Okay...so before we get into this chapter and an explanation for the lateness of this update, let's get this out of the way: This chapter straight up destroyed me.
Writer's block was hitting damn hard on this chapter and I legitimately got stuck on several points, because I was continuously getting indecisive about every direction this damn chapter could have gone. I wouldn't really say I'm happy with how this chapter turned out either since its set-up for later. And partly because I need to buy time to figure out where the hell I'm taking this story. You know, I'm not sure whether I should be impressed or disappointed how most of this story has literally just been me improvising.
Hope you all enjoy the chapter either way.
:)
With that said, let's get this chapter started !
Mai was not the type of person who got frustrated easily or ever for that matter. Even when she was travelling with Azula, she had a rather bored view towards a lot of things...
But this was probably one of the few times in her life, she would say that she was genuinely frustrated.
She was seated in the meeting room with Zuko, Suki and Ty Lee, she had just finished disclosing what had happened at Jiang's house. Zuko looked like a volcano that was ready to erupt at any moment, Suki put her hand to her face to let out a sigh of frustration, while Ty Lee for her part had a worried look on her face as she looked between all three of her friends. And none of them looked happy.
" Damnit !" Zuko cursed as he slammed his fist onto the table in anger, the table visibly shaking from the force, making Ty Lee flinch at the sight of it " Now Jiang knows that we're onto him ! "
" Zuko, please calm down " Suki tried to calm the Fire Lord, to no avail.
" How can I calm down when I have traitors in the ranks and can't do a damn thing about it !?" Zuko shouted.
Suki stood her ground " That doesn't mean we should lose our heads over it. Mai did you learn anything while you were over at Jiang's house ? Anything that we could use against him as evidence or proof of his guilt ?" Suki asked the knife thrower.
Mai let out a sigh as she shook her head " No...nothing of the sort. Outside of some pretty routine documents, letters and boring papers there was nothing in that house that would implicate Jiang in working with Ozai. Which means he's either not keeping anything incriminating at his personal office, or he's keeping it all somewhere else " Mai for her part honestly should have seen this coming when they came up with the plan in the first place.
What were they expecting to find at Jiang's house ? A neatly marked journal with Jiang writing 'This week, I helped break out the ex-Fire Lord and am now working with a him to overthrow his son in a coup ', along with details about what their grand master plan is and how to beat them. Jiang hadn't survived up to this point by being a moron, he was obviously much smarter than they were giving him credit for.
" Alright, enough of this " Zuko declared angrily as he stood up " I'm calling for Jiang to be arrested right now on suspicion of treason and conspiracy against the crown "
Suki immediately stood up to stop him " Zuko, you can't do that. We don't have any evidence against him, it would never hold up and-"
" I don't care ! This is ridiculous ! We have been sitting here on our hands for too damn long, while my father, advisors and probably countless others plot against us !" Zuko shouted " I'm tired of waiting, we're doing this now !"
" Zuko, you can't !" Mai shouted for once and stopped him before he marched out the door " It will be playing right into Jiang's hands ! You would just be giving him and your other ministers all the arrows they need to poke holes into your legitimacy as the Fire Lord !"
" I don't care ! He's obviously involved in all this ! He-"
" Jiang isn't an idiot Zuko ! He's one of the oldest and most influential advisors to the Throne, he has lots of friends and allies in high places that would be more than happy to defend him in case something happened. If you tried to arrest him now without any evidence to back it up, we would just be asking for outright rebellion against us ! " Mai shouted in retaliation " If the Fire Nation were to rebel against us right now, we would instantly lose ! We can't win this by rushing in and fighting it out Zuko !"
"...Then what do we do ?" Zuko asked quietly.
That was the question wasn't it ? What can they do against a threat like this ? They had no real leads, no immediate powerful allies on stand-by that could shield them in case something happened...
Right now, it felt like they were a bunch of kids that were just being played by a bunch of smarter adults. Heck, they really were kids, aren't they ?
" Everybody leave for now and we'll talk about it tomorrow " Ty Lee stepped up and said.
Which caused several heads to turn to her for that suggestion.
" You're telling us to sleep on it, Ty Lee ?" Zuko said, almost sounding frustratingly angry with her.
