The Ashen Phoenix (Touhou / A:TLA Crossover)

[NZPIEFACE]

While I personally enjoy updates of around 2000ish words, I don't really mind. It can be monthly with 10k, or weekly with 1k. I'd still read it.

Also, this is already one groundbreaking truth. Now, for him to realize she's actually immortal.

 

[Mathen57]

Chapter 6: Morning Comes​

Zuko runs; the sharp lines and angles of Ba Sing Se's storefronts and houses amalgamate into a singular, vague form, a blur. His eyes only focused on the path ahead, darkening at every step. Zuko's body is hugged by the light behind him, the light he created; that's how he knows he's not far away enough from its source. He wants to look back so he can feel something other than emptiness for once, to rid himself of that gnawing void in his gut. But he can't. Zuko can't turn his back to the life he once lived, so he keeps running.

I have something for you too. Now it's your turn to close your eyes.

Zuko's hand rubs his lips, yet still, the residue of warmth and desire stay as stubbornly as any scar. Like a wound, it isn't something that he could rub off. So he puts his mind into running, his legs fueled by a decade of training and conditioning. Before he knows it, the light that hugged his form is gone. Its warm golden shimmer is replaced by the cold whites of the moon and the twinkling, evanescent stars.

It's complicated. I have to go.

Zuko stops. His shoulders heave as he gasps for air. He looks to the gate leading to the apartments but spots black figure dart around at the corner of his eye. He ignores it and climbs three flights of stairs, leading Zuko to the door of his new and temporary home. As his sweaty palms grip the handle, his ears pick up Iroh and Mokou's voices. He could barely make out what they're saying, catching only a few words.

"....Katamari.....Fuhito."

Zuko opens the door and enters to see both of them sitting on the ground beside a low rise table, with Iroh's bonsai tree atop of the battered wooden surface. Zuko moves towards his room, his heart tight and his head light. He opens the door to enter.

"How was your night, Prince Zuko?" Iroh asks.

The prince enters his room and closes the door, slamming it with force. There's a moment of silence before Zuko opens it again to say, "It was fine," before closing it again. He lays on his bed, becoming lost in thought, his mind hazy and troubled.

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"Fine, huh?" Mokou says in disbelief, her eyes still fixated on the closed door.

"Oh, cut the poor boy some slack. This is progress, " Iroh replies.

"Progress?" she asks with a raised eyebrow and turns her head towards Iroh. "What was he like before?"

He looks up in thought, then levels his eyes onto Mokou's. "Temperamental. The Zuko from two years ago would've burned down that door. The fact that he didn't is a mark of progress." Iroh looks towards Zuko's room with a wistful smile and sighs contently, "Watching him grow from the boy he once was to the young man he is now..." Iroh catches himself and shakes his head, forming a mirthful smile.

The wrinkles on his face become ever more apparent, showing Mokou the creases of a full life. Lines around his mouth evidence of his easy and frequent smile, squinting eyes belonging to a scholar, and furrows on his forehead reminiscent of many hours of thoughtful contemplation. Never has Iroh seemed as old as he does now, Mokou reflects. In the recesses of her mind, an envious thought lingers, desiring the luxuries of mortality, of finite life. Times like this, Mokou prefers to be brittle in body than in mind, to have time erode her skin and bone rather than her sanity. "Nevermind. I shouldn't waste your time with the ramblings of an old man."

"It's ok, I'm not in a rush." She'd prefer it if this moment didn't end.

"Oh? That's a rare thing to hear from someone so young."

Young huh? If only he knew...

Mokou shrugs, "I guess I'm just patient."

That gets a chuckle out of Iroh before he abruptly raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes in realization, "Oh, how I could have forgotten. Zuko!" he exclaims, "would you like some tea?" No reply came, and Iroh shrugs, "I guess he's already asleep. We should get going too, or we'll be late for work."

Mokou nods after a moment's hesitation, "Sure."

Iroh rises, "Oh, but I do have one question before we turn in, if you don't mind princess Fujiwara."

Mokou winces in disgust, "Don't, just Mokou is fine. I haven't been a princess for a long time."

"If you say so," Iroh conceded with a smile and a weird glint in his eyes, "So how were you able to come here to our world in the first place?"

Mokou rises up, her hands deep in her pockets, "There was an experiment that went wrong," she shrugs, "and now I'm here."

"And that experiment occurred the same day you met us?" At Mokou's nod, Iroh looks up and rubs his chin before continuing, "Was there perhaps two other people with you when this experiment went "wrong"?"

The Fujiwara girl raises her eyebrows, "Yes, there was...how'd you know that?"

Iroh walks towards the open window to close the shutters, a thoughtful look upon his face. " I have a.... connection to the spirit world, I'll tell you the specifics in another time. But essentially, through meditation, I can surmise the state of the spirit world or even see certain spirits. It isn't perfect, but it works well."

"So you're in tune with this spirit world, is what you're saying. What does that have to do with anything?"

Iroh turns to Mokou, "The point is that I felt the spirit world, for lack of a better word, shake, three times actually. And it happened a few hours before I met you." He puts a hand on his forehead in exasperation, "I thought I was going mad. Imagine being the only one affected by an earthquake while everyone else goes about their day as if nothing was happening." He puts his hand down and sighs, "It was surreal, even a bit horrific, and I don't use that word lightly."

Mokou recalls her final moments on Earth and remembers only ever seeing white before she arrived in this world. Could that have been an explosion of some sort? Clearly, something was wrong with Eirin's magic circle if it transported Mokou to another world. But could it really mess with this "spirit world" Iroh was mentioning? Maybe if Mokou knew more about magic, then she might have some idea if there's a connection to the tremors and her arrival, but she doesn't, and now all she's doing is drawing blanks.

Just what the hell happened back on Mt.Fuji?

"Wait, what makes you think the spirit world shaking had a connection to my arrival here?" Mokou asks.

Iroh shrugs, " It was an educated guess, the spirit world shook, and you arrived the very same day, your mentioning of this "experiment" further confirms my beliefs. As to why I thought there may have been others with you, was another guess, a shot in the dark. If one instance of shaking indicated your arrival, the two other occurrences would've meant two more people. Again, you confirmed my thoughts when you mentioned there really were two other people with you."

Mokou, with wide eyes, takes a step back and leans on a wall. That old man is sharp, she thinks to herself. And if he is right, then Kaguya and Eirin really are here. She doesn't really know what to think of that, and this lightness in her chest isn't helping at all.

"So, what exactly happened during that experiment?" Iroh asks.

Mokou ponders if she should tell him the truth, that the purpose of that experiment was to end her immortal life. But she doubts that a kindly man like him would react to that fact very well. Not only because she would reveal herself as an immortal, but also the fact that she set out to die. She attempts to think of a believable cover story while also deciding whether to tell him the truth or not. Though she has some difficulty of thinking up of a cover, she isn't used to lying, not like Kaguya.

"I see it isn't something you want to talk about," Iroh says, with a hint of disappointment.

"Huh?" Is all Mokou says as the gears in her head come to a stop.

"Your eyes were darting right then towards the ceiling, you were thinking up a lie." Mokou opens her mouth but Iroh continues, "It's alright, I'm not interrogating you on the particulars of the experiment, I just wanted to confirm my suspicions. Though I do hope you reveal its purpose on your own time."

"Thanks, and sorry."

Iroh smiles, " Oh, its no issue. In fact, I should be apologizing for taking up all your time for tonight, we should really be asleep by now. An old man like me will wake up late in the afternoon if I stay up any longer."

"I'll be sure to wake you up when that happens," Mokou says neutrally.

Iroh's smile widens, "How considerate!" he exclaims. Iroh moves towards his room, and Mokou moves to hers. The old man looks back to Mokou, "You've given me much to think about Mokou, dream about too. For that, I thank you."

Mokou nods soundlessly and goes to her room and onto her bed. Sleep doesn't come easily to her for tonight, with the thoughts of two other immortals still on her mind.
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A rooster caws at the crack of dawn, the sound reverberating throughout the garden of General How's mansion. Kaguya yawns as she lays atop a tree branch within the general's large garden, through the eye sockets of her mask, she spots no one nearby. Feeling safe, she relaxes and leans back on the tree. The princess-turned-assassin had spent an unusual night in thought, the act itself as alien to her as her surroundings. Without Eirin or Mokou around, the former heiress of the royal Houraisan family had to find her own entertainment; and in search of something to do, the princess had become less of a shut-in. Well, it was inevitable that she had to go out and find something fun, better than sleeping her days away, waiting for exciting things to happen. It used to be much less troublesome with Mokou around.

Kaguya becomes lost in thought yet again, remarking to herself how her situation is quite like the isekai mangas Eirin had provided her. These comparisons had been occurring ever since Kaguya was transported to this new world. Before that incident on Mt.Fuji, Kaguya had been avidly reading mangas of that genre in recent years, as new volumes find its place on the shelves of the Kourindou. Predictably, Kaguya had finished every book she found, though most of them were quite forgettable, a few had interesting premises. And if there's one thing she's learned from reading those mangas, it was that other than the average high schooler, most isekai protagonists were NEETS or hikkimoris, or even both. These protagonists would change from their degenerate ways as their new lives become so much more enjoyable than their old ones. This, Kaguya had sought to emulate, to copy their character arcs now that she's bereft of a white-haired punching bag and an all-knowing nurse to spice things up. Maybe she'll even get a harem on the side too.

Sure, she can find a way back to Gensokyo and live like she used to do, but Kaguya can go back to the Gap Hag's holiday retreat anytime she likes. Right now, there's a new world of possibilities, literally. In Gensokyo, Kaguya was a political fugitive hiding away from the Lunarians, but in this new world? She can be anything she wants, like an assassin for one.

Admittedly she had been slacking on the job, not being able to rouse herself to take action, what with the branch being so comfortable. She had to give credit to the ones tending the garden; their diligence and thoroughness had produced an exquisite scene, especially when viewed from high up. Sadly, the princess can't keep procrastinating for much longer, from what she could surmise from the gossips and whispers of the general's attendants; he is an early riser, which meant that he would be waking up soon. That would be no good, assassinations, after all, are best done when the victims are asleep.

