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Lake Laogai	By : TheDaiLi Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > General Views: 56822 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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"I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing. So you had to struggle and connive and claw your way to power. But true power…the divine right to rule…is something you’re born with. The fact is, they don’t know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne and which one is going to be bowing down. But I know. And you know. Well?"

She had him pegged, and Long Feng was just a few seconds away from capitulating. Azula was strong, confident, calm, and without his Dai Li backing him Long Feng felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time…powerless. He felt like the young boy Azula had described in her cutting portrayal of his life, and, in seeing that he could lose it all just from this…this ‘princess’ sauntering in and bossing his Dai Li around with such ease he was just about buying this ‘divine right’ idea she was speaking of. It was obvious now she had intended for this to happen from the start; her friends talking on the steps, her feigned fear when he arranged a ‘midnight rendezvous’ with her. It was all leading up to this.

He looked up at Azula and saw she expected an answer to her challenge…no, not an answer at all, she just expected him to give up. She was a prodigy when it came to firebending and far more capable in a fight than he was; Long Feng couldn’t take her in a straight confrontation and they both knew it.

But wait. Wait. She had sat down on the throne for his answer. Another calculated move designed to show how she was the correct choice for leading the Dai Li, and thus what remained of the Earth Kingdom. Normally, this would be smart, but…she had underestimated him. The throne was made mainly of stone, thus bendable, and she was so enamoured by her own brilliance to even contemplate that his life of diligent perseverance would count for ANYTHING in this final encounter, like he would just give up HIS Dai Li and HIS life’s work at the drop of a hat just because he hadn’t been at the reigns for a week?

Not a chance. Not when he was so close to getting the power that was rightfully his, the CITY that was rightfully his. Not now that he had been so kindly reminded of his rightful place in the world, and given such a wonderful opportunity to remain there.

She was still expecting an answer.

“You’re right about me,” He replied, letting defeat tinge into his voice to mask his intent, “I was a peasant boy with nothing, using deception and knives in the back to get to where I am now. Yet you just arrive and end up beating me at my own game.”

The princess grinned, smirking at his admission as he expected. He had, afterall, acknowledged her brilliance; it was natural that one such as her would take pleasure in dominating others.

“Oh Long Feng, you give yourself too much credit. You were-”

“-But.”

What a pity her victory blinded her to the small gestures his hands were making inside his longsleeves. Not that they were noticeable anyway until the tendrils of earth leapt up and snaked around her arms and legs. He would have to thank the Avatar for that little trick; Kyoshi taught it to the Dai Li when she first created them, and non-showy earth-bending moves were hard to come-by, let alone execute.

“It seems I’ve still got one more knife to plant.”

“What?!” The princess screamed, pulling at the bonds that were quickly pinning her to the throne, “What is this?! DAI LI-”

“-Stay were you are, if you don’t want to be bossed around by some fourteen year old girl on a power-trip.” He calmly finished for her.

Glances were exchanged under brimmed hats, but nothing was said and nobody moved. Evidently, his subordinates had found their answer over who deserved to rule. Long Feng smiled; it was all over bar the screaming, and Azula was doing plenty enough of that on her own, complete with blue plumes of fire.

“You bastard!! I’ll fucking burn you down to your bones!! I’ll melt your fucking-“

“Now now princess, such language is unseemly for one of your station,” He smirked, waving a hand to form a rock-gag to shut her up before turning to HIS Dai Li, “Now then, I trust that I have your confidence?”

One of the elder members stepped forward, bowing low in deference to him.

“But of course, my Lord. It is the Dai Li’s only regret that we ever doubted your power and cunning.”

“Oh? And what service do you offer me to make amends?” Feng replied coolly.

“Whatever my Lord wishes. It is only natural that the Dai Li follow the orders of their leader.” The man replied smoothly, his face hidden beneath his hat, his tone as easy as it would be regardless the situation.

Long Feng didn’t doubt that he would have spoken just as confidently if Azula had come off the better. Still, he found himself not holding much of a grudge against those were mere moments away from following another. The organisation’s mandate was to follow the strong, keep the order, and stay alive. Even Long Feng had to admit that waiting to see who the stronger leader was would the correct path to follow in light of those basic rules. The Dai Li were loyal, but only to those worthy of their loyalty.

Still, this didn’t mean he had completely forgiven them. Punishments would be handed out later. For now though, there was other business to attend to.