" No, I'm telling you that we are all on edge and can't think straight right now " Ty Lee said, sounding more blunt than usual " We'll talk about all this later once we've calmed down and thought of something...but right now, what we're doing isn't helping anything. So maybe everybody please just...take the day to think about it "
Mai didn't want to admit it...but she agreed with Ty Lee. She honestly wasn't in the mood to deal with any of this...maybe none of them were.
" Ty Lee's right. Everybody leave and don't talk about anything that has been said until later " Mai didn't say anything more before she left.
She was just so damn tired of everything.
Mai didn't really have anywhere in particular she wanted to go after the meeting, if she was being honest she felt like she wanted to be anywhere but here right now. The palace feeling so damn gloomy and depressing as of late that it felt like a damn prison in of itself, and that was saying something for somebody like Mai who had been consistently told throughout her life how gloomy she was. But this time, she has some actually good reasons to not be in a good mood as of late.
The Fire Nation was on the brink of collapse and civil war, Zuko's rule was looking like it was about to be overthrown any minute now, there were traitors in the ranks and in the palace to the point Mai didn't know who they could really trust at this point. For all they know, Ozai could have his claws in every single guard in the palace and could have them killed them at any moment.
Mai thought as she passed by a few palace guards, trying to look calm but couldn't help but notice a few giving her a sideways glance. Be it out of curiosity, absentmindedness or actual malicious intent she didn't know, and she didn't have the will to call them out on it, lest she ends up looking like an idiot who blew a fuse over a few looks.
Maybe they should start thinking about replacing the guards, they obviously can't trust them. Perhaps they can persuade Suki to convince some more of her painted warrior sisters to come and fully replace them as guar-
Mai stop herself short of that thought as she leaned her hand against the wall, realizing that she's in the exact same headspace of paranoia and distrust that Azula was in when she first took the role of Fire Lord, albeit her reign was short lived. She still remembered hearing about how Azula had banished nearly all of the palace staff and guards in her paranoia. The irony of the situation was not lost on Mai.
And so she ends up doing something she never would have expected herself to do...
" Hahahahaha...!"
She laughs . Her voice devoid of humor, but she ends up laughing at the sheer irony of it all, if somebody were to see her they would probably think she's gone crazy. Maybe she had.
Was this how Azula felt when she took over as Fire Lord ? Powerless, helpless and stuck with a empty title while all the power was with people far beyond her control ? Left alone in a palace full of servants and guards, their stares feeling like acts of judgement and maliciousness that the only thing one could do was tell them to leave and never return.
Mai never thought she'd say it, but perhaps she's starting to understand the appeal of banishing people.
If Mai was starting to empathize and relate to Azula of all people, than that must surely be a sign of the end.
Mai knew it, they all knew it. They were at the breaking point of it all and she wasn't sure whether she could stop it either.
What could they do anyway ? They felt like a couple of kids powerless in the face of adults, heck most of them were just a couple of kids. And they were supposed to know what to do in this situation ?
She hated it. And she hates that she's thinking that Jiang may have had a point, that they were out of their depth entirely.
She doesn't know what to do anymore, her attempts at playing wannabe spymaster have failed spectacularly and now it feels like all that's left to do is wait for Ozai to make his move.
Mai feels progressively worse thinking about it and tries to shove it down into the jar she keeps at the back of her mind. Her feet end up moving on her own, she just wanted to be anywhere but here. She doesn't really have a place she wants to go in particular, she just ends up roaming the palace, looking like a lost soul searching for clarity and guidance. Oh Agni, now she's starting to sound dramatic herself, if her mother could see her now...
Eventually after what felt like years of walking around the palace, she finds herself stopping at one of the open balconies of the palace, it was a place that was nice and private with a good view of the city. It was one of the few places that Mai felt at peace with herself, the breeze on her face as she sips a cup of tea as she watched birds fly by. Sometimes imagining she herself turning into a bird and flying free in the air, without burdens or consequence.
But sadly, when she arrived she was not the only one there it seems.
" Ursa ?" Mai said in surprise at seeing Zuko's mother.
Ursa looked up at her in surprise, clearly too immersed in her drink to notice the knife-thrower " Mai ? Sorry I didn't even notice you..."
" Its fine..." Mai waved it off, but she noticed that Ursa was looking worse for wear. The bags under her eyes indicating she hadn't been sleeping well and she clearly seemed to be deep in thought.
