I would just like to say to everybody that I have been waiting for this chapter to come for almost three goddamn years since I started this story.
And its finally happening.
Thank you all for staying with me over the course of this story, I cannot express how grateful I am for all the support and attention this story has gotten.
With that said, let's get this chapter started!
When Azula ran back into her family's false Ember Island home and back through the way she came in, she was blinded for a brief moment by some kind of bright light but within seconds that light dissipated into nothingness and she was back in the empty storage room of that temple where she entered in the first place. Azula's mind flying at the scarily powerful illusion just now that she had experienced with her false family and their pathetic compliments to trick her.
It was at that moment that Azula came to realize something: This was the Spirit Temple they had been looking for. And they had been lured into a trap.
Azula cursed under her breath for not realizing something was off about this temple from the start. The questioned remained in her mind though: Was she still stuck under the Spirit's influence or had she broken free?
She didn't have time to think about it as she pushed past the red drapes and stomped back into the room where a certain white haired old woman was knelling on the ground, clutching her head in distress.
" T-This cannot be, its gone all wrong..." The old woman muttered under her breath in a panic.
" You..." Azula practically seethed in anger at the sight of the woman, if she even was human in the first place and not another illusion created by the spirit.
" Y-You rejected the dreams! They were supposed to give you peace and-AH!" The old woman was cut off when Azula grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pulled her close.
" Where is Kazumi!?" Azula shouted in anger, pulling the old woman close so she could examine every detail of her face for signs of deceit.
The old woman looked legitimately confused at the question." W-Who? What are you talking about-"
" Don't lie to me! I know the tracks led to this temple, so where is she!?" Azula repeated the question even more viciously than before.
" I-I swear that its just me here! Nobody has come to this place in a long time! This is merely a place of refuge, hope for the weary and lost! " The old woman said and she almost seemed truthful, but Azula didn't buy it for a second.
" So you say." Azula seethed in anger, pondering between punching or burning this old woman.
But that was when she realized something about the old woman that she had missed when she first met her.
" I just realized something...I never got your name." Azula posed the simple question.
But it was at that question that the old woman went still in her grasp, her eyes widened in shock and her mouth opened but no words came out as if stupefied by the mere question of what her name was.
" How old are you? When were you born? What was your mother's name?" Azula asked several more questions but got no answers in return.
The old woman didn't answer as if trying to come up with one but failed too. Instead the pathetic old woman fell to her knees in front of her, making Azula take a step back.
" T-T-The temple is merely trying to bring you peace, I don't understand why you rejected the dreams!" The old woman called out, desperate to know.
" What makes you think I want a bunch of false illusions of my family singing me even more hollow praises?" Azula grit her teeth in anger at the old woman who was she certain by this point was not human.
" But isn't that what you've always wanted in your life? Your greatest desire to be loved and embraced by your family instead of rejected and thrown away like common trash?" The old woman's voice took on a colder tone suddenly. " Why can't you just accept what is offered? Is this not what you wanted to find peace?"
"...Once upon a time ago. But they are not my family anymore." Azula retorted in anger at the old woman who's eyes started glowing red." And you're no monk."
Azula shot a blast of fire at the old woman who suddenly jumped out of the way on her hands, with speed that was far greater than that of a woman twenty years younger than her. The old woman jumped up to the ceiling where she hung by the wooden beams, and Azula could see that her feet weren't really feet. They were more akin to hands, her actual hands are grown claws that dug into the wood and the old woman had suddenly grown fangs.
Well, that is unsettling.
" Hssssssssssssssssssss!" The not old woman hissed at her like a snake.
" Tell me where she is and maybe I won't burn you alive, you lying snake!" Azula shouted as she got into a defensive stance with her sword.
" Oh little princess, that is the least of your worries right now." The spirit woman gave her a fang filled smirk." Fine then. If you will not accept the dreams of peace, then you may take the darkness of the world as you see it. I have a feeling you'll get what's coming to you."
Azula was confused by the spirit woman's words until she heard sudden knocks on the door of the temple amidst the sound of rain still coming down hard outside. At that moment a familiar face walked through the entrance with a tired expression, dressed in the perfectly clean outfit of the Kyoshi Warriors.
" Oh, hi Azula!" A way too chipper Ty Lee smiled at her as she stepped into the temple, much to Azula's shock.
" Ty Lee? How are you-" Azula stopped herself as she pointed her sword at Ty Lee, but backing away a bit so she could keep an eye on the old woman hanging from the ceiling." How'd you find this place? Is this another damned spirit trick?"
