelling about how useless they were and how he would have already found the Avatar if he had a better crew. To hear the price actually praise them, and seemingly genuinely too, was something none of them expected. Combined with the thought that they helped retrieve an artifact that actually managed to withstand the might of the mythical Avatar actually brought each of them pride, something they all had lacked in recent months.
"And if we already speak about miracles." Zuko continued. He put down the helmet near him and brought his hands to his chest level, palms facing one again the other. From between his hands a fireball was created. With some effort the prince put in more energy and after a few moments the crowd, including his uncle, gasped. The fireball was now completely blue. Zuko unsummoned the fire after a minute.
"I believe this is a sign from Agni himself about the righteousness of our mission! Are you with me!?"
The legendary Azure flame in the hands of a young teenager left them with little explanation but a miracle, they all saw how he was struggling at fire bending with his uncle. The righteous tone, the emotion, the hand gestures and how he looked at all of them, turning his look to every corner of the crowd were too much for them. All of them cheered as one at the prince's words.
"Now it may be in short notice but I think that this is a cause for celebration!" Zuko walked to the end of the stage and pulled the fabric, revealing a bunch of barrels.
"Music night came early boys, you've earned it!"
The cheer that came afterwards was even stronger than before. One by one the soldiers started to chant "Zuko! Zuko! Zuko!" as they start to prepare the musical instruments and drinks.
"You know Lee? The prince's maybe not so bad after all."
"You know what, maybe he really isn't ."
While the men drank and had fun Iroh went to talk to Zuko.
"Prince Zuko, It was a wonderful speech . I have to say that for a second there I feared that I had to intervene, I am glad that it was not the case. I'm proud of you prince Zuko, truly."
"Thank you uncle." Zuko had a grateful smile on his face. His entire self was radiating with confidence his uncle noted, much to the old man's delight. It seemed that his nephew was starting to get out of his shell. He feared this Ozai had forever his nephew not only outside but inside as well.
"Although I'm quite curious about how exactly did you managed to learn the Azure flame. No offense but you had nowhere near the level of control yet, you achieved something that many fire benders could only dream on in a day."
Zuko was glad that Sai prepared him for this situation or else he would be a squabbling mess.
"What can I say uncle? I have a good teacher."
"Nephew, please be serious."
With a sigh Zuko continued in a more serious tone. "When I meditated I just couldn't calm down, sorry uncle. So, after some time I decided to see how much anger I could channel to the meditation flame without losing control. I played with the ways to channel the anger and you saw what happened next."
"You… managed to create a colored flame through anger?" Iroh said in a concerned and disbelieving voice, as if even the thought of this was something unthinkable, and not in a good way.
"U-uncle?" The tone of his uncle didn't escape Zuko's notice. "aren't you proud of me?"
The old general quickly composed himself. "Ah sorry nephew, my age is catching up to me again. Of course, I am proud of you. Say why don't you go and have some fun with the crew?"
"Yes uncle, I think I will do it"
Zuko walked to the party that was starting to take a full swing. His man cheered him as they saw him.
"Oh Zuko, what has been done to you…"
Iroh sadly looked at his nephew, as he partied with the men. Now that Iroh looked closely he saw that every movement Zuko made was forced, every word or smart comment he said was rehearsed. Oh, the crew wouldn't notice it, they didn't know his nephew like he did, but for the dragon of the west it was clear that the young prince was making gigantic effort to be the best leader he can.
Now don't get him wrong, Iroh would have been overjoyed under normal circumstances. But the sheer effort Zuko was showing combined with the stress from six months of banishment and their lack of progress, not to mention the absurd display of the Azure flame, rang warning bells in the old man's head. The Zuko he knew wouldn't be trying to woo the crew, he shouldn't be able to create blue flame both because of the lack of calm state of mind and lack of instruction and feeling of the flame. What could have possibly happened recently that changed his nephew right under his nose?