“Well, I would think it prudent that our ‘guest’ is not left without company,” He mused to himself, casting his eye over those assembled, “You five! Go attend to the princesses friends.”

“And when we have subdued them?” One spoke calmly, though with a hint of puzzlement behind it.

Long Feng smiled and looked over his shoulder, back at the struggling would-be-leader, an infuriated expression still on her face.

“They will be joining their friend…underneath Lake Laogai.”

That was one week ago, to the day.

Leaning back on his chair, Long Feng appraised his room within the facility, the first time he had been able to return since his release from prison and the ‘redecoration’ after the Earth King’s visit. With all the generals in jail and said king missing, it was only natural for Long Feng to assume control over all such duties, his veritable army of Joo Dee’s helping with most of the paperwork. It occurred to him that he should begin delineating responsibility to others soon, the large armies of the earth kingdom did require generals afterall, but he felt that the matter could wait for the moment. If he were honest with himself, he was still enjoying the power. All of the armies, all of the homeland was his to control, the lives of millions of people his to command.

He gazed across the black wooden desk to the brilliantly green fire burning on the other side of the room, marvelling in his achievements to date. There were still many matters left to consider however, many holes and pending dangers to his rule that needed to be addressed.

The first being the war against the Fire Nation. Oh sure, he denied the war was going on within Ba Sing Se’s walls to promote peace and happiness, but the reality of it would not long escape his people when Sozin’s Comet rode high, and he did not want that to spoil the tranquillity that he had been maintaining for so long. Also, there came the interesting information regarding the solar eclipse which his Dai Li agents filled him in on during his incarceration. It would not have surprised him if Azula had already sent a messenger hawk away to her homeland to warn her father about this…but then Long Feng had his own plans about that.

The second concern was the Avatar. He planned on releasing his friends outside of the city, hoping they would be enough trinkets to keep the Avatar from interfering with his grab for power, but such was…not the case. By the time he went down to free his Waterbending friend they had captured, it seemed she had affected her escape with the Avatar already…along with the Fire Prince. Quite what HE was doing in Ba Sing Se Long Feng had no idea, but that the prince had managed to slip through his fingers was something that he wasn’t best pleased with. He could be anywhere in the city…or out of it, by now. He’d missed his chance to interrogate him and find out why Fire Nation royalty seemed to be crawling out of the walls of his city…Long Feng was half expecting the Firelord to come by the palace selling cabbages.

Prince aside, the Avatar was not easily repulsed after he had caught up to him; even though the palace guard had been reinforced after the Avatar’s last impromptu visit, Long Feng still had to call in parts of the outlying garrisons to come to his immediate defence as well…not too many though, in-case they started wondering where their generals had gone. It would have ruined everything had the troops truly realised what had happened in the hours beforehand.

Luckily, reason prevailed in the end; the Earth King’s life proving a most useful bargaining chip to buy him some time. It was a pity he had to let that buffoon and his clownish animal go, but he didn’t seem to have much of a choice; the Earth King for the Avatar’s departure seemed like a good deal at the time, one he knew that naïve child would uphold. Even then, that he actually managed to ward the Avatar away at all was a surprise; didn’t he have the power of a hundred benders at his beck and call? Why did he not use it like he had so famously against the Fire Nation Navy?

Sighing, the most powerful man in the Earth Kingdom leaned back to look at the ceiling in frowned thought. He could only assume that the boy’s effort was half-hearted. The Avatar already had his friends back afterall, and though the eclipse was quite far away he would still need time to marshal new forces. But then…surely it would have been simpler to continue fighting and try to retake the city he was already in? Maybe he just thought to cut his losses and spare unnecessary loss of life. How considerate.

Either way, the fact that he left was no longer Long Feng’s concern, it was the fact he would return once the Fire Nation had been dealt with…and he wondered exactly what he should do about that…

Right on time, one of the members of the Dai Li’s psychological division swept in, kneeling before him as was customary.

“You sent for me, my Lord?”

“Yes,” He acknowledged, motioning for the man to stand, “I’ve come for a report on our latest prisoners. I trust you have gained adequate information in my absence?”

“But of course my Lord, we have taken every pain and effort to ascertain the mental fortitude and profiles of our new guests.”

He could have sworn he saw the division member smile underneath his hat; evidently he must have compiled some rather interesting and insightful data if he was so confident his report would please him. Grinning himself, Long Feng nodded to the table, upon which the agent placed what written records the Dai Li had compiled on their prisoners so far.