" I was on a mission with my Kyoshi Warrior sisters passing through a village but there was a storm and I got separated from them in the chaos." Ty Lee explained in a way too calm tone." Eventually I stumbled on a path and that led to this temple and here we are! What a coincidence, huh? We all thought you were dead!"
Azula didn't believe Ty Lee for a second...if this even was Ty Lee.
Ty Lee looked up at the spirit woman hanging from the ceiling." Whoa, what's that about? Creepy!"
" Forget about her. I'm fairly certain she's not even human." Azula prepared herself for a fight.
" Oh yeah, I guess since you're alive I do need to bring you back to Zuko. Don't worry! I'm sure the asylum will take you back." Ty Lee said in a sweet smile but in a mocking tone.
" Shut up and fight you circus freak bitch." Azula cursed at her as she put her sword away and fire bent a ball of fire at Ty Lee who dodged it.
" You know for somebody who always complained about being part of a matched set, you certainly had no problems falling in line with a new group whose whole identity was trying to emulate a past Avatar. And completely failing as a result." Azula spit pure venom at Ty Lee as they exchanged dodges and fire blows." Those Kyoshi Warriors are more a disgrace Kyoshi's memory than anything the Fire Nation has ever done."
" I joined the Kyoshi Warriors because they looked fun, it reminded me of when I was back at the circus." Ty Lee dodged a blast of fire from her. " And at least I still have friends Azula. Who do you have left after you pushed everyone away?"
" I didn't push anyone away, they all left me! Abandoned me!" Azula shouted in retort as she blocked a high kick with her own foot." Agni above, you're pathetic Ty Lee. You ran away from home to join a circus because you were sick of being a matched set, then after you betrayed me like a dirty coward, you ran to join another matched set because deep down you're scared of standing on your own."
" Ugh, all I remember from my time with you was constant stress and anxiety! It was always like walking on eggshells with you!" Ty Lee shot back at her as she threw a punch to try and block Azula's chi, but Azula caught Ty Lee's arm in time and threw her towards the wall, which the acrobat recovered quickly.
" Oh shut up! Spare me the higher than thou speech. You loved it! Even if I did scare you into coming, you were having the time of your life!" Azula felt the need to argue with this false illusion even as she dodged the fake acrobat's attempted chi-blocks.
" Do you ever stop to think that maybe the only reason anybody ever hangs around you is because you scare them or that they want something from you?" Ty Lee mocked her, obviously trying to get a rise out of her but Azula didn't respond this time.
Azula had enough. She sidestepped out of the way to grab Ty Lee's arm and push her to the ground in a submission hold-
Before promptly breaking Ty Lee's arm in a single motion, the bones cracking and breaking.
" AAAAHHHHHHH!" Ty Lee let out a scream of pain as she rolled on the ground, Azula glared back up at the spirit woman who was still hanging on the wooden beams watching her.
" You can drop the act spirit, I know its not really Ty Lee." Azula glared down at the false Ty Lee who was crying over her broken arm.
" W-W-What are you talking about? Of course its me!" Ty Lee shouted at her as tears ran down her face." You really have gone insane Azula if you can't tell reality from-"
" Then why aren't your clothes wet or your boots dirty with mud?" Azula instantly pointed out the fact that Ty Lee was perfectly spotless. Her clothes were completely dry, there was not a speck of dirt or mud that clung to her boots. Azula herself was still soaked from the rain earlier and her boots were filthy.
The height of Ty Lee's stupid skirt alone would have it caked in mud but it was totally clean.
Ty Lee went completely still on the ground as if the pain that came from her broken arm was suddenly non-existent.
" Your illusions are as weak and flimsy as before. Send more if you wish but I will break every single last one of them." Azula mocked the spirit hanging from the ceiling, who only glared and hissed back in anger.
Azula turned her gaze as she heard footsteps come towards, and she saw a woman step out of the dark corner of the room.
" Azula."
" Mother." Azula seethed in anger at just the sight of her.
Kazumi did not give up easily, that was something that had been drilled into her since she had begun training to be a Spirit Navigator from a young age. She was taught to never give up in a fight against a superior foe.
But even she had to admit that this fight against the illusions of her family were not going well.
She was outnumbered, outmatched and overpowered in every sense of the word.
Her breath had become labored and tired, the efforts of transversing repeatedly in a short span of time taking its toll even on her. Most of her ancestors weren't even moving to attack her anymore, merely disappearing from sight as if they were never there to begin with. But the loss of the advantage in overwhelming numbers didn't give Kazumi any sort of advantage in the fight for her life. She had suffered more than a few hits even with her continual transversing around the clearing.
