Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan, and Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon.
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"Thoughts"
"Speaking"
This fanfic is an Alternate Universe (AU)
Explanations will appear as the chapters progress.
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Percy's POV
It had already been two days since the fight with Trainer Heng, and my father, Fire Lord Iroh tasked me with a simple task.
It's the nice way of saying punishment and it was to clean for a whole week the pens of the Komodo Rhinoceroses, these were located on the outskirts of palace city, but the excrement of these animals stinks like hell and it is not pleasant that the royal family can perceive the smell of these.
I'm only allowed to leave the palace to go to the corrals and I have an escort. You can't imagine who it is, well, I'm escorted by master Heng himself, it seems like a bad joke, it seems that he got away with this, when my father asked him about the matter he mentioned that he was with a woman on staff who was not his wife, if you know what I mean.
Thinking about it, I think I am the only member of the family who has had the wonderful assignment and believe me, cleaning them is quite a challenge, these animals are often used as pack animals, but it is also common to use them in the assembly of the soldiers of the Fire Nation navy, they are covered by thick skin, Fireproof, of course. They have three large curved horns coming from their face, two of them are curved downwards from the forehead and the last one is curved upwards from the top of their muzzle.
But what's really scary are its huge claws that can easily pierce through the navy's armored shields, basically any one of them is a huge ball of muscles racing towards you at 45 kilometers per hour, they measure about 4 meters long from their snout to their tail and weigh just over a ton.
My advice, if you come across one of them, climb a tree and accept your death.
But you know it's even more impressive, that I'm the only person cleaning 10 corrals, although I guess I got away with it considering the wrong hit I hit my father's face.
I managed to finish my second day of punishment in the pens right at the beginning of sunset, I was really exhausted when I was summoned to my father's office to discuss some matters, I immediately went to the place.
When I was in the corridor I saw a figure come out of my father's office that seemed very familiar to me, immediately a feeling of disgust, quite similar to nausea, passed through my whole body, I was in a cold sweat, as I got closer I could distinguish that it was General Ozai, or, in other words, it was my uncle... politically, if I may clarify, and of course, Zuko's father. He was wearing a red robe, traditional but quite expensive, exclusive to the royal family, with a red line design, his face had not changed at all since the last time I saw him, it reflected pure hatred of envy, the classic face of a conqueror and murderer, his eyes were brown, but he showed a deep resentment, The only change was that his beard was longer than usual, just beard, no mustache.
When he looked at me he made a face of displeasure, it's not the first time I've received that look, to be honest, all the members of the palace city look at me, what can you expect from a lot of wealthy people, concerned about their lineage and appearance, it's not something that matters to me, but someday, when I can suddenly erase the expression from that face, I'll feel pretty good.
"What a surprise, but if it's Percy, you look a little taller since I last saw you, when that was, maybe two or three years," he said with slight revulsion in his voice, barely detectable
"Four months, Mr. Ozai, but it feels like an eternity, a pleasant eternity."
Ozai quickly changed his expression, I think his hatred went up by 10%.
"What brings you here?" Ozai asked in a tone of interest
"I really don't know, I was called by my father to discuss some matters, and you, Mr. Ozai?"
Ozai stared at Percy, he seemed to be deciding whether to tell him or not, which meant trouble, nothing good comes if someone like Ozai decides to discuss private political matters, something is coming and it's a big thing.
"Well, you see, it's classified information, but being you I don't think there's any problem, after all, you're my brother's pet."
Percy clenched his fist tightly, all he wanted to do was rip off that hideous beard he had and beat him to death.
