The Legend of Percy: Book 2 - Through Grief

27. Diversions and One More Empty Cell (Knowing the Princess has its Benefits)

Should he have done it? Gone where he knew those who loved him back home had tried to keep him from falling. The place Annabeth had pleaded for him to never go. Looking around at the devastation on each of the others faces, it was hard to not feel the guilt bearing down on him. But he knew, in his heart, he didn't have that in him. Not without breaking who he was.

He wanted to stab Riptide through the deck of the ship. Right where he pictured that vile man would lie.

Instead, he pulled the map that they had access to and splayed it over the table. Someone needed to do something because the silence was becoming suffocating. The boats sailed breezily back towards the Black Cliffs, but the threat of the airships and their bombs a constant whir behind them.

Percy looked up to see a certain resolve in the Avatar's gaze. He must've felt the same guilt he did. It definitely wasn't a new experience for either of them, but it wasn't one Percy felt nostalgic for.

"We need to split up." The demigod spoke first. "But most importantly, is there any place you know that will house the wounded and help heal them?"

The stagnant air in the room remained before Bato gained the look of someone with an idea.

"The Abbey. It's where I healed. They hold no love for the Fire Nation and certainly can help. I just hope they don't blame us for the last time we were there."

"Or for all the perfume we broke." Sokka replied, with only a slight amount of his usual humour.

The comment fell dead as none of them were in a joking mood.

"Aang?" Percy said, after a lull in the room.

"I need to be able to access the Avatar state." He said.

It was a somewhat indirect answer, but the demigod remembered the power he felt emanating from him under the Earth Kingdom capital. Control of that power would be extremely useful.

"And I also need to master firebending." Aang continued.

"What do you need, or where do you need to be, to do them?"

"I don't know." Aang breathed out, ambling up beside him and pointing his finger a ways north of where they were. "But I think the air temple is where I might find some answers. It was one of the most spiritually connected places in the world."

"Alright-"

Percy was interrupted by an explosion that sent a smattering of water down on the top of the ships. Everyone in the room ducked their heads with a couple moving to check outside. He could tell it landed enough feet behind the ships for him to remain calm, but it served to prove his next point.

"Alright, so that brings me to what I was about to say. We need a diversion."

~~~~~

Azula stood underneath the gates of the Fire Nation Palace, shadowed by two soldiers. Rubble wound its way through the buildings, with flames still burning a path out of the capital. She'd succeeded... and yet her shoulder still tore away at her.

The Fire Lord had almost immediately gone back into the safety of the palace, followed by servants and protection. Even in his absence, his presence loomed over her.

Slight whirring drifted over from the sea, a quiet reminder that the fighting was still ongoing. But none of it was within sight of the princess. She still hadn't quite come to terms with how the day had gone for her. There was one thing she wasn't given the time to do, one that begged at the back of her mind since she'd returned to the Fire Nation. In a day marred by hollow victories, it was all that held her together. Asking for his opinion.