It all started today, and then Iroh realized what could have happened to his nephew. The pressure of the mission and his banishment was too much for a young boy like him to bear. He couldn't let himself return empty handed, so he looked for anything that may give him some symbolic victory. Here came the helmet, which Iroh doubted it was anything special now. Zuko must saw some random helmet in a dark room and in his obsessive pursuit for results and unwillingness to consider failure made it some saving grace, a rock he could hold on in the turmoil of his own mind.
As for the flame? Iroh knew about colorful flames from his time with the sun warriors. It had taught him about the true meaning of fire bending. To hear that the scared art that depended on calm mind and positive passion can be achieved by distress and hatred was borderline heretical for him. It goes against what he believed about fire bending and if it would grow to its own fire bending art then Iroh feared about the future of true fire bending.
He would talk to his nephew, that was certain, but for now he will give the kid his room. The last thing Zuko needed now was more pressure. He had time, he would teach Zuko the true meaning of fire bending and help him grow to his own personal outside of his father's influence.
With those happy thoughts Iroh joined the party. The festivities continued through the night.
Zuko left to his room after an hour, all the socializing was too much for him even with the practice he had with Sai. Which now he's glad he took seriously. If the lesson about the Azure flame was hard then the practice for the speech was tiring. Who knew there was so much work to prepare a simple speech, and Zuko was only following Sai's instructions.
They were practicing for hours, in a way it was much more demanding than his fire bending lessons. He couldn't argue with the results however, the crew never have been more adoring before. It was a nice feeling, even if they were just dumb peasants.
"Your heartbeats are high, are you feeling unwell?"
"No, sorry. I'm just excited at how well it all went. The crew actually respects me now!"
"Not yet, but you are certainly in the right path. You still need to show them example and continue to address them accordingly."
"What do I need to do?"
"Show them your leadership in times of distress, that you will take care of them and have their back. They will return you in kind."
"But they are all rejected and disgraced soldiers! How can I trust them to not stab me in the back if they don't fear me enough?"
"Tell me Zuko, who chose the members of your crew?"
"My uncle."
"And will your uncle consider employing men and women that will stab you in the back? At least without much provocation?"
"…I suppose not."
"It's not the only thing that ails you, isn't it? Your uncle?"
"It's just… I don't understand, I thought he would be proud of me! Why did he look so… so…"
"Displeased? Disappointed? Disgusted? "
"Yes…" Zuko said in a weak voice.
"Tell me, how close your uncle is to the sun warriors?"
This confused the young prince.
"Sun warriors? As in the civilization that predated the fire nation? How could my uncle have any connection to them? And why does this matter?"
"Yes, the very same people. It's good that you know your history, a very important quality for an overlord. It was the fifth overlord that brought their civilization to ruin, all but one city to their name."
"As for connection to your uncle tell me, did your uncle made a trip to the supposedly uninhibited islands north to the fire nation?"
"Yes, when he killed the last dragon and was given the title dragon of the west."
"Interesting, and did he have any changes in his personality afterwards? More petitioned and collected perhaps?"
"well... people say he did become more … matured?"
"Then there is no doubt he met the sun warriors."
"But why would that matter, do you think that they done something to him?" the young prince was fearful for his uncle.
"Nothing like you may think. The sun warrior style is based on passion and positive emotions as contrast to the rage and hatred that seems to fuel the currant fire bending. This style allows them to create multicolored flames."
"Multicolored…"
Zuko had only a few hours ago created a small blue flame, which is something he considered impossible before. To hear that there is an entire civilization that mastered not only a blue flame, but can have more that one color at once? It was bewildering and quite frankly hurt his ego a little.
"Also to be fair the sun warrior style is more suitable for show then real practice, so you shouldn't worry about hidden super soldiers on that front."
"What do you mean on that front?"
"Nothing you should worry about for now, let's deal with the urgent and then with the important."
"Okay… so what is the plan now? And what about uncle?"
"For now we continue to sail to the closest colony to resupplying, Hǎibiān is the name if I'm not mistaken. I will continue to teach you about being an overlord, including martial teaching, strategic thinking and public speaking."
