I Don't own Avatar the last air bender.
chapter 51
It was time. Today, from dawn to dusk, Zuko will have to face the two thousand leashes his father ordered. Zuko was woken up by the sound of the bars moving and saw a group of guards going in.
"It's time." The lead guard said, no more words were needed.
The atmosphere was somber. Even Zuko, who knew that he wasn't the best at reading people, could feel it. The guards, who usually gave little care about the prisoners they fetch for punishment, were clearly uncomfortable bringing their prince to "justice". Leaving alone the fact that he was the prince, all of them saw just yesterday how the fire lord, Zuko's own father, was ready to kill him.
It would have been one thing if the prince was planning a usurpation or a betrayal, but it was clear that none of those claims was the case. Sure, the prince may have overreached, but all of them could agree that it was for a good cause. Many of the guards in the group had children around the prince's age or less, and the situation of this entire trail left a sour taste in the mouth of all present.
They all would have agreed that the punishment was too severe, if anyone would have voiced their opinion. But they didn't. They were soldiers, following orders. It was not their place to question their lord. Besides, With the recent developments in the fire lord's state of mind, none of them wanted to be the first to know what the fire lord would do if whispers reached his ears.
As they dragged him away, Zuko caught one last glance at the siblings. Jasmine seemed to be devastated and Mi-Dved was concerned as well. Zuko sent them a reassuring smile before he went away.
'So… from one to ten, how much is it going to hurt?'
"Twenty-four."
'Ouch…'
"I will dump the nerves on your back to a manageable level, but it will still be painful. If you don't show the right reaction, people will suspect foul play. And I don't need to tell you what your father's reaction will be if he's not entertained enough."
'Damn it…'
"You will pull this through, your highness. I promise you."
Zuko was brought to the same spot he was in yesterday, only this time there was someone else as well. A mask wearing man with a whip, to be precise, with a very well-defined upper body.
"The man whips for a leaving, what did you expect?"
Point.
"But this will be very interesting, though."
'What are you on about?'
"This man specifically shows great signs of hidden reluctance, and not the kind where he just thinks that it's wrong. It is personal to him. If I had to guess, I would say that a medicine or another kind of innovation resulting of your work have saved the life of someone very close to him. A parent, a wife, or a child, if I'm correct."
'So why did he volunteer himself for this position?' It didn't make any sense.
"Because he had to make sure that you will pull this through." Sai explained. "He is right now one of the most hated people in the nation, if his identity is revealed he will be met with a lifetime of shame. Yet, he had to make sure that you wouldn't die from the whipping, he couldn't leave the chance of someone else being responsible for your life. It's very noble in a way."
"Finally." His father said as he sat upon the throne. "Any final words before we start?"
"You are unbelievably petty." Came out of Zuko's mouth.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this." Ozai smiled before shouting. "Begin at once!"
"I'm sorry…" The man with the whip whispered as he began the strikes.
The first whip came and let Zuko tell that it hurts. He did, however, manage to merely grunt and not scream. After that came another leash, and another.
"Ten leashes to the same place and no two touched the same spot? The man is a natural, I'm impressed."
'Seriously?!'
"The whip is a very hard tool to master. The skill and practice needed to not only avoid hitting the same space, but also hitting the parts that are non-lethal is tremendous. You don't appreciate it, but the man's really trying to help."
"Please, your highness." The executioner said in a low voice from behind. "The fire lord will order a much more severe beating if he doesn't here you scream."
Another whip came, this time in hit exactly on an open wound
"ARGH!"
Hitting on an open wound is much more painful.
"Brother, are you sure it's not enough?" Iroh all but pleaded as he tried to ignore the sound. "He's your son, your only son."
"Then he will pull through or expire." Ozai said with a smile as he watched the event. "His crimes have to be punished, prince or not. Justice will be delivered to all under my rule. How much is it now?"
"Three hundred forty sev-eight, my lord." A man near his brother said.
"Oh, already?" Ozai seemed honestly surprised. "I expected him to break a long time ago. No matter, have the punisher ignite the whips in fire once we reach four digited numbers."
Iroh couldn't believe that he was related to that thing, let alone his brother. Was Ozai so deranged that he actually thought anything about that was justice? Iroh could honestly not tell. Nor could he figure what was worse, a corrupt all-powerful tyrant or a delusional one.
For the thousand's time today, Iroh had to hold himself back from assaulting his little brother. Only the fact that it wouldn't help Zuko holds him back. Oh, Iroh had no delusion that the thing will end with his death, he noticed that Ozai grew ridiculously stronger in Iroh's absence, but if it would have ended with his brother dead… Should it have saved Zuko then consequences be damned.
