— Zula, be ready for anything, — I decided to hint at the danger of the trial, showing my support. Fortunately, I was already inside her, and if necessary, I could back her up from fatal mistakes. After all, something like this could frighten her.
— What do you mean?
— Go on, you'll understand soon enough…
The girl continued to walk towards the training hall, where she had been ordered to appear for a skills assessment. Azula's caution only intensified from my words. All I could do was guess how the princess would react when she found out who her opponent was.
Why him? Even with Zula's memories, I couldn't find an answer, nor the reasons for the future fight. Perhaps it was my intervention? After all, the girl had never undergone such trials in her life, and I knew it. Did I change the canon with my actions? Possibly. Quite possibly. Azula is much stronger than before we met. She showed independence, and he got scared and decided to make sure he still had ways to control his pet monster.
A turn, a corridor, another turn, and here is the last archway. The girl enters one of the palace training halls, sensing something was wrong even at the entrance. Female intuition is a terrifying thing. Upon entering the hall, her gaze immediately fell upon him.
I immediately felt her surprise. No, not even surprise; it was something much stronger than simple astonishment. Azula was thrown off balance by the sight of her opponent. I could even hear echoes of her mental cry of utter shock. The princess froze in place, likely recalling one of the most cherished moments of her life. Back then, he stood just like this, majestic and dangerous, as befits a man of his status. And then Zuko cried and got his scar, losing all semblance of honor, but not his life. And now she had to fight him…
— Surprised? — the opponent's calm voice rang out. He was dressed in ceremonial robes for fire duels. This was a successful psychic attack, causing only more fear in the girl.
— I didn't expect my opponent to be the Fire Lord himself, — the princess replied in the same manner to her father, who stood on the other side of the sand-covered hall. However, behind her outward composure, a true storm of emotions was brewing.
— Calm down. You are stronger than him, and I am with you. Everything will be fine, — I said to her mentally, offering words of support. This gesture of mine had an effect. She began to calm down, mentally preparing for the battle.
— Other firebenders have never been able to cause you any trouble before. Even a dozen such opponents wouldn't make you go all out. You can start the fight as soon as you are ready, — Ozai stated confidently, having surely noticed his daughter's hesitation. Yes, despite their peculiar relationship, the father knew his daughter very well.
In response to the Fire Lord's speech, Azula slowly began to enter the arena, battling her inner demons.
— Don't worry. Put up a good fight. You don't have to win. He's the strongest firebender in the world. He's confident in his superiority. Use his pride. Show him everything you're capable of! — I continued to support her with my words, slightly exaggerating Ozai's strength if necessary…
Azula herself probably wouldn't be able to handle him; it's not even about strength, but about emotions and psyche. However, with my help, we might just take him down. But there are witnesses here, the emperor's personal guards. And the fight itself is not just a test of skills. It's something more. I'm more inclined to believe that Ozai wants to see how loyal his daughter is to him and how well she follows orders. It's likely for something like this that he decided to personally spar with her. He had never done this with his daughter before, limiting himself to demonstrating techniques.
— It's okay, it's almost a regular sparring match, and I'm with you if anything, — I continued to support the girl, feeling almost like a coach for some cool boxer.
With each step, Azula grew calmer. Her confidence grew, and as soon as she took her place as the second duelist, I felt absolute silence.
A moment. The opponents, looking at each other intently.
The tension mounts.
Another moment, and two waves of fire, blue and bright golden flames, fly towards each other.
The fight has begun.
Flames collided and disappeared in the air. Then they collided again and disappeared again. The opponents were almost equal in a direct clash of magic. Only I could see that Azula, consciously or not, was weakening her flame. Slightly, but weakening it, thanks to which her father was able to push her back with relative ease. Attack after attack, she retreated, not having time to block all of her father's assaults.
There was no more doubt. If it continued like this, she would lose. The same was true with opening chakras. She couldn't admit to herself that she was afraid of something. Harming her father? Disappointing him? Losing his love? It doesn't matter. I need to act!
— I'm with you, — expressing my support, I began a gradual merger with her. Our minds and feelings united, my spiritual energy began to resonate with her Qi, we became one whole, and the pattern of the fight began to change.
Now we started to push him back. Accelerated reactions allowed us to discern all of the opponent's tricks, and a strong body allowed us to respond to them in time and use them to our advantage. Even the power of the flame began to surpass Zula's father's fire. Using acrobatic skills along with firebending, we forced our father to dodge using reactive propulsion. However, he did not stop counter-attacking, but it was no longer a problem. Ozai clearly did not like such changes in the fight's dynamics.
