"More compelling than anywhere else. Should I tell you here and now, or shall we wait until evening?"
— I just got into the water, and we have plenty of time. You can start your story.
"As you wish…"
Since I said I would, I had to do it. To remain silent in this case would be too rude on my part. I did not want to ruin my relationship with the princess over such a trifle, but telling her everything that happened to me point-blank was too dangerous and foolish. However, to lie or even conceal something from Azula… I would have to try very hard, arranging the hints so that she would figure it out, and not the one who is currently watching me, hidden from all eyes.
Recalling the events of a month ago, I decided to start my story from afar, in other words, from the very beginning. It all started with that fateful night when Ari, a knowledge-seeking spirit looking like a large brown fox, arrived at the camp. After talking to her, I quickly found out about the purpose of her visit and how she located our squad. That very immoral way.
— Did my intimate laundry come in handy? — the blue flame bender stated her guess, covering an ironic smile with her hand.
"Mhm. And now, please do not interrupt. The recent events have been quite exhausting for me morally, otherwise I would definitely make a joke about it. I feel ashamed just thinking about it," — I answered her in a tired voice, recalling a not-very-dignified moment in my life.
— You can feel shame? I did not know you harbored such talents. In any case, continue, I am listening attentively.
And I continued.
After a short conversation with the fox, I decided to take the chance to visit Wan Shi Tong's mythical library. I had everything necessary for this at hand: knowledge as payment for entry and a quick way to get to the library and back. According to Ari, the whole trip would not take much time; I would be back by dawn, or even earlier. Spirits had their own ways of rapid movement. I considered it somewhat inappropriate to talk about them now. Azula accepted my position, but she definitely remembered the topic and would certainly bring it up later. That was not so important; in the meantime, I continued the story: Despite the tempting offer, which was simply impossible to refuse, I decided to wake up a certain princess right in the middle of the night to warn her about my possible absence in the near future. Back then, I did not yet know what I would have to face. That was the last time I saw Azula, but enough of memories.
Riding the fox, as strange as that sounds, we quickly reached the desert, and soon my feet were on the floor of the library. I did not have to search for Wan Shi Tong for long; he came out to greet me himself as soon as I crossed the threshold of his domain…
— And? What happened next, Yoaru? — the princess dragged out, looking expectantly straight into my eyes, completely unashamed of her own nakedness. However, now was definitely not the time to enjoy the beauty of the female body. I had a task that required all my mental efforts.
"Dramatic pause," — I replied with a sad chuckle, watching her face begin to frown. Bringing an "empress" down to earth is always pleasant and fun, but now such a pause played a completely different role.
— It is not funny, stop tormenting me and tell me where and why you were gone for almost a month? — she asked me the direct questions in a serious tone.
"At first, I stuck to the long-planned scheme, but after the first few minutes of conversation with the Great Spirit of Knowledge, I started to improvise. Word by word, we discussed the deal. He spoke sweetly, offering very profitable things. This lowered my guard. I got what I wanted, but the spirit turned out to be much craftier and significantly more powerful than I had imagined. Much stronger and more powerful, Azula," — wincing at the unpleasant memories, I paused again at the right moment. She is a smart girl; she should later reflect on this conversation and pay attention to my every action.
— Do not make me guess. What happened next? — the princess grumbled in annoyance.
"The deal was made; I got everything I asked for, and he got everything I offered. And then, Wan Shi Tong decided to insist that I stay as his guest," — I answered her, and was immediately interrupted.
— So you were a guest?
"You understood correctly; there is no need to be ironic. Being a prisoner of a being you can do nothing against… those are not great feelings," — I winced at the unpleasant memories. Being helpless, completely at the mercy of someone else's will, those are terrible feelings.
— Of course, I have not dealt with invincible and intangible demons. How should I know what you felt? — Azula remarked ironically, shrugging her shoulders and spreading her hands with a mocking smile.
"Heh, well said, but I am far from invincible. Perhaps being held captive by a spirit is having a bad effect on my thought processes," — considering that I had no rest all this time, I was holding up pretty well, but I was not going to make excuses, at least not out loud.
— Why did he do that? As far as I know, spirits do not interfere in human affairs, — oh, right, I completely forgot, after meeting me, Azula had supplemented her knowledge of spirits, no longer considering them to be foolish fairy tales and the ravings of madmen. Now the girl was quite knowledgeable on the subject, as was I. After meeting Wan Shi Tong, I perfectly understood how little humanity knows about the capabilities and powers of spirits. Especially the great spirits.
"That is not entirely true. People… they can simply not notice spirits, even if they are standing nearby. Because of this, documented situations with spirits are extremely rare. And because of this, any natural disaster or cataclysm is attributed by the people to the antics of spirits. But let us not dwell on that. I will continue. Wan Shi Tong let a person from the Fire Nation in a few years ago, and that person greatly disrespected the great spirit, so much so that he began to strongly dislike all of humanity, and the Fire Nation in particular. Although you cannot say that Wan suffered from philanthropy before either. In short, as soon as he found out who I was dealing with, his plans changed. I soon realized that the deal did not include a clause about leaving his domain," — I got to the core of my story, having planted all the necessary hints. But it was best to stop there; I was starting to act too boldly, lest I be exposed due to foolishness.
