Chapter 31

A week had passed since our battle with Aang, and a week since Azula became disabled.

No, she remained no less dangerous than before. After all, she was a master of firebending, capable of generating lightning, and a formidable fighter, only now she had no legs. She was disabled.

Throughout the week, I didn't even approach Azula, keeping my distance, and then, after that time had passed, I went to see her.

Ty Lee told me how the princess raged, how she refused to believe in her current deficiency... how she then lashed out at everything and everyone, to the point where even Mai and Ty Lee preferred to leave her be, lest the princess accidentally kill them in her fury.

And then Azula fell into a deep depression. She just sat there for days, staring into nothingness... until I opened the door and approached her bed.

Without saying anything, I turned my back to the princess and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Garro? Why have you come here? To laugh at me? Or to see me weak as I am now?" Azula asked in a subdued and very soft voice, glancing at me for just a moment.

Looking at her face, I once again went over the story I had concocted and, carefully controlling my body and all its reactions, began to tell the prepared tale.

"Princess Azula..." I started and then turned my back to her again, "my lineage, according to the legends of our family, dates back about ten thousand years. Back when the nations of the elements were just forming. While everyone else worked with the elements, our family, for some reason, worked with spirits. I don't know why my ancestors made such a decision. However, it had consequences over many generations. When the Avatar sealed the spirit world, separating it from our world, we lost those who helped us, but instead of becoming like everyone else, we began to emulate the spirits. Very little of what was invented by my ancestors has survived to our days.

"Why are you telling me these fairy tales? You don't need to comfort me like a child - I've stopped throwing tantrums. Were you sent to check on me?" she asked, looking at me again. Unlike our previous encounters, there was not a trace of anger or rage in her gaze. No aggression.

She was broken.

She couldn't handle what had happened and broke.

"Among what has been passed down to me was Dark Healing. It's a special fire technique, created in imitation of some very evil spirits. Under normal circumstances, I would never offer this. I would help come up with something to compensate for your weakness..." saying this, I watched the princess's reaction, but it didn't come - she had already resigned herself to the fact that she was now worthless, "but it turned out to be beyond your capabilities. You couldn't deal with what happened. Therefore, I offer you to undergo Dark Healing. It will restore your legs and fully return your health."

I caught Azula's gaze. It was soaked with hope, like that of a drowning person next to whom a boat passes by, and who can save you. The princess looked at me with exactly that gaze. No matter what kind of princess she was, she was still just a fourteen-year-old girl. And I had given her such hope! An insane one, hard to believe, but hope nonetheless...

"However, there are a few conditions for performing Dark Healing. It requires about two weak benders or three strong non-benders. They will be the sacrifices, whose life and health you will receive. This is necessary for Dark Healing."

"I will order three people to be brought to me right now! They will be the sacrifices!" Azula said, breathing faster, joyfully.

She believed. She believed because she saw no other options.

"That's not all. Normally, this technique implies self-healing, so there are no problems in that case, you don't even notice them, but when healing another, it becomes noticeable. What is given belongs to the one who uses the technique. Currently, I am the only one who can use this technique. This means that the legs returned to you will also belong to me. It won't matter. At least until my death. After that, what's returned will eventually disappear. In other words, if I die - you will lose your legs again."

This was an outright lie, but I had rehearsed long and watched for reactions in my body, nullifying all that would reveal the lie in my words. And this lie was intended to make me necessary to Azula. It's hard to believe in such a thing, but after the return of her legs, the thought that if I was truthful in one aspect, then I might have been truthful in the other as well. And this thought would come to her mind every time she even thought about eliminating me. Moreover, she would do everything in her power to prevent others from killing me.

"However, all this was just a description of what is needed for Dark Healing and a story about the consequences. However, I would like to ask for something in return from you."

Determination flickered in Azula's eyes, so she didn't hesitate for a second before answering.

"Anything! Just say it, and I'll give you whatever you wish! And if I can't myself, I'll ask my father, he'll give you what you wish. What do you want?" she asked, moving closer to me on her hands, and her leg stumps must have been terribly painful! The wounds hadn't healed! And there were no waterbenders here for healing.

"Lightning. I want you to teach me lightning. Share this knowledge with me. Can you do that?" I asked her.

"Lightning?" she smiled, and nodded happily, thinking the price was laughably small and she was losing nothing. "I will teach you lightning! Myself!"

Of course, herself, because as the stories go, it's very dangerous and if you mess up, you might fry yourself with a charge. And now she doesn't want my death, so she decided to control everything personally.

"I am very glad, Princess Azula. Then I will be waiting. I am ready to start at any moment. You know what I need."

I left the room, and at the princess's voice, the soldiers guarding the entrance to her room peeked in.

An hour later, I was in a room with Princess Azula in a wheelchair and three bound strong-looking men. Besides us, there were also a few Fire Nation soldiers.

"I am ready to begin, Princess, but are you sure the others should see this?" I nodded towards the soldiers.

"Yes, you're right. Leave us and wait outside."

"Wait! You should know, immediately after the technique, you will be very hungry, so let them prepare a lot of food. Especially dairy products, meat, and nuts."

The soldiers left, obeying Azula's words, and I approached the sacrifices.

"Well then, I begin."

I extended my hands forward and, following the program rehearsed over the week, released threads of fire from my palms. It was beautiful and spectacular, though completely useless. But that was exactly what I needed.

The sacrifices began to moan as loudly as they could, thankfully the gag didn't allow them to scream, while the fire threads enveloped their heads. However, the fire had to burn

 the gag - it would have interfered later. Covered by fire, I took control of the blood in the sacrifices and forced it to seize Life, holding it with blood clamps. This was the weakest part of the preparation. I had never taken blood and life from three people simultaneously, so the main thing was to try and not screw up! The extracted blood drops were immediately enveloped in fire but did not burn. Actually, selective burning is really difficult!

The sacrifices visibly withered right before our eyes, at least it was noticeable by their arms, while their faces were engulfed in flames, and the withering process was not visible.

The blood drops merged into one ball, also enveloped in flame, and this ball grew right in front of Azula's face, who was watching this process with wide-open eyes.

The fire consumed the bodies of the sacrifices and began to incinerate them as soon as the last drop of blood left their bodies. I didn't want to leave such evidence.

The blood ball, inside which the life of these people was trapped, enveloped in flame, rushed towards Azula's face. She closed her eyes, squinted... and passed out as the blood flow to her brain was briefly blocked. Now I could breathe a sigh of relief. I had made an impression, concealed bloodbending, and now there was no need to show off.

Extinguishing the fire on the blood ball, I proceeded with the experiment. First, it was about integrating blood and life into the patient's body. Nothing complicated here. Then, it was about making Azula's body absorb, devour, and assimilate what was given to her.

Well, let's begin!

The blood ball divided into one large and wide one, and two much thinner blood strands. The first started entering the body through the mouth, the others through the eyes.

Let's start...

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