Mai wasn't planning on having company, but at this point she had no energy to find another quiet place. Ursa wasn't the worst company she could ask for anyway and Mai didn't mind her company.
" Mind if I join you ?" Mai asks blankly.
" Please take a seat " Ursa gestures to the seat opposite of her with a small smile.
" Thanks..." Mai said as she sat down, glancing at the bottle on the table and the cups. She gave a worried look at Ursa " Are you still...drinking ?" Mai asks, slowly still remembering how Ursa hit the bottles pretty hard after Azula's funeral. And she didn't want to feel like she was pushing any wrong buttons.
Ursa chuckled as she showed Mai the bottle " Watered down rice wine, not enough to get you drunk. Ikem's been forcing me to give up the alcohol, says that it doesn't help with anything but...its been hard without anything to numb the pain... perhaps there's nothing that can numb a loss like this" Ursa says, grief and sadness on her face.
Mai sits there in uncomfortable silence, she's not sure what she's supposed to say really in a situation like this. Should she offer sympathies ? Say that she's 'sorry' ? As if that's going to change anything. For what can she truly say to someone who has experienced the greatest kind of loss a mother could experience in their lifetime ? Her own issues with Azula aside, she can understand Ursa's grief to an extent.
Even now with Azula months dead, her spirit still looms over them like a curse. As if she is punishing them from beyond the grave.
They sit like that in awkward silence, neither of them really knowing what to say and Mai feeling like this was a mistake with each painfully slow passing minutes going by.
"...So how have you been Mai ?" Mercifully, Ursa takes the first step in changing the subject." You look tired "
" You don't look like you've been doing so hot either " Mai replied, but without much bite in it.
" Fair point..." Ursa shrugged.
" Me, Zuko and the others have been running ragged trying to figure out where Ozai is, and hopefully trying to quash the slow moving rebellion " Mai explained with a sigh " An egotistical megalomaniac on the loose...poverty and famine on the rise...the Fire Nation a match away from open rebellion...traitors in the ranks...it never seems to end, does it ?" Mai complained out loud to Ursa.
But Ursa seems to have gone quiet all of a sudden, her expression one of contemplation. It honestly bothered Mai how much Azula actually took after her mother in terms of looks, but also expressions since she swore she's seen Azula have that exact same kind of look in her eye back then.
"...I'm sorry..." Ursa suddenly apologized out of the blue.
Mai was caught off guard by this and was confused. She decided to ask " For what ?"
" For not being able to help...you, Zuko, Ty Lee...you're all just kids who suddenly have to step into the shoes of adults way sooner than you should, dealing with problems beyond your depth when the people with actual experience should be helping, including me..." Ursa said with a sad smile on her face " Yet, here I am sipping wine and wallowing in self pity for months, instead of trying to do anything I can to help my son "
Mai knew that she should have said something, that she should have refuted Ursa's words that she wasn't doing enough to help...but she never did like lying to people with false words of comfort. She would be lying if she said they could really use help from more experienced people, maybe not directly from Ursa exactly but...someone at least.
And wasn't Ursa right though ? They really were out of their depths, trying to outsmart and outplay adults who had way more experience and skill when it came to doing work like this. For all Mai tried to do at playing her hand at being a wannabe spymaster, she didn't have the skills or connections to find Ozai...much like how Zuko didn't have the skills or training necessary to be an effective Fire Lord, but she kept that part to herself.
"...Maybe you're right, maybe we really are out of our depths..." Mai admitted much to the surprise of Ursa " Ozai has done a damn good job at covering his tracks and where he's hiding, we think he's gathering forces and support to overthrow Zuko eventually, and if that wasn't bad enough he likely has spies in the palace keeping an eye on us " Mai said exasperated and tired " I hate this, I feel like we're prey being circled by predators "
" It certainly isn't a pleasant feeling for sure...not being able to trust anybody " Ursa admitted " Makes me wish somebody like Iroh or the Avatar were still here, so that they could help us "
Mai paused as she heard those words, lingering on the first name that Ursa mentioned.
Wait a second...Iroh ! Iroh has the White Lotus and a spy network ! They can help us locate where Ozai is hiding, if they weren't already looking for him to begin with. And Iroh knows Ozai the best, other than Ursa, he should be able to aid us in figuring out his next move.
