The ship reached the Earth Kingdom quickly enough. The vessel I was assigned was quite conspicuous. It was longer than usual and had something akin to a four-story pagoda instead of a wheelhouse. Furthermore, the ship stood out because of its colors. Certain parts were painted gold. Only members of the royal family had the right to travel on such a ship. And not even all of them. I heard that Prince Zuko was sent on his mission to find the Avatar on a standard Fire Nation warship. Lu Ten also never used this vessel. But then, he had a unique relationship with all transport in general.
Ordinarily, ships sailing to or from the Fire Nation are constantly inspected. And these checks sometimes take an entire day. Situations can vary. A ship, for example, could easily be captured by pirates or enemy saboteurs. But among the numerous Fire Nation guard ships, no fool was found who would dare stop and inspect a royal family vessel. For this reason, our journey to the Earth Kingdom was so brief.
We encountered no obstacles on our path. The weather didn't change drastically. It remained calm throughout our entire journey. We didn't stray from the course. We didn't meet any underwater monsters or evil spirits. Well, Azula and I thought so, but the crew was certainly frightened by the mysterious disappearance of one crew member.
Only once did a suspicious ship begin to approach us, but upon seeing that it was a royal family vessel, it quickly changed course. Even the pirates had the sense not to mess with us, although the reward in case of success promised to be enormous. We didn't pursue that ship. Our vessel, unlike other Fire Nation military ships, was not as fast. Its main feature was comfort. The cabins here were simply huge.
It's a pity that I'll have to return this ship after the mission with Princess Azula. Though, perhaps after it, I'll resign and simply travel the world.
We landed specifically in the Earth Kingdom. The shortest land route to the Si Wong Desert, or the Desert of the Dead, as the locals also call it, where the magnificent library of the Spirit of Knowledge is presumably hidden, passed through territories that the Fire Nation had never conquered, meaning they were not colonies. Moreover, if we wanted to reach the desert quickly, as Princess Azula desired, we would have to pass dangerously close to Omashu. This city was one of the cultural and military centers of the Earth Kingdom, ruled by the mighty Earthbender, King Bumi.
During the journey on the ship, only one incident was worth mentioning. After one of my regular reports on the ship's status and the approximate time of arrival in the Earth Kingdom, Princess Azula cornered me in her cabin, trapping me between the walls and herself. Usually, it was the other way around in my life…
"I'm not mistaken, am I…" Azula said, tapping her nails on the wall and looking me straight in the eyes with a thoughtful gaze. "You can use Blue Fire, Long?"
Naturally, this topic greatly interested her. Princess Azula was known precisely for her flame, which is many times more powerful than an ordinary bender's fire.
"No, Princess, I cannot," I shook my head, closing my eyes.
"Don't lie to me, Long!" Azula shouted practically into my face. She seemed to have even risen onto her toes to do so…
No, she wasn't a completely evil or extremely aggressive person who constantly snapped at me, as it might seem to an outsider. She simply had a foul mood from the moment she boarded the ship. So foul that she could barely control herself. It seems the argument with her father was much more serious than what I had heard in a short time.
I shouldn't forget that the Princess was also a teenager. She had just recently turned sixteen. Hormones were clearly pressing down on her, even though she seemed to try to gain control. She practiced breathing exercises and meditated often. I also saw regret in her eyes. Not about shouting at her subordinate, no. Azula was probably thinking that her behavior was unbecoming of a Princess. The two old women in her escort, incidentally, often hinted at this, which only irritated her further. And even now, she assumed I was shamelessly lying to her…
"There is no lie in my words, Princess," I gently pressed on her chest, which vexed her and caused Azula to step back slightly. Then I ignited a flame in my palm. I made my fire as blue as I could. From the beads of sweat that appeared on my forehead, it was clear that I was genuinely exerting myself, not faking it. My fire was strange. It was only half blue. The rest was occupied by ordinary yellow flame. "I do not possess Blue Fire. This is my maximum."
Azula sighed with a mix of relief and disappointment. She probably didn't want to be just one of many, but she also wanted to find someone similar to herself.
"Why can't you make your fire completely blue?" she asked me calmly.
"I don't know. It feels like something is obstructing me."
In reality, I knew what it was. My own bending from a previous world and the psychic power I acquired several reincarnations ago. When I manipulated ever-increasing volumes of chi and made its movement in my body ever faster to gain the blue, more powerful fire, the two previously acquired supernatural powers began to revolt. It was as if they had minds and were fiercely opposed to the strengthening of their competitor.
There was nothing I could do about it. The other fire magic and the psychic power simply stopped obeying me, starting to disrupt my concentration. No matter how much I tried to rein in these forces or influence them in some other way, nothing worked. The concentration and control over chi were broken, and the most I could achieve was a "speckled" fire. An intermediate option between blue and ordinary yellow flame.