“Now let me see…” He murmured, giving the works an idle once over, “Why don’t you start with the princess? She is the one who’s most important to my plans afterall.”

“Indeed my Lord,” He agreed before gesturing to the collection of papers regarding her, “She’s an interesting case my, and quite possibly the one most difficult to examine given the necessary security precautions we had to take with her.”

Long Feng remembered his instructions well; shackled hand and foot with cuffs and bars to allow a minimum of movement, as well as earthen ‘mittens’ to stop any firebending from hand-gestures alone; he wouldn’t have any blowtorch fingers on his watch. He considered a gag as well, but that could wait until later; any mouthing off she was inclined to do under observation would prove crucial to understanding her way of thinking.

“She has proved to be the most vocal of the three so far, originally just through her anger, and then later through attempts to manipulate the guards on duty or in her cell, playing clever word games with the interrogators. She also responded most vitrolically when it came to matters that were out of her control; I believe this is the first time she has actually lost something so decisively and she’s trying to cover for it in trying to gain control over other things.”

Long Feng could see in the reports that such an assumption would be well founded, she’d been trying to dictate things from feeding times to toilet breaks. He looked up from the papers as the man continued his general brief.

“Of her friends it seems they mainly serve her sheerly through either fear or Azula’s own expert control, using her title and domineering personality as leverage over them. Out of the two it seems the subject known as Ty Lee is considered most fondly by the princess, and this is reciprocated to a certain degree, though there hasn’t been enough time to tell exactly how much. At any rate there seems to be little doubt the princesses ambition and arrogance regularly overshadow whatever feelings she may have for her friends.”

“When you say ‘fondness’, is this in a purely friendship way or something more?” Long Feng probed, looking over a transcript from one of the interrogation sessions, smirking at some of her barbs.

“Unfortunately we have not had enough group sessions between the prisoners to see exactly how far their relationship goes. However, there does seem to be a strange…dependence that Azula has on her friends, as if they validate her person in some way. This doesn’t just seem to rely on her friends either, but rather everything around her she seeks to validate herself and her status. It is entirely possible that she invokes fear because that is the surest, least risky way to get another’s respect in her position.”

“I take it this is why she’s trying to control everything…” Long Feng thought aloud, sitting back in his chair, “Tell me, how is she currently?”

“Quiet. Contemplative. Calculating. Though the only thing she can be sure of is her own knowledge of our methods of induction by formerly being in command, which isn’t as much as she would like to imagine. There’s a bravado about her but its barely paper-thin; she hasn’t yet come to terms with the reality of the situation and her own actions. I don’t think it a stretch to say that she will end up defeating herself at this rate; she’s a perfectionist, and a blow of this magnitude might cause the whole pack of cards to tumble.”

Long Feng folded his arms and sat back in his chair, deep in thought. All this information was interesting but gave him little in the way of ideas when it came to dealing with her in the short-term. It was evident that she was on a downward spiral, but it would still take some time before he could really ‘re-educate’ her in the manner he wished. She was still a clever and cunning adversary, and she’d fight solely on pride if nothing else was available.

He also found the basic report on her slightly amusing in that it never names her as someone who is quintessentially evil, as she so often portrays herself, but rather a victim of her own assumptions. He’d find that cause to send the reports in for review if he wasn’t totally confident in his agent’s abilities to read people so flawlessly. Body posture, words and intonation were all a part of what they took in, as well as any information gathered prior to a subject’s containment, which, naturally, was substantial for high-profile subjects such as these.

****

She gave another pull on her cuffs, now more out of habit than an earnest attempt to break free.

It became obvious to Azula from very early on that there was no real hope of breaking free from her current, admittedly humiliating bondage; if she was going to break out of this ridiculous spread-eagle position she would have done it when she first got put into it a week ago, back when she had the energy to properly thrash at them, when her anger was more overt.

Azula still didn’t know why she acted that way. Yes, Long Feng had not capitulated as she had expected from him, but she was the princess of the Fire Nation, and with Zuko banished, next in line for the title of Firelord, and royalty does not so easily succumb to such base emotions.