" That...is actually a good idea " Mai said slowly, but then immediately stood up " Thank you for your time Ursa, but I must go talk to Zuko "
Mai didn't wait for a response as she quickly left Ursa behind to go summon Zuko and the others for a second meeting.
" You want to bring Uncle Iroh to the Fire Nation ?" Zuko asked in surprise.
" More specifically I want him here helping us track down Ozai and the rest of his supporters, with the White Lotus's help we might actually have a real chance at finding them before they attack us again " Mai explained. " They have a dedicated spy network across the nations that should help in monitoring Ozai's moves if he does try to make a move against us "
Zuko thought about it for a moment before replying " I have been keeping in touch with Uncle, keeping him updated about the situation with Ozai and all. He's told me that he's had the White Lotus on alert in the Earth Kingdom in case Ozai makes a move there, but I haven't even considered the idea of asking him to use the White Lotus to help us find Ozai "
Mai briefly wondered if the White Lotus had actually been doing anything to aid in helping to find Ozai behind the scenes, or if they had just been sitting on their hands all these months while he was on the loose, and letting them handle the hard work of finding the bastard on the ground. Mai wasn't sure which would be worse honestly: That the White Lotus had genuinely be unable to find where Ozai was hiding or if they had been doing nothing all along. Mai decided it was better not to think too hard on it.
" I agree with Mai, we need some serious help if we're going to take on Ozai and whoever's backing him " Suki threw her support behind Mai " After those two assassination attempts, we're going to need a lot more help if the palace comes under full-on siege "
" I know that Suki, its just..." A conflicted look crossed Zuko's expressions " Uncle Iroh left the Fire Nation because he didn't want to be involved in all this anymore, it doesn't feel right to pull him back into all this because we can't-"
Mai cut him off by slamming her hand on the table, making both him and Ty Lee jump. She gives him a hard look " Zuko, I think we're long past feeling bad over bringing your Uncle out of retirement to help us stop a war "
Zuko held up his hands, as both Mai and Suki gave him hard looks. He attempted looking towards Ty Lee for assistance, who merely squeaked out a 'sorry Zuko !' in response.
" Alright, alright, point taken. I'll send a messenger hawk out to Uncle and see if we can get him back to the Fire Nation as fast as possible, once he's here we can start figuring out what to do about Ozai " Zuko agreed to the idea." Though it might take a few weeks before we can get the message out "
" It'll have to do " Mai shrugged " Meanwhile the rest of us, should keep our eyes and ears out for signs of rebellion or treachery..."
Her mind went towards Jiang, the last time they talked...
The meeting ended on a much better note than any other they've had so far up to this point since Ozai broke out. For months now, they've been stuck chasing dead-end leads, clues that went nowhere and frustrating failure.
For once, they might actually be ahead of Ozai.
Fire could be beautiful in its own right-
" Ha !" Ozai cried out as he launched a concentrated a blast of black fire as he decimated several wooden targets dressed in the armor of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe, turning them to ash in mere seconds.
If one could admire its ability to look so perfectly beautiful and bright while it was destroying one's enemies.
Quick as he could, he focused his power and crossed the space between his current position and his desired location in the blink of an eye. He sent out a kick of fire that obliterated several more targets, keeping up with the pace of transversing and blasting fire. Perhaps he should come up with a name for this technique, it does involve incredible speed and power...
Ever since Ozai had gotten his flame back and a whole host of new additional gifts to go along with it, he was quick to innovate and integrate his new abilities into his bending.
He stopped after a few minutes of it, feeling his energy waning. He noticed that after using his gifts for a while, he would start to grow tired and somewhat dizzy. He needs to keep track of that when he is in an actual fight.
Before he called it a day for his training, he turned his attention to the center of the room-a large raw block of metal, bigger than Ozai's own body. Blocks of metal like these were used to test how hot a firebender's fire could burn and how much of their energy they needed to dedicate to fully melt through the block. Most average and middling firebenders could only handle melting through a small block of metal, but Ozai always wanted to go above and beyond when it came to training his body. This was no normal metal either, it was a special kind of metal that was resistant to fire and took a great amount of heat to burn through, it was the same kind of metal they used for chains to restrain firebenders so they could not burn through the cuffs without hurting themselves.
