Chapter 217: Lashing Out (1)
What Nik didn't expect while lending a hand to others in packing up the circus into a caravan was the news of utter devastation by one of the Rebel's most loyal scouts— Jet, or rather Smellerbee. Jet was the monicker she chose to adopt to honor the memory of her previous leader who died to firebenders.
Zuko... disappeared.
The Dai Li agents imprisoned burnt till their flesh melted into the iron of the metal fortress and all the guards disappeared.
The further inquiry made it clear that the most probable suspect was none other than Kei Lo. The youth being Zuko's best buddy only meant one thing— Zuko had relayed quite a bit about his life to Kei Lo. But even if Nik and others worked under the assumption that the Phoenix King would know of their plans... they did not expect the strike to not end the rebels but the Dai Li agents themselves.
It had to be known that each Dai Li agent was superior to a regular earthbender and needed a lot of resources to train. But to burn them... possibly alive at that, made no sense.
What was going on?
And how did the rebels disappear without any signs of struggle?
With her beautiful golden eyes largely hollowed and only revealing abject horror on her tear-stricken face, Ursa collapsed on her knees not far from the location. She, alongside Nik, Azula, Iroh, June, Toph, and Sokka had arrived at the location. The latter three could be considered remarkable trackers and Nik himself had variations of seismic sense from other elements and pure chi itself.
Even if Ursa wasn't responding and quietly sobbed in Azula's arms who herself had a blank expression, Iroh revealed to be calmer than expected as he gave the metal fortress a disgusted glare while the cavern was filled with the stench of the rotten dead in a matter of hours.
Keeping their silence as Ursa's sobs echoed in the cavern, the rest got to work. Knowing how disgusting the scene will be, Nik made sure that others did not get to see it if they had nothing to do with it. Of course, this gave Toph another chance to slip in a blind joke and tag along after assuring Poppy a great deal while the rest continued to help the Circus pack up.
Nyla, June's Pet Shirshu, proved somewhat ineffective in this situation with the stench of the death filling the cavern entirely but ineffective did not mean useless. June still had confidence that she would get results. It was Toph and Sokka who was far behind June, like Nik. They found nothing from their regular means and Iroh volunteered to enter the fortress so that others do not get to see the scene of carnage.
"Hey, I got something!" June's words pulled everyone's attention except Iroh who was still within the Fortress.
The group quickly recollected around June who was crouched over a tiny bit of white powder barely visible if one strained their senses while Nyla sat on the other side and shook his head as if experiencing something strange.
"Some drug," June scowled, "Nyla's acting weird the moment he sniffed it from a distance."
"L-let me see..." Ursa whispered weakly and before Azula could even protest and keep her mother from exerting herself any further, the woman was on her knees, her face pushed close to the chalk-like remnants, and sighed weakly once again with her shoulders still shivering.
"It's... an odorless poison supposed to paralyze the target for a few hours. In high dosage, it becomes extremely lethal..." She tried standing up but her knees gave in. Not from the poison but from her own dire mental state but before she buckled down, June quickly caught the woman and let out a tired groan, "Princess, take your mom back—"
"No!" Ursa snapped with a disturbingly frantic look on her face as tears began to spill out from her eyes once again, "I will stay until we find my Zuko!"
While others revealed a somewhat conflicted look, Azula more than most, Ursa stood her ground and refused to return. Her knowledge of poisons came from her history as being a botanist who helped her parents before she got married. But even when they now knew how the rebels must have been incapacitated... it was still strange how they all disappeared with no apparent change in the structure of the cavern— Toph made sure of that.
This meant that dozens of rebels... disappeared.
And this brought the group a nasty case of deja vu as they only knew one individual with such a mysterious ability...
Returning an equally confused look, Nik shrugged eventually. According to him, he should be the only one from Transmigration Paradise that came to this world but given how more information would unlock at every rank, he couldn't be sure now.
It was either this or a 'mischievous' spirit at it again.
Damn those spirits, Nik scoffed. Aside from the Flower of Fertility who made 'it' tame... most spirits are just wildly strong and dangerous.
Nik also felt that if there was someone like 'him' in this world, Mokshi would have tried to be with that individual first, a situation that did not occur.