But perhaps that was exactly why she reacted like that. She was to be the Firelord and the Firelord must not lose, the Firelord must be perfect…like her father is perfect…but she…

Again she tugged on her bonds, causing the leather to tighten and that strange sensation to overtake her senses for a few seconds; like pain, but not. It proved a wonderful way to keep herself from such negative, unhelpful thoughts when planning on her escape; she had found simple meditation had become virtually impossible in her current position so those few seconds of release her bonds provided her with would have to do.

That said, there was very little positive to consider. It was already understood that the three of them were going undercover for a while so no outside help was forthcoming; she even sent word back to her entourage a mere day before their…’capture’.

‘Ridiculous. Fire Nation royalty doesn’t get captured. This is a setback. Just a setback. You’re smart and brilliant and you can think your way out of this. You don’t need any outside help anyway, you just need an opportunity to present itself.’

But so far, there had been very few opportunities availed to her. As she had guessed of the Dai Li they make excellent prison guards, the agents had barely said a word to her outside of their rather frequent interrogations, which always went over ground that was entirely irrelevant to Fire Nation security, and to which she always gave equally irrelevant, subtly barbed answers.

Azula was far from stupid though. She knew what they were doing, having already been taken around Lake Laogai when she assumed command of the organisation. This was pillow talk for brainwashing, trying to see what sort of person she was to better go about cracking her mind wide open during their ‘lantern sessions’. Azula knew she was far too important for Long Feng to simply turn into a Joo Dee, as if he ever could, but Mai and Ty Lee she was not so sure about, being mere appetisers to her main course.

Azula was, however, growing increasingly annoyed by the fact that she WAS getting less sure about her companions. As part of seeing how they worked the Dai Li saw fit to group them together a few times, twice as a big group, twice as pairs, and, rather foolishly in her considered opinion, without her usual restraints. Instead they saw fit to affix a collar on her for these liaisons, a large metal thing with something extremely cold at the centre, likely stolen from the Water Tribes. At any rate, she had to focus all her energy to simply stop herself from freezing to death, making her firebending virtually useless as a weapon for escape or offense. At least they took it off when she was in her own cell. Wearing any collar was a little…humiliating.

Sitting with Mai was much the same as it had been before, aside from some whispered warnings and some injury of the guards if they could help it, but with Ty Lee…the first time they met up the girl just burst into tears on seeing her and went to hug her. What disturbed Azula about it was that she ended up...’entertaining’ the gesture.

‘Well she’s a useful tool, and if I want to keep that tool sharp I sometimes need to give it maintenance, that’s all. Besides, it wouldn’t do for her to crack and tell the Dai Li any information about me. Or just crack anyway. Broken tools are useless afterall.’

But there was growing unease with that last thought, as if Azula didn’t actually MEAN it anymore. She had begun to wonder if she had ever meant it in the first place.

She twisted her bonds a little more and stopped thinking about it. Azula didn’t like to think of herself as a creature of sensation, that was Ty Lee, but drastic situations called for drastic measures. Looking for something irreverent to distract herself so to throw the Dai Li off, she gazed down at her rather bland green robe and suppressed a sneer. Despite her rank and her very consistent demands, she had yet to receive better clothing. Admittedly she had only caused such a fuss over it to rile the guards and try to throw their analysts off, but it was an annoyance nonetheless. Still, better rags to escape in than nothing.

‘Come on,’ She grimaced to herself, glancing around the cell for the hundredth time, ‘Its not like their primitive Earthbender techniques would work on royalty anyway. I know what they’re trying to do here, all I need to do is persevere and make my move when it becomes available to me…and if I can get my tools out with me, so much the better. If not…well, too bad for them.’

****

“I see. Now, move onto the next in line, Ty Lee isn’t it?”

“Yes my Lord, and I do believe that she will be the easiest to re-educate out of the three. She is very open about her feelings, and responds positively to gentle encouragement, possibly stemming from her need to be liked and feel ‘special’ from an overpopulated noble-family.”

Long Feng nodded, putting Azula’s papers down and letting his eyes gaze over the sketching of the second prisoner. It occurred to him that he hadn’t actually seen either of Azula’s accomplices in the flesh yet. It was a good thing that the Dai Li also had such good sketchers available to them or he’d have no idea how to accurately divine her potential for more…exotic tasks.

“She doesn’t have the capability to bend, correct?” He asked idly, looking over her past connections to a travelling Fire Nation circus.

“No my Lord, her abilities rely purely in the athletic. She was most difficult to capture regardless, I believe five of our agents are still in hospital thanks to her unique chi-blocking abilities. She is quite the formidable fighter when she is inclined to defend herself.”

