章 89: Chapter 89 - The Trap Is Sprung
Seras appears behind Iroh and just when she is fully there, the elderly man's voice sounds out.
"Ah, Miss Victoria. Would you like some tea?" He picks up a pot.
"....you seem at home for a man who continuously advocates peace and understanding."
"I'm just a figure head. It's nice because they have the best tea leaves." He sips from a cup.
"Wow, if I didn't know better, I would think you're just a crazy old man. Good acting." Seras sits down across from him and smirks.
"....that's not very nice to say. I'm just being myself, you know." He pouts.
"Oh please, you don't have to hide it. I know you hate whatever this is and the only reason you're here is because of your nephew. Just so you know, he took Aang and escaped successfully."
"....that's good."
"I'm surprised you admitted it so easily."
"Really? Why would I lie when you clearly know what's going on? I don't know why, but it seems like you didn't want to stop him."
"You and I both know that the boy needs to take a different path than the one he is on now. Your way is nice, but he needs a dose of reality."
"Reality?"
"Yes, like the fact that his father is a dehumanizing scumbag with no morals."
"That's a little harsh don't you think?" He chuckles.
"Is it? Will you still say so when I tell you that he is the reason your son died?" Seras sips from her own cup after dropping that bomb.
For a couple seconds, there was silence until Iroh's tea cup exploded from the heat He was releasing. He breathes in and out for another 5 seconds before glaring at her. It was the gaze of a man who lead hundreds of thousands of men.
"You're lying and I don't appreciate you using my son's death like that."
"Am I? How did I know your son died? Also, don't you think it's suspicious that he died alone during the war you were in charge of? From what I was told he was a high ranking member of the military, so why was he alone?"
"...." Iroh looked down in thought.
"Another thing to think about is who gained from such an action? From what I have seen and heard, you were respected by everyone across the nation, who would want to disrupt that?"
"....even if such a thing was true, how did you come to know of it?"
"Your brother told me."
"What!?"
"Yeah, he even bragged about it in front of his daughter."
"....." his original angry expression turned into one of sadness that only someone who's family was taken away would understand.
"I'm sorry to just tell you that like this." Seras felt a sort of kinship with the old man.
"...no. I appreciate it."
"Hmm?"
"I always thought that I failed in protecting him....the agony of thinking you caused your own son's death by not stopping him from doing what he wanted....It broke me. So much so that I just dropped everything and left my nephew in the palace..."
"...."
"But to know that it wasn't fully my fault....it's relieving...thank you...." tears fall from his eyes.
"....you're welcome...." Seras couldn't say anything else.
A few minutes pass in silence as Seras looked out the opening to see that almost all of the landing force has went through the hole. She also saw about a hundred dead water tribe warriors with over 600 deceased fire nation soldiers.
"So, what are you doing here?" Iroh speaks up first.
"A couple things." She stands up.
"Such as?"
"First, I wanted you to tell me How to lightning bend."
"Hmm....will you show me your fire bending before I decide?"
"I will later, but I also wanted to also ask what your plans are from now on."
"...originally I just wanted to live my life and possibly sell tea after I help my nephew. But now there is another thing I must do."
"Will you tell me?"
"No. It is something between brothers." At that Seras smirked in understanding.
"I see. Then it seems like it's time." She walked to the opening.
"Time for what?" Iroh stood up and walked behind her.
"For the invasion to end." Seras lifts her right palm and a small red flame appears.
'This....isn't normal fire....it's red and doesn't seem to be releasing heat.' Iroh was curious but Seras continued.
"As you have probably surmised, the wall fell a little too easily. That was because of me."
"I thought it did fall quicker than I guessed, but you wanted it to fall early? Why?"
"To spring my trap, of course." The ball Of flame went orange, yellow, green, and stopped at a very light blue.
Iroh has to cover his body in his own fire to reduce the heat he is feeling. After doing so, Seras threw the ball into the sky like a baseball and when it reached its highest point, the ball expanded.