Iroh returned soon and shook his head silently. The fortress was a burnt, charred mess that motivated Nik to quickly 'dump' it in the mouth of Infinity.
[AP: 11.06→ 12.36]
---
The Circus Caravan was quick to move. Initially, they intended to do a little more entertainment while moving toward the entrance of Phoenix City but that was brushed off as Lu Kin was made aware by Iroh of the severity of their situation. They did not just have to end Phoenix King's rule but also save Zuko.
However, they couldn't leave the circus unprotected. If the entire fortress can be ambushed in such a manner... who's to say that Ozai wouldn't do the same for the circus. And given the fact that even if Dai Li's method could not gain loyalty but still hypnotize someone temporarily to fork out every bit of information, Nik and others found it prudent to keep themselves grounded in reality and understand that their plans were definitely mostly exposed already.
The Dilemma Zuko might be facing made Sokka grimace as the young chieftain had been there so it was hard not to empathize.
So, they had a choice. Either go on with their earlier plan and keep up with pretenses or rush towards Phoenix City by letting others into Nik's personal space. If Nik would have agreed to the idea before... he wasn't so sure now. There was no way to tell if the Circus was 'clean' of these sleeper agents. The only thing that assured Nik was that he could 'see' everything in his personal space should he wish for it and easily 'throw' out any individual that gives Nik a reason to believe that they'd been compromised.
The Poor Man's Land was extremely vast and the journey to Phoenix City on foot would take a day at the very least but they did not have such leisure.
As such, two figures could be seen far in the distant sky 'gliding' as the wind around them entirely supported their flight.
While Nik still needed some more finesse to become an expert on Airbending, he did have enough skills to glide using the special glider staff gifted to him by Aang. The Avatar and the Plunderer kept their silence, not having any idea what to speak at the moment, and considered their situation itself which was... honestly strange.
---
"I still don't get it," Seated and unfazed by the number of women in the room with his index finger strumming his cupped chin, Sokka spoke seriously while others did various practices in the spacious living room to warm themselves up for any situation.
"What?" Katara inquired.
"Why would Ozai not kill the rebels?" Sokka questioned loud enough since he wanted everyone's input. Well, those that remained, that is. Azula, Ursa, Ty Lee, Jin, Michi, and Poppy weren't present.
Seeing that he had everyone in the circle of conversation including the 'innocent' Tom-Tom who had more blood on his hand than Rena, Sokka remarked, "If the Phoenix King can kill the Dai Li agents, his supposed ally, then why capture the rebels... and I feel that we should prepare that the 'disappeared' rebels are just bait. We shouldn't discredit the possibility that they are already dead."
Everyone's expression grew grim as Sokka continued, "I just feel that the entire situation is... weird. Weirder than spirits. Sure, Phoenix King kidnapped Zuko... but why? We were already going there. We would have been blindsided well enough if he took us all by surprise with that poison..."
Seeing Sokka raise some good points, Iroh couldn't help but frown. Indeed, if his brother had such intellect then why not use it appropriately? They did siege Ba Sing Se back then, so, Ozai was intelligent even if not wise.
And then it hit Iroh—
"My brother is only... frivolous when he hunts... and when he hunts—"
---
"He only wanted to hurt ME!" Ursa, with her head on Poppy's lap, cried her eyes out in a different room. Michi sighed deeply as Ursa kept on saying the same thing. The former queen of the Fire Nation was almost entirely sure that the Phoenix King targeted Zuko for a special reason.
But what the exact reason was... that they did not know. And they didn't desire to probe for the information. Michi and Poppy were only here to keep Ursa from spiraling out. They knew it was a possibility because they themselves would spiral out if their children were suddenly abducted by their former husbands.
But... Ursa shifted sooner than later. Still crying but also too... frantic to care as she whispered. She wasn't trying to tell Michi or Poppy her side of the story... Ursa was just talking to herself in hushed whispers.
"He always scorned Zuko... always tried to create a rift between him and Azula. Made me marry him because of some prophecy that my... lineage and his would create the strongest firebender. But Zuko never matched those expectations... and when I tried to cover my son from harm, he would... *hic* he would cruelly discipline Zuko... It was my fault. Had I not done that... Had I not tried to hurt Ozai... none of this would have happened..."
