A/N: forgot to mention this with the first chapter but I will be updating every three weeks as I rotate with my other two stories. Also, questions like where this is in the timeline and Percy's heritage and all that good stuff will be answered in time so please be patient.

Percy strolled into the dungeon baring two plates of komodo chicken, specially made by him for their new guest. Well, one plate was his, couldn't let her have all of his good chicken. Balo followed close behind as they made their way down the hall. Their dungeon rarely saw any visitors, hence why there were only two guards standing against the flat, tan walls spaced as if a door was between them. "Leng, Chu, you too are looking... energetic today," Percy greeted the two guards chipperly.

The guards straightened up before smiling. "Greetings Prince Percy," they returned the greeting with a bow of their heads.

"How is the prisoner?" Balo asked as the two stopped in front of them. Percy strained his ears wondering if he could hear her terrorizing her room.

"She has been quiet sir," Chu answered quickly. "After a brief storm of screaming."

Percy raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Good, she will be all tuckered out and hungry then. Open up."

"Yes sir," the two answered before bending the door open.

Percy entered to find Princess Azula standing defiantly by a stone table. "Good evening princess," Percy greeted the woman who stared at him with contempt. "Hungry?" He tilted the plates slightly as if to bring her attention to them.

Azula's eyes flickered to the food before going back to the boy. "I don't want anything from you barbarians," she crossed her arms and looked away.

Percy raised an eyebrow before looking around the decent sized room of solid stone walls with a long, thin window traveling across the far wall. The stone furniture was surprisingly intact; there was a table, two chairs and a bed with a mattress and blanket. Maybe not the extravagant silk sheets and curtains she was use too, but not the worst conditions. "You sure?" he asked, looking her over. Balo had told him they stripped her of armor when they had captured her, her red and black clothes were tattered and dirty. Her long, dark hair flowed down her back with bangs framing her heart shaped features. Despite the dirt and grime, her beauty was undiminished. He would have to send some servants to make her new clothes and clean her up. She may be a prisoner, but they would give her the respect a human was due. "I made komodo chicken," he lifted the plates slightly.

Azula's head snapped to Percy, her eyes burning with anger. "I said no you insignificant-" the princess was interrupted by her rumbling stomach. The fire in her eyes burned brighter before she closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. "Fine."

Percy smiled before placing both plates on the table. Azula lifted a perfect eyebrow at the boy. The prince returned the look with a larger smile. "What? I'm not going to just sit here and watch you eat my chicken." He pulled out a seat and sat down. "You going to sit?" he asked as he gestured to the next seat. Percy turned his head and nodded to Balo who stood in the doorway. Balo returned the nod before leaving, the doorway closing promptly.

"You sure you want to be left alone with me?" Azula asked with a grin as she settled into her seat.

Percy shrugged. "I feel pretty comfortable with it. Why do you ask?"

Azula grabbed her fork and knife and began digging into her food. "I am a prodigy firebender," she said with pride as she straightened in her seat. "I could very easily overpower a nonbender like you."

Percy's muscles would hurt at this rate if he didn't stop smiling. "And what makes you say I am a nonbender?" he asked as he too cut into his food. The doorway opened and Balo walked in and gave them two glasses of water before leaving, the door closing behind him.

Azula's eyes roamed the prince's body before answering. "You do not have the presence of an earthbender. Earthbenders tend to project the strength and stubbornness of the element they bend. You seem much looser than any earthbender I have seen, including your deranged father. Tell me, is your father disappointed in his nonbender son? How can your people put faith in such a powerless boy?"

"If you think you can get under my skin Azula," Percy responded to her before taking a sip. "You'll have to try harder than that." He decided not to reveal his abilities to her, might make a good advantage should she try something.

The princess seemed miffed at his lack of reaction. "We will see," she claimed as she took her own drink. "What do you want, Persa? Was it?"

Percy rolled his eyes at her butchering his name. "Percy," he corrected her. "Though only my subjects and friends can call me that. To you it's Perseus."

"Perseus," she tried the word in her mouth. "That is quite the unique name." She looked around the room briefly. "What do you want? I know you didn't come just to give me food."

Percy shrugged. "Maybe I just wanted to get to know you?" he joked with a smirk.

"Oh please," Azula scoffed at his attempts to misdirect her. "Do not insult my intelligence. You came here bearing gifts of food and company in the hopes of learning something from me. It's not the path I would have taken but it is an effective tactic. Now ask your questions."

Percy looked at her skeptically. "And you are willing to answer my questions?"