It grew to the size of 100 meters and made it seem like a second sun. The fire nation soldiers were confused, but even more confusing was the Water Tribe's reaction.
The warriors retreated and a line of water benders created an ice wall that couldn't be toppled unless over a thousand fire benders attacked at the same time. Of course, they would never get the chance to even try.
"What is this!?" Zhao yelled from far Behind his troops.
"It's time Men! Make sure the wall holds!" Arnook was right behind the line of water benders encouraging them.
Iroh watched as the blue sun slowly fade away as Seras raised both of her arms into the air, palms faced downward. She begins to tremble as she slowly lowers them. He goes wide eyed when the inner faces of the two ice cliffs begin to lower.
Seras made sure to tell the Chief where the water benders should make the wall so they remain unaffected. Millions of gallons of water pours out of the cliffs shocking all parties involved except Arnook and Pakku.
Pakku was told mainly because Arnook needed to in order for him to follow the plan. Seras lowered her hands all the way and turned to Iroh with a tired look.
"You....you h-had that ready?" Iroh was shocked.
"Yeah...it's been tiring holding it back for the past three days."
'Three days? So she planned it that far back?' Iroh was even more amazed at her planning than her strength.
While Iroh was continuing to be awed, the fire nation Troops were all screaming for their lives and fleeing back to their ships. Zhao was the only one still thinking that they could win.
"OH MY GOD!!" One screamed in shock.
"No fucking way!!!" Another yelled.
"It's over...." a third whispers as he falls to the ground with no hope.
NOOO!!! I want to live! I have dreams! I can't die here!!" A fourth was crying tears of agony.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Get back into formation!!" Zhao commanded.
"It's Impossible Sir!!" His aide yells before running away with the soldiers.
Before he can get far, Zhao hit him with a fire tornado and he was turned to ashes. The so called Admiral looked around at the fleeing soldiers and then at the humongous amount of water heading his way before flying upward with his fire bending.
When one gets strong enough, they can propel themselves with Fire bending and fly for a short amount of time. Zhao can only do this for a couple minutes so he flies to the wall that they broke through and watches the water wash away his Sure victory.
'What the hell happened!? Did the water tribe do this? No. They don't have the strength for this...then who coul- no way!' He thinks of the note the fire Princess sent him about the woman he 'captured'.
"She knew! That bitch...." heat emanates off of his body melting the surroundings slightly.
"Then I can only do what I came here by myself. Even if the invasion failed, as long s I kill the water spirit, I will still be a legend told to future generations..." he grins maliciously as he begins thinking of a way to enter the Spirit Oasis.
"This is....incredible. They had the upper hand with the numbers but you used that against them. You made them funnel inside and finish them off in one swoop. Ingenious." He whispers.
"Yeh, but this would only work well with a leader like Zhao. Any other person would have been cautious and sent in waves. Only an arrogant fool would send everyone they had."
"...true." Iroh nods along with her assessment.
"This would have worked against your brother as well. While not as arrogant as that buffoon, but he is incredibly egotistical." Iroh agrees once more.
Seras can hear the screams of over 7000 soldiers as each one of them are drowning to death. The sound was like music to her ears which only made her seem like the monster she is.
The water eventually reached the wall but the pressure was too much and it broke apart very easily. The ships that were waiting were pushed back from the current and some even hit others since the formation was tight.
The main ship that Seras and Iroh were on was strangely unaffected. The two were having tea as Iroh explained Lightning Bending to seras.
"Hmm...from what I've gathered, you've fixed your problem with your breathing and are now a master of fire bending. However...."
"However?" Seras asked after taking a sip of tea.
"Fire bending is all about swift and powerful movements. You control the chi and it follows your own will. Lightning bending is the opposite." Seras doesn't interrupt so he continues.