But it wasn't just her physical body that was starting to weigh on her heaviest, it was her own mind and conscious that was hurting her the most.
" What kind of mother are you? You think you have what it takes to raise another child after you failed to save your first one!" Mother shouted as she tried to struck Kazumi with her blade but she blocked it just in time, but even that took more energy from her than she would like to admit.
" Do you believe yourself to be benevolent to the girl granddaughter? That you're the 'good' mother that your dear surrogate daughter always needed in her life but never could have? Do you see yourself as a savior to the downtrodden and lost souls?" Her grandmother mocked her as she sent a hail of thorns her way." You know as well as we do that couldn't be further from the truth. Your hands are just as dirty as a dark spirit who does heinous things for their own ends."
" I-I did what I had to do..." Kazumi weakly defended herself, but she knew how weak a defense that was.
" Is that you tell yourself each night so that you can sleep? Is that why you hid what you knew? What you had failed to do as a mother before you ever met Azula?" Her mother mocked her.
" You know for as much as you might hate Azula's mother, are you really that much different? You're both selfish women at the end of the day who only care about what you feel or getting your own way!"
" I AM NOTHING LIKE HER!" Kazumi shouted in anger as she attempted to counterattack and decapitate her mother, but was cut off as the shadow demon delivered a hard kick to her stomach and knocked her off balance.
" You're both incredibly selfish if nothing else." The shadow demon spit pure venom at her.
" Azula needed someone to care for her. To love her. I-I was trying to help her-"
" Were you really? Or were just so damned happy that the heavens themselves sent you a new daughter to replace the one you lost?" Her mother mocked as she parried a sword swipe. " And you must have been jumping for joy when you learned that Azula was discarded by her previous family. It was all too perfect as if the fates themselves had willed the meeting into existence. Sounds awfully sweet a story, don't you think?"
" AH!" Kazumi shouted in pain as she was kicked in the stomach that sent her to the ground.
" You are a complete failure as a Spirit Navigator! I thought I taught you better than that, but you completely neglected to check for any tails when you came back from that spirit hunt. You didn't even bother to confirm the kill!"
" I-I-I was injured and I needed to get back home to Shami..."
She never should have went on that hunt to begin with. Not when Shami was still just a baby, that was her mistake.
" How long until this new one dies I wonder?"
Kazumi was about to get up when she felt the first drops of rain come down on her...
And she realized what day it was
No no no no no! Please Agni, no! Not today! Not again!
" Its time to relive the worst day of your life Kazumi. Its time we see what really happened that day." The shadow demon-no Monster smiled crookedly at her as the rain began to fell.
Azula stilled for a moment at the sight of her mother. But only for a moment.
Azula instantly got into a defensive firebending stance, her mother not even flinching at the sight of the aggression. Mother was not alone as two other figures stepped out from the shadows: Father and Iroh.
" How low you have fallen my daughter, once the pride of our entire nation you have been reduced to nothing more than a pathetic exorcist in a forgotten forest that history will not even bother to remember." Father turned his nose up at her in a way that was far too similar to her real father." You disregard your duty because you could never handle it, you are a disappointment to everything we-"
Azula didn't bother letting her false father finish his sentence before she blew a blast of blue fire that set him on fire and screaming in pain as he crumpled to the floor. Both mother and Iroh jumped back in horror at what she had just done.
Azula herself almost couldn't believe it either, but she reminded herself that none of this was real.
" What have you done Azula!? He was your father, how could you just kill him!?" Iroh shouted at her in shock as he pointed a finger at her. " This is exactly what I predicted would happen! You are exactly like your father at your core and-AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The former princess similarly didn't give her annoying false uncle any time to speak either as she threw a large ball of fire that sent him alight as well jut like her false father without a hint of hesitation. Azula knew very well that this wasn't the real Iroh, but she would be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy that a little bit.
" I don't want to hear that hypocritical garbage from the same General who besieged Ba Sing Sae for almost two years." Azula spit back at the illusion in sheer spite.
Azula turned her attention back to her dear mother and was about to turn her into a crisp when she spoke.
" Are you going to kill me in cold blood next? Show to everyone that you're the monster they say you are?" Mother spoke in a calm tone surprisingly as she held her hands up in a disarming manner." Is that what you want? To be feared by everybody as a monster?"
Azula hesitated for a moment, but it took her less than a minute to realize what the spirit was trying to do.