But in combat conditions, even that flame was almost impossible to achieve. During a battle with an opponent, my flame is yellow, but with numerous blue flashes. Not fifty-fifty, as in calm conditions, but seventy-thirty. But even this flame was stronger than what ordinary benders use. Otherwise, I simply wouldn't have been able to defend myself against Princess Azula's fire during the training bout, for example.
"You're dismissed," she said thoughtfully, stepping aside to let me leave her cabin.
...
Having lined up all the fighters on the deck, I walked past their rows and occasionally ordered someone to step out of formation. It seemed like I was selecting soldiers without any logic, relying more on chance than anything else. I hoped that all the chosen fighters thought so, because most of them were the spies and liquidators I had identified. Without such specialists nearby, both I and Princess Azula would feel much calmer. Especially since a good opportunity to get rid of them had presented itself. And I'm not talking about murder. So many corpses would definitely raise questions from people who can think even a little, a group that unfortunately included the Fire Lord. Even the mysterious disappearance of one private caused panic in the ranks of my subordinates. And here we have at least six people.
The ship simply could not be left in local waters. This territory was not under the control of the Fire Nation. An attack could occur at any moment. If the enemy were also able to capture this vessel, the Fire Nation would feel shame, and I would most likely lose my head. Again, the ship wasn't ordinary. Members of the royal family traveled on it.
I congratulated those who stepped out of the general formation on the honorable task of escort. Escorting the Princess's ship to the nearest Fire Nation base, because the vessel could be attacked and someone had to defend it. The people I chose didn't even know what to say. Discussing or even resisting command orders was uncommon in this world.
Around the same time, the Princess got rid of the servants assigned to her. She simply told them they would not go ashore with her because they would seriously slow down the squad, hindering the fulfillment of the Fire Lord's special assignment.
The squad, led by Princess Azula herself, reached the shore in lifeboats. There was no other way. The risk of grounding the vessel was too high.
As I found out, my stunt with burning the messenger hawks managed to slightly spoil Azula's own plans. She wanted to arrange a meeting with someone who had been looking for the library for some time and take him under her wing.
This was Captain Zhao. He had been wandering the Si Wong Desert for several years, searching for the dwelling of the great Spirit of Knowledge on the Fire Lord's personal order. So far, he hadn't achieved any success. Or he was simply pretending he hadn't. And he himself might have been sitting in the library all along, studying scrolls with fire techniques more powerful than those known to him.
But since there was no way to contact Zhao, we would have to search for him manually. Princess Azula stared at me with displeasure for a long time. Her gaze clearly read the phrase that I was a proactive idiot, but she didn't punish me or even issue a reprimand. After all, my actions were intended to help her. She simply asked that I consult her next time, rather than acting immediately to implement my plans.
The boats were hidden among the trees and covered with branches. They might be useful in the future. Azula and all the fighters had changed clothes on the ship beforehand to give the impression to any chance passersby that a wealthy noblewoman was traveling with her guards, not the Princess of the Fire Nation with her loyal soldiers. So, our squad barely had to act. Only Azula herself somehow toned down the royal aura around her, which a simple noblewoman couldn't possess.
Of course, this disguise would quickly be seen through by anyone who knew even a little about politics and military affairs. It was enough to look at the "wealthy noblewoman's" face, in which the features of the Fire Nation Princess could be discerned even through the heavy makeup. Or at her guards. The skin color. The faces. They didn't match the inhabitants of the Earth Kingdom. And the footwear. We were all wearing shoes. This meant there were no Earthbenders among us, whom a wealthy noblewoman would definitely hire for service. Unfortunately, traveling barefoot was only possible for me among all the fighters. The rest started screaming as soon as they stepped on the first sharp stone.
"The Cave of Two Lovers?" the Princess voiced the name of our destination, wrinkling her nose slightly. "Simply a disgusting name."
"Princess, please don't say that near the cave itself or inside it," I cautioned her. "They say the cave is not as simple as it seems at first glance…"
"Long, are you afraid of spirits? I didn't expect that from you."
Azula conveyed her attitude toward my "cowardice" with her tone and facial expression. Contempt.
"No, Princess. But if I have a chance to simply pass through the cave quietly, I will pass through it quietly. I will not anger the spirits unnecessarily… They can cause trouble."
I remembered that I had promised myself to be more cautious about all suspicious places. The locals, surprisingly, most often neither exaggerate nor invent things. The Serpent's Pass and the Foggy Swamp proved that. There was high-quality trouble residing there. And I had heard about this cave even from the other end of the Earth Kingdom in my time, which means it is clearly not simple, even if it bears a romantic name…
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