In any case, the retired general had used his privileges as the grand-master of the White Lotus to stage a rescue if needed. By the day's end, the two of them could be out of the capital on a ship, with the sand siblings not far away. That will, however, burn more than a few bridges and condemn all of them as fugitives.
Which brought the dragon of the west to his next dilemma. Zuko, for all that Iroh adored the boy, had no chance of surviving even that much. Not on his own at least. The retired general had no delusions that it was this demented helmet that allowed his nephew to endure. It was a blessing and a curse, as while it saved his nephew's life it also set in stone the bond it had made with Zuko. Iroh will have to ponder hardly on how to release his nephew from the helmet's influence.
But that was a problem for tomorrow, for today they have to survive.
Iroh turned his gaze again as Zuko's yell of pain was heard, it's going to be a long day. This, however, allowed him to get a look at the other child of Ozai. Princess Azula was as still as a statue, but much to Iroh's surprise she didn't look as if she enjoyed the show. No, instead of the glee she had at that fateful agni-kai, Iroh got a feeling of torment and, if he wasn't wrong, compassion.
Had his niece seen the light at last? Discovered her idol as the monster he truly is?
It wasn't so far-fetched as Iroh firstly thought, she did live under Ozai's shadow all this time. This includes the madness he seemed to gain. Was it because she pictured herself as the next one after Zuko or did she truly have a change of heart? In the end it didn't matter. The important thing was that she wasn't in Ozai's clutches as before, she had the chance to see the light. And Iroh was all for second chances.
Hamma felt good, better than what she felt in years actually. To see the prince of the fire nation be brought so law, to have him be brutalized in the same way she and her fellow water benders were, it was cathartic. The only point of annoyance she felt was the fact that he seemed to be taking his punishment much better than them.
Oh, it was a stupid thing to be annoyed about, but it still rubbed her the wrong way that this silver spooned monarch brat was seemingly made of a sterner staff than her and her brothers and sisters. But no matter, everyone had their limits. Even the tremendous amounts of resolve of the prince of the fire will eventually run out.
Ooh, now blood started to come from his mouth as he spat. And it only took… honestly, she stopped counting somewhere around the hundred. She wondered what would break first, his body, his mind, or his spirit?
In any case, even if he survives (which is a big if), he will be in no shape to act again her tribe. Oh, it was just exciting seeing her to biggest monsters killing each other. She will surely have good news to tell the tribe when she returns.
No that caused her to frown.
She will have very much to do once she's back. The greenhouse has to go, there was no question about that, but how will she manage to restore her tribe with half of the men gone?
Argh, this was so frustrating… Kanna was the thinking one, Hamma was always more prone to act now and think later. She managed to be the last water bender captured thanks to that, but it helped little with her current situation. Oh well, she'll have to rely on Kanna once again, hopefully her friend was still alive.
Lao Beifong was a man that could say in full heart that he was seldom worried in anything that wasn't his daughter. Oh, sure, he was concerned many times during his career as a lord and a merchant, but seldom truly worried.
This was one of those few times.
He watched as the prince spasmed after another hit on his raptured body, bile and darker liquids went out of his mouth. When Lao first had heard about the fact that the fire lord maimed his own son, he thought it was propaganda. When he saw the scar of the prince, he was in shock as he didn't understand how a father, let alone a ruler of a nation, could do something like this. And now, witnessing the acts in his own eyes, he was just as shocked as he was.
He felt his beautiful wife's hand pressing his own for support, she had no reason to witness such cruelty. His only relief was that the princess and her handmaiden made sure that his little Toph was distracted and didn't have to see this. He owes a lot to the princess, the two apples certainly fell far from the tree in this case. He had no idea how Ozai of all people managed to raise his kids right… all things considered… but perhaps he demonstrated exactly what they shouldn't do. If so, he was the ideal paternal figure.
Toph… Oh goodness, thank the spirits that she isn't seeing this, for a variety of reasons. Ignoring the fact that it will traumatize her forever, she wouldn't have been able to hold herself but defend the prince who found himself as her adopted surrogate big brother and revealed herself as an earth bender. And that would have been catastrophic.
Another hit, another scream.
'Please.' Lao prayed. 'Hang in there Zuko, all of us rely on you. You have to pull through. For the world, for your nation, for your loved ones, for Toph.'
"How much is it now?" Ozai said bored as he rested his head on one hand while the other one tapped impatiently on the throne.
"It reached 999 now, my lord."
Ozai smiles at the little man's words. Finally, some fire.
"Light the whip aflame!"
The punisher stopped for a second, registering the words, then lighting up the whip. The instrument of punishment is now glowing in a fascinating orange glow. But before the strike could connect, Ozai held his hand up and postponed the punisher. He had an idea.