"It seems that scout troop 104 disappeared without a trace, near Ba Sing Se, the troop was on its way to the mountains, but they never arrived. We sent another team to investigate the disappearance, but they found nothing"
"Is it possible that the earth kingdom had something to do with it?" I asked
"It's possible, but unlikely. The earth kingdom is concerned, they were the ones who requested our participation in this"
"What are they worried about enough to ask for the Fire Nation's involvement?" I asked, I'm sure my bewilderment could be seen on my face
"There are rumors that something evil dwells in the dense forests of the mountains. The Earth Kingdom has been dealing for a while with different monsters coming from the forests, they have evacuated the nearby villages—
"What kind of monsters?" I asked with interest
"The usual, submerged, ghul, wyvernos, some wraiths and infernal dogs, among others"
Ozai left me more puzzled for a moment before replying, "But such plagues are common in the vicinity of Ba Sing, I know why the earth kingdom is worried now."
"You're right kid, but it's not the plagues, it's the number of them," Ozai looked at me as if explaining to a child how to go to the bathroom, "for months these plagues have been on the rise, normally the kingdom has to deal with them without problems, but it reached a point where it became a nightmare
"Then the troop was sent to discover the source of the rise of these monsters, but they never returned," I lowered my head, looking at the floor with a little sadness
"Exactly, that's why I'm here, someone has to supervise the matter... Well boy it was a disappointment to see you, luck in the tournament you will need it. " Ozai said as he walked away
For a few moments my mind went blank, I was just thinking about how the hell Ozai found out about my participation in the tournament, I hadn't mentioned it to anyone but the Komodo rhinos, as I was hard carving the floor of the corrals. However, I wonder if the forest thing has something to do with the rumor Zuko mentioned to me, I wondered a few times in my head, but I couldn't find the connection.
And the million-yuan question, because heck Ozai would talk to me, every time he's in the palace he doesn't even look at me let alone speak to me, I have a very bad feeling about this.
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POV 3rd person
Without waiting any longer, Percy arrived at his father's office, pushed and opened the huge doors, they were a bit interesting, the huge doors showed important events in the history in the Fire Nation.
Some examples are Sozin's comet which can be seen only once every hundred years, it also showed a frame that represented the treaty that was signed between the four nations approximately eighty years ago which dictates the alliance between the nations in the battle against monsters.
Further to the center was carved a battlefield, a war that took place forty years ago. In this picture, the fire nation had a victory against the enemy leader, the so-called witch bathsheba, this was a calamity that hit the world for about twenty years, since then the topic of witches is considered a forbidden one and mentioning only the existence of one makes all nations go crazy.
And finally, the event made possible by his father, the victory at Ba Sing se, which showed the typical walls that characterize the city, these were carved and painted with extreme care, after all it is the most recent feat, this victory was made possible by the bravery of his father some twenty or twenty-five years ago, A pair of Drakones nested right in the king's palace and their father cut off their heads. The only question he has is how his father, a tea lover and terrible gambler at Mahjong was able to do that, sounds like a tale out of a children's fable, but his brother, Lu Ten has told him that his father was not always kind and that on the battlefield he was almost invincible.
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Percy's POV
When I entered the room I immediately saw four people inside, two were at the back of the room, they are my father's bodyguards and I immediately recognized them, the youngest named Jackie was around 29 years old, he was wearing the typical boots and military pants, he was wearing a "sweatshirt" I don't know how to explain it, as I heard a designer with a unique vision of fashion appeared in the southern water tribe and from At the time, it was engaged in clothing making and distribution, as far as I know, the Southern Tribe has grown economically since then.
From my point of view, the famous sweatshirts look great but they don't go with military clothing and much less if you are wearing a helmet, as Jackie did.
The second man is called Jeong Jeong, he is the head of security and in charge of my father's protection, he was dressed in traditional clothes, he had nothing fancy on, but in his own way he looked good, ready for a formal event and at the same time prepared for battle if circumstances require it.
The third man was sitting at the desk in front of my father, he was in formal clothes, he is my father's assistant and personal secretary, he is mainly in charge of dealing with the other nations, and secretly he is also my father's responsible person in gambling, if the situation requires it, he has permission to drug his boss, we already know what happened once, thanks to it. That event cannot be repeated, as far as I am concerned, he is a quiet and hardworking man, his name is Ijichi, but we all know him as tontichi. You see, when my father lost all his clothes in that legendary bet he was not alone, after he was naked and as a last act of desperation, he put his secretary on the betting table and said that he was worth at least a thousand yuan, unfortunately Mr. Ijichi ended up being a slave, working for the tribe of sandmen and in charge of the food of the giant rhinoceros beetles, If you think komodo rhinos are big, you need to meet these new specimens, it took us four months to be able to rescue it.
