Chapter 39: Romance is Dead

[Ding! New skill learnt!]

[<Beasts Style> (Lvl. 1)]

[ - A style of fighting to further improve combat strength. The higher the level, the more in sync one becomes with a beast. Strength and effect increases according to level. Skill only increases the force and skill of physical combat skills, no direct damage/power increase to energy based skills.

+50% physical strength.

'Heaven birthed Earth, and Earth birthed man. Man birthed the Dao, and the Dao birthed nature! The earliest martial skills were all derived from nature in the first place.'

Become one with a Beast, to become one with Nature, once with Nature, Dao naturally comes forth, from Dao comes Heaven.

Depending on style, power is more concentrated on the strength of said style. Weaknesses of said style may or may not be gained.

Style(s) : Bear (enhances power of arms, hands, and back)]

[System Remark: Do you like honey now?]

Genji's lips twitched when he saw the description of the Beasts Style skill as he thought to himself, 'What is this? Wuxia?'

Shaking his head, Genji looked at Pakku who was still looking at him with an expression of disbelief.

"Do you wish to continue Pakku?" asked Genji with a smile on his face. It took all his strength and the Calm Mind skill not too look smug right now.

'Haha! This is nice...'

Pakku nodded in response with a frown, "Yes."

"Then we shall begin our next battle," said Genji with a smirk on his face. 'Perfect time to level up my skills!'

***

Azula, the fierce woman who wouldn't blink twice at the death of someone, was currently within the royal library of the Palace.

With a frown, Azula was reading through a romantic book.

Her eyebrows were scrunched up together and a look of anger and confusion appeared on her face.

She read about the tale of a young girl who fell for a prince that she met during a storm. She wanted to meet him, so she disguised herself as a boy and joined the army. Upon meeting the prince, they became close friends and ended up falling in love once the girl's identity was discovered.

The story made her think of a certain person.

"... No!"

She slammed the book shut with a loud bang.

She then turned around and looked at the bookshelf behind her. There were many books there.

There was a romance novel written by the author of the book that had made her angry.

It was titled, 'The Tale of Prince Hyacinth'.

"I hate it! That stupid story!" yelled Azula.

Azula hated the story!

"Why couldn't she just manipulate him?! Why did she go out of her way to do all this convincing just to make the man fall for her? But what about the Prince, how could he marry someone so lowly not even born to rule?"

Azula raised her hand and a bright blue flame appeared in her hand as she menacingly glared at the romantic book on the table before her.

Just before she brought down her hand and burnt the book to ashes, Azula felt something deep within her call out to her. Curiosity bubbled and she felt a bittersweet feeling within her.

A feeling she usually only gets when praised by her father whenever she does something perfect.

The blue fire in Azula's hand disappears and she looked at the book with a skeptical frown. Picking it up like if it was dirty, Azula begrudgingly opened it and continued reading the romantic story.

...

Standing at the exit of the library, a guard as looking at Azula through his helmet and a glared. With narrowed eyes, the soldier continued looking at the princess until the guard rotation.

Stepping out of the library, the guard didn't head back to the barracks and instead went to his direct superior before passing on some words.

It was then that THAT superior passed on some words to the next superior before it all finally made it to the ears of the Fire Lord, Ozai.

With a frown, Ozai was sitting on his throne and listening to his minister's report. The minister informed him that the Princess Azula has been spotted entering the Royal Library and reading quite a peculiar book.

A book of romance.

Ozai stood up and walked towards the door of his study. His face was stern and grim as he marched out of his study and into the hallway.

'How did such a book appear in the library? Was there always something like that.'

Soon enough, he arrived at the entrance of the Royal Library.

As soon as he stepped inside, he found Azula reading the book right in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"

Azula jumped at the sudden question from Ozai. She quickly put the book down and gave a confused expression.

"You were reading that book, why?"

"Umm..."

Azula wasn't sure how to answer.

Ozai grabbed the book and flipped through its pages.

It didn't take long before a frown appeared on Ozai's face. Anger boiled up inside and he could only ask himself, 'Who poisoned her! How could she think of such stuff! My precious slave... I must fix this!'

Burning the book without a second thought, Ozai turned to glare at Azula who began to tremble in fear after seeing Ozai burn the book. A fear deeply rooted within her body and heart, one instilled by her father since such a young age.

"Fa-father! What's wrong?"

Azula quickly prostrated herself on the ground in fear under the glare of her father.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"I-I'm sorry Fa-Father! Please forgive me!"

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Her father's voice was filled with anger. Azula never figured that this would happen and she tried to calm her breathing. The first thing that came to her mind, was a single question regarding her father.

'Why is he mad?'

"Answer me! Why did you read this type of book?!"