"Congratulations, you are halfway through." Ozai mocked his downed son. "Now, because I feel generous, I will throw you a bone. Submit to me and you will have to face only another fifty flame-less whips. Of course, you will be denounced as a member of the royal family and be thrown to the front for the rest of your life, but the pain will be over. Or you could continue your defiance and face the rest of you whips aflame. What do you say?"
His traitorous son caught his breathing on the floor as he spat blood. The convict, however, dared to look up to him with a look of contempt and show the finger.
"So be it." Ozai growled, mostly because his son still had defiance after all of this. "Continue the process, make the strikes twice as strong."
"Just a few more strikes and were scot-free. Hold on."
'E-easy for you to say!' Zuko could barely make those thoughts out.
Another whip came, it was devastating. Zuko fell hard to the blood-soaked ground again as he spasmed uncontrollably while choking on his blood and his tears. His enhanced body may have been much tougher than any human had the right to be, but even it had limits. Zuko was fire resistant, not fireproof. Everything hurt and he didn't even want to think about how bad his back looked. It all hurt so bad, he just wanted it to end… but he couldn't.
No, people relayed on him, his nation needed him, his allies needed him, his friends needed him. No, he will not let them down!
He puked another red piece of flash that he didn't ponder too much on its origin as he sore up, or at least tried to. His shaking legs could not support his weight as they slipped on the wet ground, making him fall with a thud face first to the ground.
There was complete silence, not that Zuko would have even noticed anything in his state of pain. He didn't even need to look up to know that everyone was watching him to see if he could get up or if it was the end. His father was surely having a wide cruel grin on his face as he rooted for his only son to expire.
Everyone held their breath as the prince moved once again. A crawl, a fetal position, but movement by movement he got up with herculean effort. He was in, shaking like a leaf and on the verge of total collapse, but in.
'H-how much m-more…' Zuko asked his most trusted companion in a begging tone. In his mind, at least, he didn't have to put up a façade.
"Just one more, your highness." Sai promised. "One more and it's all over."
Zuko felt it. One last strike was all he could take before his body gives out. Hopefully. Zuko waited for the last leash that would end it all, and waited…
'Are you sure you counted right?'
"I'm never wrong, not in those kind of things."
"What's taking so long?!" Zuko heard his father yell from above. "Strike him! Strike him now!"
"My lord, he must rest!" The punisher pleaded. "Another strike will kill him!"
"That's the entire idea, you moron!" Ozai yelled with all his lungs. "Do it! Kill him now!"
The man looked at his whip, his inner conflict was seen even beyond his mask.
"You must convince him to follow through!"
'Why?!' Did Sai not understand in how much pain he was now?!
"Because he's going to throw the whip and say 'no' to you dad. And as badass as this act of defiance may look, it will get him smitten the next second. What's more importantly is that it will force you to start a civil war now, and we're far from ready!"
Damn that thing for making sense…
"Don't do this…" Zuko rasped as he turned to look at the man. "What you are thinking now… Don't do it, it's not worth it."
"Your highness?" The tone of the man just leaked in confusion.
"You plan to defy father. I appreciate it, truly, but it will help no one and will have you killed. Don't sacrifice yourself for my sake, I can take it."
"You can't…" The punisher said in a whisper. "I know my work, that's what I do for living. One more strike and you're done for… the fact that you're still standing is nothing short of a miracle."
"I already defied both my father and death before, I have too many reasons to die like this. Even in this sorry state, I will keep fighting for you and for all the people under my care." Zuko assured the man with a sad nod. "I will not let you down."
"I-I can't…" The hand holding the whip was shaking as it began to rise for a strike. "You're out of strength…"
"Then give me a morsel of resolve in this shameful situation, just enough to carry on the next moment." Zuko tried another approach. "Why is the hesitation? What have I done for such act?"
"My daughter… She was sick, incurable, they said. She's a little thing, not old enough to go to school. She's the only thing I have left after my wife died to a burglar. Everyone told me that hoping for an improvement was a fool's errand, that I wasted my life just to continue her suffering." He paused for a second. "But then you came, or more precisely the medicines that were developed from the texts you released from the library. They said that they needed people to test the medicine on, that it may cure my daughter."
"It was a desperate gamble, but I had nothing to lose. All the doctors said that she had a week at most, so I let them test on my daughter. And it had worked. For the first time in too long, I was told that she was going to be fine. I expected a catch, something to go wrong, a side effect or owning too much money for me to afford. But there was none of that."
"Thanks to you my daughter can have a life, and for that I will be forever in your debt."