“Mmm…”

The trick, Long Feng knew, was to make her feel that there was no reason to defend herself. He suspected that one of the less ‘traditional’ methods of re-education would have to be employed for this one. And given her allure, Long Feng felt that it would be a waste to simply make this one into another Joo Dee. She might even prove an asset in breaking Azula down, if his suspicions were correct.

He turned the page on her dossier and paused, re-reading a line about her abilities.

“What is this about aura-reading?”

The analyst looked up, meeting Long Feng’s gaze for the first time.

“Ah yes, it appears that the girl either has, or believes she has, the ability to read aura’s. Like a persons underlying personality or intent.”

“If she can really do that, then re-educating her might be a bit more of a problem than originally thought. Our intent will be obvious and her resistance to our techniques will be heightened.”

“Indeed my Lord, and that is why I have undertaken several tests regarding this ‘aura’ to see how we can exploit it. It would seem that sincerity and a generally positive attitude are key to having the sort of aura that would prove beneficial to our designs…speaking of which, my Lord, what do you wish to do with this particular prisoner?”

Long Feng raised an eyebrow at the last question. The analyst was overly curious for a Dai Li agent, this ‘Ty Lee’ must be arousing a certain amount of interest if there is cause enough for an agent to speak out of turn; and what interested his agents interested Long Feng.

Looking back down to the report, he left the analyst waiting for an answer as he read over her personality. One of six sisters in a well off noble family goes off to join the circus…a large desire to feel special and accepted as such is what drives her. Apparently very forward when it comes to what she wants, particularly with men, whose attention she seems to require more than others, according to the guards that have been stationed outside her ‘door’. Hmm. Apparently very superficial in her choices; the character of the person who admires her is not as important as the fact they admire or wish to have her; a crutch for insecurity which they could exploit.

He was right, there was no chance of her becoming a Joo Dee. Her persona was not compatible with the programming, chances are she would snap out of it and revert to her previous, dangerous behaviour at the slightest upset to whatever routine was prescribed to her, which would be problematic.

However, there was one particular duty he could think for her that would be well suited to his desires.

“I do believe our court needs a new source of entertainment. Animal menageries are not amusements fitting for a man such as myself. She shall be trained as my private dancer.”

“A wise decision my Lord.” The analyst replied, bowing his head with a knowing smile, “Am I correct to assume that we are to focus more on the ‘private’ than on the ‘dancer’?”

Long Feng allowed himself a short grin, but said nothing. It would seem that words were not lost on the agent before him, a skill that might be worthy of promotion depending on how well the subject is conditioned. He looked back down to the sketch of her. He would have to meet her in person before this begins, to see whether she measured up. Normally, she would be a little young for his tastes, but if she was as graceful and flexible as the report indicated, he was willing to make exceptions.

****

There wasn’t a door to the cell. Not that it would make much difference to her, doors didn’t have much in the way of pressure points, but at least a door would give the illusion of a way out.

Ty Lee shifted uncomfortably on the stone floor, tucking her legs closer to her as she waited for…well, she didn’t really know what for.

‘For Azula to come rescue me, of course.’

Her head dipped at the thought. It was a little…pathetic, being the damsel in the tower, but she couldn’t think of anything else she could be. The circus performer was smart enough to know that she lacked the skills to observe her surroundings, to think of a plan. She always left those decisions up to Azula or Mai…and Mai lacked her weapons in here, so that ruled her out for a quick escape. Azula’s weapons were a lot harder to take away.

“Though they managed to take away one, didn’t they…” Ty Lee sighed to herself, rubbing her fingers together, still slightly raw from touching the collar they put on Azula.

When she stupidly tried to get it off a few days ago the thing was so cold it burnt her fingers, it was amazing that Azula was even alive with that device around her neck. The Dai Li had equipment Ty Lee hadn’t even imagined to use on their prisoners.

‘And what do they have in store for Mai? What about me?’

Even Azula seemed worried about it, which was what really frightened Ty Lee. She wasn’t sure, but the princess even seemed concerned over her well being when they were thrown together the first time, awkwardly hugging her back and warning her about…brainwashing, was it?