— Hmm, were you tricked like a small child? — she commented with a slight mockery. I had no suitable words to reply with. What can you do when it is the truth? Denying mistakes only increases the chance of repeating them; all that remains is to remember them and try not to let them happen again.
"It turns out that way. Wan, without realizing it, played a brilliant game on my desire to get a body and new knowledge; alas, I noticed my mistake too late. But, I think you are much more interested in how I got out of there?" — I replied to her, wanting to change the subject. I admitted my mistake, but the topic was still unpleasant.
— Hmm, — the girl drew out with pleasure. — I also want to hear the story of your fiasco, but you are right, time is limited.
"Then I will be brief. The entire month I conducted extremely difficult negotiations, with my existence at stake. And since I am here now, in front of you, the negotiations were successful. I persuaded him to let me go, in exchange for one favor."
— A favor? — the princess asked with slight interest.
"I quote his words: 'A human did evil to a spirit; a human must pay for it.' In short, upon becoming human, I must bring him a certain Zhao, or his head. Although the latter is not as desirable," — I am sorry, but I have to lie to you; I hope you understand this.
— Why does he need a living person? And what did he do to make one of the ancient spirits desire revenge? — Azula, you are interested in all the wrong things, although I asked these questions myself when I found out about that suicidal person.
"I have no idea why he needs him, and what he did… he set fire to Wan Shi Tong's library."
— Huh? How did he manage to survive that?
"I asked that question too; Wan ignored it. In short, that is where the story ends. I got here from the library riding Ari. She left me a couple of days ago, continuing to seek new knowledge for her master."
— That somehow… does not sound particularly plausible. He just took off and let you go, taking your word for it? And how were you able to persuade him?
"Things are strange and unusual with spirits; they have their own secrets and their own ways of making people accountable for their words. Time does not limit us; a year or two, maybe even a hundred years later, he can certainly ask me about an unfulfilled promise. As for the persuasion. My awakened talents as an intriguer, manipulator, and superb actor helped me with that. You understand, do you not? Stressful situations, when life is at stake, are the most favorable ground for the blossoming of all sorts of talents," — truth be told, they are not working very well right now; I am too morally exhausted.
— Hmm… — closing her eyes and leaning her head back, the firebender fell silent, pondering her own thoughts. I could only hope that she was thinking about the right things. — It is already dark; you must be very tired after all this time. Should I share my energy with you?
So, the night was beginning. There was no doubt about that. Experienced firebenders could easily sense the sun's position in the sky. However, it seemed the girl had not paid enough attention to my hints. On the one hand, it was sad, but on the other… she was showing care for me; how sweet and yet so out of place. Drawing out the conversation further would surely increase the risks of my lie being exposed by the wrong person. I had already given too heavy hints.
"How thoughtful of you. I will not refuse. I feel like a dry lemon that has been in the desert for a long time," — I answered her with a smile; how pleasant it is when someone thinks about and cares for you.
— Do not exaggerate; you look great, — getting out of the bath, she allowed me to replenish my energy. This required entering her body, but I did not linger there for long.
"Thank you. You probably need to go, return to unfinished business, talk to Ty Lee, tell her about my return… she must have been beside herself with worry while I was gone," — I bid Azula farewell, exiting her body.
— Yes. Regarding Ty Lee. You know, while you were gone, we became very close.
Her words made me speechless… but maybe I misheard or misunderstood everything? I needed to clarify!
"…How close?" — I did not recognize my own voice; it sounded so confused. Damn, how pathetic that sounded. Pull yourself together, Yoaru!
— As close as possible. We are lovers now, — Azula answered me in a completely calm tone, as if it were a trifle.
I suppose in such cases, one should feel as if they had been hit on the head with a sack of flour, or drenched with a bucket of cold water. Ha! I need to stop thinking about foolish things. It is a good thing that, due to exhaustion and the lack of hormones, I calm down very quickly. I no longer feel surprise, only calmness and moral fatigue.
"…Oh, I need to think this over. Let us talk in the evening," — having said that, I left the room. All this had descended upon me too suddenly; I needed to analyze everything with a clear head and finally finish my business.
— All right, you know where my apartments are, — the princess's voice reached me from behind.
Alas, I was not yet allowed to rest; I had to finish one more thing. Passing through the wall, I immediately flew straight through the ceiling decks, slowly emerging onto the main deck. Stopping at the very bow of the ship, I briefly looked over the calm sea, the almost deserted pier, and the starry sky, beginning to wait. Fortunately, the wait did not last long.
— You kept your word, — Ari's detached voice reached me. Turning around, I saw the fox, who definitely was not behind me a second ago.