"Then all the reason to not throw your life away." Zuko argued. "You trusted me then, I ask you to trust me once more."
It seemed to do the trick as the whip descended once more.
"ARGH!" He didn't mean it to be this strong!
Zuko fell to the floor again as his limbs refused to move, the abuse was finally too much for them. If before the pain was bad, now it was terrible. He felt himself licking from different spots on his back, as well as his mouth. He tried to keep himself awake, but the darkness was closing in. It was so, so cold here, even keeping his eyes open is proving too much.
The sounds became weaker and weaker, until everything was null.
...
..
.
"what are you doing down there, my little turtle duck?" The voice of a woman called to him with affection. "You need to get up, this is no place of a prince."
"M-mom?!" Zuko looked up to see the figure of his mother, just as he remembered her. "What are you doing here?"
"You called me." She answered. "But I asked you first, you should be out there with your friends."
"I don't want to…" Zuko acted like his little and self once again, even his voice seemed to change to fit. "It hurts, it hurts so much… and it's cold. It's so hard… and dad is so mean… Here it's quiet, here I don't feel pain. I want to stay here…"
"But what about your friends? Don't you miss them? Don't they need your help?"
"My… Friends?"
"Yeah, what about us?" A familiar voice called.
"You wanted to prove me wrong about the fire nation, didn't you? It's kind of hard to do if you don't get up." Another feminine voice called.
"Sokka? Katara?" The two water siblings appeared as he turned his head, both smiling at him.
"Come one, you can't stay here. We have some unfinished business, you and I." At the commanding feminine voice, Zuko turned to see a smiling Sukki in her Kyoshi uniform.
"Sukki?" They did have unfinished business, as well as things that they needed to set straight.
"Enough bumming around, sparky, you promised to take me to an ice cream stand next time we meet."
"Toph?" He remembered promising her this before they departed last time.
"You haven't forgotten about us I hope, have you my prince?"
"Come on, up. Where is the man who grinded Mi-Sha to the ground?"
"Jasmine? Mi-Dved?" Their right, he promised them a safe home. He had to break dad's punishment.
"Prince Zuko! You are an honorable young man, and not even your father can take that away from you. Now rise up, nephew, your honor demands nothing less."
"Uncle Iroh?" His honor did demand nothing less. He has friends to protect, duties he can't neglect. He must get up, now.
"On your feet!"
...
Zuko immediately jolted awake. He took a few seconds to gather himself.
'Yeah… just as painful as I remembered…'
"Welcome to the world of the living, you gave quite a scare there."
'I thought I died…'
"You and everyone else there. I patched your body there, just enough for the baseline requirements of staying alive. Your soul still had to fight to stay in your body, but I knew you had this."
'Thanks…' It was nice knowing that you were trusted.
"Oh, and my little thing back there may have started a rumor of you being Agni's chosen or something like that, so be prepared for that."
More fanatics… great.
"And it seems like we have company"
Not long after Sai's warning, the door to the room he was in opened to reveal his sister. The real one, not Mai in disguise.
Azula's return to the capital was… mixed. There were no guards patrolling the streets and the capital wasn't under martial law, so her father probably didn't notice the switch she did with Mai. Good. On the other hand, there were whispers about what happened during the trial. Despite all odds, Zuzu managed to keep all of his friends in one piece. Although it seemed that he was in a very bad situation after dad was done with him.
Now this was good and bad. On the one hand it made her job much, much, easier, but on the other hand it also brought a bigger risk. What will be of her deal if Zuko died before she managed to stab him? Will it be nullified or will it be considered as her not honoring her part of the deal? She couldn't risk it.
So, she did the most reasonable thing and switched back with Mai as soon as possible. She caught her two minions on their way back from the academy and they found a place where no one should hear them.
"So let me get it straight." Azula clarified. "During the few days I was away you managed to befriend some blind earth peasant? In my persona?"
"Oh, you need to see her!" Ty Lee gushed. "She's so cute with her little headband~ Like a doll!"
"You forgot the part where she sneaked by you and was caught in the dungeon by the guards." Mai said in her usual dead tone.
"Unbelievable…" Azula massaged her temples in frustration. "Dare I ask what happened?"
"Oh don't worry, she ended up beating the guards in a card game." The acrobat waved Azula's worries away.
"The blind girl… Winning a card game…"
"Numerous times!" Ty Lee added.
No, she isn't going to ask more about it. She had enough on her head as is without adding this madness. Instead, she debriefed them on her journey to the Mother Of Faces. Of course, her deal with the spirit and the disgraceful state she woke up were left a secret.