Ty Lee frowned and stretched herself out again. Unlike Azula she hadn’t been shown around the complex they were currently in, nor had she seen any Joo Dee’s. She only knew what Azula told her in their too short visits, and whatever advice Mai could give her about it. The guards already liked to play games with her, sometimes they were really nice, and other times…

She was scared. None of this brainwashing sounded nice at all, and she didn’t want to stop being the person she was. She didn’t want to change and be moulded into some faceless drone, she didn’t want to lose herself. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t FAIR.

She wiped a tear away, not realising she was upsetting herself again. Her aura had been growing dimmer and paler recently because of all of this. Azula’s had been flickering odd colours too. Only Mai’s hadn’t changed from its dull grey, something Ty Lee wasn’t sure was good or bad. Raising her head she let out a short breath as the dim green light filtering through the earthen bars of her window died, sealing her in complete darkness. Night-time, apparently. She noticed that she got observed a lot more when the lights went off. She pretended not to notice their presence whenever they turned up; the blue aura they gave off left her feeling…cold.

‘Why am I here? Why are they watching me so closely?’

She tried to blame Azula for all of this; taking her away from the circus, bringing her to Ba Sing Se, but she just couldn’t make her anger stick. It seemed a lot easier to blame herself, but even that didn’t work. Ty Lee hated waiting around, and hated even more when she was left alone with nothing but her thoughts. It wasn’t that she disliked thinking, she just always preferred ‘doing’. Anyone could think, but not everyone could do what she does.

‘Well, seeing as I AM waiting…’ Ty Lee thought sadly, moving herself into a handstand.

She was no planner, and though Azula had her fire taken from her she still had her wits, a far deadlier weapon by Ty Lee’s estimation, so until her friends came up with something she may as well stay prepared for when they do escape. And they would. They had to, right?

****

“I’ve heard you’re having difficultly analysing the last subject.”

Long Feng smiled when the analyst remained unflappable; as he should, Dai Li were not trained to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

“Indeed my Lord. There has been a certain level of difficulty in assessing what could lie beneath her consistently disinterested exterior. For the longest time she has remained largely inscrutable to us-”

“-The longest time?” Long Feng interjected, “Then I take it you managed to find something to provoke her?”

“…Well, not exactly,” The analyst admitted, though his voice remained untainted by any annoyance he might be feeling, “We just decided to switch tactics regarding her. Rather than try to break through her exterior, we decided to analyse what made the exterior in the first place, and work backwards from there.”

He kept quiet and let him continue, looking down to her file but not picking it up, just observing the sketch of her on the front. Another subject he would prefer to see before his agents began working on her…or maybe he would just show up while they were doing it.

“And?”

“We’ve attributed this withdrawn behaviour to the upbringing within her noble family. Unlike the other two she has been brought up as an only child for all of her life, and the pressures of nobility have hit her particularly hard.”

“Ah politics,” Long Feng remarked, leaning back on his chair. He knew all too well how much one had to sacrifice in order to get ahead in the world; precisely why he never took a wife for his own, or had children. Evidently the rulers of New Ozai hadn’t been as considerate when thinking of their own offspring. He could even say he pitied the girl.

“So she was neglected then.”

“Quite, my Lord. Being told to stay silent and pretty in the background for her entire life have led to a withdrawn nature where her emotions have been buried beneath layers of well-cultured nonchalance. I would hazard to say she realises this herself, but we haven’t yet attempted to verify the fact yet, nor what her reaction would be to it.”

“Well, this is very interesting,” Long Feng sighed, “ But it’s also very USELESS. We don’t want the exterior, we have no use for knowing how it got there because we want to change her at a level below that…and from what you tell me, it doesn’t seem conventional methods will be enough to break that exterior.”

“True my Lord, and it does seem as if she is almost waiting for something to come along and break through her carefully constructed mask…do you have a solution to this problem?”

He stared testingly back at the analyst for a couple of heartbeats. He knew that the agent had his own opinions on what should be done, but was not airing them. A wise decision; he had already spoken out of turn once, and once was all Long Feng was going to allow.

“We crack the exterior rather than try to get around it. I doubt that some of our newer agents will be happy with the less…’subtle’ methods that will be necessary, but we need to break her down before we build her back up.”

“Of course my Lord. What do you wish her to be built up into?”

He paused, looking down at her picture again. She seemed rather refined, for a woman of her age, not all too unappealing. However, she was a member of a rather influential Fire Nation family…perhaps he could use her to retake New Ozai in the name of the Earth Kingdom.

But then, perhaps not. He needed more time to learn about her.

