Azulon's death was news that spread quickly around the world, and though he was no longer the reigning Fire Lord, his influence was more than evident, especially since he was the one who led the Fire Nation during its most warlike period.
Though some young people might be able to forget him, adults could not; how could they? Many grew up under the literal fire of war and the constant siege of the Fire Nation.
Yes, the Fire Nation may have slowed its expansionist pace long ago, but how could that erase 100 years of pain and suffering? So aside from the Fire Nation's population, no one else cared about Azulon's death, except for a few contemporary leaders who are probably celebrating his passing.
However, as mentioned above, it was important to the Fire Nation; in fact, it was cause for national mourning. An entire week of mourning was set aside, but some people were restless and wanted to exploit the situation for personal gain.
What better time than during Azulon's funeral? In their minds, their plans were flawless enough to work, and with the comments of some ill-intentioned people, these thoughts grew so big that they ignored the obvious flaws.
No one should be that stupid, but sometimes greed and unbridled human desire will make anyone foolish. So a group of nobles took advantage of the fact that Ozai was standing in front of his father's funeral pyre, because he would be the one to start the fire.
The tradition of the inhabitants of the Fire Nation was simple; fire was something innate, even to the No-Benders, a symbol, a spiritual pillar. That's why their funeral rituals included cremating the body of the deceased.
It was more special when someone close to the deceased started the fire, and if it was a Firebender? Even better. So it fell to Ozai, Azulon's direct successor, to use his Firebending to light the pyre.
The nobles approached just close enough to be noticed by Ozai, but they did not go any further, for while what they would do would be bold, they also remembered how brutal and powerful the current Fire Lord was.
However, one of the nobles, a middle-aged man, began to talk to Ozai after he turned to look at them. Not only he, but the people who were able to attend this open field funeral were important and respected people of the Fire Nation, some had even heard some rumors out there, so they were paying special attention to this situation.
"Fire Lord Ozai," the man began to speak, putting too much emphasis on that particular title, as if there was something wrong with his words.
"Do you think things have been going well in our beloved nation lately?" It was a simple question, but Ozai couldn't help but frown when he noticed that some generals thought too much upon hearing this question.
He knew the discontent of the nation's most militant faction; they thought that Sozin's great dream and the Fire Nation's destiny had been cast aside, trampled, sullied, that war should not only continue, but become the only thing that mattered to the Fire Nation.
This is what happens after 100 years of war in which you are always dominant. Children are born into this environment of blood and fire, they grow up hearing about the war, longing to be a part of it, and even when they are inevitably confronted with its horrors, some end up loving it.
Ozai knew this all too well, for he had once been one of them. So he glanced sideways at Shisui, who wore the red, gold, and black robes Azulon had made for him.
"Things couldn't get any better in our nation." Ozai didn't even bother to call this nobleman by name, he had had enough of them long before he ascended the throne.
The middle-aged nobleman smiled somewhat sinisterly, looking around as if he wanted to get everyone's attention before he made his next statement, one that made many hearts tremble.
"But you're wrong, everything has been going wrong for a long time now, all because of a 'person' who shouldn't be here," the nobleman shouted, but his eyes looked at Shisui, who just watched the spectacle while holding a glass of wine, but never drank it.
Shisui looked at the nobleman and felt like laughing, even though his mood was in a lousy state because of the old man's death. He didn't even care that they tried to poison not only a waterbender like him, but also a master of poisons.
He just wanted to watch these people play, see what they could think of, and what they could say. His eyes could see the aura filled with hatred and animosity in these nobles, as well as those of other people who were not present, but very close to the area where the funeral was taking place.
"You mean Shisui?" Although neither Ozai nor Shisui answered this noble's words, Azula was the one who did, asking the crucial question as always at this moment.
"Oh, Princess Azula, as beautiful and intelligent as ever, pity..." the man shook his head with a face full of sadness for something only he understood, though the subtext was clear.
He regretted that Azula was with Shisui. Not being a fool, Azula quickly understood why the nobleman's actions bothered her.
But as a person who could lie and fool the seismic sense of one of the most prodigious Earthbenders today, Azula did not show her emotions, simply continuing to stare at the man with her bright golden eyes before speaking.
"It seems you're not being very clear, Mr. Hong. It would be good if you were much clearer with what you're saying." Azula's words made the nobleman nod before he took a breath, as if he were prepared for a long speech.
He was, how could he not be? He had a strong desire to monologue at this 'historic' moment for him.
"Ever since the Great Sozin harnessed the comet that bore his great name to wipe out those dangerous Air Nomads who harbored the dangerous and unstable element commonly known as the Avatar, our great nation has embarked on an unprecedented enterprise.
To bring the world under our rule. We would teach the earth-eaters and the skin-wearing savages our culture, which is superior, our technology, which is always on the cutting edge, and we would make those who would not bow at our feet understand how powerful we are.
Though the Great Sozin did not live long enough to see his mission fulfilled, his son Azulon led the Fire Nation down this glorious path. Colonies in the Earth Kingdom, those pirates did not sail our waters, and we even exhausted the Waterbenders of the South Pole.
Except for a few heavily defended cities like Ba Sing Se and Agna Qel'a, as well as a few places that were difficult to invade because of certain powerful individuals like Omashu, the glory of the Fire Nation was spread throughout the world, at least the known world at the time.
"It was a glorious time that..." At that moment, Shisui tuned out. He couldn't stand all the boring chatter that the nobleman was spouting, so he simply started to prepare himself for what would happen next.
