Serious People

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Having finished wallowing her opponents across the sandy hall, Azula satisfied all her baser needs by relieving her stress with a good fight and humiliating the weaker guards. If running around trying to survive and not burn in the blue flames of the princess could be called a fight. The guards were not weak at all by the general standards of the country, it was just that Azula was unnecessarily strong.

Satisfying her desires, the girl put herself out to the fullest, sweating well after her training. The fight was over very quickly, the battle-weary guards simply didn't notice how the princess, who had quickly converged, knocked out first one and then the other with a single blow, forcing both of them to rest on the sand. After informing the nearest guard of her overworked sparring partners, she left the training rooms. The man was an experienced palace guard and understood everything without further ado. It wasn't the first time the princess had brought her opponents to such a state... far from it.

"Good fight, you didn't even kill or cripple anyone! I'm pleasantly surprised," the spirit spoke, after a long silence.

After the outpouring of emotions during the training, Azula felt quite good that she even forgot about her fatigue. The spirit fulfilled its promise and did not disturb the girl in any way, allowing her mind rather than her body to rest. The princess had been continuously insulted by the spirit for quite some time, and almost an hour of its silence was very pleasant. She was even ready to talk to the unknown spirit without unnecessary barbs and dislike, if it were not for the servants with guards and the highest ranks of the army and navy meeting her on the way. The good mood did not turn the girl's head, she kept her usual equanimity, not allowing herself to have a conversation with an extra cohabitant in her body, knowing perfectly well how it would look from the outside.

"I know this way," a thoughtful voice echoed in the princess's head as she turned to the wing of the palace where her chambers were located.

"Hot springs, eh? Eager to wash off the sweat. The right thing to do, given the approaching council of war. Will you give up your seat for a while? It seems like I haven't been to the hot springs in ages..." - the spirit spoke with some degree of reverie, throwing up more information for the girl to ponder.

"You will warn the maids, they will prepare new clothes and inform you half an hour, or even an hour before the meeting starts. I'll hand the body over to you, you'll get some rest, everything will be fine! I promise," no matter what Azula thought of this scheme, she couldn't answer the spirit as there were too many people in the corridors of the palace due to the approaching council. Servants were preparing the hall, running through the corridors, military generals and admirals were arriving at the palace.

However, all of this did not prevent the princess from thinking, even the spirit did not really interfere with the thought processes of the brilliant girl, rather a little distracting with its conversations.

The spirit behaved quite differently than it had at the moment of their acquaintance. He must have felt his victory! Azula was cornered, humiliated and forced to obey an unknown demon. Only the girl did not think of giving up in their confrontation! She was not at all bought off by the spirit's friendly behaviour, she still expected to win this game! The mail hawks had already been sent to all the fire temples. Perhaps in the information they held she would find a way to get rid of the extra inhabitant in her head. The results of their... quieter conversations were already making themselves felt. The girl was certain that the spirit couldn't read her mind or look into her memory. Which meant there was still a not-so-small chance of victory. The only thing left was to pretend to be obedient, defeated, going at his mercy, playing the truth and waiting for the moment...

Thinking about her not-so-sad situation, she reached the corridor with her private quarters. She was immediately spotted by one of the state girls. According to the princess' personal orders, at least one maid must always be near the state's assigned chambers to attend to the princess or summon the others. The other girls usually did their own work: cleaning the princess's private chambers, her training room, and things like that...''

- Your Highness? - The woman bowed in greeting.

- I will need clean armour for the war council. Prepare it as soon as possible..." remembering the spirit's words, she decided to add, "and also, if I don't leave the hot springs an hour before the end of the sun's zenith, remind me of the coming war council.

Finished with her orders, Azula walks past the maid towards the palace's hot springs.

''You're in a good mood, aren't you? I think you'll appreciate the silence a little more now than you did before. No need to thank me," the spirit retorted cheerfully, causing the first signs of irritation from his cheerful tone.

Azula walked into the correct room and began to undress. This time, there were no comments from the spirit about her appearance. It was for the best. Dropping the dirty armour directly on the floor, she went on and closed the door behind her, leaving her alone with the spirit and the hot water.

The hot springs in the Fire Master's palace were quite spacious for one person. Built like the rest of the palace in red-black-and-gold colours, with glamour, luxury and great pomp. Dipping into the water, Azula was not at all embarrassed by the fact that she was being seen through the eyes of a demon. She calmly began to wash herself, looking over her legs and other parts of her body, waiting for the spirit to claim its own.

"I guess nothing in this place will stop us from talking," the wait didn't last long, the spirit spoke soon enough.