She sat up and stretched before jumping down, soundlessly onto the soft earth. Kaguya's eyes survey the area again to find it empty, the only person up and awake being the general's valet who happens to be tending the chickens if his audible complaints were of any indication. The princess moves with grace and dexterity, with battle instincts that had been honed for three centuries. There was once a moment in time where Kaguya had decided to change up how she approached her fights with Mokou. Instead of charging head-on or starting the fight with a massive attack like she usually did, Kaguya had decided to do battle much more stealthily. Her first attempts were disastrous but immensely enjoyable. So she kept doing it, again and again, getting better each and every time, she broke bad habits and stopped repeating mistakes, until she was flawless. This went on for the better part of three decades, with it stopping because as Kaguya improved, so did Mokou. The Fujiwara girl had gotten so good at countering Kaguya's stealth that each fight ended up with the same outcome, the princess becoming a burning husk, and that was not good. Because having each battle end the same way made it...samey, and that's boring, which is very, very bad.

So she stopped and decided to use some other method to start up their fights. So the years went by, and her skills atrophied, but not entirely. She still has that four decades of experience under her belt, and moved like a professional, despite being self-taught. Kaguya spots an opened window leading to the General's room and moves towards it.

Tsk Tsk. They make it too easy.

The princess, deciding not to fly, took the scenic route. Climbing up walls and jumping off of the tiled roofs without slipping. She vaults over a railing and towards another tiled roof, this time having a much more curved shape than the previous one. This roof leads directly up to the opened window, and a part of Kaguya feels like she's walking to a trap.

They're at war, why are they so lax on security?

Kaguya enters the room, her foot landing on a green carpet with golden linings and images of soldiers and noblemen surrounding a golden emblem. Across Kaguya is a jade door as equally decorated as the carpet she stands on. To the left of the door is the general's armour propped up by a stand. The armour itself consisting of several plates of lamellae with yellow studs atop each plate and a green cloak wrapped around the neckline.

She spots the general asleep on his satin bed, with silk curtains embroidered with images of a chrysanthemum. Next to him is the bedside table, with a cup and a pot of tea beside it. There's still steam coming out of the pot, must've been recently placed by the valet who probably knew the general's sleeping pattern. Which means that the man should be waking up soon.

Perfect.

Kaguya walks up to the teapot and procures a poison from her sleeves. Her employer, Princess Azula, had given Kaguya this poison the day after she hired her. The moon princess recalls Azula's words on how much poison to administer.

One drop will put a grown man to sleep. Another drop will put him to rest.

That girl definitely had a penchant for being needlessly dramatic, but Kaguya doesn't mind; it is entertaining after all. The newly hired assassin takes a step, and the general stirs. Out of panic, Kaguya activates her power, and the world bends to her will. The sound of roosters recede into nothing, the steam of the teapot freezes in place, and the general lays still. What was once an instant becomes stretched out into infinity, and time slows to a halt. In this stagnant world, nothing changes, everything is still and dull and dreary. Kaguya sighs in relief as she fiddles with the poison given to her, opening the cap and walking towards the teapot.

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Morning comes and goes as the sun reaches its zenith, bringing with it the unrelenting summer heat. True to her words, Mokou had woken Iroh up from his deep slumber, having apparently stayed up all night, if the cluttered scrolls and spilled ink were of any indication.

Now the three firebenders are working their usual shifts in the tea shop, with Mokou and Iroh in the kitchen and Zuko acting as a waiter. The disgraced prince had noticed something different about the two ever since he woke up. Their interactions seem much warmer, it's like they've gotten closer overnight.

About time my uncle starts hanging out with someone other than his nephew.

Zuko eyes a patron coming through the door, he seems different from anyone Zuko's seen from the lower ring. The man sticks out like a sore thumb with the multitudes of diamond and jade rings on his fingers and the clean white robe underneath a green coat. Zuko hopes Iroh or Mokou come out of the kitchen soon, he prefers to not deal with another situation alone.

He walks past a table filled by some of Ba Sing Se's guards, all four of them devouring their plates with speed. Zuko's ears pick up the guard's conversation.

"I heard General How had a huge dinner last night. The Council of Five was there, some of the nobles even attended too, plus many of the commanders, including mine," the first guard says.

"The heck are they doing throwing up parties? We're at war." the second guard grumbles.

"Hush" the third guard admonishes, "the Dai Li have ears everywhere."

"Speaking of," The first guard continues, " Long Feng wasn't invited to the dinner it seems. Heard How forgot to invite the esteemed secretariat."

"Ain't he the leader of the Dai Li too?" the second asks.

"Yes numbnuts, he is. What kind of rock have you been living unde--" the third guard is interrupted by the fourth guard.

"That's camelephant dung, and you know it."

"What do you mean?" the first guard asks.

"How is meticulous, there's no way he'll forget to invite someone as important as Long Feng. Besides, a gathering of the elite without the leader of the Dai Li attending? That's fishy to me."

"What's your point?" The second one asks.

"My point is that General How is moving against Long Feng."

They all scoff.

"Oh, shut up."
"You're crazy."
"You've been taking the rumours too seriously."

"I'm telling you, something big's gonna happen in this city, and we're at the crossfi-"

Someone pokes Zuko's shoulder, "excuse me, young man," Zuko looks over his shoulder to see the same rich man from before, " Is there a Mushi and Mokou around at this time?"

The former prince nods, " They're at the kitchen, let me go get them."

The man smiles, "much appreciated."

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Today....Today was shaping up to be a terrible day for General Sung. When everyone woke up in the guest rooms of General How's mansion, they had expected their host to greet them in the early morning, only to find him still asleep. How's attendant and his close circle had thought it to be weird but chalked it up to a busy night of merriment and backroom dealings tiring the man down. So they waited patiently for him to wake up, from the crack of dawn to the afternoon they waited, and waited, and waited. But he didn't rise up from his bed....

Now General Sung finds himself outside of How's bedroom, waiting for the avatar's waterbending companion to finish checking whats wrong. Sung's jaw had started to sore due to how long he had been biting at his nails. His imagination had not been a friendly companion these past few hours. Did the Dai Li listen in on their conversations? Did one of them participate in last night's events? Could there be a Dai Li mole amongst How's close circle of friends right now? Will he be next?

General Sung's ruminations were interrupted by the sound of an opening a door. Out comes the tan-skinned waterbender along with the avatar looking dejected and hopeless.

The waterbender speaks first, " I've tried all I could but...I don't think General How will waking up anytime soon...."

Spoiler: AN

Hello again! Thanks for the feedback regarding update frequency, I've decided to aim for posting longer than 2k updates bi-weekly, or monthly if things gets hectic.

Hopefully I've portrayed Kaguya well in her POV section, and if there's anything I've missed or a detail that doesn't make sense, please point that out.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

 

[NZPIEFACE]

What was once an instant becomes stretched out into infinity, and time slows to a halt.

Click to shrink...

I never thought Kaguya could use her ability like this. And now it seems obvious to me that she could.

The waterbender speaks first, " I've tried all I could but...I don't think General How will waking up anytime soon...."

Click to shrink...

I don't know if this is a euphemism for dying or for being in a coma...

 

[Illariai]

I never thought Kaguya could use her ability like this. And now it seems obvious to me that she could.


I don't know if this is a euphemism for dying or for being in a coma...

Click to shrink...

Could be a bit of both, a poison that puts you into a coma, which leads to a slow, albeit painless, death sounds right up the setting's alley.

Of course, the only way to cure it would be to go on a great journey to find a hilariously rare ingredient, or to go to the spirit world to beg/trade for help.

 

[C4d]

isekai mangas Eirin had provided her.

Click to shrink...

Kaguya being isekai trash is such a good fit its now part of my headcanon

Also Kaguya being with Azula and Mokou with Zuko is definitely setup for a heartwarming reunion between the two, well it will be heartwarming for the two immortals but everyone else will be scarred for life by how they absolutely mulch each other after trading some barbs only to stand up again after being smeared across the landscape and be completely casual about it.

 

[Nickballas]

Kaguya being isekai trash is such a good fit its now part of my headcanon

Also Kaguya being with Azula and Mokou with Zuko is definitely setup for a heartwarming reunion between the two, well it will be heartwarming for the two immortals but everyone else will be scarred for life by how they absolutely mulch each other after trading some barbs only to stand up again after being smeared across the landscape and be completely casual about it.

Click to shrink...

Neck snap hugs!!!

 

[The_Watcher]

Of course, the only way to cure it would be to go on a great journey to find a hilariously rare ingredient, or to go to the spirit world to beg/trade for help.

Click to shrink...

As we a no sucking on frozen frogs is the one true cure-all.

 

[buli-buli]

I'm just waiting for Aang to go Avatar state and to call Mokou a brat.

It won't happen, but some individual Avatars got up there in age.

 

[Aylor_Aivo]

The newly hired assassin takes a step, and the general stirs. Out of panic, Kaguya activates her power, and the world bends to her will. The sound of roosters recede into nothing, the steam of the teapot freezes in place, and the general lays still. What was once an instant becomes stretched out into infinity, and time slows to a halt.

Click to shrink...

I like how Kaguya is playing at doing things "properly" but that as soon as things hint at going wrong she instantly and reflexively "cheats" with her overwhelming power.

 

[Mathen57]

Chapter 7: Plots and Schemes​

The man before Mokou has an air of surety, bordering on arrogance. That was all she needed to know that he was no residence of the lower ring of Ba Sing Se. The white speck-free robe adorned with golden accents and the oppressive smell of perfume had only reinforced that notion. Everything about him was quite unlike the residents here with their ragged tunics of faded green and pervading aroma of sweat and toil.

He claps his hands together, "So you two must be the geniuses behind Pao's success, the whole city has been buzzing about the new delectable dish and the wonderful brew coming from this place. I just had to check it out," he smirks. His demeanor reminds Mokou of her father's courtiers, haughty, and self-serving. " I hope Pao pays you well."

Mokou shrugs, "Well enough."

"Good tea is its own reward," Iroh states, standing beside Mokou.

He takes a step towards Iroh, "But it doesn't have to be its own reward." He leans towards Mokou, "And I'm sure your dishes are worth tenfold whatever Pao's paying you."

"Your point?" Mokou bluntly asks.

The man continues without missing a beat, "How would you two like to have your own restaurant together?"

Mokou raises a single eyebrow, while Iroh's eye widens in surprise. " Where I get to make and sell any kind of brew I'd like? Its a dream come true!" Iroh exclaims.

Before Mokou could let out a reply, Pao jumps right between them and shoots a deathly glare at the merchant. "I won't have you poach my valuable employees!"

The merchant chuckles in response, " Sorry pal, but that's business for you, nothing personal."

Pao begins to sweat, his voice shaky and calls Iroh by his fake name, "Uhm... Mushi, if you stay, I'll make you senior executive assistant manager!"