" Oh, is that angle you're trying to play up now? Trying to exploit my mommy and daddy issues? Are you going to be calling me a 'monster' next?" Azula was honestly more offendedly amused than she was frightened. She glared at her fake mother in spite and anger." The carrot didn't work before, so now you're switching to the stick? Your tricks are getting weaker by the second." The former princess noticed how sheer the difference between how her fake family was acting just then and now.
The loving family act didn't work on her, so now the spirit is switching to a different tactic that it thinks it can exploit.
" Please my daughter there are no tricks here. You have been through so much since we last saw each other and you have done awful things in your life, but I still love-" Mother reached out to try and touch her but Azula wasn't having any of it.
" SHUT UP! I don't want hear you spouting any words of love when you have shown me NONE OF IT!" Azula slapped her mother's hand away in anger. " You left me! You left me and Zuko behind with father!"
" I had to leave Azula, you know that. I couldn't stay in the palace after killing your grandfather, but I did it for both of you."
" You did it for Zuko! Not for me!" Azula rebuked her mother's words, letting loose every thing she ever wanted to say to her mother." Tell me mother, if it was me that grandfather ordered dad to kill to save his own skin, would you have protected me the same way you did for Zuko? Or would you have just let father kill off the 'little monster' that ruined what little happiness you had in the palace?"
Mother didn't respond to that so Azula just kept going in her place." You abandoned me. You abandoned Zuko too, your dear darling boy but at least he had some happy memories to keep him warm at night. All I had were a loose collection of you scolding me, calling me a monster and even striking me once. So I became father's perfect heir...his perfect weapon. I didn't have a choice."
" Is that what you want most in the world then Azula? For all those who hurt you and broke your trust- your family, friends and servants to return and ask for your forgiveness?" Mother raised the question in a calm tone." For them to acknowledge that they did hurt you and promise to never do so again? For you to finally feel like you belong?"
"...I think its far too late for that." Azula thought about it for a moment before answering. Maybe like her happy family, she did want that long ago but those days were long gone and the wounds have long since festered beyond the point of recovery that a simple 'apology' could do.
" Oh, please." An annoyingly familiar monotone voice spoke up and Azula turned her gaze to where the fake Ty Lee should be writhing on the ground with a broken arm.
But instead sitting there was none other than Mai in the uniform of the Kyoshi Warrior instead of Ty Lee.
" You can't seriously believe you're the victim here, Azula." Mai said in that dead monotone voice that irked Azula.
" Mai? Seriously?" Azula was growing increasingly tired of this spirit's poor attempts at manipulating her.
" I grow tired of your pitiful games spirit. Tell me where she is or I will burn this entire Agni damned temple to the ground with you in it!" Azula threatened paying no mind to her annoying fake friend.
" I've got a theory Azula. There's something about you that makes people want to betray and leave you." Mai said in her usual monotone voice, but the way her eyes narrowed it made it come off in an almost condescending manner." Do you ever stop to wonder that maybe the reason everybody leaves you is because you're a terrible person who gets what she deserves?"
" I don't want to hear that from YOU of all people, you damned hypocrite! Ty Lee at least had the benefit of saying that I coerced her into joining, you came along because you were bored and wanted to get away from your family! You have no right to judge me at all when you got off with a slap on the wrist after the war was over while I spent a damn year rotting in an asylum!" Azula yelled in response at the sheer hypocrisy she was hearing from the fake Mai." You enjoyed everything we did while we were hunting for my idiotic brother!"
" If I'm a terrible person who gets what she deserves, than you are nothing more than an entitled BITCH who got off because dear Zuko got lucky and became the Fire Lord!"
Mai looked like she was about to speak again in retort but Azula chose not to let her speak anymore when she sliced her head off in a single arc of her blade.
" Don't try to fool yourself Azula." A new voice spoke up and turned to see her annoying former brother standing mockingly in his Fire Lord attire.
" Oh now you're bringing out the big swords with Zuko. You're running out of people from my past to throw at me spirit. Who are you going to be next I wonder? That fool Chan?" Azula was getting sick of this and wanted to just burn the entire temple to the ground. The only stopping her was the idea that Kazumi was still inside the temple.
" You act like you are the biggest victim in the world and blame everyone else for what has gone wrong in your life, but really? You are the most at fault for what has happened to you."