- Except for the fire mages patrolling outside the door, making their rounds every twenty minutes, and so, yes. What do you want to talk about, spirit? - Azula replied quietly, leaning against the side of a small body of water.

"We'll keep a low profile. Do you have any ideas yet on how to go to Piandao without arousing unnecessary suspicion?" - The spirit inquired with interest.

- 'Yes, would you like me to voice them? - Azula asks with a hesitation, receiving further confirmation that the spirit can't hear her thoughts.

'Yes, be my guest,' her interlocutor replies.

- 'Alright, I'm going to pay a visit to the Fire Lord some time before the meeting starts. We usually come to the war councils together, at that time we'll have a chance to have a word with him. I'm going to tell him the truth. I was suddenly interested in the martial art of swordsmanship, and I'm going to learn it from the best master in our country.

"Not bad, but what if he refuses?" - The spirit was suspiciously interested, but it didn't shake Azula's outward calmness in the slightest.

- I will say that I wish to continue my lightning training on the coal island, but I will go to Piandao instead. I do not wish to tarnish my reputation in father's eyes with a lie that is so easy to denounce, so this plan will be a backup plan.

"Can he refuse you because of an under-performed lightning conquest?"

- My lightning is close to perfect, but the possibility is present. However, I know what to say to convince my father. My plans never fail," Azula replied confidently, thinking it through to the smallest detail.

"Good, you've thought it through quite well, good for you. Let me soak in the water?" - the spirit asked, as if it were a small thing.

- Only if you... you don't act too suspicious," the princess replied calmly, remembering the spirit's behaviour last time.

"Of course, relax your mind and rest, I'll take care of everything else and be quiet and not attract attention, as soon as someone appears: I'll hand the body over to you immediately," the spirit assured the princess.

It was a little unpleasant. Giving her completely naked and defenceless body to the spirit's control, but there was no choice, as such. She wished with all her heart to put his vigilance to sleep with ostentatious trust. Having no trouble quelling all the interfering feelings within herself, Azula threw back her head, relaxing in the hot water, and closed her eyes. Sleepiness and fatigue quickly reminded themselves, distancing the girl's mind from what was happening.

Soon her calm face was adorned with a wide smile. Sighing with a full chest, the girl opened her eyes, which shone with pure and unclouded happiness. Making herself comfortable, the girl began to breathe deeply, showing the pleasure of the hot water. Feeling the moisture in her eyes, she dives into the water starting to float in the spacious body of water. Slowly floating in the water, she looked up at the ceiling, feeling the elements washing over every bit of her body. Azula was enjoying every second of her life right now and was very happy with the simple hot water.

- A wonderful sensation that you don't appreciate at all, Azula..." the girl spoke wistfully about herself in the third person as she floated out of the water.

The spirit in the princess's body continued to bask in the hot water. Being in the water, he could barely hold back tears of happiness, feeling alive again. Behaving with no restraint at all, he rejoiced like a real child. Bathing, playing, and clearly enjoying every moment of his life. The spirit didn't even once remember that it was controlling a woman's body, not even the slightest bit interested in Azula's intimate parts. He was absorbed in the pleasant sensations of the hot springs.

And so time flew by...

Having enjoyed himself, the spirit leaned against the sides of the body of water and just continued to enjoy the pleasant sensations of the hot water and the magical atmosphere of this place until...

"Knock, knock!" - knocked on the door on the other side of the hot springs.

- 'Mistress, you asked to be reminded of the war council,' came the timid voice of a maid.

- I heard you," came Azula's commanding voice from the hot springs.

Leaving the hot springs in good spirits, Azula ordered a staff of maids to tidy her up. The girls did it very quickly. With a single trick of fire magic, the princess quickly dried her hair, after which the girls took care of her hair. At the same time, the other maids were doing her pedicure and manicure while feeding the princess seedless cherries. Fifteen minutes later, Azula left the staff of her own servants. Dressed in clean armour, she made her way to her father, the Fire Master.

Walking the corridors of the palace, she often met generals with admirals. A couple of salutatory phrases were all that the high ranks of the Fire Nation's army deserved. With a calm step, reaching her father's office, Azula knocked, and after waiting for permission, enters her father's office.

- Azula? - calm voice says the master of the office, the whole palace and the whole country, glancing at his daughter.

- 'Lord of Fire,' the girl kneels, lowering her gaze.

'What a chilly relationship you two have... and is that formal tone obligatory when you're alone together? It seems his own tea is far more important than you, though, what could I possibly know about your family?" - The spirit's voice was simply ignored.

