The Fire Lord's palace, one of the training halls of the royal family.
Six people were fighting on the sands of the training hall. Their battle was like hunting a wild beast. Five adult men, fully clad in the training armor of firebending masters, pressed in on one young girl, trying to constantly keep her surrounded, cornering her with their flames. Executing precise movements and calculated strikes, they unleashed fiery arcs and spheres, constantly forcing their opponent to defend herself, contorting between attacks in the most unimaginable ways, and constantly draining her strength.
To the untrained eye from the outside, the opponents' strengths were clearly unequal. However, this girl was a genius in firebending, surpassing all her opponents by a head, or even two. The princess of the Fire Nation — Azula.
Unleashing her anger along with fire, she hid from her opponents' gaze behind a large wall of flame.
— Khhh!!
Having lost sight of their opponent for a moment, they discovered the body of their comrade lying on the ground, with their opponent standing beside him. Compared to the man lying on the sand, the girl looked small and harmless, but this was a false impression, as evidenced by the shrinking numbers of her opponents.
Without haste, the remaining four masters began to surround the girl again. Step by step, standing firmly on the sand, they did not rush to attack, fully aware of the difference in strength.
The cold gaze of the princess's golden eyes followed their every movement, allowing herself to be surrounded again. Instilling in them a false sense of advantage.
A moment later, a synchronized strike sent four fireballs at the princess.
Tumbling, she gracefully evaded all attacks, instantly launching a stream of bright orange flame at the nearest guard.
— A-a-a!!! — the burning parts of the training armor and the heat that penetrated it forced the man to fall onto the arena. Trying to extinguish the flame, he rolled on the sand, screaming in agony.
His thunderous cries instilled a slight fear in the hearts of the men still on their feet, making them hesitate for a moment. Azula immediately took advantage of this.
Leaning on one hand, the girl, throwing the other forward, and the tips of her feet—to the side towards her opponents, performed a beautiful mid-air split. Fireballs immediately shot from her limbs, forcing the men to defend themselves.
The elite guards easily dispelled the attack, but this only delayed the inevitable outcome: the sight of their comrade falling, with whom Azula had instantly closed the distance, knocking him out with one blow, proved this better than any words. The girl did not stop there, throwing a fire orb at the remaining pair, she became much more aggressive, pressing her opponents, demonstrating terrifying speed and натиск.
The guards remaining on their feet had no choice but to defend themselves against the girl's increasingly frequent attacks. She attacked on the run, constantly changing the target of the fireballs. This could not continue forever, and very soon one of the men missed a fireball aimed at his leg.
— Ah-ah!!! — part of the training armor immediately caught fire, forcing him to fall onto the sand in pain, trying to extinguish the fire.
The remaining man had the dubious pleasure of feeling the full power of the genius girl's onslaught, and soon made the same mistake as his partners: he allowed his opponent to get too close. One lightning-fast and extremely accurate blow to the correct point deprived him of consciousness.
— Excellent, I expected no less from my daughter. You are ready for the ritual, — a commanding voice sounded from the entrance.
— Truly, your daughter is blessed by Agni himself: defeating five firebenders at sixteen years old is a great achievement. She is many times more worthy of the title of master than her opponents, — replied an old man's voice.
Breathing deeply, covered in sweat, the girl had achieved victory over five men who were considered firebending masters. The victory was not easy for her, but it did not cause particular difficulties either. She was smarter, more cunning, faster, and stronger than all her opponents. From the very beginning, the fight went according to her plan, and she executed it without a single mistake. In a word: perfectly.
The girl's gaze turned to the entrance of the training hall. There stood her respected father — the Fire Lord and ruler of the entire nation, as well as one of the fire sages, whom Azula did not know, although she knew many servants and subordinates admitted to the palace. Quickly composing herself, she regained control, putting on a mask of calm concentration, and headed towards them, having previously signaled the defeated opponents to end the fight.
Thanks to the training armor, they only sustained minor burns, remaining conscious, they continued to lie on the ground, having been defeated. If it had been a real fight, with real armor and hotter flames, the wounds would have been much worse, if they had been lucky enough to survive. But this was just training, not a real Agni Kai (a firebending duel that often ends in death). As the princess walked across the spacious training hall towards the exit, the defeated benders began to rise from the sand, helping their comrades.
— Fire Lord, did you come to watch my training? — Azula said, kneeling before her father, looking at his feet.
— Yes, — her father replied in a commanding voice, — I have prepared a gift for you. Follow me.
— As you command.
They walked through familiar corridors, servants and guards bowed low at their sight. Decoration, beauty, grandeur, and wealth — all of this was familiar to the girl; she took it for granted. After all, she was the princess of the most progressive and powerful people in the entire world.
Azula had explored all the rooms of the palace since childhood, so she knew the location of most of the hidden rooms and various caches perfectly. Her natural curiosity allowed the girl to learn a great deal and had helped the princess more than once in her life. She knew perfectly well where they were heading. However, upon arrival, a small surprise awaited her. Entering one of the training rooms, she saw a stone pedestal, painted by the lamps in hundreds and thousands of shades of red-gold.
— Sage, explain the essence of the ritual to my daughter, — the Fire Lord spoke first, as the others entered the room following the august persons.
— Yes, my lord. The Fire Lotus is a rare flower that releases a huge amount of fire Qi when it burns. You will need to breathe its smoke, meditating to assimilate the maximum amount of energy. This is an ancient ritual to strengthen the lungs and the body's energy, — Azula cast a questioning glance at her father at the elder's explanations; a barely perceptible nod was her answer.
— Why are such rituals not performed for all the benders in our army? — she voiced her question with her father's permission.
— The flowers are extremely rare, and the ritual must be performed at the age of majority. Usually… — the sage faltered, glancing at the Fire Lord.