The merchant proposes his counter-offer confidently, "I'll provide you two with a new apartment in the upper ring. The restaurant will be yours to do whatever you want, complete creative freedom."

"I'm in," Iroh replies, with a wide smile and bright eyes, turning towards Mokou and nodding to her.

The merchant faces Mokou, "And what about you? It's a good offer, isn't it?"

The immortal begins to mull over her choices, whether to stay here in the lower ring cooking yakitori to a semi-decent boss that underpays her, or to own a restaurant of her own, moving up in Ba Sing Se's society. Now that she puts it like that, well...the answer becomes obvious.

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" I'm surprised you denied his offer," Iroh states, a tad puzzled while placing a bundle of his clothing into a basket. It had turned out that despite Mokou's rejection, just having Iroh and his tea would suffice for the merchant. Zuko was downstairs, managing his personal belongings and talking with the landlord about the end of their lease. Mokou didn't move in with anything except her clothes and the bamboo stick Pao had given her. So she helps Iroh with packing his belongings such as scrolls, tea ingredients, and such.

Mokou shrugs, " Pao's business was going to flounder without either of us."

Iroh closes his eyes and breathes through his nose before replying, "That can't be why you chose to stay, right? Yes, it's unfortunate what will happen to Pao, but you shouldn't have denied a chance to improve your situation just because you feel sorry for him."

Mokou shakes her head while she puts Iroh's scrolls onto a chest one by one. "You misunderstand. I didn't stay out of pity or generosity."

"Then what was your reason? You would've been safer and be able to familiarize yourself with this world more easily had you not denied his offer."

"That's because I need to see if my"--dare she say it-- "friends are actually here. Managing a restaurant would've been a needless distraction."

"And how will you do that?" Iroh inquires.

Mokou pauses in sorting Iroh's scrolls, her eyes gaining a thoughtful reminiscing glint. After a short pause she continues sorting out Iroh's scrolls, "It involves the spirit world...and something you said this morning."

"Something I said?"

---------------
Hours earlier

Three loud knocks to the bedroom door made Iroh stir in his sleep, but it wasn't enough to bring him out of his slumber. Then came three more, this time louder and harsher; it reminds the old general of the kind of sound falling boulders would make. Iroh's dream takes him to the battles that took place a decade ago, and the victories that came after them.

He remembers standing side-by-side with his loyal commanders, and his son Lu Ten. He remembers the moments they shared together, sitting by the campfire with the rank and file, singing songs and telling jokes. The memory brings warmth to Iroh's heart, but its comfort did not last. The noise of raucous soldiers and Lu Ten's laughter was drowned out by the sound of falling boulders.

Three more knocks came, louder and sharper sounding than the last. Iroh's eyes flew open, and he rose out of his bed, his back aching and his bones cracking.

"I'm awake; I'm awake," he announces, shambling to the door and opening it, revealing Mokou.

"Sorry to wake you up this early, but I needed to ask you about something. It's important."

"Early?" Iroh looks to the windows to see that daybreak has yet to come. "Nevermind, what is it you need?"

"When you said you were in tune with the spirit world...does that mean you're also able to enter it?"

Iroh rubs his eyes as his eyelids grow heavier by the second, "Yes, though it is difficult." Were Iroh less sleepy, he would've chuckled at the understatement.

"Difficult, how?"

"Well, other than having a spirit bring you there, well...One must achieve spiritual enlightenment."

Mokou grows pensive, her eyes drifting upwards in thought, "How?"

"How? Hmm...Well, it's all very simple you see--one must have age and fine tea. Oh my, that rhymed, I should be a poet!"

Mokou scowls, "Please take this seriously."

Iroh rubs his belly. "Well, Do forgive me; but its been a short night," he quips. "Maybe if I had a nice cup of jasmine tea, I could give a better answer."

"Sure," she mumbles and moves to the kitchen. Iroh watches her go before finding a seat by the table. Some time passes when Mokou brings a cup of tea to Iroh's side of the table. He takes the tea with as much grace as one who has been unexpectedly awoken. He eyes Mokou's side of the table and notes the absence of tea before taking a sip.

The tea is remarkably good, it isn't amazing, but it is certainly above average. Much better than Zuko's measly attempts.

"Did you ever brew tea before Mokou?"

The question surprises her, "uh...yes, one of my maids taught me how." The former general swears he saw a hint of a smile on the woman's face before she schooled her features.

"Then she must be very skilled, now where were we?"

Mokou leans forward, "Enlightenment."

"Ah, yes, yes, spiritual enlightenment..." Iroh takes a sip of his tea and lets out a content "ahh." He leans back on his chair, " many seek it without knowing what it truly means; you are wise to draw from the wisdom of others. So, to start, spiritual enlightenment is the complete comprehension of our inner nature and the world around us. You are already taking the first step, Mokou, which is finding knowledge. By acquiring knowledge, our world is better understood as we become unshackled by our ignorance. Then wisdom comes next; to accept change of the self and the world around us, to know that the soul is impermanent, to accept that suffering is a fundamental part of our lives."

"So, like satori and kensho..." Mokou mutters to herself, and Iroh raises an eyebrow in askance, but the woman gestures him to continue.

"Thus, with knowledge and wisdom, we can face our base desires, our twisted emotions, and detach ourselves from them and promote our better natures. It is by this point that we awaken and become enlightened."

"And how can this bring me to the spirit world?"

Iroh scratches his beard, "well...through enlightenment, we become unshackled by our worldly desires and ascend a higher plane of existence, thus allowing our spirits passage to the spirit world. Keep in mind that this process takes countless hours of introspection and meditation; it is challenging."

"I see." Mokou crosses her arms and leans back, her eyes gain a thoughtful and focused glint.

"Did that help at all?" Iroh asks.

Mokou nods, "Yes, thank you very much."

Iroh stands up from his chair and pushes it to the table, "Well, I'm glad to be of use, though next time you have a burning question in your head I urge you to wait and wake me up at a better hour than now."

There's a hint of red on Mokou's cheeks, "Right, sorry."

Iroh smiles warmly at that, "as long as you understand. So if you don't mind me, I'll be continuing my rest."

-------------------
Present

"You mean to enter the spirit world to find your friends? By achieving enlightenment?" Iroh asks.

Mokou nods, " You said it shooked three times, right? So if they're not there, the shaking would've left a mark on that world which would clue me in on where they could be."

"Crossing to the spirit world is no mean feat, you know? It's a long and arduous journey." Iroh replies firmly.

"Which is why I should start now rather than later. Once I find them, the three of us could go back home."

"Well, then...How will you find a place to live in the meantime? Zuko and I had to show our documents to be able to rent this apartment, but you have none to show."

"I'll manage."

Iroh pauses at that, his expression thoughtful and nods. "I see, so this is where we separate?" he needlessly asked.

Mokou keeps her eyes on the chest, " I'm afraid so."

There's a lull in their conversation; the only sounds present being the shuffling of scrolls and clothing. Iroh places his basket down and approaches Mokou; she turns around to face him. He extends a hand. "Then I wish you luck; though brief our time was together, you have been a fascinating person to drink tea with."

Mokou clasps his hand and shakes it. "Likewise. Though I might come to you if I need help and advice, so it's not like we'll stop seeing each other for now."

----------------------------------------------

There's a lot of things that Aang finds confusing like: how can he get into the avatar state, or how could the Dai Li not allow Ba Sing Se's generals to join the war, or most recently, whatever the heck has happened-is happening to general How. Ever since Katara had begun teaching him the healing of arts of waterbending, Aang had gained a sense for another's chi and their chi paths. Throughout his journey so far, he has seen a person's chi be blocked or disrupted before, but he's never seen anyone's chi be frozen. It was surreal to see a person's life force be entirely still, and that's just the start of it. Katara's attempts at water healing with Aang's assistance had led them to discover that not even How's bodily fluids seem to be moving at all, leaving them with further questions. The water in his body was frozen-like and unbendable without it being encased in ice. No sweat came out of his pores, and no tears left his eyes when Katara tried to bend them out. All that was left was an unmoving body of a person that both Katara and Aang is sure is still alive.

When the duo had reported their inconclusive results, the doctors from Ba Sing Se's university had declared How deceased, much to Aang's dismay, and despite his attempts to declare otherwise. Though to make an already strange situation even stranger, the doctors could not perform an autopsy because How's skin turned out to be unbreakable. There were no scalpels and swords that could make so much a cut, leaving everyone scratching their heads on why and how it could be like that. It was all Aang has heard of their progress so far. There have been whispers of the doctors trying out a different method, but Aang doubts that whatever they plan to do would work.

So the Avatar, the one destined to bring balance to the world, finds himself lying down, his back to the ground, and his arms splayed across the floor. His eyes give piercing stares to the ceiling as if to bore a hole through the roof. If he had hair, Aang would've pulled them all out by now.

Sokka sits crosslegged beside Aang, scratching the back of his neck while in deep contemplation. Across them are Toph and Katara, eating from a bowl of noodles for dinner.

"I got it!" Sokka exclaims as everyone stops and stares.

Katara only sighs in exasperation, " If its another one of your crazy theories--"

"Wait, wait, wait." Sokka interrupts, "I've put a lot of thought in this, ok?"

"Yeah, Katara, don't interrupt him, he's hilarious when he gets like this," Toph says, as she continues slurping noodle after noodle from her bowl.

"Hey!" Sokka shouts in indignation.

Toph shrugs, "It's true."

Sokka groans at that before proposing his idea, "right, hear me out. So we know that How's innards seem like they've frozen up, right?" He motions towards Katara.

"Right," she confirms.

Sokka continues, "and that his skin's tougher all of a sudden; impenetrable even, kinda like a rock?"

Katara nods, "mhm."

"Then it can only mean one thing, ladies and gentlemen..." He pauses and claps his hands together for effect, "How has been petrified..."

"He's scared?" Toph asks, while Katara groans.

"No, I mean that he's been turned to stone, though by who, well who knows. Though I might have some idea." Sokka replies, which prompts Toph to chuckle.

"Turn someone to stone? Sokka, that's crazy, even for me." Toph states.

Before Sokka could reply, Katara chooses to weigh in, "There's no way general How's been turned to stone, trust me, Aang and I checked."

"But are you reeaallyy sure, though?"

Katara crosses her arms in exasperation, "yes, I'm sure, right, Aang?"

Aang rises up from his prone position to speak, "yep, his skin didn't feel stony at all to me, and you could still see the water in his eyes; if you were there, Sokka, you would've noticed too."