"Oh… I hope Xing is okay, he's such a good boy…" Her eccentric friend pouted. "He's fur looked so soft…"
"Didn't Azula tell us just this moment that the dog killed what is probably half of the forest population?" Mai replied in the same bored tone as ever. Azula had to agree. Besides, if that fur ball was gone, all the better for her. But somehow, she doubted that she was this lucky.
"Anyway, what can you tell me about the trail itself?"
Azula got a very detailed description. It was clear that the two girls felt very uncomfortable talking about it. The important part was that Zuko was barely alive and in the medical wing of the palace. Another concerning thing was the fact that it seemed like more people sided with Zuko than with her father. She will have to deal with this Oni before it's too late.
"Well girls, it had been a pleasure to catch up." No, it wasn't. "But I have to go now. You know, not being late to see my brother and all of that."
"We understand, Azula." Ty Lee nodded sadly, as if she believed that Azula actually cared for her brother. "Go see him, we'll prey for the best."
Right… 'The best' may have a different meaning between Azula and the others. In any case, the princess merely nodded and turned around.
The walk to the palace was… unremarkable. No one stopped her for questioning, no one even seemed suspicious of her. It seems like her plan to go undetected went without a hitch. Something that made her have a few concerns about the fact that no one in the entire palace, the most protected place in the world, have noticed that their princess went missing for days. But it was a problem for later.
"Maid!" Azula caught one of the servants after she changed to her regal clothes in her room.
"Y-yes, y-your h-highness?" The terrified look on the older woman's face did bring some satisfaction to the princess. "I-I'm at y-your d-disposal!"
"Bring me to my brother." The tone in Azula's voice, even if wasn't loud, made no room for disobedience.
"A-at once, y-your h-highness!"
Needless to say, it took very little time until they were in front of the door that is supposed to lead to her brother's soon to be deathbed. And of course, there were a pair of guards there.
"Halt! This area is restricted by the fire lord's orders." One of the masked guards stated. "Authorized personal only!"
"Step aside, I wish to have a private conversation with my brother." She had no time for this nonsense.
"Princess, I don't this it's a good idea." The second guard spoke. "The prince is in a very delicate situation right now, he should rest undisturbed as much as possible."
She really, really had no time for this.
"Listen." She started. "I had a very bad week, so forgive me if I may sound a bit rude. You will leave for patrol for the next half an hour, then you will return and continue as if nothing happened. As you have seen, my father isn't exactly in the 'talking' mood right now, so forgive me if I took a few shortcuts. I will have what may be my final words to my brother, wither you leave or not."
To prove her words, Azula summoned a flaming knife made of her signature azure fire.
"As you wish, your highness." The two concluded after a few intense seconds and left, the maid hurriedly followed them.
The princess took a deep breath as she prepared herself mentally. This was it, now or never. A more perfect moment will not arrive. Something in the back of her head felt a disturbance, like some filthy peasant begging for their life to be let inside a well-fortified castle. And just like that peasant, the feeling was ignored completely by Azula.
She opened the door, preparing to face her greatest obstacle, and found him wanting. He was lying on his bed, weak and vulnerable. A far cry from the powerful image he had when they met in Amora. In was almost poetic.
"Brother." Azula started naturally. She acted as usual and made sure that the knife behind her back was unseen. The spirit maybe promised that the Oni will be blind to the blade, but Azula wasn't one to take chances. "You have seen better days."
"I take it that you're mission was a success?" He spoke and Azula took notice of the tiara on his head, she had never seen her brother without any kind of headwear ever since Amora. Now isn't that curious.
"Of course it was, who do you take me for?" Azula scuffed. "And you may have forgotten a tiny little detail about the size of the spirit in question."
"In my defense, I told you to expect anything as far as spirits are concerned." Her stupid brother said. You know, it really makes her decision much, much easier. "In any case, I'm happy to see that you're in one piece."
"You're a bad liar, it doesn't suit you." Azula commented. "By the way, where is that rabid mutt of yours?"
"Xing? What about him?"
"Oh, nothing." She waved off her fake concern. "It's just that last I saw him, he was being smitten by the Mother Of Faces. Just wanted to check if he returned."
"… He will return eventually." Zuko answered after a pause. It seems like that hound really hadn't returned. This was good. With any luck, that thing really did die and wouldn't bother her anymore. The news also did seem to affect her brother, he really did care for that monster.
"Anyway." Zuko pulled the tiara from his head and presented it to her. "It may be strange, but can you wear if for a minute or two?"
This is it. This tiara thing was most likely the Oni in disguise, or at least possessed by it. There was no other reason for Zuko to give her anything. Her brother now is at his most vulnerable, she just had to have the Oni in her hands and nothing would stop her. But she had to play as if things were as usual. She wasn't scared of Zuko's deduction skills, but the Oni was another thing entirely.