Azula continued to stand, kneeling, waiting for her father to deign to pay attention to her. The fire master finished his tea, glanced at the scrolls brought in from various corners, and turned his gaze to his daughter.

- Unusual. Tell me the reason for coming to me so early," the monarch asked, not even deigning to order his daughter to rise. The princess of the warlike country could only stare at the floor, kneeling before her father.

- I have heard rumours..." Azula began from afar.

Her speech did not show any falseness at all. The princess spoke confidently, eloquently and so convincingly that it was impossible not to believe.

Still kneeling down, the girl told her father how she had heard rumours about Grand Master Piandao. She was ready to demonstrate her skills in conquering fire and lightning magic, as well as in close combat skills, in order to prove mastery in all these areas. So after pondering the next martial art she could learn, her eyes fell on the sword master Piandao. So she came to the Fire Master for permission to go and train with the new master. Although normally masters would queue up to train such a brilliant princess, this was a special case. She was a bit of a liar on one point, her conquest of lightning wasn't high enough to be considered perfect, but used to her daughter's frequent successes, her father didn't feel the need to test Azula's skills and took her word for it.

The Fire Lord listened to his daughter with a calm face before speaking:

- ''I know the peak of your talents, there is no need to arrange another test to confirm your skill. If you need my permission you have it, but I wish to see you at today's military meeting. It will be to discuss further military campaign against the earth kingdom," Ozai replied without any hesitation, encouraging his daughter's every endeavour in the martial arts.

"That was easier than I thought," the spirit in Azula's mind remarked.

- Thank you," the daughter replied briefly, not showing any emotion, keeping a mask of complete calmness on her face.

- Get up, it's time for the council....

According to the rules of etiquette of the Fire Nation, the Fire Lord was always the first to attend the council, while the other generals and admirals could only wait for the lord of the nation to appear, not daring to enter the throne room first. After going to the throne room with their daughter, they could watch the servants prepare for the council of war.

The servants keep this place perfectly clean every day, so their work hadn't changed much. The throne room was majestic and graceful. Many red pillars held up the ceiling. You could see your own reflection in the floor, which had been scrubbed to a shine, but that was nothing compared to the huge throne of the Fire Master, which was the full width of the far wall. The throne was located in the centre of the hall on the far wall, and right behind it was a huge statue of a golden dragon that seemed to breathe fire. The flames that rose and danced as the Fire Lord sat down in his rightful place completed the picture.

Once seated, Ozai ordered the servants to notify the generals and admirals of the start of the military assembly as soon as the military map of the world was brought in. They brought it quickly, the servants kept it close by, and quickly the right man arranged all the figures marking the location of both his own troops and the possible location of foreign troops. The servants went to fetch the higher ranks of the army. Azula took her place behind the map of the world, as close to her father as possible, and soon, after the arrival of the last commanders, the military assembly began.

The first topic of the military meeting was the reports of the generals' actions, their victories and rare defeats. Everyone sat and listened to the reports one by one.

"What a bore... a gathering of old men sitting so straight that it's like they have a stick up their arse. How do you put up with this sort of thing?" - commented the spirit on what was happening, except Azula continued listening to the military's reports with as peaceful a face as possible.

The first part of the reports did not last very long, they were dry, without any interest, according to all the rules of military training, without unnecessary bickering, conflicts and other things. All the military men behaved with extreme restraint, not looking for conflict in the face of the ruler. They had firsthand knowledge of his cruelty, and did not want to die in the fiery meeting - Agni Kai.

Finished with their reports, the military began discussing further plans for the military campaign, and here the spirit reminded Azula of its presence.

"Gee, and these are the top generals of your army? Now I see why you still haven't won the war. If these are your brilliant tactics, I don't even know what to say, the style of fire magic seems to have affected your thinking style as well. Wasting the world's most important resource like that, what kind of brains do you have? You call this a war council? Am I the only one who sees how stupid this is? With such commanders, the war could last another ten years, killing a lot of people and wasting a lot of money," the spirit commented on one general's particularly cynical tactics, but Azula remained calm and indifferent to his words.

The chief military leaders of the Fire Nation never considered losses or the money spent, believing that victory was worth any sacrifice, and the common soldier would gladly pay any price for the world domination of the entire Fire Nation and the prosperity of the state.

The OWLs continued.

The military voiced and added their opinions on certain tactics, each of which was particularly cynical and ruthless. There was discussion of future decisions and the life of a further military campaign against the kingdom of earth. Azula was also taking part in this, showing even more cynicism and cruelty than any other warlord.

The spirit no longer bothered the princess with his opinion until the very end of the war council...