“Let’s just focus on breaking her before deciding on the next course. She is not so important that she needs shaping right now.”

“Yes my Lord. Shall I leave and make arrangements now?”

He looked out onto the corridor where the agent had emerged, the lighting having dimmed to denote the night looming outside of the complex. With Ba Sing Se now well in hand, the Avatar’s group out of his way for the moment and no risk of anyone escaping their cells, he was quite happy to let everything lie in peace for the time being.

“No, there’s plenty of time tomorrow to start their training. Until then you are dismissed.”

“Very well my Lord. Please excuse me.”

The analyst bowed deeply once more and left, quietly closing the door to Long Feng’s chambers behind him, leaving the ruler of Ba Sing Se to his thoughts. Again he looked down to his dark birch-oak desk, at the files that lay there. He resisted the temptation to thumb through them again and decided to stand instead, moving to the more comfortable seat by his green-lighted fireplace and pouring himself a drink. And why not? He had a lot to celebrate.

“To me,” He smiled, pooling the glass in the fire’s light, “And to the future of my kingdom.!”

****

Mai was bored.

There was absolutely nothing to do in her cell, and the novelty of being a prisoner had worn off a long time ago. Even if the lights were on and she could see her surroundings it would do little to alleviate the boredom; four stone walls and four earth bars that made for a window…or viewing station, if the guards were curious. Nothing she hadn’t seen dozens of times, and nothing that would help her to leave this place.

The only times that were interesting were the couple of occasions where she met up with Azula and Ty Lee as a trio. Azula was still thinking of a plan to get them out, and a way to say it without the Dai Li tagging on, but that was to be expected, so that didn’t interest her. What did was that she noticed the two of them had gotten closer since incarceration. They were practically holding hands the second time she saw them together, although Azula seemed to be going painfully out of her way to try and ignore even her own actions.

Mai thought it fair to say that her good ‘friend’ was behaving slightly less than perfect whenever she saw her. It was plain to see that the princess wasn’t taking their defeat well. Pretty stupid of her really; if she accepted and got over it like Mai, then she’d be able to come up with a plan to get out all the faster.

‘And why don’t you come up with a plan?’

Oh please, like she was going to do that. She knew Azula was their only real ticket of getting out, seeing as she was the only one to have seen the installation, AND is the only one with her weapons built-in. Besides, even if Mai had a plan, it’d just chafe on Azula’s ego and be shot down. No, as boring as it was, she was better off sitting in the cell until the princess thought of something.

‘Well you should try and get out soon. You haven’t even SEEN Zuko yet.’

She suppressed a grimace at the thought. They had found him in the city and had invited him to ‘tea’ mere hours before they found themselves held prisoner. The big plan was to capture him and then…well, Azula hadn’t let her in on the part after that, but at least she would have seen him. Ah, it didn’t matter anyway. She didn’t even know how she’d feel about him these days, it had been years since she last saw him, let alone spoke to him.

‘Yeah, and you’ve been bored since then.’

Sometimes, she really got tired of her inner monologue. She had other things to think about anyway; like what were they planning on doing to Ty Lee. She didn’t much care about herself, she didn’t see the point and it was doubtful they’d be able to do much to her anyway, but Ty Lee? Mai was sure there was no end of torture they could inflict on her. And that wouldn’t make her very happy.

‘Not like you’re a ray of sunshine now.’

Mai consented the point and lay down on the floor, pulling at the bottom of the green robe they gave her to change into. Typical Earth Kingdom hospitality; they couldn’t even give her clothes that fit, not to mention ones that came with underwear. Were these clothes supposed to embarrass her or something?

‘Well, whatever. When I get out they aren’t going to be alive long anyway.’

She figured she’d best get some sleep, and curled up on the floor. There wasn’t a blanket, but at least the ground was clean from what she could tell; they brought a bucket in twice daily for her to relieve herself in and they left very little else around. Nothing that she could throw at any rate. Even the metal rung on the bucket had been removed just in case she’d be able to rip it off and skewer one of the guards with it. Which was a pretty smart move, she supposed.

Overall, she found herself not caring that much. They couldn’t keep her down in this dungeon forever because she was too important for that, her presence would be missed and it wouldn’t take long for even her oblivious parents to figure out where she was. So even if they didn’t manage to escape under their own power, their jailors were on a time-limit. All she had to do was outlast them, and Mai could definitely do that.

Afterall, she was used to being bored.
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Lake Laogai