"And why should I do that?" She raised an eyebrow. He was the one who needed convincing her after all.
"It's either that or us having a hours long conversation, your choice."
She's sold. She reached her left hand to grab the helmet while the right hand prepared for the act. And once his fingers left the object, she stroke. Before her brother could even react, her right hand slithered to the knife behind her back and stabbed the exposed chest like a viper jumping on its prey.
She saw the flicker of surprise, understanding and terror in the brother she had known since birth. And she reveled it. This was it. He was going to die, any schemes he had against her were cut. He understood it too as he tried with all his ever shrinking might to pull the blade that was deeply entrenched in his heart. She smiled at her victory, her debt was null.
But just as quickly as her moment of triumph appeared, it was gone.
She felt a movement in her left hand, and to her horror, the object in her hand transformed. It grew in a moment eight legs out of itself, not unlike the legs of a crab or a spider. Only those legs were made of pure metal. Faster than she could blink, it jumped on her head, like a scene out of a nightmare, and Azula felt a sharp pain. It was as if someone stabbed her in the head with needles, right into her brain.
She wanted to scream but it never came, she could do nothing at all in fact. Her body moved the hands in search of the blade until they reached the handle and catharized the wound to stop the blood flow. Then, her mouth yelled with all the might of her lungs and called the guards.
'What is happening?'
"Me."
What- What was it?
"YoU kNow Who I am."
Azula remembered (or was she forced to remember?) her conversation with the Mother, specifically about the Oni.
"You wilL Suffer for ThIs."
That was not the voice of a person. Heck, even the Mother didn't sound as… wrong. What assaulted her mind was an abomination of all kinds of different voices, all of them sounded at once and none at all at the same time. It was an ever-changing melody to remind her of her own fragile mortality. This was the thing that even someone like the Mother Of Faces was scared of, and Azula now started understanding why.
Moments later, armed guards barged into the room in response to the call of distressed the Oni had her mouth do. The Oni, it didn't take a genius to figure out what's happening, used her voice to manage the situation in perfection. It began to sob and hysterically point at the open window.
To explain it shortly, the Oni told them that an assassin was in the room and stubbed her brother as she entered and then escaped through the window. Once again, the acting was perfect. If Azula wasn't present and didn't know exactly what happened and what her reaction would have been like, even she might have fallen for it.
'W-what are you going to do to me?' Azula yelled as her mind, not like she could yell in reality. 'I'm the actual heir of the fire nation. You have seen Zuko, you know that I'm better than him in any way. I'm sure that we can work something out.'
Azula was not usually one to banter, if she wanted something then she demanded it. However, she could clearly see her disadvantage in this situation. Besides, she was better than Zuko. She may actually gain here a huge boon over her brother, as well as score a balancing on a knife edge from what could have been her death. Just enough time to get enough power from this thing before discarding it and making it pay for this humiliation.
'ARGH!'
A sharp spike of pain shot in her head as apparently, the Oni didn't appreciate her suggestion.
"Because I still have uses for you, I will not yet turn your brain to mush." The thing thankfully said in a much more humane voice. "But know this soul of tar, you are wicked, arrogant, traitorous, monster who cannot be trusted. One that thinks of herself far too highly. Don't even THINK that you can deceive me, infant, I manipulated civilizations long before the four nations were a thing. Try to trick me again, and I will purge your identity and replace it with the other one."
What other- never mind.
The guards led her to her room and the Oni ordered the guards to bring Uncle Iroh. Funnily enough, her uncle came before father had her summoned. Seriously, what's wrong with the security here? There is no way that her dad wouldn't have her summoned to know what happened.
"The bane of tyrants. When you punish capital punishment for every little thing, your minions will hide flaws from you instead of fixing them to escape your wrath. This, as you can see, makes your rule vulnerable and easy to dismantle. Especially for plot driven underdog heroes." It explained. "Awaking your father in the dead of night will be enough to grant them execution as is, to tell him that his son was nearly murdered by another under his roof and nose will promise a great deal of pain for many more."
That… this thing had a point. She loathed it, but the most important lesson she was thought, that people had to fear her, was being undone in front of her own eyes, and making them fear you more will only add fuel to the fire.
"Leave us." The oni said to the servants using Azula's mouth, now there were only the three of them here, herself, her uncle, and the Oni.
"Little dragon, listen and listen well. We don't have much time." Azula noticed the shock on her uncle's face, did he know what was happening?
"You?! What are you doing with my niece?" He accused the thing with pointed finger. "Was my nephew not enough, you abomination?"