She cried and she cried and finally... whispered a few things that made Poppy's and Michi's eyes widen in surprise.
---
"I said, I'm fine!" Azula growled, torching yet another tree with a massive jet of blue flames throttling out of her clenched, sharp left jab that turned the tree into crumbling ashes in a matter of seconds. 'Sensing' her visitors still not leaving, Azula's head whipped back with her hair somewhat disheveled, "Did you not hear ME? Piss off! I don't need your pity of all people!"
Her golden pupils somewhat glowing with a cruel glint glared in the direction of a wheat-skinned petite woman with generous curves covered by her green, pale-yellow trimmed kimono as her twintails rested past her shoulders and onto the slope of her voluminous breasts.
Not averting her gaze, Jin kept a lid on her lips as Azula grunted and turned her attention towards Ty Lee who had a 'worried' expression.
Worry...
For her?
The Mighty Princess?
A threatening growl escaped Azula's lips who didn't know WHY she was this pissed?! It was entirely Zuko's fault for trusting the wrong goddamn individual with his secrets. The stupid one got what he deserved. His trust fully reciprocated with rightful betrayal!
Yet...
For some reason, as Azula recalled WHY Ozai may have targeted Zuko, her frustration peaked and it did not help that the Circus 'Freak' opened her mouth—
"Azula... your aura is getting really dark and grimy. You should try to calm down... Whenever I am feeling unrest, I cannot give my best. So—"
"Calm down?" Azula's breathing settled before she seethed, "CALM DOWN? Oh, poor baby, did your brother get kidnapped, too? NO! Take that goody-two-shoes act to those who buy it you freak of a hussy! And what the hell are you doing here? What? Others gave you no attention because they now have more severe things to focus on? Does your unimaginably tiny mind cannot comprehend that NOBODY gives a fuck about you?! That your selfish need for attention just because your mother pumped seven identical faces made you starve for others' looks from the beginning is not working finally?!"
Azula heaved and panted, her eyes grew more bloodshot with each subsequent sentence and Ty Lee's eyes, too, grew watery with every jab of words that pierced her being.
Aside from the sound of swaying grass and Azula's heavy breathing, the surroundings grew silent.
Jin had a deeply conflicted expression as Ty Lee turned around with tears silently dripping down her cheeks. The acrobat ran away quickly, her sobs too stifled to be heard by others while Azula slowly regained her bearings.
"Feeling better now?" Jin inquired with a sigh as Azula turned away, "Fuck off. I don't need your pity."
But instead of being offended since Jin had been too hurt by Azula, too, once to even register such minor offenses, stepped towards the equally confused and hurt princess who WILL drag others to her emotional spectrum to feel better.
"Like I would pity a monster that you really are..." Jin jabbed where it hurt when it came to Azula but... while the two were at each other's throats many times, they did care for Zuko, too. So, while Ty Lee may have honestly hoped to make Azula feel better, it wasn't her place.
The two silently stood in each other's company. As Azula said, she didn't need consolation. She needed blood to quench the flames burning within her, raging in her veins, and filling her mind with murderous thoughts.
After what felt like hours, Jin finally let one hand of hers firmly hold Azula's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze, "Break a leg out there."
"I don't need YOU saying that," Azula snorted.
"And once this is over... do apologize to Ty Lee. You never did say sorry to me even when you felt it so better to make things right the second time." Jin uttered with a sad sigh.
"Bitch, I did more than just 'say' sorry," Azula muttered.
"And look what it got you. Only taunts. Sometimes words work wonders, that's what your Uncle taught me."
"Great, the both of you share the same cup size. May as well bloat as much as my uncle."
Jin finally snorted but before she could even take back her hand, she found Azula keeping a tight hold on it. Turning to look at her, Jin found Azula biting her lips while looking conflicted.
"I'm sure Zuko will be fine," Jin asserted, "Just as how I'm sure that Ty Lee would get over what you said in time and with an apology."
This made a low sigh escape the troubled princess' lips.
***
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