3 Encounter

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After performing the ritual and demonstrating her new abilities to the Fire Master in the form of a more powerful blue flame, the princess' life didn't change much. Azula still trained most of her time, honing her fire and hand-to-hand combat skills to perfection. Instead of her normal relaxation at the hot springs, she preferred to read historical books on military topics, honing not only her fighting skills, but also sharpening her mind with what she thought was useful information.

No one in the palace noticed that she was becoming more and more irritable, and the books on military histories and campaigns of the past were joined by all sorts of books or scrolls on rituals.

This was partly my fault, or rather it was a natural consequence of my attempts to take possession of her body and regain her human feelings. Azula had been fond of showing off her high position and power over the fate of her servants at every opportunity before, but lately it had become too frequent. The girl enjoyed the fear of her subordinates, constantly reminding them with her little hints where they belonged and who stood in front of them.

Over the past four days, I tried to act as cautiously as possible, not giving too much cause for concern as I recovered from my wounds. Azula was an extremely intelligent individual, and that did not bode well for me. Just by one failed attempt to possess her body, I had made her suspect something, and begin to learn dangerous knowledge. Maybe she'd sense me and find a way to rid herself of the spiritual parasite. After all, I'm nothing to her. Unfortunately, that's not far from the truth.

But I couldn't just give up. It's not that I didn't want to, I just couldn't!

Her body had somehow, unbeknownst to me, become my very real prison. I was simply unable to leave Azula and look for a suitable body. Trying to do so caused discomfort mixed with pain. Perhaps it was the ritual, or the wounds I had received, or something that had escaped my attention... I had no definite answer.

Luckily it wasn't that bad. When she was awake, I could see with her eyes, listen with her ears, feel the echoes of the princess' emotions just a little. Observe her life from the outside. Azula had titanic control over her emotions, so the most pleasant thing was terribly little. To my great joy, I could see and feel the Qi flowing through her body, and that was the biggest plus in my position. Well, besides feeling the princess's emotions, which to me were like drops of sweet nectar.

Thanks to all this, I tried to spend my time to my best advantage. Studying Azula's character, behaviour, habits, preferences, manner of communication, ways of manipulation. I tried to understand how she sees lies, and also tried to adopt the skills of conquering fire with techniques of close combat. The latter was as good as it gets. Seeing how she interacted with her internal energy, Qi, I memorised her senses, the position of her body, the position of her internal energy, the interaction between her body and Qi, and their relationship to each other.

Because of my special gaze, which was somewhat wider than that of a human, I saw the world somewhat differently than Azula herself. I could look at her from a slightly outside perspective, and at the same time observe the world through her eyes. This, along with my sense of Qi, allowed me to learn from her experience in many things, and sometimes I could even see her mistakes and theorise how to make a particular technique better and more effective.

To confirm the theories, I had to take control of my sleeping body and try the techniques I had learnt. The risks were great, but I decided to take the risk anyway. Azula's chambers were large enough, and I was careful not to accidentally set them on fire or wake the girl up. I managed to confirm most of my theories about fire magic by leaving the princess asleep. Except that after that, she started spending more time on books about rituals, beginning to take an interest in various books about spirits.

It would have been a success if it weren't for one small "but" - her undeniable power that has no problem taking control of my body at the slightest wish.

When Azula's consciousness is asleep, I can interact with her body. But when she wakes up, I feel a fiery Gehenna at best, and at worst I feel a fiery Gehenna. Also, all my actions are not unnoticed by the real mistress of the body. I discovered this right after testing my theories on magic. That same afternoon, she started repeating my Qi experiments after me. I guess the princess sees my actions as I see hers. This was another piece of bad news that made me reconsider my immediate goals.

In the time since, I had often tried to occupy her body, to straighten out the girl and remain sole master of the new receptacle. It had all been in vain.

My attempts at best didn't work, and at worst I felt severe pain and immediately stopped all actions, hiding from the attention of the mistress. It made sense. It was her body, not mine. I was here solely as a parasite. It was foolish and naive to think that I would get a perfect body without any problems. I still have to fight for it and work my brains out.

In the meantime... the idea of taking over the girl's body had to be postponed until better times. I lacked knowledge, and this was my first attempt. And what made me think that taking the body from its true owner would be easy? Oh yeah... I don't even want to remember that nonsense.

As I pondered over the familiar topic of what to do next, I found more and more disadvantages to taking over Azula's body. And it wasn't just that she was a bit of a mismatched gender. I simply wouldn't be able to convincingly impersonate Azula. The girl's father would have no problem figuring me out, and neither would the servants... there are enough downsides to this idea.

On the other hand, it would be possible to use Azula... unless she uses me.

Still, the girl is extremely intelligent, perfectly capable of lying and sensing when she's being lied to. Using her in a dark way won't be possible, I just don't have enough skills. It's more like she's using me. But I don't see any other way, and it seems more favourable to me every time I think of it. Since I can't occupy her body, I can use all my knowledge to make her feel comfortable with me. And then I can look for ways to get stronger, and maybe I'll find a way to change my position as a prisoner, or even find a more suitable body.