No normal firebender could burn clean through metal like this or of this size. Thankfully Ozai was no 'normal' firebender.
Ozai took a deep breath as he sent forth a continuous stream of flame into the center of the block of metal and kept it up until he could see the flames start to melt and burn through. To his surprise within a few seconds, the metal already began to melt and in a moment, his blackened flames burned through the other side of the block of metal.
He stopped and examined the melted block, he could see that his flames melted clean through, something even master firebenders struggled to do. Something even he admittedly had some trouble doing at times.
Ozai summoned a ball of black flame and stared at it with mystic wonder.
Interesting...back then, it would have taken me at least 90 seconds to completely melt through metal as tough as that. That was 30 seconds at most before the metal starting melting completely. Are my black flames stronger than my original flames ? Or is it something else that is empowering me ?
Another mystery to add to the pile, his own new powers were a mystery like that. Not something he could ever fully understand. He's not sure he would prefer to know either.
His own musings were cut off when he heard a servant enter his chambers.
" My Lord ?"
" I believe I asked not to be disturbed when training, I hope for your sake you have a good reason for bothering me " Ozai said threateningly.
" S-So sorry my lord ! But your advisors called for you to the meeting room, said that they have important information for you " The soldier said quickly.
Ozai let out a sigh before he moved to change into his clothes " Leave. I will be there shortly "
He isn't even Fire Lord again yet, and it still feels nothing has changed.
He quickly changed into more regal clothing and after recentering himself, he went to the meeting room where his advisors were waiting for him. The moment he entered the room, they all immediately bowed their heads in reverence.
" My lord, apologies for summoning you away from your training but we have urgent news for you " One of his advisors said, as they gestured to some of the papers " We have compiled a complete list of all the highest ranking members of the White Lotus, the organization your traitorous brother leads. As you requested, we have multiple groups on stand-by trained in the art of assassination and stealth, ready to act on your orders my lord "
" Excellent...Piando, Jeong Jeong, King Bumi of the Earth Kingdom...my brother was certainly busy making allies in the other nations to undermine my rule " Ozai stated with distaste in his voice.
" And they are about to pay the price for siding with him. With any luck, we can have each and every one of them quietly killed off before they even know what has happened "
Quietly killing them off ? A quick and easy to hurt his brother's pathetic organization...
But Ozai has some other plans.
" No..." Ozai said simply.
" No ? Um...what do you mean by that, my lord ?"
Ozai didn't answer right away, instead looking at the list of names " Do you know where each and everyone of them are ?"
" Yes, they weren't exactly keeping their locations a secret for the most part " The man said.
" Before I eliminate the Avatar...I must grow my strength and fire. I need more than wooden dummies or whatever randomly selected soldier you can get me who has the courage to face me in battle. No..." Ozai stated firmly " I need to battle true masters before I know, I am ready..."
Ozai's finger ran down the list of names of White Lotus leaders, those that were close to his brother and ones that kept the entire organization in function...
Before it stopped on a specific name.
" Yes...I believe this one will do fine for test of strength " Ozai said with a wicked smile on his face.
It was good to be back.
I'll be honest, I was originally going back and forth between having this chapter end with the palace crew being notified that one of the WL members had been assassinated. But I decided against it because that I wanted to throw them a bit of a bone in the form of Mai coming up with contacting Iroh and bringing him to the Fire Nation to help with their Ozai problem.
But yeah, in case I wasn't handing the bloody knife over to Ozai in this chapter and helping him draw up the plans on how to murder a person, one of the White Lotus is going to be offed soon and I am eager for it to get to that point.
Who do you think is going to die first ? Let me know in the reviews !
:P
Now let's answer some reviews, shall we ?
To kamenrider13489:
Yeah, its Nagisa from Assassination Classroom. You got it right.
To noksimilian77:
The Final Agni Kai is definitely one big messy affair that would be the hot topic of debate for the Fire Sages to decide on who truly 'won' the fight. Or heck, even straight up question whether it can even be counted as a proper Agni Kai in the first place because of how so many things didn't line up with a traditional Agni Kai in the first place. The fact that it didn't even take place in a proper dueling arena, the fact that Zuko brought a plus one who was definitely NOT just a standard audience member and was fully ready to fight Azula, would make for a very interesting story that sadly won't be this one.
