Iroh

As he sipped his tea, he was coming to the conclusion that he was getting too old for this shit. Not least because his nieces consort had dragged him away from his tea shop as he needed someone that was used to giving a warm and understanding ear to others. As he was, in the mildly insane and extremely dangerous young mans words, qualified for calming and healing the mental injuries of the abused and misunderstood. Granted, he did not exactly think that he was in any way actually qualified for providing a shoulder to cry on and sage advice to a spirit.

Said spirit mostly sobbing between taking massive drags of something from a monstrously oversized hookah. "So, you say that you are not the spirit of darkness?"

Because yes, for some reason he was being dragged into a therapy session for the spirit of Chaos and Darkness. But, even as the spirit took a racking sob, Vaatu replied. "Look, I know that I've been angry, been pissed as hell, but..." The spirit sniffled. "Chaos doesn't mean darkness, don't mean bad things! Its just, I tried to do what I was supposed to do, you know? Loosen bonds, make people question traditions, examine their lives and think for themselves... which is when SHE jumped me."

To be entirely honest, Iroh was curious what sort of leaves were in the hookah, as the smoke wrapped around the spirit, taking shards of darkness with them as they evaporated. "I mean, I get it, I'm Chaos, she's Order, two different ways of viewing the world, you know? Except that everything had to go according to plan, to the order she dreamed of, with any deviations being 'corrected'." Another huff of the pipe. "Meaning that she killed them and did her best to erase the memories of it ever being different, because that would not be according to plan, would it?"

There was a bitter tinge to the spirits tone, scars on their form. "I mean, the human world used to be so different. Like, almost an entirely different world different, with rich vibrant cities, hundreds of cultures all over the place and all kinds of people!" There was excitement in the spirits tone. "So many ideas and ideals, it was intoxicating, so I wanted to look closer. Which is when SHE jumped me, blaming me for the fact that what do you know, all the successful human cultures could actually make their own decisions and didn't need spirits any more."

He did not quite choke on the tea, as he looked at the pouting and gloomy figure. "Ah, forgive me, but when you say that humanity did not need spirits, what exactly..."

Now, the tendrils that waved were agitated, but came nowhere close to him. "Humanity had started to grow up, had their own solutions, could manage the world and take care of themselves and didn't need the spirits to intervene on their behalf. You were maturing as a species, becoming independent. Which meant, according to HER, chaotic elements that needed to be purged." The spirit visibly deflated. "Which is how we crossed over, fighting as she tried to 'correct' things and place them back according to 'fate' as humanity was growing according to its own design, not HERS."

The spirit took another drag, aromatic smoke coiling and wrapping around it. "So, with the ways open for all the spirits to express their displeasure at humanity having been outgrowing them, and HER keeping me in check?" There was sadness there, and anger, darkness forming the smoke dissolved it and carried it off. "Yeah, human got brutalized back into a nice state of compliance, living in shelters and at the sufferance of Dragon Turtles. Who don't get me wrong, most of them? Nice guys, kinda feel like you," Iroh blinked, as THAT was a new comparison, "but so much was lost."

And then the spirit stilled, and there was darkness rippling about it. "And you know what one of the damn things that didn't get fucking lost? Critical. Fucking. Race. Theory." Vaatu, the spirit of chaos rippled like a storm tossed pond. "Oh sure, the races that it originally applied to? Long dead, wiped off the face of the planet. But just look at how all the nice little elementally aligned humans fit into the neat little boxes and by design of HER avatar only in the one shall they meet."

The spirit slumped to the ground. "Its just... whats the point man? Whats the point?"

And now he had to console a spirit that was bawling its eyes out. Because under the effects of a mystical ganja, sage and tobacco blend which calmed and purified the spirit from the all consuming murderous rage it had been feeling, it was now apparently depressed and moody. And yet... it wanted to be better, to have the pain cease. How could he not help?

Azula

"So, you have located my uncle. And instead of handing him over to me or telling me of his location you have?" On the one hand, she valued and appreciated him. If she did not, she would have had to remove him for not following her will to the letter or creatively interpreting her desires and orders. Oh, and those of her father. That was of course the more serious offence. If it could not be covered up anyway.

Still, Maza merely nodded, a smile on his face as he continued to give Ty Lee a massage. It was a knowing smile, and a sneaky one. She rather liked it. "Well, he is known for his fatherly and caring nature, but also possesses a need to help others that want to break away from cycles of pain and abuse, in and of itself a coping mechanism borne of his life experiences. So... I may have snuck the spirit of Chaos out of its prison, stuffed it full of calming and purifying herbs to knock it out of the negative feedback loop its been in for the last ten thousand years and then placed Iroh in front of them."

Frankly, all of her minions are looking at him with incredulous expressions. "As it is, he is playing emotional support to a depressed ancient spirit who is not quite the villain the stories paint them as." He paused. "Well, they were a trickster and free thinker, but they only really got bad when the order spirit confined and bound them, causing everything to build up and spiral wildly out of control in a similar fashion to an episode of drunken rage, where the one accusing them is the one that shoved the alcohol down their throats."

Now, she did not get a lot of that, but... "So, he is being emotionally and mentally tormented as his nature prevents him from simply walking away?" At the nod, she giggled. "Excellent."