29 Chapter 29

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After one month of painfully slow sea travel, I had finally arrived at the Fire Nation, it took a lot of money and illegal activities… to do so… like for example, sneaking in the ship because I had no papers and there was no fucking way I was going to back down after being so close.

But none of that mattered, I was finally here… in the jaws of the lion. The prospect was both scary and exhilarating.

I still had a lot to travel, but it would not hurt to take it easy for the time being and enjoy the scenery. Until I know for sure where the Mother of Faces really is. For now I was going to enjoy my stay in Shu Jing.

The place was beautiful, it almost seemed designed to be pleasant and welcoming, like a trap, but it was most likely a place for old warriors to retire, after all, it was incredibly peaceful. And I could feel it… maybe the Empath thing was actually… a thing with me now…. great.

*Caw!*

"What up buddy… you found anything?" I chuckled, Crowley for one was excited to meet new places… and angry I didn't cook like Sakura did… ungrateful little…

As I walked around the plains with Crowley, a canal of water got my attention, it was mesmerizing, the crystal clear water with the occasional fish or turtle swimming beneath the water lilies that grew near the canal banks.

I followed mindlessly the road along the water into a particularly unique building, making me realize why I had a sense of dejavú here.

Perched high on a cliff, there was a beautiful castle overlooking the far away town of Shu Jing, and that castle was no other than the famous Piandao's castle, with a smile I used my water sense to feel the entire building, it took me a few seconds being that the building was massive and getting information from so far away was hard, but now I had a better idea what to expect, the castle had around fourteen bedrooms, with two gardens one on the front and one of the back, inside there were five people… all of them separated in different rooms.

Maybe I could get some sword training with the guy… God knows I'm not the best hand to hand combat. It could be an interesting way to utilize my time off my plan… at least until I find where in the heck is Forgetful Valley.

And there is always the chance he knows where my destination is… otherwise I would be very disappointed in the intellectual prowess of the White Lotus.

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[Azula POV]

Rumors were spreading far and wide that little hope of the water tribe was traveling around the world. Many think he's just looking for something, but I wasn't stupid… he was heading towards the fire nation.

How I found out was simple… the rumors had casually spread on a straight line towards the fire nation… one day he was riding towards the Great Divide and the next… no one knew where he was. Well, I did.

There was a fire nation colony a few hundred miles from the Great Divide, and it was much too convenient he disappeared that close to it. Meaning he had infiltrated the sheeps.

But for now… I would allow this, after all, it would be much more fun when Father asked me personally to kill the vermin under our noses, for now… I would let him play his game while I played mine.

"They were here," Ty Lee stated in her ever cheerful and annoying demeanor.

"A few days back… three at much," Mai added.

"It's alright… they will eventually meet their end at our hands," I smiled, after all… Zuzu, Iroh, The Avatar and his peons would all inevitably fall under my might.

"Any news about the water guy?" Ty Lee inquired.

"For now… he isn't our concern,"

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[Akira POV]

After knocking at the castle a few times and getting no answer, I decided to meditate… it had been quite a while since I talked with that crazy cat after all.

Taking a deep breath… I let the world around me disappear, like the wind of spring taking the cold away… but this time… something felt different… something felt foreign… darker and much, much more inhuman…

"Intriguing," A voice thundered inside my very core, shaking my stance like an earthquake, the voice seemed to come from everywhere around me, the feeling was darker than anything I had ever felt.

Inwardly cursing in shock… I opened my eyes to confirm my suspicions, I wasn't in the forest I would normally get after meditating… I was inside a tree… with a dark entity.

"Fuck," I cursed, in front of no other than fucking Vaatu… wondering how in the fuck was this happening, it was supposed to be impossible to enter his prison.

"How can a human so in tune with the spirit world be so ignorant," Vaatu chuckled in amusement, and well, this wasn't what I had been expecting at all, "Fear not… I don't want to kill you… yet," the evil spirit bent down ponderously, probably trying to figure out how to deal with me.

"You are Vaatu… right?" I asked, trying to make conversation, as I struggled to force my spirit back to my body to no avail, maybe it was all the negative energy pouring out of him, if before I wasn't sure about the empath thing, I was sure as hell now. With Vaatu, I felt his anger, his hatred… and even surprisingly his fear.

"I am…" Vaatu answered in a low tone, as he leaned close to my face stopping a few inches away from me as if a barrier stopped him, "But you already knew that… otherwise, why would you reek of fear..."

Reek of fear? How.... I wasn't afraid, not totally, but I knew I was screwed either way, here I had no bending… and the bastard was several dozen meters taller than me, "Why am I here?" I managed to articulate.

"And Empath… well, that explains a lot," Vaatu said in annoyance as if I had spoiled his fun, "As to why are you here… I have no idea,"

But a question popped in my head. Why didn't I feel fear? The guy was beyond striking league… was it because he couldn't hurt me, and his feelings were shouting that at me? Taking a deep breath I decided to bet on that, I was screwed either way if my hunch failed, "You can't hurt me can't you?" I asked.

Vaatu chuckled in amusement, as he tapped the invisible seal around him with his tail, before saying, "No… for now…"

"Well… not that I don't enjoy… talking with you," I said, letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding, in relief I had drifted outside his seal, "But I have to go…"

"Wait…" Vaatu called out, "I have a deal you might like…"