Now its Sokka's turn to cross his arms, only this time in indignation, "well excuse me, but I was busy investigating with my detective sidekick here for clues." He gestures towards Toph.

"I'm the sidekick!?" Toph shouts, "last time I check, I did most of the work!"

Sokka speaks in an exaggerated posh accent," who contributed what to the effort is quite elementary my dear--"

"Don't call me dear!"

"What's important is how much we got done as a team."

"Speaking of which," Katara says, facing Toph, "any progress on that end?"

Toph lays down and sighs, "Nope, all we got are the footprints that just end by his bed. The trail just stops right there; it's like the culprit either flew or just vanished from thin air. Other than that, we know nothing."

Aang tries to remember what clues they've probably missed in How's room and recall seeing a vial floating in the general's teapot. "What about that vial we found in How's tea?" He asks.

Sokka gives his answer, "We gave it to the doctors working on the case, but they haven't come back to us on what was actually inside it. Pretty sure its poison."

"Yes, but knowing what type of poison would tell us a lot, like how rich are the assassin's benefactors, where are they from, or what kind of death they would want How to suffer," Katara states.

"Yeah, but wouldn't knowing all that be useless since our assassin didn't use the poison at all. What if the vial's a red herring?" Sokka questions.

"Red herring or not; we're still better off knowing what it is, so please check on the doctors as soon as possible." Katara turns to Toph, "Was there anything else, Toph?" she asked.

Toph shakes her head.

Katara sighs in exasperation, "So we still don't know the who and the how of this plot. It's a shame, general How was one of the few generals that wanted Ba Sing Se to attack during the eclipse. But with all these conspiracies and the mess with the government...Getting Ba Sing Se's help on the invasion is quickly becoming a pipedream."

"And that's the problem, isn't it? The government, or at least the ones pulling its strings," Sokka asserts.

"You don't mean?"

"The Dai Li? Yeah, they're the ones with the motivation to take How out as a major player. It's an open secret that he opposed Long Feng, which was why he had to be taken out."

"Right..." Aang says, "And doing whatever they did to him the night of his gathering sends a message to How's allies-"

"To warn them of the consequences of opposing Long Feng," Toph continues Aang's sentence, finally risen up from her prone position. "Tch, I just want to beat him to a pulp."

"H-hold on a second," Katara begins to say, but her voice is drowned out by the others.

"What's stopping us from doing that?" Sokka asks, "Let's go find him and put a stop to this. I've been itching to use my boomerang on someone all week."

"No!" Aang exclaims, "He knows something about Appa, what do you think he's gonna do with that information when he's got nothing lose."

"Then what do we do!?" Sokka and Toph yell out.

"We tell the Earth King. March up to his palace, and convince him that everything Long Feng has been feeding him was lies. We take him to the wall and show him that Firenation drill, that way, Long Feng would have no way of denying the war's existence."

"Wait!" Katara exclaims, as everyone else stops and stares at her. "Aren't we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here? We have no idea what's going on, but we're already pointing fingers at the Dai Li already?!"

"The Dai Li are the ones who stand to gain a lot from this, so the motivation checks out," Aang says.

"Yeah," Sokka agrees, " I mean come on, they're a big-shadowy organization, this sort of stuff is right up their alley."

"Well, what if it's a Firenation spy?" Katara asks.

"The Firenation has been trying to infiltrate Ba Sing Se for the past hundred years, and they still haven't succeeded. You can thank the Dai Li for that; they're thorough, so there's no way a spy could get into this city, let alone How's mansion in the upper ring." Toph replies.

"Well, what if they're working together?"

"Seriously?" Sokka asked, "You think Mr. "preserve-the-cultural-heritage-of-Ba-Sing-Se" would really work with the Firenation?"

Before Katara could reply, someone knocks harshly on their door.

"It's general, Sung," Toph states, sensing the familiar vibrations of the general's footsteps.

"What's he doing here?" Sokka asks.

Aang rises up and approaches the door, "I'll go get it." Momo enters the living room from one of the windows, apparently finished with whatever he was doing outside. The winged-lemur races across the floor and leaps onto Aang's shoulder, just in time for the Avatar to open the door.

Before Aang is the hooded figure of general Sung, standing with his back hunched and his nervous palms were glistening with sweat. General Sung takes his hood down to reveal his panic-stricken expression. His face a rictus of fear and his eyes have an almost manic glint to them; they roam around searching for a hidden threat.

"Thank the spirits," the general says with relief, "I require your help Avatar." Sung reaches for something in his pocket and procures a napkin. He uses it to wipe the sweat off from his face. Aang feels Momo tense up as if sensing something but immediately relaxes afterward.

"With what?" Aang asks.

"With the Dai Li," Sung says. Sokka and Toph look to Katara with mocking grins as the latter groans.

----------------------------------------------------------

Atop a palace roof, a lone woman in beautiful silk robes howls in joyous, genuine laughter, a rare occurrence in her long life. At this moment, the woman acts not like the noble lady she was trained to be, but the child that she once was, indulging in her joy. Her laugh is loud enough to wake up the residents of this very palace, yet no guards harass her to keep her quiet. How could they when time in this world has ceased to move?

Eventually, Kaguya calms down and sits on the edge of the roof. She views the frozen city and the thousands of glowing lanterns and homes which create beautiful constellations in the darkness. She has been holding her laughter all day long, watching everyone fumble and point fingers for the little trick she did on poor General How. Poisoning him would've led to a dull outcome; her alternative was much more entertaining.

For the past twelve hours, Kaguya has been observing everyone's reaction to How's condition, stopping time, and moving to a better spot when she was about to get caught while holding back her laughter. Through it all, she had seen the doctors fail to cut How and attempt to guess what had happened to him; she found it an amusing watch. So was the previous Council of Five-now Four's, response to the whole ordeal too, conversing with their allies and their troops for a potential coup, ready to lash out like cornered rats, thinking that the Dai Li is on to them. Kaguya hopes they go through with the coup; that would be glorious.

The Dai Li's response was equally as enjoyable, with their leader put off balance regarding how to handle the situation Kaguya had put them in. He had ordered his agents to scour Ba Sing Se for the actual culprit or at least someone to blame, though Kaguya thinks the leader knows it's a futile effort. How can you find someone who could do what Kaguya did to General How? You don't, and it's not like they'd be able to catch the "Lunatic Princess" anytime soon. Their main focus now seems to be damage control and capitalizing on the situation, seemingly deescalating and expanding their operations at the same time. Kaguya wonders how they would go about that specifically.

All of this had given the "Lunatic Princess" an intoxicating feeling of omnipotence and omniscience. Just watching the proverbial dominoes fall was fun enough, but orchestrating the fall and seeing all the unintended consequences was even more entertaining. Here, she was the conductor of the orchestra, and Ba Sing Se's fall was her song. Composing and conducting felt like something she could do forever.

Kaguya stands up and recalls that general Sung was meeting with the Avatar for help. She grumbles at the thought; wasn't she the isekai protagonist here? How could some random NPC get the cheat ability of bending all four elements and not her? Hell, she can't even bend a single one!

----------------------------------------------------------

Mokou wipes the sweat off her brow under the sweltering heat as she presses the chicken onto her grill and hears the satisfying hiss. Pao was willing to give Mokou some concessions and privileges to have her keep working with him ever since he lost Iroh and Zuko. One of these concessions was fulfilling any of Mokou's requests. One request Mokou gave was that she rather work outside with a stand than having to cook in Pao's restaurant.

So now here she is, cooking yakitori in front of a busy crowd. It was cozy, so to say, cooking outside and feeling the heat of the sun behind her back and hearing the praises of her customers directly. There were a few stools beside her stand for the customers to sit on, but it wasn't enough for everyone, so most of them stood around the stand. They conversed with each other and placed the sticks on the designated bin before leaving.

Mokou finds herself liking this change of environment, back in Gensokyo, her stand didn't have this many people coming to it every day. Maybe its the novelty of the yakitori? Anyways, as a result, Mokou had begun conversing with the customers, with people, much more frequently. A father would come to eat here from time to time with his son on his shoulders. He would gush about Mokou's food and his son while she cooked for him, before getting out of the line once she finished and sharing the food with his son. Mokou would find herself watching him go, with a strange feeling of longing in her heart. Other times there would be these two women that came early and sat on the stool. Telling each other about their problems or what small thing peeved them that day, and would occasionally ask Mokou a question or two, sometimes it's for advice, and sometimes it's about her. All of this and many more made Mokou feel like she's a part of something bigger. It makes her feel almost human.

Like all days, it would end with the setting sun, and Mokou would have to close up shop and bring the stand and the cash back to Pao. Once the money was collected and her share was given, Mokou would walk to an alleyway leading to her new home. It was a run-down shack that looks like it would cave-in on itself soon, but eh, she's had worse.

Mokou enters it, the floorboard creaking under her weight. The kitchen is cramped, and she has to squeeze through the cooking tools and the cupboards to get into her bedroom, which consisted of a single mattress and a window. She sits atop the mattress and crosses her legs, remembering Iroh's words before meditating.

For mortal humans, a meditation session would usually last around forty to forty-five minutes. With immortals, it's a bit different, especially immortals like Mokou, who have a drastically different sense of time. Time passes by her faster, and there have been moments where she had slept for weeks on end. Thus it was no surprise to her that when she got out of her meditative trance, it was already the next morning.

Spoiler: AN

Better late then never amiright?

I hope the dialogue isn't awkward, and the flashback didn't feel to forced in, if not then do say so.

I've got a side story chap that I'll post soon involving Kaguya's first days of her Isekai adventure and I'll put a snippet below, other than that, see you guys next month!

Spoiler: Kaguya Sidestory

Whiteness fades and gives way to clear azure skies. What was once gravel becomes tufts of grass swaying in the rhythm of the howling wind. Kaguya lays there, on the one fertile patch amidst an arid desert. She stirs and feels a hundred knives stab at her back and a paralyzing numbness in her arms, a spinal fracture. She must've fallen from the sky, the princess concludes. Why else would her spine be rearranged so unnaturally? Kaguya wills the Elixir within her to increase the speed of her regeneration, making the puzzle pieces of her skeleton click back into place. Only now does she notice the insultingly oppressive radiance of the sun, bringing her hands up to cover her eyes.

Thanks for reading!