" Says the biggest crybaby I've ever known! Who was it that was only allowed to come back because he relied on his dear sister's goodwill allowing him to take credit for taking down the Avatar!? Who was it that constantly cried for mommy's attention when we were children because you couldn't stand the fact that I was leagues ahead of you!" Azula shouted at the fake Zuko in retaliation out of her own hatred for her brother at this point." And who was it that left their own sister to rot in an asylum for a year and only visited when you needed something from me! Because of course, its always about Zuko. You're the biggest wannabe victim I know!"
" Maybe that's all true. But between the two of us, we both know that you're the most scared about being alone." Zuko didn't bother to refute any of her insults at her, but instead focused on his previous judgement levied at her." You surround yourself with people because deep down, you're scared of being alone. But you're also terrified at the idea of being abandoned again, so you manipulate and harm them. Face it Azula, you can't stand the idea of facing the world alone."
Azula said nothing but got into a defensive stance as Zuko suddenly grew fangs and tusks, and his face contorted into something more resembling that of a beasts." Being alone would mean you'd have to deal with all the horrible things you've done. The way you've hurt the people who cared about you."
" Care for me? CARE FOR ME?! Everybody that I ever loved and cared about walked on me of their own volition! I had nobody! You had mother, Iroh and even the Avatar's pathetic band to keep yourself company!" Azula couldn't help but shout in refutation." Mai and Ty Lee left, Lo and Li were more caretakers, and father..." Azula didn't need to elaborate on that point.
" They left you because you're a horrible person nobody should ever want to be around if they are sane." The fake Zuko grew in height as well as he stood over Azula." Face it Azula, you have no one to blame but yourself."
" Will you ask for forgiveness?"
Azula didn't even need a second to think about the answer.
" Why would I ask for forgiveness when I feel no guilt?" Azula said firmly as she conjured a bolt of lightning and blasted this false Zuko directly in the chest.
" AAAHHHHHH!" The fake Zuko let out a cry of pain that sounded more akin to an animal as he crumpled to the ground. But his body was still twitching so Azula quickly set it alight with a blast of fire.
" AZULA!" She heard mother call out to her. " A-Azula, what did you do?"
" What did I do? I did nothing. Its everybody else that decided I am somehow responsible for all the world's woes and my own tragedies." Azula turned her full anger towards her sorry excuse for a mother who stilled in fear at her.
" Azula, I-URK!" Ursa was cut off when Azula grabbed her by the throat and held her in one hand.
" I'm done dealing with your pathetic illusions and I've seen through all of them. Show yourself spirit!" Azula shouted as she set Ursa's head on fire and kicked her worthless corpse to the ground.
She felt nothing but passing hate and bitterness as her mother's head burned, but in that moment her body turned to blue ash.
Kazumi had relived this night many times before, the memory of it and all its details from start to finish practically burned into her memory. The rain coming down on her house, the exact state the house was in, each step, each breath...she could remember it all. She had relived that damned night in her dreams, waking up with tears streaming down her face, burnt sheets or screaming in the night.
They all ended the same way: The death of her baby.
It never did soften the blow of the worst day of Kazumi's life.
The rain was coming down hard on her but she paid it little mind as the false illusions of her mother and grandmother dissipated into nothingness. Leaving just Kazumi and the Monster.
The Monster was a being made out of pure shadow who stood upright at the entrance of the house, its movements painfully slow but controlled-possessed by an outer force.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why didn't I remember to check to make sure that I wasn't tailed back to the house? Why wasn't I more cautious when I went to check out that noise outside?
The monster walked up the steps leading up to the front door and walked in without so much as a word. That was when Kazumi heard the first cry of her baby.
Shami. She was calling out for her mother, for ME.
Kazumi ran after the Monster as she stepped into the hallway that led to Shami's room that originally used to be hers, before her mother passed away. The Monster walking at a painfully slow rate but each step meant that it was one step closer to her baby.
" NO! STOP IT! GET AWAY FROM HER YOU DAMNED MONSTER!" Kazumi shouted at the monster, attempting to cut it down with her sword but it was useless. The blade went right through it to no effect.
There was no stopping this. There was never any stopping this.
Agni, please no. Not again! Please don't make me watch this again!
Kazumi begged and pleaded in her mind to whatever powerful spirit lord or higher being was listening, but she already knew deep down in her heart that her prayers would not be answered.
The Monster made it to Shami's room in no time at all, as it opened the door and creeped in silent as ever. Kazumi could only watch as an observer to the death of her child. Kazumi was forced to listen as Shami's cries grew louder, louder and louder with each passing second that she was not there.
Why couldn't I protect her?