So her uncle did know about the Oni, and yet did nothing?! Everyone is conspiring against her!
"Easy there, fat man." Azula's hand raised in a stop sign, she felt her expression shift to a bored one. "This body tried to stab your nephew in his bed. I was off his head at that time, so I couldn't warn the moron. I did manage to get hold on his sister and close the wound, but it's not the important part."
"I think it is very important, thank you very much."
"Call your lotus eating friends, make sure both Zuko and Mi-Dved are on the ship by dawn. We have to be gone before your brother wakes up. You will stay here to safeguard Jasmine from Ozai's ire." The Oni ordered her uncle, which didn't seem to amuse the old man.
"You don't order me around." Iroh said with crossed arms and a frown. "And before I will even think about trusting anything that comes from your mouth, you will release your hold over my niece and let me hear her side of the story."
"You actually trust her over me?" The thing made a raised one of Azula's eyebrows. "Sure, I'm a foreign influence that forced itself on your nephew and builds him to my image, and sure, I have eons of practice in deceit, but she's Azula."
Hey! She wasn't that bad!
Uncle Iroh didn't move a muscle. In the end, the Oni sighed and crossed Azula's arms.
"You know, for a former soldier you're very bad at following orders. I blame it for the lack of a wife ordering you around. You know, after you killed her by having stabbed her multiple times and infecting her with a parasite that bloated her belly and made it explode in an inglorious death after nine months of suffering. And you claim to love her no less, disgusting."
Azula had never heard of a more horrid way to describe giving birth, as well as gaslighting the father. She was so going to use it someday. And it was effective, if the grinding teeth and the expression of her uncle was anything to go by.
"But if it's that much important to you-" Azula felt something in her throat, as if something stopped pressing her. She didn't waste the opportunity.
"Uncle! Please help! This thing took over my body and made me stab Zuko! You have to get this thing off me, now!' Her voice, even as she yelled with all her might, was at the same volume as her regular speech. It was foolish of her to think that the Oni would have left such an obvious loophole.
In response, the thing on her head did something and suddenly moving pictures were shown on the wall, depicting exactly what happened. How did this thing do it? Was it some kind of spiritual nonsense?! In the end, Iroh just sighed and looked disappointed, like he always did when looking at her.
"Oh niece, I truly thought that you have changed." He shook his head with sadness. "Why Azula? Just why?"
"Fear mostly." The Oni proclaimed with her voice, as if stating facts. "She grew up knowing that only her father was above her, and her brother was hers to torment. She couldn't except the fact that she was no longer second best, the thought of her brother outshining her and paying her back for memories of childhood past terrified her to the core. This, and knowing that her brother will never again be so vulnerable ever again, caused her to act."
"Now if we finished this charade, I would very much like to get out of here. But no pressure, it's only your nephew's life on the line. Can you leave now and do at least do this one thing right?"
"Damn you to Koh, you despicable thing." The old man cursed. "And how do you plan to get back exactly?"
"I have my ways, don't worry about me." The thing assured. "And you'll have to try harder, that over bloated worm got nothing on me, and he knows it. No shoo."
"This isn't over…" Uncle Iroh growled as the Oni used Azula's hand to shoo him. Under other circumstances, Azula would have found this extremely amusing.
"Of course it isn't- and he's gone. Rude." The abomination shook Azula's head disapprovingly. "No manners in this age, really. Saved the only family he actually cares about and this is the thanks I get. Now as for you."
Oh no.
"Oh yes, don't think that I have forgotten about you. Now I will give you a very precise set of instructions, and you will listen." It addressed her in her mind as her body stabbed the knife into a wooden plank. "You will keep your mouth shut about me. No talking theoretically to your friends, no writing notes, not even talking to yourself while someone may hear you 'accidentally'. Failing to comply will result in frying your brain into mush by the implant I have planted in your brain.'
WHAT?!
"Oh, and another thing. You are to make sure that no harm is to come to Jasmine, be it physical or otherwise. She is to have the same treatment as any noble lady who is being fostered. Failure to comply with this task will result in the same punishment, her life is your life now. Is that clear?"
Crystal!
"Great, now never try something like this ever again."
Azula felt how the foreign presence left her mind as the needles left her brain. The last thing she caught before passing out onto her bed was the tiara changing form to a black helmet as it scattered off to the ceiling with its spider legs. Not before taking the wooden plank with the knife in it of course.
Here goes another fuel to her nightmares.
Katara made another kata as she water bended the ice around her, this time she made a storm of ice knives around her and smashed it right at another iceberg. She huffed a little from the effort.
"So, what do you think?" She asked her brother as he watched the display.