Spoiler: Eirin's notes

(Page 41 of Eirin Yagokoro's notes, confiscated by the Lunarian interior police, presented to The Court of The Impure at date XX XX XXXX)

......... The subject during post-examination interviews had exhibited no notable changes to her emotional and mental state. The subject's habits have not changed despite the procedure performed four weeks ago. Her cadence remains the same, with minor changes in her demeanor/day-to-day functions, having displayed increased irritation over the procedures.

The most recent test did not add anything new to what we already know of the subject's power; that it involves a degree of time-manipulation and that it can make an object indestructible. Adding on to Dainichi's notes, the subject's ability to make objects invulnerable may involve a form of time stasis due to the affected object being "younger" than it should be after it is scanned and dated.

A personal observation: I have to express my growing concern over the usual method's ineffectiveness, invasiveness, and its detrimental effects on the subject. It was clear from the start that the subject's power would be difficult to analyze due to its abnormal nature, and fear that if we continue testing in such a way, that the subject's well being will deteriorate for little to no gains for our research. I have raised those concerns multiple times to the committee who don't at this moment share my worries. Instead, members of the committee share Lord Tsukiyomi's desire to find industrial and military applications with the subject's abnormality, and that such needs trump her mental and physical state. It was agreed that the methodology of the procedures going forward would remain under review, though I believe this to be a formality. Not that I disagree with the notion of using the subject's abnormal powers for said applications, only that I believe the committee to be shortsighted if they intend to apply her powers for only industry and military purposes. There are many potential challenges and rewards in further researching the subject's ability that the committee does not see, and making sure the subject has a sound mind and is cooperative for further testing is essential. I must repeat that further testing would lead to the termination of the subject and that we would have to conduct our research through an autopsy going forward.

 

[Solacen]

I am begining to suspect the reason why Mokou was found half starved to death earlier (later?) in the story is she got so caught up in meditating she went days or weeks without eating.

 

[Sinsystems]

I am begining to suspect the reason why Mokou was found half starved to death earlier (later?) in the story is she got so caught up in meditating she went days or weeks without eating.

Click to shrink...

To be fair that is something Mokou does in Gensokyo already, seriously it is outright mentioned in one of the books that Mokou would occasionally just let herself starve to death rather than go through the trouble of finding food.

Honestly without someone to help ground her in the present and make her take care of herself Mokou ends up essentially deciding the dying for a bit is easier than doing something as simple as getting groceries.

 

[GoldenWorld]

Yay new chapter. Kaguya is being a lunatic and Mokou is....um Mokou.

 

[buli-buli]

It just occurred to me that since Iroh will canonically move into the Spirit World upon his death, Mokou has a new potential lifelong friend.

 

[Nottheunmaker]

This does explain the opening. Man, that guy is in for a surprise when Mokou pops back to life.

 

[NZPIEFACE]

Iroh scratches his beard, "well...through enlightenment, we become unshackled by our worldly desires and ascend a higher plane of existence, thus allowing our spirits passage to the spirit world. Keep in mind that this process takes countless hours of introspection and meditation; it is challenging."

Click to shrink...

I guess this is how she literally starves to death.

Throughout his journey so far, he has seen a person's chi be blocked or disrupted before, but he's never seen anyone's chi be frozen. It was surreal to see a person's life force be entirely still, and that's just the start of it.

Click to shrink...

I love how Kaguya is pulling a single moment of time for General How into an eternity.

Kaguya stands up and recalls that general Sung was meeting with the Avatar for help. She grumbles at the thought; wasn't she the isekai protagonist here? How could some random NPC get the cheat ability of bending all four elements and not her? Hell, she can't even bend a single one!

Click to shrink...

She has yet to realize she's the DIO of this story.

 

[Dead Pann]

Ohhhhhh! Mokou was just meditating when she was found as a corpse. It's possible that Mokou successfully entered the Spirit World but had trouble leaving for some reason.

The spy from the first chapter hasn't found Mokou yet, but he will soon.
. . .
Unless it wasn't just "the next morning."

 

[Mathen57]

Sidestory Chapter 1: Lost Lunarian (Part 1)​

霍莱山
Kaguya feels herself falling. A blue vortex encompasses her entire sight; it was akin to a tunnel. The tip of her fingers burns in agony; Kaguya brings it up to her face to see half her wrist already gone, disintegrating into blue motes of light, into energy. She has heard of this before, during her education as Luna's Princess. This vortex that she finds herself in is quite similar to the Lunar Veil in that they both are quantum tunnels, though the former is shoddier than the latter. Kaguya's knowledge of the subject is incredibly spotty. However, if she remembers correctly, Lunarians travel in vehicles with unique properties, which converts it into evoanescent waves for its passengers to ride on, granting them safe passage through the tunnel. At least that is the general gist of what she remembers.
霍莱山
Kaguya, however, does not have the luxury of said vehicle and thus becomes the evanescent wave itself. Her body decays at an exponential rate, starting at her feet and wrist, then to her knees and elbows. In a few moments, all her limbs dissolve, leaving only her head. The pain is excruciating, but she doesn't scream despite it all. Under normal circumstances, she would disintegrate entirely within the tunnel, or a fraction of her would come out the end if she was lucky. Both would mean her utter annihilation were she mortal, but a mortal she was not. If her body disintegrates, it will simply reform again within the tunnel, and if by sheer chance, a part of her makes it out, that part will reform into the whole. Thus it was simply inevitable that she will make it out of the tunnel. So she dies many deaths, over and over, disappearing and reappearing, a continuous cycle of agony that is ultimately dull. That is what death is to Kaguya; extreme pain followed by the momentary loss of feeling. Without the finality, the consequence of death, the act has become trivial, meaningless even. Soon enough, she reaches the tunnel's end, and Kaguya's eyes become blinded by a bright light. The Immortal Princess lets out a relieved sigh, saved from boredom at last.
霍莱山 Huò láishān Penglaishan
Whiteness fades and gives way to clear azure skies. She finds herself surrounded by tufts of grass swaying in the rhythm of the howling wind, a significant change from the volcanic gravel she stood on previously. Kaguya lays there, on the one fertile patch amidst an arid desert. She stirs and feels a hundred knives stab at her back and a paralyzing numbness in her arms. A spinal fracture, She must've fallen from the sky, the Princess concludes. Why else would her vertebrae be rearranged so unnaturally? Kaguya wills the Elixir to hammer in the puzzle pieces of her skeleton back into place. Only now does she notice the insultingly oppressive radiance of the sun, bringing her hands up to cover her eyes.

It turns out; she didn't need to cover it as two figures approach, giving her shade. One seems to have a male shape, while the other looks to be female, a couple? They converse with each other, and in her dazed state, Kaguya picks none of it up, focusing mainly on the bouncing lights. The Princess feels a temptation to use the Elixir within her again, to bring clarity to her mind. Nevertheless, she decides against it. Kaguya had already healed her spine by forcing the Elixir to accelerate the process; doing it again would just be too much work. Besides, she would like to savour this feeling; the bouncing lights are very captivating after all. Kaguya absently notes the feeling of being lifted off the ground and the sounds of grunting. By the time she regains her bearings, she finds herself atop a wagon.
------------------

Kaguya had always believed that in the unlikely event of being "isekai'd," it would either involve a speeding truck or a summoning circle, maybe even a gate. A quantum tunnel created by a magical explosion was not one of them, even more so considering it came from something Eirin had made.
Cursed child,
The universe is built on probabilities, as her father liked to say. However, Kaguya had always believed that it is also ruled by absolutes, which angered him to no end. One of them being that Eirin does not make a technical error, not in medicine, not in teaching, and most certainly not in magic.
from a marriage of broken oaths.
Thus the situation Kaguya finds herself in must be a product of sabotage, espionage, and other cool-sounding words ending with -age. Though the Princess draws a blank on who the perpetrator might be. Mainly because the people she knows who are powerful enough to manipulate Eirin's magic won't have any motivation to do so. Then it must be some unknown enemy, flinging the immortal into a different world either for some master plan or a laugh. Kaguya can't decide which sounds more exciting. The Princess debates on the matter to herself while lying on the wooden bed the couple from before had placed her.

A kindly pair, those two, Kaguya decided. They must've seen her fall towards the ground and rushed to examine what they believed to be a corpse. Imagine their surprise when said corpse was stirring about groggily, alive, and seemingly uninjured. Kaguya regrets choosing to stay dazed at that time as she would've liked to have seen the couple's reaction. Whatever, what's done is done. The Princess rises from her bed, the frame creaking under her weight, which tells Kaguya one of two things. Either the bedframe is weak, or she's heavy, though a closer examination of the room tells her that the couple must be too poor to afford a better frame. So the former it must be. Had peasants rescued her?

Kaguya had lived away from the Lunarian nobility long enough to not care about such things. So she didn't feel any disgust nor contempt towards her rescuers for being peasants or human. Despite that, there had been a momentary weariness in her. The last time a human couple took her in, well...

"Su, I think she's awake!" A male voice says from a separate room. Kaguya focuses her hearing on figuring out where exactly the voice was coming from. Frantic footsteps could be heard from the ceiling, travelling down some stairs and coming closer to Kaguya's room. The fact that these peasant's house possessed a second floor was impressive to the Princess. They must have worked quite hard to achieve the wealth to afford to build it.

The door opens, and out comes a woman who seems too young to be called old, yet too old to be called young. So, middle-aged then, Kaguya decides, though one can never be sure with mortals. Many mortals Kaguya had seen had appearances that belied their actual age. The woman possessed some wrinkles, a physical affliction that only eternally-challenged possessed. Though the wrinkling is only found around the eyes and the mouth, yet none on the cheeks, with it still retaining its firmness and elasticity, presently untouched by gravity and time. She seems to have aged like any other human who had been exposed to the Earth's impurity. How peculiar. Had she not been Isekai'd, or has she been thrown back into time instead? Can quantum tunnels even do that?

The woman rushes to Kaguya and puts a hand on her shoulder to gently push her down from her sitting position. "You shouldn't be moving right now; you'll only make your injuries worse," she commanded, her voice firm, yet ladened with maternal warmth.

Kaguya puts her hand on the woman's and shakes her head, her face held a soft smile of surety, "There is no need to keep me abed; I have suffered no injuries." The Princess naturally had to assert her elegance to the woman. A bad habit, you see.

The woman widens her disbelieving eyes, "But, you fell from the sky," she asserts. The woman narrows her eyes and her demeanour changes, clearly not tolerating Kaguya's lackadaisical attitude.

"And I should be dead, I know, but here I am." She rises from her bed despite the woman's protests and does some stretches and twirls, "Look, full range of motion."