The battle continued even more fiercely and aggressively.
Blue flame met golden-orange fire, and then the clashing, heat-emitting attacks disappeared in the air. And so it went, time and time again. As soon as we got close to the opponent, he changed position, attacking even more fiercely. We even saw gaps in his defense and could deliver a decisive blow, but that would have required using lightning or, even worse, the sai daggers hidden in his boots. The princess did not wish to kill her father, and daggers were inappropriate for a fire duel.
After dancing like this for about five minutes, Ozai decided to increase the pressure, starting to use the most complex and destructive firebending techniques. The first move was a fire bomb. Azula managed to defend against it with a flame sphere.
However, the attack did not stop there. Fireballs flew around the hall, crashing into the sand and causing explosions. Flaming blades, arcs, whips, rings, and full waves of fire with flame bombs repeatedly shattered against the opponents' defenses, leaving their mark on the arena. Every firebender knew how to dissipate flame, but in some cases, it was easier to dodge or block an attack with their own fire. Azula relied more on evasion, which her young and agile body allowed her to do without much difficulty. Ozai, on the other hand, relied more on simple defense with instant counter-attacks and the reactive propulsion of his own flame, which he used to dodge. After all, the Fire Lord had to be one of the strongest benders, otherwise the dynasty would change.
— He's letting the fire in the hall spread! — a thought unexpectedly sounded in our united minds. When we noticed how the fire calmly burned on the sand, not thinking of going out, only growing larger and larger.
Ozai, after all, possessed great experience in firebending and dueling. It was cunning and treacherous, just his style. Soon he attacked, intensifying his assault with the surrounding flame. If our energies hadn't resonated, the fight would have ended there, and Azula would have suffered severe burns all over her body. But due to the resonance of our energies, the protective fire sphere managed to withstand the Fire Lord's strongest attack, which turned almost all the sand in the arena into glass.
All the flames extinguished for a moment, blinding our sight.
A moment. And we noticed the opponent's serious gaze. Ozai was tired from the prolonged fight, drops of sweat trickled down his tense face. However, his next movements made us freeze in place. Azula simply couldn't believe he would attack us so seriously.
The Fire Lord began making circular movements with his hands, which began to spark.
Time seemed to slow down. We saw Ozai begin to master lightning. This could kill us! Our own father would kill us! Stop panicking, Zula! Dodge? We won't make it in time. Defense is useless. Counter-attack with lightning? We'll both die.
Tenths of a second slowly dripped away from my hands. The princess could do nothing, being in complete shock. I, on the other hand, frantically tried to find a way out and not die at the hands of her father. If I had a sword, I could have repeated Piandao's trick… exactly!
In less than 1.5 seconds, the Fire Lord masters lightning, and a deadly arc rushes towards me. But a meter from me, the lightning sharply changes direction, being absorbed into a hastily thrown sai, which I managed to pull out of my boot.
The metal absorbs the charge, heats up to red, and falls to the ground.
We are saved!
The fight stopped. We stood frozen opposite each other. Ozai stared at me silently, his eyes wide open, while I wasn't in a hurry to attack, although I should have finished him off. But I still need him. To my great regret. As for Azula, she was still in a state of shock and didn't hinder me from controlling her body at all, hiding in the background of our consciousness.
— We'll end our sparring here. You have demonstrated skills worthy of a princess of the Fire Nation, — Ozai praised restrainedly, deciding to overlook the attempted murder of his own daughter.
— I serve the Fire Lord, — I replied, bowing. This was the best I could do right now.
— I wished to see your lightning bending. Follow me…
To my good fortune, I didn't have to talk to the scumbag for long. We went outside. On the way to the fresh air, Azula finally came to her senses, taking control of her body from me. There was no more fighting foreseen, so I retreated deeper into the girl, weakening our connection but not breaking it entirely. Although it was already hanging by a thread. Effective resonance requires effort from both of us. The girl felt quite unsure, even though she hid it perfectly. I, on the other hand, was trying to calm her raging emotions from everything that had happened. It was going reasonably well.
Having demonstrated perfect lightning bending, which took the girl just under two seconds to create, she left her father impressed. Yes, Ozai was greatly impressed by his daughter's skills, likely wondering how the fight would have gone if they were fighting to the death. Usually, rare lightning benders take five to ten seconds to create the deadliest fire magic known to the world. A result of two seconds is extremely rare. Achieving this at fourteen years old is a great accomplishment. However, for Azula, this was just another proof of her uniqueness.
— It's time to tell Father how much you want to check how the people are carrying out his will. More fanaticism in your eyes and demonstrative respect bordering on adoration; he likes such flattery, — I chimed in, while my father praised his daughter for her successes with a meager half-smile.