The fox was not asking; she was stating. The spirit had been watching me all this time and would probably continue to watch. Observing me honestly fulfilling my part of the deal, which was not limited to Zhao's head.
— I do not like it when you do that. How long will you keep watching me?
— As long as he tells me to. Remember all the terms of the agreement and keep it secret from everyone, — as I thought, she would not answer me anything.
— I remember every clause of the deal perfectly; there is no need to remind me of it.
After ending the conversation, Ari disappeared, becoming absolutely invisible to my eyes and any other senses. Even my spiritual sight was useless here. She knows how to be invisible even to other spirits. After all, the fox was assigned to me by Wan Shi Tong himself. Given such capabilities, I was sure that she was constantly watching me. And I do not even want to recall the peak of her combat abilities, which I had to experience firsthand. Sinking a ship and burning a city is not a problem for her, and she is a relatively average spirit. I was afraid to even imagine what the Great Spirit of Knowledge was capable of; what I had already figured out was enough to consider him a small god.
I soon got tired of lounging on the main deck of the ship. The patrolling soldiers were somewhat distracting. Since I still had a conversation planned with Azula and Ty Lee, I moved straight into the princess's quarters; no one was there, and it was very quiet. A perfect place for reflection.
Alas, no matter how hard I tried, Zula did not pay attention to my hints. This meant I would have to find another way to tell her everything in secret from Ari. And there was also this unexpected progress in the relationship between Ty Lee and Azula. Although, on the other hand… their relationship is in a way logical and a direct consequence of my actions. I think my absence was the key factor. I wonder who took the first step and ripened to action? I remember I pushed the girls towards it myself, almost successfully, but this whole story with Wan Shi Tong delayed my plans.
Ugh, how did I manage to make such a mistake? Was I so blinded by the possible success? I could have at least thought about it, paid attention to the strange occurrences, thought… The spirit did not build his library himself, and certainly did not hire earthbenders, nor did he even use magic, at least human magic. No, he simply brought it into reality with his will and his own power. Just as he can now bring into reality any amount of weaponry: nuclear, bacteriological, chemical, and other weapons of mass destruction. Rockets, machine guns, pistols, electricity, and computer technology… literally everything I knew and more.
Wan Shi Tong was far from stupid; on the contrary, he was extraordinarily smart. It was not difficult for him to guess and figure out what I did not possess in detail, but even brief information about weapons of mass destruction was enough for a catastrophe.
The Great Spirit was so self-confident that even while I was there, right during our discussion, he began to build a new, hidden floor for personal use and experiments in the library. It had electricity and computers as the new keepers of his knowledge. As it turned out, the more knowledge the spirit possessed, the stronger he became. Unfortunately, I found this out too late. The Owl was a real monster, or even a full-fledged god, especially after our meeting.
I underestimated him from the very beginning, which I deeply regret. It is better to overestimate someone than to underestimate them. Having received all my memories, the Great Spirit was finally convinced of humanity's serious danger to the entire world, and with that, he became strong enough to easily drive people back into the caves, if not exterminate them, pushing them to the brink of extinction. Only his peace-loving nature, his own weaknesses, and I stopped him from starting the apocalypse. I somehow did not think about how angry spirits could get if they found out what humans could do to nature, its children, the planet itself… and all this in the near future. What is a couple of hundred years for an immortal spirit, during which progress would jump through several eras? Up to the creation of atomic bombs, or something even worse. Simply nothing.
Fortunately for me, Wan Shi Tong was primarily the spirit of an abstract concept; his domain was knowledge… absolutely any knowledge. The spirit did not consider me dangerous; he did not kill me immediately. Rather, on the contrary, knowing everything about me, he found my personality interesting and wished to communicate. Perfectly understanding that my own survival depended on the words I spoke, my mental abilities worked at three hundred percent, unleashing previously hidden talents.
I was not lying at all when I told Azula that it was thanks to intrigue, acting, and manipulation that I managed to succeed. To persuade a being almost twenty millennia old was an extremely difficult task. Our conversation did not stop for weeks; they flew by so unnoticed and fleetingly that no one paid attention. As I said, when a situation involves survival, you either act or you die.
I was not lucky at all; I simply did it. I solved the problem. I repeated everything that Wan Shi Tong himself had done to me. I pressed my strengths against his weaknesses, and it worked out. I convinced the spirit that humans, though harmful and dangerous, were also extremely inventive. With their progress, the speed of creating new knowledge only increases. And if humanity were united into one nation, one people, one country, with one language, one set of traditions, one ruler for all of humanity, then people would have no reason for wars. They would become significantly more peace-loving.
Discussing theories, historical, and scientific facts from the history of both worlds, we had heated debates about the fate of the entire human race. It was long; more than once, my head ached, and I was exhausted, but with willpower, I found a second, third, and fourth wind to continue the debate. This continued until I won the negotiations, persuading the spirit to give humanity a chance. However, you cannot call it an absolute victory. People were given a chance at life, but the owl set a number of conditions.
The most important of them was the unification of humanity at any cost…