The Monster walked to the baby crib and stood over it. Its head tilting slightly as if in curiosity of the baby.
" DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU EVEN THINKING OF TOUCHING HER!" Kazumi spit pure venom at the Monster but her threats and words fell on deaf ears as the Monster gently picked up Shami and cradled her.
Shami's cries grew quieter and quieter, as she was brought to peace, it would almost look touching...
But that was when the dagger was pulled out and Kazumi felt her heart sink.
" Don't do it!" Kazumi tried to reach the Monster but she felt like a ghost screaming into the void." Agni damnit! Wake up! You're stronger than this! You were trained to resist mental attacks like this! Beat it for her! Resist! Don't you recognize her!?"
The Monster didn't say a word as it looked down at the baby in its arm that was cooing affectionately at it.
" Please wake up! Resist! Fight against it for Agni's sake!" Kazumi was practically begging at this point, but there was no point.
It happened in less than a second. But it felt like an eternity for Kazumi.
The blade was raised-
A scream went out. Maybe it was hers or the baby's. She didn't know at this point.
One single stroke of the blade and blood came pouring out.
Perfect clean cut. Just like it was taught.
Kazumi felt the words die in her throat as Shami went stiff in the Monster's arms even as it continued to rock her dead baby to sleep in a mockery of sincerity before laying Shami back down into her baby crib without a word.
Kazumi fell to her knees as she felt them go weak as brittle sticks and tears start to sting her eyes and cloud her vision as the silence took over.
The silence was what tortured her the most above everything else. The house that once permeated with the happy coos of her child go silent for years.
Her baby was dead. Again. She couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.
Kazumi raised her head as the the Monster turned to her and looked on with pity, as the shadows that enveloped it disappeared to reveal its face. But Kazumi already knew who's face it would be.
The shadows that covered the Monster's face faded away revealing a woman that looked far younger than she actually was, with long black hair tied to a large bun with a small mole under her right eye, and not only that, she had pale pinkish skin that had a beauty that would put even younger women to shame. But the beauty did nothing to detract from the pitying look the woman as giving Kazumi.
It was her.
It was her own face that revealed itself from the monster that killed her daughter all those years ago.
Kazumi just sobbed as she pounded her fist against the floor in agony and grief, unable to think to do anything else.
This was how it ended. This was how it always ended, with her alone.
She deserved it.
The first thing Azula felt once her false mother dissipated into blue ash was an odd tingle in her head. It was almost like a connection was severed between her mind and...something else.
The former princess instantly felt the presence of something large moving close to her and she turned with her blade raised to the source. And almost took a step back in sheer shock of what she saw.
Azula had read in the books given to her by Kazumi for studying that some spirits, especially powerful ones were capable of creating a corporal or physical 'body' on their plane of existence. Which was why destroying a spirit's 'body' was essential to banishing it from their plane of existence. She had dealt mainly with dark spirits who created corporal bodies so far and those were certainly unnerving to face in their own right.
But even she had to admit that this was creepy for her.
The Dark Spirit was unlike anything she had ever seen before. A giant bug was her first thought. The spirit had a large, elongated body whose belly was colored red, while the rest was of mixed brown, white, and yellow coloring. It had six massive insect legs, as well as two small human arms that seemed out of place on its body while its face was like an insect with four large mandibles. But the most unnerving part was that its eyes were still somewhat human despite their unnatural red-yellow coloring. The closest thing she could describe it to was a giant centipede.
" You...you actually managed to break out of the illusion. Impressive." The spirit complimented her, its voice sounding disturbingly smooth despite the lack of a proper mouth as it slithered around her." I actually thought that you would be the easier one of the two."
Azula ignored the spirit as she saw someone in the middle of the room that she never thought that she would see: Kazumi was on her knees with her head face down to the ground, and the former princess could see tears coming down her face and her mentor was physically shaking.
" Kazumi! What did you do to her!?" A bright inferno lit in her heart at the sight of Kazumi like that and several violent imagery passed through her head as Azula got into a defensive stance.
" The same tactic I tried on you earlier. Surprised it didn't work on you like all the others." The spirit mandibles twitched as it circled her like a predator." But no matter, I still have enough strength to-"
Azula refused to listen anymore as she immediately tried to cut off its stupid mandibles in a single arc of her sword. Nobody hurts the woman who took her in like that and gets to live to see the next day.
The spirit didn't miss a beat as it instantly started fleeing around which just made Azula even angrier. It practically told her that this spirit was nothing more than a filthy coward who relied on smoke and mirrors to defeat others. Azula would show this spirit why she is it's worse nightmare.