"That's sounds… great." Zuko said while internally shuddering at the horrors he is about to face in the future.
"But what about my uncle?"
"We shall continue as usual. You will go to your training but put me on. Whatever your uncle gives you will be a child's play with my assistance. Should he still have reservations about advancing your fire bending lessons then we will have no choice but to relay on my knowledge alone and deem your uncle untrustworthy."
" Untrustworthy? Now hold on a minute, my uncle has only ever wanted what's best for me!"
"Perhaps I could have phrased that better. If you're uncle withholding on your fire bending lessons, even if he has good intentions, then he risks your progress and development. There can be no grantee that he wouldn't hold you back in other things as well. As an overlord you must grow as fast as possible. I'm not asking you to throw him into the sea or anything like that, but you should always question his decision and their benefit to you."
"But uncle will see how I improved! He will give me more advanced lessons! You will see that you are wrong about uncle!"
"Very well, but a question if I may?"
"Ah .. sure."
"When did I say that your uncle wouldn't advance you?"
"What kind of question is it? Right now!"
"I said possibilities and responses. I have never said what your uncle would or wouldn't do."
Zuko stopped, Sai was… actually right. He never did insult his uncle.
"I-I'm sorry about my outburst."
"No offense taken. Wordplay can be misleading, something I will teach you how to use exceptionally. For now, rest your highness and I advise you to keep the helmet on."
"Wouldn't it be uncomfortable?"
"The helmet is built to provide as much comfort as needed, you wouldn't feel a thing. I will also try to teach you subconsciously and widen the flow of information your mind can handle."
"Is it safe?" The concern in Zuko's voice was hard and clear.
"Worry not, I will not do anything to harm you. The process will also take time for the same reason."
"Okay, good night Sai."
"Good night Zuko, sleep tight."
The prince went to sleep and Sai began to work on Zuko's brain as promised.
In the next morning Zuko woke up at dawn as usual for fire benders, he felt more refreshed than he had in a long time. He felt so good in fact, that he forgot he was wearing a helmet until he heard a familiar voice in his head.
"Good morning Zuko."
The young prince, still unused to voices speaking in his head, reasonably let out a yelp before remembering the event day prior.
"So it wasn't just a dream…"
Afraid not your highness. Would you like to hear about today's resume?"
"Sorry, my what?"
"It was a wordplay, both on your training as overlord and your new diet."
"Why would I need a diet? I'm not fat!"
Zuko replied scorned as he felt the sides of his stomach with his fingers.
"You are not, something that deserves a praise for young aristocrats. The diet is for your future growth. You are going consume A lot of energy in our training and the new diet I built you will help with the bodybuilding the training will result as well as resolve the nutrition problems you have right now."
"Nutrition problems? But I eat well enough."
"And yet you have lower than normal levels of calcium and vitamin C. It is expected from someone who sails the sea."
"What are you about?"
"Apologies, in short imagine a body as a kingdom and the food and water as resources a kingdom needs to build and maintain itself like stone, wood, metal and other things. Even if the kingdom gets large deliveries of all other recourses but lacks one it can't grow as it should until the lack is resolved. The same is with the human body."
That… was something that made since to Zuko, his teachers at statecraft mentioned a few times the need for access to all resources as a primary concern in building and maintaining a state. An army without steel is a poor one after all."
"And you will help me to build my body the right way?"
"Obviously, an overlord had always been a paragon of humanity in both mind and bod. You are not going to change that tradition. I will even lecture you on the food you will it, what benefits and harm it can give you. I insist on the last part."
Zuko got dressed with a conflicted sigh. On one end he gets to know about things that hardly anyone would, on the other hand he really didn't want another lecture. In the end he accepted his fate.
"Fine, I'll have the cook bring me everything he has."
"That wouldn't be necessary, you are going down to the canteen to eat there."