— Tell her, — the ruler of the Fire Nation ordered.
— Yes, my lord. Usually, only the heir to the Fire Lord can afford such a ritual. However, your father was the second to the last Fire Lord, and did not undergo it, unlike the dragon of the west. The ritual is intended exclusively for the Fire Lord's family and is a secret to the whole world. After the ritual, your flame and control over it will increase, your lungs will absorb more air, your aura will become brighter, and your body will be filled with great Qi power… — the sage continued to praise the ritual while Azula listened attentively. Since she knew that there was no useless information.
— Princess, the sun's zenith is approaching, it's time to begin the ritual, are you ready? — he addressed the girl after his speech, sensing the sun's position through magic, as there were no windows in this hall.
— I am ready, — she climbed the stone stairs, keeping her back straight and majestic, not wishing to disgrace herself in front of her father. Whatever the trial, she would pass it and prove that she was worthy of being her father's heir. Sitting on the stone, Azula began to meditate, breathing with all her might.
— Begin, — the Fire Lord said, watching the ritual with mild interest.
— As you command, — the sage spread his arms, directing his index and middle fingers at the flowers, flame instantly shot from them, igniting the flammable plants.
Milky-white smoke began to fill the room. The fire consumed the red-gold flowers, rising higher and higher, dancing around the heir to the throne, but causing her no harm. The smoke and flame caressed her as if she were a tamed pet. The princess felt no heat or danger; everything was in order.
Breathing deeply, Azula quickly felt changes. This was not ordinary smoke; it did not hinder breathing but affected the girl differently. She was still conscious, but her mind was as if in a trance. The princess watched the flame dance around her and couldn't think about anything. Her mind was as if in a fog; time stretched, and it was difficult to say how long she had been sitting there. It became difficult to concentrate on the fire; it seemed to hypnotize with its dance. Later, she began to see hallucinations, or were these visions from Agni himself?
The flame played with all the colors of the rainbow, rising to the ceiling, gradually turning blue-white. At the peak of its power, it seemed to her that the smoke gathered into something resembling a dragon, which immediately fell on her when she again inhaled deeply. An unknown force began to spread throughout her body, from her lungs to her heart, from her heart to the rest: muscles, bones, skin, organs…
The fire quickly burned all the flowers, filling the altered training hall with milky smoke. The sage and the Fire Lord remained outwardly calm; they waited for the blue flame to disappear. Knowing perfectly well that the fire was harmless to the one and only heir. Azula was truly one of a kind. So to speak, a successful crossbreeding of genes from the descendants of Avatar Roku and the great-grandfather Lord Sozin. The men stood in anticipation, watching the girl around whom the blue flame was quickly fading, leaving only ash behind.
Except that one watched with mild interest, while the other put all his efforts into not showing his anxiety. The sage hadn't lied that such a ritual had only been performed by the Fire Lord and the heir. He only learned about this ritual at the Lord's instruction, from books and secret scrolls. And if something happened to the princess, it would be better for him to burn in his own flame than to await punishment from the girl's father. The sage could well have made a mistake in the ritual, as he was performing it for the first time himself. However, the Fire Lord's orders were not subject to discussion, let alone dispute. In these moments, the old man needed all his experience and spiritual strength to maintain a calm face next to the ruler of the strongest nation in the world.
Meanwhile, the smoke from the precious lotus flowers began to dissolve in the windowless empty room. Dissolve, not fly outside. Showing the figure of the heir to the throne, who continued to sit on the stone pedestal, frozen in a meditation pose.
— Princess? — a barely perceptible anxiety flickered in the fire sage's voice.
— Everything is fine. Did I manage? — the princess replied calmly, without any emotion in her voice, beginning to slowly descend from the pedestal. Nothing in her gait indicated any heaviness or difficulty in walking, however, her eyes were emptier than ever. She seemed to be in a trance.
— Undoubtedly, — the Fire Lord replied, and then continued, — usually people lose consciousness during the ritual, but you surprised me again, especially with the color of your flame.
— I serve the Fire Lord, — the girl bowed to her father, stumbling slightly in the process. The consequences of the ritual made themselves known; no matter how hard Azula tried to hide her weakness, her father saw it.
— Go to your quarters, you need rest, — the ruler deigned to give the order before leaving for his very important matters.
The fire sage could exhale calmly; everything was fine with the heir. He hadn't made a mistake with the ritual, and he wouldn't be executed for treason.
— As you command, my lord… — after waiting for the man and the old man to leave the room, Azula tried to get up, but instead, she quietly collapsed onto the floor, which was covered with a light deposit of ash.
Her whole body was weak and disobedient, and her consciousness threatened to fall asleep at any moment. Her breathing was quiet; she didn't even hear it, let alone control it. A terrible mistake for any firebender. Putting in a lot of effort to pull herself together, the girl got up on the second attempt, walked to the wall, shook the ash from her clothes, and slowly headed to her own quarters.
Before leaving the ritual room, she composed herself and assumed the appearance of the perfect heir. The path to her room was harder than ever, but she had gotten used to various difficulties in her life. It was unknown how much effort she had to expend to maintain her regal demeanor, rather than collapsing somewhere on a bench and sleeping there. For her, it was mostly an ordinary day, during which she had exhausted herself a little more than usual with training. But fatigue did not give her the right to show her weakness! Azula could not afford such a thing; she had no choice but to walk to her room with a perfectly straight back and a proudly raised chin.
No matter how hard the road was, the princess slowly reached her quarters, showing no weakness to anyone, sent the servants away, changed her clothes, and went to rest.
Sleep claimed the girl's mind as soon as her head touched the pillow, and an unpleasant surprise awaited her the next morning.