"Not bad at all." Sokka nodded. "Good against infantry and mounts, judging by the damage. But you probably shouldn't do it too often, you're getting tired after this."
"Fair enough." Katara replied after a few breaths. She looked at her work and seen something strange. "Sokka… I think that I see something in that iceberg."
"What, really? You sure you're not just tired, sis?"
"No, there is something grey there, look!" Her brother merely sighed as he followed her finger. He squinted his eyes, and it looked like he did see something.
"I think we should go, Katara. Whatever this is, it's not natural."
"But aren't you curious?" She asked her brother. "What if it's some trapped animal?"
"The only trapped animals that I know of are the Apex and whatever dad fought down there, and both things can stay trapped forever, thank you very much." Sokka made an X shape with his hands. "I say that some things are better left alone."
"But aren't you even a little bit curious?" Katara tried. "We may never see it again."
"Curious, sure." He nodded. "But not enough to risk our lives. Listen, there is something strange here, my Sokka sense is tingling. Whatever goes on here will give us some serious trouble, I just know it."
"You're being paranoid." Katara rolled her eyes. "In any case, I'm taking the canoe and checking this out. You can come with me or stay here if you're too scared."
She heard him cursing behind her as she went on the boat. "Just so you know, I think that it's a terrible idea and if things go south then I'm blaming you."
"Yea, yes, no stop being dramatic."
As they got closer to the iceberg, Katara could notice a human figure in there, and a rather small one at that. "Sokka, look! There is a kid there!" She pointed frantically.
The kid in question looked about twelve years old. He was bald and had strange arrow-like tattoos on his body. He wore some yellow and orange clothes that made Katara think of monks, or nomads, the sitting pose the boy was in also enforced said image.
"Katara, I really think we should go. Something's fishy here, and I don't mean the ones we just ate. He's obviously dead there, there is no point in breaking him out. As well as the furry monster that's surrounds him."
"Sokka, he deserves at least a proper burial!" She lectured him. "What are you going to say to mom and dad?"
"Argh… Fine… Let's get this over with. With any luck, the big cow may have some tasty meat." Sokka prepared his spear to stab at the figure just in case. "Ready to break the ice?"
"Always." She answered as she did a tearing motion with her hands, the ice crumbled, and her entire world turned white.
In the great library of the owl spirit, Wan Shi Tong hummed as the shockwave of Raava's awakening passes through.
"Write a note of the exact time and date." He addressed the seeker next to him. "And don't mess up the nanoseconds this time."
"Hm…" SensÖ, the war spirit, bent his head as he continued his never-ending duties atop of his throne. "So Raava have returned. Good, things are getting more and more exciting."
A world war and an overlord incursion at the same time? What more can a war deity ask for?
In the palace of the fire lord, a lone helmet cursed a storm as it crawled inside the walls at the dead of night.
Deep in the ground at the middle of the true south, the energy wave passed through the workshop. The shockwave overloaded the systems and forced them to reboot. It was only for a few seconds, but it was more than enough. A prisoner, a creature, felt the weakening of the bounds and acted. Breaking through rock and metal, it tore its prison and moved upward frantically.
Then, rock gave place to ice as the temperatures dropped lower and lower, but it mattered little to the creature. Evolution made sure that its kind was accustomed to such changes, and the sheer size of the thing combined with the changes it had endured erased whatever limitations it had left. Then, resistance ceased as it broke through the shell of ice and met with the upper world for the first time in a very long period.
It rose higher and higher until it seemingly reached the sun. Then, it screeched loudly for all to hear.
The Apex was free.
Even in the endless nothingness of space, the shockwave traveled still. The noise of the imbalance passed through a very special comet that was in its usual track. And when the energy passed, something STEERED.
AN
Hey, finally got it finished. Sorry for the wait, but life had been busy. I'm afraid that it will continue to be like this for a while, so I can't say for sure when the next update will be.
A honest question now. With Aang's awakening, this "book" basically ended as we return to canon time. Should I open a new continuation story or should I continue this thread?
By the way, I couldn't help myself but tinker with another idea that came to my mind. A crossover between Gravity Falls and Star Vs The Forces of Evil. I have the first chapter posted.
now for the reviews:
Arrowman:
Yeah, basically the entire thing was a propaganda scheme. Zuko needed starting the credibility to overthrow his dad somehow. Don't worry, it only gets worse.
FF8cerberus:
About fifty-fifty. Zuko really believes that the complete colonization of the water tribe will do them good. Unlike in early canon, however, he doesn't see them as sub-humans or pests. He completely believes that it's his duty to rule over all of mankind, with Sai very much grooming him to this. Therefore, he sees everyone as his responsibility.
Guest:
thank you!