But rest assured, that Azula in this story is reasonably going to be pissed at Zuko when they meet again about the Final Agni Kai and how he basically took away her throne from her. She's also not going to be best buds with Katara either when they meet, so stay tuned for that !
To Lord 770:
Glad you like the chapter ! Good job picking up on some of those little details I left out.
:)
To answer your question, no, Nagisa is not an earthbender or even an actual bender. He's a regular person who was taken as an apprentice by Ichiro to train in the dark arts. Funny enough, I was debating making him a waterbender but decided against it, since he's already going to be deadly AF with those spiritual powers.
But yeah, Nagisa met Ichiro during a dark time in his life and well...just imagine how the Reaper met Koro-Sensei from Assassination Classroom, and that is basically how they met.
And let me just say that there is going to be conflict coming in more ways than one.
To tfuinsah:
First off, thank you so much for leaving so many reviews on this story and I loved each and every one of them! Its not often I get that many reviews, so I really appreciate it.
I'll try to reply to some of your most notable reviews in chronological order, so this is going to be a long one !
:)
Yeah, I can't really blame you for not liking Zuko much in this fic, even if he isn't 'intentionally' malicious but genuinely just sucking at his job at being Fire Lord. Nobody at this point really wants to be the 'dick/bitch' that says it straight to Zuko's face that he's sucking at his job at being Fire Lord, even if Ozai hadn't broken out, Zuko would still be doing a crap job here. And yes, Zuko is definitely going to have more than a few painful hurdles to overcome when he meets Azula again.
...
Part of the reason Kazumi didn't do anything about Shin for a while is because she didn't want to cause needless suffering to another person and thought scaring him and Shin's team off would be sufficient enough. It sadly wasn't.
...
As for your comment on Ursa and whether she truly cares about Azula or if she cares more about absolving her own guilty conscience...that is honestly a really good question, and I think one that Ursa needs to ask herself at some point. Is she really doing this for Azula or herself ? Thanks for bringing it up !
:P
...
Kazumi may not kill someone for no good reason, but she will 100% murder a person if she feels they totally deserve it. And yeah, part of the reason the story felt a bit rushed is because I didn't want to drag Azula's first job as a Spirit Navigator out longer than it should be for a relatively simply story.
...
There are a few reasons behind why Kazumi didn't just kill the Gaang and Shin right then and there. One, she doesn't enjoy the idea of killing kids at all. Two, killing the Avatar would be more trouble than its worth, since his disappearance would just bring more people to the forest to look for them even if Kazumi disposed of the bodies without a trace.
The fact that Kazumi and her daughter seem to be the only people living in a Forest that literally has a reputation for being where people go to die and is living in what looks like the only clearing in the Forest, would immediately raise alarms for the Gaang and they would eventually dig deeper and find out what Kazumi is hiding. So turning them away would look suspicious without an explanation.
...
Kazumi definitely is not just a peace-loving maternal person in the least. She's a complex character like Azula with layers to her character and actions, while she isn't outright 'evil' per say...she's not exactly good either, and I think the chapter where she commits literal grave robbery and performs a demonic ritual is a perfect example of that.
...
Well, I would give Zuko the benefit of the doubt and say that he wouldn't put her back in the asylum after learning about what happened there...Kazumi and Azula don't know that, and have no reason to trust that he would. So we can argue that Kazumi's actions are 'justified'...but they come at a cost.
I prefer leaving it to my readers to debate who's truly 'right' or 'wrong' in scenarios like this.
...
Yeah, I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of how Ozai got his powers either. Looking back on it, I probably should have stretched it out into a full-lengthed chapter about how he got them in the first place, not some shaddy remake of the Ghost Rider deal making scene.
I might go back at some point and remake it, but for now, I just gotta lay in the bed I made for myself.
...
Ikem and Mai are both sadly in the same boat, neither of them have it in them to say it straight to Ursa and Zuko's face how bad they are at their jobs( Being a mother/Fire Lord).
Ursa is stuck in a sorta self-pitying stage right now and Ikem knows that saying something like ' You were totally a bad mom' isn't going to help.
...
Glad you liked the wholesome filler, if you look at some of the early scenes with Kazumi and Azula, and compare them to now, you can really see how much their relationship has grown. It really warms my heart being able to show it.
:)
Anyway with all that said, I will see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.