"Probably not," she answered honestly. "But it'll give me something to do. Seriously you could at least provide me with a book or something."

"Amenities are given to prisoners with good behavior," Percy explained to her as he cut into his chicken. "You'll have to make do with being bored. Depending on your answers I could see to it that you are accommodated." He waited to see if she would respond. When she didn't, seemingly content to eat her chicken in peace, he spoke again. "You were captured outside General Fong's fortress. Who was the commander who captured it?"

Azula smiled eagerly at the prince. "Someone who stands above all but the Throne. Someone who will burn your pathetic little kingdom to the ground. Someone... who has earned my hand in marriage."

Percy looked at her in surprise. "You're married?" he asked as he looked her up and down. "A little young for that don't you think?"

"Not yet, but when I turn eighteen, we will be wed as my father has promised him," she said looking down at her food.

Percy watched the girl closely. Was she really willing to be someone's prize? She didn't seem the type. "And you are okay with that?" he asked, now looking at the fifteen-year-old girl, not the princess of an evil nation.

Steely gold eyes met his sea green ones. "It is for the good of the fire nation," she recited to him. Percy wondered how often she had said that trying to justify the things in her life. "I live to serve my nation, a feeling I am sure you can understand. As we speak, he is looking for me, and when he finds me you all will burn."

"We will see about that," he countered as he leaned back in his seat. "His name?"

Azula's smile widened. "You will only know him as Destroyer."

Percy walked up the steps out of the dungeon with both plates in hand. Balo walked closely behind him. "Learn anything?" Balo asked as he followed his prince.

"Nothing good," Percy exhaled. "We have a new player on the field."

Balo looked at Percy in confusion. "So, it wasn't Iroh or Ozai? That's bad." He followed Percy through a doorway and into a hall of banners and trophies. "Someone powerful enough to take down the walls of that fortress will be a real threat. Got any information on him?"

Percy made his way down the hallways towards the kitchens, passing servants and guards as he went. "Well, he is powerful, and I guess he earned the Fire Lord's favor conquering the fortress," He turned to look at Balo. "Ozai's given him Azula's hand in marriage."

"Well, that sounds just wonderful," Balo responded as he dodged a maid. "We haven't faced a threat this great since Iroh blasted through the walls of Ba Sing Se. He doesn't happen to have any kids, does he?" he asked with a grim smirk.

Percy released a hollow laugh. "Doubtful. He is probably not much older than I am given his recent surge in this war. He must have recently hit his peak. Also, I doubt Ozai would give Azula's hand in marriage to some old man with a bunch of kids."

Balo hummed in thought. "Get a name?"

"Just Destroyer," Percy answered before grabbing a servant girl gently by the arm. "Get the tailors and have them make some clothes for our prisoner," he turned to walk away before turning back to her. "Also maybe set up a bath for her too."

"Of course, my prince," she said before wandering off to perform her tasks.

Balo raised an eyebrow at his prince. "Being nice to the prisoner?"

Percy shrugged. "She may be a prisoner, but that doesn't mean we can deny her basic luxuries like clean clothes and a bath."

"I guess so," Balo relented, crossing his arms. "Guess we didn't think about it. When that girl put most of us on our rears, I guess we were a little miffed."

A chuckle escaped Percy's lips. "You are telling me, that you and the others, soldiers trained by my father personally, got your butts handed to you by a little girl?" he asked as he fell into complete hysteria. "You call yourselves royal guards, ha!"

Balo groaned as he rubbed his mustache. "See? this is why I didn't tell you this earlier," he complained. "A dozen master firebender guards was bad enough, then she joined, and we were put on the defensive. She truly is a prodigy. In her prime she might be able to match Ozai or Iroh herself."

"That's... terrifying?" he questioned as he entered the kitchen and left the plates with one of the washers. "I guess that makes sense though, she is of royal blood." He turned back to the captain of the guard. "Not that I can relate." He left the kitchen with Balo in tow.

Balo hummed in thought. "You are the rightful heir to the throne of Omashu," he said to the young prince. "Adopted or not, you are a powerful bender in your own right. I've not seen a waterbender with your level of control over water. You are a prodigy as much as she is."

Percy smiled at his old friend, pulling on his silver pendant. The pendant morphed into a silver trident. The three-pronged trident stood just taller than Percy, its silver shaft embroidered with carvings of strange creatures he could find no record of, and its barbed teeth curved inward. "How about I use that prodigy to kick your butt?"

