trans_9 | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Azula hadn't had alot of luck with the Sensoriums before, typically they reflected her own shattered psych and that was miserable for her on every level.

But with Zuko's help ~~sucker~~ Azula had found ways to calm her mind when it began whirling too fast.

It was all about fire, the life giver, the destroyer. The fire inside her that kept her going.

And so she entered the Sensorium today with a controlled confident walk and brought the world up around her.

Fire Nation Capital during the Fire Days Festival had always been one of Azula's favorite times in the past. She could walk through the festival with respect and without fear. People moved to let her pass, she never had to stand in line for the things she wanted to buy and the entertainment was always top class.

And it didn't hurt that she had gone to more then a few of these with Mai and Ty Lee.

Still this recreation didn't fill her with the warmth and nostalgia she had been hoping for. She moved through the crowd of simulations quietly and felt something else, something different and all together unpleasant.

Regret? Homesick?

The stalls of colorful masks and puppets, spicy food and beautiful trinkets did little distract her from this and she turned her eyes to the sky as beautiful golden paper lanterns glistened and began to lift into the sky powered by the flames of her people.

"How many of you even wondered where I vanished to?" She wondered out loud though none of them made notice. "Did even one of you object to his rule? Or were you all too pathetic and cowardly to even consider getting involved in your own futures?"

She looked back to the lights in the sky and tried to focus on the fire again. Even if this simulation wasn't pleasing her she wouldn't let her own delicate mental state ruin her festival.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

And the small-for-his-age ten-year-old boy who walks into the sensorium with his nose stuck in a book on fire spells won't look up until he's already in.

"Wow! This is Brill!" Alex declared. It takes him a moment to realize that he's intruded. "Oh. Sorry."

Azula gave him a glance and for a moment his dark hair and size made her think of her brother...though at that age she would have been even smaller.

"Who are you?" She didn't sound angry, but she wasn't pleased to see him.

"I'm Alex!" Alex proclaimed enthusiastically. "And this." He raised his free hand, which was apparently empty, then looked at it, then switched his book to that hand and raised the hand with an arcane-looking ring on it. "Is Ifrit! And this city is terrific! Is this where you live when you're at home?"

"Usually...my home is actually there." She gestured to the palace on the hill, "I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, and this is my kingdom."

He was a child, but not an annoying child...yet. And what was that book?

Alex looks over at the palace. "Brill! Nice to meet you, Highness!"

"I think I wandered into the wrong place entirely," the Akashic said to no one in particular as he strolled through the festival, looking curiously at the sights and sounds. "Not very sorry I did though!"

It was always so nice to get the appropriate amount of respect.

"Now what exactly was this?" She asked prodding the book he had with him.

"It's a book about beginner's fire magic. I'm getting lessons. Most of the words don't translate, but Soren says it's important to get used to them so I can say them eventually."

"It's beautiful isn't it? To see the streets so full of life." She mused glancing at the fake crowds milling about. "The Fire Nation enjoyed generations of prosperity, it's people never having to worry about going hungry, over crowding. They had heroes they could look up to." She gestured to a puppet show of the Fire Lord fighting off Earth Benders that the children were cheering for.

"Fire magic..." she smiled and held out her hand summoning a ball of flame, "Something like this?"

She did unfortunately note it was only orange and not blue.

Oh hey, she's real. Well, he guessed SOMEone in this whole place had to be, to make the rest of it.

He walked a little closer to her as he watched the puppet show curiously, the better to converse. "Heroes. Not a bad thing to have. We were out, on my world; have been for a very long time."

"Wow! Brill. Yeah, I want to do that. Ifrit, when can I do that?"

"~When? Kid, I'll be relieved if you ever learn to do any of this without hurting yourself.~" The voice hung in the air around the boy.

Azula raised an eyebrow, "Your book talks?" She asked closing her palm and snuffing out the flame.

She smirked "I'm not entirely sure my world had many left by the time I was taken from it."

After all she had often thought of herself as one of the fire nations greatest heroes even if she was a monster.

Alex shakes his head as he tucks the book under his arm. He raises the hand with the slightly-glowing ring again. "Ifrit talks. He's a....gen--"

"~A djinn. I swear, you are the only human ever to own a djinn and not pronounce it properly. Trans-planar spirit of unquenchable fire, princess. Bound in a ring. You seem like you're from somewhere civilized; maybe you've heard of it.~"

"Had a nice little festival atmosphere, though!" It kind of reminded him of a Rennfest, except for being current rather than nostalgic. That wasn't a bad thing, though.

How she got here was a mystery. No, it wasn’t really a mystery given that she had been exploring every nook and cranny of the city she could possibly travel her bare little feet to. Somehow this exploration allowed her to find this particular area of the ship, one of which took on a whole new world entirely.

Everything about this festival managed o lure the unsuspecting long-haired maiden inside, particularly the way the lanterns seemed to light up the festival with its marvelous glow. It was nothing like she imagined it to be on her homeworld, but that didn’t stop her from admiring them.

"Incredible," She murmured softly to herself, unaware that all of this was a mere illusion. Like a moth to a flame or a Rapunzel to a lantern, she was drawn.

Azula blinked and turned slowly to see Repunzel. "Oh, I didn't see you come in." She smiled softly, "Welcome to my home, the Fire Nation capital."

The festival radiated warmth and life. The scent of spiced food filling the air, and everything had a golden hue to it from the flames burning bright.

Azula's eyes lit up with the potential, "I haven't but it sounds very powerful. And that book will help you channel the power?"

Rapunzel didn't even seem aware that anyone else was present until Azula's voice soothingly graced her ears. "Oh! Heh, I didn't realize this was your area," She responded, eyes wandering back to the festival in all its glory.

"This is your kingdom?" She asked, unable to keep still for long and began to wander off again, mostly to admire every lantern she came across. "It's ... beautiful."

"It's a traveling festival." She explained moving over to one of the stands to admire the masks, "Celebrating the glory of our nation and the life and passion our people do all things with."

An example of such began up the street, fire dancers performing elaborate feats with flame and fast feet. Agile and graceful they moved around the stage creating constructs of fire, rings and spirals and shapes. Even a mighty Phoenix.

"~Oh, he had me long before the book. But there's only so many ways he's willing to use me,--~" Ifrit's voice may betray a dry hint of 'my master is naive and idealistic. This is my life. It's annoying' in it. "~-- and many of them are restricted on this ship. We're hoping the book will help him tap into a certain family potential -- his grandmother didn't get me by being a simple old woman, after all -- so he can better defend himself.~"

"It's a memory." She explained taking up one of the lanterns which had come unlit. "The ship has rooms that can create whatever you like. And I have felt decidedly...homesick." Only partially a lie. She wasn't sure why she had summoned up the memory but it felt like it was helping.

In fact as she held out her hand the flame that appeared in it was no longer orange, but a cool cold blue. She felt her heart jump, and gently guided the flame into the lantern putting out a different shade of light.

"Very interesting." She smiled at the boy, a somewhat unsettling smile.

"The power of the ages, a family tradition, and a young boy with the strength to uphold it all. I can see why Stacy chose you."

Alex beams, without a single clue that a smarter person might be creeped out by that smile. "Thanks!"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 5