"WHAT! Absolutely not!" Zuko shouted indigenously, it was only the fact that Sai activated the hermetic lock to ensure that no one could hear their conversation that no one busted to the room assuming the prince was under attack.
"I'm not going to dine with those filthy peasants! It's beneath me."
"As I said before, those peasants are all the minions you have right now. It is unwise to alienate them. They need to see their leader actually pose interest in them, especially in those early stages of your carrier. I am not asking you to hold a conversation or something, just sit in a corner and eat. Nothing more, nothing less."
"I.. I suppose it's fine for now, just don't expect me to rub elbows with anyone."
"Of course. But if I may ask, why are you so against it? You did much more yesterday."
"It was… it was different, okay?"
Indeed, without the cathartic relief of learning the Azure flame and Sai's explicit instructions Zuko wouldn't be even considering doing any of what he did yesterday.
"I haven't failed you yet, please give me the benefit of the doubt."
"Fine! But don't expect me to talk to anyone!"
"Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to."
The meal itself went uneventful, if awkward, enough. The crew whispered to itself and was in a state of full alert, but it didn't bother the prince. Zuko on his side chose from the canteen whatever Sai told him and went to a corner to eat in peace. He nearly gave a heart attack to the cook when he repeated a thank you from Sai.
It wasn't long before the prince went back to his room to meditate before his lessons with uncle.
It was time, Zuko will ask his uncle for more advanced lessons and prove Sai wrong.
"Uncle!"
"Ah! Prince Zuko! I see you took a liking to your new helmet."
"Yes uncle, I thought that if I plan to fight the Avatar with it I should train with it as well."
"A sound reasoning nephew, although I would recommend you to ease your usage with the helmet."
"About that. Uncle, I think that I'm ready for more advanced lessons."
His uncle sighed before speaking.
"Nephew, as much as you advanced you still lack the basics."
"Uncle! I managed to create the blue flame! If anything, I should be jumping ahead and not being held back!"
His uncle sighed as he began speaking again.
"While your achievement is staggering, your basics stayed the same. You are still not ready to continue learning fire bending the right way. However! "
Iroh stopped Zuko before he could respond.
"Should you do the basics right today, I will advance your lessons."
"Fine! Let's start already!"
The two continued their lesson. As time passed, Zuko noticed that Sai was indeed helping as promised. When certain moves were performed, and Zuko was about to make the wrong move, or miss something in a stance, he would feel a shock in his neck and the limbs would correct themselves to the right form.
By the look of it his uncle was even more surprised than he was. After a few hours the training session was over, with Zuko seemingly making not even one mistake.
"Well uncle, how was it? Can I have more advanced lessons now?"
Zuko was sweating, even thou Sai helped him with the execution of the forms, it did nothing to the energy spent for the training. Zuko was tired and his muscles hurt, if he didn't know better he might have thought that his uncle made today's lesson extremely tiring for Zuko to fail.
"I…"
Iroh was out of words, and out of ideas. His nephew indeed done all the forms perfectly, not a muscle out of place. It should have made his old heart proud, but even thou physically the prince was ready his mentality was a different story. Zuko is the same hot-headed child he was before, his mindset not ready for the teaching of the true nature of fire bending.
Suddenly an idea popped up in his mind, it would be messy and will cause quite a scene, but if it could postpone the situation until his nephew has the right state of mind, he could suffer it.
"Try to do the last form again, this time without the helmet."
It was a risk, but Iroh is sure that Zuko's new change was from the confidence that he got from the helmet. No there were two options, either his nephew will put down the helmet and the loss of confidence will make him do mistakes or, the far more probable thing, he will throw a tantrum which Iroh will use to show his point.
"WHAT!"
Zuko is shaking his hands, it seems that the screaming will start in five, four, three, two, one…
"Whatever…"
What?
Zuko unequipped his helmet and started to walk away.
"Nephew? Where are you going?"
"To my room" the prince said in a defeated tone, not even looking at his uncle.
"I'm too tired right now to do everything perfect again."