"Lightning is created when a fire bender uses 50% positive and 50% negative chi at the same time. Unfortunately when one splits their chi evenly like this, it will direct itself as it pleases. They eventually meet at a central point on the body and their interaction causes Lightning to form."
"I see....so fire benders will find it difficult to learn Lightning bending because they normally control their chi, not guide it gently."
"Exactly." The former general nods.
"Then, how does one guide their chi without controlling it?"
"Ah, that's the crux of the matter." Iroh chuckles.
"What do you mean?"
"Every person is different. When learning Lightning bending, you yourself are the only one who can know how to guide it. I can't teach you my way or it will backfire and the Lightning will explode in your body."
"Then the only thing I can do is experiment?"
"Yes. Normally you would have a teacher by your side who can help, but I'm guessing you don't have one since you're asking me."
"True..." they were silent for another minute when Seras stands up.
"I must be going. Haven't had much sleep these past three days and four nights." She yawns to showcase her tiredness.
"...amazing."
"Hmm?"
"Even when you're exhausted to such a state I still feel like I can't defeat you. Even at my prime you could probably kill me without so much as a modicum of effort."
"Maybe...But I could do that with anyone on this planet."
"This planet?" He tilts his head at the term."
"Ah....it was nice talking with you Iroh, I hope we meet again under better terms."
"Me as well..." he grins before offering his hand.
Seras takes it.
"Also, I hope we can play that card game you showed me last time. I've tried teaching my nephew but he didn't want to learn."
"I will come again when I can. And if you can't teach your nephew, then you should teach the crew. I'm sure they would enjoy such a thing." She hands him an unopened deck before jumping out of the opening.
Her jump was strong enough to propel her to the ice wall which only made Iroh shake his head in defeat.
'I've seen her water bend and fire bend along with this show of physical strength....she is much too powerful. However...' he looks down at the cards in his hand with a fond smile.
'She can be very gentle as well.'
Unbeknownst to Iroh, a man was behind the door of the room who heard everything that was said. Usually, one would not be able to eavesdrop in such a room, but the door was left open slightly.
The normal procedure when leaving the cabin is to lock the door, but due to Zhao's order of getting every single soldier to land, many of the lockdown procedures were left undone.
The man who was outside the door carefully ran away at a speed which would normally cause a lot of noise. However, he knew where to step so he wouldn't do so. This man was Captain Li.
'I only wanted to ask General Iroh if he could secretly take me and the man back to the princess. Not only was he not alone but he was with that terrifying woman! Why did I have to hear that bomb!? The Fire Lord assassinate his nephew all for the throne!? What the hell have I gotten myself into!?' He turns a bunch of corners and finds himself in a secluded area.
He breathes in and out quickly like he was having a panic attack.
'Above all that, the princess knew! Even if she didn't then, she does now....what do I do now? Can I still serve her knowing this?' He frowns deeply thinking back to his meeting with her.
Captain Li has not been the smartest or the strongest soldier, but he is the most loyal and can see through the personality of the people he speaks to. There have been only two people he has met that he couldn't. Seras and the Princess.
She was very assured of herself and had confidence in her abilities, a clear indicator of royalty. but there was something off about her that he couldn't pinpoint. He felt like it was something artificial attached to her, however he didn't think more about it, until now.
'No matter what, I have chosen my path and I can only walk on it. Since the General can't help, then I can only do the riskier plan...' he sighs in annoyance before walking away.
After the captain left, Iroh commanded the leftover crew to make a retreat back to the fire nation. Nobody refused his order and the ships began backing away from the wall. He remained behind in the command ship in hopes that his nephew can make it back.
The few who remained were older men who participated in the war of Ba Sing Se with the General, years ago. Iroh offers then tea and after a few seconds they accept it with respect.
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crazy1324
crazy1324 I don’t own Avatar or any of its characters. However what I do own is this version of seras and the Alternate reality she creates by being there. Yes, that’s all mine....ALL OF IT!
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