Kya Maiden of the Sea Book 3 ATLA

Chapter 1

A pair of soldiers dragged me away to the main ship. It was larger than any other Fire Nation ship I had seen so far. It was specifically Azula's ship, everyone and everything here is under her command. A cool breeze passed by as I walked onto the deck of the boat. The sun was just starting to set as I took a deep breath in to calm myself down.

So this is how it's going to be.

The moment I saw Zuko go after Azula, I knew it was over. I wanted to have hope but everything seemed to dim at the thought. I know Zuko, I kept repeating to myself over and over again. Yet I felt no will to do anything. Not even fight back. Even if I could, I didn't want to. I was tired. I was thrown onto my knees as I reached the edge of the deck. I saw the waters calmly crashing into each other.

How can you be so calm when the world is like this? When you are like this? How much longer can you hold on?

The silence of the waters grounded me. No one could give me an answer but myself. I made this promise, survive. 

I kept thinking about Zuko, the little hope knowing he changed once still lingered in my mind. I wasn't afraid, not now at least, but I worried the lies Azula would keep feeding Zuko. I worried for Iroh who was taken away to prison, and Aang who was shot. I zoned out being so focused in my mind that it all just blanked.

I'll stay alive. One way or another. Was the only thing I could think of.

It was a primal sense that I couldn't understand. Similar to the feeling when I decided to live when my mother died. As much as I wanted to be angry, I wasn't, not at Zuko. Hurt and betrayed but I couldn't find the right reason why I wasn't angry at him. When I was shot down in the catacombs, my anger left me. My emotions swirled around inside me like a raging whirlpool as I tried to steady my breathing. I could only feel pain, not anger.

>>>

Two guards at the door to the inside. That was it, no one else came or went for hours as I sorted through my head, Aang is dead, that thought rang through my head, the world lost its only hope for peace. I sighed. Bottling my feelings and gulping it down like bitter medicine. Knowing I'll snap eventually, but it didn't matter as long as it wasn't today. I tried to keep my hope alive, remembering the Zuko I met was different. The more time passed the more I lost my sense of reality, scratching the area of my right purlicue not realizing it had started to bleed. My eyes so focused of the sea waves that I could no longer concentrate on anything. It frustrated me. 

"I don't know what he sees in you," A female voice said,"But you might as well keep yourself alive,"

A cloth fell down onto the ground next to me as I heard the footsteps go away. I looked back to see a girl with black hair in two buns and a long Fire Nation dress.

Isn't she the girl from the Upper Ring? So she'd Fire Nation too.

I sighed again, as I wrapped my hand in the cloth as a small drop of blood made its way onto the dress Akira had made. A tear fell from my face, who am I kidding, I'm losing hope faster then the sun sets.

>>>

Once the sun was down a pair of soldiers made their way towards me before a girl stopped them.

"I'll take it from here," She said as I turned my head to see her, she stood up straight, hair in a ponytail which swayed with the strong ocean winds as she faced the soldiers.

The soldiers cowered before leaving hesitantly as the girl slightly shorter than myself approached me.

"Get up," She ordered me.

I looked at her, examining her sharp lifeless gaze on me as I slowly stood up. Following closely behind her as she led me back to a small room. It was more of a fancy cell with lavished bedding, but it was confining. Suffocating almost. About three people could fit in here, and the roof was only one hand taller than my height. The girl observed me before handing me a set of clothes she had in her hands. I could tell just by touching them that the quality was extremely expensive. I looked back to her, she held a hostility that I couldn't understand, it wasn't like the soldiers who were prepared to kill me at any given moment, but it wasn't Azula who searched for fear within my despair.

"A gift from Princess Azula," She said as she slammed the door of my room.

I stayed in my confined space not being able to do much but walk 5 steps to and from the door. The girl would often come by to bring me my food. She wouldn't say anything, just briefly watch me before leaving. It's like she was trying to understand why I was even here to begin with. Nonetheless I ate my meals despite my body always reacting horribly to it. After eating I would have to force the food to stay down trying not to hurl on my bed. It wasn't that the food was bad, it was because I was stressed. It's always been like this, the same thing happened after my mom died too.

I sat on my bed looking at the Fire Nation clothes I threw to the corner. Just barely enough light entered my room for me to see. Suddenly, murmuring came from the outside. For the first time in 24 hours there was a conversation being held outside my door. I tried to listen, pressing my ear against the doorway, two female voices were muffled. I jumped back when my door swung open. I watched in silence as Azula gave me a smirk, and the girl who would bring me my food stood behind her. 

They seemed close. 

"I see you still haven't tried it on yet," Azula said, picking up the clothes and showing them to me,"It's the best quality on the market you see,"

I kept quiet as she continued,"I could've shot you instead of my dotty uncle all that time ago but I didn't, do you know why?" I looked at her wondering what her response was,"Because you're interesting, to say the least, you're useful. You lost your spirit, an empty shell," She said while placing her hand on my shoulder, I recalled my events in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se as I looked at her emotionlessly,"But you're still strong. Seize this opportunity Kya. Why let yourself rot away living in this cooped up room with no one to care for you when you can enjoy everything you've ever wished for,"

Does she really think I'll join her? No, she thinks I fear her enough to agree.

I looked to the girl who leaned against the door which was now closed. I wanted to know why she was here, why she seemed so interested in Azula's affairs with me, it almost felt like she was looking after the both of us. She watched me intensely as Azula continued to speak.

"Prison bars don't suit you. The Avatar is gone now," The idea of Aang being dead boomed in my head. He really is dead. Azula killed him, the world had one hope and now it's gone. My head started to hurt, don't lose your composure.

She thinks she can control me for seeing how she killed Aang. And that I could be next. 

"You'll live a better life than you did in that desolate ice land you called home for so long. Once the Fire Nation claims victory you can do whatever you want within the constraints of the palace of course," She grabbed my chin making me face her, "You won't have to worry about others while sacrificing yourself,"

I winched softly, she was right. My whole life, everything I did was for the sake of someone else, my family, my home. I never regretted it, but maybe...

No! Azula is manipulative, so let's play her game. Survive. Fake it so much that you believe it yourself. It's the only way.

I stood up and grabbed the clothes from Azula's hands. The girl from behind stopped leaning on the door as she looked down. I started to change infront of Azula and the girl as a sign of acceptance. She smiled eerily, a chill went down my spine. 

Don't fear her.

"It would be an honor to serve you Princess Azula," I said bowing down to the floor.

The girls gazed at me as I kept my eyes on the ground. Waiting for a response. Weirdly enough instead of the tension in the room rising, it calmed down. As if everything was going how it was supposed to go.

"You won't serve me," Azula said stepping closer to me,"You'll fight for me for your own survival, and be compensated dearly,"

The girl opened the door for Azula to leave. The girl watched as she nodded at me, following Azula out the door.