But I'd have to make a connection with her. I had a few ideas on how to do that. Until now, I had been thinking about what I should do, and I hadn't rushed into it. And now I should not hurry, it is necessary to think everything over carefully, to work out a strategy, to get to know the princess as well as possible, to remember all her weaknesses, history, the end, the smallest details of her life....

Only time won't allow me to do that. Following Azula's life, I've more or less figured out what gap of canon I find myself in. Within this year, one bald monk will wake up from a centuries-long slumber, bringing me nothing good. So many ideas, so many ways to become stronger, so many possibilities, most of my after-knowledge is limited to a very short span of time because of one bald factor.

A year...

Taking a full breath, I stretch my whole body with pleasure. It felt so good, I didn't even want to think about the murky future. Yes, it was nighttime, and I couldn't deny myself the pleasure of lying in a luxurious bed, occupying someone else's body. Azula's mind was asleep, and in that time I had learnt what not to do so as not to wake her up inadvertently. Being in her bed, I could enjoy the usual human feelings, while thinking about what to do next.

It's just a pity I'm running out of time....

(***)

Seven days had passed since the ritual that made Azula's flame turn bright blue. The colour change was just the tip of the iceberg, the power of the flame had increased with the strength of her physical strength as well as her speed, agility and Qi control. Whereas before she could easily defeat five fire masters during training, now she had no problem defeating a dozen. But the Fire Lotus Ritual had its own strange effects. She had not yet realised whether they were positive or negative, and this uncertainty unnerved the princess, as did the incomprehensible visions, along with the strange state of sleep.

The day passed like many other days in the Princess's life.

In the morning she was tidied up by the servants, then she went to her training, after which she spent her rest in books, followed by meals and return to training. Quite often the routine was interspersed with military advice and some orders from the Fire Master. Unfortunately for the princess, this day went a little too routine.

After visiting the hot springs before going to bed, she settled down on her bed, expecting another strange dream instead of the usual dreams. Though dreams themselves rarely visited the princess' mind, the process of resting had changed considerably over the past week. Azula quickly connected this fact with the ritual, and after a long search among the library books of various subjects, she began to guess the unfavourable consequences of the ritual.

Sleepwalking.

Such was the affliction which the princess received in return for greater strength. Now she often walked around her room while she slept, sometimes training right in her private chambers. It was a small thing, but for the perfect Princess Azula, it was a huge embarrassment that she wanted to get rid of before anyone noticed her illness. The girl was overcome with cold rage, just imagining someone finding out about her shameful secret.

The situation was not even remedied by her sleep training, when she played with fire with unimaginable ease, doing something incomprehensible. Repeating what she had seen in her dream, Azula considered it a foolish waste of time. It was the last thing she wanted to do as a full-fledged combat technique for conquering fire magic. Controlling the shape of flames... a useless thing in real combat.

Unfortunately, neither in books nor in secret scrolls had she found a cure or any other way to get rid of this ailment. But she had read a lot of literature about rituals, spirits, various places and many other things.

Relaxing under the blanket, she waited for sleep, feeling a pleasant ache in her muscles and a slight drowsiness after today's training. The day had gone like hundreds of days before it - routine. Having worked out in training, the princess was about to surrender to the power of sleep when she suddenly heard a foreign voice in her chambers.

"Azula," came the instant response of a trained warrior. The girl tossed her blanket, hiding herself from the gaze of the unknown. Quickly dashing to the corner of the room, she adopted a fighting stance ready to slash the underhanded assassins to death. But her eyes did not see the enemy who had spoken her name.

Her chambers were empty, only the tossed blanket quickly falling to the floor. Looking round the room once more, she found no one. Throwing a glance in the direction of the bed, the princess instantly guessed the whereabouts of the unknown. Thoughts and guesses quickly began to form into plans within the princess' mind.

- I suppose since you gave yourself away, we can come to a compromise. I'll pay three times as much for the customer's head. I must admit, your skills are impressive, but now that you've given yourself away, there's no need to hide. One shout from me and every guard in the palace will come running, but I'm gracious. I'm giving you a chance to explain yourself," saying that, Azula carefully walked around the bed, moving quietly around the room.

"I'm not hiding, look under the bed," came the reply, but she couldn't make out where the voice was coming from.

- 'Foolish attempt,' the princess replied disappointedly before shouting, 'Guards! Guards to me! There's a murderer!

Not half a minute later, two fire mages burst into the princess's private chambers, clad in battle armour, they immediately adopted attack stances, allowing Azula to take cover behind their mighty backs.

After looking around the empty room, in the centre of which lay a crumpled blanket, they looked at the princess with a questioning look: -Your Highness?

- He's hiding, you knuckleheads, look under the bed! - The guards looked at each other and surrounded the princess's bed. After exchanging a few gestures, they began to approach the bed. Slowly, one of them came as close as possible. Grasping the cloth, he lifted it, peering under the royal bed and....