Although he didn't seem to do anything more than just shake the wine in the glass he was drinking, Shisui's muscles tensed tightly, the chi in his body circulating under his control, ready to unleash a veritable tsunami.
He noticed some of the people in the area who were not attending the funeral approaching, especially two that he could tell from afar were powerful, and one of them gave him a familiar feeling.
A Waterbender, and a powerful one at that. He didn't know who this enemy was, but he was ready to act. But after realizing that they still had no intention of acting, his mind turned back to the nonsense that Hong, the middle-aged nobleman, was saying.
"...to make the Fire Nation great again, we must cut out this cancer that has grown and nurtured in the royal family, we must purge Shisui, who is not one of us and never will be.
For he is the trap set for us by our enemies from the North Pole," Hong finished, and although there was no applause or cheers for him, which made him feel a little depressed, he noticed the glint in the eyes of some of the generals he and his group had tried to subtly convince in the past.
"Okay, what a nice speech... what do you mean Shisui is a trap?" Lu Ten asked, not wanting any more detours or meaningless talk.
Lu Ten's impulse surged with his words. If Zuko was a swordsman who combined firebending with swordsmanship as his base, Lu Ten was a talented firebender who inherited everything from his father, Iroh.
Therefore, his impulse was extremely hot and oppressive, even making Hong and his companions sweat, but the latter simply took out a handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead before speaking.
"Because of his background! Perhaps no one bothered to investigate too much, thinking that the former Fire Lord Azulon had just found Shisui somewhere, but there are records of his origin, just hidden.
His father was a prominent general named Sai, and when you hear that, you might think that gives Shisui points, but his mother was different.
She wasn't just a Waterbender, she was a part of the royalty of the North Pole, a princess to say the least!" Hong's words made many of the attendees look at Shisui, who only had a simple smile on his face.
Although that smile never reached his eyes, that pair of golden eyes looked at all those who had evil intentions towards him as future corpses. What should Shisui be in this case? It was useless to argue with future corpses!
"So, not only should he be purged to prevent the North Pole from taking over our nation, but many of the things he has done over time are questionable.
He doesn't even deserve his rank in the military, who knows if he's organizing a rebellion or something." Hong's face and neck were red, full of 'patriotism' and the desire to see his nation prosper again without the malicious intervention of a dangerous element like Shisui.
"He has made us passive! We no longer want to expand! Our children are growing up with songs from foreign cultures! Even our princess has been 'stolen' by this man; everything about him is a deception, a lie, one attempt after another to weaken us.
Sai was probably involved in this ruse, deceiving Azulon to..." At that moment, Hong was unable to speak, as it was physically impossible for him to do so.
Small droplets of water emerged from Hong's skin, floating gently off his body as his skin turned an unnatural color. Everyone watched as Shisui simply made a grabbing gesture in the air, and the water on Hong's body was slowly pulled out of his body.
Shisui was not a bloodthirsty person or someone who enjoyed killing, but this time he did it slowly and deliberately, increasing Hong's suffering milliliter by milliliter as he drained all the available water from his body.
Hong was a middle-aged nobleman who was somewhat overweight due to his opulent lifestyle, so Shisui easily extracted about 44 liters of water from his body, which now floated condensed into a ball in front of everyone.
What happened to Hong during the process? At first, he felt his mouth go dry and had an insatiable desire for water, but he could not move at all, not even blink, condemned to watch as his skin became more and more parched.
It was a slow and painful process of dizziness, hallucinations, and even fainting and convulsions, but he was still alive. Shisui made sure of it.
No one prevented it, not because they couldn't, but out of a strange morbid fascination and fear of being Shisui's target. They then watched as Hong's body shrank as the process progressed, until all that remained was a desiccated shell of the former Fire Nation noble.
Shisui then slowly approached Hong's corpse before drinking the poisoned wine, much to the astonishment of the nobles who had accompanied Hong.
"Speak ill of me, I don't care. But don't you dare to mention my parents, any of us three," Shisui's words revealed something crucial; he considered Azulon as a father, because that's how the old man behaved towards him.
Right now, Shisui was angry, but he stood still, looking into the distance, waiting for his real enemies tonight, but he also didn't let the moment pass, and with a smile full of unbridled ferocity, he said the following words.
"Only such foolish nobles as you would think that you could get away with some games, but you don't know, you never know, you always think that no one will notice the foolish things you do and plan.
It doesn't matter if what they're doing is technically an attempt to take over, it doesn't matter how many generals they've convinced, how many people they've brought here, or who they've invited.
Because even if they took the royal family into account, they didn't include me in their calculations, which is extremely stupid. Not only that...
They gave me a reason to kill them all!" Shisui's voice echoed throughout the place, and then Shisui looked up at the sky, directly at the storm clouds that covered the sky.
"I will crush them all!"
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AN: I'm still angry with what happened with the cover of this fanfic... but there are good notices! At least for me c:
Someone who comment a lot this fanfic, his nickname is TheAnPlayer2, made some images about a new character for a new original novel that I wanna write... no no! This isn't spam, I just wanna show you the art, only that c: All creddits to my brother TheAnPlayer2, he deserves more! He made a cover and some draws, I will put it in the next paragraph comments section.
(Images here)
About Discord, I don't wanna make a server or group or whatever, but if you wanna talk with me, tell me, maybe I can add you to my personal Discord.