Silence descended in the room, one that Kaguya decides to break. "Are you not convinced? I assure you that trying to take care of me is a waste of ti--" A new smell permeates the room, followed by a sizzling sound, a seductive sound. Kaguya takes a sniff and walks in its general direction. "Is someone cooking?" she asks.

As the Princess reaches the door, she is stopped by the woman's hand on her shoulder. " You are not stepping a foot outside this room until I'm sure you're fine. Is that understood?"

Kaguya sighs, yet acquiesces. She doubts she could get a meal without the woman's say so, and it's not like she can just run up and take the food. That would be barbaric.

"Then go ahead, I'll allow you to double-check, maybe even triple check me. The outcome will be the same."

In all honesty, Kaguya doesn't blame her for wanting to check. Thoroughness is a virtue, and if the Princess walks out with an untreated injury, the blame goes to the caretaker. Such a troublesome position this Su has put herself for someone like her. She would be much more grateful if the woman took her at face value, but what can one do without revealing their hand.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

There's a legend among the Earth Kingdom armies--a story told by soldiers huddled around campfires, in mess halls, or even during guard duty. The story told is merely a conglomeration of battlefield rumours stitched together to form a coherent tale. The tale itself has taken a life of its own, given embellishments and additions, turning it into the Frankenstein equivalent of a legend. The truth of it all lies within the monster's heart, buried beneath the organs oozing with lies and fiction tacked on by exaggerative storytellers and propagandists. An issue that future historians will face as they don their theatre blues and excise the truth within the heart for all to see.

The story itself tells of a man that saved an entire battalion by forestalling the march of a Firenation army. This man was Honghui, "The Ghost of Garsai". He had been said to have haunted the Fire Nation invaders everywhere they went, whether in their encampments, their guard posts, or convoys. Some rumours mention that any time a Fire Nation soldier went to piss, they had to look over their shoulders in fear. Without him, the soldiers say, Garsai's loss would've been without honour, and the retreating Earth Kingdom army would've been chased down and destroyed.

However, to the man himself, the reputation is meaningless, unearned even. He didn't take on the army by himself; in fact, he had help from the local villages and his surviving comrades. They were the unsung heroes, each deserving of their own stories told through generations, not just Honghui's.

It is a shame that the soldiers who speak of his tale rarely focus on those other heroes, his companions. They never talk about the cost of victory either. Many who tell his story are unaware that Honghui lost all of his comrades to one by one and the villages whose people assisted him no longer exist. Those same men know not the damages his body sustained during Garsai. To the rank-and-file Honghui is the indomitable giant who casts a large shadow on them, and whose heroic deeds are ones they aspire to replicate.

Those soldiers would be surprised to see him now, an aging man with a stump for a right hand, a partially burnt face. The skin around his left eye and ear is red and dead, a reminder of the battles of his youth.

Nowadays, he lives not the life of a hero but that of a farmer, tending to the crops and animals, contributing to the village and the war effort, and being a good husband. The days are slow and peaceful now that he is far from the frontlines. However, today is different; the calm monotony of farm life now broken by the advent of a noble girl who fell from the sky. Not only that but survive.

He places three plates of cooked moo-sow ribs onto the table one by one. Preparing the table poses no difficulty for him, having been used to having only an arm for decades. As he places down the spoons and forks and the glasses of water, he thinks back on his decision. With whatever injuries the noblewoman may have sustained, solid food would be hard for her to swallow. He should have to make some picken soup then, how inconsiderate of him.

Hongui's ears pick up the sound of footsteps closing in on his position. The old soldier focuses his hearing and notices that the sound is an amalgamation of both Su's and the noblewoman's steps, each having a different cadence. He widens his eyes in surprise, wondering how the stranger could be walking upright at all. Honghui had witnessed her dislocated arms and legs at the scene of her fall and scrunched his eyebrows in thought. One doesn't simply walk shortly after receiving those kinds of injuries.

The two women arrive in the kitchen, and Honghui gets a good look at the woman he and Su rescued. She looks out of place in his farmhouse with her pink shirt adorned with many bows and a sleeve that is too long for her arms. The shirt complements her long red skirt that falls to the ground, decorated with the yellow shapes of leaves and bamboo sticks. Honghui reckons her to be some elite nobleman's daughter based on the clothing alone. However, the most striking feature she possessed was not her attire that seems to cost more than his entire village, but rather her beauty, which bears an ethereal, otherworldly quality. It's a good thing Honghui and his wife found her first. The ever-growing daofei would've ransomed her for her family's entire treasury.

The noblewoman's eyes held a mischievous glint mixed with childlike curiosity, darting from his stump to the plates atop the table. He could see the smell of the moo-sow dish beckon her like an invisible hand. She catches herself and gives a flawless bow, one that impresses a martial man like Honghui, who had to practice his salutes to perfection.

"Forgive me, I have forgotten my manners," she apologizes eloquently, giving her a regal bearing, "I am Kaguya, and you have my thanks for saving me."

At least this noblewoman has a pleasant demeanour, unlike the nobles Honghui hears about from Ba Sing Se. Then again, one would usually act polite to their saviours, so he'll have to reserve his judgments for now.

After a round of introductions, Honghui asks Kaguya if she would want to eat since the noblewoman seems to be of good health. She graciously accepts, and the three of them sit down to enjoy the moo-sow ribs. Kaguya's eyes widen when she takes the first bite, prompting her to chew experimentally as if to analyze the taste and composition.

Honghui chuckles, "Never tasted moo-sow ribs before?"

Kaguya chuckles back, "I've never even heard of it."

Honghui grunts an affirmative, wondering if this woman was sheltered her entire life.

"It's a mix between a cow and a pig, yes? Moo-sow?" she asks, Honghui nods. "Forgive me, are they common here?"

"Yes, they're the most common livestock in the Earth Kingdom." At Kaguya's blank stare, Honghui sighs, "You don't even know what the Earth Kingdom is, do you?" She shakes her head. Honghui wonders just where the heck she's from.

"I should've checked your head more thoroughly, the fall must've scrambled your brain." Su states.

"Of course I'm fine, I'm just...not from around here." Kaguya shrugs.

"And you're sure the fall hasn't scrambled your head?"

Kaguya lets out a melodic laugh, covering her face with her sleeve as if to hide her amusement. "My head's been scrambled far before that fall, but that's for me to worry about. I assure you your examination was top-notch; you did not miss a thing. Are you trained perhaps?"

"Yes," His wife replied, "and I've had a lot of experience healing soldiers too."

Knowing intimately how Su is when it comes to people not taking their wounds seriously, be it mental or physical, Honghui decides to step in. " Meanwhile, you can rest in our son's room until Su is absolutely sure you're fine. She's really particular about this sort of thing," Kaguya nods in understanding while Su gave him a withering look, "and it's best not to fight it. Believe me, I tried."

She dips her head and gives her thanks before an inquisitive look appears on her face, "Where is your son anyway if you don't mind me asking?"

The question spears his heart, striking at a wound still open, still bleeding. Kaguya seems to have noticed this as she formulates an apology. Honghui wonders how she could have discerned his...distress. Could it be the clenched fist, the pursed lips, the narrow eyes?

"Forgive me. That was tactless."

Honghui lets out a small, imperceptible sigh. "He's fighting in the war right now, and I doubt he'd be back soon," Honghui says with as much control as he can muster. Wanting to bring his thoughts someplace else he turns to Su, who bears a worried expression, " When you go off to the market, can you tell Li to expect slightly fewer shipments of moo-sow and wheat for the next few days? We've got another mouth to feed."

Kaguya raises an eyebrow, " I do not believe I will eat so much that it would make a noteworthy dent in your shipments."

"The war has stretched us thin, lady Kaguya--"

"Just Kaguya is fine, you've rescued me after all, so there is no need for formalities."

Honghui nods, "--so any increase or decrease in the number of supplies sent to the troops, no matter how slight, is noteworthy. Farmers like me have to match their quotas gram for gram."

The noblewoman cups her chin in thought, "I see...how dire." she mutters to herself.

"Yes, indeed. Which is why you'll be helping us at the farm and earning your keep while I make sure you're sound of mind," Su says which prompts Kaguya to widen her eyes, "Don't think I'll let you sleep your days away; on our son's bed."

For a flash, Honghui could see hints of outrage and embarrassment on Kaguya's face before she schools her features, disappearing just as fast it appeared. "Yes, yes, I'll help; I am in your debt after all."

His ears pick up the sound of harsh thuds and the neighing of ostrich-horses coupled with the chatter of several men. The women in the room hear it too, and Honghui stands up and peers through his window overlooking the front porch.

"Soldiers?" Su asks.

He squints his eyes to see four men mounted on armoured ostrich-horses, followed by an ostrich-horse drawn wagon with a single driver. They wear the uniforms of the Earth Kingdom garrisons, with the leader wearing a short green cloak. These men certainly have the look of soldiers, but their clumsy formation tells him otherwise.

"Su, Kaguya, head upstairs. We got trouble," Honghui commanded.

"Bandits?" Su asks.

"Possibly. Now go, I will handle it."

Su opens her mouth to object, but a pleading look from Honghui ends her protest before it even began. She sighs, "Be safe," she said simply.

"I will."

Honghui picks up his old shortsword, feeling the familiar texture of the hilt. Meanwhile, Su heads upstairs with the worried noblewoman in tow. Honghui crosses his fingers, hoping that the group he will meet are just well-meaning soldiers who happened to be undiscipline, but time and experience have taught him that such naive thinking will get him killed. The presence of the wagon worries him, too; it seems like these men are coming to take something from him.

Honghui gets a good feel of the sword's handle, breathing deeply to centre himself. After what felt like hours, the men finally arrive. They bear cocksure grins and lack the weariness soldiers these days have, meaning they're either greenhorns or imposters. Honghui stifles a sigh of resignation and strengthens his grip on his sword.

"Where's the head of this farm, old man?" their leader asked.

"You're talking to him," Honghui answers.

One of the impostors lets out a small snort. Honghui is unfazed by this act of mockery, though painfully aware of how much of a sorry sight he may look, his untarnished self-worth takes the insult in stride. The motley group's leader stares the snorting man down as a look of embarrassment washes over his face. It is as if these bandits respect their leader, whether out of fear or adoration, Honghui doesn't know.

"Well, I'm here to inform you that the Earth Kingdom army requires an extra twenty bushels of wheat. My men and I can help you load them onto the wagon." He stated with a firm tone that brooked no disagreement.