The spirit centipede was fast as it maneuvered its way between the pillars and across the room, staying out of reach from her sword or fire blasts. It stopped for the briefest of moments and seemed to focus its gaze on her. At that moment Azula briefly felt that tingle in her head again that made her stop, but quickly pushed that faint feeling away. It seemed like the spirit tried using its mind trick on her again, but it won't work.
" Damn it! Why isn't it working on you!?" The spirit complained in sheer shock and anger as it continued slithering around the room as Azula sent out blasts of blue fire to set it alight in retaliation.
" You've run out of tricks to throw at me spirit!" Azula shouted in mockery and anger as she cut it off with a quick transversal in front of it.
" I-I don't understand it! HOW!? HOW CAN YOU RESIST!?" The centipede spirit shouted in anger and genuine shock as it attempted to strike at her with its tail, but she transversed out of harms way.
" Contrary to what you might think, I am not nearly as self-blaming." Azula mocked the spirit as she appeared a few meters away." And I just figured out your weakness. Let me guess, you can read people's memories but can't directly tell how said people feel about those memories, huh?"
The spirit twitched as if angered by the insult as it slithered away." I don't understand your emotions at all!"
" Get in line." Azula seethed as she focused her mind and transversed directly into the path of the cowardly spirit blocking its escape.
" Worthless mortal! I shall not be-" The spirit tried to bash her with its giant head and superior weight, but she easily dodged it...
Which gave her the opportunity to deliver two swift cuts that seperated the spirit's human arms from its body, making it cry out in pain.
" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
" That was for messing with my mind."
Azula transversed out of the way and sent out a hail of thorns at the spirit which all landed on its body causing it even more agonizing pain.
" That was for bringing up my past."
She transversed again directly behind its tail and with her blade raised and cut off the very tip of it, resulting in the separated appendage flopping on the ground pathetically. She didn't stop there as she transversed and cut off two of its insect legs to limit its movements along with summoning a Bloodbriar to restrain it.
" That was for using people I hate."
" P-Please, I can give you power! Whatever you want!" The spirit tried to plea as it was put on the backfoot but they fell on deaf ears.
Azula put her sword away as she conjured a bolt of lightning and used it strike at the spirit's body. The crackling bolt of lightning landing a clean hit on the body, but didn't kill the spirit. Not yet anyway.
" That was for trying to manipulate me."
By this point, the spirit seemed to have exhaust itself and laid on the ground in pain from all the wounds Azula had inflicted on it. Its mandibles twitching was the only indication given to her that it was still alive and suffering.
Azula did not consider herself one to take part in pointless inflictions of pain. Torture wasn't her style and ultimately proved to be a useless tactic that was ineffective at getting information. The way she fought ensured combat effectiveness and allowed her to effortlessly defeat her opponents...
But this spirit tried to hurt her and DID hurt Kazumi. It would suffer first before oblivion.
Azula summoned flame to her hands as she stood before the spirit- to cleanse it from this world. Permanently.
The spirit's eyes widened as it realized what was about to happen and went for one last desperate plea." WAIT PLEASE-!"
" And this is just for hurting Kazumi!"
Azula didn't hold back as she released a torrent of fire at the spirit, setting it completely alight and watching it flop around the room screaming in agony for a few minutes. It was an oddly enjoyable experience.
After a few minutes, the spirit stopped moving as its body died completely. The body of the spirit faded into nothingness, not even ashes were left behind.
But the moment the body disappeared, Azula could see the entire temple changed alongside it. The clean floors turned ones that were littered with sticks, leaves, mud, dirt and dust. The walls of the temple faded away, revealing several holes in its ceiling, walls and windows. The temple was real, but the insides were merely just an illusion for the spirit to control. It would seem the spirit really wasn't lying about this temple being abandoned.
Azula could see light coming from the holes in the ceiling indicating that the morning light had finally risen, but that wasn't her concern.
" KAZUMI!" Azula ran over to her crying mentor who was still laying on the ground and gently held her up by the shoulders, shaking her a few times to snap her out of it." Kazumi, its me! I'm here!"
Kazumi's eyes were unfocused and tear-stricken, but after a few shakes she seems to come back." A-A-Azula? Are you real?" Kazumi stuttered as she looked around the temple and her eyes were fearful in a way that made Azula scared since she had almost never seen Kazumi like this.
" Yes, I'm real. Its over, I took care of the spirit and-" Azula was cut off when Kazumi suddenly pulled her into a hug.