- There is no one here," the guard said briefly, throwing a questioning glance at the princess.

- Of course he's not there, because the murderer is hiding in the wardrobe! - Azula replied with irritation.

The guards stood in front of the cupboard and looked at each other. Scepticism was in their eyes, but duty was duty and the princess's orders were non-negotiable. One signalled for inspection, the other slowly approached the cupboard, placing his palm on the door handles, pulling them open.

- 'There's no one here,' the man remarked, looking at the dozens of identical red dressing gowns. To make sure for sure, he even moved the hangers, scrutinising the wardrobe from the inside.

Azula was still expressing her displeasure at the situation as well, frowning her eyebrows. The princess looked as if the dumbest guards in the entire world had come to rescue her. Angrily narrowing her eyes, she spoke:

- Of course, you took so long to come to rescue me that the murderer could have done the deed and fled the scene! An impermissible delay! If there had been a murderer here, I would be dead by now! - the girl angrily began to reprimand the men. It was only then that the men began to realise how screwed up they were.

- We apologise, Your Highness! - They answered at the same time, throwing themselves at Azula's feet.

- Don't make excuses, your inspection is over for today, go back to your duties. Tomorrow you will spar with me and you had better show what you can do if you want to keep your honourable positions. Dismissed!

- Aye," the guards beat their chests and hurried out of the angry princess' chambers, not wanting to aggravate their situation any further.

Azula was left standing alone in her room, alone with her anger, her thoughts, and her unknown interlocutor.

"That was funny," she heard the unfamiliar voice again, with a note of amusement in it.

Looking out into the corridor, she made sure the guards had escaped her wrath far enough away that they wouldn't hear her voice. She didn't need the servants to start thinking she was crazy, talking to the void in her room. Sitting down majestically on the bed, not showing her true emotions. Simultaneously contemplating what had happened.

- Where are you? - The words come off the princess's lips with restraint.

"Behind my back," the princess immediately jumped up from the bed, turning back around.

There was no one behind her back. Thinking that the interlocutor was simply invisible to her eyes, Azula picked up the blanket from the floor and dramatically threw it over the bed. It fell quietly as if there was nothing there.

"That was a joke, you could use some relaxation," came the same cheerful voice with a note of admonishment.

- Show yourself! - she orders, showing her irritation and anger with her voice.

"Come to the mirror," the invisible interlocutor replies calmly, not at all afraid to tease the girl.

Azula cautiously approaches the large mirror, seeing nothing but her reflection. Black hair, golden eyes, familiar facial features, a red dressing gown hiding her naked body. Her gaze found nothing remarkable.

"If you haven't realised already, I'm in you."

- Who are you?

"Finally the right questions. Who could be in your body? Especially after undergoing an old and questionable ritual under the guidance of someone who never performed that ritual?" - the answer was full of the unknown man's sneer, which did not stop making fun of the girl, pissing her off even more.

- Demon! - hissed in her reflection a hunch: - What do you want?! What are your goals!!!?

"You shouldn't raise your voice, unless of course you want to lie to the guards again. Speaking of which, I commend you for coming up with a lie so quickly and playing it so naturally, you're a fine actress, I'd clap, but I don't have any hands," the spirit kept verbally taunting the princess, forcing Azula to hold back from gritting her teeth.

Such an arrogant tone made the imperial person terribly angry. The princess would have lashed anyone who dared to speak to her in such a tone, but now she was dealing with a spirit that would be difficult to hurt. It was as if the unknown didn't care about her status, or the full power of the Fire Nation. And such a state of affairs made Azula very angry that since childhood she was used to special treatment in her direction.

"And all I need is nothing, a small thing, a mere trifle. I want to become a living person again, and you can help me a lot with that," the spirit continued in a confident voice.

- Why would I, the princess of the strongest country in the world, help some demon? - she replied icily to the spirit, not taking her evil gaze off her own reflection. If the servants had seen such a look Azula, they immediately rushed to their feet, begging for forgiveness. Except the demon didn't care about the girl's anger.

"Oh, you will not be left deprived, I know much and even more I will be able to give. Your benefit from our co-operation will only depend on your ability to listen, hear and learn. I have much to give your nation, to assist you on the path to your goals," the spirit continued to speak in a sweet voice until Azula abruptly interrupted him.

- You talk too much," the Princess spoke in a surprisingly calm voice, in complete control of her emotions, "You make a weak liar, I was naive to think I knew nothing about spirits or demons. I will get rid of you. I'll make you pay for your arrogance, you're just a pathetic parasite in my body that can't even take away my body. Soon you'll go back to your spirit world. I promise you will suffer greatly and regret your audacious attempt to inhabit me before you do.

"..."

Finished with her threats, Azula moves away from the mirror, leaving her chambers. The spirit on the other hand continued to remain silent, confirming the princess' guesses.