Percy twirled his silver trident, breaking apart several small boulders into dust. He ended the twirl with a flourish, his trident teeth pointed down. "You'll have to try better than that Balo," Percy claimed with a grin. The pair stood in the arena deep in the bowels of the palace, the massive room rimmed with columns, a ring of stands rose above the arena floor.

Balo huffed before performing a kata. Slabs of rock rose around Percy, closing in around him. Percy pulled water from the surrounding barrels around the arena. The water coalesced in a dome of ice around him. The slabs crashed down on the dome; the rocks crumbled into pieces. Percy waved his hand; the dome shifting into a wall of water and came crashing down on Balo. Balo quickly bent a shell of rock over himself, splitting the water before him. The rock shell flew at Percy. The prince formed a blade of water to extend his tridents reach and slashed the rock shell in half. Percy released a breath and slashed away the water, a ring of water floated above him.

Balo settled into his stance with a grin. "Doesn't matter how often I see you bend the water," the captain began, slowly shifting his stance into a more offensive style. "It still amazes me."

Percy returned the grin with glee. "Sometimes I feel like I am just scratching the surface of what I am capable of," he said as his grin turned to a smile. "Get ready."

Balo's eyes widened as streams of water rocketed out of the ring of water at him. Pillars of rock rose from the ground, blocking each jet of water. Balo pushed the pillars forward, collapsing them to fall upon the prince. Percy dodged the falling pillars, his ring of water following him like a halo. Percy weaved through the rubble, collapsing his water into a suit of ice armor. Balo rose on his own pillar of stone, his eyes watching for the prince. Percy hid behind a large, destroyed rock, wondering how he would take down his bodyguard this time. "Come on, Percy," Balo called out as he bent again. The debris around the arena shifted and slid into the center, reshaping and forming a large boulder. Percy now stood in the open. "You can do better than that."

Percy smirked. "If you insist," he said, his ice armor blasting outward. Balo blocked the ice with his gauntlets. With a flurry of movement, slices of stone flew from the pillar he stood on like circular blades. The stone slices carved into the arena floor as Percy dodged and struck them down. Water coalesced and whipped through the air, destroying the pillar Balo stood on. Rocks wrapped around Balo's legs, cushioning his fall as he rolled across the floor and sent a line of rock spikes towards the prince. Percy leaped over the spikes before landing and balancing on one such spike. Percy whipped his trident through the air, water following it like a great whip. He snapped the water whip at Balo... before a large boulder smacked into Percy. The prince tumbled to the floor; surprise etched across his features.

Balo shrugged with a grin. "I've told you before to pay attention to your surroundings," he scolded the boy, several bands of stone confined Percy to the floor. His grin turned to a frown and his eyes gained a hard edge. "You talk about scratching the surface, but you are limiting yourself by conventional practice. You are Prince Perseus, Heir to the Throne of Omashu, you are bound by nothing. Follow your gut. Let instinct guide you. If this destroyer is as dangerous as we think, we will need all you can give."

"Quite right Captain," King Bumi's voice rose over the arena. Percy and Balo looked up to find Bumi standing with his hands resting against the ring's walls. "However, I think you've made your point Balo." Percy's restraints crumbled and the prince rolled over and slowly rose. Both Percy and Balo knelt before King Bumi who chuckled before leaping over the edge of the stands. Bumi landed with a thud. "We need to prepare. I received a... less than pleasant letter from a trusted friend. We may have miscalculated Ozai's response to her capture."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked as he rose to his feet again.

"The armies at Fong's fortress are on the move," Bumi explained to the two. "It is unclear if they know we are the ones who have captured her, but I doubt it will take long. I have contacted the Northern Water Tribe about relocating the princess to them."

Percy frowned at that. "Why send her north? We can handle whatever the Fire Nation throws at us."

"Your distaste for the water tribe aside," Balo countered the boy, knowing the prince's... unsavory experience with the tribe. "It may be best to draw the Fire Nation's attention off of us and towards the tribe. They are better equipped to fend off a large assault."

"What would be the point?" Percy asked in confusion. "The whole reason we captured her was to make the Fire Lord back off. All its done is make him more aggressive. Why does it matter if they get her back or not?"

Bumi hummed in thought. "Even if she cannot end this war, she is still a member of the royal family and holds information we could use," the king reasoned with his son. "There is also the benefit of denying them a powerful firebender."

Percy shrugged, crossing his arms in annoyance. "We will have to see, I guess. Not like we have much choice but to wait and see."