" You're real...you're really real..." Kazumi whispered not to Azula, but perhaps to herself.
Azula returned the hug as the two of them just stayed like that for a few minutes. She doesn't know what that damned spirit showed to Kazumi but she doubts it was good if it made her like this. She almost regrets not making it suffer more.
After a few moments, Kazumi pulled away from the hug but didn't let go of Azula's hand. " L-L-Let's just go home Azula...please." Kazumi choked out, her voice sounding raspy and broken that it made Azula's heart ache as she clung to her.
Azula had no disagreements there as she helped Kazumi stand up off the dirty floor of the abandoned temple, grabbing Kazumi's fallen sword along the way.
" Come on Kazumi, let's go home." Azula helped Kazumi walk through the rundown entrance to the temple as they both felt the warmth of the morning light on them, but that did nothing to alleviate the mood.
The day was bright, the spirit was vanquished, yet why does it feel like they lost somehow?
So I just dropped two major bombshells in this chapter that I feel like I need to discuss: Kazumi's big reveal that she killed her daughter and Azula's lack of guilt. I will start with the former.
Just for the record, the idea of Kazumi was actually the one who killed her daughter was originally Hammer Tide's idea who told me about it before giving the story to me. So credit goes to them for their idea. This is probably one of the few ideas that I can genuinely say was planned from the start and it has been hinted at in numerous flashbacks involving a shadowy creature and some of Kazumi's own internal dialogue.
I hope this reveal really helps puts into perspective why Kazumi is so broken up and vulnerable to the spirit's mental attacks because she never truly got to heal from the pain and trauma. Whereas Azula has been able to do that over the course of this story through her support and love from Kazumi. But the scars that linger on Kazumi predate Azula and whether they can be fully healed is yet to be seen.
I would also like to give a round of applause to JulietWiskey who I recall privately messaging me back in 2021 and correctly guessing that it was indeed Kazumi who killed her baby. You all would not believe how much that shocked me when I got that message.
:P
Now moving on to the next sorta big bombshell which is Azula's lack of guilt here. Maybe that's not the most accurate way to describe it, but its the best I can come up with.
Let me preface this by saying, I'm not a huge fan of the Spirit Temple comic. I felt like the comic was all over the place on what the spirit was trying to do exactly with Azula and it felt like it was trying to be an odd mix of comforting and still blamey towards Azula. It felt like the writer was trying to please both the Azula fans and haters by doing this weird dichotomy of the comic where the illusions both say 'everything was totally Azula's fault' and being hollowly comforting to her in the next moment.
Here I at least try to explain that the reason for the switch between the 'comforting and loving family' to the 'blaming and judgey family' is the spirit using a two-pronged approach to Azula. It tried to play on her want of a happy family, but when that didn't work it tried to prey on what it thought would be Azula's guilt which was non-existent here.
I dislike a lot of the critique's levied at Azula and a lot of it comes off as hypocritical coming from Ursa, Mai and Zuko who all did some bad things but got off totally free after the war, while Azula rotted in an asylum for over a year. This is admittedly me also throwing shade at a lot of Azula 'Redemption' that basically turn her into a pathetic self-blaming woobie who lets other characters walk all over her. While I do think that Azula is capable of feeling guilt, like she said in this chapter she's not nearly that self-blaming.
Now let's answer some reviews shall we?
To Eagle-Eye2029:
Thank you so much for the kind words! I hope this chapter met your expectations.
:)
To Kamen Rider Sentry:
Yup, Azula has finally accepted her place in Kazumi's family and has shed any real emotional connection to her old one.
Sorry but I'm not really into Supernatural and I've never seen the show, so I can't really deliver a cohesive crossover story in that regard.
Rey Misterio:
All cards on the table, I myself can't really remember what exactly Kazumi's ritual did that fucked over Zhu Li but I remember it being pretty bad.
:P
To Lord 770:
Azula in this story has definitely come a long way from the start and has grown to become much more mentally strong thanks to Kazumi's care and support.
You hit the nail on the head when you said that its Azula's turn to try and help Kazumi with her demons. How well that is going to go, I have no idea.
To be honest, its less Azula won't forgive Kazumi for what she did to Zhu Li and more of Kazumi's own internal insecurities/guilt speaking about what she did to a young girl. Since in short terms, what she did to Zhu Li was pretty heresy for a Spirit Navigator to do and a defilement of everything they stand for, so you can see where that guilt comes from.
With all that said, I will see you all in the next one.
Angel Out.