บท 5: Chapter 5 - Meeting the Royal Family

When the sisters are age 8, Lady Pea says they will be going on vacation to a private beach, but they have to be on their best behavior and not piss off the royals. She gives an extra look to Nuwa, who switches from rambunctious to innocent in a split second. Lady Pea sighs, 'Where did this oddball get its traits from? Oh well, it should be fine, after all, no one dislikes her except her male sparring partners. I hope they don't fight.'

As the family approaches the beach in fancy carriages, [System] gives an alarm.

*Danger. DANGER. Danger. Approaching unstable Tier 2 Soul.*

'Fire Lord Ozai must have made a breakthrough, I didn't get a warning last time I saw him. He must have forced himself to Tier 2 because he knows he isn't a match for his brother Iroh.'

"[System], what are the consequences of having an unstable soul?"

*All unstable souls are easily influenced into sin and breaking the balance of the world. They are enemies to the World's Will. If an unstable soul lives long enough without regaining stability, it will lose its intelligence and degenerate into a mindless demon. This is the punishment imposed by the World's Will.*

'Wow, cool! Worlds have Wills, I read about this in Warlock of the Magus World. It seems to function as a basic artificial intelligence that ensures the long-term stability of the world in keeping with the Record. Unlike WMW, I do not think this Record has wars between worlds. Where is the spirit realm in all of this?'

"Hey [System], what have you found out about the Spirit Realm so far?"

*The Spirit Realm is a mindscape belonging to the World's Will. System negotiated your entry into this Record with the World's Will.*

"Eh? Oh, can I talk to the World's Will?"

*Entering and exploring the Spirit Realm is equivalent to conversing with the World's Will. It is incapable of direct communication due to omniversal restrictions.*

'I gotta see if I can meditate and enter the Spirit Realm at some point. That'd be fun, maybe I can even get bending from a lion turtle.' Nuwa smiles cheerfully as she pumps herself up with optimism.

"Ok kids, we're here! Have fun now, remember what your mother and I told you."

Lord Pea checks his pockets because he's excited to do some gambling until he gets a glare from Lady Pea and has all his money confiscated.

The servants elegantly welcome them to the Ember Island resort and they enter the largest estate's lobby.

Standing before the double doors are two decrepit looking grannies, who Nuwa remembers as Azula's firebending mentors, Lo and Li. The moment she sees them, they immediately return the stare. After an uncharacteristic silence, the Pea parents try clearing the air with a respectful bow, "Greetings elders."

Lo: "Welcome and"

Li: "take care."

Lo: "Hatred and love,"

Li: "freedom and imprisonment,"

Lo: "order and chaos,"

Li: "all will be tested"

Together: "as the comet approaches."

After their spiel, they open the doors.

The whole family goes bug-eyed at the cryptic, yet prophetic verse told by the grannies directly to Nuwa, who is also wide-eyed, attempting to maintain a stoic facade. She understands that there would probably be some sort of final showdown when Sozen's Comet comes around involving her. 'Fuck there goes any chance of myself avoiding danger. Damned flag-raising bags of bones. Why are people in tune with the Spirit Realm so annoying and vague! Then again, if I was an old granny again, tormenting plot-heavy youngsters would be one of the best ways to get myself off.'

She reveals a look of understanding and adopts their sagely tone as she thanks them for their guidance. Then she enters the vacation throne room with her family. Lo and Li look at each other quizzically as they both feel like there may have been some sort of misunderstanding, then they shrug it off. They then head to the beach so they can strip to their swimsuits and torment more youngsters with their saggy assets.

Even though the Fire Lord called for a vacation among the Noble families, the makeshift throne room has a solemn air. The candles flare up 20x their normal height as an additional intimidation factor when Ozai raises his head to look at the Pea family. Ursa, the wife of the Fire Lord, has a gentle but depressed demeanor as she sits to his left. Zuko looks bored sitting to the left of Ursa. Azula sits at her father's right with her back ramrod straight.

Nuwa reminds herself not to drool imagining future Zuko's ripped body. She pretends to look admiringly upon the broken family while hiding her pity. Since the adults know each other already, they exchange some pleasantries and give the floor to Azula who looks eager to boss around her vassals.

She says, with a sadistic expression and pointing at the sisters, "I am Azula, the greatest firebender of all time and future Fire Lord! Bow to me, puny serfs!"

'The baby fat almost makes her look cute. What a crazy bitch. In the brainwashing curriculum, I'd put her midway through the animal torture sessions. If she hasn't burned anyone yet then there's still hope for her to be somewhat normal.'

Ursa looks even more depressed at Azula's attitude and Ozai smirks after a glance at his wife.

The Ty sisters all bow so as not to cause problems by challenging royal prestige, except Nuwa who was still absent-mindedly analyzing Azula. Ty La and Ty Li pull her down into a bow while Azula looks at Nuwa like she found a new toy.

Azula points at Nuwa, "You there!"

Nuwa points at herself, "Yes?"

Azula beckons her to her side, "You are my first friend. Rejoice, lowly one."

Ozai corrects Azula and tells her that "lowly one" is only used for maidservants of much lower class than Nobles.

Azula shrugs it off and says something about how they're all beneath me so who cares.

The Pea family shows some distress, so Nuwa gives them a thumbs up and projects a confident demeanor, which eases their minds a bit.

Nuwa walks over to the stern-faced Azula and figures she could loosen up a bit. She goes up and gives her a big hug while saying, "You're my first friend!"

Azula looks dazed and mechanically answers, "For me too." Zuko looks at Azula with slight jealousy since apparently he wanted to be Nuwa's first friend. Azula gains her bearings and notices that Nuwa was about to walk over to Zuko so she grabs Nuwa by the collar mockingly as if claiming a trophy. Zuko gets dejected, but looks at the doll-like identical sisters and as if he had a great idea he copies Azula by picking Ty Li to be his first friend. It seems he subconsciously picked the most timid sister so that he can easily order her around. The gathering is called to an end and the Pea Parents worriedly leave the two sisters in the company of the royals.