It was then that Azula's question was quickly answered and she began to wonder why such a thing was wrong to read. Lowering her head even more in fear, Azula stopped thinking about that and decided to think about it later.

"I-I found it in the library and I believed the book was one of war and conquest, father..."

Quickly coming up with an excuse and expertly lying to her father, Ozai could just continue to glare at Azula before turning to the soldiers nearby and giving them the order to burn everything besides books and scrolls related to war and the Fire Nation history.

!!

Foooosh!

Azula was shocked and didn't know why her father was taking such drastic measures. Watching on in awe and fear, Azula saw various books pilled in a corner before being quickly burnt to ash.

The burning process took less than five minutes before Azula's heart became heavy, a peculiar feeling she wasn't too accustomed to. She knew that her father had to do this because of her but still couldn't understand why.

When the burning process was done, Ozai turned to glare at Azula and said, "You will be punished now.

Take the princess down to the dungeons where she will freeze for an entire month. Reduce the amount of food she receives and let her starve for a week. I will make sure to offer some additional punishment in person..."

Azula began to tremble and a look of despair appeared on her face.

"Even Zuko wouldn't disappoint me like this..."

Azula felt like her world was on the verge of collapsing after hearing that she was beneath her brother, a failure of a prince.

"I-I..."

"Silence!"

As if Ozai's words had the power of absolute command, Azula's mouth quickly shut tight and she can only keep her words and thoughts to herself. She can only endure the berating of her father and punishment when she remembered something.

'... groomed to think and act... like [a certain] someone...'

Those words suddenly rang loudly in her head and she lowered her head even more until her forehead touched the floor.

'That man...'

"Send her away!" yelled Ozai after seeing Azula finally staying quiet.

With a smile on his face, Ozai watched as Azula was chained and dragged away to the dungeons of the Fire Nation Palace.

Once she was taken away, Ozai turned to look at the minister next to him.

"Now tell me... what happened to those assassins that were sent out?"

Now, it was the minister's turn to tremble in fear under the fierce gaze of Ozai's.

"They.... they were found dead at an alley at a port city," said the minister with a stutter and a lowered head.

Ozai frowned upon hearing that news and gave the order to send out another group of assassins.

"Make sure they kill him this time and maybe I won't take the heads of your family," said Ozai before walking out of the library and leaving behind a terrified minister.

***

After arriving at the palace, Azula was taken to the dungeons and thrown into the coldest cell in the dungeon filled with ice and a cooling system to keep the ice from melting. Her room was bare except for a bucket in which she would have to relieve herself. No bed, no chair, nothing but the walls and the door.

In this dungeon, there was a single, small hole was there that was made to keep fresh air inside the dungeons. A dim light entered through that hole barely lit up anything within the freezing cell.

It was the most horrible place in the world to be locked in for someone like Azula who believed everything in the world is hers.

Staring at the wall, Azula began to cry quietly. There was no window in the room so she could see almost nothing.

It was at this lowest point of hers that Azula was close to a breaking point when she suddenly heard something echo within her head. A mellow voice that had a charm to it seemingly whispering to her ears, bringing her back out from the darkness.

'You poor thing... all alone.... hopeless and sad...'

Azula felt... comfort... those words as she remembered them.

She felt an unnatural warmth coming from those words warming up her body.

'What is this...' Azula asked herself with an unconscious kind smile on her face. A smile she can't feel because of the cold.

'Is it just my imagination? No... it's that guy... Genji...'

Azula's eyes narrowed and she looked out the small hole and at the dim light. She couldn't believe that someone like her could possibly have feelings for anyone other than herself. But then again, she didn't know how much of what Genji had said was true or not.

But one thing was for sure... her father had done something to her.

Just a small idea.

A small idea in the form of a seed had finally embedded itself within Azula's head. An idea that finally began to suspect her father and everything he has ever taught her.

The tiny seed grew into a bud and will eventually bloom into something in the future.

Depending on what she does now, that seed might grow into a deadly flower or resplendent beautiful flower.

Her mind was filled with thoughts about what she should do and how she should move forward.

Suddenly, at that moment, Azula heard the cry of a messenger hawk. A special cry that is meant for her specially trained messenger hawks so that she can identify them.

Then, with a special rhythmic whistle, Azula called over the messenger hawk that carried a message for her.

"Finally, some news..."

With a smile, Azula looked at the message and before she could even finish, Azula burnt the paper in anger with what little fire strength she had left. With trembling hands, Azula reached over to the messenger hawk and grabbed a piece of paper and charcoal tied to the bird for emergencies and quickly wrote a message before sending out the bird in an instant.

"Find him no matter what…"

And the bird flew off.

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