"On who's authority?" Honghui asked

"The Earth King's authority, we speak on his behalf," the leader replied, and though he may not know it, he had just outed himself to Honghui with a single factual error.

"Only the Royal Guard and civil servants like the magistrates speak on behalf of the Earth King. No one in the army has that authority, not even the Council of Five."

The men around Honghui share a worried look, except for their leader, who seems unfazed. "No, but we're here to enforce the King's will, and he's ordered us to acquire extra supplies for the war effort. So move aside, old man, and let us do our jobs."

"I don't think I will," Honghui asserts, "Soldiers enforce the King's laws and orders to the citizen, not announce new ones, that's the magistrate's job, and this is the first time I've heard about this new order for us farmers."

Honghui could see the growing frustration on the man's face, "well, maybe the local magistrate has forgotten to inform you of that."

If Honghui had two arms, he would cross them by now, "that's hard to believe since I know the man personally. In fact, I had a meeting with him just the other day."

The leader narrows his eyes and tries to discern whether Honghui is bluffing or telling the truth. He realizes its the latter and sighs; his cover is blown. He looks at the former soldier with a baleful stare, "Do you really want to make this difficult, you crippled old man?"

Honghui brandishes his sword, " It was never going to be easy to begin with."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kaguya finds herself in her host's very own bedroom, hearing the clanging of metal coupled with shouts and grunts. Next to her is that fussy woman, Su, who at first glance seems quite stoic about the situation, but the almost imperceptible trembling of her hands tells Kaguya otherwise. She sits there transfixed, fascinated by this display of fear, and not the kind of anxious fear the Inabas usually exhibit, but genuine fear. That doesn't mean that Kaguya never felt fear; she certainly did when it came to losing something she liked or the threat of never seeing her favourite duelling partner again. But she never felt fear as visceral as the woman in front of her exhibited. The Princess feels almost cheated to have never felt such a thing.

"What is it?" Su asked softly, feeling Kaguya's piercing stare.

"Just lost in thought," Kaguya replied. She moved towards the window to observe the fight occurring in front of the house. Steel clashed with steel underneath the blazing sun whose light the men's blades reflected harshly. She sees Honghui weave through multiple opponents, parrying and dodging with precision. Kaguya could see the echoes of a great fighter within Honghui, who fights with a fraction of his skill in his prime. Burdened by age and the scars of battle, He could barely keep up with his three other opponents. Thus, a lucky cut to his leg was all that was needed to bring him to his knees. The men close in on the one-armed fighter, their stances emanating a killing intent.

Then, Kaguya came up with a genius plan. She was not that big of a noble-brat as to feel at least the smallest amount of gratitude to the couple, however unnecessary their help was. Thus, she was in debt to them. The couple had initially planned to have Kaguya clear her debt through laborious fieldwork, which the Princess had no intention of doing, of course. And now lies a great opportunity to clear said debt in a less boring fashion, by saving his life. So she opens the window and jumps.

And so begins Kaguya's Grand Isekai Adventure.

------

Spoiler: AN

It's been a hot minute eh? This chapter was one of two that I had mostly finished back in August, but life happened and I've stopped writing until now. I've been getting my groove back for this sort of stuff, but it's been erratic and unfocused, and I've only recently started working on this again after working on separate snippets/oneshots. And unfortunately, updates for this story would not be consistent.

Also, the next post would be the first half of that other chapter since its basically done.

 

[Mathen57]

Chapter 8: Converging​

The weeks blur together as the days and nights congeal into singular moments interrupted by semi-conscious meditation. The eventful days spent with Iroh and Zuko fade comfortably into memory. Nowadays, the only occurrence that ever sticks out is Mokou's constant failure in achieving "spiritual enlightenment". This peeves her; she had seen monks and hermits meditate hundreds upon hundreds of times. They always come out of each session with new insight into the world or themselves, inching closer to enlightenment. What is it that she lacks, and these gurus have? Peace of mind? Well, considering the past millennia, she's as peaceful as ever--no burning cities, no desolate farmlands, not even the continuous killing of a rival. The Fujiwara girl sighs in resignation; meditation was more challenging than she thought, but no matter, she has time.

Mokou rises from her mat; she'll find out what she's missing eventually. Hopefully, all that effort she's putting into finding Eirin and Kaguya doesn't go to waste. What if the two others aren't even in the spirit world? Would this mean that Mokou has to find some magical means of returning home herself? That would be a problem; travelling from world to world is something far beyond her. Even if she does millennia of studying and research, something like that would probably still be out of her grasp. Thus, Mokou needs to find Eirin for help. If worse comes to worst, the earthling immortal will have to make peace with being stuck in this world, but only if she has no other options. Right now, she has a lead. It isn't solid, but it's still a lead, and it's all she has to find her way back.

Mokou comes out of her hovel, greeted by the grey overcast sky. She squeezes through the alleyways, carefully minding her step as she wades through the sleeping crowd of impoverished men and women, tightly clutching their few possessions. With a millennium of experience, Mokou deftly avoids stepping on them. She has wandered around countless cities; she is no stranger to overcrowding or people seeking refuge from war. Japan was a bloody island, and living there had led the Fujiwara girl to witness more war than any soldier or General. Thus, it was no surprise to her that even in another world, there would be refugees caused by war, because why wouldn't there be? War is as much a part of life as breathing.

Mokou reaches the main road leading towards the public square. Around her, she sees the shops opening up, ready for a new day. Mokou spots a florist bringing out her flowers for display, while a butcher organizes his meat appetizingly. Some of the shopkeepers converse with one another while waiting for customers. They joke and trade jabs at each other with good cheer. Upon seeing this peaceful scene, it's easy to think there is no war, if one ignored the refugees, of course. Though, a closer look tells her otherwise.

The florist had been selling less and less variety of flowers over the weeks that Mokou had been here. The butcher had been selling less meat too, probably because of the army needing more and more supplies as the war goes on. She had also seen the occasional clench fists and the consoling hand on the shoulder among the conversing shopkeepers. Whatever this war is, it's without a doubt affecting Ba Sing Se, yet no one is allowed to mention it. That had always struck Mokou as something peculiar; it's like pretending the sky doesn't exist.

As she walked, Mokou spots a group of guards and a pair of Dai Li. Walking the opposite direction, a guard purposely bumped into one of the Dai Li and kept walking forward as if nothing happened.

The Dai Li turned around to face the offending guard and spoke with a threatening tone, "Watch yourself, soldier, I could have you imprisoned, you know that?" The man's words catch the attention of everyone around them. From what Mokou had seen, these men had genuine power to do whatever they wanted in this city. Thus, no one dared to anger the Dai Li, yet here was this guardsman who did, and in such a brazen display, no less. Mokou couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction; she hasn't forgotten the way one of the Dai Li treated her on her first day here. Other than that, unless one of them threatened to break her cart, she couldn't care less.

The guard only shrugged, "Maybe you should watch where you're going."

The Dai Li returned an icy stare.

"What are you looking at?"

"A clown", The Dai Li responded.

The guard smirked in response, " Clowns, we're clowns? Look at you! Did you steal that hat from the circus?" The shopkeepers stared with slack-jaws and wide-eyes, wondering if the man was insane. Mokou stops walking and decides to see where this situation will lead.

The Dai Li's face turns into a rictus of rage as he steps towards the guard, only to be stopped by his partner's hand on his shoulder. His partner whispers something into his ear, but the offended Dai Li shakes off his hand moves closer to the guard. He sneers with condescension oozing from his voice, "You think this is funny, huh? If you think we're a bunch of clowns, then what does that make you? You and your men twiddle your thumbs and fatten yourselves while we keep these streets clean. Unlike you slackers, we work hard to keep the King's peace. Maybe you're the actual clowns here, the laughing stock of the Earth Kingdom. Pathetic."

The Dai Li's partner widens his eyes after his lecture finishes, while the grin on the guard's face starts to widen. "Yeah, you're right, " the guard replies, "All we do is train, watch the walls, and," his eyes glance at Mokou before returning to the Dai Li, " gorge on some good food. It's pathetic what we're doing right now, and I completely understand why you'd think we're a laughing stock." He glances at the other guards and splays his arms out as if to present something, "The army of Ba Sing Se is just as ridiculous as you guys are. Every day we sit with our thumbs up our butts behind big walls while good Earth Kingdom soldiers die in the war."

There it was, the unmentionable word, the open secret kept under lock and key. The silence was deafening as the crowds looked on with bated breath, witnessing the two soldiers stare each other down in a battle of wills. No words were spoken; no sound was made; everything had come to a halt. The Dai Li takes a step forward and grabs the guard by the collar, "There is no war in Ba Sing Se," he speaks with gritted teeth and murderous eyes. The other guards grip the hilt of their weapons as all seven of them surround the pair of Dai Li. Mokou could see several more guardsmen spilling out of the alleyways and into the street at the corner of her eye. Now there are practically dozens of them surrounding the Dai Li; all of them have their hands on their weapons' hilts. They're expecting a fight to occur; have they been planning this confrontation?

"Sure, technically, there is no war in Ba Sing Se," the guard replied as he pushed off the Dai Li's arm, "but if you touch me again, there might be one."

Before the Dai Li soldier could say anything, his partner pulled him and whispered harshly into his ear. Several back and forths occur before the partner pulled him away from the growing group of guards. The guards blocked every possible exit. The Dai Li attempts to push through but are jostled. Once they got themselves free, the guards begin to shout insults at them, telling them to cry back to Long Feng like the little kids they are. Whatever that meant.

The Dai Li looked back despite his partner's insistence to just go away. " We won't forget this."

"Good, as long as you remember who's in charge!" That prompts the group of guards to laugh. With clench fists, the Dai Li finally leave the scene.

With the situation pacified, Mokou sighs to herself and continues walking towards the plaza. It seems like there's some kind of schism in the military, the sort that causes civil wars from what she's seen. How troublesome, as if meditating wasn't hard enough, now she has to deal will all the extra noise.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The situation was developing much faster than Long Feng had anticipated. With General How effectively in a coma (as the doctors described), fingers were pointed at the Dai Li, accusing them of poisoning the poor man. After all, it was no secret that the Dai Li and the Army were not on good terms and that its leaders had planned to off one another. General How had been amassing allies for a coup while Long Feng was preparing for several assassinations. The latter had always been one step ahead, planting agents everywhere in the city to undermine How's influence, and even subverting some of his allies. For a long time, Long Feng had the upper hand, he had control of the situation, but now he feels his grip straining.