Iroh supposed he could use that.
"But what about the advanced lessons?"
"Whatever, you weren't going to give them to me anyway. I will just do it myself."
Zuko then walked away.
Well, that was one way to solve the problem, why then did he feel he made a grave mistake?
Zuko was devastated. When his uncle told him to ditch the helmet he thought that it was it, he wouldn't be able to do the forms right. Even Sai agreed that his likelihood of success isn't high. And while at the time he was furious, now he's grateful that Sai was able to calm him down. A breakdown in front of the crew would have destroyed any progress he made with them.
"So what now?"
"Now we will continue as I suggested. Your basics are firm enough to continue, the requirements of your uncle for farther lessons are irrational and hurt your progress. You said so yourself that basics aren't enough to defeat the avatar in one of our conversations."
"Rest for now your highness, tomorrow we will start your training in its earnest."
"Fine…"
"You are showing signs of depression, would you like to talk about it?"
"I'm fine."
"… It's about your uncle, isn't it?"
"I said I'm fine!"
"You should let it out, you will feel better afterwards. Maybe I could even help."
"What could you do?! You don't have any family!"
"But I have experience with people with family problems, it seems to be an unwritten requirement for an overlord. Are you perhaps disappointed that your uncle didn't live up to your expectations?"
"No… It's just that, why didn't he pass me? I did everything he asked!"
"Perhaps he just didn't want to repeat another Lu-Tan?"
"What?"
"I suggest that maybe your uncle sees you as Lu-Tan and is trying to keep you away from danger by purposely keep you at a lesser aggression level so that you face relatively lesser threats. He that could keep you safe himself that way."
"That's… That's crazy!"
"Possibly but look on the other side. The man lost all his close family, excluding a brother that with obvious enmity on both sides, can any of us really know what he thinks?"
Zuko thought about it and remembered many of the interactions he had with his uncle. He knew that Lu-Tan's death hurt uncle very much, and just as he got to the palace he heard that his father died. Combining with the fact that his wife died in childbirth and the rivalry with his own father, yes Zuko knew about the less than ideal relationship between the two, he didn't know why but he also wasn't blind, painted a very depressing picture as well as a sudden realization.
"Wait, does… Does uncle see me as a replacement for Lu-Tan?"
"Yes and no, he probably can't help but see you as a son, but he also knows that you aren't Lu-Tan. Did he ever confuse your name with Lu-Tan's?" He tr
"No, no he hasn't."
"Then he doesn't see you as a replacement for his deceased son. Anyway, this matters not for your progress."
With this the conversation ended. Zuko calmed down significantly, it was hard to stay mad at his uncle after this talk. It didn't mean he wasn't annoyed but as Sai said, even if his uncle means well, it wouldn't stop Zuko from advancing. especially with Sai to teach him.
With that thought in mind the young prince went to his room.
"And where do you think you're going? You eat in the canteen now."
This is going to be a long trip…
AN
Hi! so here is the second chapter.
I tried to write young Zuko pre helmet as a spoiled brat, yet one that is in pain. must admit I have mixed feelings about the execution. I wanted to show why Zuko would accept S.A.I, Zuko is in a bad place, he was banished from his home, scared by his father both from the outside and the inside, hated by his crew and with his last hope to return home just been snuffed out. He is desperate and when he sees an opportunity to regain his honor he is going to take it with both hands without thinking.
In the matter of S.A.I, for those who don't know Sai isn't part of the Avatar cannon but an original idea of mine. wither it is truly a helpful A.I (with helpful being relative) or a deceptive trickster is up for debate, but there can be no argument that it's a corruptive influence.
I'm sure that some of you will find it weird that Iroh didn't immediately pointed at the helmet as the cause for Zuko's change, but I gave plenty of more earthly reasons to why Zuko could change his behavior. Enough not to make Iroh jump on the supernatural causes.
Anyway, I hope you had a good read and please tell me what you think about the story.
have a nice whatever time of the day you have now!