— Do I need to be in the capital, Lord of Fire?… — the girl cautiously began to probe the ground for the question we needed.
Over the next five minutes, Azula demonstrated high diplomatic skills and command of language. Gauging her father's mood, she skirted around the topic, discussing the current politics of their nation. The Fire Lord responded cautiously, even with some wariness, to his daughter. During their conversation, he managed to change into his usual Fire Lord attire. Ozai was in no hurry to dismiss his daughter, which already gave hope for the best outcome. Continuing to talk all the way to Ozai's study, she spoke with him almost to the very threshold.
— Father, I wish to embark on a journey through the cities and colonies of our country to personally observe how the people follow your will, — Azula finally proposed, almost at the door, when they were conveniently alone.
— I will consider your proposal. We will talk about it tomorrow morning. You may be dismissed, — the Fire Lord replied with a meager smile on his face, after a moment of thought.
— Thank you, — bowing, Azula said goodbye to her father and headed to her chambers.
I didn't know what Ozai was thinking when he did what he did, then and during the conversation with his daughter. This evening, I would have to rectify such an oversight. Surely, his daughter's increased power must have made him fearful. We can only hope that Zula and I demonstrated enough loyalty to calm his paranoia. And he had it, that much I knew for sure.
Meanwhile, the princess, in a mixed state of emotions, reached her chambers. I tried not to bother her, understanding that the girl needed to think everything over in silence. After all, I myself felt the same emotions to some extent. Right now, she was more confused than ever and couldn't think clearly due to her emotions. Zula's father wasn't around, so I relaxed my control, retreating entirely inside Azula, ceasing to filter her feelings. She could handle it herself from now on; the girl had excellent self-control.
Upon entering her own room, her gaze immediately fell upon several maids cleaning the room. Due to the unexpected duel with her father, we both forgot about such a trifle.
— My lady? How can we help you? — the first maid to see Azula asked.
— Are you not finished cleaning yet? — the princess inquired, surveying the room and the three maids who had stopped cleaning and bowed before her.
— We beg your pardon, my lady, we will work faster, — the maid's voice trembled slightly, and it was clear she was starting to worry.
— Don't rush. Do everything perfectly, I'll wait, — all the maids' eyes widened involuntarily; one even gaped. The maids' reaction made Azula raise an eyebrow in surprise.
— Y-yes, my lady.
After a thoughtful look at the maids, the princess left her chambers, heading in a direction known only to her.
What is happening to her? What is going on in this girl's head?
— Wow, what's up with you? You were just polite to the servants? That's unusual… — I sent her a mental message, impressed by the princess's actions.
Azula continued to walk through the palace corridors. Her feet led her to one of the many secret places in the palace. There, in the hidden corridors that few people knew about, she decided to sit and do nothing. Hugging her knees, she curled up into a ball in the pitch darkness, trembling all over. It seemed the after-effects of what she had been through had finally reached her mind. Amazing resilience; I had stopped suppressing her emotions almost immediately after the conversation with her father. So, what should be done in such moments?
— Decided to get some fresh air in the dusty corridors of secrets? — I asked her, tuning into her feelings for better understanding.
— …
What strange feelings the girl was experiencing. Such a tempest, like a real storm, it's good that it reaches me in a greatly weakened state. It seems, no, it doesn't seem, tears are indeed starting to flow down her face. I need to do something; she might have a hysteria.
— You know, if you keep silent, I won't be able to help you, — I continued to try to establish a dialogue.
— He attacked me with lightning… — the girl replied in an emotionless voice.
— Oh! You're finally starting to understand what kind of person your father is? Yes, he could have killed you today, but it didn't happen. Let me out; it's uncomfortable talking to you while being inside you, — after which I calmly left the girl. Navigating perfectly in the pitch darkness, I sat down opposite her.
— You saved my life… — she continued to look through the darkness of the corridors, reacting very strangely. I never knew how to comfort, and it didn't seem like she needed it.
— Well, Zula, don't cry. It would have been a sin not to save your firm little backside. Your death would have been a loss for all of humanity, — I told her what I thought. With proper upbringing, she could have become much better than what grew up under Ozai.
— Ha… — she chuckled. — Thanks for that, Yoaru.
— If I had a body, I'd hug you, try to comfort you, do many other interesting things with you, but I don't have a body. All I can say is: everything will be fine, I'm still with you. Together, we will overcome all difficulties.
— Thank you… Thank you for everything.
We talked for a long time in private, hidden by the darkness of the secret corridors, before returning to the princess's chambers.