Finally, in the center of the room was my father, he was drinking ginseng tea, his favorite, he was wearing elegant but traditional clothes, he had already taken off his armor which was lying on the floor.
"Percy, my son, it's nice to see you," my father greeted me with a smile
"Father, it's a relief that you're back," I showed a pleasant smile, after all I was happy to be back.
"Pretty good, the southern water tribe is just as beautiful as ever, pretty cold but your city has come a long way in the last year, that new designer is making history, just look what Jackie managed to get it as a souvenir"
Jackie was a little embarrassed
"Percy, I brought you a sweatshirt too, they're great, I'll give it to you later," Jackie said
"Thank you buddy, you didn't have a hard time getting the clothes, I heard that they are quite expensive" I asked Jackie
"It's true, Percy, and with a salary like ours, we can't buy such expensive things," Jeong jeong said, showing a slightly disgruntled face
"Are you okay, Lord Jeong?" Percy asked
"Don't listen to him buddy, he's just jealous because he couldn't get one and these two were a gift" Jackie ignored Jeong's gaze
"Who gave them to you?"
"Dude, I met the designer's receptionist, a beautiful and pretty good girl, you know what I mean. I invited her to dinner, we spent the night and told her that I always dreamed of having one of these and that I had a little brother at home who also wanted one, so the next morning she gave them to me. Jackie showed a smiling face, winked at Percy, making him understand that she would tell him everything in detail later
"You're basically a prostitute," Ijichi said
"True!" Jeong said, making a mocking face at Jackie
Percy and Iroh couldn't stop laughing, after all Ijichi's comment was at the right time.
"Come on guys, they're just jealous because I'm the only one who dates girls."
Jeong Jeong remained silent and quickly landed a heavy blow to Jackie's abdomen.
"I'm feeling a little better now," Jeong said as he watched Jackie squirm on the floor.
"By the way, why did you call me father?" I asked as we ignored the moans or groans of pain
"Percy, a little strange things have been going on lately, I'm afraid a greater evil will appear." my father, Iroh looked worried
"You mean the rumors about Ratko, they say that in the northern water tribe small villages have been disappearing."
"Not only that... How did you find out about that?" I ask in surprise
"You see, Zuko wants to sign up for the tournament and says the winners will be sent to the North Pole as part of a reconnaissance mission, I told him it's crazy. Father, could you prevent him from entering the tournament?" I replied, excluding the part of my report
"Unfortunately I can't do that, anyone who belongs to the navy can participate and I can't make exceptions to protect someone. However, if I can stop him from moving forward in the fight"
My father, Iroh showed a strange smile, but I didn't think much of it, the only thing I wanted to do was prevent Zuko from going to the North Pole
"Thank you, father," I said, quite relieved
"Then it's settled, you'll be a participant in the tournament, you'll beat Zuko, and you'll be the winner."
I didn't understand my father's words, I looked at Jeong Jeong for help but the only thing my brain picked up were the big laughs coming out of his mouth, as well as Jackie and Ijichi. And then the result came to my head, I was Zuko's sabotage.
"Wait a minute, father, if I win I'll be sent to the North Pole, I don't like that either."
"Don't worry, no one is going to be sent to the North Pole, it's just an unfounded rumor, but there is a reward. Iroh said calmly
"So, what's the reward?" I asked, confused and curious
"I'm afraid I can't say at the moment, it's absolutely secret, but I assure you that the winner will be sent on a mission."
This time the laughter in the background was louder, which made me suspicious and without a doubt my father was doing his best not to laugh in unison with his three friends.
"Great!... I think so, if I win the competition, what's the monster I have to kill?"
"You won't kill any monsters, rather... You'll... take care of one"
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