His Dai Li subordinates may think Long Feng's grip is stronger with How gone; they couldn't be more wrong. Now leading in How's place is the cowardly General Sung, a dull man with no vision or foresight. At least How was sensible enough to work toward a bloodless coup. With Sung, it's a different story; the man is a cornered rat, willing to tear Ba Sing Se down to survive. Worst of all, his peers in the surviving Council of Five are all hawks, tearing at the cage Long Feng put them in, wanting to take part in the war. Without How to control them, their attempt at a coup might escalate into violent showdowns in the streets.

Long Feng wouldn't be in this predicament if things had gone according to plan. Initially, just taking How out of the picture isn't enough, and his replacement proves that notion to be true. Though dire, the situation is salvageable; the King and the Royal Guard are firmly in his camp. Despite the King's absence in the day to day affairs of state, his word is still the law. Thus, If these Generals do rebel, Long Feng is confident that most of the older and more sensible officers would desert Sung's faction once King Kuei steps in. It's a shame that the coup members are more guarded ever since How's hospitalization; making assassinations a considerably difficult endeavour. No matter, there are other ways of making these rebels lose their faith in the cause.

All that's left to do now is to tie up loose ends, and speaking of loose ends...

Long Feng can't help but grin to himself. Fate has given him the Avatar's Air-bison to use as leverage against him. With it, the Avatar can be dissuaded from picking a side in the coming conflict. The General-Secretariat is fully aware of how the Avatar poses a grave threat to his hold on Ba Sing Se. Thus, now is the time to educate this child on the potential consequences of his actions.

There is still one disconcerting thought that rests at the back of Long Feng's mind. Who exactly incapacitated General How and kickstarted this mess? His agents looked everywhere in the city for this illusive instigator to no avail. Even worse is that the culprit's unknown methodology makes it nearly impossible to use a scapegoat and push a narrative. No one in history, not even the Avatars, could--for lack of a better word-- freeze a man like General How in such a way. Long Feng clenches his fists; he already has his hands full dealing with the Avatar, and this mystery assassin only complicates an already delicate situation. Whomever this person is, Long Feng has a special place for them in Lao Gai.

-------

Spoiler: AN

Here's the first half of the other chapter. The next half is mainly in Kaguya's POV, with her interacting with Azula.

Anyways, it feels weird looking at my now 8 month old story notes, with me now questioning some of my creative decisions. I'll probably make some changes to the story's original direction, but I'll mostly stick with what I had first planned out, despite my misgivings. I'll just have to see it through!

But right now, I'm simply happy to just post.

 

[13th Bee]

And we're happy to have it posted! :)

 

[Sinsystems]

Well always going to see a touhou fic breath again

 

[Silver Gambit]

This is really good, I hope to see more of it going forward.

 

[Prime 2.0]

Received a recommendation for this yesterday, decided to check it out. Having a good time so far, looking forward to more!

 

[Mathen57]

Chapter 8.5: Converging II​

The last time Kaguya had seen a throng this size was during that Bamboo Festival she had seen once in Osaka for old man Ebisu. Granted, the present gathering was not in the business of selling bamboo; rather, their trade was that of war. The scene below was impressive, for humans; dozens of tents flying red flags litter the open landscape. The princess leading this army was certain of her invincibility, and Kaguya can't help but smirk.

She doesn't play around.

Kaguya descends from the hill, sauntering towards the camp's centre. She reaches the main tent adorned with royal embroidery and three large flags fluttering against the afternoon wind. The men guarding the tent stood more stiffly at her approach; their suspicion made clear in their narrowed eyes. One of the guards enters the tent to inform Azula of Kaguya's arrival, leaving the latter alone outside with one soldier.

To Kaguya, time spent idly is a shameful waste, so she decides to converse with the guard. "The princess in that tent, do you like her?" she asked, wanting to inquire more about her employer (quest giver, more accurately). Kaguya was met with further silence and narrowed eyes. It was somewhat disheartening but expected. Soldiers who guard their leader's tent tend to be the elites' elite and thus are quite professional. However, professionalism is not conducive to stimulating and honest conversation, so she finds another way to coax an answer from him.

Thus, Kaguya decides to tread on treasonous ground, if only to get a reaction out of him. "Does she treat her subordinates well? Are you more loyal or more fearful of her?" Her eyes spot an almost imperceptible twitch that slipped through the man's fine control—a reaction, a small one, but a reaction nonetheless. Something in what she just said had resonated with him or was so off that it either amused or offended the man. Whichever the case, the ice was slowly, and all it needs is just one more pus-

A guard came out of the tent, "the princess will see you now", he says before moving to his previous position.

Kaguya holds back a sigh and enters. Maybe next time then.

Inside a tent was a table covered by a map that took almost the entire room. It stood across Azula and her desk, which was filled to the brim with documents. It was the first map of the world that Kaguya had seen so far, and it intrigued her. A gigantic landmass covered most of the map, surrounded by many islands and the planet's poles. To its west was a large archipelago, which the Fire Nation calls home, though it was littered with volcanoes and little farmland. So it was only natural for the Fire Nation to invade the continent to their east. Already, the Fire Nation has occupied the land mass's western half, if the red lines were of any indications.

"Sorry, it took so long...oh forgive me, what was your name again?" Azula asked. A lie, to Kaguya, the Fire Nation princess seemed to be the type to remember people's names very well. Thus, the question asked was supposed to either belittle her or gauge her response. A solid tactic, impressive for a mere child, but she had seen it executed far better in Lunarian high society.

"Kaguya." She replied absentmindedly. Her eyes were glued to the Fire Nation archipelago and its rather messy shape.

"Right, Kaguya. Again, forgive me for taking so long; my guard had raised his concerns about you. I told him you were an asset rather than a liability. Was I wrong?" Again came the subtle threats. Though it was somewhat tiresome, it spiced up the conversation at least, so Kaguya decided to play along.

Kaguya shakes her head, "You were not," she reached into her sleeves to retrieve a scroll that she found in How's room. It was found in a small locked chest placed in a compartment below the carpet. She was sure that the key was somewhere in the room too, but she had decided to lockpick it instead. Thus, it took many tries inside suspended-time to get it to open, but open it did. She placed the scroll on Azula's desk, "I've got this too as a bonus to completing the mission you gave me." Azula reads the scroll, which detailed How's conspiracy against the Dai Li. Kaguya gave her report and observations to supplement the reading.

"So, Ba Sing Se's government might face a coup?" Azula asked.

"Or even a revolution, depending on the circumstances."

Through the holes of her mask, Kaguya could see Azula raising her eyebrow. "But the scroll said the Council of Five wanted to replace the king's advisor, not overthrow him."

"Well, with How gone, some of the Councillors have secretly chosen to pursue their own ideas of how Ba Sing Se should be ruled. They only follow Sung's plan for appearances, a consequence of having...different-minded allies."

A smile appears on Azula's face. "Hmph, so they can't even rule themselves." She stands up from her chair and faces Kaguya. "I don't say this lightly, but for an assassin, you're an impressive spy."

Kaguya shrugged, "I like to wear many hats."

Azula brings out a small chest from under her desk. "Now, before we discuss your payment, I'd like to ask you about something, if you don't mind, of course," she said, leaning towards Kaguya with her everpresent smile. Her eyes, though lacking in visible malice, glinted with a calculating shine.

Kaguya has experienced the Lunarian court life long enough to know that Azula's innocuous request was more than what it seemed. The Immortal Princess could tell that simply refusing would lead to a "bad end", one that would force her to stop playing assassin for this Fire Nation, which would be no fun at all. So she keeps plays along, entertaining both Azula and herself.

"What do you want to know?" Kaguya replied.

"I want to know what you want," Azula queried.

"Pardon?"

"When you walk out of this tent with all this money, what are you going to use it for?"

Like glass, Azula's intentions become crystal clear. Kaguya sees that this line of questioning's expected outcome is to find out ways of incentivizing Kaguya to do her bidding other than mere gold. Not that money is a bad incentive; rather, knowing a person's core desires and promising to fulfil said desires can be far more effective. So effective that it can inspire a significant amount of loyalty and even fear through the threat of retracting said promises. Kaguya infers that she's proven to be a valuable asset; thus, Azula desires a tighter hold on her. Just paying for her services isn't enough. From Azula's point of view, her enemies could buy Kaguya's services by outbidding Azula. Kaguya's title as "Azula's assassin" could potentially hold more than one meaning if the Fire Nation Princess isn't careful. Something Azula seems keenly aware of, even more so considering that Kaguya has seemingly exceeded expectations.

Kaguya cups her chin, "What do I want?" she murmurs to herself. Hmm, just enjoying myself could be enough, I never really thought about it.

"Didn't I already answer this question?" Kaguya asks.

"You did..." Azula replied, "So you were serious when you said--"

"I was bored? Yes, I meant it," Kaguya replies.

Azula stare turns icy cold as her smile disappears; she brings her arm up and conjures a blue flame at the tip of her fingers. "Do not interrupt me again; this is the second time you've done so; do it again, and I'll make sure you can never speak. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes," Kaguya replied meekly with insincere fear. In truth, she was unfazed, and the sight of the fire made her reminisce on her death duels with Mokou. Before her memories could distract her further, Azula sits back down.

"Good," she crowed and continues her questioning, "so you're an assassin because...you're bored?" Azula said, "I'd call you pathetic, though you are effective. I guess you and Mai may have a lot in common."

"Mai? You mean the one with the double buns?"

"The very same," she answered, "Well since you're such a thrill-seeker, I'm sure a new mission would be a better payment than any amount of money." Azula puts the small chest away.

Kaguya stifles a chuckle; well, she's got me there. "Is there another general you want out of the picture?"

"As a matter of fact, no. You might not be aware, but your one-woman campaign against the outlaws of the Earth Kingdom has given you much notoriety. You're the most feared person among the daofeis, and I would like to make use of that fear. Submit the bandits to your will and report back to me."

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I'm just an assassin," Kaguya lied while a part of her wants to shake in excitement, "I wouldn't know how to control them."

"You said you wear many hats, correct? Then bringing these bandits to serve me should be childs play. Besides, you wanted to do something fun, correct? Well, here it is."

Kaguya couldn't disagree.
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Spoiler: AN

Alright, here's the other half of Converging, the next chapters will be brand new.

Also, man Kaguya's really fun to write, she's just so wonderfully consistently inconsistent at times.

 

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It's really fun to see just how much Kaguya and Mokou aren't doing because they don't care enough. And it looks like they're going to meet again soon-ish.